Random Thoughts #5: 2012 Year in Review

Well it's been a great year! A lot has changed and I'm so thankful to everyone who has followed, or even glanced at my blog once. I never thought I'd get so many books to review or even a single follower. So, a huge thank you to everyone who has supported me and looked at my blog I really appreciate it. Without you  guys there is no me!
I've come across some great books this year, WAY too many to put in a single list, but I will do my Top 12 books of 2012! This was an extremely hard list to put together and it actually took a lot of deliberation and took me a few days to finally decide on which were my favorites. Some of these books were not released in 2012, but I still read them this year. So, here is my final list:

1. Over You by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus

Check out my review here!

2. Easy by Tammara Webber


3. Forbidden by Syrie James and Ryan James

Check out my review here!

4. (I'm sort of cheating on this one, it's actually a series of three books) Life As We Knew It, The Dead and the Gone, and This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer

Life As We Knew It review here!
The Dead and the Gone review here!
This World We Live In review here!

5. Casey Barnes Eponymous by E. A. Rigg

Check out my review here!

6. Prom and Prejudice by Elizabeth Eulburg

Check out my review here!

7. Unwind by Neal Shusterman

Check out my review here!

8. The Giver by Lois Lowry

Check out my review here!

9. Animal Farm by George Orwell

Check out my review here!

10. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey


11. The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James

Check out my review here!

12. To Catch a Pirate by Jade Parker

Check out my review here!

And some close one's that almost made the list include

Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite by Lianne Simon

Check out my review here!

Nocturne by Syrie James


Fallen by Lauren Kate

Check out my review here!

And the biggest disappoint for me that I read in 2012 was

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Check out my review here!

Again, thank you all for such a wonderful year and I can't wait to get back to doing reviews for you guys. Here's to a wonderful New Year.
See you soon,
Paige

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Random Thoughts #4

I haven't done one of these in awhile so I thought it was about time that I talked about something that really bothers me in the book community: book burners.
I don't mean in the physical sense of book burning (although just imagining people throwing books into the flames of death, makes me shudder with horror and revulsion). No, what I mean is people (generally parents) who believe they should sensor what their kids are reading, or that some books should be banned from libraries, schools, etc.
I was sort of raised on the idea that book burners were these horrible, vicious, group of people who's intent on the world was too get rid of books that are considered "unsuitable" for a certain age group. My dad was actually the first one who called my attention to the name "book burner", and he is as against these people as I am. 
When I first explored the book community on the Internet a couple years back, I quickly learned about Banned Books Week, and that other people were also against this idea of banning books. It's always a great moment to learn you're not alone in your opinion of something, especially when it has to do with books, and especially on the Internet, where people can get meaner quicker than a group of wild dogs. 
It sort of sickens me that some people out there would want to hide, as they call it, "sensitive topics" from young adults. That is the exact WRONG idea. How else are teens supposed to learn about these topics? From first hand experience? No. So, really, these books that adult figures want to keep away from teens, should be used as teaching tools to show that certain activities should not be ever done in a teens life.
For example, the Crank series by Ellen Hopkins deals with drug abuse. After reading the first book, Crank, I realized how horrible it is to be addicted to meth. The way she described what the characters was going through sounded truly horrifying and just awful. It put into perspective what it's really like to be addicted to meth and helped me realize (even more, because I never even thought of doing meth prior to reading Crank) that I should never, ever, do meth, or any other types of drugs. 
But there's other topics too, like sex and alcohol that parents want to keep shielded away from their kids. Guess what parents, same idea for these topics. Let your kids read the darn books! Let them see the consequences of what happens to the characters who decided to drink and have sex. More often than not, in a book will also dive into the end result of both activities, and the characters realize what a horrible mistake they have made.
I did some research before writing this Random Thought and I realized there is a pattern for books being banned. Most books are either banned due to high references of the above topics (drugs, sex, and/or alcohol) or for being "unsuitable for age group".
Well...what age group is it suitable for then? If a topic is that horrifying to you then you have a very skewed version of the world. You cannot let your kids live in a perfect little bubble. They have to read about true events that happened and then reflect and store the information for later, to recall back on in case they are ever in a situation where they might have to make a life-changing decision (like maybe a decision to avoid drugs).
Here's some examples of books that are considered "unsuitable for age group" (wow, every time I write that phrase I hear it in my head with extreme sarcasm, and vehement disapproval)
1. TTYL series by Lauren Myracle (I've read this and it's funny, witty, and overall just fantastic. And, I read it in middle school. It's meant for high school kids. So it was, as they say, "unsuitable for age group". But look at me now, I haven't made any horrible decisions because of it!)
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (Haven't read it yet, but I can't wait to. It's on my wish list, oh, and it's being made into a movie, so I guess your efforts at banning it have been less than successful)
3. Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer (We all hate this book and most of us are probably glad that it's banned anyways, so I wasn't too disappointed to see it on the banned books list)
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (This is a book that my school district had every single grade level read for summer reading. How do you like that book burners?)
5. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (Frankly, no pun intended, I find it disgusting that this book is banned. This girl grew up in Nazi Germany hiding for her life. How many of us can say that? Upon more research though, I learned that one of the most common reasons this book is banned though, is because it is sad. Sigh. What is happening to the world? I can't even type this with a clear sense of mind because that angers me so much)
And that's only 5 books! They're are 100's possibly thousands more, that are challenged and banned every year!
Ironically enough, whenever I hear about a banned, or heavily challenged book, it gives me more reason to, first of all, purchase the book so I can support the author and publishing company that had enough sense to publish the book, and then take it home and read it. It's my little dorky rebellion that makes me feel good inside. And then of course, I would come on here and brag about how I read the book and how much I loved it. So, book burners? Hahaha! (That's me laughing in your face)
Disagree with me all you want, but nothing can change my mind that book burning is wrong (although I'd love to hear the other side of the argument. Rebuttal anyone?)
See you soon!
Paige
Oh, and P.S. to any book burners who are reading this...I hope I made you mad.
Comments are much appreciated!

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Random Thoughts #3/L.A. Times Book Festival!

So yesterday and today was the Los Angeles Times Book Festival and I decided to go this year because I haven't been since I was a little girl. I didn't go both days, only today, but next year I'm definitely going to go both days. So here's how the day went!First off we (my mom and I) got there kind of early, before a lot of the booths were open and before events were up and running. So we wandered around to get a feel of where everything was and then the first thing that we saw while waiting for our first event was part of the Trojan marching band (since we were on the University of Southern California campus) which was super cool!
Then we went hopped over to the Young Adult stage where we saw a panel of 3 authors (Alyson Noel, Cornelia Funke, and John Stephens). The panel was amazing and all of the authors were amazing. I've read Alyson Noel's books and Cornelia Funke's, but I'd never heard of John Stephens before (he has a new book out now, I think it's more geared for teenage boys...). Either way all three were wonderful and seemed extremely nice.
After that we went to a panel session called "Future Books: Media in the Digital Age" which was a bust. There was just a few people there trying to push their books. Oh well.
Our next panel session was called "YA Fiction: The Wide Lens" which had Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle, Maggie Stiefvater, and Jacqueline Wilson. I've read books by all of them except Jacqueline Woodson, but I think I may check out some of her books now! All four of these lovely ladies were super awesome and hilarious. We were laughing through the whole hour with them. Within the panel, the authors discussed issues in YA writing such as race, sexuality, and violence. The authors also discussed how parents sometimes react to what their kids are reading and a lot of them said they receive hate mail from parents because of something they've written. (So sad..)
After this panel session ended we rushed back to the YA Stage and saw Deb Caletti, Heather Cocks, Jessica Morgan, and Joanna Philbin (!!!!) on a panel. We didn't listen in for this panel because I wanted to wait in line to get my book signed by Joanna Philbin.
Eventually the author's came over and I got to talk to Joanna Philbin for a bit. She was super sweet and nice and so easy to talk to!! I got to snap a quick pic with her and here's what she wrote in my book:"To Paige, Keep breaking the rules! Joanna Philbin xoxo"(She wrote that because she signed the second book in her series, The Daughters Break the Rules)
It was a very surreal moment for me! I've never had a book signed before, let alone met the author!
We also wandered around the booths and I met the author Syrie James (she was at the Jane Austen Society booth so when I was in there I ended up talking to her somehow). Anyways she was extremely nice and was telling me all about her books and she has a new one that just came out for YA that I will definitely be picking up sometime it's called Forbidden and she co-wrote it with her son Ryan M. James.
The last panel we went to was called "Publishing A-Z" which was very informative for me as an aspiring book editor. It really gave me some great insight and tips about all things publishing.
Overall, I had a wonderful time, got to meet some amazing authors/people and I can't wait until next year! If you're in the area next year I definitely recommend it! There was other stuff going on too like poetry readings and Betty White and Kareem Abdul Jabbar were there (I stood just a few feet away from each of them!). It's free so come check it out next year!
See you soon!
Paige

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Random Thoughts #2

Hello everyone!
It's Teen Lit Day!! Didn't know this? Well it is! It's probably one of the single coolest and most important days for bloggers, advocates, and of course, young adult readers like me! So in honor of Teen Lit Day I'm going to say my little shpeel on why I love YA and just a couple of other things.
I've been reading since I was a baby, and my parents have always placed more and more books into my hands as a growing child and then when I got older, and could manage my own money, I bought my own books. All through elementary, middle, and high school I was/am that girl with a book in her hand or her nose in a book. My family always tells me I miss out on important topics because I'm always lost in a book and I've escaped from their reality.
As a little girl I devoured books like chocolate. Every week we went to the library to pick up more and more picture books and then I was able to move onto the independent readers and soon after that it was books like the Little House on the Prairie series, the Box Car Children and others, that started me on reading longer and longer books. I was also, the kid that could always read the fastest and I was way ahead of my peers with my reading level. In 3rd grade I remember having a 6th grade reading level. I think when I was younger that is the memory that sticks out the most: reading, going to the library, and getting books for holdiays and birthdays.
Once I hit middle school, on came the required reading, which, of course, I didn't mind at all, but there was less time for reading. Also, I remember my reading material becoming a lot darker due to more adult subjects, so I read books that were slightly below my reading level so I could hang onto my childhood days. There was also less time for reading and I always enjoyed winter, spring, and summer breaks where I could spend weeks on end devouring one book after another. Middle school I also accomplished great reading feats such as reading my first Jane Austen book, Pride and Prejudice. Even today it is still one of my all-time favorite books. I also read Gone With the Wind in 8th grade, also another extreme favorite, and still is the longest book I've ever read (at 1,024 pages!!).
Now, in high school there's even more required reading, which I don't see as a burden like my fellow friends and peers do. I see it as an opportunity to broaden my realm of reading and branch out to other genres that I've never been exposed to before (Plus it always makes me feel a lot more intellectual to say that I've read Oedipus Rex or To Kill a Mockingbird and actually liked it).
As I progressed through high school and started to take note of what I wanted to do for college and what career I wanted to take, I realized a career with books would be an absolute, perfect dream. Then I realized, I couldn't write. I had the imagination for it, but just not the will power or want. No, I wanted to do something else, I wanted to read and EDIT. And I wanted to edit only young adult books to help increase teen literacy and help the YA market grow. I honestly believe a lot more teenagers could and should be reading but they're not because there just aren't that many YA books to choose from! I want to make a difference, even if it's a small one, for the Young Adult community.
Reading has affected every single part of my life and it has totally defined who I am and what I want to become (of course this would never have happened if it weren't for my parents who bought me books instead of toys, so thanks Mom and Dad!).
So, if you can even get one person or child to read it could make a huge difference! And adults too! Adults! Read, read, read! And tell your children to read!! It makes them a better learner, gives them a bigger vocabulary, and generally makes them more interested than, say, a bad habit they could pick up later on! (For me, my bad habit is reading when I should be doing my homework and I'd take that over something else any day!)
Happy Teen Lit Day to you all and I hope you enjoyed a little more background on me!
See you soon!
Paige

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Random Thoughts #1

I decided from time to time I'm going to do these Random Thoughts Posts, related to books because sometimes I just want to have a little discussion with you guys.
So I've been off Youtube from 48 days (I gave up Youtube for lent-I'm not religious I just did it as an experiment to see if I could because my friend was giving up Facebook) and at first it was really tough; no book reviews, music, and other skits that I like to watch. However, I was able to read a lot more and get a lot more work done because I didn't have this constant distraction. Anyways, so I've been catching up with my favorite Book-Tubers and for awhile I've been struggling with this idea of "Why don't I like the same books as most of these people?"
Most of the time I agree with them but it's books like The Hunger Games, Looking for Alaska, Vampire Diaries, just to name a few that I don't like that much, that everyone else seems to LOVE.
Then I kind of had an epiphany today which made me realize...why? Why do I care and why do I feel the need to associate myself with these people that I've never met, never will meet, and why do I have to be like everyone else? So what if I like mystery books and trashy teen chick lit novels, and old books like Jane Austen's novels and other classics. This defines me as a person and sets me apart from everyone else. Why should I group myself in with the masses of people that LOVE vampire books, while the only one's that I like are the Night World series by L.J.Smith.
It kind of made me realize that I don't need to fit in with these people. Isn't standing out a good thing? And the more people that stand out the better right? Society is all about promoting individualism, but most of the time people follow the status quo and don't differentiate themselves from others.
I think what I'm trying to say is I'm proud that I'm different and I'll continue reviewing the lesser known books in the hopes of maybe having someone else become interested in reading or being affected by literacy in SOME way; even it's a small contribution, it's MY contribution and that's all that matters. What do you think?
See you soon!
Paige

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