the "didn't finish" book pile

[rose_griffes]

I use the word book pile in the electronic sense; I rarely bring paper books into my home anywhere, whether bought or borrowed.

Love, Hate, and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed: apparently my tolerance for YA romances that don't include werewolves or robots with feelings is minimal. Didn't get very far before that second-hand embarrassment kicked in.

A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer: personal tolerance for Beauty and the Beast retells also at a low level. The whole "kidnapping leads to romance" thing is not for me anymore. (I should have realized this when my knee-jerk reaction to reylo in Star Wars was, er, as strongly negative as it was. Ship it if y'all want, but it is NOT MY THING. *shudders*) Kemmerer's prose was strong; I might try something else by her someday.

Changeling (Sorcery and Society Book 1) by Molly Harper: I guess I have ~standards~ now for magical histories, and this didn't meet them. The world-build was both depressing and implausible and the prose didn't make up for either of those problems.

A Blade So Black (The Nightmare-Verse Book 1) by L.L. McKinney: just didn't click for me. I'll be watching McKinney's future books to see if something else catches my attention.

Comments

[tinny]

my tolerance for YA romances that don't include werewolves or robots with feelings is minimal

Muahaha, lol, those are awesome standards, though! <3

[rose_griffes]

Hee. Listen, sentient emotional robots can be a deeply personal thing!

[grav_ity]

HI LET'S TALK ABOUT YA BOOKS

[rose_griffes]

HI WHAT SHALL WE DISCUSS IN PARTICULAR?

Me and YA: I don't purposely look for YA books to read, but I don't shun them, either. They often have the kind of fantasy elements that I really like to read.

When YA books attempt a semi-realistic high school setting and there's not something to temper that--like robots with feelings or werewolves to represent our inner monsters or whatever--I get stuck on the logistics of "That's not how high schoolers think/talk/act!" (I've been teaching teenagers for longer than those current teenagers have been alive. So I'm picky about that.)

There are authors who navigate the setting well, or whose stories outweigh problems within that setting.

I do like some historical YA books; Elisabeth Wein's Code Name Verity was stunning.

The whole YA label is a bit strange, and not without its own controversies. I don't try to stay current on them, but I've caught glimpses of discussions--like the recent problem of some authors of color whose works were put into the YA section even though their books weren't being marketed in that category.

Is that enough discussion about YA books? Wanna throw something else out there? ;D

[grav_ity]

I love YA so much. I've only recently started reading adult again (turns out when you stop reading White Dudes, adult fantasy gets WAY more tolerable), but basically for the last 10 years, YA has been my Reading Home Of Choice (and, uh, also my job, full disclosure).

I'm not a huge contemporary fan either, though I do read them from time to time (especially contemps written by non-white authors, because I think it's important). I very much prefer fantasy, though I find I am getting pickier. I have FINALLY got people to start sending me queer genre (instead of Rape Books, which was my life from, like 2015-2019).

I love Code Name Verity so much.

The YA label is, like, completely bonkers. I usually choose the "about, not for" approach (ie the protagonist IS a teen, not that the book is written "for teens", mostly because reading level is...very arbitrary), but I also...definitely enjoy writing for kids? COMPLICATED. We'll be debating it forever. A thing I DO love, though, is the inherent hopefullness of YA? Like, even the super depressing books have a sort of "the sun will rise, someday" quality to them that adult books sometimes lack.

(Also, people are ALWAYS putting women's books into YA, and I think it's because a lot of us, like, sheltered there for a while? And then carved out a corner in adult fantasy. And everyone was just used to Quality Female Literature being YA (and therefore not really quality), so they continued to stick the books in there. Crossover is a HUGE market, but I'm VERY defensive about what goes where.)

Love, Hate and Other Filters: I haven't actually read this one (though I did blurb Internment, and I've met Samira a few times. She's a delight). I think when it comes to "brown girls in love", my preference is the Sandya Menon approach, where it's a straight up Rom Com. When Dimple Met Rishi is PROBABLY completely ridiculous, and I didn't care because I was just TOO THOROUGHLY CHARMED. But I find that's my tendency with romances lately anyway: I just want people to be HAPPY.

CURSE: I haven't read any of BK's books, and didn't realize this was a B&tB retelling. I find they are very often...not to my taste (except Meagan Spooner's HUNTED, which, HOLY SHIT. This is normal for her, though. SHERWOOD was also a bunch of things I often don't like and I FREAKING LOVED IT). IRONICALLY, I am often credited with a B&tB retelling, except it's CLEARLY JEKYLL AND HYDE WHY ARE PEOPLE. anyway

I've never heard of Molly Harper. Which is weird.

ANWYAY, I love Elle dearly so I 100% understand not clicking with her books. I liked it well enough, but there are plenty of peopel I adore whose books I just don't...get, so it doesn't bother me as much as it used to. I used to feel bad about it, but now I'm much better adjusted.

Girl, Serpent, Thorn cured my soul after the Reylo fandom tried to light me on fire in public. So that was nice. Also, there's a book called INCENDIARY out next week from Zoraida Cordova, and it did all of the things I wanted it to.

[rose_griffes]

Oh, hey, "person I follow whose BSG fic I remixed a decade ago when I was a participant / co-mod at BSG remix" is also "person whose third novel I have read (and it was a delight)". Huh. Well, hi!

turns out when you stop reading White Dudes, adult fantasy gets WAY more tolerable
Yup! I think it was at the end of 2014 that someone out there in social media land made a challenge to read authors who were NOT straight white men for the next year, and while I didn't keep the challenge for the whole 12 months--Ben Aaronovitch and Cary Elwes were too tempting-- it did help make a much-needed change in my reading habits as a whole. And yeah... there's so much good fantasy out there! And it doesn't get nearly the recognition that it should. Seanan McGuire / Mira Grant ought to be a household name on par with a younger Stephen King! (Prolific and reliably entertaining. Minus the Maine setting and the 1980s cocaine binges.)

A thing I DO love, though, is the inherent hopefullness of YA? Like, even the super depressing books have a sort of "the sun will rise, someday" quality to them that adult books sometimes lack.

YES. There's a reason my brain went into "re-read my favorite Courtney Milan romance novels" mode when the pandemic led to my work suddenly become an at-home impossible job. Because I knew I was going to get a happy ending in those books. And yes, YA novels are far more likely to have that wisp of brighter things to come, even in fairly grim tales. (One of my sisters-in-law ONLY reads YA for that reason.)

Also, people are ALWAYS putting women's books into YA
Ah. Not a problem I was aware of, but OF COURSE that happens.

Given that you mentioned two books that haven't come out yet, I'm curious: is this an "I'm friends with the author" situation? A pro-fic beta-reader situation? A "read my book and then you can write a review" situation? Something else? (You don't have to answer this; I'm just curious.)

Anyway, I now have a book by Meagan Spooner on my e-book reader to try soon, so thanks for that. But first: MUST FINISH GRADING THAT ONE ASSIGNMENT THAT I'VE BEEN PUTTING OFF FOR A WEEK. And possibly go plant more stuff in the garden. At least I'm keeping those seed companies in business... and the rabbits well-fed. Alas.

[grav_ity]

I have read, uh, like 14 romance novels since I went into lockdown on March 9th. And a looooooot of classic fanfic. I am TRYING to read for work, but

SPEAKING OF, so I'm kind of in a position now where if I ask for an advance copy...they send it to me. Sometimes I blurb it, but more usually I just yell about it on Twitter, and my Star Wars readers pick up on it. Sometimes I go through the authors directly and sometimes I know their publicist and sometimes I go through Twitter and sometimes they just show up in my mail because I'm on a list somewhere. I've gotten much better at straight up asking for books I want. It's definitely a perk! It means my TBR is INSANE (like, I cull it ruthlessly now, and I will still never catch up), but it does mean I keep up on what's current in my field.

Mostly I just love talking about books.