Books: The Reason for My Being

How do you pick what blogs or books to read? What’s the one thing that will get you to pick up a book or click on a link every single time?

Books are the things that make me happy, so I thought this post was worth responding too.

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.” This is one of those quotes that I don’t follow. Why? Because the cover is how the author is trying to capture your attention. It’s the first thing a reader sees and I think it’s extremely important to look at a cover. There are books out there that are good despite their cover, but mostly there are books out there that are awful despite their cover.

The title is also important. Titles grab my attention. I can look at a title (along with the book cover) to see if I’ll be interested. There’s not much more to the title, but I do see it as important.

I go to authors I’ve read before and liked and I avoid authors who’s books I didn’t like. Sarah Dessen is one of those Young Adult authors that I always read. I think she has excellent covers and titles. The story inside never disappoints me either. Sure, there are a few that I didn’t like as much as others, but I still wouldn’t say to no to them. On the other hand, I’ve read Susan Colasanti. I read Take Me There and loved it. I then read her next two books and hated them. I found her stories to be predictable and a bit too corny for my taste. Still, she has cute covers that tell a story on their own.

I read the inside cover or the back cover as well. Unfortunately, I’m in another awkward stage that I haven’t been in since I was 12. I’m between genres and age groups. Adult books don’t appeal to me because I can’t relate to the characters. Young Adult is starting to be too whiny and irritating for my tastes. I still loved Sarah Dessen’s last book and I read Sherilyn Kenyon’s newest book. I pick books at random and hope for a semi-complex plot. It doesn’t even have to be that complex, I’m just tired of knowing the ending right away especially when I can even know the specifics. I called the ending of The Moon and More, but I didn’t expect everything. That’s how books can still be appealing to me. The Soul Screamer Series by Rachel Vincent had plot twists I didn’t see happening at all and I bawled through most of the series. That’s a young adult romance that has all of the paranormal and love triangle stuff without being awful. Seriously, it’s great.

There are a number of genres I like and read a lot of. Within Young Adult: romance, paranormal, Dystopian, and Fantasy. Within adult: paranormal romance, realistic fiction (some form of tragedy usually involved), and on occasion, mystery. For adult the only author I return to is Sherilyn Kenyon. I haven’t found another author I’ve really enjoyed. Paranormal romance annoys me most of the time unless it’s Kenyon. My “realistic fiction” consists of books that my mom hands me and that I can deal with. Usually it crosses into the mystery section. I’m still not sure how I feel about mystery, but I loved the ending of Gone Girl and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series is one of my favorites.

So, I’m always up for suggestions if anybody has them.

And just to add, I’ll be putting up the book that I last read or am reading and what I generally thought or think about it.

Last book: Beautiful Darkness

How I felt about it: It was predictable. This has been happening more and more often, but I still knew generally what was going to happen. I dislike the way she always confirms what the reader already knows. The author will write something like

“‘Hey Hot Rod, why don’t you come over here?’ Ridley asked. ‘No thanks,’ he replied. Ridley bit her lip and looked down.”
That’s where she should stop. We know that Ridley obviously has a thing for him even if she doesn’t want to admit it. But then it goes on:

“Ridley was more upset than she let on. She kicked a rock looking sad at his lack of attention.”
Even worse, the narrator doesn’t even catch on. The author comes in and tells us what’s going on without the narrator letting us know he’s figured it out or just letting us think. It was exhausting to keep reading the story just because of that. Also, Liv comes in. She’s sweet and I loved her immediately. I was severely disappointed at the love triangle that appeared. I wanted Liv to be a good friend. Can’t anyone just have good opposite sex friends?! The series that pulled off the love triangle thing decently was The Soul Screamer Series. Seriously, read it.

Still, I’m a completion and will continue the story despite the problems occurring. Maybe, there will be a twist.