Book Blog #81: An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Title: An Abundance of Katherines
Author: John Green
# of Pages: 228 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washedup child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun–but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.
Review: It's amazing! I thought that since Green wrote this so many years ago, it wasn't going to be that good. And, although it did take me longer than usual to finish a Green novel, I found that I enjoyed it. A lot.

Be warned, potential readers, there is a plethora of smart-ness and complicated looking math (of course, this is debatable. The math included can look complicated to some, but not to, perhaps, a child prodigy/genius or an assistant professor, as was the one who created the theorems), so if one is uninterested in that type of thing, I'd highly advise you NOT to read this book.

And, of course, if you have some strange hate for footnotes (or if you do not like your reading to be interrupted with little side notes on the information you are reading), you defiantly should NOT read this book. However, if you have loved Green's works thus far (or even if you have only read TFIOS and loved it) or have never read a single Green book and would like to read one, then yes, you should read this book.  .

For all TFIOS fans, I found this book to be somewhat similar. You know those moments in The Fault in Our Stars when you're bawling your eyes out one moment and then laughing hysterically the next? Yeah, there are a few moments like that in An Abundance of Katherines. I'd be reading a scene in horror one moment and then I find myself laughing like a crazy person. Maybe that's just me though...

Yes! Read this book!!!

Book Blog #79: Let it Snow by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle

Title: Let it Snow
Author: John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle
# of Pages: 352 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Romance, Holiday
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets off a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to win a race to the Waffle House ( and the hash brown spoils), and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista.

Review: This book contains three interconnected stories written by John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle. I decided that, for this review, I would rate each story separately and then average the three ratings for the final rating.

The Jubilee Express by Maureen Johnson

Rating: 4 stars

I've read Johnson's work in Zombies vs Unicorns but other than that, this is the first time I've read her work.

At first, I was a little put-off by the beginning. I usually don't like it when the characters talk to the reader, but Johnson did a really good job. I thought that Julie and Stuart's relationship was really cute, but a little rushed. Although I understand that the plot had to progress faster than usual because of the limited amount of story each author was allowed to write (I assume they all agreed to write a certain amount of pages), I think there could have been a bigger focus on Julie and Stuart and less on everything else.

A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle by John Green

Rating: 3 stars

I have to say, I'm a little disappointed in John Green. But, then again, I shouldn't be so surprised that his story wasn't as great as his later works (aka The Fault in Our Stars)since this was written in 2008, a whole four years difference.

I wish I knew how these three authors decided what to write. Did they form a plot line and then assign a part of the story to each author? Because, in all honest, Green's plot line sucked. He had to write about two testosterone-happy dudes and their friend (who they don't even consider a girl, which she is) make the STUPID decision to go to a Waffle House just for a bunch of cheerleaders THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW. It's all just a bit too ridiculous for me. So I gave it three stars.

The Patron Saint of Pigs by Lauren Myracle

Rating: 4 stars

I don't think I have ever read one of Myracle's works, so I wasn't sure what to expect. By this point, the scene is set. Most of the character development is finished, and she even get the honor of writing the big ending. The ending was great, although I felt as overwhelmed about the situation as Addie did. The beginning...not as great. There was a lot of description on how big of a jerk she is, and I don't think I'm the only one who doesn't like reading about jerks. Just saying.

But she had me sold with the ending. I thought it was so sweet how everyone was able to find love...and out comes my hopeless romantic side. However, if she did NOT write the ending, like let's say she had to write Addie's story in the middle, then her rating would have dropped dramatically because Addie isn't a good enough character.

I was pleasantly surprised on how the story turned out! And I love the interconnected-ness of it all. But I do recommend that you read this before Christmas versus during the summer (after all, it's a winter-looking book).

Book Blog #75: The Royal Ranger by John Flanagan

Title: The Royal Ranger
Author: John Flanagan
# of Pages: 464 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Adventure, Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★★
Synopsis: After a senseless tragedy destroys his life, Will is obsessed with punishing those responsible - even if it means leaving the Ranger Corps. His worried friends must find a way to stop him taking such a dark path.

It is Halt who suggests the solution: Will must take an apprentice. The candidate Halt has in mind surprises everyone - and it's a request Will cannot refuse.

Training a rebellious, unwilling apprentice is hard enough. But when a routine mission uncovers a shocking web of crime, Will must decide where his priorities lie - finishing his quest for revenge, or saving innocent lives?

Review: I can't believe it's really over. HOW IT CAN IT BE OVER AFTER ALL THIS TIME?!?! Twelve wonderful works of art, just to never hear from them again. Unless their mentioned in the Brotherband series, of course. But I think that series might take place in a different time period...?

Anyway, I was defiantly teary-eyed when I read the first half of the book. The death of Crowley was shocking and really emphasized how much time has passed since the eleventh book. And in the very beginning, when Will said the a Courier died in a fire, I had a sneaking suspicion that it was Alyss. But when Flanagan confirmed it, I was heart-broken. Of all the people, it had to be Will's wife. He deserves to be HAPPY! He had a rough childhood; at least allow him to have a happy marriage!!! Honestly, I was a worried as Halt, Gilan, Pauline, Horace, and Cassandra; I didn't want Will to be so unhappy.

But when Will took Maddie as an apprentice, it brought back so many memories. But, like Will, I was a little disappointed how experienced Maddie already was in the beginning of her training. I was hoping that she would try to use the bow without an arm-guard.

And, yes, in case any of you were wondering, I am a little too attached to the series.

But what the heck was the remaining half? Will and Maddie go on a simple mission; to stop a ring of slave traders. Yet they almost DIE! I don't know about any of you, but compared to the other missions Will has been on, it seemed like a pretty easy job.

And the epilogue!!! I wanted it to be about Will, not Maddie. She's just a new character; I don't feel as much compassion toward her as I do Will and Halt. It's great to have the "new beginnings" feel for the ending...but it wasn't a big "WOW" feel I was looking for. So, in that way, I am unhappy with the book.

Yes! I recommend this book! If you've gotten this far, you might as well read this book anyway. Finish of the series...and be amazed.

Book Blog #74: The Lost Stories by John Flanagan

Title: The Lost Stories
Author: John Flanagan
# of Pages: 422 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Unconfirmed accounts of a group of Araluen warriors - tales of adventure, battle, and triumph over evil - have spread for centuries throughout the known world. Most notable is a clan shrouded in mystery, phantom warriors known as the Rangers.

Two names pass the lips of every storyteller: Halt, and his apprentice, Will. They and their comrades in arms are said to have traveled throughout the kingdom and beyond its borders, protecting those who needed it most. If true, these rumors can be only part of the story.

Only now, centuries after these men and women walked the earth, do we have confirmation of their existence. Behold The Lost Stories, Book 11 in the Ranger's Apprentice epic.
Review: Holy crap. Flanagan is truly amazing.

I decided to read The Lost Stories because of the release of the last book, The Royal Ranger (I had The Lost Stories sitting on my bookshelf for the longest time. I didn't want to read it yet because I wasn't sure if it was going to be the last book or not).  I was a little surprised when I heard that The Royal Ranger came out already. How come I didn't hear of it?! Anyhow, I finally convinced myself that now was the time to read the eleventh installment of the Ranger's Apprentice series.

What I found mildly confusing was why this book was the eleventh book. I knew from reading the inside cover that The Lost Stories was a collection of stories that answered questions from some of the readers. And it was true; the "story" is about Will's past. The second "story" is about Gilan during The Icebound Land (as requested by the readers). However, the rest of the stories seem to shape their own new plot, set in the time after the tenth book until "stories" seven and eight, in which Halt's past is revealed and a mini sub-plotline of Tug and Will takes place. Then the ninth "story" resumes where the sixth left off/

It's all very confusing, and overall it seemed like a long epilogue and a bunch of extras (or "deleted scenes," like in the movies). Even though John Flanagan said somewhere (I think) that he planned to write twelve books for the Ranger's Apprentice series, it almost seems like he planned to stop with this one.

I think one of my favorite "stories" it the Purple Prose. I found it EXTREMELY funny, and I got a good laugh out of it, which I haven't had in a long time. Will's constant conversation with Tug was hilarious too. But, speaking of Tug, I almost cried when I was reading The Wolf. Will was heartbroken when he realized that he could no longer work with his horse whom he worked with throughout Will's ranger years. But, the funny thing was that I felt like I lost a friend too. The fact that Tug is replaced didn't help much either. I really hoped that Flanagan would let Tug keep his old name and just give Tug #2 have a different one, but no such luck. To me, Tug should be Tug, not this look-alike horse. Really, really sad.

Honestly? If you've gotten this far, then it shows that you're pretty dedicated to the series (like I am!). So, yes, it's a must read! A lot of stuff happens in this book, so don't think that you can just skip over it and read the twelfth one. Defiantly recommended.

Book Blog #48: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Title: Cannery Row
Author: John Steinbeck
# of Pages: 196 (paperback)
Genre: Classics, Historical Fiction
Rating: ★★★★☆
Synopsis: Unburdened by the material necessities of the more fortunate, the denizens of Cannery Row discover rewards unknown in more traditional society. Henry the painter sorts through junk lots for pieces of wood to incorporate into the boat he is building, while the girls from Dora Flood’s bordello venture out now and then to enjoy a bit of sunshine. Lee Chong stocks his grocery with almost anything a man could want, and Doc, a young marine biologist who ministers to sick puppies and unhappy souls, unexpectedly finds true love.

Cannery Row is just a few blocks long, but the story it harbors is suffused with warmth, understanding, and a great fund of human values.

Review: I had liked Of Mice and Men well enough, so I was pretty sure that I'd like this book too. But this book was a lot different. It seemed to be not as much plot and more of a peek in life in Cannery Row.

I know that this book is deep, but I read it at a surface level. I found some of the pictures that Steinbeck created disturbing, especially at night. I also found this book harder to read. Despite the small amount of pages, it took me almost a week to finish it. This is because the reader has to read it very carefully and absorb ALL of the details. It makes you think.

If you don't like thinking and want a happy read, don't read this book. Yet. But everyone should read this book at least once.

Book Blog #41: Paper Town by John Green

Title: Paper Town
Author: John Green
# of Pages: 305 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Mystery, Contemporary
Rating:★★★☆☆
Synopsis: Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

Review: Honestly? This was my least favorite John Green book so far. But it's probably my own fault. I didn't do my research and realize that one of the genres was mystery.

See, the cover looked so innocent! There was a nice little map with a big ol' push pin! And the title, Paper Towns, sounded so cute! Note that I didn't know what a paper town was at the time.

SPOILERS BEGIN

The only time I had to read this week was at night. I thought it was going to be a pleasant nighttime read, so you can imagine my horror when Margo and Q found that dead guy. And when Margo told Q to close the window and Q said that it was as if Margo saw a ghost, I flipped out. So I thought it'd be a good idea to read the back cover which said a bunch of stuff about discovering the real Margo. This added to my panic because I thought FOR SURE that Margo was going to be some ghost seer or something. And I hate ghosts!

By now, you can tell that I probably the biggest wimp ever.

Luckily (or unluckily for me. To save myself from further terror, I refused to read this book only during the day when, incidentally, I didn't have very much time to read, thus the five days it took me to finish a three-hundred page book) that wasn't what the book was about at all, but it didn't help that Q kept suggesting that Margo killed herself! This probably wasn't a good book for me.

Is it just me or did Margo seem a lot like Alaska (from Looking for Alaska) and Q seem like Miles (also from LfA)? Margo and Alaska seemed daring while the dudes were both wimpy, "perfect", and sheltered.

What I DID like was the familiarity of Green's writing style. He never fails to makeme laugh SOMEWHERE in his book My favorite part was when the people on the rode trip realized that Radar had to wear a Confederate shirt!

SPOILERS END

All that aside, this wasn't his finest work. But in his defense, Green wrote this in 2009. He improved a lot since then.

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #38: Looking for Alaska by John Green

Title: Looking for Alaska
Author: John Green
# of Pages: 231 (paperback)
Genre: YA, Contemporary, Romance
Rating:★★★★☆
Synopsis: Before. Miles "Pudge" Halter's whole existence has been one big nonevent, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave the "Great Perhaps" (François Rabelais, poet) even more. Then he heads off to the sometimes crazy, possibly unstable, and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young, who is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart.

After. Nothing is ever the same.

Review: It's weird; the book is similar to TFIOS yet it is nothing like it. I mean, not to sound vague on purpose or anything. It seemed like a nice way to start off a review at the time, but no it just sounds confusing. Forget it.

I remember when I found this book at the bookstore. I looked at the cover and thought, "What the heck is THAT?!" It seemed like steam or something completely unrelated to looking for something (I didn't read the back cover). But I get it now. It's smoke! ...right? Smoke from a cigarette.

I had very, very high expectations for this book. I mean, it's JOHN GREEN, the author of TFIOS! Bt I guess I should have lowered my expectations since this book was written BEFORE his master piece.

I'll start with the bad stuff. The role-modeling factor was bad. There's smoking, drinking, bad language, reckless driving, etc. I personally did not like the fact that Green made it seem that all teenagers did this stuff (see list in pervious sentence). I wish he tossed in more rule FOLLOWERS instead of rule BREAKERS. Just for variety.

Another thing I didn't like was the plot line. It seemed to be all over the place. Half of the time, I couldn't even figure out the point of it all. I suppose it's about Pudge finding the Great Perhaps, but I don't know. Before seemed to be a lot of development and nonsense fluffy while After was the actually meat of the story. And yet the After was smaller than the Before. Weird.

Now to the positive stuff. The constant countingdown of days because it left the reader wondering what was going to happen. And I really like how the readers can relate with the characters. Sometimes. Like the quote below:

"I hated discussion classes. I hated talking,  and I hated listening to everyone else stumble on their words and try to phrase things in the vaguest possible way so they wouldn't sound dumb, and I hated how it was all just a game of trying to figure out what the teacher wanted to hear and then saying it. I'm the teacher, so teach me." -Page 32-33

Besides the obvious fact that Pudge is complaining (which I think annoys everyone because no one wants to hear someone complain all the time), I totally get that. I also wish that all classes would be lecture classes. And that's why I love Green so much.

But, despite all that, I have to knock off a star. It just wasn't amazing like TFIOS.

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Read the first draft here!

Book Blog #21: The Emperor of Nihon-ja by John Flanagan

Title: The Emperor of Nihon-ja
Author: John Flanagan
# of Pages: 435 (hardback)
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Adventure
Rating:★★★★☆
Synopsis: In his brief time as an Araluen warrior, Horace has traveled the known world and fought countless bloody battles. All for his country, his king, and his friends. For all that is right.

When Horace travels to the exotic land of Nihon-Ja to study the Senshi fighting technique, it isn't long before he finds himself pulled into a battle that is not his - but one he knows in his heart he must wage. The Nihon-Ja emperor, a defender of the common man, has been forcibly dethroned, and only Horace, Will, and their Araluen friends, along with a group of untrained woodcutters and farmers, can restore the emperor to the throne.

In this final battle in the worldwide phenomenon that is Ranger's Apprentice, a kingdom teeters on the edge of chaos, victory lies in the hands of an inexperienced group of fighters, and it's anybody's guess who will make the journey home to Araluen.

Review: It's funny; I don't think John Flanagan was planning on writing twelve books. He wrote this one (with a little circle that says "The Final Battle" in the center, if you look on the cover. Doesn't that mean that it's suppose to be the last book?) and the Lost Stories, which is, I guess, the "eleventh" book. But it's not REALLY the eleventh book; my copy doesn't have "eleven" written anywhere on it. Then again, maybe he DID know he was going to write twelve books. After all, he didn't write much of an epilogue.

As always, I'm going to start with the cover. It's pretty awesome looking with the lighting and the detail. But that crazy guy that's about to cut someones head off is a little...scary. If you get my meaning.

I was surprise of the amount of fighting in this book (even though Flanagan made it pretty clear by the cover). He tosses you in the thick of everything, and there's all kinds of action right off the bat. If you've read any of my previous reviews, you'll know that me + detailed action scenes = madness.
And when I say detail action scenes, I mean DETAILED action scenes. No, not the graphic blood and gore type of detail, more like battle arrangement detail. The characters are traveling all over the place to the point where I can't quite keep up with the scenery. And in the big finally ending, all I can remember is that the good guys won.

This was not my favorite Ranger's Apprentice book. Actually, it's far from it. I wanted to see more of Will and Halt. I know, I know, they made A LOT of appearances in the book, but I wanted to see them fighting! Not instructing others to fight. Y'know, more bow action! And I missed Tug.

The princess (I can't even remember her name...that Cassandra person) annoys the heck out of me. I feel like I should like her more than Alyssa, but I don't. Maybe it's because she's the princess or because I keep picturing her as some squat little munchkin from the Wizard of Oz. I don't know.

Well, since I didn't love, love, love this book, I'm going to nock off a star. Four stars is pretty good, right?

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Read the original post here!