I get annoyed when big sites do posts about YA Lit — particularly as it pertains to getting adults into reading it — and I’ve talked regularly about how often, the suggestions given don’t try too hard. They’re usually titles pulled from the bestsellers list or from any number of “best of” and awards lists.  Good for those who haven’t stepped foot in a bookstore or opened anything that features advertising, but probably less useful for those who actually want to read more widely within YA lit. And, of course, then the question that comes up is “what next?” Often, those sources don’t offer an answer to that, and if they do, it’s not based on what it is a reader really dug in the books they read.

So rather than continue to complain about this, I decided I’m going to try to do something about it. Every month, I’m going to write a piece over at Book Riot called “Beyond the Bestsellers,” and it’ll feature a book, a series, or an author, an explanation for why readers like it, and then offer up three next reads and why those books may appeal to fans of the given work.

You can check out the inaugural piece today, which is about what to read about polishing off Veronica Roth’s Divergent series (or what to read while waiting for Allegiant).