To All the People Who Wonder Why I Buy So Many Books

To all the people who wonder why I buy so many books,

That's just the thing. I know people sometimes wonder this about me. Sometimes, they say it aloud. Other times, I can see them thinking it - it's a particular look, only seen when I tell them whatever precious gem is coming my way this time. Because that's just it - I'm not just buying books. To so many of you, books are nothing more than words on a page. Something to do when you're bored or when you have too much time on your hands. Something to do once in a while.

The thing is, books are so much more than that. Words on a page might be a very accurate description of the word 'book', but there is so much hidden in those words. I don't buy books because they have words on a page. I buy books because those words bring me something.

A book is so, so much more. Whole worlds are hidden within them, so many emotions, pieces of life. Imagination, imagination is what fills those pages. Books are not black and white - are not words on a page. Books are filled with every color in the visible spectrum and everything beyond. Books are swirling with actions and conversations and feelings. Books contain planets yet unknown to the human race, books contain universes yet unknown to the human race. Books contain magic and reality and lies and truth. Books are the twisted version of reality and yet the most honest thing you will ever discover.

Imagination inspires imagination. I learn from books. My head is never empty, I am never alone because I have thousands of memories of people I have never met yet know so well. This, this is why I can be silent for as long as I please, this is why I like long journeys and the pieces of quiet in between the moments of life. I am never alone. I am never without a story. I can remember the old and make up the new, and everything in between.

When I open a book, start reading the first page, I am not here anymore. I am whereever the book takes me and feel whatever the book makes me feel and I am whoever the book is about. Stories are powerful, and they contain more wisdom and truth than you could ever imagine. I live not in one world like you do, but in dozens. I can escape this world whenever I want and go somewhere else, can lose myself in an universe that is not ours. I can live whole lives that are not mine, I can fall in love with people who are not real, I can make friends who do not know I exist. I can be surrounded by imagination and fantasy, and I can make it real - real enough.

This is why I buy so many books. I buy more experiences, more worlds. I buy more ideas and inspiration. I buy blood and tears and smiles and life and death. I live a thousand lives. I laugh, I care, I cry, I love. I can feel every emotion and not have moved at all. I can be destroyed and healed by words on a page.

Words on a page.

Maybe to you, books will never be more than that. Maybe to you, it doesn't matter. Maybe you do not care about it. And that's okay. Maybe you know the saying - reading isn't just something you do, it's a way of life.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Have I Lost My Shipping Abilities?

Have I Lost My Shipping Abilities?

I don't know what is going on with me lately. Before I started blogging or even had an opinion on whether books were good or not (back then, the only factor I weighed in was whether it was boring or not), I used to ship anyone and everyone. It didn't matter whether I liked the love interest or the main character or not, if I knew they were supposed to be together, I would ship it. By the way, I knew they were supposed to be a couple because
a) the main character thought the LI was smokin' hot
b) a weird 'spark' would pass between the two whenever they touched.

Those were the kind of books I read back then, mostly because they were the hugely popular ones and I simply hadn't heard of the unhyped, good books. Either way, I would ship the couple, and I would be happy when they kissed, no matter how soon that was, and I would be happy whenever they said "I love you" no matter how soon it was. I was, what I call, a 'flexible shipper'.

That, quite obviously, has changed.

I started to get pickier about my romances when I discovered the better books and started blogging. Where I didn't mind instant love before, I now despise it. I used to love it when the LI was sooo hot. Now I roll my eyes. I started liking slow-burn, smoldering romances. The kind that makes you go:



I want there to be that sexual tension and real feeling. I want to see a slowly developing romance and I want it to make me squeal. Now, it most certainly isn't impossible to write a book like that. I have read multiple books that made me SHIP LIKE HELL.

But recently? I don't know. I'm feeling like I'm starting to lose my 'shipping abilities'. Is it because I have read so many mediocre romances lately? Is it because I have read too much romances? After all, every book I've read lately (and basically ever) has a romance. I know one exception, and that is Dear Killer. And even that one has a possible ship should you want to ship someone! It's just that there are so many romances out there... I'm starting to feel like I can't be impressed anymore. I want a book with no kissing! I want a book that makes my brain burn because I'm trying to make the charcaters kiss with my nonexistent magical brain powers! I want to ship it like hell!

Unfortunately, I feel that I can't anymore. I don't know why, but I have read a lot of books recently and none of them have made me ship anything. And not all of them were bad books, mind you. There definitely were some great and 5-star books. I just don't feel it anymore. I have lost that connection not to the characters, but to the sparks that are supposedly flying off the page. It's like those sparks have become invisible to me, like I can't feel them anymore. And I want it to stop. Because if I can't enjoy the romance anymore, a huge part of the book will be ruined for me. Not that everything hinges on the romance, but just about every YA book features one. I want my shipping abilities back. I need them back. I want to cheer when they kiss again, I want to swoon, I want to ship everything.

Have you ever felt like you lost your 'shipping abilities'? If so, what did you do? Can anyone recommend me a YA with an AWESOME romance that will surely bring my shipping abilities back?

Book Talk Topic: Writing Tendencies

Writing Tendencies

I like many other readers and bloggers, enjoy writing. I am not like some working on a book or anything, since my writing's usually like this:

*idea*

"Ooh, good one! Let's get started!"

*writes 4-5 pages*

*new idea*

"This one's even BETTER! Must start this now!"

*writes 2 pages*

*new idea*

You get the picture :P I suck at sticking with one story! I love writing though. I have these moods where I'm like 'must write now' and I just get started. I love doing that! And with all my ideas, I've got plenty of Word documents with snippets of stories. I have noticed a couple of things taht always seem to be part of my writing:

• The inability to stick with one idea. Sometimes I write snippets for each and every idea, sometimes I combine them, but I have never written past 27 pages because some new shiny idea would distract me!
• I write in first person, present tense. I used to write in past tense, actually, because most books are written in that and it felt more natural to me. Sometimes it depended on the sentence! I have a Word document somewhere that is a jumbled mess of present and past tense because some sentences sounded better in present to me and others in past. But lately, first person and present tense seems to be my thing. Fun fact: recently I started writing a story in third person, past tense. It was going well, I was getting into the groove... And all of a sudden I realized I'd switched to first person and present tense mid-sentence :P I took that as a sign!
• No music! I know several writers love to have music on while writing and even have book playlists, but it doesn't work for me. If the music is happy and up-beat, I find myself getting distracted by the music and unable to write the way I want to. I also feel disconnected to the story. I can write with sad music on the background, but it usually gets me in a sad mood as well... And as a result, the MC will probably spend the whole story crying! No, no music for me. If the world around me is silent, I find it much easier to evoke the feeling that I need for the story at that moment.
• I am actually able to write with all kinds of tabs open (the blog, Twitter, Goodreads, etc.). Yes, they distract me at times, but I find that I usually forget all about them if the writing's going well. And if I don't forget them, I can just check everything, respond to everyone, and then get back to the story with no problem at all. I can do this kind of thing in the middle of a sentence if I want, and even if I spend half an hour on the Internet, when I get back, that sentence gets finished in the exact way I intended it to. In fact, this whole post is written in between of writing a story!
• Being forced to write doesn't work for me. I don't set any goals. This may be the reason my stories never get finished, but feeling that I 'have' to write doesn't work for me at all. I need to be in that writing mood, otherwise the story will get dull and lifeless. Reaching a certain amount of words also doesn't work for me - if I feel like this is the right point to stop writing then I will, whether I wrote 2, 200 or 20,000 words.

Do you have any writing quirks? Are any of them similar to mine?

Book Talk Topic: Lack of Inspiration

A Lack of Inspiration

Technically this won't be about books but about blogging, but I named my discussion posts Book Talk Topic... So yeah, just go with the flow!

Anyway, I wanted to talk about feeling inspirationless. Particularly because I'm feeling like that right now. Just like mood swings, I have 'inspiration swings'. Normally I read pretty quickly, and on top of that I can just come up with something (e.g. a discussion, something fun). Other times (like right now), I start to read slowly. It doesn't matter how good the book is, my reading just slows down. And I feel completely inspirationless. The plan was to do something with Halloween, because it's effing Halloween. But I couldn't think of anything, so I decided to do something just the week of Halloween. And then I decided to just post something on Halloween. Instead, you're getting this. Why? Because I couldn't think of anything.

During these periods I just sort of feel... empty. There's practically nothing I love more than reading. And blogging. I haven't been blogging for THAT long, but I really do love it. This community is amazing, even though I'm a socially awkward penguin. But during these slumps, I just don't read very much. It's usually at the start of winter: that's usually the time at which I sort of... sag. I get tired more easily and I just don't have the same energy I do during summer (which kind of sucks, seeing as my birthday is in the winter! And Christmas as well. I LOVE Christmas!). And blogging can start to feel like... well I don't want to say a chore. because it's not THAT bad. I just have no inspiration for posts, I have no reviews because all of a sudden I'm reading slowly, and I start to panic a little. I know you don't have to post every day (I don't even do that anyway), but a week? That's a bit too long for me. And the posts I do write... They seem bland and lackluster to me. (So if this is bland and lackluster, you know why!) My enthousiasm sometimes feels fake to me, even if I am eagerly awaiting something.

I'm not saying that this is because of blogging or this community or even because of all the drama. It's not. I love books, I love talking about about books, I love bookish people. But around this time of the year, I just don't have the energy to read a lot and write a dozen of posts and comment on every blog I follow. Even though I do want to do these things. So I want to thank everyone who still visits my blog and comments, even though around this time of the year I'm not the most sociable person, nor do I always comment back (although I aspire to). Thank you.

What about you? Do you ever feel like this? How did you fight it (if you did)?

Book Talk Topic: "Oh... So you read Young Adult..."

"Oh... So you read Young Adult..."

Okay, so I'm a bit ranty and feel the need to share it, so there you go. It'll probably very incoherent and rambling, but I need to get this off my chest! So this is what happened (the conversation  was originally in Dutch, but since most of you don't speak it, I translated it) :

Person: I hear you like to read?
Me: Yes, very much! I absolutely love books!
Person: So, what kind of books do you read then?
Me: I read Young Adult mostly. Sometimes I make an exception, but yeah, it's mainly YA.
Person: Ahh... So you don't read real literature...

AHHHHH! This frustrates me to no end, and I get quite angry when people say this. Brace yourselves, people, for there will be a rant.

I have come across this SO many times. Once you say you like Young Adult, you see people thinking that you don't read literature, that you're probably one of those Twilight fangirls, that you only read sappy vampire stories. This is not true. At all. I just don't get why Young Adult can't be seen as literature.

Is it because it's aimed for teens? Because it's about teens? I don't know, but I'm guessing that age has something to do with this. And I don't get why. There are so many beautiful, gorgeous, meaningful stories out there. Young Adult beautiful, gorgeous, meaningful stories. Is it because people think teens are shallow? Teens are shallow, so the books they read must be too? That's bullshit. Even if all teens were shallow (which most of them are not at all), the books are mostly written by adults. And just because someone wouldn't be able to 'understand a metaphor or the deeper meaning of a book' (heavy sarcasm here), it doesn't mean they can't be there. When I look back at books I read as a child, or a show I saw then, I see so much things that I completely missed then. The messages, the references, et cetera. So there. Even in small-children-stuff there's a deeper meaning, so then why wouldn't there be in teen books?

lit·er·a·ture

noun \ˈli-tə-rə-ˌchu̇r, ˈli-trə-ˌchu̇r, ˈli-tə(r)-ˌchu̇r, -chər, -ˌtyu̇r, -ˌtu̇r\ : written works (such as poems, plays, and novels) that are considered to be very good and to have lasting importance

This is what I get when I look up the definition of 'literature'. And guess what? There are Young Adult books out there that are 'very good and have lasting importance'. I give you some examples: Golden, Two Boys Kissing, and many more. In fact, Golden had a life-changing impact on me. So why isn't it seen as literature? Don't ask me.

This goes the other way too. When I read a book that's generally seen as 'literature', and I don't like it or have some critique, people are usually like: 'you're too young to understand'. Again, I call bullshit. I can understand it just fine, thank you very much. I'm generally not bad at finding a deeper message, but sometimes that isn't even the point. When I think that the dialogue is unnatural or the love instant, it doesn't have a thing to do with 'understanding' the novel. Besides, I can have an opinion. That's not wrong in any way.

/end rant 

Okay. *takes deel breath* I just had to write this. I didn't mean to offend anyone or suggest that everyone's like that, but I'm just seriously annoyed and needed to rant. I must say, ranting does help me: I feel much calmer now.

Have you ever had an experience like this? Do you think Young Adult can be literature? Let's discuss! 

Book Talk Topic: Growing Up As A Reader

Growing Up As A Reader

Before I discovered Goodreads, reviewing and blogging, I read. Not a big surprise, eh? I have read books for as long as I can remember. Truth be told, I didn't really think about what I was reading then. Didn't think about underlying messages or clichés. I just liked a book or I didn't, and a book just shouldn't be boring. That's it. If I would have rated books then, there probably wouldn't have been any one-star ratings, except maybe for books that were so incredibly boring that I almost fell asleep. It was then that a major thing happened. I discovered Goodreads.

I loved the site immediately. Not only was it incredibly useful for shelving books and discovering new ones, there were reviews. I could spend hours just sitting on the couch reading Goodreads reviews (I still do that, by the way). I especially enjoyed the one-star, ragey reviews. I just thought those were the most fun to read. But through reading these reviews, I discovered and learned. I saw the clichés that were in most books, saw what certain things really meant, and I started growing up. 

The best example of my bookish coming-of-age would be the House of Night series. Don't shoot me, but that used to be one of my favorite series. I loved the books, devoured them, even. Actually, it was through these books that I started to read English books. There were just more of the English books of this series since translating takes a while. Since I really couldn't wait for the next book in this series (I know, I know), I decided to read the English version. And the next one. And the next one. And suddenly, I found that the English language was just so much more beautiful. I started to dislike Dutch books. In English, everything just sounds twice as good.

Anywho, Goodreads and English books opened up my world. See, it's mostly the hugely hyped books that get translated into Dutch (think Twilight, House of Night, Fallen). And, I'm sorry to say, it's hugely the hyped books that are quite... crappy (or so I think). I didn't realize how much I was changing as a reader until I read Hidden, the tenth (!!) House of Night book. Good God. I hated it. What utter crap I was reading! It was nonsensical, with stupid Mary Sue characters, a stupid plot, etc. I disliked everything about it.

I rated the first nine House of Night books 4 or 5 stars. The tenth, not so much. I decided not to change my rating of Marked - Destined, though, since I did like the books that much when I read them. But it's striking, isn't it, how much someone can change? Have you changed as a reader? And is there a book or series that's basically a symbol of that growth?

Book Talk Topic: He Likes Me, Too!

He likes me, too!

In this very first edition of Book Talk, I’d like to talk about something I’ve seen a lot – if not in every Young Adult book I’ve read. Because every time, every time, the main character sets her eyes on a boy, and she crushes on him, he likes her, too.