Christa Talks To The Teen--The July Edition

You've all been waiting for it...the time for questions to my teen beta Aliya has finally come. But first, a little bit about Aliya. From her blog (A Story to Love), she is a 17 year-old book fanatic. She was homeschooled and couldn't read until she was 11. She's now taking college classes. Her blog includes fabulous book reviews and she loves to meet other fellow book lovers. 


As a beta, she is about the fastest teen reader I've ever met. She is also adorable, funny, and has lots of great suggestions and ideas. I hope to keep her as a teen beta reader forever (although I guess the "teen" part may go by the wayside fairly soon). 


So on with the questions...


From Christa: Do you or any of your teen friends own ereaders (Nook, Kobo, Kindle, iPad)? Do you get more books from the bookstore or the library? Where do you hear about most of your books?


Aliya: a) not one of my friends own an ereader, but my mom owns the Nook and I'm about to get an iPad specifically for reading ebooks. b) I get nearly all of my books from the bookstore now. I used to get a lot from the library, but I like rereading and pretty much buy them all now. Plus, I have a goal to own 800 books. c) Usually books that bloggers rave about, books by familiar authors (author websites), and my most used is Amazon.com. When I look at a book on Amazon I often check the "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought" and from the next book I click on I discover even more similar books I'll want. 


From Jen: What would make you want to put a book down, or rather, throw it against a wall?


Aliya:  Love this question. Sometimes I won’t be in the mood for that particular type of book, or I’ll find it boring and not want to finish it. Other times a book will be so aggravating/intense/unsatisfying/powerful that I feel I can’t finish it, and, sometimes, want to throw it in frustration. I know that those are the most powerful books. However, the most common is when I’m so excited for a book that every time I pick it up I have to put it back down.


From The East Coaster: Do you read authors blogs, or do you just hit up their websites and/or Twitter? My (dark and twisty) website isn't mentioned at all on my blog...just wanting to know if I should keep it that way.


Aliya: Usually author websites and Twitter, but I think that’s mostly because I don’t stumble upon the blogs very often. When I do find them I follow them.


From Stephsco: Do many of your friends read? Do your guy friends read or is mostly girls?


Aliya: My friends do read, but, honestly, most of them don’t read that often. The guys used to read as much as the girls, however, only a few of my guy friends still read.


From Bruce: Why do those boys walk right down the middle of my street instead of using the sidewalk?


Aliya: Since I’m a new driver that is one of my two biggest pet peeves! There is a perfectly decent sidewalk right next to the road for them to walk/run/bike ride on! Use it! They’re not cool like they think they are; they just make drivers nervous! If you ever find out the answer, please, tell me.


And finally from Christa again: How many f-words do you think I can get away with putting in MANHOLE?


Aliya:  Around 40 maybe. I get that teenagers swear a lot, but most of the time it isn't appealing to read it.


Aliya, thanks for joining us today. We look forward to seeing you here again next month. If any of you have questions for Aliya, throw them in the comments and we'll add them to next month's pile.