Today Sarah from
Storybound Girl is on the blog for a guest post for Just Contemporary. You'll also be able to find me on her blog {right
HERE} with my own thoughts about Why I Love Reading Contemporary. Without further ado, let's welcome her to the blog!
I’ve been looking forward to November for all of the contemporary-love ever since I heard about it over the summer and it's finally here! Thanks to Candace for swapping posts with me, and to
Ashley &
Shanyn for hosting.
For week one, we were asked to explain one thing: WHY I LOVE TO READ CONTEMPORARY.
I’ve always been a big reader. Back when I was a teen, it was hard to come across books that were specifically meant for teens. I didn’t have the luxury of Google or Goodreads, and the teen section in bookstores was mostly nonexistent. My first foray into YA was Sarah Dessen. Her first book, That Summer, came out in 1996, when I was 14, and I was instantly hooked on YA. Especially contemporary. When I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower as an angsty 16-year-old, it was like finding a book that someone wrote just for me. Something about Charlie’s story spoke to me. I’m not usually someone that who writes in books, but my original copy is full of notes and highlighted lines that I couldn’t resist marking for later enjoyment.
Years later, I’m twenty-nine and my love for YA, especially contemporary, has probably never been stronger. When I’m in a bookstore and I see a teenager (or a parent of one) struggling to pick out a book, I can’t help but start recommending a few of my favorites in their chosen genre. I’m convinced that (almost) every person who normally doesn’t read books is only one fantastic novel away from realizing how fantastic they can be. I love real stories set in our world with honest moments. I prefer teen books because I have an undying love of the “coming of age” story. I don’t want to read about sad, middle aged people getting divorced or having an affair, but I can follow the story of a teenager’s struggle to fit in at a new school or love triangle problem any day. Contemporary YA is often quiet and thoughtful and leaves a lingering impact on me in a way no other stories ever have.
Sarah lives in Texas and shares her love of YA over at
StoryboundGirl.com. She’s a
Twitter addict & loves to chat with other book lovers.
I love it when books make you feel like they were written for you. Most contemporaries do that to me and that's why I love them oh-so-much.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I adore coming-of-age stories as well, no matter how overdone. Beautiful little post.
Thanks for having me as your guest! You're my very first guest blogger today!
ReplyDeleteI love the cover of that Sarah Dessen book, though I've never seen it before.
ReplyDeleteThe lingering impact is truly part of what makes contemporary so great. Excellent post!
ReplyDeleteThat's why I enjoy young adult novels too. :) I'm really excited how far the genre has come in such a few short years.
ReplyDeleteGoodness, even I started with Sarah Dessen when I was first getting into reading about seven or more years ago. Back then it was the good old days before vampires took over the world. Now everything is paranormal and a lot of times the contemps get passed up.
ReplyDeleteHow awesome! I love that you now go up to people and make recommendations in book stores and such! I do that too! :)
ReplyDeleteSarah, I think you just spoke from my heart, as well as your own.
ReplyDeleteYou hit on all the reasons why I love contemporary YA and why, being out of the young adult-dom, I'm still reading it. Wonderful guest post :)