Hey it's three o'clock in the morning, probably the perfect time to write a blog, right?
Well, I'm going to be honest with my multitudes of readers in saying that this was the first time I ever looked at a literary blog. I will continue with honesty policy by saying I also GOOGLED it. Kill me. Yes, I punched in literary blogs into google and got what seems to be a bunch of links of links leading me to more links. It was overwhelming, and most of the links were generally too broad for me, or didn't spike an interest. I saw many interesting ones, but I wanted something that wasn't a general overview of books, I wanted something that specified to me. I didn't really find it, (continuing with the honesty) but I did manage to find something I could see myself checking into.
I admire those whose job is to read and review because as English majors, that sounds sweet! I don't know if these girls make any money off of it, but this is xpressoreads. It is made up of two girls that used their bookaholic addiction for good, unlike me who has spent hundreds of dollars at Barnes&Nobles and Amazon.com. Anyways, this blog devotes it's URL to Young Adult Fiction reviews for people who actually care. I've always been one to look up reviews on the book I may pick up unless it has wrapped me in from either the first page or how it feels in my hands. Seriously, I have passed on books with a rough texture that makes me think of sandpaper when I touch it. However, the majority of the time that I have looked up reviews it's been on Amazon.com since they usually are pretty worthy. Just recently, I was in Barnes&Noble on my weekly visit (exaggeration, sort of) when I saw a book at the register that caught my eye. "Rush" by Maya Banks, and I thought hey this looks good (and it felt nice in my hands). So I made a mental note of it to pick it up the next time I came, but my bank account balance provoked me to look up the book to see if it was worth it. Amazon.com gave it four stars! I was half sold until I Googled it. Since reviews are opinions, it's like a box of chocolates (think Forrest Gump) and I got gross frickin' chocolates. The book was looked at as a new Fifty Shades of Gray, which I never read because S&M topics aren't my cup of tea, hence why I leaned towards xpressoreads as my blog (horrible transition).
Xpressoreads is a website with a huge list of books that have been reviewed. The reviews are interesting and sell the book to the reader. The best part is they don't give away the whole book, I hate that in a book review especially when they say "spoiler alert." My eyes are Adam and Eve and can't help but to keep going into the forbidden zone. Anyways, I thought that their book choices were all enticing and by having two bloggers it gives more of a variety in the Young Adult Literature. The only bad thing is many of the books are Young Adult Romance and I think after seeing the Twilight craze I'm scared of picking up another YA romance. However, they are able to sell many of the books well and I also like that they give a page or plot overview in their review to give you an idea of what you might indulge into. I picked a book, called Crank, that I had read before to see if they did a good job of reviewing and they passed. I also read a review of a book I had never read that I chose at random, called Fire & Flood, to see if they could sell it to me, and I am definitely intrigued. This has definitely provoked a new way of choosing what I want to read and I'm so happy Spring Break is around the corner!
On a complete side note, I also found through my journey another literary blog/website dearauthor. This website gives reviews by grades (literally A- to F) which really helps at skimming through the good and the bad books.
