Category: Discussion

On Reading Mindfully: What Kinds of Books Are You Reading This Year? | 2019 Reading Challenges

On Reading Mindfully: What Kinds of Books Are You Reading This Year? | 2019 Reading Challenges

Every year, I participate in a few reading challenges. Usually very quietly, because I hate reading pressure and I’m more of a mood reader, especially now that I have a kid who takes up a lot of time. Usually I don’t even track them very well. However, this year, I decided to give you guys a little preview into the themes I’ll be looking into for 2019. 2019 YEAR OF THE ASIAN READING CHALLENGE I just heard about the Year of the Asian Reading Challenge and I’m absolutely delighted to see it out there. In the past few years, I’ve […]

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han | On Lara Jean, The Realistically Immature Teen

January 25, 2017 / 13 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Discussion, Review
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han | On Lara Jean, The Realistically Immature Teen

Lara Jean-obsessed? Check out my “Three Days of Lara Jean” series! Review: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han I am a thousand years late to the Lara Jean love fest, but better late than never, right? This is a true story for dreamers, and it’s one that I fell for, hard and fast. Lara Jean Covey is the middle sister in a loving family, with a busy obstetrical surgeon of a dad, perfect older sister Margot, and fun younger sister Kitty. Lara Jean is a homebody; she loves baking, scrapbooking, and being cozy. Lara Jean is also […]

I DON’T Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie | Bookish Confessions #1

I DON’T Like Big Books and I Cannot Lie | Bookish Confessions #1

Bookish Confessions is a new feature on Mostly YA Lit. Inspired by The Broke and the Bookish’s Top Ten Tuesday prompt on blogging confessions, I realized I had so many bookish or blogger confessions that I needed more time to explore them all. Once every two weeks, I’ll share one shameful truth about me as a reader, blogger and booklover. Ready? Let’s go! Yup, it’s true. I don’t like big books, and I cannot lie. I know I’m supposed to be like, “Yay, big tomes! Yay, more words! Yay, more of living in this book’s world!” I am, after all, […]

On Morgan Matson and Friendship | Rather Be Reading Guest Post | #UnexpectedlyEpic #MorganMatsonWeek

On Morgan Matson and Friendship | Rather Be Reading Guest Post | #UnexpectedlyEpic #MorganMatsonWeek

Hi everyone! Today the amazing Estelle and Magan from Rather Be Reading are here to discuss Morgan Matson and their own awesome girl friendship. I got really emotional reading this piece, and I think it’s a beautiful tribute to Morgan’s themes and the power of her work to inspire self-discovery and great relationships. And don’t forget to hop on over to today’s other post to take the “Which Morgan Matson Character Are You?” quiz for a chance to win a very special The Unexpected Everything prize pack! On Morgan Matson and Friendship: Rather Be Reading Guest Post We’re so excited to […]

What Do Morgan Matson Books Mean To You? | Giveaway | #UnexpectedlyEpic #MorganMatsonWeek

What Do Morgan Matson Books Mean To You? | Giveaway | #UnexpectedlyEpic #MorganMatsonWeek

Hi guys! Welcome to Day 4 of #MorganMatsonWeek! Today I’ve got some serious Morgan Matson fans here to tell you what Morgan’s work means to them. And one of them, Gabi @ Let’s Gab About Books, has a special giveaway for you US readers: mini-The Unexpected Everything book necklaces (I SO want one of these!). Also today, check out my interview with the lady herself: Morgan Matson! We’re talking summer, grief, friendship, George R.R. Martin, and more. What do Morgan Matson Books Mean to You? Morgan Matson is hands down one of my personal favorite YA authors. Ever since I read […]

2 YA Books To Read On Sexual Assault : The Way I Used To Be & Exit, Pursued by a Bear

March 25, 2016 / 9 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Discussion, Review
2 YA Books To Read On Sexual Assault : The Way I Used To Be & Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Hi everyone, today I have reviews of two recent YA books to read on sexual assault: The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith and Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnson.If you’ve read this blog recently or follow me on Twitter at all in the last year, you know that consent and sexual abuse are issues that I care very deeply about. I’ve chosen to bundle these reviews together because they deal with the rape of teenage girls in two vastly different, but equally honest and thought-provoking ways. It’s fascinating to read them together and to see just how wide the range of […]

[UPDATED] What To Read If You Don’t Like Fantasy | Lady Midnight Giveaway [Closed]

[UPDATED] What To Read If You Don’t Like Fantasy | Lady Midnight Giveaway [Closed]

Hi guys, today I’m discussing fantasy reads for contemporary readers – and I’ve got a giveaway of a special early edition of Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare (I KNOW)! Keep reading for more! So last week, I was having dinner with a couple of book bloggers, all of whom love and read fantasy and speculative fiction much more than I do. And I, being the dissenter, said what I always say when confronted with this issue: “I’ve tried to love fantasy books, but I’ve failed.” It’s true. Fantasy – mostly YA fantasy – doesn’t seem to work for me. As […]

Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn | Review + Interview + Blog Tour

Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn | Review + Interview + Blog Tour

Hi guys, I’m excited to be part of the Canadian Blog Tour today for Firsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn! If you know my blog at all, you know that I have very strong thoughts about consent, feminism and sex positivity – and Firsts addresses all of that. It’s a read that I’m very glad exists. Read on for my thoughts, and then a Q&A with Laurie! *Very light spoilers here and there – if you haven’t read and like to know absolutely nothing, please don’t read!* *Also, I would probably say that this book is for age 14 & up – definite […]

Audiobook Narrators: Are You Picky As I Am?

Audiobook Narrators: Are You Picky As I Am?

Guys, am I the only one who is extremely and utterly picky about who narrates my books to me? So lately I’ve been really on the audiobook train. It used to be that I couldn’t “read” audiobooks unless they were books I’d already read (e.g. Harry Potter). But I’ve been finding it incredibly soothing to get things read to me. And audiobooks are especially helpful if I’m doing something boring like dishes or laundry and I just need to get it done, but I don’t want to waste precious reading time. That said…it takes a lot for me to borrow, […]

On Dawson’s Creek and Love Triangles [Capeside Revisited]

October 22, 2015 / 5 Comments / Posted by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit in Discussion, Feature, Personal, TV
On Dawson’s Creek and Love Triangles [Capeside Revisited]

Hold onto your horses, guys. I’m about to defend young adult love triangles using Dawson’s Creek. *waits for falling anvils* When Rachel from Hello, Chelly asked me to be part of Capeside Revisited, her Dawson’s Creek appreciation week, I immediately started writing a post – without a lot of thought, just putting down ideas. And what really came out of it – aside from my encyclopedic knowledge of this show and how seminal it was to my understanding of teenagerhood – was the realization that this is one of the first stories I’d ever seen where a love triangle was […]