I’m Akilah, and I’ve been blogging here about books since 2009, though I did blog about books on my LiveJournal going back as far as 2002. So, yeah, I’m not new to the game. However, this is only the second time I’ve participated in Armchair BEA (the first was way back in 2013).
Now, onto the questions (I kept the original numbering. Clever or annoying? You make the call):
2. What is your favorite genre and why? My usual answer to this would be contemporary realistic YA lit, but, well, see #8.
3. If you could recommend one other book blogger, who would it be and why? I follow a lot of great bloggers, but today I’m going with Crystal @ Reading Through Life. She is a voracious reader who also helps run Rich in Color, a blog devoted to diversity in YA. Also, and more importantly, I discovered her blog during the last Armchair BEA, so it seems fitting.
5. If you could create a playlist that reflects your bookshelf, what would be the first song you choose?
The chorus is “Back in the day / when I was young / I’m not a kid anymore/ but some days / I sit and wish I was a kid again.” My bookshelf is basically all old books and series I loved as a teenager.
8. What is the most interesting thing that you have learned through your reading this year so far? I am finding that though I find myself drawn to YA and it still makes up the bulk of my reading, I am less and less interested in it and would much rather read either middle grade or novels with teen/YA protagonists written for adults. Still contemporary and still realistic, of course, but definitely a shift in my preferred target market.
I’m looking forward to participating in Armchair BEA and reading and encountering everyone’s blogs. Happy posting, everybody!
The Englishist 
Your answer to #8 is really interesting to me because lately I’ve also been reading more books with young(teenage) protagonist that are shelved in adult fiction. I haven’t done it consciously, but I think I have been more drawn to them recently. I read Every Heart a Doorway and have Golden Boy on my TBR, both of which are books of that sort.
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I think middle grade is giving me the simplicity in stories that I used to really like about YA. I find a lot of YA now (there are exceptions of course) to be VERY overwrought and complex in unnecessary ways. It’s as though everything is just dialed up to 11 and books (particularly contemporary/realistic) can’t just be about life.
The adult lit with teen/adolescent protagonists also have that sort of straightforward approach to life but with the added character complexity and no easy answers approach that I enjoy.
So those two categories of books seem to be meeting my fictional needs now whereas YA used to do it for me all on its own. I think it really just points to a shift in the market more than anything else.
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I like your answers…thanks for sharing.
I can’t get into YA….I like historical fiction and mystery.
Have a fun week.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My BEA ARMCHAIR POST
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Thanks, Elizabeth! I loved your answers as well. Book covers are ace, aren’t they? That day should be totally fun.
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