My YA Confessions #4 - Giving up is hard to do...

I have feelings. Mixed ones. And they're made even more complicated by the fact that I feel guilty about having them in the first place.

Yes, I'm talking about giving up on books before the end.

I'm thinking I shouldn't have even used the words 'giving up..' in the title of this post - it sounds so negative and defeatist, when I generally don't think I'm doing anything wrong. Or am I? Reading is for enjoyment, pure and simple (unless you count those years of enforced reading lists) and when a books fails to grip I'm surely more than justified in leaving it be and moving onto something else. So why do I feel so guilty?

It recently began thinking about this a lot more because it happened to me with a book by new author. I had read a lot of excellent things about this title and I loved the sound of the premise. But halfway through and I was floundering - it felt repetitive, I was bored with the characters, I really didn't give a rat's arse about any of it anymore. It wasn't the worse book I'd ever read by any means, but it just was not for me at that particular moment in time. And I felt even more guilty about abandoning it than I would have done jumping ship from a title by someone who has sold millions of copies. Should I have given a new author a fair crack of the whip? (gosh there's a lot of questions in this post - I do apologise). I guess the same does for reviewing books by new authors too - I'm always more reluctant to outright criticise them, although I'm guessing that a review on my teeny-tiny blog won't affect their sales too much. But I have no such qualms about being critical of more famous books.

Actually, I always have a few qualms about this sort of thing generally, but that's book blogging for you.

Let's just take a moment to appreciate the word 'qualms'. QUALMS.

Anyway, I think another reason for my guilt stems from being in the midst of attempting to write a book myself. I've only just come to appreciate the amount of time, blood, sweat and tears that goes into the process and to not give a book a decent go shot seems unfair to these efforts.

Does the standing of the author affect your decision on whether to finish a book or not, or do you think we should treat all titles the same?

Have you gone back to a book you previously struggled with and been pleasantly surprised?

Let me know you thoughts on this one...

MY YA CONFESSIONS #3 - I really should be reading more UKYA...

My reading habits fluctuate, much like everyone's else's I should imagine. Although, recently, they've come to a bit of a standstill. You know the usual excuses, life, kids, work, blah blah blah, so I won't go on about it. BUT I really need something to give me a bit of kick start and this post gave me just that the other week. The lovely Flannery over at The Readventurer put together this rather astonishing wall of awesome UKYA titles. when she asked me to contribute my Top Ten, I was like 'yeah, sure, no probs...' but when I actually came to jot them down, something struck me. Some of my all time favourite titles have been written by UK authors, so I had no grappling around for ten titles (although I cheated a bit with Rosoff and Ness, but they live here, so there). But when I noticed that my choices we limited to so few UK authors, I realised I haven't actually read a huge amount of UKYA, in whole the scheme of bookish things..

And then I looked at my bookshelf and on the old kindle and noticed a few more things, namely the sheer amount UKYA waiting to be read, a lot of it also featuring on Flann's wall. So why do I choose to overlook it so much? The subject matter is intriguing, the covers are striking and original, so why aren't I chomping at the bit to devour them? I think one of the issues I've had in the past with some titles is that sometimes the writing style can feel a bit young and considered in comparison to some titles from Australia, say. Is this me being ridiculously unfair? Or maybe this is just my very narrow opinion as an older YA reader. But it is definitely wrong of me to generalise based on a few off experiences.

So here is my pledge. I will now be much more patriotic in my reading habits and will go on a UKYA binge for a bit. I have kicked off by continuing with His Dark Materials trilogy - something I started with Jo's Pullman Week a little while ago. Although I won't be reviewing them because, well, I wouldn't have the foggiest where to start. I've never read anything like them before and probably never will again. There you go, that was a mini review of sorts.

So here's a few title's I'm going to be picking up in the next few months...

There will be more, but I have temporarily misplaced my Kindle and I can't remember what else I have on there. Let's see how I get on...

MY YA CONFESSIONS #2 - I'm a YA Blogging Dabbler

You may have noticed my posting frequency has not be very, well, frequent as of late. That old mistress, time, has been eating away at my schedule (HA! like I have a 'schedule') and all that stuff they call life has been getting in the way of blogging business. And sometimes, well, I don't think I class myself as a YA blogger proper and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Let me explain...

I've been having a bit of a dilemma of late - should I be continuing with this blogging lark? I'm not as committed to it as most and my plan was to always put more effort and time into it eventually to make it a proper 'YA book blog' with all the memes and wotnot, but now it's come to a point where, at the moment I just cannot spare the time - children, work, WIP, more work, a bit of study thrown in. And I really, really hate making excuses that start with 'but I don't have the time', because, if you really want to do something, you make the time, right? Which brings me back to my dilemma - maybe I don't want to do the blogging thing enough, and that is why I am letting it slide.

So I thought about the reasons why I started it in the first place - I really didn't have any clue about the world of YA blogging at about this time last year. I just enjoyed writing reviews and wanted to discuss the books I love with other bookish folk. I'd started writing a few YA-themed short stories and wanted to give myself a project to get reading more YA. And by this, I mean a solid diet of YA. And by this I mean mainly contemporary YA, because that is what I enjoy reading and writing the most. And I guess, in the last 12 months, I've ticked all these boxes. So why do I want to stop this - just because it's not something that I think it should be?

A few weeks back, I was determined to start a new all-singing, all-dancing blog. I would post at least one review a week, I would do memes, and would make a proper effort to get more followers. And then I thought, well, what's wrong with what I've got now. It brings a smile to my face, it gets me reading and writing, and I get to read all these fantastic blogs by you lot, and remain in awe that you all manage to make them so blinkin' brilliant.

So yes, I'm not sure if I would call myself a YA 'blogger'. But I'm a blogging dabbler and proud. And that is what I will continue to be. For the time being, anyway..

My YA Confessions #1 - I've never read The Hunger Games

Yes, contain that shriek. I'm afraid it's time to 'fess up folks. With all the pandemonium surrounding the film everywhere I turn, I feel it is necessary to admit that I, Anna Scott, have never read The Hunger Games. Phew, I feel much better now. *wipes brow*

Yes, I'm sure there are many YA must-reads out there that many of us have never gotten around to picking up. Actually, I've just thought of ANOTHER major series that I haven't read that I won't mention here (although I have no desire to read the unmentionable one, as opposed to the overwhelming desire I have to read The Hunger Games).

Well the question I'm pondering now is WHEN to read it. Many a film viewing experience has been tarnished for me by reading the book beforehand. Sometimes it's the natural course of things (Harry Potter), but with the case of Submarine, the reading of the excellent source material did just slightly ruin my watching of the really-rather-good-but-nowhere-near-as-great-as-the-book adaptation.

Chances are I'm not going to get to see Hunger Games on the big screen (children, time, children blah blah blah), so I have a bit of time before a potential viewing opportunity materialises.

So, what do you reckon, read first or watch first?

Also, I'm think of making My YA Confessions a regular feature, as I find I have much I want to confess. Why not join me? You know you want to...