BBAW: Unexpected Treasure

We invite you to share with us a book or genre you tried due to the influence of another blogger.  What made you cave in to try something new and what was the experience like?

I signed up for the 2010 YA Reading Challenge earlier this year. I love YA and figured this would be a good way to discover some new-to-me books and authors. As a judge, I would read 2 YA books from the list (I submitted my preferences but ultimately the books were assigned to me) and I would pick one of the books to advance to the next level of the challenge.

The books that were chosen for me to read were The Season by Sarah MacLean and Ash by Malinda Lo. Before reading either of these books, I had somewhat of a biased opinion about each of them. I had had Ash on my TBR list and couldn’t wait to read it. The Season, on the other hand, was not my cup of tea. I didn’t really have any desire to read it because it was historical (regency) romance and I hadn’t read historical romance before. I never really had an interest in reading it but I had a job to do and I was going to do it.

I ended up reading The Season first, since that was the book I was able to get my hands on first. And boy, was I pleasantly surprised! There was suspense, mystery and romance. And I wasn’t confused with historical dialogue! That was my biggest fear - that I wouldn’t be able to make out what the characters were saying. In the end, I chose The Season to advance to the next level in the challenge. Surprising, isn’t it? It wasn’t what I had expected either.

I am glad I got the opportunity to read The Season as it has opened up my palate to historical romance. That’s not to say that I’m going to dive right into this genre; I’m a gal who needs to start off slowing by sitting at the shallow end with just sticking my feet in first. But I will say that I have Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean on my TBR list. I enjoyed her writing style in her YA book and I’m ready to dabble in a little adult historical romance.

To find out what I thought about The Season and Ash in detail (and to see why I ultimately chose The Season instead of Ash to advance in the challenge – you know you’re dying to find out!), you can click on the links in the titles and you be directed to my reviews.