Summer 2017 Challenge - Update

Back in early July, I published a post titled "Summer 2017 Challenge - Reading Popular YA Books", in which I explained that, this summer, I wanted to challenge myself to read some books I don't typically read. Actually, these books are what a lot of bookstagrammers read — the more popular young adult fiction books that tend to be of the fantasy genre. These books include well-known series such as Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and The Mortal Instruments series, as well as stand-alone titles such as Thirteen Reasons Why (a controversial one, however, due to the Netflix series adaptation) and Anna and the French Kiss. And it's not that I hate all young adult books. I just tend to not read ones more centered around fantasy and romance.

But I wanted to read some of these books and give them another shot. Because every book is different, right? And I know that everyone has their own preferences, and that's perfectly okay! Like I said in my last post, "having different preferences in books is perfectly okay." For no reason should someone read a genre or book they don't like just because someone says they should or because they want to be diverse in their reading. It's good to give everything a shot, but in the end, you're going to like what you like, and yes, taste changes over time, but you're still going to have some sort of preference. And no one can change that.

So, no: I didn't want to read these books out of peer pressure. I wanted to read them to 1) know what in the world people were talking about on bookstagram, and 2) give them another shot. I could use something else, and, besides, the last time I tried reading one of "these books" (note: they're pretty much book types I'm not as fond of; they're different from one another so I can't really find a better term for them) was maybe a year or so ago.

But did I do it? Nope.

Things just sorta... came up, and I didn't have the time to get them out of the library. Not to mention that I couldn't even read the books I really wanted to read due to a large reading slump that bothered me for most of the summer.

So, what am I to do now? Just never try to read these books? No, I think I'm going to try, even if it isn't the ideal time for doing so (hello, school). The last time I did this, I read the book on the side, sort of as my book to read before bed and in-between readings of my other, more serious (I say serious because I was more seriously reading it, more involved, interested, etc.) current read. Of course, if I do decide to pick up a more lengthy and complicated young adult novel, then I'd probably save it for a weekend and make it my weekend book, reading it alone without another current read. But, unless it's the Donna Tartt of YA fiction, I'll probably read it on the side.

Will I actually do this? Only time will tell. But I do want to read these books, or, at the least, do some research and find out what everyone is talking about.