Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows with complete certainty that he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black.

The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

I had pretty high expectations going into Matched, because the premise sounded too intriguing not to be awesome. When it comes to YA dystopian novels, the bar has been set quite high for Condie, considering how successful has been, not to mention the fact that Lauren Oliver’s sophomore novel, , is so highly anticipated. I certainly had a few problems with Matched, but overall it’s a book that has stayed with me and already has me anticipating the sequel.

After reading the first few chapters, my first thought was that Condie’s writing is magical. She does a truly fantastic job of world-building. I will admit that the feeling of her writing being awesome and exceptional did not stick with me throughout the entire novel, but I never thought it was bad. Condie does a great job of writing realistic, likeable characters. At first, I wasn’t a huge fan of Cassia, but she quickly grew on me. I loved Xander because of his loyalty to Cassia. As for Ky, I had moments where I wasn’t fully sold on the romance, but that could change over the next few books.

There were lots of awesome plot twists which kept me guessing throughout the story. The ending was a little too-anticlimactic for my tastes, and I would’ve liked a bit more info throughout the story. Right now, when I look at the position that Condie left her characters in, I’m honestly not sure how they are going to get out. However, she also left a pretty big unsolved mystery hanging in the story, and I have a feeling that I will be blown away by however Condie solves it, so I’m ultimately not too concerned about whether or not I’ll enjoy the next few books in the series.

When I first read an ARC of Matched I struggled a lot with the ending, but two months later I’m editing my review and realizing that Cassia and her story have really stuck with me. Matched is an original novel with a fresh premise. I would recommend this novel to anyone who’s looking for a new, unique dystopian series. I can’t wait to see where Condie takes us next.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this through Star Book Tours.

Greetings, wonderful blog readers! I hope everyone has had a wonderful blog readers. I for one now feel much more normal blaring my Christmas music and wearing glittering red nail polish. I’d been doing both of these since Halloween, because I love Christmas. So, inspired by , I decided to share a list with you of what I enjoy so much about this holiday.

I love the whole atmosphere that surrounds Christmas. Whenever my family breaks out the Christmas ornaments, it’s like greeting a box full of old friends. I like walking around my house and seeing decorations strategically placed everywhere, as well as holiday themed candy. On that note, I also love baking for the holidays, whether it’s a seasonal recipe or just a batch of cookies used to pacify visitors. And when it comes time to get presents under the tree, I have so much fun spending an hour or two locked away in my room painstakingly selecting what kind of wrapping paper should go on each person’s gift. It is ultimately preferable if I perform all of these tasks while wearing my ugly Christmas sweater vest. I consider myself something as a multi-tasker, so while I’m wearing my sweater and wrapping presents, I love to have some Christmas music and a movie in.

Where do I even start when it comes to the music? I have over 250 songs on my Christmas playlist, and generally listen to pretty much everything except for country and rap. It started with a couple of CDs we’ve had since I was a kid. I think I became interested in acquiring more for two reasons: one is that my roommate freshman and sophomore year of college (hi Anna!) LOVES Christmas and would try to start listening to her holiday tunes before Halloween, until I told her they had to wait until November. I know, I’m cruel. Anyways, my other reason actually has a bit of a story. A couple years ago my mom and I were out doing errands and decided to stop at Starbucks to grab a latte, and when we were paying, I saw a Christmas CD called “Stockings by the Fire” and thought it would be fun so we got it. As it turns out, that CD freaking rocked my socks off. Starbucks puts out a new Christmas CD each year and I try to make a point of getting my hands on them. I’ve also recently discovered Straight No Chaser, which is male a cappella and oh my goodness it is absolutely beautiful! Seriously get this music NOW. Over the past few years I’ve also discovered the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and their Christmas albums have me enchanted one minute and dancing around the Christmas tree the next. Otherwise, the list is full of my usual favorites like T Swift and the Glee cast. Now if only Joshua Bell would create a Christmas CD.

In terms of movies, I think I may have some catching up to do. I watched Home Alone as a child, and that is always a fun movie to revisit. One movie which I watch every single year is Love Actually. I find it totally adorable, but I also love that it isn’t one hundred percent happy throughout the entire film. Plus, the cast is pretty much made of win. And even though it’s not the best film ever and I don’t really like Cameron Diaz’s character, I watch The Holiday every year, because it makes me feel warm and fuzzy. I also consider Bridget Jones’s Diary a Christmas movie because it starts and ends on New Years. And really, I'll take any excuse I can to watch that movie. Lastly, it isn’t Christmas without Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown.
I could go on and on, but I will leave it at that. Instead, I’d love to hear what gets you in the holiday spirit. Feel free to leave your thoughts or links to your festive posts in the comments!

Oh, SNAP! Another action packed with Gaskell, the Hales and all of our favorite characters in North and South. This is another section of the novel that's so challenging to read emotionally. It's filled with tension and secrets.

I loved meeting Frederick last week, and thought it was great that Gaskell included a little bit more about his character and the people he associates with in these chapters. I can't wait to see how his story ultimately turns out.

As for Mr. Thornton, a very large part of me couldn't help but swoon over him in this portion of the novel. The more the story goes on, the more I admire him as a character--the same way I feel about Mr. Darcy every time I read Pride and Prejudice. While I think North and South and Pride and Prejudice have their similarities, they are extremely different books, which I'll further discuss at a later point. On that note, I think the tables are beginning to turn for Margaret and Mr. Thornton, and I can't wait to see how that plays out.

I'm on the edge of my seat waiting to hear how everything turns out in the end. Instead of just doing an update next week, I will be posting a full, SPOILER FREE REVIEW. Be sure to keep an eye out for it!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I hope those who celebrate are eating delicious turkey (unless you're a vegetarian) and apie and that those who don't find an opportunity to eat something delicious anyways. Since this day is originally about giving thanks, I wanted to write a brief post about what I'm thankful for.

I am so glad that I am not a Native American who's been gfited with smallpox infested blankets and had my land stolen. All things considered, I have been pretty fortunate. I've always had a roof over my head, plenty to eat and clothes to wear. I also have a totally awesome, supportive family.I am thankful for books and the wonderful authors that produce them. I seriously owe Roald Dahl, because Matilda made me want to explore the vast world of literature. I am grateful for excellent prose, lovable characters and good pacing, not mention any book that keeps me laughing out loud, crying, or otherwise dramatically emoting.

I am thankful for other blogs and bloggers and for socially networking that helps connect us all. Who else, aside from a few librarians I work with, can I discuss YA lit with? Other bloggers do everything from giving advice to promoting giveaways, or simply tweeting about an awesome post. Plus, a great review or particularly well-written post can help me think about a novel or subject in a totally differnet light. I love using Twitter not only to discuss books and have meaningful conversations, but to share recipes and rant about day-to-day life. Twitter is also awesome becasue it provides opportunities to connect with authors whose books I love.

I am thankful that I have Consumed by Books as a creative outlet for all of my opinions. And of course, I am thankful for all of you, for reading my opinions and caring. You, readers, are wonderul!

What are you guys thankful for this year?

The contest for a signed copy of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer has drawn to a close! The winner is....

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi of .

Won:
Harry Potter Mini Party Pack from Tara of (Forgot to mention this in my vlog. I apologize!)
Bought:
by Richard Holmes
by Laurie Halse Anderson
by Laurie Halse Anderson
by Michaela MacColl
by Carrie Jones
by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
Bloggers and blogs mentioned:
Pam of

Read:
by Penny Blubaugh (Look for my review in early April.)
Currently reading:
by Elizabeth Gaskell
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
by Neil Pasricha
What I plan to read:
by Joanne Dahme
by Julie Kagawa
by Alexandra Bracken
by Maggie Stiefvater
by Allan Richard Shickman

It's that time again! Kristi of has announced that she will be hosting the 2011 debut author challenge. The idea of the challenge is to read YA/MG novels by debut authors, meaning someone who is publishing his or her first YA/MG novel. Click to see Kristi's post and get all of the details. You don't have to be a blogger to join!

I'm currently participating in the 2010 debut author challenge (which I still have a lot I want to read for) and it's tons of fun, so I'm really eager to participate in this one as well. My goal for this year has been to read twenty books (a goal I haven't quite achieved yet), and for now I'm going to maintain the same goal for 2011. With that in mind, here's some titles I plan to read. I imagine I'll add to the list as the year passes. Also, I may be reading ARCs of some of these before they release, so I may not be able to count all of them towards the final list of books I complete for the challenge.

Greetings, wonderful blog readers! You may have noticed that things have been a little quiet around here lately, and for that, I apologize. I won't delve deeply into the reasons, but I've been traveling a lot and have been busy with graduate school applications, so while I love the books I've been reading, I just haven't been reading them terribly quickly.

I know reviews have been slow lately due to this, but rest assured that I'm trying to read faster so I'll have some to share with you. I'm hoping Thanksgiving will help me catch up, provided I don't get caught up in an insane baking craze. Rest assured that I'll be keeping other posts coming (like Consume and Contemplate, Adaptation Corner, etc.). Thanks for being patient with me!

For as long as Esmerine can remember, she has longed to join her sister as a siren, the highest calling a mermaid can have. But when her sister runs away to the mainland, reportedly to elope with a human, Esmerine is sent to retrieve her.

Using magic to transform her tail into legs, she makes her way unsteadily through the streets of New Sweeling. There, she will come upon a friend she hasn't seen since childhood - Alandare, a boy, now a man, who belongs to a winged race of people. Together, Esmerine and Alandare put aside their differences to find her sister, and in the process discover a love that cannot be bound by land, sea, or air.

I will almost definitely be buying this book for the cover. Seriously, how gorgeous is that? The
color scheme and drapery of the girl's dress has such an enchanting and ethereal feel to me.

Jaw dropping cover aside, this story sounds completely fantastic. I'm only sad that we still have to wait a full six months to read it.

What are you waiting on this Wednesday?

Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Jill of .

We ended the last portion of our read-a-long on something of a tense moment. As I read these chapters, I loved watching the relationships between all of the characters thicken, as well as the overall plot of the story. This chunk of the story also has some fantastic descriptive passages that show how great of a writer Gaskell actually is.

What I loved about this section was how much more of both Margaret and Mr. Thornton we got to see. I like that we learn about Mr. Thornton not only as a person but as a businessman. Meanwhile, Mrs. Thornton is quickly turning into a character I love to hate. The social commentary is definitely still there with the incorporation of the Higgins's family. I hope I'm wrong, but I have a feeling their story is going to turn out to be sad.

Another thing I loved about this section of North and South was learning more about Margaret’s brother Frederick and his backstory. I’ll be curious to see what role he plays in the rest of the novel. Up until this point I’d always felt there was a bit of an air of mystery surrounding his character. Speaking of mystery, I’m worried about Mrs. Hale and curious to see where her story goes.

This is definitely continuing to be a fantastic read for me. I can’t wait to see where the story goes next.

Greetings, wonderful blog readers. You may remember that in of this post, I left you all on a bit of a cliffhanger, after trying to figure out what the names we assign various genres mean and how all of those genres make me feel. I've decided to address this question by picking out books from different genres, each of which I gave five stars on GoodReads.

questions the social norms of the time period its set in, but also pokes fun at several of its own characters, and provides a swoon worthy male character who is half of a very romantic love story. The last few chapters always leave me weeping.

Incidentally, by Helen Fielding is also on my list of five star books I'm mentioning on this post. I realize you all are probably thinking that it's only there because it's a re-telling of Pride and Prejudice, and that is true to an extent. However, Bridget and the situations she finds herself in leave me laughing out loud, and sometimes that’s exactly what I need. This novel is my idea of fluff--the writing style and content is fairly light-hearted and it's a fun read.

is a book which falls under that tricky category of literary fiction. This book is honestly an incredibly moving story of loss. What I loved most about this story was Oskar, the narrator, a nine year old boy, who is a fantastic blend of honest and humorous.

Next up is , which I didn't expect to love, but it might just have stolen the spot of my favorite book of 2010. Stiefvater's writing is beautiful and poetic, and I was completely drawn into the love story between Grace and Sam. I also adored Sam as a character.

And lastly, we have . If you haven't read this book, let me assure you that it is pretty much impossible to put down. I was also impressed by the comparisons Collins drew to our own society.

There’s a wide variety of plots, styles of writing and character relationships that can draw me into a story. When I set out to create this post, I thought now would be the time for a paragraph about how a good story is one that can offer an emotional connection to the reader, regardless of its genre. A story doesn’t need to be a classic or young adult or fit any other parameter that would put it in such a category to amuse me. However, earlier I was thinking about Oprah’s interview with J.K. Rowling, wherein Rowling discussed how important love is both in her novels and to her personally, and I think that the books I love often have something more complex than the odd emotional connection. For me, an emotional connection can be something as simple as relating to what a character is feeling. Even if this happens while I’m reading a book, it doesn’t necessarily mean that I will love the novel overall. Maybe I’ll think the plot was ridiculous and go, “Great characters but explain why that happened.” For me, a good example of this is actually the series by Lemony Snicket. I found the Baudelaire orphans to be extremely charming and entertaining characters, but at the end of the series I sound myself questioning the feasibility of the story’s end.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about an which got me really excited for an upcoming novel, namely by Ruta Sepetys. Sepetys talks about how important love and hope are in situations where otherwise it’s hard to find a reason to stay alive. I have a feeling I’ll really like her book. At this point, it dawned on me that love is a major theme in a lot of the books I love, whether it’s Katniss’s love of Prim, Oskar’s love of his father, Sam’s love of Grace or Frodo’s love of the Shire. I feel that love in these cases plays a serious role in the story and isn’t something fleeting, but is a lasting emotion that stays with the characters, bringing them joy in some cases and haunting them in others, or perhaps a mixture of the two. While I do enjoy a good romance, the emotion of love can also apply to how one feels about family and place, and I believe that most people experience these feelings at some point in their lives (or at least, I hope so). So yes, I consider love a pretty universal emotion. I’d also like to add that I know that tons and tons of books incorporate love in some form, but I’m thinking of books where I think it’s one of the major themes. Furthermore, all of this also indicates that I am drawn to strong and passionate characters, and to that allegation I say, "Most definitely."

There is no one thing that will cause me to fall head over heels in love with a book. Sure, there are little things that always cause a fist pump, such as a character who loves to read, or a story that’s set in Maine. However, I think it would be untrue to say that the books on my favorite shelves have nothing in common. Clearly I really enjoy certain themes broad themes, when I think they are done well and nicely woven into a story. Every book and genre that I love makes me feel differently and for the most part, that is a diverse array of books. While I will try just about anything once, I think it’s hard for me and other bloggers to deny a certain bias towards stronger themes. Perhaps if you want me to feel strongly about a book, throw a novel with some strong feelings my way and see what happens.

In My Mailbox is hosted by Kristi of .

For review:
by Risa Green
Traded:
by T.K. Richardson
Bought:
by Judy Blume
by Charles Dickens
by Carrie Jones
by Malinda Lo

Read:
by Chelsea Campbell ()
Currently reading:
by Penny Blubaugh (I received this one from an ARC tour after filming my vlog.)
by Cassandra Clare
by Elizabeth Gaskell
What I plan to read:
by Maggie Stiefvater
by Julie Kagawa
by Joanne Dahme
by Alexandra Bracken
by C.A. Moulton

It seemed like earlier this summer, there were lots of CSN giveaways floating around the blogosphere. My mother had been talking about how I desperately needed more shelf space, so I entered, knowing victory was unlikely, but persevering nonetheless. I finally one won from Emma of Booking Through 365 (to whom I am now eternally grateful) and was quick to purchase myself a bookshelf.

Once I ordered the bookshelf my order was expediently processed and shipped. Unfortunately, the box weighed upwards of 30 pounds when it arrived (oh hey real wood) so I had to get my family to help me lug it around once it arrived. No, I do not have any upper body strength. At any rate, I live in a two house situation and spend much more time in one house than another. I've assembled this bookshelf in the house where I spend less time and moved some of my books there. I try and put books I've already read there, or books that look like good weekend/holiday reads as that's when I'm often there, but at the end of the day I kind of decided what to put over there arbitrarily. Sometimes I get frustrated because a book I want and I are not in the same place, but in retrospect that is a white whine and I could have much worse problems, as frustrating as that one can be.
Assembling the bookshelf wasn't too challenging of task. Once I unpacked all of the pieces, spread them all out and took a good look at the directions it was pretty straightforward. All you need to put this together is a hammer, a flat head screwdriver and Philips head screw driver, so it doesn't require complex tools. I probably could have done this all by myself, but there were a couple of points where I made my mother come hold things in place while I hammered and screwed, just because it was easier. You'll notice that there are three long, slim boards which are part of the bookshelf, running just under the top shelf and along the sides. Those were a pain to get in place! I wound up covering them with a dishtowel and hammering that way so I could get them into place without damaging the wood.

Once I got the bookshelf up it proved to be amazingly sturdy. I was a little concerned that this one might be too small for my tastes, and while I still dream about having my very own Beauty and the Beast library, this bookshelf is not only spacious but the perfect size for the room where I've put it. I really enjoyed organizing all of the books I put it on it and deciding exactly where they should go. Overall, I love this shelf. Thank you Emma and CSN for making me a very happy camper and giving some of my books a place to live!

For those who have never participated in a read-a-long before, let me tell you: they are fantastic motivators. Well, that and a three hour plane ride today. I'm 15 chapters into North and South and I absolutely love this book so far. Since technically for week one were only supposed to read the first 10 chapters, I'll stick to discussing those for now. I've watched the mini-series, so I know what ultimately happens, but since I watched the mini-series around five years ago, I've forgotten the whole plot and enjoying watching it unfold.

I feel as though a lot of people compare North and South and Pride and Prejudice and when it comes to character relationships, I can kind of see that. However, the social commentary feels much more blatant here, so while I'm already loving this one, it feels like a different experience than reading Pride and Prejudice. Gaskell keeps the story moving along at nice pace, which I appreciate. Her prose is absolutely beautiful, and it makes it easy to become absorbed in the story. I also have to say that thus far Margaret is a very interesting and dynamic protagonist.

At any rate, I should spend the rest of my evening unpacking and cleaning my room. However, I'm enjoying this book so much that I might just have to surge through the rest of the reading for week two.

Sixteen-year-old Damien Locke has a plan: major in messing with people at the local supervillain university and become a professional evil genius, just like his supervillain mom. But when he discovers the shameful secret she's been hiding all these years, that the one-night stand that spawned him was actually with a superhero, everything gets messed up. His father's too moral for his own good, so when he finds out Damien exists, he actually wants him to come live with him and his goody-goody superhero family. Damien gets shipped off to stay with them in their suburban hellhole, and he has only six weeks to prove he's not a hero in any way, or else he's stuck living with them for the rest of his life, or until he turns eighteen, whichever comes first.

To get out of this mess, Damien has to survive his dad's "flying lessons" that involve throwing him off the tallest building in the city--despite his nearly debilitating fear of heights--thwarting the eccentric teen scientist who insists she's his sidekick, and keeping his supervillain girlfriend from finding out the truth. But when Damien uncovers a dastardly plot to turn all the superheroes into mindless zombie slaves, a plan hatched by his own mom, he discovers he cares about his new family more than he thought. Now he has to choose: go back to his life of villainy and let his family become zombies, or stand up to his mom and become a real hero.

I don’t know of any other upper YA books that are about superheroes and villains like The Rise of Renegade X is. To be honest, I wish initially wary of this novel. I was concerned that it might be, “Action! Action! Fancy James Bond spy gear! Boyish emotion to which Liz cannot relate! MORE ACTION!” (Yes, I do periodically forget that boys have thoughts and emotions that I can relate to, although typically I wonder what they even think at all.) Campbell pleasantly surprised me with a lovable cast of characters and a well-paced story.

I found the whole premise of this story, a kid whose the child of a super hero and villain, pretty amusing. I was constantly wanting to knowing what happened, but there was plenty of character building, so the action didn’t overwhelm the novel as I had feared. There was also a love story that played a part, and I was quickly drawn in by it.

If you like snark, then Damien Locke is about to become one of your new favorite characters. His narration had me cracking up throughout the entire novel. Yet I also felt a connection with him, because he over thought things and sometimes felt conflicting emotions. I ultimately felt that she used his character to send some great messages about what one inherits versus the choices one makes, but that Damien’s character was realistic enough that I didn’t feel like I was being hit over the head with it. I also have to say that the Crimson Flash kept me chuckling, because at times he was too much of an idealist.

I was pleasantly surprised by The Rise of Renegade X. I thought the ending was a tiny bit rushed, but also incredibly feasible. However, I’d love to see how Damien comes with future obstacles that come his way, so if Campbell decides to provide a sequel, I’ll be eager to pick it up.

This Halloween weekend I got to celebrate in the usual ways, such as handing out candy and carving a pumpkin. However, on Friday October 29th, the release party for Andrea Cremer's debut novel Nightshade was held at Red Balloon Bookshop in Saint Paul. It also doubled as a costume contest, so I went in costume as the Mad Hatter.

I arrived a little early and as soon as I walked through the door Andrea asked who I was and gave
me a big hug. After I paid for my books I got to hang out with and talk to Andrea for a couple of minutes for the event started. She is extremely bubbly and energetic, not to mention very sweet, and came in costume as the Morrigan, who is apparently the Celtic war goddess.

Eventually, it was time for the event to start. Andrea talked about how the novel was born and read a short excerpt aloud from chapter two. She also introduced her editor, Jill, who had come all the way from New York, and special guest Shay Doran (whose real name is Will) who came in from Florida. After that, Andrea signed tons of books, and there was delicious Nightshade cake.
Shay also announced the winner of the costume contest, and he picked me! I won a gift card and a Red Balloon Tote Bag. After this point I also got a chance to talk to Shay/Will and get a picture with him. I made him break character because I was really curious as to how he had gotten into this gig. I felt much less guilty, however, because Jill was also curious to hear the story. Will told us about how he had tried to get a hair cut shortly before the audition but hadn't been able to get in, and how he went to the open call, auditioned and found out he got the role a few days later.

This was probably one of the most fun signings I've been to this year! It was lots of fun to meet Andrea and so many people involved with the publication and promotion of Nightshade. I enjoyed this book so much, in fact, that I had Andrea sign a copy for me to give away to one lucky winner. Want to be entered? Just fill out the form below.
*One winner will receive a signed copy of Nightshade by Andrea Cremer.
*Open to the U.S. only. I apologize, international readers!
*The giveaway ends at 11:59 p.m. on November 20th.

Zara White suspects there's a freaky guy semi-stalking her. She's also obsessed with phobias. And it's true, she hasn't exactly been herself since her stepfather died. But exiling her to shivery Maine to live with her grandmother? That seems a bit extreme. The move is supposed to help her stay sane...but Zara's pretty sure her mom just can't deal with her right now.

She couldn't be more wrong. Turns out the semi-stalker is not a figment of Zara's overactive imagination. In fact, he's still following her, leaving behind an eerie trail of gold dust. There's something not right - not human - in this sleepy Maine town, and all signs point to Zara.

In this creepy, compelling breakout novel, Carrie Jones delivers romance, suspense, and a creature you never thought you'd have to fear.

Are there certain settings, character traits or other devices in a book that can cause you to automatically enjoy it? There’s definitely a few of those for me, and Need had several of them: it’s set in Maine and Zara, the main character, is a runner with a snarky inner voice. On top of all of that, Need provided an original combination of fantasy and paranormal elements that I hadn’t seen together before, making it a thrilling read.

Jones her narrator's voice to make the structure and narration of the whole novel more unique. The strongest element of Need is, by far, the character and voice of Zara. She had me laughing and feeling very creeped out at various points throughout the novel. However, at times I felt like I just wasn’t getting much emotional resonance. There was one sentence at the end of the novel that floored me because it was so beautifully written, and part of me can’t help but wish that the rest of the writing had such a strong impact. I would share it with you all here, but it contains some pretty big spoilers.

I’m not the best at guessing plot twists, but Need threw me so many that I just didn’t see coming. I felt that a couple aspects were far fetched and should have been better fleshed out, but that didn’t have a huge impact on my overall impression of the book. I was somewhat wary of picking up this book at first, but now I can hardly wait to pick up its sequels.

So many bloggers told me that I NEEDed to read this book, and I’m so glad I did. I found it CAPTIVATing, and find the prospect of reading the rest of the books in the series very ENTICing.

Disclosure: I checked out a copy of this book from my awesome local library. I hope to purchase my own copy soon!

As many of you may recall, a while back I wrote a on ratings, how different bloggers do them, and why I feel so conflicted about them. Jessica of Chick Lit Teens followed this up with a post entitled, “,” where where she talks rating based on how she feels about books.

"You see, I appreciate quality, but that’s not what my blog is about nor is that what my ratings are about. When I review a book, it’s feeling that means the most. A five star book, to me, does not employ a whole host of literary devices, it doesn’t cause me to think about man’s true purpose on this earth, and it may not change the way I see the world. What it does do, however, is capture me. Five star books are the books that I cannot put down, that have me thinking about them long after I finish, that make me smile when I see someone pick up a copy at the bookstore, that have me sobbing or gasping for breath or laughing hysterically because I’m so enthralled."
-Jessica of Chick Lit Teens

Jessica’s post has inspired me to continue to explore my thoughts about not only ratings but genres which are applied to books. I love this post because as someone who reads many genres, including most YA, adult fiction, classics and periodically non-fiction, it makes me think about how I and other readers treat not only individual genres. Furthermore, it leaves me pondering what makes me prefer some books over others and how my favorite books differ from the ones I’ve read a year ago and mostly forgotten about.

Yet before I delve into discussing ratings, I should say that I’m not sure how the labels that are applied to individual genres mean very much. For example, how does our society decide what a classic is? Is it a book that has never been out of print in its entire life? A story that employs more literary techniques that one person can list? A novel that’s published by Penguin, Oxford World Classics, or any publishers that has an imprint with the word “classic” in its name? There are some classics which sit contently in the ranks of my all time favorite books, like by Jane Austen. Others I struggle with a bit more, like by James Joyce. While I really enjoyed reading about Stephen, this novel is set in a very particular historical period, and I spent a good deal of it flipping back to the footnotes to read about positions of power in the Catholic Church and whatnot. I wonder if I might have enjoyed the book just a little bit more if I had all of this background information ingrained in my brain, instead of pausing to acquire it. Reading the book and writing a paper on it was a great learning experience, and perhaps I’d enjoy it more if I read it again, going into the story with a stronger base of knowledge. That being said, reading is often a learning experience, and the struggle that can come with learning is usually worthwhile.

Another label for a genre which mystifies me is literary fiction. What makes something literary? If you look up literary on the Oxford English Dictionary, the first definition that comes up is “Pertaining to the letters of the alphabet” (see the full definition and etymology ). I also tried looking up literature, and one of the definitions I found said “Literary work or production,” and to be honest the rest of the definitions were all fairly similar to that (see the full definition and etymology ). With that being said, it sounds like the vast majority of what I read qualifies as literary. I realize that some authors who fall under the category of literary fiction are considered quite reputable by many (myself included), such as Salaman Rushdie, Zadie Smith and Jonathan Saran Foer. While I l enjoyed work by each of these, I wouldn’t describe any of their novels as light reading, because they all had pretty heavy themes. Is this a characteristic that defines the genre? I don’t know. However, I will tell you this: grim moments, sadness and the ability to make me cry are not qualities which cause me to say that I don’t like a book. If an author can bring me to tears or tie my stomach into knots, he or she is probably doing something right.

And then there’s young adult. I tend to think of young adult books as those who are marketed at readers aged from roughly twelve to early twenties. I would also say that a lot of these books feature teenagers as prominent, if not main, characters.

Of course, these are only a few genres within literature. Now, one big question remains: as a blogger, book lover, and someone with a B.A. in English, how do I treat all of these very different genres? How do they make me feel? This has already been a pretty long post, so instead of delving into this question now, I'm going to leave you all with that cliffhanger. Be sure to check back, as my answer is coming later this month.