What Book Generation Are You?

If there is one thing that gets us excited, it is a new book by our favourite author or a highly anticipated sequel we want in our hands as soon as the announcement goes live. It is a trait we have carried with us as readers throughout childhood into adolescence and adulthood, and even though there are many books and series, there was always one that defined our generation and reading life.

When I was searching and thinking of ideas for posts to write, I came across this tag idea by Hannah @MortalReader, asking a set of questions and highlighting the books and series we grew up on, as well as evaluating how we acted as readers and bookworms. I really like it and as she left the end open to all of us, I thought I’d jump on board and have a crack at it.

There are seven questions in total, so let’s get going.

Pre-Order or Queue Outside?

I’ve only pre-ordered books since discovering and joining the online book community and I am not someone to wait a million years in a queue, even for a book release. As a child and teen, I got a book when I got it, mainly my birthday or Christmas, or if I happened to see it in the library. I do remember getting the HP Order of the Phoenix, Half Blood Prince and The Deathly Hallows either on or very close to release date but my mother got them for us without pre-ordering or queuing outside a shop.

What Was Your Character Costume Choice For World Book Day?

I only remember dressing up once for World Book Day and I’m pretty certain I was supposed to be Sleeping Beauty. I didn’t particularly have dress-up clothes as a child so I borrowed a pink princess dress from a friend. I also think my primary school was quite late to the party with dressing up as characters and previous days were more about the Scholastic Book Fair than anything else. The same could probably be said for my secondary school as I don’t recall the kids at the attached prep-school dressing up either.

Who Was The First Author You Read Religiously?

If we’re talking about authors who kept releasing book after book whether they were standalone or part of a series, it has to be either Lucy Daniels (Animal Ark), Eoin Colfer (Artemis Fowl), or Meg Cabot (Princess Diaries). Every library haul always had one of these books in it, whether I’d read it before or not.

What Was Your First Favourite Series?

I was going to say I might as well refer to the previous question, but then I’d forget about His Dark Materials and I fell in love with that before I’d even heard of Artemis Fowl or The Princess Diaries.

What Series Came Next?

Twilight was certainly the next series I fell in love with, and I was head over heels in love. I must have lived and breathed this series for at least five or so years and not a week or two could go by when I didn’t read certain paragraphs or watch Eclipse over and over again.

From then, Beth who I mention a lot on here (uni friend/housemate/fellow bibliophile), brought me into the wider YA world with Shadowhunters, Divergent, Throne of Glass and the rest is history.

Who Was Your Favourite Character?

This is the first time I am mentioning Harry Potter because some of my favourite characters came from this series. It doesn’t matter that I had a hit and miss relationship with the series, that I used to get really irked by its popularity and that it felt, to me, as if it eclipsed all other books, Hermione, Luna, Ginny and Professor McGonnagall were still there and important characters to me. Bella was also a favourite because in reading Twilight, I felt as if I’d found me in a book – an awkward, quiet, stay-at-home teen with not many friends – and it was nice.

Who Was Your Favourite Couple?

Seriously I have to deal with a favourite couple? I never really cared back then and I don’t really now, however it is the question and so I will push all of the YA aside, dive into the classics I loved, read & re-read and say Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy from Pride and Prejudice. It is true though. Out of all the books I read, out of all the romantic couples, there was something special about these two. The way they made me think, how I perceived romance, and probably why I am rather particular about literary couples.

And that is that.

I think a lot of us round here, especially if we’re UK based, are this generation of readers and we are lucky in that respect because we had the opportunity to broaden our reading horizons with such culture-changing books. You couldn’t miss the videos and clips of people queuing round the blocks to get the next Harry Potter or Twilight book or camping out to watch the latest film. I personally can’t think of any other book or series that’s had that same response. Maybe The Hunger Games but even then I’m not sure it was as big.

Anyway, I’m blathering and probably should round this out.

What book generation are you?
And if you’re an international reader, what was the reaction to all these popular books in your country?

As always, thank you for reading and have a brazzle dazzle day!
xx