What YA Friendly Book Are You Currently Reading? Showing 301-350 of 1,359

[Kaje]

There's been a lot of talk about needing to split YA into younger and older age groups. 12 to 18 is just too wide a spread to want to read the same things, or be ready for the same level of intensity. I hope the New Adult genre catches on (although the names seem a bit confusing - Young adult is younger than New adult?) So far, it isn't settled enough for us to address it (and then the question also becomes do we need to separate the group to deal with NA books that are not appropriate for our YA readers?) For the moment, we're choosing to keep it all under the 18+ level, but I do think a move to two categories will be useful as it becomes more generally accepted (although obviously it adds one more level of argument about where a book fits in.)

[Trisha]

I think there needs to be some balance in YA. Some books might be okay for someone 15+, but it might not be suitable for a 12 year old or younger (in some cases the readers are younger). It would be nice if we could have some difference in the books. NA and YA sounds like it could work.

[Kaje]

Tʀɪsʜᴀ wrote: "I think there needs to be some balance in YA. Some books might be okay for someone 15+, but it might not be suitable for a 12 year old or younger (in some cases the readers are younger). It would b..."

Yes. I think it's a good move and will make it easier for readers and teachers/parents to choose and suggest books. Hopefully there will be a consensus develop. The biggest question I see is whether real 18+ erotic content would be allowed in NA books (and that's a topic for another thread.) For now, I'm waiting to see how publishers who generally set the standards establish this.

[Trisha]

Kaje wrote: "Tʀɪsʜᴀ wrote: "I think there needs to be some balance in YA. Some books might be okay for someone 15+, but it might not be suitable for a 12 year old or younger (in some cases the readers are young..."

Yes, I agree. It would be easier to make NA 15-18 or 16-18.

[Kaje]

So our Book of the month winner is Gives Light - I've heard some great things about this series. I put up the discussion thread - looking forward to this one.

[Gabby]

Tʀɪsʜᴀ wrote: "Kaje wrote: "Tʀɪsʜᴀ wrote: "I think there needs to be some balance in YA. Some books might be okay for someone 15+, but it might not be suitable for a 12 year old or younger (in some cases the read..."

I've seen some NA books with +16 warnings and +17 warnings, but they usually don't go past that

[Gino]

I'm reading , halfway through like it so far!

[Kaje]

Kylie wrote: "I just read Alliance and I love it!!! I highly recommend! (only if your into heart-wrenching romance, paranormal drama and hot guys lol)"

Sounds good :)

[[deleted user]]

Kylie wrote: "I just read Alliance and I love it!!! I highly recommend! (only if your into heart-wrenching romance, paranormal drama and hot guys lol)"
I tried to read the sample, but tbh I couldn't get into it, it's like there was an entire book before that I'm missing or something, not everyone is supposed to know what a Nephilim is. There was tons of stuff that are thrown on your face and not explained. Where they were I don't even know ? Some sort of floating school on a magical cloud above the earth, that's what I gathered. The best for the end I quote to the dot : "unbotheredt noel his lust now,y. atike that, he vampiree was more than willing. n t help but feel an underserving hate fro thevacationing".
Go figure what that mean...
And maybe too much magic/paranormal... It might actually be good, but I don't wanna risk it. I wasn't shown anything, I was expected to be a master magician or something.

[Kaje]

World-building is always a challenge. And works for some readers and not others. It's nice to have feedback from both (and that does sound a bit confusing - are there really those typos though?)

[[deleted user]]

Yep Kaje, the quote is verbatim. Location 610 in the sample.
And you asked for Social skills, it's not YA, it's highly explicitly sexual. Well it's not focused on sex either, I dunno. The other reader said 16+, I guess it's a fair assessment.

[Kaje]

Ouch - I can go with the flow sometimes in world-building, but frequent typos are a bit grating.

[[deleted user]]

Well I don't know if it's a frequent typo, it's under single quotes... it might actually mean something like something the character's father would say (lol). But I have no clue what. Again it ties back in with you are thrown stuff without explanations. Because I didn't see any typos anywhere else, and the author put a disclaimer suggesting the book was double/triple proofed...

[Kaje]

Jarod wrote: "Well I don't know if it's a frequent typo, it's under single quotes... it might actually mean something like something the character's father would say (lol). But I have no clue what. Again it ties..."

Hm, interestingly perplexing, but... yeah, not inviting either... If there were none elsewhere, maybe it's on purpose, for some strange reason.

[Kaje]

Kylie wrote: "I heard that the editing thing was a problem with amazon and it got fixed. At least that's what the author said, Amazon did send me the updated version on kindle cloud. I have the new edition and it doesn't have that jumbled thing. ..."

That's good.

[Moira]

I got sucked back into reading a couple of old favorites: the Alanna books (the first one is Alanna: The First Adventure) and the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. I know that neither of them may feature LGBT characters, but they were part of the library that my mother built up for me - she was determined for me to have books full of characters that didn't act inside traditional gender lines!

[Kaje]

I love Diane Duane's Young Wizards - and her The Door Into Fire published in 1979 was one of the first fantasies with gay (or bi) MC's presented as just a natural part of the society. It is a good YA book too. I loved that series.

[Moira]

One of the best things about Duane is that I feel like all too often, I find out that my favorite authors behave in truly awful ways (Orson Scott Card comes to mind) - and Diane Duane is just as sweet as they come!

[Ulysses]

Finished and reviewed "Social Skills," and reviewed it both here and on Amazon - it is clearly 17+ because of the sex - but the sex is so fumbling and emotion-filled and teenage, that it seems right for that age. A very good and interesting and well-written take on a classic - cliched - set up. Really like this.

[Ulysses]

Am now maybe 25% into "366 Days," and it is indeed dark. I don't know where it is going - it's very long. Enormously well crafted and filled with characters I cannot help but love. Tears of horror and sadness keep welling up in my eyes - and I assume (because I have to) that things trend upward and not downward in the plot (because I love these kids). Not for young teens, but for late high school.

[Gino]

I'm reading and going over my own book I just wrote called StarStruck a gay theme ya friendly book :)

[Grace]

I just finished and am now reading the prequel .

[Tara]

Gabby wrote: "K wrote: "Kaje wrote: "When you're done with Social Skills, if you think it stays YA please add it or ask me to. My only concern is that I've seen it over on the adult group a lot, and it's college..."

I write in New Adult and publishers require 18 to 24 years of age for the MC's. Just so folks know what constitutes New Adult.

[Tara]

I am sure almost everyone has read this, but if you have not, I give this book a solid four stars and a highly recommend to 14 and up. Stick's (Stark's) brother is gay and you have to love Stick's attitude.

[Ulysses]

Bill Konigsberg's "Openly Straight." Wonderful and PG13

[Kaje]

Tara wrote: "Gabby wrote: "K wrote: "Kaje wrote: "When you're done with Social Skills, if you think it stays YA please add it or ask me to. My only concern is that I've seen it over on the adult group a lot, an..."

I read it myself, and I think it is really well done, so although it is more NA for sex content, it's a book I'd definitely give to older YA too.

[Kaje]

Tara wrote: "I am sure almost everyone has read this, but if you have not, I give this book a solid four stars and a highly recommend to 14 and up. Stick's (Stark's) brother is gay and you have to love Stick's ..."

I liked it too - we had it as a book of the month last September and it didn't get a lot of comments, but hopefully some people read it. Well done, if a bit dark, and another book where the gay sibling has things pretty hard. But I liked the writing and the resolution.

[Tara]

Kaje wrote: "Tara wrote: "I am sure almost everyone has read this, but if you have not, I give this book a solid four stars and a highly recommend to 14 and up. Stick's (Stark's) brother is gay and you have to ..."

You have to remember the book is set somewhere in the mid seventies. But, yes, what Bosten went through was harsh, however, I had the feeling had Stark been "normal" he would have been the next target. It was one of the first books I have read where I didn't feel the author overstepped or understepped his MC's age. Not to mention the ending was perfect, without being so.

I hope people who have not read it will give it a try. On to Suicide Notes as my next YA read.

[Kim]

I really liked Suicide Notes. I don't think I'm up for reading the abuse in Stick, at least not right now.

I've just started reading and have high hopes for this book:

How Beautiful the Ordinary: Twelve Stories of Identity .

[Gareth]

Just finished reading Hero by Perry Moore. I really enjoyed the book. Had a coming out phase, a parent who's not so accepting of the LGBT community, action, some drama, comedy, and superheros!

[Kaje]

I liked both Suicide Notes and Hero - very different books.

[Caoimhe Niamh]

I love, love, loved Hero. I was so depressed when I found out the sequel will never be published since the author overdosed before he finished the manuscript.

[Kaje]

That was tragic; he had chronic pain and I don't know if it was ever determined whether the painkiller OD was accidental or not, but a sad loss to both writing and film production.

[Kim]

I just realized I was confusing Suicide Notes, which is still on my to-read list, and Kelley York's Suicide Watch, which is the one that I've already read and enjoyed.

With Hero, I can't help hoping that someone else who was close to Moore picks up the mantle and completes the manuscript enough for it to be published. Sometimes those efforts can go rather badly, but I still feel like I'd rather see what I could of what Moore had intended as the next step(s) for his characters.

[J.]

Just now getting to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

[Kaje]

J. wrote: "Just now getting to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe"

I loved, loved this book - slow, gentle self-discovery and really well written.

[Eli]

I don't know if J.D. Robbs' "Celebrity In Death" counts in this category, but, I'm reading that, at the moment.

LOVE Patricia Cornwell & Johnathan Kellerman's works.

And V.I. Warshowski (don't know if I spelled that correctly).

Trying to find a great book with a female-identifying lead of various gender, along those crime scene/Private Detective/Police Procedural kind of lines. :)

[Kaje]

I think the JD Robb is probably not a fit for Young Adult - a bit too much sex and definitely older characters. There's a lot of YA fantasy, but not much of crime/police since it doesn't fit well with the young main character ages. There is a group or maybe two for adult F/F fiction too, if you're over 18 - look in the "Groups" directory.

[Eli]

Kaje wrote: "I think the JD Robb is probably not a fit for Young Adult - a bit too much sex and definitely older characters. There's a lot of YA fantasy, but not much of crime/police since it doesn't fit well ..."

Oh no! I'm in the wrong area, already? :3

Yep. I 'm older than 18. ^__^

[John]

Quote: (My sexuality, by the way, is off-topic and unrelated. I am undecided. I am a freshman at the College of Sexuality and I have undecided my major, and frankly don't want to declare anything other than “Hey, jerks, I'm thirteen, leave me alone. Macaroni and cheese is still my favorite food—how would I know who I want to hook up with?”

[Kaje]

LOL - I like that. Let me know if it would be a good book for our Middle Grade Recommendations list.

[John]

Better Nate Than Ever is a wonderful warm and witty read that's totally appropriate for the middle school set. Nothing more sexual than comments on bare chested guys and mentions of seeing two men kissing. No language stronger than “the s-word” and “a-hole” which are spelled as shown. Nate and his gal pal Libby use the titles of Broadway musical flops instead of curse words.

[Kaje]

John wrote: "It's a wonderful warm and witty read that's totally appropriate for the middle school set. Nothing more sexual than comments on bare chested guys and mentions of two men kissing. No language strong..."

Sounds great - adding it (and to my TBR list as well.)

I put it on the group bookshelves shelves with the following tags:
coming-out-of-age, funny, m-m, middle-school, read

Feel free to add it to other appropriate shelves.

[Miriasha]

Currently reading, well, a million things but I'm finishing up and it's really good :)

[Kaje]

I saw you posted that there's an audio - are you reading or listening to it?

[Ulysses]

I just finished reading "How to repair a Mechanical Heart," which I thought was truly wonderful. Perfectly PG 13 and romantic - but complex and FUNNY. Deals marvelously with fanfic, fan conventions and Catholic guilt - the latter handled with touching sensitivity and nuance. Brilliantly written ... J. C. Lillis has done a fabulous job.

[Kaje]

Ulysses wrote: "I just finished reading "How to repair a Mechanical Heart," which I thought was truly wonderful. Perfectly PG 13 and romantic - but complex and FUNNY. Deals marvelously with fanfic, fan convention..."

I really liked that one - especially good if you've ever done fandom or cons, but fun even if you haven't.

[Miriasha]

Kaje wrote: "I saw you posted that there's an audio - are you reading or listening to it?"

I listened to it (finished last night)
It's read by the author and the way the book is put together, listening is the best experience, I think. There are commercial breaks (part of the book but better when in audio form) and she has different voices for all the characters. It's amazing :)

[Justin]

I just finished Last of the Summer Tomatoes by Sherrie Henry and I really enjoyed it. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA, MM romances. I saw in an early comment someone said a book was "PG-13" and that would probably accurately describe this one. IMO, Jeff Erno's review here on Goodreads does a great job of telling you what you can expect from this book.

[Summer]

I just finished Hobbled by John Inman. It was sweet and had my laughing out loud. It was a m/m story. I'm reading Finding Ashlynn by Zoe Lynne which is a f/f story. I really was hooked from the first paragraph on this one.