Armchair Bea Day 5: Keeping It Fresh & Children's Literature

Design credit: Sarah of Puss Reboots

Keeping things fresh
This is a tricky question isn't it? On one hand I feel like I need to constantly be creative to "hook" new readers and on the other I want to do what makes me happy. This need for balance between keeping myself and my readers happy is precisely how my Dear Diary: Confessions From A Blogger posts came about. I wanted to talk about a few topics but I didn't just want to have them be at random. Also I felt I needed something new to keep myself challenged and growing as a blogger and that meant tackling tough topics head on.  Since my first "confession" where I talked about Reading Quirks I've had quite a few E-mails from readers thanking me for my posts or expressing how they felt about a topic in confidence. At first I was put off that I was getting more E-mails than comments but I eventually decided whether or not they comment doesn't matter to me. Not everyone feels confident talking about things so publicly. If my readers feel the only way they can express themselves is by emailing me than so be it. Another thing I do to keep things fresh  is I've learned it's OK to step away from the blog for a day or two to clear my head. If I'm overworked it will transfer into my posts and I certainly don't want that.  Sometimes you just need a break to get the old gears grinding again and give you a fresh perspective on your blog.

Children's Literature 
When I was young I mostly read Horror books by Christopher Pike, Anne Rice and Stephen King or fantasy books by Authors J.R.R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis and Piers Anthony  However, their are exceptions to every rule and for me those came from books by Authors L.M. Montgomery and V.C. Andrews. Both Authors vastly different and yet I devoured every book by them just the same.  

As I grew older I slipped out of reading Young Adult books. At that time nothing particularly exciting was being written and I was more than content with the endless stream of Adult horror being produced. That all changed when in 2002 I stumbled upon The Harry Potter films. I knew of the series existence and I knew of the rave reviews but I just couldn't bring myself to read a MG series. At that time my husband was underway (Navy) and I had already watched all the selections at the NEX. All that were left on the shelves that weekend were the first two Harry Potter films or chick flicks. I don't do chick flicks so Harry Potter it was. I had the rentals 3 days and I think I watched the films at least that many times. When my husband returned I went out and bought the books released at the time. From the first pages I was hooked. You could even say the series sparked my re-interest in Young Adult as I found myself looking for more books that I could sink my teeth into. Which is how I came across Amelia Atwater-Rhodes Demon In My View (which I'm still convinced SM ripped off for her Twilight series) The book isn't overly long but the writing was fantastic and best of all the Vampires (the "bad" ones anyway) were scary! From that point on I found myself going to the YA section more and more.

Jump forward to 2013 and my relationship with books has changed even more. While I still read an insane amount of Horror. I am completely comfortable with series outside my age group. While Adult books like to tackle serious issues, I find Young Adult does it so much better. Also I can read a greater variety of books in genres I love without being pigeon holed into it only being a Science Fiction tale or that which focus on Mystery or Horror. Since I'm sure you're curious, I'll list some of my favorite series/ books through the years below. In no particular order they are:





And of course no list would be complete without the series that started it all. 

What is your take on Children's Literature? What are some of your favorite series? 
Have you read much Middle Grade or Do you stick mainly with Young Adult books?

Feel free to leave links to your posts in the comments below. I love reading them all.

Comments

  1. Your post just reminded me of V.C. Andrews books. I loved them as teen! I had completely forgotten about them. I also read a lot of Stephen King and Christopher Pike books.

    I read Harry Potter as an adult as well (the first three had been released when I started and I always eagerly awaited the publication of a new one) and think they also encouraged me to try more children's/YA literature. I still don't read a lot of it, but do like what I've read.

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  2. I had at one point almost the entire collection of V.C. Andrews books. I haven't gotten into the newer books they just haven't grabbed me like the older ones do.

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  3. Yay! Glad to meet another fan of R.L. Stine :) I love Blood and Chocolate as well, I wish the movie actually followed the book.

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    1. Oh yeah. I read so many of his Young Adult books when I was a teen. I really wish I still owned them as I sometimes have urges to reread series. Blood and Chocolate on screen was so disappointing. It wasn't bad it's just the book was so much better.

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  4. I used to love the Point Horror and Goosebumps books too, I must have got through all the ones my library stocked!

    I think you're right about taking a break every now and again too. I keep reminding myself that blogging is a hobby and if it starts to feel like another job, I'm entitled to take a break from it.

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  5. Oh I'm so happy to meet another fan of the Bartimaeus trilogy!! I absolutely loved those books, but I don't see many people reading them which is a shame.

    I have yet to read anything by VC Andrews, though a few years ago I got a copy of Flowers in the Attic after hearing a lot about it from book blogger friends. Just have to find time to read it!

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    1. I know what you mean. I really loved the series but when I mention it to people that have no clue what I'm talking about, sigh.

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  6. Oh, I absolutely love the Harry Potter series. I'm due for a re-read.

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    1. It's been nearly a year since I've read the complete series. I'm due for a re-read as well.

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