Every fandom has its own jargon, inside jokes and wacky memes. Young adult book fans are no different and add their own crazy literary flair.
If you're a YA book lover or follow YA readers on Twitter, Instagram or Tumblr, these things might look familiar.
1. Shelfies
A shelfie is like a regular selfie but in front of a sexy bookcase. Or sans the photographer and just the books.
There is nothing readers love more than showing off their amazing shelves piled high with their favorite reads.
It is a stunning thing to behold.
2. Attack of the Feels
A "feel attack" may sound cutesy, but it is a condition that will emotionally wreck you. It may include an ugly cry, anger and denial. A book like this should not be read in public under any circumstances.
Books that might induce the feels are Maybe One Day, Eleanor and Park and Love Letters to the Dead.
3. Author Fangirling
Fangirling is inevitable. The process to fangirl-dom goes a little something like this: read a book, fall in love and stalk...I mean, follow the author on social media, love the author even more because of their witty observations, pet photos and direct fan interaction, then finally join a fan forum dedicated to the author and his/her work.
The real danger is meeting that author in real life.
Which plays out this way: wait in anxiously in line, plan what you'll say as you get closer, see the author up close and personal, completely forget everything you were going to say because you're thinking, "It's really them, ahhhhhh!!!," finally approach them and say something like, "I can haz yur book. Me like. You write. kbye," then live off that moment, however embarrassing, for years to come.
4. Out of Control TBR Pile
This is just a fact of a YA fans life. There are hundreds of books published every year in the genre, and they all sound SO GOOD. The to-be-read pile is simply our virtual way of keeping track of all the books that demand to be read.
And by "keeping track" I mean creating an impossible stack of books it would literally take years to read if you dropped everything and just read the rest of your life...which sounds like absolute heaven.
5. Book Hangover
This occurs after getting utterly book wasted. Urban Dictionary defines a book hangover as: "When you've finished a book and you suddenly return to the real world, but the real world feels incomplete or surreal because you're still living in the world of the book."
The only cure is another killer read that will distract you from the pain of finishing the last one. My current book hangover cure is Love and Other Foreign Words by Erin McCahan. It's a guaranteed love at first read.
6. #BookNerdProblems
#BookNerdProblems are real issues that book lovers face every day. Like reading a book in one day and having to wait a year for the sequel. It's a pain only other book obsessed people will understand.
Here are a few classic problems:
The struggle is real.
7. GRABBY HANDS
Almost always used in all caps, grabby hands is not just a physical movement but a passionate response. It's telling your friends I MUST HAVE THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW OR I'LL CUT YOU in two short but expressive words.
Things that illicit grabby hands outbreaks include announcements for a long-awaited sequels and photos of advanced reader copies floating around the Interwebz.
Now it's your turn -- what YA book fan phrases or terms did I miss?
(For more YA book gushing, check out my blog, Read.Breathe.Relax.)