In her comment on Too Many Books post, Julianne from 1/2 + 1/2 = 1 asked why I seem to review mostly children's book these day.
Well, if it's this blog we're talking about, it's because it's supposed to be an extension of my Tots to Teens column, which, as the name implies, talks about children's and young adult literature. I'm actually still reading and reviewing "adult" (this sounds very dodgy!) books or what some bookstores in Malaysia call "Serious Fiction". I also review non-fiction. In fact the last three non-children's books I reviewed for The Star were non-fiction titles.
When I was growing up, my parents didn't restrict my reading. Our family "library" (one large bookcase crammed with books) was never locked and I was never told not to read any of the books in it. As a result, I devoured Peyton Place when I was 9 and Anna Karenina soon after. For this reason, I don't like to think of books in terms of who they were written for, agewise. This seems, to me, rather limiting as who knows what one may find readable. Who would have predicted that a child would love Anna Karenina? But when I first read it, it seemed just a richer version of one of my sister's Mills & Boons romances and I was fascinated by the descriptions of the clothes and balls and grand ladies. Of course there's much more to the book than that, but that's the impression I got as a child.
If you read Tots to Teens regularly, you'll have noticed that I've written about books that most people wouldn't normally think of as suitable for children or teens. When I say "suitable" I mean "something that kids and teens will find interesting" rather than "appropriate in content, themes, language etc". Thus, a few weeks ago, A. S. Byatt's Possession was highly recommended as a book teens might enjoy. (Interestingly, there are many young adult titles like Doing It by Melvyn Burgess and Sugar Rush by Julie Burchill that the average (Malaysian) parent would deem unsuitable for teens.)
Anyway, this blog has always featured my current reading list (all genres) and I'm going to continue to share that with readers/visitors. I've also decided to provide links to my reviews of non-children's titles in the Links to My Reviews in the Star section so you'll notice some additions. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate the links to some of my earlier reviews (that appeared between 2000 and 2002). Lastly, I'm thinking of providing links to some of the more interesting Tots to Teens articles, but we'll see.
Perhaps Julianne and others would care to send me their reviews of books (all genres) that they've read. It doesn't have to be a long review. Just a summary of the plot and a bit about what they like or dislike about the book would suffice!
In the meantime, I'll try to write more reviews for this blog. And I'll really have to get moving with those questions for Jennifer Donnelly!
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