On me:
Hi, you! I'm Tina Burke. I've always been a reader, and I've always loved stories, no matter what form they take.
On my blog and reading habits:
I started this blog in March of 2011, my sophomore year of college. My friends and I had discussed starting a group blog but could not agree on a name. Eventually, I chose to make my own blog: the very original "Christina Reads YA" was born. "Christina Reads YA" is a US-based book review site, with occasional discussion, guest, and giveaway posts, and weekly bookish rounds (news-oriented) posts, which are primarily focused on young adult titles (though I am also an avid romance and occasional adult UF/PNR and nonfiction reader). All reviews posted here have been written by me. I usually try to link all of my posts to my Goodreads account as well as to the other social media accounts that are mentioned on this site. I sometimes post my most positive reviews to Amazon and B&N. I am currently a bit behind on cross-posting, and bookish rounds may return... eventually.
A small selection of favorite books:
Harry Potter!! Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows is my favorite.
Lola and the Boy Next Door - Stephanie Perkins
Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo
Jellicoe Road - Melina Marchetta
Cruel Beauty - Rosamund Hodge
Daughter of Smoke and Bone - Laini Taylor
Before I Fall - Lauren Oliver
If I Stay - Gayle Forman
Fire - Kristin Cashore
Graceling - Kristin Cashore
Bitterblue - Kristin Cashore
The Raven Boys - Maggie Stiefvater
The Scorpio Races - Maggie Stiefvater
The Queen of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner
The King of Attolia - Megan Whalen Turner (the book that I wish I could've written)
A Conspiracy of Kings - Megan Whalen Turner
Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones
Castle of Air - Diana Wynne Jones
House of Many Ways - Diana Wynne Jones
The Winner's Curse - Marie Rutkoski
Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell
Stolen - Lucy Christopher
The Truth about Forever - Sarah Dessen
For more of my favorites, visit my recommendations page.
More about me:
For more of my favorites, visit my recommendations page.
More about me:
I am an INFP or INFJ in Myers-Briggs. (I have gotten both results and have found that both could describe my personality. I don't believe that you are only one type your entire life; people are dynamic.) FMI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INFP
I didn't start listening to music really until I was in eleventh grade. Even now I don't pay much attention. I listen to the top 40, audiobooks, or StarTalk while I exercise and I get music recommendations from Maggie Stiefvater and the television shows (and movies) that I watch.
I have become terrible at watching TV. I used to watch Game of Thrones, Outlander, and the 100. I also was a Friends and occasional Seinfeld rerun junkee. Other shows that I have liked but not managed to continue following: The Big Bang Theory, Orange is the New Black. Shows that I loved but were sadly canceled: Rome, Heroes, Pushing Daisies, and more. This is because I do not have a Netflix subscription (for my own good). Recently, a friend got me into The Crown (because I love period dramas). I also enjoyed the few episodes of Bob's Burgers that I saw.
I am a huge fan of period dramas. I love North and South, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, and Wives and Daughters. Recommend me more! Movies I've liked: Hidden Figures, The Last King of Scotland, Crash, Gladiator, Lord of the Rings, and others. I'm extremely sensitive to violence and horror in movies, so if you do recommend me something, please use caution.
Do we share any habits? Hobbies? Favorite books? Favorite things? Helloooooooo, new friend :). Even if we don't, we can still be friends ;).
YA lit is the majority of what I read, and I want to be a part of the community.
Ugh, YA is so lame / too dark / terrible fiction, and you're immature for reading it!
Read this blog post, this blog post, or the quotes below, or just get out of here plskthx.
"The man-in-the-street puts it in simple terms: children's literature cannot amount to much because 'it's kid stuff.' The assumption here is that by nature the child is 'inferior' to or less than the adult. His literature must be correspondingly inferior or less. Give the kid his comic, while I read grown-up books. But does not this amiable condescension shelter a certain insecurity? As racism is the opium of the inferior mind, as sexual chauvinism is the opium of the defective male, so child-patronage may be the opium of the immature adult." (Fadiman 7)
"But we must not be too quick to pass from the dimensions of length and breadth to that of depth, and say that children's books can never be as 'deep.' The child's world is smaller than the grownup's; but are we so sure that it is shallower? Measured by whose plumbline? Is it not safer to say that, until the child begins to merge into the adolescent, his mental world, though of course in many respects akin to that of his elders, in many others obeys its own private laws of motion? And if this is so, it might be juster to use one plumbline to measure the depth of his literature, and a somewhat different one for that of his elders." (Fadiman 13)
"A children's story which is enjoyed only by children is a bad children's story. The good ones last." (Lewis 33)
"Critics who treat adult as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves... When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up." (Lewis 34)
References:
Fadiman, Clifton. "The Case for a Children's Literature." Signposts to Criticism of Children's Literature, compiled by Robert Bator. Chicago: American Library Association, 1983: 7-18.
Lewis, C.S. "On Three Ways of Writing for Children." On Stories: And Other Essays in Literature. New York: Harcourt Inc., 1982: 31-43.
TALK TO ME!
AKA Contact/Connect with me...
If you're sending me a review request, please look at my policies page. At the moment, I am not actually accepting any books for review. If you're doing an interview series or want a guest post, I may not be able to meet your deadline, but please check in anyway. If you're contacting me with site / review feedback or would like to talk about books, you can connect with me here:
If you're sending me a review request, please look at my policies page. At the moment, I am not actually accepting any books for review. If you're doing an interview series or want a guest post, I may not be able to meet your deadline, but please check in anyway. If you're contacting me with site / review feedback or would like to talk about books, you can connect with me here:
Email me at christinareadsya (AT) gmail (DOT) com. Tweet at me @tinaburkebooks. Comment on one of my reviews on Goodreads or Booklikes, or friend me. Comment on one of my pins on Pinterest or one of my photos on Instagram. Reblog/comment on/like one of my Tumblr posts.
Most importantly: don't be a stranger! I love meeting new people especially when I can talk about books with them :D. Have a wonderful day & thanks for visiting my blog.
