Happy Tuesday! I am glad to be back with Tell Me Something Tuesday. A weekly meme started by Cambria Hebert but now hosted right here at Rainy Day Ramblings. It is a chance to get to know your fellow bloggers and discuss anything and everything. Participate as often as you like. Just grab the question and post the answer on your blog and leave your link. If you want to guest post a question on my blog, shoot me an email.
This week, I have the wonderful and talented Barb from Basia's Bookshelf.
Barb wrote the question for today:
What do you think of the New Adult category? Have you ever read a New Adult book and are there any you’d recommend?
I admit, I am a bit confused over this new category, so Barb is here to straighten me out. Wild round of applause for Barb.......
The New Adult category started gathering steam last year and has gone nuts this year (in a good way). I think there’s still a little confusion about what NA is, especially when more YA is tackling tough issues and introducing sexual content that makes it unsuitable for a young audience I’d like to offer a general guideline about what is and isn’t NA – I’ll bet many of you have read it and not even realized it.
NA characters are:
- Over 18 and out of high school or if the book is a paranormal/fantasy/etc., the equivalent in that world.
- The upper age range can vary. The hard limit is 30, but I personally take the story into account before I call it NA. Is it a college or coming of age story? Is it a story that an immature adult would be involved in? I would consider those NA. Some people classify 50 Shades of Gray as NA and technically it is, since both characters are under 30; I personally wouldn’t claim it as one, especially since Christian is a billionaire. What new adult is a billionaire?
What NA isn’t:
- If the majority of the book is set in high school or if in a paranormal/fantasy/etc. situation, the characters are in a comparable environment, it’s best categorized as YA.
- Even if one character is older than 18, if the other is younger, it’s YA.
The exceptions:
- If the character/s turn 18 during the story and the subject matter is something serious/heavy and/or there’s an amount or degree of sexual content that would make it unsuitable for a typical YA audience. The characters have to turn 18 in there! Pushing the Limits by Katie McGarry is a good example of this one.
I’m not exactly impartial when it comes to pushing New Adult books. I’m one of the co-hostesses of this year’s New Adult Reading Challenge and I happen to just love them anyway. For more information about the Challenge, NA resources and lots of reading recommendations, visit Barb's blog or The Goodreads New Adult Reading Challenge Group and join in the fun!
See Barb's complete answer to the question on her blog. You can also check out Barb's lists on Goodreads for New Adult recommendations:
Barb's general New Adult Shelf (All the books she has read)
Barb's 2013 NA Challenge Shelf (Books she has read for the challenge or wants to read)
Barb's New Adult Shelf for 2012
Barb's Goodreads NA listopia list
Thanks so much Barb!
Now for my answer:
I have to admit, I am a bit late to the whole New Adult craze. I was unsure of what qualified as New Adult until Barb cleared it all up! I am endeavoring to read more New Adult this year. I plan to read very soon:
A few NA books that I have read in the past and thoroughly enjoyed are:
So all of you help clue me in and share with me some of your favorite New Adult Reads and tell me why I should drop everything and read your pick right now!
Thanks to Barb for stopping by today!
Next week's question is by Brooke@The Cover Contessa and she wants to know:
What are some of the books that frustrated you so much after you completed reading them that you felt like hurling the book at the wall?
Brooke will be stopping by to guest post introduce her question next week. I am sure you all know how fond I am of cliffhangers and that I will have a lenghty list of frustrating reads to share! Link up! See you next week!
