Bookish (and not so bookish) Thoughts is a weekly meme hosted by Christine at Bookishly Boisterous that works well for my scattered mind.
- My birthday is on Sunday. For some reason I’m way more down about turning 31 than I was about turning 30.
- I saw X-Men: Days of Future Past last weekend. I love a good time travel story, but now I have so many unanswered questions!
- My first time using Rafflecopter went about as smoothly as possible. I wasn’t sure how it would all work, but I was easily able to see everyone’s responses and verify entries as they came in, so I wasn’t stuck doing it all at once at the end… only to discover when it came time to choose winners that I didn’t have to verify everyone, because I have the option of disqualifying a winner after they’re picked, so I could have just checked the winning entries as they came up. Oh well, live and learn. I sent out the books to the winners this week, and all but one have arrived, so I hope my winners are enjoying their books!
- I got tagged on a new meme this week: The Book Blogger Test. I haven’t answered all the questions yet, but it’s on the schedule for next week.
- I hate when closed-minded people judge adults who read YA. Not only is it crap – seriously, how does people reading what they enjoy affect you in any way? – but the inevitable backlash leads me to feeling like I need to defend my own tastes. Just remember, there are those of us out there who legitimately don’t care for YA… not because it’s “for kids” and we’re being judgey, but because we have tried it and just don’t enjoy most of the tropes you see throughout YA. There are exceptions, sure, but on the whole? Not my thing… and that’s okay too!
- The ITW monthly newsletter came out, and included was a behind-the-scenes look at the collaborative stories of FaceOff. I’m really excited for this one!
- Earlier this week I talked all about my adventure in Iowa City. I added a picture of Tif and myself the following day, though, so in case you missed it…
Tif on the left; me on the right
(courtesy of tiftalksbooks)
Share some of your randomness this week!
Cheap Thrills 
I felt the same way about 31. 30 is *big deal* (or at least people make it a big deal). 31 was just …meh. But it is a prime number. So, you know, there’s that… Anyway, Happy Birthday in advance!!!
I used Rafflecopter for the first time last week too and was pretty impressed with it. I didn’t realize I’d have problem with .com WordPress, but that wasn’t a huge deal.
Thanks! And yes, I was very impressed with Rafflecopter, it makes everything run so smoothly. The limitations of WP.com are annoying, but that’s why I made the link big and bold and orange, so there’d be no chance of someone missing it.
I totally agree about people judging people’s taste in books. I enjoy YA, but know it’s not for everyone. I also enjoy a lot of other genres, too – read what makes you happy! As long as you’re reading – that’s all that really matters. Those close-minded idiots need to just shut it.
I have been considering my first giveaway and rafflecopter in the near future. Glad it worked ok for you the first time.
Happy early Birthday! I can relate to your feelings. My birthday was at the beginning of May and I was not excited about it. I think it just gets a little more depressing every year now that I’ve surpassed 30! But I hope you still have a good day.
Thanks! And yes, I’d definitely recommend Rafflecopter. Just be aware that, with WP.com, you can’t display the giveaway the way you usually see on most blogs. I made a point of making the link super-noticeable.
Happy almost birthday!
I was also happy to realize how easy Rafflecopter is to use — I’m not saying everyone has to do it this way, but I still like to verify all the entries before choosing a winner. I don’t like the idea that invalid entries thrown into the mix might potentially throw off the odds for everyone else who has entered. Though I’m sure if I ever ran a contest with thousands of entries (not likely!) I wouldn’t have much of an option other than to verify after the fact.
I totally understand where you are coming from about the YA thing and know it is hard not to get defensive. I don’t think there are any readers who really and truly love every genre out there, but not liking something for yourself is completely different from judging other people for liking it. Being defensive is a natural reaction because people are inclined to think that others’ opinions are automatically a judgement on their own tastes. I wish that weren’t the case, but I guess the defensiveness comes into play on both sides. If only there weren’t so many people who ARE legitimately judging people negatively (and writing about it publicly) for what they read, maybe this wouldn’t be as much of a problem!
Thanks! Everything in life would be a lot easier if people just wouldn’t be so judgey. Because one side says something and then the other side defends it, and then someone like me feels torn because I don’t agree with the first side, but I can’t really support the second side either. I mean, I can support the whole “read what you want to read” (not only is that just common sense, but I’m sure there are people judging my reading choices too), but I’m not going to #PromoteaYA when it’s not something I enjoy. The somewhat awkward thing is that I actually relate to a lot of what the author had to say about her own reading experience… just not the way she says it or the conclusions she draws because of it.
The problem with the original article was definitely in the way she said it — I would have respected her opinion much more if she said all the same things, but left it at “and this is why I don’t like read these books” instead of turning around and telling people they shouldn’t read them either and if they do, they should be embarrassed about it. I like quite a bit of YA, and even I could relate to parts of the article — about wanting to graduate to adult books as a kid especially — but the whole way she went about it was very alienating. Not to mention the crack she took at detective novels which was also below the belt, if you ask me. I’m certain the detective novels she refers to are adult books, but I guess those aren’t the right *kind* of adult book according to her. I hate the assumption people sometimes make that adult books are inherently superior because there are good and bad books of all types and I guess she is not quite doing that, but she seems to be very dismissive of an increasing large array books that she doesn’t *approve* of. She seems to have a very narrow definition of what books are worth reading, namely literary fiction. There’s nothing wrong with literary fiction, but the reading world would be pretty boring place if we all read the same things all the time.
I would hate to imagine a world where all anyone ever reads is YA because there is so much more to the world of books than just that (no matter how good they are), but that would never happen, so there is no need to be alarmist and act like adults reading YA means the potential future death of adult lit.
Happy Birthday!! =) I saw X Men last weekend but it was Japanese dubbed so didn’t enjoy it as much =(
Thanks!
Happy almost birthday!! And Rafflecopter is great. I’m pretty set on using it for all of my giveaways. Glad yours was a success!
Yeah, I’m sure I’ll use it for any giveaways I do in the future. I was quite pleased with how simple it was to use.
Happy, Happy Birthday!!
I’ve been really wanting to see the new X-Men movie, but have yet to see it! I’ve heard so many good things about it too!
And, look!! It’s our picture again!! Makes me smile!! :)
I’ve been plastering it all over the place! I feel like other bloggers are always doing way more exciting things than I am, and now I finally have something exciting to share!
You know what, I was more sad about 31 than 30 as well. I had a blast at my 30, but I didn’t hardly do anything for my 31 a few months ago. Ok, well maybe part of that was because I was in my first trimester and just too tired to do anything, lol.
It was a low-key day for me, which is fine. But I think the fact that it’s not a huge milestone makes it worse somehow. Like, my life is so not what I thought it would be ten or even five years ago, but at least turning 30 had some excitement to outweigh the disappointment. This year… not so much.
Happy birthday!
I totally agree everyone should read what they want and not down others for not agreeing with their choices. No genre is better than another; it’s just a matter of personal choice. Then again it’s not reasonable people like us causing the storms anyway :D
Thanks! Yeah, if only everyone could mind their own business… and if only everyone could stop falling for linkbait and getting enraged over it. Just like Person A shouldn’t care what Person B is reading, Person B shouldn’t care what Person A thinks about what they’re reading.
The writer of that adults shouldn’t read YA article sure did stick their foot in it. But hey people like that are always going to come out of the word works.
Happy belated birthday!! I often forget how old I am…I’m 30 something 32 maybe?
I’m exactly 20 years younger than my mom (well, just about… my birthday was yesterday, hers is today) and when I was a kid she would always use my age to remember how old she was. I always thought that was so odd… but yeah, as an adult it just doesn’t come up much, and I do have to think about it when someone asks my age.
I know I’m late, but happy birthday!! I hope 31 treats you well. :)
Re: the YA debate…I am planning to do a post on it soon…I don’t like the judginess either, but then I realized I’m kind of judgy about some people’s book choices too. So what’s justifiable and what’s not? Hmmm. Hoping I can write a coherent post about it. Haha.
My thought on it is, just because you have those judgey thoughts doesn’t mean you need to share them. You CAN share them, obviously, you have that right… but there’s no constructive reason to say, “This group of people should be ashamed because they like X.” You’re not doing it to start a dialog, you’re just doing it to make noise. I have my own things I get eye-rolly about and don’t understand why they’re so popular… but unless it comes up, I keep those opinions to myself… and if it DOES come up, I might say something like, “I’ve never understood the appeal of X,” rather than, “If you like X instead of Y there’s something wrong with you.”
Happy belated Birthday!!!
Thanks!