Lost in Pages

Hello, everyone! Today is January 6th, which means I am now 26 years old. Last year, I made a conversations post about my birthday – you can see it here – where I talked about being an adult in the YA world. That sentiment is even more true today. I’m 26 now, so that means I’m a real adult. I have to have my own insurance now and everything.

I don’t really feel any different than I did when I was 25. Maybe I ache a bit more now than I did last year, but I blame working on truck shipments for Books-A-Million for that. It feels weird that I’m closer to 30 now more than ever, but the books I continually reach for are targeted for an audience a solid ten years younger than I am. Am I embarrassed by this? No, not at all. But is it weird to most people? Unfortunately, yes.

One thing I have noticed in the year since I posted about this topic is more and more adults seem to be shopping in BAM’s Young Adult section. I feel like I’ve helped more people find YA books than any other lately. Honestly, a credit of sorts goes to the movie industry for that because most of the popular movies currently have been made from YA books. But a part of me wants to believe the stigma surrounding young adult books might slowly be going away.

Again, I always say that a fantasy book is a fantasy book to me, regardless of whether the main character is 17 years old or 35 years old. I care more about the plot and character growth than the ages or target demographics. If the story intrigues me, I’m going to read it.

2019 looks to be a great year for book releases, specifically young adult fantasy ones. So, I’m extremely excited to see what the year brings for me. Here’s to a great 26th year!

Until next time,