The following is cross posted from my Substack newsletter page!
On Reading YA
One of my favorite things to read is YA books. I know it was a trend a few years ago, and people might be thinking it’s not that cool anymore for an old reader to still be reading YA, but I jumped on that wagon way back then and have yet to get off.
I truly think YA books are some of the best reading out there. It’s something I like to champion and gush about to this day.
That’s why every August, I celebrate YA books on my BookTube channel (and wherever else I’m talking about reading, like here and Instragram/Threads) with my friend Mariandrea (@books_and_bocadillos) We call this celebration YA’UGUST… the month of reading YA!
Of course I’m reading YA all year long but during August I love to hype it up a bit more. Here are my talking points:
Even if they are written for a younger audience, older people can still read them and get a TON out of them.
Even if they are written for a younger audience, the actual writing is still amazing and deep and lush and beautiful. (All the talk about YA books being “lesser than” makes me so crazy!)
Sometimes, though, it’s true that YA books are lighter and “easier” to read, which can be a balm in this world of hard things.
YA books have the breadth and range of genres, just like adult books. (YA is a category, not a genre.)
It is true that in recent years some YA books (and their authors) might be targeted to an older audience, thanks to the trend mentioned above. But there are still a TON of books out there with the aim to attract younger readers.
Bottom line: YA books are just so much fun!
Mariandrea has come up with a fun image bingo board to help get your creative book choosing juices flowing for YA reading in YA’UGUST. To participate, you just have to read one book, but if you want to go above and beyond, try to get a bingo!
You can watch our announcement video here where we discuss our YA passion a bit more and explain the event:
Here are just some of the YA books I’d love to read this month:
You can watch me talk about all these books and explain the bingo board a bit more here:
Mariandrea and I also thought it would be fun to recommend a YA book to each other, so that book is actually my first YA read this month! Watch here to see what she recommended:
I’m loving it so far!
What are some of your favorite YA books? Let me know in comments!
(I’ll have more on some YA lists to share further on into the month. Stay tuned!)
