My Relationships with Book Categories // A Bookish Discussion (Rambling)

Something I’ve been thinking about recently is how subdivided books are when it comes to age categories.

Maybe it’s because my grandma recently texted me to ask what books she should get my 13-year-old cousin for Christmas, and I had the hardest time answering. What was I reading when I was 13? I was genuinely stumped. My mom suggested The Princess Diaries, but aren’t those a little thick for a 13-year-old non-reader? I then suggested The Selection trilogy, as those are a bit lighter (in my humble opinion), but then remembered the romance and was a bit concerned about it’s maturity being compatible with that age. Is City of Bones too gory for a 13-year-old, or is it the perfect time to introduce someone to a series that they could very well fall in love with, even if it might be a bit over their head?

Anyways, between this incident and me being pulled back into a deep new adult kick recently and struggling to find books that fill the void, I’ve been much more aware of how divided our age categories and genres are, and how the publishing industry has set such preconceived notions about what each is supposed to look like, as well as how my reading habits play into them.

These are all my personal opinions, so please please don’t be afraid to disagree with me! I am by no means a book expert, despite years of trying to be.

I’ll be real here, I haven’t read much middle grade. Aside from Percy Jackson (which I almost consider YA) and HP (which I also consider – at least books 3-7 – to be YA), I was never really into the middle grade genre.

When I think of middle grade, I think of stories that are fantastical and fun, enough to pull kids into a book without them losing interest and quitting halfway through. They can be longer, but usually have larger text and quick storylines with not too much depth in detail (though again, I have definitely not read much and could be very much wrong).

I know a lot of adult readers who adore middle grade stories, and as jealous I am that they can fall into the magical worlds of some of them, I’m not sure many middle grade stories would hook my interest as an adult reader.

Ah, my beloved YA.

As an almost-23-year-old, I’m becoming much more aware of the gap between me and the young adult genre. Not that I don’t still adore it and plan to continue reading YA books, but I think some of the magic in YA has always been “wow, what if this stuff really happened?” and as I move away from those dreaded teenage years so often lamented in this genre, that feeling dissolves.

For example, I’ve noticed that overbearing parents in YA novels have really started to become a pet peeve. Maybe it’s because as I move away from being the teen and closer to being the parent (in age, at least), I have less patience for watching parents make frustrating decisions and get in the way of the heroes story, even though I know that’s complicated/less-than-perfect parental relationships are a very real part of being a teen.

I also find it interesting that YA books are often (speaking as someone from the US, though I imagine it’s similar in other places too) priced lower than adult fantasy. Why is this? At first, I thought it was because publishers deemed YA as “less intense” than adult books, which I was a bit confused by given that many of the YA books I’ve read have had immense impacts on both me and the book community at large. Then, I found a reddit thread (laughing) that said a big reason is because kids have less money than adults, and thus to appeal to the intended audience, YA books are priced lower. I mean, I’m not complaining.

New adult books are SO tricky with me. If I’m honest, I’m not really sure what constitutes a new adult book, other than ~sexy times~ and the ability to swear. I wouldn’t even say it’s like the R-rated YA, because from my experience, NA books don’t tend to be fantastical, but instead focus on relationships, oftentimes romantic.

I found NA in my upper teens and have read it on and off throughout college and early adulthood. I think at first it appealed to me because a lot of the stories I was reading take place in the character’s twenties, and it was a genre that proved that life goes on and can be interesting even after the adventures of the YA-years had ended.

NA is one of those categories of books where if I find one that I love, it usually kicks me into a helpless obsession with the NA genre for about a month, in which all I can read are NA books. It’s like I get addicted to the relationships in these stories and nothing else will satisfy me quite the way that NA does in this department. However, I’m super picky about my NA books, and am always rereading old favorites instead of trying out something new.

NA is also probably the only genre that I read on my Kindle. Maybe it’s because I go through so many of them that it’s cost-efficient to buy them on Kindle, which must be a popular sentiment because I see a lot of people who use Kindle Unlimited to read NA books. Though I will say, I’ve had so much fun these past few years building up my physical collection of adorable new adult books with illustrated covers – I love this trend and hope that publishers will stick with that theme!

Adult books terrify me.

Not only are they oftentimes relatively expensive, but they’re thick and demanding and promise to make you think things.

The adult section of the bookstore is one that I go in only to see which books stick out to me, oftentimes ones that other people have recommended. They’re books that I want to read eventually, but just can’t muster up the commitment to either purchase nor begin them. As I get older, I’d love to start mixing some adult titles into my regular reading routine, because there are so many amazing books out there that people have recommended and have been biding their time on my TBR without recognition.

I think adult is a dangerous genre because it’s what comes to mind when many people think of “books”. It’s so incredibly daunting. Nonreaders might not realize that the category is filled with millions of opportunities, from fantasy to nonfiction to mystery, and that not all adult books are the dusty classics we were forced to read in school. I mean, heck, I know this and I’m still intimidated by the adult section of Barnes and Noble.

Though I will say, there are some adult fantasy books that have made my best-of-the-year list, so all is not lost with me and this category after all!

This post has truly been a ~mess~, though I’m always happy to ramble about anything book-related. By becoming more active in the book community via this chaotic blog, I’ve found myself much more aware of the books I read and the patterns they reveal about my habits and interests. I’m excited to see how my reading tastes grow and change as I get older!

What age categories/genres do you find that you read the most? Do you have any thoughts on how the publishing industry categorizes each type of book?