I love teen fiction (YA lit). It makes up the most of my reading lists, and it's what I want to spend my career working on (in editing . . . though I do want to try my hand writing sometime). And I feel like up until a few years ago, it was a very misunderstood part of literature. That's what makes what I have to share so exciting!
This is a list of "the best" teen novels. It was chosen by readers, so I have a hard time saying that all of the books on there are "the best," but there are some really good books on the list. I counted it up and I have read 56 out of the 100 on the list. Of the 44 that I didn't read, 12 of them are by an author that I have read before. And I have read 9 out of the top ten (the one I didn't read is by an author I have read before). Some of the ones I haven't read because I didn't want to read, some I've heard of but haven't gotten around to reading, and some of them I haven't ever heard of.
This list includes classic novels (like Anne of Green Gables; and The Outsiders, arguably the beginning of YA lit as we know it), fantasy (I'd recommend Goose Girl and Howl's Moving Castle), contemporary (I just discovered John Greene and really like his writing), historical fiction (definitely read The Book Thief if you haven't!), science fiction (I've never read Ursula Le Guin, but people have said a lot of good things about her), paranormal (yes, Twilight is on there . . . unfortunately), and "lite" lit (Princess Diaries), as well as thriller, and dystopian. There are some series that I loved as a kid and I still love now!
Anyway, I feel like there is something on this list for everyone. Take a look and read on!
Aug 10, 2012
Aug 5, 2012
Summer Update
This post is just going to be a random collection of things that have been happening to me this summer.
First up: I bought my very first car!
How is it possible that someone in her mid-twenties never had a car before? Easily answered. I never had the money before. Anyway, I bought Perry about a month ago. It's kind of weird, because I've been driving him around, especially last summer, so it still hasn't hit me that he's really and truly actually mine. (Though the new battery I had to put in him helped a little bit!)
I still ride TRAX to work, so I still get all those adventures! In fact, I learned something this last week. If I leave work 5 minutes early, I get home 20 minutes early. Not bad, right? On Friday, I was on my ride home and someone came and sat down next to him. Just a few minutes later he started leaning over to my side of the seat, then jerked himself back up again. I glanced over and noticed he had fallen asleep. And in the next ten minutes he kept slowly falling over to my side of the seat and then jerking back up. I'm not going to lie: I may have lightly elbowed him a couple of times.
Work is going pretty well, though the last couple of weeks have been a little stressful. We're getting right to the final deadline for one of our volumes, which means that they have asked me to help source check. The first document I source checked took me a week. And it was so frustrating! But last week I was going faster and I really think that I'm understanding where to find sources. Though I do have a doc coming up this week that I'm a little worried about. Guess we'll see! Also, one of my very good friends Melissa left the project and moved all the way across the country with her husband. We started at the project the same day as interns, and before that and sat next to each other in a class at college. The first thing I would do after coming in in the morning was walk over to her cubicle so we could go fill up our water bottles and chat about the latest celebrity news, or a book, or a movie, or a TV show we both liked. Work is going to be a lot different without her there.
A week from tomorrow, Perry and I are going on our first road trip! We're taking the bro with us and going down to CA to hang out with the sis and bro-in-law. I'm so excited to be going on vacation! I've been a bit restless lately, and with the stress at work, I just really need to get away. My last vacation was more than two years ago, so I think I'm a little over due! It's going to be about 30 degrees cooler down there than it is here, which will be super nice. And we're going to see the ocean, and big trees, and fun cities. It's all going to be great. Just cross your fingers that I can make the drive! It will be the longest that I, personally, have ever driven (I've been in the car going to CA before, but never drove), and I'm a little afraid I'll go crazy and bro will have to knock me out so we can get to CA safely!
So, I've come to realize something this summer. Being a grown-up isn't just something that happens. I keep thinking, "When I graduate college, then I'll be a grown up." "I'll be grown up when a get a job." "I'll be grown up when I buy a car, move into my own place, get married, have kids." The thing is, these are all steps of becoming a grown up. Because being a grown up doesn't just come all at once when you reach a specific milestone; you ease into it a little at a time and you learn more with each step. Which I am really grateful for! I can't imagine what it would have been like to have to learn everything at once! Especially not with everything I've had to learn lately!
So, that's just a quick little review of what's been happening with me! I'll be sure to post a few updates and pictures from my trip.
First up: I bought my very first car!
 |
| His name is Perry. He's a Honda Accord that I bought off my parents. :) |
I still ride TRAX to work, so I still get all those adventures! In fact, I learned something this last week. If I leave work 5 minutes early, I get home 20 minutes early. Not bad, right? On Friday, I was on my ride home and someone came and sat down next to him. Just a few minutes later he started leaning over to my side of the seat, then jerked himself back up again. I glanced over and noticed he had fallen asleep. And in the next ten minutes he kept slowly falling over to my side of the seat and then jerking back up. I'm not going to lie: I may have lightly elbowed him a couple of times.
Work is going pretty well, though the last couple of weeks have been a little stressful. We're getting right to the final deadline for one of our volumes, which means that they have asked me to help source check. The first document I source checked took me a week. And it was so frustrating! But last week I was going faster and I really think that I'm understanding where to find sources. Though I do have a doc coming up this week that I'm a little worried about. Guess we'll see! Also, one of my very good friends Melissa left the project and moved all the way across the country with her husband. We started at the project the same day as interns, and before that and sat next to each other in a class at college. The first thing I would do after coming in in the morning was walk over to her cubicle so we could go fill up our water bottles and chat about the latest celebrity news, or a book, or a movie, or a TV show we both liked. Work is going to be a lot different without her there.
A week from tomorrow, Perry and I are going on our first road trip! We're taking the bro with us and going down to CA to hang out with the sis and bro-in-law. I'm so excited to be going on vacation! I've been a bit restless lately, and with the stress at work, I just really need to get away. My last vacation was more than two years ago, so I think I'm a little over due! It's going to be about 30 degrees cooler down there than it is here, which will be super nice. And we're going to see the ocean, and big trees, and fun cities. It's all going to be great. Just cross your fingers that I can make the drive! It will be the longest that I, personally, have ever driven (I've been in the car going to CA before, but never drove), and I'm a little afraid I'll go crazy and bro will have to knock me out so we can get to CA safely!
So, I've come to realize something this summer. Being a grown-up isn't just something that happens. I keep thinking, "When I graduate college, then I'll be a grown up." "I'll be grown up when a get a job." "I'll be grown up when I buy a car, move into my own place, get married, have kids." The thing is, these are all steps of becoming a grown up. Because being a grown up doesn't just come all at once when you reach a specific milestone; you ease into it a little at a time and you learn more with each step. Which I am really grateful for! I can't imagine what it would have been like to have to learn everything at once! Especially not with everything I've had to learn lately!
So, that's just a quick little review of what's been happening with me! I'll be sure to post a few updates and pictures from my trip.
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