Why I Love Young Adult Fantasy Novels

Now that I am no longer a young adult, I have found that I love to read young adult fantasy novels. Recently, I was thinking about why that is. I started really reading young adult novels, like many others, with Harry Potter, mostly to see what all the buzz was about. Reading Harry Potter taught me something: these books are extremely well written, captivating, and easy to read. I have found many young adult books full of amazing well developed characters, plot twists, fantastic lands, tragedy, humour - whatever it is I'm in the mood for. Fantasy also transports me to magical places, full of imagination, and reminds me to be open, have fun and not take things so seriously.

The other, and no less important reason to read young adult novels is because of my nieces. They love to read and get so passionate about their books that it is contagious and I want to share in that and be a part of their excitement and enthusiasm. They have introduced me to many great books that I would not have read otherwise. It also gives us something in common to talk about.

Then, there is the fact that I can share young adult books easily with my own kids. They love being read to, but won't put up with books they don't like for long and I love being able to read them longer, more interesting books. My middle one especially took to Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan. We read the book together, at times laughing so much that we had to stop until we could get under control. Then we went to see the movie together, comparing it to the book, what we liked and didn't like. Again, wonderful connections.

And I can't forget one of my most shallow reasons, young adult books tend to have short chapters. To me this is vital because I am the mom of three kids and I fit reading in where I can, and short chapters can make the difference between reading a book and losing track.

So, now I am hooked. I absolutely love young adult fantasy - they are easy to read and extremely entertaining and exciting all at the same time. There is so much out there that is well written and full of brilliant imagination. I know that I said that they tend to be easy to pick up and put down when I get distracted, but more often than not, I find myself staying up too late, reading "just one more chapter."

Some authors that I am enjoying right now are Jonathan Maberry, Brandon Mull, Eoin Colfer and Rick Riordan. There are so many great books and authors out there - I am always on the lookout for new books to read. I would love to hear about other people's favourites, so please leave me a comment telling me about your favourite books and authors, or even what you are reading right now that you are loving.