Dark streets. Shadowy figures. Tough talk. A dead body. Have we just walked into a 1930s Humphrey Bogart film noir movie? No, we're stepping into one of the hot new contemporary subgenres: YA neo-noir. Noir writing made a big comeback a few years ago, but the...
Genre Talk
Which Book Challenge is Which?
Ever wish you read more in a year than you do? Ever wish your reading list was more diversified? Look no further, book challenges are the thing this year. Never have we seen so many book challenges of different types or so many readers participating. Here are some...
Need Inspiration?
by Sandra Ardoin, Inspirational Historical Romance Author The Shack, A Log Cabin Christmas, Into the Free, Dying to Read, the Left Behind series. Karen Kingsbury, Francine Rivers, Wanda Brunstetter, Terri Blackstock, Cindy Woodsmall. What do these books and authors...
Sex Scenes in Young Adult Books?
Malorie Blackman and Melvin Burgess say teenagers should read books in high school which tackle realistic sexual relationships as well as realistic sex itself. Their argument is that teenagers are going to get their information on sex and what it's like (or should be...
In Defense of Genres
Have you ever met a genre snob? That’s a term that popped into my head as I was talking to someone at a dinner party recently. It was a very literary group of people, so I opened a conversation with the person next to me by asking one of the first questions any book...