I’ve always loved reading.
Whether that involved sneaking into my parents room to get a more challenging book, or loosing myself in a library. . . I’ve always loved reading.
This Christmas, I only received two books. Trust me, I’m not ungreatful, I was just a bit confused. On average for birthdays and holidays, I get minimum 5 books each time. I got 8 books for my last birthday.
But, I only ever asked for one book this year.
Cecelia Ahern is an Irish author. She is a daughter of a politician who married a member of a boyband. I had one summer almost 8 years back where I obsessed over her. I read every book possible, and I adored them.
As I got older, her books got more predictable. The guy gets with the girl, everything happens for a reason and everyone lives happily ever after. The last book I read of hers, “How to fall in love” was sickening predictable. I knew she sold it based off her name rather than her writing. Which makes me so sad, because I know there is better books out there, but on her name alone she could make a profit off a low budget book. Far deuce to her, obviously she has a family to feed and a home to take care of. But I just wish that I felt the same excitement as I did the first time I read her books. She was my biggest inspiration to actually start “professionally” writing. And were anyone to ask me for my favourite author today, I would still say her. Out of habit, out of less hassle, and out of hope.
My Dad knows how fond I am of her. He knows I’ve grown tired of her. But he still knows that when there’s a new book out, he has to get it for me, no questions asked. It only took a quick “I think Cecelia Ahern has a new book out” for one to appear under my tree a few weeks later. It is called, “The Year I Met You”. Which, according to The Irish Times is “Insightful and true”. Review wise, there wasn’t much else on the cover. It seems to have a main guy, a main girl, a main goal and a “destiny made this happen” meeting. It’s a light read, but I’m still looking forward to it. Because whatever I say about her as a writer . . . I still bought the book.
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The second book bought for me was “Girl Online” by Zoe Sugg, AKA Zoella. I’ve been a subscriber to Zoella for almost 6 years now. I love her personality online and her positive outlook on life and the awareness she brings to her relatively young fan base. I do believe she is a good role model, and I will forever support her as she is a YouTuber. But, at the end of the day, this book is completely ghost written. I was very skepital when she announced she was soon releasing a book. That young woman has so much happening in her schedule that she simply doesn’t have time to set aside six or so hours per day to be constantly writing. And that’s perfectly fine, as she is a good public figure, and is attractive to a broad, young audience. At first, I just thought I had outgrown her. I didn’t think of her as creative for writing a book about a girl with a blog which features anxiety. Those are three words which sum up Zoe Sugg in a sentence. Writing is a way of living your dream life, and she’s already living hers. I hear her ghost writer is very good. I’m just sad that a publishing team had to use the brand name Zoella to get the book out, rather than using Zoe. The writer who stumbled onto YouTube at the correct time with the correct hairstyle. Obviously she has developed a lot since she started, which can be said of any creator. I’ve watched her grow into the person she is. But to the media, she is not the young twenty something year old who is having fun. No. She is Zoella. A brand, a name, and a quick way to pry on young girls to get sales. Good marketing, I have to admit. But a YouTuber is different from a “normal” writer. All we get from the writer is his or her thoughts on a sheet of paper. By typing in “Z” into the YouTube search bar, you can track Zoes whole life online. People get to know her personality, her friends, her family, her likes, her hobbies and her passions. Because of this, viewers strive for her to do well. She’s not just another name on another book. This time, it was her name on someone elses writing. Sure, it was her main idea and her characters. But I lost a lot of faith in Zoe Sugg when she took credit for a ghost written book for money. Obviously I’ll never know the full story. But I don’t think anyone ever will.
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I’m looking forward to reading both these books. I’ll probably start with the Cecelia Ahern one, as it’s set around New Years Eve. If you have read either book, please let me know what you have thought of them! And as always, book suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!
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