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Reading Something Other Than YA


Young Adult fiction is overtaking the industry. If I could be so bold, I might say that YA is our literary movement. There are just so many that it takes a very dedicated bookworm to keep up with them all. I, myself, am no where near that level of commitment.

However, looking back on this blog, I realize that I talk a lot about fiction, especially Young Adult fiction. Which is great. YA is awesome. However, as Joyce Carol Oates said, "Fiction is wonderful, but it's only one room in the mansion of literature." And this understanding of literature can also be applied to YA. Sometimes I get so caught up in the easy fiction of the Young Adult genre that I forget about the significance and power of other genres.

We have hundreds and hundreds of years of history each with their own take on literature. I would know, and other English majors would know, because of the abundance of literary history classes that we have to take.

As big of a reader as I pretend to be, I try really hard to read in other genres as well. In all honesty, you just can't claim the title of bookworm unless you really do worm through all the genres.

That being said, yesterday was the centennial anniversary of the publication of James Joyce's Dubliners collection. If you haven't read these yet, I highly recommend it.

If you need more persuasion, The New York Times published a short article honoring the anniversary and you can read it here.

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