Talk about the kidlit you're reading!

JoyMC

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I :heart: Gregor the Overlander. Suzanne Collins rocks.

*sigh* Does this mean I have to read Hunger Games?

Oh, so glad you loved it!! Have you just read the first one? It's such a great series on the whole.

Why are you resisting Hunger Games? I don't think you have to read them, but they 're a super fun ride, exploring similar themes, but for an older crowd.
 

C.J. Rockwell

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I :heart: Gregor the Overlander. Suzanne Collins rocks.

*sigh* Does this mean I have to read Hunger Games?

Oh, so glad you loved it!! Have you just read the first one? It's such a great series on the whole.

Why are you resisting Hunger Games? I don't think you have to read them, but they 're a super fun ride, exploring similar themes, but for an older crowd.

If I had to guess, RuthD might be afraid she can't handle some of the things explored in that trilogy.

RuthD, if that's the case, try not to feel shame.:Hug2:

I have not read Hunger Games either, and I'm in no hurry to do so, but me and YA don't have a great history, few books peeked my interest, this has more to do with my taste in books than anything else, but it is true to say my reading is more varried overall than my writing.

Sometimes we're not ready to read certain books, or writers in general, for whatever reason, but that doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, really.

Trust me, this is something I personally have to battle daily. Maybe you just need a break from a certain type of book or writer you've been reading a lot.

If it helps at all, I'm afraid to read Hunger Games too, and the buzz of the movie earlier this year didn't help, but books are supposed to be fun, not just "Research" however you loose or strict your definition of the "Read like a Writer" concept.

Those of you who are all "I just read whatever I want" feel free to not feel obligated to reply. ;)

For the rest of us, try to be kinder to yourself, easier said than done, but trust me when I say the alternative is FAR worse than anything you could imagine. I speak from painful experience.

Take care, RuthD.
 
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Smish

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I haven't read Gregor the Overlander, yet. I have read Hunger Games, though. I liked the first book. The second and third books were disappointing, in my opinion.
 

JoyMC

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Gosh, I certainly wasn't trying to pressure Ruth or make her feel ashamed. I was sincerely asking what holds her back. If it helps, though, my sister who is extremely sensitive to violence, read them and really enjoyed them. But no, of course you don't have to read them. Sorry if I implied otherwise. (And now that I write this, I remember you were super repulsed by the brief vomiting in the beginning of An Abundance of Katherines, right? So yeah ... HG may not be for you.)
 

C.J. Rockwell

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Oh, I'm sure you didn't mean it that way. I'm not totally sure if she meant her reply in fear, but in case she did I wanted to lend my support, you sometimes never know what's sensitive to one person and not another, especially in something as subjective as books.


Despite the waves I made round here in the past, I can relate to being afraid of reading some books.

I wouldn't have read ANY books about war, especially if the war was real (WW2, Vietnam, Iraq, etc), or The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Sitterfield, when I was younger (Under 20)

But two of my favorite books are The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (WW2 novel in letters, but unlike other war books I'd tried to read and just emotionally couldn't stand, I loved this one, the audiobook is a great listen to, just be prepared to cry in parts) and The Thirteenth Tale. For me, the strong narrative voice and compelling prose made wading through the dark stuff less polarizing, again for ME.
 
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sissybaby

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Hey, Ruth, I love Jerry Spinelli, but I had to put Wringer down after three chapters. I just can't handle it for some reason.

I haven't read the Overlander books, but I did read Hunger Games. It was okay, but I haven't wanted to read the others yet.
 

Smish

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Mod Note

Let's not make assumptions about other members, please. It is certainly not the purpose of this thread to make guesses about why someone has chosen not to read a particular book/series.

I am aware that no harm was meant, so let's move on. NO DEFENSIVE RESPONSES TO THIS POST. If anyone does feel the need to respond, do so in a PM.
 

Smish

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The next book in my tbr stack is Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson. I can't remember ever not loving a LHA book, so I have high expectations.
 

SheilaJG

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Ooh, I really liked Chains, Smish. I've been meaning to pick up the sequel (Forge) for a while. Thanks for reminding me. She's an amazing writer.

I'm reading The Book of Wonders by Jasmine Richards. It's very Arabian Nights - the main character's name is Scheherazade.
 

MsJudy

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I :heart: Gregor the Overlander. Suzanne Collins rocks.

*sigh* Does this mean I have to read Hunger Games?

Nope. They're very different series. (serieses?) Hunger Games lacks the fantasy stuff and is far more intense.

I enjoyed both, but I can't imagine as a writer spending months and months in the grim imaginative places she's going to these days.

And warning--the Gregor series gets more intense as it goes along. Not as grim as Hunger Games, but not exactly Happy Rainbow Puppyland, either.
 

Kitty Pryde

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Let me be the voice of dissent and say IMO Hunger Games stinks on ice. The MC has no personality and does nothing for the entire book. The ending is 100% predictable and taunts you from a distance of hundreds of pages of lousy prose away. The world building makes less than no sense. The book has only two things going for it. The first is a massive marketing campaign. The second is that every paragraph is written in a cliffhanger style so one is prompted to read on despite the pain. It's sort of like fallin down a ravine: unpleasant, yet you find yourself unable to stop.

It may have interested some non reading children in reading, and props for that. but it is seriously not a good book at all.
 

Morrell

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Nope. They're very different series. (serieses?) Hunger Games lacks the fantasy stuff and is far more intense.

I enjoyed both, but I can't imagine as a writer spending months and months in the grim imaginative places she's going to these days.

And warning--the Gregor series gets more intense as it goes along. Not as grim as Hunger Games, but not exactly Happy Rainbow Puppyland, either.

That's exactly what I meant, MsJudy. I wouldn't say I'm looking for Happy Rainbow Puppyland, but unrelenting grimness doesn't appeal to me.

For the record, I've never felt pressured by anyone here. My daughter is the one who keeps shoving HG in my face. ;) I should have skipped the dumb joke and said what I meant: "Now that I know Collins is such an amazing storyteller, I might want to read HG to study how she does it."

I love this thread, and learn so much from it. Besides being an amazing source of book recommendations, it broadens my overall knowledge of kid lit. Even if I don't have the time or inclination to read something, I'm still likely to know something about it because someone here read it and talked about it. I respect the different opinions and tastes of those who participate here.
 

Laura J

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I am still reading Bliss. I like it quite a lot. I lost it in my suitcase for a while. I also lost 13 Treasure in our move home.

My son is reading 39 Clues and insists that I start it. Anyone else? He loves them.

I read HG, because I couldn't remember reading a first person present POV book. I had no interest in picking it up until I saw it on the sale table in Marshalls. Not my normal kind of book. I approached strictly it from a writer's pov. So, I enjoyed learning about the perspective. And I appreciated the story. Sobbed through it. I liked the movie too. I read the second and started the last, but can't seem to finish it. I know it is sad. I saw that she has a MG book and was curious.
 

Britwriter

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I totally don't want to read HG. I know I couldn't cope with it. But, sometime in the future maybe. Maybe when my kids are older. ;)

I think often our own stage of life influences what we want to read, and what we can cope with - at least for the sensitive souls amongst us. I found it really interesting that when I queried my MG with a girl protagonist, two different people came back to say that they found the girl too 'mean'. This took me by surprise, as I don't see her as mean at all. Snarky, sassy, smart, funny, sharp, yes, but not mean.

Then I realized that both these people had preschooler sons of the age of the MC's little brother, who is the target of much of the MC's snark. One of them actually told me she felt defensive of preschoolers like her son as she read, and it turned her off.

I did wonder whether I should research whether any further agents I queried had preschool age sons!

But, seriously, I know I couldn't read HG because I would link the story emotionally to my own kids. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. But, I have a really overactive imagination, and can recall emotional scenes from books and movies that I saw twenty years ago with absolute clarity.
 

Britwriter

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Just feeling frustrated at reading a book I ordered on amazon without looking closely enough. Not going to mention the title. But, it's self published, and the great five star reviews, when I look again now, are all about the kindle edition, which I now realize must have been given away or something in return for reviews.

It's actually OK, and a pretty decent concept. But, it needs a good editor to whip it into shape. The writing grates on me, and I can't let go of my editor brain.

I don't know why this irritates me, but it does! I want to rework it for the author, then send it back to her and say 'this is what you should have done! Have more patience next time!'

Oh well. Maybe I'll finish it, maybe I won't. ;)
 

Morrell

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I've felt the same way, Britwriter. It's a shame when a book has real potential, and you feel like the author impulsively put it out there before it was ready.

Just finished Small Medium at Large by Joanne Levy. The logline is "Lilah can hear ghosts ... and, boy, are they annoying!" It's very funny, and has great tween voice. But it's honest and warm, too; not just snarky. I really liked it. Hope there will be a sequel.
 

C.J. Rockwell

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I totally don't want to read HG. I know I couldn't cope with it. But, sometime in the future maybe. Maybe when my kids are older. ;)

I think often our own stage of life influences what we want to read, and what we can cope with - at least for the sensitive souls amongst us. I found it really interesting that when I queried my MG with a girl protagonist, two different people came back to say that they found the girl too 'mean'. This took me by surprise, as I don't see her as mean at all. Snarky, sassy, smart, funny, sharp, yes, but not mean.

Then I realized that both these people had preschooler sons of the age of the MC's little brother, who is the target of much of the MC's snark. One of them actually told me she felt defensive of preschoolers like her son as she read, and it turned her off.

I did wonder whether I should research whether any further agents I queried had preschool age sons!

But, seriously, I know I couldn't read HG because I would link the story emotionally to my own kids. I wouldn't be able to sleep at night. But, I have a really overactive imagination, and can recall emotional scenes from books and movies that I saw twenty years ago with absolute clarity.

I'm not a parent, and I feel the same way you do about HG, so you aren't alone, and it is hard to stay current when the new buzz-worthy books of the moment are about things you personally aren't emotionally interested or ready to read.

Most writers I know don't have this problem. I do. We should respect that.
 

Kitty Pryde

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Been a while since I've read any MG but I just got out to my mom's local library so yay. I read a book about magical sparkly mermaids, Daughters of the Sea: Hannah. It was decent but I would have liked it more if I was a kid and hadn't realized that the book was building up to a magical sparkly mermaid transformation. Also crazy POV jumping from close third to distant third of. I or characters.

Then a little cute Canadian book called Becca At Sea, which was a quiet little meandering adventure. Not much happened but it was pleasing enough.

Then Calvin Coconut, Trouble Magnet, funny boy adventure set in Hawaii. A good early MG for a reluctant reader advancing past chapter books. I'm writing a lesson plan on it for my homework, hurrah.

And now reading a book about a little boy sailor who has a pet monkey. Report to follow soon. What are y'all reading?
 

Ferret

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I liked Hunger Games. A couple of things about it bothered me, but I thought it was a quick and enjoyable read. I really want to read the Underland series, especially since my agent compared one of my books to it, but I haven't gotten around to it yet.

Right now I'm reading Before I Fall (YA), and I really like it so far. Great writing. I have Holes, which I think has been discussed in this thread, in my TBR pile.
 

Smish

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Oh! You have to read HOLES. It's one of the best MG books of all time. And I love the first sentence: "There is no lake at Camp Green Lake." Doesn't that just make you want to keep reading? :D
 

Ferret

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Oh! You have to read HOLES. It's one of the best MG books of all time. And I love the first sentence: "There is no lake at Camp Green Lake." Doesn't that just make you want to keep reading? :D

Yes, that's a great line. I thought I remembered hearing great things about the book here, so I had to buy it when I saw it. The last time I bought a book based on raves in this thread, I was very happy with my purchasing decision. (It was the Giver.)
 

sissybaby

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Oh, The Giver gave me the creeps, but I LOVED Holes. That first line is memorable, for sure.

I've been reading the Alice books, and I really like them. I'm about finished with Alice in Rapture, Sort Of, and I'm a little surprised that she's getting ready for 7th grade and into French kissing already. Have I forgotten those days, or does that seem a little premature?

I also read Trolls on Vacation the other day. Silly book but I enjoyed the humor of it.

Also reading one from a self-published author called Gasparilla's Treasure. I am going to review it on my blog. I think the story is quite interesting, and all of the historical data that I've checked out has been accurate. The problem is with the writing. It isn't Bad, but it isn't quite what it should be. I hate that, because if the author had taken the time to learn a little more, I think he'd have a much better book.

So, what's everyone else reading?
 

Britwriter

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Also reading one from a self-published author called Gasparilla's Treasure. I am going to review it on my blog. I think the story is quite interesting, and all of the historical data that I've checked out has been accurate. The problem is with the writing. It isn't Bad, but it isn't quite what it should be. I hate that, because if the author had taken the time to learn a little more, I think he'd have a much better book.

So, what's everyone else reading?

Same here, I just finished The Underwear Dare. I can see how fabulous it could be for boys, especially reluctant readers. I actually enjoyed it, when I could remove myself from critiquing it. It needed some serious editing, before it could be really good. Silly mistakesin self-published books really annoy me. I know that almost all books have mistakes - mine certainly did when the were first published- but these stupid mistakes just jumped at me. (like, 'to' instead of 'too', for example.)

And when I have to read a sentence three times to get the sense, then pick it apart and want to get a pen and correct the punctuation, it makes me really sad that the author didn't wait on it and follow a different route to publishing. Especially when they have a good concept, and there are real merits to the book. To see something be just OK, when it could be really good with a little work, is just frustrating.

Some of the self published books I've read recently have really proved the point to me - put it away, edit it, ask others to read it, edit it again. Then get an agent and take it to a publisher. Patience, patience, patience, folks!

Having said all this, I'm going to give it to my kids and see if they like it. I'm guessing my son will think it hilarious, but my older kids will be more discerning and the writing will bother them. We'll see. :)
 

MsJudy

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This is exactly my frustration with the move towards self-publishing. So many authors just end up shooting themselves in the foot by rushing forward.

Learning the craft is a long, hard process. Taking shortcuts doesn't work.

The sad truth is, if they spent more time and energy developing their skills, they might not need to consider self-publishing at all.

And because there are so many books like that out there, people like me end up not buying anything self-published, because we don't expect the quality to be there.