Armchair BEA 2014: Middle Grade/Young Adult

Posted May 30, 2014 by Lola in Lola's Ramblings / 12 Comments

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Last year I saw a lot of bloggers participating in Armchair BEA and it looked like a lot of fun, so decided to join Armchair BEA this year. More information about this event you can read on the Armchair BEA site. Also as I live in the Netherlands attending the real BEA convention isn’t really an option, but everyone can attend Armchair BEA.

For todays topic I choose:

Middle Grade/Young Adult
Our final genre of discussion is one that we know is a popular one these days: books for the younger crowd, from middle grade to young adult. If you do not normally talk about this genre on your site, maybe you want to feature books that you remember impacting you during this stage in your life. If this is where you tend to gravitate, maybe you want to list your favorites, make recommendations based on genres, or feature some titles that you are excited to read coming later this year.

I choose this topic because I read a lot of Young Adult books and also enjoy som Middle Grade books now and then. So I want to talk about why I love these age categories and list some of my favourite books in each categories.

Why I love Middle Grade books
While I don’t read a lot of Middle Grade book, usuaully only a few each year, I still have a soft spot for this genre. Midle Grade books are the books I turn towards when I want focus on the story and less drama and emotional troubles then I am used to in Young Adult, New Adult and Adult books. I also read Middle Grade books to remind me of when I was a child myself. And in general I just love this genre because Middle Grade books are a lot of fun to read.

Some of my favourite Middle Grade books
Here’s a list of some of my favorite Middle Grade books I read:Nikki Powergloves_v3_3
Harry Potter series by Jk Rowling. I still remember reading this series for the first time and how much I loved these books. It’s been a long time since I read these, but it’s an awesome series.
Nikki Powergloves series by David Estes. I’ve the first two books in this series so far and they are a lot of fun. I especially would recommend these if you are in the mood for a fun superheroes book. Nikki is a young girl who finds some powergloves and tries to use them to help people. Read my review of book 1 and 2 here.
The Blackwell pages series by K.L Armstrong and M.A. Marr. I’ve read the first book in this series a while back and I really enjoyed it. I am looking forward to read the second book soon, which was released a few weeks ago. This series is co-written by one of my favorite authors Kelley Armstrong and it has Norse mythology and a great cast of character. Read my review of Loki’s Wolves here.

Why I love Young Adult books
It isn’t that long ago that I myself was still a young adult and it was one of the most difficult times in my life. all those emotions and problems that seem bigger then life, the drama, first love etc. Those are all aspects that I love in Young Adult books, there is just something about the perspective of a teenager in a book that I love reading about. And I like reading about all those firsts, first love, first kiss, first boyfriend. A few years ago I almost only read Young Adult books, while nowadays I read a lot of other New Adult and Adult books as well, I still read quite some Young Adult books.

Some of my favourite Young Adult books
Here’s a list of some of my favorite Young Adult books I read:
Sing Sweet Nightingale by Erica Cameron. This is one of the best Young Adults books I read this year. This book took me completely by surprise with a great cast of believeable characters, an original storyline and awesome world building. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series. Read my review of Sing Sweet Nightingale here.
fire countryThe Country saga and The Dweller series by David Estes. As these are sister series I listed these together. Both are great Young Adult dystopia series and the fourth book is actually the fourth book in both the series, which is really cool and well done. Both series have an awesome strong main characters, soem romance and the world building is done really well. Read my review of Fire Country here.
The Unearthly series by Cynthia Hand. While normally I am not a big fan of angel books, I loved this series. It gives a whole new twists on angel books and it also has a love triangle that is well done. Read my review of Boundless here.
GatheringThe_B.inddThe Darkest Powers and the Darkness Rising series by Kelley Armstrong. The Darkness Rising series is a spin-off from The Darkest Powers series, so that’s why I listed them both here. These series are both really good and I even re-read book 1 and 2 in the Darkness Rising series because I loved them so much and used to excuse to re-read before the thirs book. Read my review of The Gathering here.
bloodlinesVampire Academyand Bloodlines series by Richelle Mead. Again here Bloodlines is the spin-off series of Vampire Academy, so that’s why I listed them together. I just love both of these series, great characters developments and slow building romance and an original twist on the vampire genre. Read my review of The Fiery Heart here.
The Nogiku series by SJ Pajonas. This series is so original and addictive and I can’t wait to read the third book in this series! Read my review of Removed and Released here
Ofcourse this list is by no means complete as I’ve read a lot of Young Adult books, but these are some of my favourites.

So I love both Middle Grade and Young Adult books. I still read a lot of Young Adult books, but only a few Middle Grade books each year. How about you, how many MG and YA books do you read? Do you enjoy both age categories? And what are some of your favourite books in each age category?

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12 responses to “Armchair BEA 2014: Middle Grade/Young Adult

    • Kelley Armstrong is one of those writers for me, she writes MG, YA and Adult and I love her writing in each age category. Most of the MG books I read are from authors I already know, I don’t read a lot of MG books although there are some great ones out there.

  1. I don’t read many middle grade books either. Books 2 & 3 of Richard Newsome’s The Archey Legacy on my list to read this summer.

    I still haven’t gotten around to reading the Harry Potter series. SMH. I hope to knock it out this summer as well.

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