Discussion, news, book hauls, reviews, and anything else about books!
Did you get over the need to read the 'real' books?
So, I love all fantasy, mystery, YA and romance - specifically comedy romance novels aka chic lit, but it seems that some of those genres have this stigma attached to it.
I was wondering do you have a genre that you love reading that you felt you might need to when talking about remind people that you also read 'real' books? Or have you managed to hit the point of just being you and reading what you love to read?




I really enjoy more classic or literary fiction on one level, because I tend to come out of it with a more profound experience--feeling like I've learned something more about humanity or had my perspective on the world changed in some way--and also because I like being a well-read person and being able to understand references to those kinds of books and discuss them with others. (Also because I was an English major and feel some guilt that I still haven't read anything my James Joyce, for example.)
I also really enjoy nonfiction books because I love learning!
But... Those books do tend to be books that I actually enjoy slightly less in the actual consumption of them, as evidenced by how long they take me to read. My "guilty" pleasure that I don't talk to people as much because it doesn't fit the image of who I think I am or should be, is YA lit. And when I download an audiobook that's YA, I tend to burn through the books in a matter of days. They're just so fun! And they are so light and easy to enjoy rather than something you have to think about and work for, and that's especially nice when you're exhausted mentally already from working all the time.
So my solution is that I usually end up in the middle of several books all at the exact same time, haha, because I want to read all of those. Sometimes I got through a whole YA series while reading a different book... Oh well!
Also an English major here, so with you on the enjoying some classic and literary fiction on one level. And I also blaze through YA while reading something heaver. I have though, since folllowing sociology post grad found that there is a lot to be gotten from good YA.
And isn't it interesting the way we don't like sharing some aspects about ourselves due the image we want to present? People, a strange species indeed ;)
I pretty much read anything and everything I can get my hands on - classic, YA, horror, romance, nonfiction, etc. In my experience, most people haven't really given me any problems about catagorizing one genre or the other as "real".
Except with fanfiction. There is a ton of stigma against fanfiction works - enough so I literally spent five minutes staring at this post, debating the pros of mentioning it for its relevancy and the cons of, I don't know, being publicly shamed? I've never been very forthcoming about reading fanfiction, except around close friends and people who also read it. It's rarely ever considered "real literature." I disagree.
For those who don't know, fanfiction is essentially stories that are based off of an existing books/movies/tv shows/etc., often written by women, often focused on relationships of characters that may or may not have been together in the original source. Fanfiction is often used to amend problems that people see with the source - whether it be a lack of representation of LQBT+, times where characters died, or they place characters into new situations that wouldn't happen in canon. It gets a lot of flack because it doesn't use original characters (and often doesn't use original settings), and in recent years has developed a reputation for being very sexual. Often, little to no proofreading has been done - anyone can publish the stories online for free on websites like AO3. I'll be the first to admit, there is a measure of truth in those concerns.
But just as there's a lot of really amazing, wonderful books that stay with you after you've shut the cover, there's a lot of really awful books that you wish you never picked up in the first place. The same thing follows for fanfiction.
In example, one series I'm reading has three parts to it, and it's currently on the final installment. It updates the same day every single week, and each chapter is 14k+ words. I've done the math - this series will be the length of 6 full length adult novels, and it is currently longer than the first four Harry Potter books combined. I will be reading this series into August, if the schedule for posting stays the same. And every word of this series is golden - she writes beautiful character development (in both the characters taken from original source, and the original characters), gut-wrenching plot, and a fair amount of suspense and mystery. There is no doubt in my mind that this is just as real as any other literature. You're still hard pressed to find someone (outside of groups who read or write it) who thinks that fanfiction is "real literature".
One of the best arguments about fanfiction was a series of examples of fanfiction in the past: Dante's Inferno, for example, is a massive self-insertion fanfiction of the Catholic doctrine. Lord of the Flies is a much darker AU fanfiction of The Coral Island. Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is fanfiction of the real event. Most Disney princess movies are fanfictions of much older stories.
Anyway, I've rambled on enough about this.
I posted this because I was chatting about the way in which women are supposed to be ashamed of reading romance novels. I hadn't considered, fanfic as something that doesn't count as 'real'.
Fanfic can be so amazing, because it comes from love. Have you read Raibow Rowel's Fangirl [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16068905-fangirl?from_search=true&search_version=service] and Carry On [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28356624-carry-on?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true] ? They're amazing.
Also thanks for sharing :)
A great read on fanfic http://pfangirl.blogspot.co.za/2016/04/fan-fiction-maligned-misunderstood.html
There's something satisfying about reading a YA novel. If only because it's either a quick read, or, it's not a super heavy read.
With you there. There are so many great YA books out there.
Totally! They're usually really fun too! They usually have a lot of loveable characters
I read what I want and that could be anything from YA to chick lit to classics to more "respected" works. I'm enjoying myself and I think that's what matters the most.
So very true :D
I reeaaaallly like reading silly fantasy books! I love the world building aspect that comes into it!
ASOIF is so cool to me because GRRM made this massive world, and every character has their own backstory, needs, and motivations!
I also love how goofy they are. The Eragon series is a goofy mess but I loved reading them, even if they're not that great, because it's just fun to kick back and enjoy something silly and nonsensical, especially if they have loveable characters to cheer for!
For amazing world builing read anything by Brandon Sanderson, especially his Stormlight Archieves. He has an amazing talent and imagination.
Thanks for the recommendation! I'll check it out!