The Vlog/s From YA Matters is here!

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We Have Instagram!

So, incase you awesome lot did not know, we have instagram!

It would be A M A Z I N G if you could all check it out (and maybe follow if you feel like it ;))! Ely and I have been discussing being more active on different social media and of course, this includes the lovely Instagram!


Hopefully you will enjoy the lovely content that we post. You'll be updated on what we post on the blog, what we receive for review, what we are reading now and a whole lot more!

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BOOK EVENT TIPS | What to bring.

Now I’ve been to several book events in my time: Cassandra Clare, Maggie Stevater, John Marsden, Alyson Noel, Ruby Circle Launch party, Every Move launch and many others. With going to these events you tend to pick up a few things that you need for the next time you go to a book event again.

Bring your camera: Trust me, you are seriously going to regret it if you leave your camera at home! Book events are great for extra blog content and no one likes chunks and chunks of words without a picture or two. If you are lucky, you might even have the opportunity to take a picture with an author! Trust me, you don’t want to be camera-less in those situations. I’ve had nightmares where I meet celebrities without having anything to document it with. You can vlog too!

Bring a snack: You never know if there is going to be food there or how long you will be there for. You could be like Ely and I who only went to the Ruby Circle launch for the food that wasn’t present (we hadn’t read the book but we also wanted to support Richelle lovely Mead). I recommend a non-messy food so it doesn’t get all over your books in your bag. For example, a muesli bar or a small child (Only for cannibals).

Bring money: It’s a bookstore, you need money to buy books. Or if your like Ely on a book buying ban, don’t bring money, because YOU WILL buy books and YOU MAY regret it.

Wear comfortable shoes (Ely’s tip): You never know, there might not be seats and you might have to stand up for the whole time. If you do, come prepared.

Water: Just trust me. If you are not thirsty for some books, you will be thirsty for some water.

Bring a comfortable bag: Don’t be that awkward person (me) who brings a bag that is the most uncomfortable thing ever. Bring a big bag for books like a tote (do you see a trend here?) but not a huge handbag with twenty different pockets and awkward handles so that you will most likely create red welts when you hang it on your shoulder. Just something easy on the shoulders and something that is spacious.

Book/s: Bring the books that you are going to get signed if it is an author event(Or just have a random book to read if you are waiting in a line, because you will most likely be waiting in a line at least one point at the event). Sometimes, there are limitations on how many books you can get signed. For example, I went Cassandra Clare book event and we were only allowed to get three books signed. Most of the time, it is three books.I would bring at least two. And also, sometimes they would like you to buy a book to support the book store so make sure you get there relatively early so your not waiting in too many lines.

Portable phone charger: TRUST ME. THIS SAVES ME EVERYTIME.

And finally, this is not really an object, but dress up to the type of book event. Seriously, don’t be afraid to dress up as a Vampire/werewolf or alien because most likely, there will be costume competition, and there will be prizes, and who doesn’t like free merchandise?

Thoughts On The Young Adult Genre: DOESN'T COUNT AS LITERATURE.

So the other day I attended a creative writing club meeting. That was all good until I found a friend from that class and started walking back to get lunch. She was nice and it is always good to find people that write like you do and we were having a great conversation until she asked me what type of things I wrote. The conversation went down like this.

Me: Oh well, I read a lot in the Young Adult genre and that is why I like to write in it. I write Young adult.

Her: So you write about vampires?

Vampires.

VAMPIRES.

VAMPIRES. IS THAT WHAT THIS GENRE IS TO YOU?

DEAR GOD WOMEN, SORT OUT YOUR PRIORITIES.

First of all, I am disappointed in myself. Instead of saying that I write young adult, I gave her a reason that I wrote in that genre and of course, that comes of as an insult to YA. I had to explain myself and I really shouldn’t need to. I should be able to just say that I write young adult because I like to.

Now that I’ve got of that my chest, let’s talk about her.

Dear god.

I can’t even.

I hate that people look down on our genre like it is a speck of dust, that it is a lesser than other genres and doesn’t count as literature. The young adult genre is not just about vampires as I’m sure you are all clear about. Yeah, sure, there are a bunch of Young adult books that have vampires but there are just as much that are not Young Adult books. For example, Dracula.

God, I just want to slap people sometimes. Slap them and then throw them off buildings and then suffocate them and then eat them.

They deserve it.

Now this is a quite random post and barely a discussion but I just wanted to write something about it. One day I will write a whole novel on this damn topic and publish it so the whole world can see it, but right now I just wanted to show a piece of ignorance and see if there are any conversations or events like this that have happened to you? Leave them in the comments! I would love to know.

Young Adult Series That I Will Never Finish

Wicked Lovely by Melissar Marr

I can’t say I hated Wicked Lovely, but I really did not love it. An even bigger turn off was the fact that the sequels were from a different point of view. If you know me, you’ll know that I hate when a series changes point of view. Especially when you’ve finally stuck with one character for a whole book and felt like you really connected with them only to discover that they won’t be in the next book. And I know that it’s the authors plan and it must work in the whole grand scheme of things, but give me a break, you just made me love a character and you are ripping them right out from underneath me.

Books Read in the series: 1

Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

One of the things that turned me off from this series is the fact that the story is told from a character’s point of view who felt more like an observer to the main plot line, than actually being in it. I felt like he was always looking in to Lena’s life and the craziness that came with it. I mean there is nothing wrong with that. I guess I’m just used to having the main character be the one that things are happening to. It felt like I was looking through too many windows to see what was on the other side. The other side being the actual plot line and driving nature of the book. Ethan, if that is his name by memory, shouldn’t have been the main character. I felt helpless reading through his point of view. It made sense why I stopped reading this series. I didn’t want to be an observer.

Books Read in the series: 2

Matched by Allie Condie

Honestly,  I have never really understood the hype that went around this series. I thought the first book was okay but the majority of people said they really loved it. Then came the second book, which was horribly slow, and I think consisted of the characters walking across a desert for the majority of the book. Blah. Gah. Why? It wasn’t the worst, but it really wasn’t the best either. I got the last book the day it came out in hardback and then I just never ended up reading it. Will I ever read it? I want to say that I will because I am so close to finishing the series but I really don’t know if I will.

Books Read in the series: 2

House of Night by P.C. CAST and Kristin Cast

Ugh. I have so much bookish disappointment for this series. It was pretty much a waste of my life. That’s pretty harsh, I know. The series got to a point in which they were just milking the cow too long and I don’t know if it was for money or if the authors really just loved the story that much, but it exhausted me. I was so done with it. I am still done with it. I definitely know that I will never ever go back to this series. The first couple of books were bearable and then they started introducing new point of views with characters I couldn’t care less about. I heard a rumor somewhere that there will be 12 books in the series. I don’t know if it is true but that is ridiculous. Extremely ridiculous.

Books Read in the series: 8

FINDING TIME TO READ #READINGPROBLEMS101

One thing that really bugs me is when people announce that they don’t read books because they don’t have time. That’s not a good enough reason. Seriously, it’s not. If you really wanted to read books you would make time for them. I bet you readers have heard that one before and want to stab me with a gun because shooting wouldn’t satisfy you.

Tip 1:

First, figure out if you’re a, “30 minute before bedtime,” “set aside a day,” or “on the go,” type of reader. Unfortunately, I’m the “set aside a whole day,” reader and if you are one, then it could be really hard for you to settle down with a book because of a busy schedule. The number one tip I have for you is the Friday Night Spree. Grab a book after school on Friday when nothing is due the next day, and read. Read through the night and to the early hours of the morning if that is the only time you have to read. Sleeping is important, I totally understand, but if you’re free the next day then Saturday sleep ins can still happen. No stopping you their buddy. Or develop the awesome habit of becoming Ely. I swear she breathes in words from the books she is reading without them being present.

Tip 2

I’m sure all of you readers find time to play games on your phone in breaks. Instead of playing games download ebooks into your phone. This reduces the weight of hardcopy books in your bag and provides a reading light for those dark times. I know not everyone is an ebook person and can’t break that attachment with amazingly smelling book paper. If that is the case, buy the hardcopy book and download the ebook if you’re not afraid to spend a bit more money or tumble through the Internet for free copies. Let’s just hope that someone makes scratch and sniff book cards for the smell and touch side of this.

Tip 3

Create a resistance towards the “reading a book in the car sickness.” You will find a whole lot of time goes wasted in there. On the other hand, if your driving, please, oh god, please don’t read a book while driving. Try an audiobook or something along those lines. If you are a parent, get your kid to read the book outloud to help with their fluency as well. I have never ever tried an audiobook but I’ll have to now.

So those are my lovely three tips of making time to read books. They are a bit drastic to all the other options, but I understand that not everyone can make their life that simple enough. I’m a bookoholic and I get super depressed if I don’t read a book for a while. Ely, I’m sure, would die without a book in walking distance and I’m standing right next to her.

And Remember: Books make time for you.

 XxChami