Reading Challenges

In 2012 I decided to try out some reading challenges (Debut Author Challenge and Contemporary Challenge). I was really pumped for them at the beginning because I thought it would expand my reading horizons and encourage me to read books that I wouldn't have otherwise. Sounds good, right?

Source: Muscle Puppy

Uh... no. Not really.

What they actually did was make me feel anxious and disappointed in myself because I didn't reach the goals I'd set. Which, obviously, was not the point of the challenge. It's no fault but my own and I don't regret signing up for these challenges in the first place... but nonetheless, it didn't work for me.

So challenges are not for me (except that stupid GR reading challenge which I cannot stop myself from starting and freaking out over) but I totally get it if they're for you! For the reasons I initially wanted to participate in them and for others as well -- such as the chance to read with people and share what you (dis)like! -- challenges sound like so much fun. 

I hope that everyone participating in any challenges in 2013 is kicking butt at them and, even if you're hopelessly behind (I feel you) who cares? Have fun!!

PS - So I know you Supernatural fans are an... enthusiastic... bunch (my best friend is one of you and OH MY GOD the trauma you put yourselves through) but no, I don't watch it! I did watch the first episode and it freaked me out (I hear that's a tame one lol) but who knows, maybe someday I will continue!

PPS - That's basically like a 1% chance because A) my heart and B) this show never ends, seriously

Do you participate in challenges? Which ones are your favourites?

Ending a Series

You have now reached THE END. Proceed with caution.

Dun dun DUUUUUUNNNNN.....

I never thought that I was the sort of reader to put off endings but I am, I so am. There are a few exceptions... I literally started reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows the minute my mailman handed it over to me and my eyes only wandered off the pages long enough to give my mum a quick goodbye as she left on a 2-week trip to the other side of the world (daughter of the year right here, guys).

But lately... I am reluctant to finish series. Or even books that I'm really enjoying, for that matter. After I reached the last few chapters of Cinder, I shoved the book away from me and didn't return to it for a couple of weeks because I didn't want it to be over.

Source

I can't make myself read Endlessly. 
I can't make myself read Bitterblue.
I can't make myself read Hidden.
I can't make myself read Bloodrose.

And the book that inspired this post? Clockwork Princess.

Source

And let's not even TALK about the Book 2s that I'm putting off (looking at you, Days of Blood and Starlight)

But there is something satisfying about reaching that end in a series! (Unless it is The-Book-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named (we all have one of those, right?) that just threw me into a vortex of pain and rage.) More times than not, my favourite characters have finally gotten their HEA and I am free to imagine they stay like that forever! Plus, not only after the series is over but especially then, it is MINE. It's mine to play with and reshape; I get to create new adventures for the characters and have things go just the way I'd like.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this topic! :) I hope you all had a nice and relaxing long weekend (if you had one!).

Family in YA

Hi! So, where I live, today is a holiday. More specifically, it's Family Day! At home, we've been sitting around and enjoying each others' company with some good movies (Harry Potter, Toy Story, etc.) and a good few games of Scrabble. I wanted to continue the family spirit on the blog as well so here I am!

Source

I haven't made it a secret that I think family importance in YA is like the BEST THING EVER. So today I thought I'd share a couple of books which I think emphasize this and hopefully you'll have some for me as well!

The Elemental series by Brigid Kemmerer

The Merrick brothers are just fantastic. I find the complicated, messy relationships in it just fascinating and also so realistic. They drive each other to their extremes but at the end of the day, they care so strongly for one another. 

The Demon's Lexicon series and Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan

Family isn't always biological and Nick and Alan have such a touching, tenuous relationship. Kami's relationship with her parents and brothers in Unspoken makes me so happy just because they're so NORMAL. In my opinion, relationships are what SRB does best.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

If you ask me, what made Mia's situation so heartbreaking was the fact that she had such an AMAZING family life. Not to say that it was perfect, because it wasn't, but the bonds in Mia's life were so well-written and emotionally-charged. Reading about teens that want to hang out with their parents never fails to make me smile.

The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg

Not only were Penny's parents super cool, they were also so supportive of Penny! It was really, really fantastic to see the way that they stood by their daughter through what she was going through.

***

Being an (obviously) very, very incomplete list, I'm hoping that you can add to it! What are some of your favourite YA reads that have a familial element to them? It can be fundamental to the storyline or just there. Any suggestions?

Confessions of a Teenage Story Queen

Amongst my friends, I'm something like the resident bookworm. Most people I know would probably tell you that I like to read and it's not uncommon for me to give out recommendations to people I barely speak to. And while talking about books with other people that have read them too is about the BEST THING EVER, it doesn't always work out so nicely. You know what I mean, right? The moment where

YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK.

And it's not just a regular book, it's THE book. It's The Perks of Being a Wallflower or Game of Thrones. It's the book that everyone in the entire universe is suddenly reading and obsessed with and you still haven't gotten around to it. And oh, the SHAME when you have to admit to the person asking about your opinion that you haven't actually read it yet. But you will someday! Eventually! "Are you sure I can't recommend Harry Potter to you again?!?!" ... And suddenly you've lost all credibility. Like, apparently HP is something kids have been reading for a while now? What?

I am slowly (slowwwwly) coming to terms with the fact that I will never have read ALL THE BOOKS. But there are some books that I would very, very, very much like to read before the blogging authorities snatch away my membership card for not reading those things that seem to fuel so many peoples' passion.

Books that I will one day read. No, seriously!:

1. Anything by Melina Marchetta
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
3. The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson
4. Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake
5. Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys
6. Fire and Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

... and okay, I'm starting to scare myself with the number of ideas that are jumping out at me. We'll just leave it at 6, alright? ;)

Source: Budreiku Monika

I'm coming for you, books!

Didn't You Read that Last Week?

On re-reading

Hello everyone! :) I hope you've been having a great week! I'm actually kind of sick right now and so am a little behind on visiting blogs (when am I not? there are too many of you awesome people!) but it was a good day of reading, watching TV with my sister and just relaxing. Homework will have to wait for tomorrow ;)

Part of what I did today was re-read The Prisoner of Azkaban. Now I don't know how well known of a fact this is but I re-read the Harry Potter series FREQUENTLY. Like I'm talking at least one of the books a month and often more. I don't always read straight through but if there's a certain passage that's calling my name, I'm there. It's been like this for as long as I can remember; this obsessive re-reading of J.K. Rowling is so standard for me. There's a quality and connection that I have to her world that allows me to re-visit again and again and again without ever getting tired of it.

But, Harry Potter aside, I don't do nearly as much re-reading as I used to. Before I got into blogging, I was a huge re-reader for many books. In grade seven, I checked out Squire by Tamora Pierce from my school library TEN TIMES. And although I don't re-read as much now, the idea still appeals to me. I actually did my first re-read (HP not included) in a loooong while last week (Lola and the Boy Next Door, you're still sparkly and fabulous) and I loved it! There's so much that you forget and re-discover during a re-read, and, for me at least, it makes me fall in love with a book all over again.

So why don't I re-read as much now? Huh? If I love it so much?

Pretty simple, really. I don't have time.

(As in, busy... reading other books. It's a good problem to have, I know)

As much as I love blogging (AND I LOVE IT A GREAT DEAL, TRUST ME) I do feel a bit of pressure to read enough books to be able to review and share and all that great stuff. And seriously, it's not at all a bad thing because I love reading NEW books and trying out new things and reading just the HP series for the rest of my life probably won't get me that. Probably. I don't know if the Sonia that lived on fantasy and mythology would have picked up a book like If I Stay (one of my all-time favourite books) enthusiastically.

So while I do sometimes feel like I shouldn't be re-reading with so many other books to read, it all works out in the end. Because while I spend time re-reading old favourites, I could be missing out on the chance to discover new favourites.

Are you a re-reader? Has blogging changed that at all for you?

(I think I have a serious problem with using GIFs in these random kinds of posts.)

Finding the Time

As a student (or maybe just functioning member of society) I often feel like I don't have the time I want, or need, for reading.

Prime example: I bought Insurgent and City of Lost Souls on the same day and I didn't start either of them for days after. DAYS. We're talking about two of my most anticipated releases of the year and so for me to put devouring them on hold speaks volumes.

(I have since started Insurgent and OMG SO GOOD. Can Four just come live with me? <3)

I'm sure that not everyone spends as much time on school as I do but given the very, very high importance it has in my life, it (unfortunately, sometimes) needs to come first. This is great in some ways but not so fabulous when it comes to reading time. So what do I do?

Well. I've decided that reading is just not for me and I'll never pick up another book again.

Source

*shudders* Not even kidding, guys, that was a little tough to type.

I've always loved to read and I'm confident that I always will... even if that doesn't prove true, it certainly is for the time being. So I read when I can. By this, I pretty much mean that I read in every spare moment I can find. In the two minute walk I take between classes, there is a good chance you'll find me with a book in my hand (I've actually gotten so good at manoeuvring the halls while doing this haha). It doesn't always work out -- I've yet to master eating and reading at the same time for fear that I'll spill something on a page -- but it helps.

Over the next week weeks, I'll be posting (most likely on Saturdays) some of the experiences I've had reading in different places (the bus, the bathtub... you get the idea).

How do you find the time to read?

Standalones vs. Series

Standalones: the dying race of YA novels.

Okay, so not completely true. It's not like they're nowhere in sight... I read Instructions for a Broken Heart by Kim Culbertson just last week and there is no sequel (as far as I know) for that one. In general though, I feel like 95% of the books I read are part of a series/have a companion novel.

And I love that.

(Most of the time)

I KNOW. I feel like everywhere I go online, people are complaining about the lack of standalones, and with some very convincing arguments! I think my personal favourite is Ash (<3) from Typing Tiara's song because that is SKILL right there. I understand that side of the argument too because omg, sometimes it feels like a series has 7000 books that I have to read and as a reader that hates reading out of order, that can be discouraging.

I actually started to outline all the reasons I generally prefer a series over standalone but then I realized that they're all essentially the same:

I'm a greedy reader.

I want more character development and more adventures. I want more romance and more kissing. I want more words and pages and stories. If I like an author/character/world, I just want to read more more more and having a series (be it trilogy or quartet or whatever) just feeds that need for MORE.

I get so attached to some characters (Harry, m'boy, I'm looking at you) that I just feel really SAD when a series is over and I don't get to see them again. (I actually still re-read the whole HP series like once every 2 months, but shhh).

Companion novels are kind of the best of both worlds where you get a separate story but also a journey through the same world or with some familiar characters.

And, of course, some books work better as standalones because that's just the way it is. If all the loose ends are tied up and enough has taken place, I'll be satisfied with a standalone.

Kind of.

On an unrelated sidenote: MY HEART when I look at the David Tennant gif... it breaks into a million pieces. 


Thoughts? ANGRY DISAGREEMENTS? Please feel free to share whatever you're thinking in the comments section! :)

Fangirling

Fangirl as defined by Urban Dictionary: A rabid breed of human female who is obsessed with either a fictional character or an actor. Similar to the breed of fanboy. (We don't discriminate.)

So, in other words...

Here in the Land of Awesome AKA The YA Blogosphere, people don't usually give you weird looks when you start squealing and screaming and ALL CAPS-ing your excitement for something to do with...

a book (again.)

In real life, most of my friends have gotten used to it but I still sometimes get the 'please shut up now, we don't care' look when I start to gush about my favourite books or a particular swoony lead I read about. APPARENTLY some people do not break into incoherent gushy rambling when the name 'Etienne St. Clair' is brought up.

I know. I didn't believe it either.

So, yeah. The YA Blogosphere? It's kind of magical to me.

How much is too much though? Is there a limit on how far you can go in your love for Noah Shaw? Are people going to want to throw a shoe at you if you mention Jace's golden locks one more time?

Yes and no.

I think I'm pretty resistant to the 'OMG HIS EYES ARE BLUE LIKE THE SKY, HOW UNIQUE!!!!!' Twitter updates when people are reading a book, just like I don't think I've ever been annoyed that someone was constantly talking about their favourite series (how hypocritical would that be for like HP? LOL). Enthusiasm in general is usually pretty appreciated and well-received in the YA community, I find.

In a review, the only thing that I ever really sigh over is too much time spent summarizing the events of the book. I want feelings and thoughts and opinions, not a revised retelling of what happens. If there's a bit of that, great! Just not for the whole thing, please, or it becomes kind of pointless. The other extreme is kind of just no reviewing and a whole lot of squealing over the protagonist's sparkly boyfriend. That's totally cool with me. If you are hopelessly in love with Sir Curly Hair, I want to hear about it! Actually, reading how infatuated you are with a character/plot device/ending/setting/etc. is probably just going to get me MOAAAARRR excited to read the book so I say go for it.

You can expect me, at least, to be loudly daydreaming about a certain Jem Carstairs for a looong time to come.

Feel free to join me.

What are your thoughts on fangirling? What do you like to shout your love for over the rooftops?

Why Fantasy Rocks

I love fantasy. I used to read a lot more of it before -- like years ago -- and I don't really know why I stopped. Just a disclaimer up front, I am in no way an expert or even very well-read in this genre. I'm just a fantasy lover.

What inspired this post? I'm reading Graceling by Kristin Cashore right now (yeah, yeah... I'm a little late to the party) and I am SO IN LOVE. I feel like I need an outlet to gush and what better place than here? Obviously these things don't apply to all fantasy novels.

The Things About Fantasy that
ROCK MY SOCKS sword?* OFF.

1. There are maps!

For a kid that can barely remember the capitals of all the provinces and territories of Canada, I sure have an inexplicable adoration for maps. I LOVE when fantasy novels have those maps at the beginning of the book with all of the different kingdoms/territories/countries/whatever. It's so cool to flip back at the end and be like gleefully tracing a route that the characters took. FUN.

(The settings in fantasy period are amazing... no question.)

2. There are girls! They do stuff!

Maybe this is a less common trend than I think it is. You'll have to forgive me if it is, because I grew up on a steady diet of Tamora Pierce and you just try and mess with Kel! (Kel is my favourite forever, end of contest.) I love seeing the women bust out their swords and bows or even maybe just their minds to help things get done. They are awesome and brave and strong and I just have so much love for it.

3. There is fighting!

In real life, I hate fighting. I can't stand it at all. In novels though? I have to admit that it's pretty fantastic when the swords are drawn and the battle commences. It's exhilarating and oftentimes superbly written (again, not an expert by any means). It's also at these points that trying to get me away from the book to do anything besides like breathe becomes a battle in itself.

4. There is magic!

I haven't made it a secret that I love magic on this blog (at least I don't think I have). Fantasy tends to be so charged with it and it amazes me every time. All of the discrimination and the battles of wills. All of the control aspects and the mastery of a certain skill. It's all so exciting every single time. I love it.

5. The sequels have purpose!

You know what I'm talking about, right? There are those genres that seem to have more of a tendency -- certainly not with every book -- to add sequels for the sake of adding sequels. I don't generally find that to be the case with fantasy. Does that mean that the series would be incomplete if it was cut off after the first book? Maybe not. It just has more of a feel that there are still (new) things to be explored and enough plot left over for a book just as thrilling as the last.

***

Well, those are some of the reasons I love fantasy. I'm sure I've forgotten some pretty huge ones though! Thoughts?

*Y'all are SAINTS for putting up with this crazy lameness. I'll stop now, I swear!

Also: I said the word 'love' NINE times in this post. I kid you not.

Things I Love

Today I'm going to talk about the random things I love in books. These are things that have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the actual story, and won't result in me loving or hating a book, but they're always fun to see. (By that, I mean that it's more of a "woah cool!" than a "huh, this is my new favourite book.")

Pretty Covers

I can't even be ashamed about this one (okay, maybe a little) because we ALL do it, don't we? I'm sure there has been one instance where you've picked up a book because you're mesmerized by the cover. Even if you ultimately ended up putting it back on the shelf, that shiny, gorgeous cover made you give it a second glance.

I don't know if there's a pattern to the covers I like. I'm sure there is, I just don't know it. Here are some covers that I loooooooove:

(Well, apparently I have a thing for pretty dresses. I WANT THEM ALLLLLL)

Chapter Titles

I love when a book has actual chapter titles! I feel like so many books nowadays have just "Chapter 1" or a Roman numeral to signify the new chapters. I guess that's fine... just kind of boring. I like being tempted about what's to come in the next chapter. That little bit of foreshadowing, or even if the chapter title just sounds mysterious and exciting, gives me something to look forward to.

Rick Riordan has THE BEST chapter titles in his novels. Examples?

• I Accidentally Vaporize my Pre-Algebra Teacher
• I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom 
• A God Buys us Cheeseburgers

Character Names

I'm so nosy. When I'm reading, I want to know everyone's name. I'm not satisfied with "the boy with the purple backback" and "the redhead with braces." I don't particularly care if this person is important to the story or not, but I love knowing their names! This is mostly just because I have kind of an obsession with names. I love looking them up and learning new ones and seeing the different spellings. Reading a book and recognizing characters by that distinctive calling card is fabulous.

(I wanted to scribble in "TELL MEEEEEEE!" but I decided against it.)

Places That Sound Cool

This is mostly with the fantasy genre, but I love locations with interesting-sounding names. Again, this isn't for any real reason, but places with unusual names tend to immediately make me think of a mystical, entrancing place.

I also like places with names that actually MAKE SENSE. For example:

The world is the land of potatoes. Everyone eats potatoes and is shaped like potatoes and they sleep on potato pillows (of course, after having taken off their potato shoes!).

Now, in Latin:

Potato = Potare (I found multiple translations although a lot of online translators didn't even have potato. The horror!)

Land = Solum (Again, multiple translations)

So maybe we should call the place... Potaresolum! Except something better than that

Acknowledgements Sections

I always, always, always read the acknowledgements section. They are usually so full of gratitude, love and just plain happiness (I wrote a book! A BOOK, I SAY!) and it makes me smile to read them. Plus, it's fun to go through the names mentioned and see if I recognize any of them.

Basically, reading the acknowledgements section is like soaking in a warm, comforting bubble bath of LOVE.

***

What random non-actual-book-related things do YOU love? Are there any that you hate? Let me know in the comments! 



Insta Love with GIFs!

Let's talk insta-love.

To get the obvious out of the way, insta love is the classic love at first sight. Here's how it goes*:

The shy and quiet (but totally gorgeous and genius) girl is minding her own business, probably surrounded by a crowd of people dying to be her BFF 'cause she is like WOAH. Then, the dark and brooding guy that never talks to anyone but instead spends his days exuding bad boy hotness will glance up and they'll lock eyes.

CUE THE VIOLINS.
WHERE'S THAT REPORTER?
LOVE OMG LOVE LOVE LOVE IS IN THE MAKING.

Then suddenly, the bay boy's icy exterior starts to melt away. Underneath, he is sensitive, protective and warm like a marshmallow. (Only to said girl though. Never try to cross this moody teenager - he will hack you into tiny pieces if you go near his girl.)

Now, sometimes (probably the first few times) you were like this:

And if you're anything like me, now you're likely more like this:

But you know what? Sometimes, that connection a couple makes is real and honest. It's adorable when you read about it and everyone is rooting for them. Sometimes it starts off as insta love, sometimes it doesn't. Either way, at the end of the day, I'm more like this:



And it's worth it.

*That was, of course, as stereotypical as possible. Not all insta love happens like that (although a lot ACTUALLY DO)

How do you feel about insta love? I want to know!

The Verdict

Doesn't that title sound dramatic? I thought so. Maybe it's just because I'm in the process of doing my law homework...

Anyways, before I say anything else, I just want to apologize for being so absent lately! With school starting and just my crazy schedule in general, I haven't had a chance to update or really comment on many other blogs either. Sorry! Hopefully things will be back to normal now.

The point of this post is basically just to go over the results from the poll (regarding whether or not I should create a rating system) and to announce my decision. I'd like to extend a huge THANK YOU to everyone that commented and voted - you were so helpful! There were definitely a lot of different opinions and I tried to take all of it into account.

As for the actual results... it was so close! The YES voters won in the end but they only made up 51% of the total. That being said, 27% said no and 21% said they didn't care (appreciate the honesty, folks!). Even without the poll though, I think I would have come to the same decision.

I WILL be trying out a rating system. I don't know if it will become a permanent addition to my blog, but I want to test it out to see if it works for me. The stars (I'm thinking maybe crowns) will go up to 5, but if it's a book I love to pieces, I may reserve a special 6th star ;)

Thanks again!

To Rate or Not to Rate?

So, I've noticed that the first thing I look for on a review is a rating. A group of paragraphs can tell me a lot but how the book compares to others and whether or not it's one of those READ OR DIE books is harder. I've read reviews that make the reviewer seem crazy for a particular title and then I'll look at the rating and, what?! A three out of five? Knowing how a book rates on a set scale is actually really nice (not to mention convenient) when I'm browsing on Goodreads.

All of this, and yet I don't rate books in my own reviews.
There is a reason for this other than the fact that I'm lazy. Off the top of my head, I can say that Divergent by Veronica Roth would be a five stars for me. I loved it, couldn't put it down. At the same time though, if five is the highest on the scale (as it normally is) wouldn't say, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, earn a five out of five? Great. Awesome. Harry Potter, 100%! But... does my brain consider Divergent and Harry Potter to be on the same level? Heck no. No offence meant to Divergent at all - I loved you! - but c'mon, it's Harry Potter. I am so biased it's not even funny.
Now, I'm not saying that this would be a major problem. Everyone here probably understands that my love for Harry Potter is like no other and chances are, I'm not going to run into another series like that one.
That's really the Big Deal about book ratings though. Not all three-stars would be equal in my mind. Maybe that's not such a huge thing though, I don't know. I've been going over some books in my head and I definitely could rate them if I tried (I'd probably like my half stars though LOL).
So now I thought I would ask you! I'll post a poll in the side bar (right at the top) and if you could vote on it, I would really appreciate it!

WSJ, I disagree.

I wasn't going to do this. Seriously, I wasn't.

So, as you should know by now (really, it's everywhere!) the Wall Street Journal published an "article" on Saturday that provoked some pretty strong reactions from YA readers. I won't recap the article just because I think it's a lot better if you and read it for yourself. Basically though, the article in question is entitled Darkness Too Visible: Contemporary fiction for teens is rife with explicit abuse, violence and depravity. Why is this considered a good idea? I think that says it all.
I was talking to a friend yesterday on Facebook and I shared the link with her. She shared her opinion on it with me and I just wanted (with her permission, of course) to post it for your viewing enjoyment. Here we go:

I wonder if the writer of that realized how ridiculous it was while they were writing it. I mean, I'll admit; the only book I've read that they mentioned was "The Hunger Games," but still. These books weren't written to scar readers; they were written to educate people on how some of this really happens and how they can try to better it or help someone who is going through it. It's not as if someone who writes a book about someone cutting is trying to make readers cut themselves; they write it to show the emotional suffering a person is going through and how people around them can help, and/or maybe even prevent this kind of stuff from happening.
Novels are written to enrich a person's mind, and these novels were written to show this kind of stuff happens in society. And what's more is that the older generation is constantly complaining about how the younger generation doesn't read books enough anymore. If it gets this kind of reaction to books, what are we supposed to do? Ignore that these kinds of things happen to people? Society isn't picture perfect and never will be. We can try to help it as much as we can, but we need to educate ourselves on these issues. And how else are we going to do that without reading? The article said itself, there's some "ghastly stuff" on the Internet.

Another thing; this is supposed to count as journalism? Journalism is supposed to be written from an unbiased perspective - this seemed pretty biased to me.

That's it. Now comes my part. 

-

Okay, first of all, this woman couldn't find anything but "vampires and suicide and self-mutilation" on the shelves? Really. You cannot expect me to believe that this bookstore didn't stock any light contemporary suited for a thirteen-year-old. If that's what you want your children reading, great! Give them Meg Cabot or Ally Carter - both wonderful authors with wonderful books.

This whole argument about how things in the past were so much better than they are now because books like ones today didn't exist makes no sense to me. People were always being murdered and raped, teenagers always suffered from depression and anxiety and eating disorders. The only thing that has changed is that now these people have more means of support and comfort - by this, of course, I mean novels. 
Books that go into the darker topics help people every day by showing them that they are not alone in their struggles and that maybe, someday, everything will be okay. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and we can rise above the challenges we face - however big or small.

I am a teenager. That does not mean I am ignorant or impressionable enough to kill someone because the main character in a book is a murderer.

I am young. I can think intelligently and formulate my own opinions and viewpoints. Please don't talk down to me like I don't understand.

This whole article just felt so condescending to me. Let's not disregard the value of the books that were mentioned.

The real thing (one of them, anyways) that gets to me though, is the bundle of comments made against Scars by Cheryl Rainfield. Please do not go against this book - you have no idea how powerful it was to me when I first read it. Not because I'd been through anything remotely similar - my life is wonderful and I am so, so lucky to have the family I do - but because that's the kind of novel it is. It's the book that makes you step outside your sheltered little bubble and think and want to do something. It was my first venture into novels like that and I am so glad I decided to pick it up.

Has the author of this article done any research at all? I was shocked and angry to read what she had to say about this book because it isn't some made-up nonsense designed to haunt readers' every waking moment. It is all based on the suffering Cheryl Rainfield went through as a child and teenager. That "horribly scarred forearm" on the cover belongs to the author. Obviously, she has not written this book to "trigger a sufferer's relapse." These books are written for the complete opposite!

The thing is that the world isn't sunshine and daisies. Is it so ridiculous to have books focusing on rape when 1 in 4 women in North America are sexually assaulted sometime in their life? 17% of girls under 16 have experienced some form of incest. 83% of disable women are sexually assaulted.* These statistics are horrible and scary but true. Isn't it important that these people have as many ways of possible overcoming these struggles as possible? I think so.

In regards to banning books, I get it. People want to protect children and shield them from the books that can terrify and harm them. I have no problem with that! Do it for your children. Sit down with your children and tell your children what they can and cannot read. Have an open discussion about it! Don't tell other people's kids what to read and what not to read though. You can parent your children, and your next-door-neighbour can parent theirs.

Oh, and the suggested reads on the sidebar - WHY IS THAT DIVIDED BY GENDER? I feel like I've stepped into a time machine.  

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The statistics used in this post were found on this website.
* The last two stats are for women in Canada.

My Library Is Better Than Yours*

*Okay, not really. I'm sure your libraries are absolutely, positively wonderful. Anyways!

I love libraries.

You've probably seen the 'source' section of my reviews. Most of the time, the books that I read and review are from the library. I don't buy that many books and it's great to have a resource that allows me to read so many for free.
Yesterday, my mom, sister and I went out shopping and when asked where we wanted to go, I immediately responded with the library. My mom rolled her eyes and guessed that I would probably live there if I had the chance - I would.

When I got to the library yesterday, I headed over to the holds rack and started piling my books into my giant bag (my books totally have their own shelf they dominate, by the way). After I had loaded all thirteen into the bag (they were dangerously close to toppling out) I walked to the self check-out counter. I opened my wallet, and... NO LIBRARY CARD. I'd forgotten it at home. I went to the librarian desperately, prepared to ask if I could just rattle off my barcode number and still get my books - is it weird to have a fourteen-digit barcode number memorized? I think I would have cried if I had to go pile them back on the shelf and then return to get them again. Luckily, before I'd even finished have the sentence, the librarian assured me that as long as I had some form of ID, it wouldn't be a problem. She was so kind and accomodating - the way all librarians I've ever encountered have always been.

Now, I know library looks aren't for everyone. I have a friend who refuses to borrow books from the library because she doesn't know what people before her have been doing with them. I get it, I do. Sometimes there are crayon marks, sometimes there are tears, sometimes the entire binding is literally falling apart. Heck, I recently read one that someone had taken it upon themself to annotate (really weird comments, too). At the end of the day though, the words inside are the same and it's just as easy for me to get swept up in the story.

For me, going to the library has always been a magical experience. You're surrounded by so many different stories, so many different lives and worlds that it's just a matter of picking one to delve into.

I love my library for always keeping up with the newest releases, my librarians for their friendliness, CC, my library card (I know what you guys are thinking...) for being the coolest inanimate object ever and my mom for taking me to the library at least once a week.

THANK YOU, all of you!