Looking For Alaska by John Green

After reading John Green's Paper Towns, I definitely wanted to try his debut novel- Looking For Alaska. Typically, I am not interested in books filled with depravity and this one had it all- drinking, smoking, sex, and reckless pranks. However, what pulled me into this book was its intellectual and articulate ease, especially its deep philosophical basis. Miles Halter knows countless peoples' last words- what he doesn't know is how to have fun, make friends, and live life to the fullest at home. He leaves to go to Culver Creek, a boarding school, in order to find what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Miles finally learns how to experience life with help from his roommate Chip and his clever, beautiful, self-destructive friend, Alaska.

K.L. Going described Looking For Alaska:
"John Green has written a powerful novel-one that plunges headlong into the labyrinth of life, love, and the mysteries of being human. This is a book that will touch your life, so don't read it sitting down. Stand up, and take a step into the Great Perhaps."

This was the type of book that had me thinking about it days later. Although, I would not do even half of the crazy things that these characters experienced, their thirst for life made me think about how I could make my life a bit less predictable and unexpected.

"Sometimes you lose a battle. But mischief always wins the war."