I went to the library again today, though my stack wasn’t as big as usual because, you know, I’m busy revising.
Every time I go to the library, I think to myself, I should check out some fiction from the adult section, or maybe even some non-fiction, because it would broaden my mind, expand my horizons, be “good for me.” But I rarely do. And even when I do, that book usually spends three weeks on my nightstand ignored and unread. So what is the point even?
The fact is, I just love to read YA fiction. And there are already so many YA titles I want to read that I’ll never get to the end of my list, so I don’t want to spend my time reading things that I don’t really want to read.
So why do I think I should be reading these other books?
Well, the non-fiction is so that I’ll have new and interesting tidbits of information to toss into my books and into cocktail party conversations. But I guess I could accomplish this by watching documentaries, which is how I prefer my non-fiction, anyway.
But the adult fiction, what is that about? Well, I guess it’s for cocktail parties again. Most of the adults I know outside of the children’s writing world do not read books written for children and young adults. So if I don’t read their books, we can’t talk about books. But the truth is, they are missing out. Sure there are books that purely kid-centric that wouldn’t hold an adult’s attention span. But there are so many books that are ageless in their appeal, because of the quality of the writing, the likability of the characters and the level of thought and discourse the book will provoke. Movies and TV programs are cross-marketed, are promoted as appealing to entire families. I wonder why this doesn’t work with books.
Hmmm…That’s a good topic to discuss at my next cocktail party.
Brenda Ferber says
I totally agree with you. And I think you just need to go to more cocktail parties with authors of children’s books!
Barrie says
Jenny, I think we just need to meet up at a cocktail party. We’d have loads of books to discuss. I LOVE your cover, BTW!