Why I (Almost) Never Read Adult Fiction

If you've been paying attention for the last, oh, almost two years or so, you'll probably notice that most of the books I read are YA. I can count on one hand the number of times I've read books that classify as adult fiction (not including classics, or books read for no other reason than a school curriculum) on one hand. In fact, I'll list them for you right now:

1. Pinch Me

2. How to Fall in Love

3. Attachments

4. Landline

5. On the Other Side 

6. Maybe Someday

7. November 9 

8. The Help

9. Heat Wave

...Okay, so maybe I require slightly more than one hand. But still, compare these 9 books to the other 192 on my Goodreads read list. Statistically, I tend to lean towards the YA spectrum. There is a reason for this: 99% of every adult fiction book I've pulled off the shelf has been about a character who is 30-ish years old, facing Real Adult Problems surrounding marriage, kids, careers, etc--things that I can't really relate to, because I'm a forever single 22-year-old who can't even be trusted to make a proper dinner once a week (let alone every day).

Now, I don't want to say that I'm "growing out of" YA. That statement implies that, as a Certified Grown-Up™, my interests and I are somehow above the level of YA fiction. I don't believe that this is possible. I remain firmly behind the stance that anyone can enjoy YA fiction, or middle grade fiction, or children's picture books, and I also firmly believe that anyone who thinks otherwise is a condescending a-hole who can put their equally condescending opinions in a certain place where the sun don't shine.

But I digress.

I may not be growing out of YA, but lately I've been struggling to find books that follow characters closer to my age range. I've been sticking to the older end of the YA protagonist spectrum, but the oldest character you're likely to find headlining a YA novel is 18--19 tops, if you're lucky. But I stick around, because that's still closer than the 30-and-up protagonists that plague every other corner in the bookstore.

It is, of course, entirely possible to enjoy a book, regardless of the protagonist's age. Most of the time, it doesn't really matter--all I care about is that the tone of the book fits in with the mood I'm in. And I'm not less likely to enjoy adult fiction. Look at Rainbow Rowell--she wrote both Fangirl, a YA novel, and Attachments, categorized in adult fiction. I read both, and enjoyed both equally.

But I'll be damned, I want more books about 22-year-olds! I want more books following university and college students! I want books about people in their fourth year realizing they've hated their major this whole time. I want books about people who go on gap years, who go on vacation and just never come back, because who really needs responsibilities, anyway? I want books about people who genuinely have no career plans, and people who are just flying by the seat of their pants, because sometimes that's an okay thing to do. I want more books about people my age.

Maybe I'm not looking hard enough.

Until later,

- Justyne

The Subjectivity of Adulthood

When I was between the ages of ten and twelve, I dreamed of being a grown up; a teenager, with great friends and great classes and a boyfriend. I dreamed of being in clubs, on student council, of being valedictorian, of going on class trips and to parties and becoming a foreign exchange student.

When I was sixteen, I dreamed of being a grown up; a college student, with college classes and college friends and a college boyfriend. I dreamed of going to college parties, living in the dorms with a new roommate, studying and living on coffee. 

Now, I am twenty-one. (Going on twenty-two this year...Lord help me.) And still, I don't feel like a grown up. I am in university, I've been to a university party (for real! It was only the one, but still), I've lived in a dorm and had a roommate and I definitely, DEFINITELY live off of coffee. I've been on a class trip, I've ran for student council, I've had a few great (among many mediocre) classes, and I have great friends. But I still don't feel like a grown up.

I'm in a human geography class this semester (to knock out one of my pesky social science requirements), and within the first few classes, my professor introduced us to a little website called 

The Geography of Youth.

Are all of you familiar with the Humans of New York blog? (Personally, it's one of my favourites.) The Geography of Youth has a similar concept, over a much broader location. They started by travelling around, taking pictures of millenials and asking them the same few questions, both of which would later be uploaded to the website. They've since expanded it, and now internet users all over the globe are able to upload their own self portrait and answer the questions themselves. One of the questions asked is, "Do you consider yourself to be an adult?" Depending on their answer, the interviewee is then asked when they think they became an adult, or when they think they'll become one.

This question was not the focus of the class, and we never discussed the true nature of adulthood. But still, that was the question that I was really drawn to--because how do you know if you're an adult? Am I an adult becasue I live on my own? Am I an adult because I buy groceries and pay bills and graduated high school almost four years ago? (//sobs)

Or is there something that I'm lacking? Am I still just a kid, because I watch Disney movies and read YA and barely know how to cook? Will I become an adult when I graduate university? When (or if) I get a Real Life Adult Job, one where I work Monday to Friday from 9 to 5, every day?

Or will I never actually be a grown up, just forever stuck in this limbo of in-between?

I think adulthood is different for everybody. I go through stages, almost, of whether or not I actually feel like an adult. Most of the time, it's the latter--I'll be sitting at home in a onesie, playing Sims and pigging out on chips and I'll feel as far from grown up as possible. In general, when I'm living my everyday life, I don't feel very grown up.

But then I'll have a very small moment, a second of realization that this very Grown Up thing to do has become a normal part of my life. Like when I catch myself pushing a shopping cart through a grocery store, flyer in hand, or when I cook an actual meal, with meat and veggies and things that take more than a minute and a half in the microwave to prepare. It's like a sudden hit of, "Wow. Holy crap. I am so grown up right now."

Objectively speaking, I'm a legal adult. Subjectively, it's a lot more complicated than that.

What about you? Do you consider yourself to be an adult? Why or why not?

Until later,

- Justyne

In Which I Am Basically a Giant 5-Year-Old

In my mind, I am eternally stuck at the age of seventeen.

I'm not sure why, exactly. I'm not the same person I was then--not really. But for whatever reason, I always have to pause for a moment before I answer the question, "How old are you?" I'm constantly forgetting that I'm no longer a teenager; I am, in fact, an adult. (Although whether I'm a fully-functioning adult is still a topic that's up for debate.)

I forget how old my sisters are, too--they're still eight and thirteen in my mind, instead of eleven and (nearly) sixteen. I also refuse to believe that 2007 was 8 yeras ago, and that the Spongebob Squarepants movie is over ten years old. (And now, there's another one! Where has the time gone?)

I have this thing against time, I think. I would rather sit in my room and watch the Suite Life of Zack and Cody on repeat rather than face the fact that my friends are turning 21 all around me. I'd rather watch Disney movies than do Real Life Adult Things, like go to work and pay bills. (Ew.)

Maybe I'm not really 17, actually. I'm more like 5. One giant 5-year-old, who enjoys watching Phineas and Ferb and still occasionally dabbles in the online world of Neopets, like it's still 2005. (Okay, so maybe I'm closer to 9. But you get the idea.)

But isn't there something almost liberating about embracing your inner child? Aren't I, an adult, allowed to believe in love at first sight, in happy endings prevailing, in the joy and satisfaction of watching cartoon on an early Saturday morning? I want to freely chase after the ice cream truck on a hot summer afternoon, and go to Disney World so many times that the staff know me by name. I want to operate under the belief that everything will work out in the end, no matter how ridiculous or flaw-induced the plan may be.

I think Adult Life is constantly in danger of being dull. There's too much stress in being realistic, in making smart decisions, in being a Mature and Responsible Adult. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

It's just boring.

Does it have to be one or the other? Do I have to choose between being a productive member of society and singing Disney duets with myself when no one is home? Do I have to choose between expecting the worst and having just the tiiiiiniest bit of faith that, somehow, everything will work out?

Yeah, I saw Frozen in theatres 6 times. (At least. I may or may not have lost count.) I invest more of my time watching cartoons than I do watching the sitcoms that grown-ups watch. I got too excited meeting Tiana and Naveen in the Magic Kingdom, and I still like to pretend that I'm a Sailor Scout.

The world is clogged with enough negativity. I think it needs a little touch of childhood joy.


Until later,

- Justyne

10 Things You May or May Not Know About Me (WFMAD Day 18)

(I'm stumped and bored okay.)

If you know me in real life, you probably already know the majority--if not all--of the following facts. If you only know me through this blog, though, you might learn something.

1. I live off of chocolate milk. (If you are my friend and didn't already know this then I am severely judging you right now.) Seriously, though, if I ever became lactose intolerant, I would cry. And then get sick, because let's face it, lactose intolerance would never keep me from drinking it.
2. I am a nerdy, geeky, dorky fangirl. I watch anime and play Pokemon and get way too emotionally invested in television for my own good. (I think I already mentioned this but whatever.)
3. I love buying scratch tickets. Scratching scratch tickets is fun, okay? I promise that I don't have a gambling addiction.
4. The song Call Me Maybe is MAH JAM! One time I heard it start playing on the radio at the other end of the restaurant when I was working and literally ran down there to dance to it.
5. I have a slight addiction to painting my toenails. I'm actually about to paint them right now. I'd paint my fingernails, too, if I was ever allowed to have nail polish on at work. (The downside to working at a restaurant, I guess.)
6. I am not built for running. And by that, I mean that I'm lazy and hate anything that involves physical movement.
7. My favourite colour is purple. You can easily figure this out on your own when you see my bedroom.
8. My favourite food is macaroni and hot dog casserole. KD and hot dogs and sauce baked in the oven. IT IS A GIFT SENT FROM GOD.
9. I love Wal-Mart. Don't ask me why, I just do. I also have some fond memories of Wal-Mart adventures with a certain driving buddy of mine~
10. I built an office chair all by myself. Like last month. Or the month before or something. I consider it as my first real step to adulthood. (Aside from, y'know, graduation and all that.)

Can you tell that I was really running out of facts by the end?

Until later,

- Justyne