Hello everyone! I’m Amy and I am a Youth Services Librarian at the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County. When I’m not trying to reach my reading goal for the year, I like to talk about what I’m reading to my family, friends, and coworkers. You could say I am a little obsessed with reading Young Adult books. I enjoy most genres, but my favorites include: Westerns, Historical Fiction, Contemporary, Fantasy, and Mystery. I am always looking for the next great book that makes me connect to its characters and hits me in the feels.
YA Book Reviews by Amy: Summer Rom Coms When I think of summer reads, I tend to think of the light-hearted books that I enjoy reading during that sunny time of year. Books in which our characters go on vacation, find a new passion, grow into who they are meant to be, or even find… read more >>
YA Book Reviews by Amy: The Books We Banter Part II If there is one thing that I love to do, it is talking about books! I enjoy gushing about characters, or ranting about plots, or just trying to convince my friends into reading some of my favorites. Book Banter has just celebrated its 1-year… read more >>
YA Book Reviews by Amy: YA Novels with Graphic Novel Adaptations Some books just lend themselves to a visual representation and it seems like many YA titles are being reimagined from a regular novel to a graphic novel. Can these graphic novels standalone from the original or should the graphic novel be treated like a… read more >>
YA Book Reviews by Amy: Classic YA Novels (Written Before 2000) It is surprising to learn that Young Adult literature did not really exist as a genre before the 1950’s and did not become the popular genre it is today until the 2000’s. Many books prior to the 1950’s may have had teen characters, but… read more >>
YA Book Reviews by Amy: Survival Tales I have always enjoyed reading stories with a character that must overcome the odds and survive a harrowing situation. I believe that this stems from reading Hatchet (by Gary Paulsen) in grade school. Reading about Brian being lost in the wilderness and his will to survive at all… read more >>
YA Book Reviews by Amy: Books in Verse I am someone that does not seek out much of a poetic voice when reading YA fiction; flowery words can be distracting, and the descriptions can be too laborious. I enjoy writing that does not make me think about it when I’m reading. I have expanded my… read more >>
YA Book Reviews by Amy: Short Story Anthologies A type of book that always seems to get me out of a reading slump is a collection of short stories by YA authors. These stories are usually collected to represent a theme, like: classic retellings, extended stories in the same universe, connected based on social issues,… read more >>
YA Book Reviews by Amy: Solid Sequels Have you ever read a book and enjoyed the sequel just as much as the first book? Or maybe you liked the sequel even better? Many times, the first book is the strongest book in the series and the sequels can hardly live up to the expectations. Other… read more >>
YA Book Review by Amy: Best YA Duologies While I love standalone novels and I enjoy series too, I think my favorite format of all time is: the duology. A duology is a pair (two) books that creates a complete series. Duologies can explore the characters (and their development) more than a standalone. Duologies can… read more >>
YA Book Reviews by Amy: Recent Reads I have been in a reading slump recently and have found it difficult to read physical books; my current solution? Audiobooks! I have been listening to audiobooks (along with reading parts of the physical books) for the past several weeks. While this list isn’t completely made up of audiobooks,… read more >>