Category: discussion

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

WHAT MAKES YOU CONTINUE PICKING UP YA/MIDDLE GRADE? OR WHY DON’T YOU? (SUGGESTED BY SAM @ RIVER MOOSE BOOKS)

Prompts: As adults some of us leave YA/Middle Grade behind and some of us continue to revel in it…but what separates us as readers? If you still pick up YA/Middle Grade, what draws you to them instead of Adult Fiction? If you’ve “grown out” of those genres, why do they no longer spark joy in you? If you’re a teen, do you think you’ll still read YA/Middle Grade when you’re in your 20s/30s? 

Welcome to May and our first LTB for the month! A very fun topic to begin with, and something I’ll definitely be looking forward to seeing from all the other responses. After all, most of us are no longer the “target age” of the audiences for which the books we love are written. Yet here we all are!

As most of you probably know by now, I do tend to read mostly thrillers and mysteries if I were just to pick up a book randomly to read for enjoyment. That being said, Andge often has great suggestions for YAs as that is her specialty, and rarely do I regret reading anything she suggests! I loved YA novels and series (Deltora Quest, anyone?) as a child, but I did grow out of some of them.

When the language is just too easy and/or repetitive, or plotlines very very basic, I find it hard to enjoy them as I once did. I am always left wishing for more character development here, or an increase in tension there, something I would not have appreciated as a young child. That being said, some stories feel truly timeless (e.g. Harry Potter), and especially such series that have also “grown” with their audience – and I never tire of those.

As I continue to grow older (so, so old…), I believe there’s always something that draws me back to YAs. YA novels often use the coming-of-age or loss-of-innocence tropes, and generally have a lot of influence of finding yourself and growing up, or young romance as well. These are the kind of idealistic things that I believe most people never truly leave behind. I obviously don’t speak for everybody, but I am guessing that many of us relate to those YA topics in some way, which draws us back time and time again.

One last thing is that YAs are usually less serious or at least most lighthearted. Something to detract from my cynicism of aging or to lessen how jaded I might be feeling. Adult fiction can just sometimes be so heavy, and depending on my mood, I just may not be up for it. For me, I feel like I can read a YA anytime as an escape, or just a light read. The contrast of the average YA from my usual suspense/thrillers are usually quite stark, and I think that adds to the fun as well.

I want to know what you all think! Why do you all read YAs (if you do)? And what keeps you reading them?

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Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

APRIL 30: TACKLING TOXIC RELATIONSHIPS IN LITERATURE (SUGGESTED BY MIKAELA @ MIKAELA READS)

Prompts: When it comes to fiction how should toxic relationships be handled? Is it okay to portray toxic relationships? How can we avoid glorifying Teacher x Student or other toxic dynamics, and is it important to try to avoid that? How do you feel about abusive relationships in fiction? What about in adult dark romance?

Last day of April already, I can’t believe it. And here we have yet another very interesting topic. One that I think about all the time – not the topic itself, but rather its propriety. Overall, I feel like I do enjoy the occasional toxic relationship in a fiction, although perhaps I prefer seeing the character break out of it more than I like seeing them in one.

On the one hand we could choose to eliminate these kinds of tropes as they portray relationships that are inappropriate, and glorify other toxic dynamics that we wouldn’t want to deem acceptable in real life. Although that being said, violent video games don’t necessarily make people violent either, right? I guess the problem lies more with how much are people’s perspectives truly affected by what they read in fiction?

On the other hand, such abusive relationships are also part of reality. As unfortunate as the truth is, there are people who suffer in such relationships, and sometimes books depicting such things may be eye-opening for people, when seeing a toxic relationship from a third person point of view. I think one main thing to avoid is striving for these toxic relationships. It is nothing to be proud of, and if I read about it, I would much rather read about how friends and family are being supportive, and helping them find a way out of it.

So overall I think it’s okay to portray such abusive/toxic relationships in fiction, but not really ok to glorify them. Thinking about it another way, the things that often happen in suspense and mystery novels are also totally unacceptable in real life. But murderers (etc.) often get their just desserts, and perhaps this is the way I feel about how toxic relationships should be portrayed as well. Yes, these types of atrocities do happen, but no it’s not acceptable, and people should and will fight against it.

I feel like there are definitely the types of people who are into this kind of thing, whether in real life or in fiction. That as an opinion I can at least respect. If it’s consensual “toxic” dynamics, then I guess I don’t have much to say about it. Though if it is totally consensual, is it really toxic? I’m not sure, but it is certainly a fine line to walk.

I’ve never been too bothered by the toxic relationships in a book, although I don’t personally seek them out or want to see them. Occasionally such relationships will advance a character or a plot, and I think that’s okay.

What do you all think? Is there something that the fiction/book world should be doing about such relationships? Or is it just another one of those things like murder that we shouldn’t take as seriously in a fiction like we do in real life? Let me know in the comments below!

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Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme, hosted by Rukky @ Eternity Books & Dani @ Literary Lion, where they discuss certain topics, share their opinions, and spread the love by visiting each others’ posts.

APRIL 23: HOW READING AFFECTS MENTAL HEALTH (SUGGESTED BY KRISTIN @ LUKTEN AV TRYKKSVERTE)

Prompts: In what ways does reading affect your mental health? Does it affect your mental health positively or negatively at certain times, and why? How do you find a balance to keep up with reading while being mindful of your mental health? Do triggers, bookish controversies, and things like that affect your health a lot more than you let on?

This is such an interesting topic. I am not sure it really affects my “mental health” in the traditional sense of the word, but reading surely affects my mental state. As it should, right? To be so absorbed into a book where the feelings being elicited by the book are pretty much your own and not the character’s anymore.

I think there’s two ways to think about how it affects me (kind of similar to dreams and nightmares, to be honest): one, the book elicits a bunch of happy fuzzy feelings the same way a dream would, but then after I’m done, may leave me feeling a bit empty. On the other hand, dark and thrilling books always twist my gut and leave me (almost) anxious like a nightmare, but finishing it and waking up to reality is kind of like a refreshing relief. Anybody else know what I mean?

This always made me confused whether I preferred good or bad dreams, since the feeling of waking up and having the illusion dispelled is just a strong a feeling as having the dream in the first place. For what it’s worth, I tend to like reading mysteries and thrillers, so it seems like I value the feeling afterwards more.

Timing definitely matters a lot as well. Isn’t this the whole reason that as readers we’re not always inclined to read the same types of books all the time? There are times for the adventure, the mystery, the suspense. But at other times we also just want to chill with our favourite (possibly guilty) romance/romantic comedy novels. If you’re feeling anxious in real life, you probably aren’t going to want to increase anxiety by reading a scary psychological thriller. I think timing has always been an potent factor in determining whether a book is enjoyable.

To combat this, I think just picking books for what you feel like, and not pushing yourself too far tends to work best. There really isn’t a need to read a book when you don’t feel like it (most of the time). Yes there are probably some times where you have to power through for the sake of a deadline – but even then, pushing yourself too far is never good. Remember to be honest with yourself with how much you can take, mental health is so important to take care of.

Lastly, I think controversial topics that I read about in books do actually affect me a lot. Not to the point where it drastically alters my life or anything, but does sometimes leave me feeling cynical or jaded. While it’s not often that I actively hide such a feeling, I suppose I do not always volunteer these types of emotions either. I wouldn’t say they affect my overall mental health much, but I do admit that my mood can be heavily influenced by something I read.

I feel that in general reading books generally betters mental health though? Or at least I feel like I use books as an escape sometimes, and therefore it offers me reprieve from the harsh realities of the real world. So realistically, books shouldn’t make me feel worse, otherwise I would just not read them! What do you all think?

That’s a wrap for this week! Remember to follow Rukky and Dani on their respective blogs, which is linked above. Feel free to leave your own suggestions for LTB topics as well while you’re over there!