What are you reading now? Showing 9,301-9,350 of 14,521

[Becca]

I'm about to lay the smack down on Patrick Ness. Really!?! REALLY!!!?! How can you end a book that way? You can't. It isn't a book without some sort of resolution. And to end it RIGHT THERE. I'm going to throw something. Probably the book. At his head.

[Heidi]

Becca wrote: "I'm about to lay the smack down on Patrick Ness. Really!?! REALLY!!!?! How can you end a book that way? You can't. It isn't a book without some sort of resolution. And to end it RIGHT THERE. I'm go..."

What? Are you talking about the first book's ending?? Luckily books two and three are already out. Some of us had to wait!

[Becca]

Yep first book, and I'll have to wait a little bit too. The wait list at my library is a mile long and I have zero money for books right now. Grrrr!

[Heidi]

Becca wrote: "Yep first book, and I'll have to wait a little bit too. The wait list at my library is a mile long and I have zero money for books right now. Grrrr!"

I waited for like six months in between the books and I was fine. Doesn't your library have it?

[Cassi aka Snow White]

Heidi (don't listen to me) wrote: "Becca wrote: "Yep first book, and I'll have to wait a little bit too. The wait list at my library is a mile long and I have zero money for books right now. Grrrr!"

I waited for like six months in ..."

I could not wait between these books. When I finished book 2 I downloaded book 3 on Kindle immediately because I could not survive without it.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

Also I'm glad to hear the book has a long waiting list. Not for you but because often times it feels unnoticed & I think it deserves more recognition than it gets.

[Heidi]

Cassi book two was not released yet when I read book one. I was not so lucky as you :)

[Becca]

Ya, my library has both the 2nd and 3rd books, but it will take a while before I can read them. I don't think I'll have to wait long between 2 and 3 though.

And it's not so much that I have to wait for books that I'm infuriated with, it's that an author actually has the gall to end a book the way he did. I detest cliff-hangars that have absolutely no resolution to the storyline, and that was on of the worst I've ever read, especially after going through almost 500 pages to get there.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

He's a cliffhanger type of writer apparently. I don't mind cliffhangers. I was a Lost fan so it was something you had to get used to or go crazy about.

[Adeeb]

I'm reading Ocean of Blood by Darren Shan

[Megan]

reading :D

[Naomi]

Now reading

[Heidi]

Cassi (is secretly listening to Heidi SHHH) wrote: "He's a cliffhanger type of writer apparently. I don't mind cliffhangers. I was a Lost fan so it was something you had to get used to or go crazy about."

I didn't mind it either for some reason. It made me excited to read book two (which was even better IMO).

[Shelia]

Finished (which was GREAT) and I've started

[Kelly]

I am going to B & N in a few hours, anyone want to lend some advice?

[Daria]

I'm currently reading , which I like so far.

[Wendy Darling]

Hey, thanks for all the blog love from the other day! :)

I am currently reading



I'm doing Reapers first because apparently I'm not over my zombies kick yet, and I am following it with Stork because the first chapter is hilarious.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

Wall Street Journal just posted an article (or someone just tweeted it and now everyone is spit-firing mad) that shows they DO NOT GET YA at all. Seriously it pisses me off to read people complaining about all the "darkness" in YA.

I remember being a teen. I cried to much and thought everything was the end of the world. Being a teenage is kind of a dark period (that you later remember fondly)

Here is the accursed article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...

I almost don't want to link it because they're just hit-mongering.

[Wendy Darling]

Well, I hope they get a lot of outraged comments on the article and online about it. The author is so out of touch with what's going on--most of the examples she pulls of what she considers "good" YA are over 30 years old! Crazy.

On the plus side, we found each other on Twitter because of this, hah!

[Daria]

That article is just crazy.

(Also, it's amazing what you can find on Twitter.)

[Gwennie]

Oh wow... what a very deflamitory article. In the beginning i agreed a bit with him that YA has gotten progressively darker. However, you also have to take into consideration that the books in the 'YA' section are not meant for 12 years old. They are meant for 15-18 year olds, who are dealing with self-mutilation and suicide and death in schools today. By the time my little cousin graduated she had already seen 4 deaths in her highschool. Should we pretend that this isn't our older teenagers realities in most cities? Or should we confront it head on and give them an outlet or something to read that they can relate to?

The Borders and Barnes and Nobles in my town have 2 sections. They have YA, which has the Zombie books and the Vampire books. This is for older teenagers. They also have the Early Readers section, which houses the Middle-Grade books like Artemis Fowl or Spiderwick books. Perhaps this 'Woman' should have looked in the correct section for her 13 year old neice!

On top of this, I got really pissed when he actually called out Authors! There is nothing wrong with Sherman Alexi's book. To mark it as 'wrong' because it deals with Racial topics is disgusting.

Yeah, that article is completely unfounded. I mean, for goodness sakes! Our children are reading again! Lets just be happy.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

Apparently goodreads is mad at me. I keep trying to post comments to this discussion & it eats them.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

Let's try this again.

Wendy I thought the SAME THING about Absolutely True Diary. Why does everyone HATE on that book so much? It's such a hopeful book in the end.

Also I want to talk about her suggestion (but only for young men? Let's talk about sexism next okay). How dark was that book? Is she even READING the shiz she's complaining about & suggesting? (view spoiler)[ They wanted to KILL Lucky girl when they found her so they could keep the riches of her ship for themselves. That is a hell of a dark world. Darker than anything in Absolutely true diary. The main character almost dies in a pool of oil in the first few pages because another character selfishly wants to keep the oil for herself. (hide spoiler)]

[Cassi aka Snow White]

I just posted a bunch of links and it ATE THEM TOO!!!

http://twitter.com/#!/MichelleHodkin
http://twitter.com/#!/barrygoldblatt
http://twitter.com/#!/libbabray

[Cassi aka Snow White]

Here's another one I meant to include before:
http://twitter.com/#!/maureenjohnson

Authors/agents/readers/bloggers outrage

[Cassi aka Snow White]

WSJ actually responded somewhat on twitter.

http://twitter.com/#!/WSJ

Of course only to big name authors like Libba Bray. Mainly they just said "we hear you. DM us contact info"

I think "spit firing mad" is such a southern phrase. But I love it.

[Awesomevegan (AKA JenReads)]

Just finished and started . I am also listening to and I am about half way though.

[Daria]

Cassi (is secretly listening to Heidi SHHH) wrote: "WSJ actually responded somewhat on twitter.

http://twitter.com/#!/WSJ

Of course only to big name authors like Libba Bray. Mainly they just said "we hear you. DM us contact info"

I think "spit..."

Better than not responding at all.

Speaking of which, there's a hashtag going on right now called #YAsaves, where everyone is talking about why we love YA.

[Daria]

It's now the #3 trending hashtag in the US.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

I just saw that. Love that authors turn the criticism on its head.

It just makes me mad that the criticism was so inaccurate. I think journalism has lost its objectivity and purpose. Columns are not suppose to be vendettas.

[Stacia (the 2010 club)]

I found it interesting that Rage was mentioned. When I was reading it I remember thinking, "this stuff actually happens to teens now." The level of bullying is crazy these days.

The recommendations were sort of strange to me too because they had a lot of older books on there. A lot of teens (not all of course) are looking for the newest and shiniest books out there and only read the older, dated stuff when it's required reading for school.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

Carmel wrote: "Do you guys mind if i post the link to the article & the twitter links on my Aussie group?
I'm a bit over GRs at the moment, posting comments is a pain at the moment!!"

Post it all you want. Not my link to keep secret.

[Kristina]

I'm still reading on my nook but i wanted to read something in the bathtub last night so i got my paper version of , and i'm almost done with it

[Daria]

Finished , and I read last night. It was such a good book, and it shouldn't be out of print.

[Ashley]

I finished , and not I'm starting .

[Tessa Gallahan]

Carmel wrote: "Darrell wrote: "Hi all,
Just FYI - I've just posted an interview I did with young adult writer John Marsden at my site. The Url is:http://www.darrellpitt.com/2011/06/jo......"

Just finished it!!! I LOVED it! I can't wait till the next one comes out in July!!

[Cassi aka Snow White]

Still reading . Is it just me or does not much happen in the first half of this book? (view spoiler)[ I mean her dad shows up, leaves, she runs a bookstore, goes & hangs out on a beach in faery. Not the most exciting stuff ever. Seems like with finding the other seer sidhes its going to pick up. (hide spoiler)]

It could be just me since I've had a long week.

[Heidi]

Cassi (is secretly listening to Heidi SHHH) wrote: "Still reading . Is it just me or does not much happen in the first half of this book? [spoilers removed]

It could be just me since I've had a long week."

I can't remember that one except that it must pick up because I liked it.

[Wendy Darling]

Cassi, I've tried to read BLOODFEVER too, and couldn't get into it. A few GR friends I trust have told me the series gets better after the first book, though, so I'm going to try again at some point. But apparently it's best to have them all handy since she likes doing cliffhangers.

By the way...did you see that Publishers Weekly offered to run a rebuttal by Libba Bray and Maureen Johnson to the WSJ article?

[Rebecca]

Wendy Darling wrote: "...By the way...did you see that Publishers Weekly offered to run a rebuttal by Libba Bray and Maureen Johnson to the WSJ article? "

I would read that.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

I saw that they tweeted to ask for contact info but nothing more. Where did they say that?

[Susan]

I am now reading Heartbreaker by Julie Garwood and it is sooooo good! It grabbed me right from page one!!

[Wendy Darling]

It was PW Kids that offered to run the rebuttal. I'm not sure if LB or MJ responded yet, as I've been off Twitter for most of the day.
http://twitter.com/PWKidsBookshelf/st...

Incidentally, I really hate the negativity that arises from this sort of thing, too. I guess there will always be people who jump in with cynical remarks about how lame the outrage is, etc, but it still ticks me off.

[Julie]

I'm reading right now, I'm about halfway and I like it so far. Unfortunately I can relate a bit with the MC.

I also started a few days ago and I'm liking it too but will probably wait until Stay is over to finish it.

[Gini]

Wendy Darling wrote: "Cassi, I've tried to read BLOODFEVER too, and couldn't get into it. A few GR friends I trust have told me the series gets better after the first book, though, so I'm going to try again at some poin..."

I found it ironic that Libba Bray is one of the authors that responded when she wasn't even mentioned and her stuff is the farthest thing from edgy or dark, IMO.

She's no Holly Black is all I'm saying.

[Cassi aka Snow White]

I don't know Libba Bray has her dark moments, she just does it with a sense of humor. series is not all sunshine and happiness. She's also overtly a feminist and considering the writer has written articles opposing working moms/daycare....

I haven't finished yet but it does start with a plane crash and some general bloodiness.

Just from the vibe that article gives me I don't think that writer would like Libba Bray very much. Even though was hilarious, it was about a kid with mad-cow disease and I seem to remember some weed smoking.

[Wendy Darling]

Well, being that the WSJ article attacks YA authors in general (and is pretty condescending to readers in assuming that we need separate Young Mens and Young Womens lists, that teens will be corrupted by the material, etc), I think pretty much any reader/writer of YA who feels strongly about it can and should respond.

[Amanda]

Cassi (is secretly listening to Heidi SHHH) wrote: "Wall Street Journal just posted an article (or someone just tweeted it and now everyone is spit-firing mad) that shows they DO NOT GET YA at all. Seriously it pisses me off to read people complain..."
Wow. I don't want to rub anyone the wrong way, but I've got to tell you, as a parent I kind of agree with him. My oldest child is almost 13 years old. He reads at a college level, but there is very little literature above the JF level that is appropriate for him to read. I realize that he is on the young side for YA, but it would be nice to find books that he spent more than an hour reading. That said, one of the books the author cited was Shine by Lauren Myracle. Was that book disturbing? Absolutely. But it was also beautiful, and I loved it. I would never let my son read it. Sometimes I agree that it helps our children to read about ugliness. Things like racism and the suffering of Jews and others in Nazi Europe are good to face head on. But when it comes to hate crimes, cutting, suicide, rape, etc- frankly I plan to protect my son from those things as well and as long as I possibly can. I can't think why I would throw them at him in the literature he reads. As an adult and parent, those kinds of books actually help me to be aware of the kinds of things that my children might have to face as they grow up. That's just one reason that I read them myself.

[Rebecca]

Cassi (is secretly listening to Heidi SHHH) wrote: "I don't know Libba Bray has her dark moments, she just does it with a sense of humor. series is not all sunshine and happiness. She's also overtly a f..."

I am reading Going Bovine now. I'm not sure the writer (of the article) would approve- except I, although a young adult, am not a teen.

She did attack modern YA authors in general. I can see why she (Libba Bray) would be offended. Assuming she knows some of the authors that were mentioned, has read, and/ or approved of their work in some way, she was being criticized.

[Wendy Darling]

Mandi, I think I understand what you're saying. I don't have any problems with a critic who wants to promote books that she feels has value or are more uplifting or clean or wholesome, etc., because certainly everyone has a right to her opinions and parents of younger kids need to be vigilant about what they're reading.

What I do take issue with is the tone of the article and the attack on the overall "depravity" of the genre. It makes sweeping generalizations and assumptions that I just don't feel provides an accurate snapshot of what YA is like right now, or what's relevant to readers. I also don't feel the article is very well-researched, and it lacks a serious understanding of how literature can illuminate and transform readers of any age. One of the best #YASaves tweets I saw yesterday was "Because for some kid, somewhere, it's not fiction."