What’s On Your Bookshelf?

ImageIf you read–or particularly write Young Adult novels, then you’ve probably heard about that article over at Slate. The one with this tagline:

Read whatever you want. But you should feel embarrassed when what you’re reading was written for children.

Naturally, there’s been a tremendous backlash because…well, for various and obvious reasons. (Margo Dill over at The Muffin today shared her opinion, and it’s a fine one.) Mostly it all comes back to Graham’s remarks being offensive. Offensive in that elitist, snobbish, I’m-better-than-you-are-because-I-read-adult-and-meaningful-literature. But also, as any schoolkid can tell you, because nobody likes being told what they “should” read.

Let’s take a look at what’s on Cathy C. Hall’s bookshelf (or the floor, as I like to call it):

Margo Dill’s Caught Between Two Curses

Stephen Colbert’s I Am A Pole and So Can You!

Susan Spencer-Wendel’s Until I Say Goodbye

Nina Amir’s The Author Training Manual (Coming up this Wednesday on a WOW book tour!)

Suzanne Lilly’s Gold Rush Girl (Just finished! See my review on Goodreads.)

Becky Povich’s From Pigtails to Chin Hairs (next up on the e-reader)

So…that’s two YA’s, one picture book, two adult memoirs, and one non-fiction. And  you know what?

I will read them on a train. And I will read them on a plane. I will read them on the street. And I will read them in bare feet. I will read them here or there. I will read them anywhere.

Because I’m an adult. And I read what I want.

(Have you got a read you’d like to recommend? Tell us what’s on your bookshelf! And you can sound off, too.)

 

Friday’s Fun Find: Walken and YA

Okay. I admit it. I have this Christopher Walken thing. It’s kinda weird, but probably nowhere near as weird as Walken. Anyway, when Elizabeth Dulemba shared this peek of him telling the story of The Three Little Pigs, I had to watch. You don’t have to watch unless you, too, have a thing for Christopher Walken. Or The Three Little Pigs.

So here’s my other fun find for today: Pugaliscious Press is looking for YA  for an anthology!

Here’s a chance for you writers who are all about the short stories. Say around 3,000 to 7500 words. Oh! And your story has to fit the historical romance genre. And even if you’re like me and your story is around 2,000 words, you have till March 30th to spiff up that YA.

Which is a very good thing. Because I have a few Christopher Walken clips to watch before I get down to writing.