I thought that this book was going to be a bit of a labor or a bit of an indescribable disappointment such as The Giver. I was so wrong. Though it's very description-heavy and there is page upon page on solitary dialogue, the last four chapters in and of themselves made the book so worthwhile.

I think, right about now, that every person should read this book within their lifetime, preferably before stepping out into the working class.

It was just so good and inspiring and intriguing.

Rating: *****
Ages: 16 and Up (because I know this book would have been way over my head last year)

When I woke up this morning, I was thirty pages into this book, but I finished it an hour ago, mainly because my held book at the library and my required reading for APUSHII was taunting me at my desk. I don't like reading two things at once.

That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy this book. It was good and the historical context was extremely interesting. I would actually like to look a bit more of it up, though I won't have the resources listed in the back of the book handy because I just returned it. Moments ago actually. I really did have to pick up Will Grayson, Will Grayson because it arrived a few days ago from another library and I needed to dispute something for a friend. She'd taken out the DVD Premonition with Sandra Bullock, and I, wanting to see it for a while borrowed it while it was still on her card. I was with her when I returned it on the due date, but it was still showing up on her card. I had to pull it off the shelves and get them to dissolve the charges. It was probably one of the teen interns. Maybe I'm just saying that because I really want to be one, but I'd rather do something that pays.

Regardless, I thought this book was really good. The main character is such a strong female voice in her time period and I really sympathized with her in everything, even in things I had no connection to.

Highly recommended by me as a lengthy, yet fairly quick read. Plus it will add some words to your vocabulary.

Rating: ****(*) I'm so bad at rating it's always either five if I like it, three if it's okay and one or two if it was bad
Ages: 15 and Up (The N word is mentioned and I wouldn't want people who don't know better to start saying it. Plus there are some adult themes and a pretty full description of birth....use discretion when recommending)

Now...to read another or force myself to read Looking Backward before the 7/31 due date?
We'll see.

(I like this cover better, again.)

I have to say, I haven't read a mystery novel in a while, my Nancy Drew days are perpetually stuck in 2004, but this novel, though not technically a mystery, really made me want to pick it back up.

Before reading any of his books, I wondered why John Green had such a cult following at book conventions, but I'm starting to get it. An Abundance of Katherines really was great and this book was so interesting and full of words I didn't know and characters that were so imagined, yet so real.

I know that I started writing about the books I read so I wouldn't forget that I had read them and it turned into a review site, but now I really like to talk about how they made me feel and not so much what happened within their 200orso pages.

John Green writes for and about teenagers without forcing me to lose all hope I carry for my age demographic. I don't want to hear a bratty girl complain about her lack of a boyfriend, not unless there is someone close by mercilessly making fun of her. That's kind of mean and untrue. We all enjoy a sappy Sarah Dessen book now and then.

Obviously, I highly recommend this book. The title, as I like them to, played a seemingly important role in the plot and kept me guessing, much like the book as an entirety.

Rating: *****
Ages: 13 and Up (for teenage boy banter)

I chose the thumbnail cover not of the edition I read, but the cover I like so much better.
I have a tendency to do that.

I've been really lucky picking up good books this summer.
Granted, I've been ignoring my assigned non-fiction reads....I should get on that.
AP English Language and AP US History II here I come!

Well, having just forcibly finished a book, I'm forcibly writing a review before I do some much needed laundry and finish my homework (because school is eternal in the month of June) and finish The Great Gatsby for English and a quiz tomorrow and decide whether or not to spend my evening watching the last 2/3s of the Back to the Future trilogy or the Tony Awards, both of which I thoroughly enjoy, all because I haven't read a book in forever.

This book has been on my reading list for decades and I chose it only because of it's intriguing title, not knowing of John Green's cult following or his award winning Looking For Alaska which the librarian asked me about while I was checking out and I told her I hadn't read it yet but I would add it to my list and I was glad to read the lesser book first so it didn't pale in comparison (which is what she said happened to her). By the way this is my school librarian who I do not like so much as my public librarians.

Sorry for the rambling. I have a tendency to talk and type/write similarly to characters after reading a book or watching a movie.

Regardless, I loved this book, a lot and would recommend it to anyone looking for a book that ends the way you want it to. It's got a lot of math and footnotes sprinkled in, but it's not obnoxiously done, I enjoyed the footnotes almost as much as I enjoyed the storyline.

I actually don't want to give anything away so I'll just urge you to read it.

Rating: *****
Ages: 13 and Up (mature language and themes) 16 and Up (for math skills)

Now to the laundry room, then back to the West and East Eggs of The Great Gatsby which I will try to force myself to write about, but probably not tonight.

Oh and again I say that I like this cover better than the one I had, even though I quite liked the cover I had, it was more colorful and mathematical. (Why does that word have an "e"?)

Happy Summer Reading, though mine won't start for another two weeks.

Or, filling two glasses with one orange...because I's rather not liken accomplishments to killing birds.

I just (and I mean just) finished this book which was another school required read, however it was already on my reading list.

I think it was good, not utterly and stunningly fantastic, but it was good and I liked the message and even the ending, but I don't think it's the type of book I can dwell on and think about as much as I do with some others. I liked the whole zine idea (almost makes me want to start one) and how that brought strangers together. There was also this line that Marisol says about how she forgets that she's putting out all of this information to strangers and she forgets that those people now know all that about her. That just hit me.

I could pick out a lot of scenes and lines I liked, but that's what I already have to do for school, and I've been writing journals about it all weekend.

Anyway, it's a good read and worth it.

Rating: ****
Ages: 13 and Up (language)