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."

In My Mailbox (1)

In My Mailbox (IMM) is a weekly meme hosted by Kristi, The Story Siren based on Alea´s idea at Pop Culture Junkie . In IMM, bloggers report what books they have bought, borrowed, swapped, etc. that week. I will be posting my own In My Mailbox bi-weekly, so enjoy and leave a comment!

1. Looking for Alaska- John Green
2. Shiver- Maggie Stiefvater
3. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner- Stephanie Meyer
4. Heartless- Sara Shepard
5. House Rules- Jodi Picoult

Have you read these books or reviewed them on your blog? Let me know and leave a comment below! :]

Dreaming of summer...

I am officially dreaming of summer days, where I can wear a tank top and flip flops, lounge on a beautiful beach, and read a good book. Since it is only February, my fantasy is a bit far-fetched. But I am counting down the days till June, when not only is it my favorite time of the year (my birthday is in July), but it is a time when I do not have to think about any schoolwork. I can focus on reading whatever I want without feeling guilty about it. So, in preparation for this lovely time of year, and yes, I know it is four months away, I have begun my Summer Reading List. A compilation of all the books that I have heard about, read about, seen, or been recommended to me, that unfortunately, I do not have the time to read right now. So here is the beginning of this very important list, that I will be adding to throughout this semester. I will also tell you where I heard about each one, which may help with your own reading adventures.

1. Sarah’s Key- Tatiana de Rosnay
2. The Forest of Hands and Teeth- Carrie Ryan

*I read about both of these books on an online college blog called College Candy, where there is a series called "Saturday Read." These reviews are very thorough and cover a bunch of different genres each week. Check it out!

3. True Blood series- Charlaine Harris

*I am assuming that everyone has read, or at the very least, heard of the Twilight series. They are the best books, love story, yay vampires, blah blah blah. Yeah, I know they are good. But I think the fad has gone too far, especially as a fan of the books before anyone read them, and when someone asked what you were reading and you said it was about vampires, you received a strange look. Ok no more Twilight rant. So apparently before Twilight ruled the teen world, Charlaine Harris wrote a series of books called True Blood. There is a television show based on these books, although I have never seen it. A friend recommended these books to me, and said that she couldn't put them down. So why not?

4. An Abundance of Katherines- John Green
5. Looking for Alaska- John Green

*I reviewed Paper Towns by John Green a couple months ago, and then saw these two books pop up while I was skimming through Amazon. His other book was good, so I figured I would try these out too. If I like one of a particular author's books, I will usually try out the rest of his/her collection. Typically, when one is good, the others that he or she have written are on the same level. This is not true for every author, but it is worth a try.

I will add more when I stumble on one that is worthy of this very memorable list. Stay tuned.

Paper Towns

Paper Towns by John Green is book about the imagination, curiosity, high school stereotypes that can be broken, young adventures, and Walt Whitman. Quentin Jacobsen has always admired his next door neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar, until the girl that he has always imagined and fantasized about shows up at his window dressed like a ninja, ready to take him on her latest adventure. It is the bes night of his life and he cannot wait for the morning when life will be different after his night with Margo. But she has disappeared.

Quentin discovers countless clues that she left for him to find. He frantically tries to piece the clues together and find the girl that changed his life. Will he be able to find her, or is she just a figment of his imagination, a girl that he never really knew as well as he thought he did.

This book was witty, mysterious, and unexpected. It was a quick read that kept the reader's attention with its humor, bur also dug deeper into the emotions of the young characters. You begin to imagine Margo as this fantastic creature just as Q imagines her, but at the end, you realize along with him that she is just a regular person. I especially liked the Walt Whitman quotes throughout the book and the references to the paper towns.

"It's a paper town. I mean look at it, Q: look at all those cul-de-sacs, those streets that turn in on themselves, all the houses that were built to fall apart. All those paper people living in their paper houses, burning the future to stay warm. All the paper kids drinking beer some bum bought for them at the paper convenience store. Everyone demented with the mania of owning things. All the things paper-thin and paper-frail. And all the people, too. I've lived here for eighteen years and I have never once in my life come across anyone who cares about anything that matters."

Did Margo leave to escape the paper town? If so, did she intend for Q to follow her?

"Missing me one place search another,

I stop some where waiting for you"

-"Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman