Paper towns, where do i begin to speak of your utter magnificent beauty. First of all, i think it's a thrilling, captivating read. Margo, this unbelievable, surreal, greater than the average human being is revealed through Quentin's eyes. Ben, the ever enthusiastic, and Radar, the technology guy, embark on the trip of a lifetime with Q and Ben's girlfriend, Lacey, in search of Margo Roth Spiegelman. Q realizes just who Margo is and he realizes who he is too.
I don't know where to begin in professing my love and adoration for this novel. I think everyone wants to be Margo Roth Spiegelman. Maybe she doesn't have the life you'd always imagined but she's on the verge of adventure everywhere.
Q doesn't question so much about her last daring escapade. He's so willing to live in her shadow for at least one night and that night changes his life forever.
Ben and Radar are two of the best friends Q could have. Sometimes he feels like they don't care but they're quick to come to the rescue when he needs help.
There is so much honesty in this book. There is so much hope and longing and missing and problem solving and I am willing to say I don't want to share this book. I want to keep it mine forever and selfishly feel that this is a book that I can have to live in Margo's shoes. To live like Margo Roth Spiegelman. To dream of Paper Towns.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Becca's third book: paper towns
author: john green
From the back cover:
Who is the real Margo?
Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Speigelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life - dressed like a ninja 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 the girl he thought he knew....
Why I'm reading this book third:
This is the last book of John Green's that I hadn't read yet. I've seen it given a lot of praise (all of john green's books deserve praise) and I really want to read it before I read LFA and TFIOS (which i have read.)
Why I'm reading this book third:
This is the last book of John Green's that I hadn't read yet. I've seen it given a lot of praise (all of john green's books deserve praise) and I really want to read it before I read LFA and TFIOS (which i have read.)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
will grayson will grayson: book review (becca)
title: will grayson will grayson
author: john green & david levithan
So I read this book.
I love the humor and the way it was okay for you to laugh.
I love the characters and the way they portray homosexuality.
I love the musical.
I love how it's so honest.
Tiny: he knows exactly who he is and the reader knows exactly who he is.
Will Grayson: he doesn't know who he is and the reader discovers him as the book is progressed.
will grayson: he thinks he knows who he is but that's the way he sees himself.
maura: a total and complete bitch.
jane: the pretentious music loving person who you can't help but feeling awe for her.
I can't describe any of my favourite parts because everything ties in to each other.
I had a quite a few people (okay, maybe like 3 people) ask me if this book was good, with which i replied with yes, it is very good. and this led to the question, what's it about. and response to that was it's about a two guys who are both named will grayson and capital letter Will Grayson has a homosexual best friend who writes and directs a musical and lowercase will grayson ends up with Tiny (the massive gay friend to capital letter Will Grayson) and then Jane and Will (the capital letter one) end up together and maura is just ugh.
They'd look at me a bit strangely. and then say, okay then.
But i'd add, it's really funny and good. if you don't mind the homosexuality part, read it.
I'd read it again.
author: john green & david levithan
So I read this book.
I love the humor and the way it was okay for you to laugh.
I love the characters and the way they portray homosexuality.
I love the musical.
I love how it's so honest.
Tiny: he knows exactly who he is and the reader knows exactly who he is.
Will Grayson: he doesn't know who he is and the reader discovers him as the book is progressed.
will grayson: he thinks he knows who he is but that's the way he sees himself.
maura: a total and complete bitch.
jane: the pretentious music loving person who you can't help but feeling awe for her.
I can't describe any of my favourite parts because everything ties in to each other.
I had a quite a few people (okay, maybe like 3 people) ask me if this book was good, with which i replied with yes, it is very good. and this led to the question, what's it about. and response to that was it's about a two guys who are both named will grayson and capital letter Will Grayson has a homosexual best friend who writes and directs a musical and lowercase will grayson ends up with Tiny (the massive gay friend to capital letter Will Grayson) and then Jane and Will (the capital letter one) end up together and maura is just ugh.
They'd look at me a bit strangely. and then say, okay then.
But i'd add, it's really funny and good. if you don't mind the homosexuality part, read it.
I'd read it again.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Becca's second book: will grayson, will grayson
author: john green
From the back cover:
will grayson, meet will grayson
One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers cross paths. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, culminating in heroic turns-of-heart and the most epic musical to ever grace the high school stage.
Why I'm reading this book second:
I haven't read it yet. The reviews I've read have admired the humor and honesty so I decided I'd read it now.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
an abundance of katherines: overview/ last thoughts (becca)
I just finished reading An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. I must say, I appreciate it a thousand times more than when I first read it. The characters, the story, the entire thing was so beautiful, hilarious, and overall, made an impact on me. I enjoyed it, loved it, and I would definitely read it again.
an abundance of katherines: epilogue, or the lindsey lee wells chapter - pages 210-215
memorable lines:
page 213:
"The future will erase everything - there's no level of fame or genius that allows you to transcend oblivion. The infinite future makes that kind of mattering impossible."
"And Colin thought: Because like say I tell someone about my feral hog hunt. Even if it's a dumb story, telling it changes other people just the slightest bit, just as living the story changes me. An infinitesimal change. And that infinitesimal change ripples outward - ever smaller but everlasting. I will get forgotten, but the stories will last. And so we all matter - maybe less than a lot, but always more than none."
{Impacting. Lasting. And it will change me.}
page 213:
"The future will erase everything - there's no level of fame or genius that allows you to transcend oblivion. The infinite future makes that kind of mattering impossible."
"And Colin thought: Because like say I tell someone about my feral hog hunt. Even if it's a dumb story, telling it changes other people just the slightest bit, just as living the story changes me. An infinitesimal change. And that infinitesimal change ripples outward - ever smaller but everlasting. I will get forgotten, but the stories will last. And so we all matter - maybe less than a lot, but always more than none."
{Impacting. Lasting. And it will change me.}
an abundance of katherines: chapter nineteen - pages 197-209 (becca)
Colin and Lindsey are at her cave. Colin tells her about all of the Katherines.
memorable lines:
page 198:
"Colin, of course, did not believe in running when walking would suffice - but here and now, walking would not."
{This absolutely shows Colin's changes.}
"... the darkness became so complete that trees and rocks became mere shadows..."
{The description astounds me.}
page 199:
"'People are supposed to care. It's good that people mean something to you, that you miss people when they're gone.'"
page 200:
"'But they like me as they remember me, not as I am now.'"
{Why is this book so brilliant?}
"'I was thinking about your mattering business. I feel like, like, how you matter is defined by the things that matter to you. You matter as much as the things that matter to you do.'"
{Lindsey you beautiful girl.}
page 201:
"'I don't think you can ever fill the empty space with the thing you lost.'"
{Colin, your realization blows my mind.}
"'It's funny, what people will do to be remembered.'
'Well, or to be forgotten, because someday no one will know who's really buried there.'"
page 207:
"'And the moral of the story is that you don't remember what happened. What you remember becomes what happened.'"
{How profound and thoughtful.}
page 208:
"'That's who you really like. The people you can think out loud in front of.'
'The people who've been in your secret hiding places.'
'The people you bite your thumb in front of.'"
memorable lines:
page 198:
"Colin, of course, did not believe in running when walking would suffice - but here and now, walking would not."
{This absolutely shows Colin's changes.}
"... the darkness became so complete that trees and rocks became mere shadows..."
{The description astounds me.}
page 199:
"'People are supposed to care. It's good that people mean something to you, that you miss people when they're gone.'"
page 200:
"'But they like me as they remember me, not as I am now.'"
{Why is this book so brilliant?}
"'I was thinking about your mattering business. I feel like, like, how you matter is defined by the things that matter to you. You matter as much as the things that matter to you do.'"
{Lindsey you beautiful girl.}
page 201:
"'I don't think you can ever fill the empty space with the thing you lost.'"
{Colin, your realization blows my mind.}
"'It's funny, what people will do to be remembered.'
'Well, or to be forgotten, because someday no one will know who's really buried there.'"
page 207:
"'And the moral of the story is that you don't remember what happened. What you remember becomes what happened.'"
{How profound and thoughtful.}
page 208:
"'That's who you really like. The people you can think out loud in front of.'
'The people who've been in your secret hiding places.'
'The people you bite your thumb in front of.'"
an abundance of katherines: chapter eighteen - pages 190-199 (becca)
Lindsey, Colin and Hassan all go to Memphis to find out what Hollis is doing. What she's doing is admirable for the town and she is doing her best to find a new way to bring in the business that they've lost.
memorable lines:
page 190:
"'...I'm lost in a sea of spreadsheets.'"
{It sounds so poetic.}
memorable lines:
page 190:
"'...I'm lost in a sea of spreadsheets.'"
{It sounds so poetic.}
an abundance of katherines: chapter seventeen - pages 182-189 (becca)
Colin, Hassan and Lindsey go to the other home where the really old live. It's so sad there but they go to visit Mabel Bartrand. Lindsey cries either because she's missed seeing Mabel or also partly because of TOC. Colin completes his Theorem and uses it to reflect TOC and Lindsey's relationship. Hassan ends up enrolling for classes in college.
memorable lines:
page 182:
"And hid head hurt - each time he opened his eyes, beams of feverish, demonic pain shot through his brain."
{I love the description.}
page 186:
"A lot of people could lose themselves in the Pink Mansion, and that night, a lot of people did."
{I like the idea of losing yourself into a large house, where you can go without seeing anyone.}
memorable lines:
page 182:
"And hid head hurt - each time he opened his eyes, beams of feverish, demonic pain shot through his brain."
{I love the description.}
page 186:
"A lot of people could lose themselves in the Pink Mansion, and that night, a lot of people did."
{I like the idea of losing yourself into a large house, where you can go without seeing anyone.}
an abundance of katherines: chapter sixteen - pages 172-181 (becca)
The guy Katrina was with was TOC. Lindsey finds out and a fist fight ensues.
memorable lines:
page 178:
"They weren't much for damsel-in-distress saving, Colin and Hassan.
But then again, Lindsey wasn't much for being a damsel in distress."
memorable lines:
page 178:
"They weren't much for damsel-in-distress saving, Colin and Hassan.
But then again, Lindsey wasn't much for being a damsel in distress."
an abundance of katherines: chapter fifteen - pages 154-171 (becca)
The pig hunt begins. Colin phones a girlfriend from his past and finds out he dumped her instead of how he remembered her dumping him. Hassan and Colin end up having a run in with a feral hog and Colin shoots a hornets nest. After they are lost in the woods, they end up finding the cemetery where they see Katrina with a guy.
memorable lines:
page 156:
"He wasn't really going on a hunt anyway. He was going for a stroll through the woods. With a gun."
page 167:
"'Stand up so he knows we're bigger than he is,' Colin said.
'Did you read that in the book?' Hassan asked as he stood.
'No, I read it in a book about grizzly bears.
'We're gonna get gored to death by a feral fugging hog and your best strategy is to pretend it's a grizzly bear?'"
memorable lines:
page 156:
"He wasn't really going on a hunt anyway. He was going for a stroll through the woods. With a gun."
page 167:
"'Stand up so he knows we're bigger than he is,' Colin said.
'Did you read that in the book?' Hassan asked as he stood.
'No, I read it in a book about grizzly bears.
'We're gonna get gored to death by a feral fugging hog and your best strategy is to pretend it's a grizzly bear?'"
an abundance of katherines: chapter fourteen - pages 144-154 (becca)
Lindsey takes Colin to her secret hideout where they drink moonshine and sit together in a cave. Lindsey talks about her boyfriend and a bit about who he is and was as a kid.
memorable lines:
page 145:
"'It's just that I learned a while ago that the best way to get people to like you is not to like them too much.'"
{Spoken by the popular girl Lindsey is.}
page 146:
"And then it was the kind of dark your eyes never adjust to."
{I love the description. It wasn't just pitch black, it was 'the kind of dark your eyes never adjust to.'}
page 149:
"'Do you ever wonder whether people would like you more or less if they could see inside you?... If people could see me the way I see myself - if they could live in my memories - would anyone, anyone, love me?'"
{This is so thought provoking. I love the question. It makes you think about yourself.}
memorable lines:
page 145:
"'It's just that I learned a while ago that the best way to get people to like you is not to like them too much.'"
{Spoken by the popular girl Lindsey is.}
page 146:
"And then it was the kind of dark your eyes never adjust to."
{I love the description. It wasn't just pitch black, it was 'the kind of dark your eyes never adjust to.'}
page 149:
"'Do you ever wonder whether people would like you more or less if they could see inside you?... If people could see me the way I see myself - if they could live in my memories - would anyone, anyone, love me?'"
{This is so thought provoking. I love the question. It makes you think about yourself.}
an abundance of katherines: chapter thirteen - pages 128-143 (becca)
Hassan comes home to tell Colin how he had kissed Katrina when they were cruising. They end up not talking for awhile because of something Hassan said. Colin tried to tweak his Theorem to work as a reunion between them. Hassan has a date with Katrina and and Colin and Lindsey are going out for dinner. Lindsey takes him to the woods to learn to shoot a gun before they go pig hunting.
memorable lines:
page 139:
"'But you know what they say about Gutshot: the population never goes up and never goes down, because every time a woman gets pregnant, a man leaves town.'"
"'You're not boring. You've got to stop saying that, or people will start believing you.'"
page 140:
"He'd never held a gun before. It felt simultaneously exciting and deeply wrong."
{Colin holding a gun. I can see him feeling this way exactly.}
page 142:
"'I think maybe you try to be odd on purpose. I think you like that. It makes you you and not someone else."
{Colin be odd on purpose? What an observation.}
memorable lines:
page 139:
"'But you know what they say about Gutshot: the population never goes up and never goes down, because every time a woman gets pregnant, a man leaves town.'"
"'You're not boring. You've got to stop saying that, or people will start believing you.'"
page 140:
"He'd never held a gun before. It felt simultaneously exciting and deeply wrong."
{Colin holding a gun. I can see him feeling this way exactly.}
page 142:
"'I think maybe you try to be odd on purpose. I think you like that. It makes you you and not someone else."
{Colin be odd on purpose? What an observation.}
an abundance of katherines: chapter twelve - pages 117-127 (becca)
Hassan takes a sick day. Lindsey helps with more variables into the Theorem. Colin and Lindsey visit the Oldsters at Sunset Acres nursing home.
memorable lines:
page 122:
"He thought it through for a while. It seemed so obvious now - many discoveries do."
memorable lines:
page 122:
"He thought it through for a while. It seemed so obvious now - many discoveries do."
an abundance of katherines: chapter eleven - pages 109-116 (becca)
Hassan begins to go cruising with Lindsey and her friends. Colin reads while he's away. Hassan was invited to go pig hunting and thinks he and Colin should go. We learn about Colin on KranialKidz.
memorable lines:
page 110:
"The reading quieted his brain a little."
{Does reading quiet your brain?}
page 111:
"Colin had no desire to shoot pigs-or anything else, for that matter.
'Um,' Colin said. 'I don't even know how to shoot a gun.'
'Yeah, me neither, but how hard can it be? Complete fugging idiots shoot guns all the time. That's why there are so many dead people.'"
{Very thoughtful for saying that Hassan.}
page 115:
"But the risk of being able to win over anyone, he found himself thinking, was that you might pick the wrong people."
memorable lines:
page 110:
"The reading quieted his brain a little."
{Does reading quiet your brain?}
page 111:
"Colin had no desire to shoot pigs-or anything else, for that matter.
'Um,' Colin said. 'I don't even know how to shoot a gun.'
'Yeah, me neither, but how hard can it be? Complete fugging idiots shoot guns all the time. That's why there are so many dead people.'"
{Very thoughtful for saying that Hassan.}
page 115:
"But the risk of being able to win over anyone, he found himself thinking, was that you might pick the wrong people."
an abundance of katherines: chapter ten - pages 97-108 (becca)
During this chapter I love when Colin mentions Nikola Tesla and the strange little tidbits comparing Thomas Edison and the love of birds that he possessed. It was interesting and also humorous the way it was portrayed. They go to the factory and interview people there. Colin ends up calling Katherine and it doesn't end very well. Colin lets Lindsey see the Theorem.
memorable lines:
page 105:
"You can love someone so much, he thought. But you can never love people as much as you can miss them."
{I really like this insightful line.}
memorable lines:
page 105:
"You can love someone so much, he thought. But you can never love people as much as you can miss them."
{I really like this insightful line.}
an abundance of katherines: chapter nine - pages 80-96 (becca)
Colin, Hassan and Lindsey do their first interview of Starnes. Hassan fakes a hilarious asthma attack and Colin resists the urge to call Katherine.
memorable lines:
page 83:
"'Anyway, I didn't go off to the war because I shot off two of my toes because I'm a coward. I'm an old man so I can tell you that frankly. I wasn't afraid of war, you know. War never scared me. I just didn't want to go all the way-hell over there to fight one. I had a reputation after that - I pretended I shot myself by accident, but everyone knew. I never did lose that reputation, but now most everyone is dead, and ya'll ain't got any stories from them, so you have to believe mine by default: They were cowards, too. Everyone is."
{I like the honesty of Starnes. I love how he says that everyone has to believe him, because everyone else is dead. It's so blunt but so like his character to say that.}
page 94:
"'And yes, again, that was it exactly. A retyper and not a writer...'"
"'Schadenfreude,' Colin said. Finding pleasure in others' pain."
page 96:
"That's why people grow weary of listening to Dumpees obsess over their troubles: getting dumped is predictable, repetitive, and boring. They want to stay friends; they feel smothered; it's always them and it's never you; and afterward, you're devastated and they're relieved; it's over for them and just starting for you.
{I've never been in a relationship (as i don't mind admitting) but this seems to be a way to think of it. I've seen enough relationships to relate to this.}
memorable lines:
page 83:
"'Anyway, I didn't go off to the war because I shot off two of my toes because I'm a coward. I'm an old man so I can tell you that frankly. I wasn't afraid of war, you know. War never scared me. I just didn't want to go all the way-hell over there to fight one. I had a reputation after that - I pretended I shot myself by accident, but everyone knew. I never did lose that reputation, but now most everyone is dead, and ya'll ain't got any stories from them, so you have to believe mine by default: They were cowards, too. Everyone is."
{I like the honesty of Starnes. I love how he says that everyone has to believe him, because everyone else is dead. It's so blunt but so like his character to say that.}
page 94:
"'And yes, again, that was it exactly. A retyper and not a writer...'"
"'Schadenfreude,' Colin said. Finding pleasure in others' pain."
page 96:
"That's why people grow weary of listening to Dumpees obsess over their troubles: getting dumped is predictable, repetitive, and boring. They want to stay friends; they feel smothered; it's always them and it's never you; and afterward, you're devastated and they're relieved; it's over for them and just starting for you.
{I've never been in a relationship (as i don't mind admitting) but this seems to be a way to think of it. I've seen enough relationships to relate to this.}
Monday, January 30, 2012
an abundance of katherines: chapter eight - pages 70-79 (becca)
It's the first morning they spent at the Wells' house. Hassan and Colin agree to a code word of 'Dingleberries' to signify when they've gone too far and should back off. This seems to showcase they're friendship and how the teasing is a necessary component, it's also nice to see that they'll back off when the person just isn't in the mood. The job Hollis has for the boys is to videotape a history. They make their first stop at Starnes' house. We learn about The Beginning (of the End).
memorable lines:
page 70:
"The rooster crowed again. 'Cock-a-doodle-don't, motherfugger,' Colin mumbled. But the rooster cock-a-doodle-did, and by dawn, the crowing created a kind of weird dissonant symphony mingled with the sounds of a Muslim's morning prayers."
page 73:
"'Eternity bids thee to forget.'" (a line from Lara, a poem by Lord Byron.
page 76:
"The house smelled like musty old couches and unfinished wood. It smelled, Colin thought, like cobwebs or hazy memories."
{What a gorgeous description. Hazy memories are exactly what I think of when I enter someone's house that has been around for a long time. It just seems so fitting with the things and people that have been in the home that you won't ever really know.}
page 77:
"...Colin didn't like coffee. He liked the idea of coffee quite a lot - a warm drink that gave you energy and had been for centuries associated with sophisticates and intellectuals. But coffee itself tasted to him like caffeinated stomach bile."
{I quite like the idea of coffee as well. I'm not the biggest fan but this description is totally wonderful (aside the stomach bile of course.}
"It made for a poor living area, but it was an awesome theater. It was so dark that you could sink into the couch and disappear into the movie."
{What an excellent way to describe living vicariously. This is the essence of being involved and absorbed into a film.}
page 79:
"He wanted to draw out the moment before the moment - because as good as kissing feels, nothing feels as good as the anticipation of it."
{Again this seems to be part of Colin's perception of relationships and the ones he's been involved with.}
memorable lines:
page 70:
"The rooster crowed again. 'Cock-a-doodle-don't, motherfugger,' Colin mumbled. But the rooster cock-a-doodle-did, and by dawn, the crowing created a kind of weird dissonant symphony mingled with the sounds of a Muslim's morning prayers."
page 73:
"'Eternity bids thee to forget.'" (a line from Lara, a poem by Lord Byron.
page 76:
"The house smelled like musty old couches and unfinished wood. It smelled, Colin thought, like cobwebs or hazy memories."
{What a gorgeous description. Hazy memories are exactly what I think of when I enter someone's house that has been around for a long time. It just seems so fitting with the things and people that have been in the home that you won't ever really know.}
page 77:
"...Colin didn't like coffee. He liked the idea of coffee quite a lot - a warm drink that gave you energy and had been for centuries associated with sophisticates and intellectuals. But coffee itself tasted to him like caffeinated stomach bile."
{I quite like the idea of coffee as well. I'm not the biggest fan but this description is totally wonderful (aside the stomach bile of course.}
"It made for a poor living area, but it was an awesome theater. It was so dark that you could sink into the couch and disappear into the movie."
{What an excellent way to describe living vicariously. This is the essence of being involved and absorbed into a film.}
page 79:
"He wanted to draw out the moment before the moment - because as good as kissing feels, nothing feels as good as the anticipation of it."
{Again this seems to be part of Colin's perception of relationships and the ones he's been involved with.}
an abundance of katherines: chapter seven - pages 48- 69 (becca)
Lindsey recites the Archduke Franz Ferdinand tour guide speech. Colin and Hassan decide to trick the Lindsey's friends (boyfriend, TOC (the other Colin), Chase (Jeans Are Too Tight) and Fulton (Short One Chewing Tobacco) and Katrina)) by pretending to be cousins from France. The lead up to this is hilarious as they decide what 'characters' they are going to be. Hollis (Lindsey's Mom) recognizes Colin from KranialKidz. She decides to cook dinner for the Hassan and Colin. On the drive to Lindsey's large house, they pass the factory that provides the jobs for the people in Gutshot. On the mantel above the fireplace is a picture of Lindsey in dark clothing going for the "goth" look that Lindsey later. Colin works on his Theorem and he and Hassan are offered a job by Hollis who will pay them five hundred dollars a week for them to interview. They decide to play Scrabble and Colin wins by a sizable margin. They are staying at the Wells' house. We come to The End (of the Beginning).
page 63:
"When Hollis spoke, it seemed to break a long quiet, the way alarm clocks do."
page 66:
"Colin, for whatever reason, had always loved desks with empty drawers."
{I wonder why. There doesn't have to be a reason at all, but I really like to think of Colin this way. And although there could be a lot of hidden meaning in this, I'm happy to accept that he just likes a desk with empty drawers.}
page 68:
"'I was thinking about this tonight, actually, that maybe I want strangers to think I'm cool since people who actually know me don't.'"
{This is something to relate to. I mean, who doesn't want to impress people that they're meeting for the first time? Who doesn't want someone to think they're actually cooler than what the people they know already do?}
page 63:
"When Hollis spoke, it seemed to break a long quiet, the way alarm clocks do."
page 66:
"Colin, for whatever reason, had always loved desks with empty drawers."
{I wonder why. There doesn't have to be a reason at all, but I really like to think of Colin this way. And although there could be a lot of hidden meaning in this, I'm happy to accept that he just likes a desk with empty drawers.}
page 68:
"'I was thinking about this tonight, actually, that maybe I want strangers to think I'm cool since people who actually know me don't.'"
{This is something to relate to. I mean, who doesn't want to impress people that they're meeting for the first time? Who doesn't want someone to think they're actually cooler than what the people they know already do?}
an abundance of katherines: chapter six - pages 41-47 (becca)
Colin is working on his Theorem when Lindsey comes back with the first aid kit. They end up discussing some of it and they go to see the Archduke. We learn that Lindsey's only boyfriend is named Colin as well. We get to The Middle (of the beginning) We are given insight into Colin as a third-grade boy and his first Katherine.
memorable lines:
page 43:
"'Love is graphable!'" Colin said defensively.
{This is a really funny line.}
"Lindsey Lee Wells and Colin stared at each other dead in the eye for a very long time, until finally her smile collapsed into a gentle laugh."
{The idea the imagery of a collapsing smile into a laugh is so beautiful.}
page 44:
"'No, tell me,' he said insistently. He didn't like secrets kept from him. Being on the outside of something annoyed him - more than it should have, really."
{This sounds exactly like Colin. And I can understand this in him, although it does give him a more self involved appearance.}
page 47:
"It was his first kiss, and her lips felt like the coming winter - cold and dry and chapped - and it occurred to Colin that the kiss didn't feel nearly as good as the sound of her asking if she could be his girlfriend."
{Colin, to me, seems like the boy who would say this. From what we've learned, he's not very good at being alone. This information shows that he's been this way for a long time and he needs somebody.}
memorable lines:
page 43:
"'Love is graphable!'" Colin said defensively.
{This is a really funny line.}
"Lindsey Lee Wells and Colin stared at each other dead in the eye for a very long time, until finally her smile collapsed into a gentle laugh."
{The idea the imagery of a collapsing smile into a laugh is so beautiful.}
page 44:
"'No, tell me,' he said insistently. He didn't like secrets kept from him. Being on the outside of something annoyed him - more than it should have, really."
{This sounds exactly like Colin. And I can understand this in him, although it does give him a more self involved appearance.}
page 47:
"It was his first kiss, and her lips felt like the coming winter - cold and dry and chapped - and it occurred to Colin that the kiss didn't feel nearly as good as the sound of her asking if she could be his girlfriend."
{Colin, to me, seems like the boy who would say this. From what we've learned, he's not very good at being alone. This information shows that he's been this way for a long time and he needs somebody.}
an abundance of katherines: chapter five - pages 26-40 (becca)
Hassan and Colin go to see the grave of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. They head to Gutshot, Tennessee where it is located and meet Lindsey Lee Wells at the store. First impression of her is your small town girl but she's not exactly what you would expect. I definitely can see Colin feeling in better spirits (although he still can't completely get over K-19 right now. After all, I'm not nearly done the book.)
We get to Katherine XIX: The End (of the End) and see the how Colin lost his girlfriend.
memorable lines:
We get to Katherine XIX: The End (of the End) and see the how Colin lost his girlfriend.
memorable lines:
page 31:"She had the sort of broad and guileful smile in which you couldn't help but believe - you just wanted to make her happy so you could keep seeing it. But it passed in a flash."
{This description of a fleeting smile is brilliant. It's so sweet, and gentle.}
page 32:
"- but there was no denying her smile. That smile could end wars and cure cancer."
{This shows the impact of a smile. It's so simple and it's pure.}
page 33:
"What's the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable?"
{This leaves me wondering. Really, what is the point? Colin, you should explain the answer to us.}
"And he was busy anagramming anything odd - any odd night, handy dog tin, doing they DNA - when Colin did his DNA proud: he stumbled on a molehill and fell."
{Humorous, comical, and definitely worth a laugh. This sums Colin up so perfectly.}
page 34:
"It was not the way Curve smelled that Colin liked - not exactly. It was the way the air smelled just as Lindsey began to jog away from him. The smell the perfume left behind. There's not a word for that in English, but Colin knew the French word: sillage. What Colin liked about Curve was not its smell on the skin but its sillage, the fruity sweet smell of its leaving."
page 35:
...Colin Singleton's distance from his glasses made him realize the problem: myopia. He was nearsighted. The future lay before him, inevitable but invisible.
page 36:
"Colin had always loved Chicago's skyline. Although he was not a religious person, seeing the skyline made him feel what is called in Latin the mysterium tremendum et fascinans - that stomach-flipping mix of awestruck fear and entrancing fascination."
page 39:
"'It's the tortoise and the hare, though K. I learn faster than other people, but they keep learning. I've slowed down, and now they're coming.'"
"He felt himself drifting away from the one-sided whispered conversation, wondering if maybe everything big and heartbreaking and incomprehensible is a paradox."
{This description of a fleeting smile is brilliant. It's so sweet, and gentle.}
page 32:
"- but there was no denying her smile. That smile could end wars and cure cancer."
{This shows the impact of a smile. It's so simple and it's pure.}
page 33:
"What's the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable?"
{This leaves me wondering. Really, what is the point? Colin, you should explain the answer to us.}
"And he was busy anagramming anything odd - any odd night, handy dog tin, doing they DNA - when Colin did his DNA proud: he stumbled on a molehill and fell."
{Humorous, comical, and definitely worth a laugh. This sums Colin up so perfectly.}
page 34:
"It was not the way Curve smelled that Colin liked - not exactly. It was the way the air smelled just as Lindsey began to jog away from him. The smell the perfume left behind. There's not a word for that in English, but Colin knew the French word: sillage. What Colin liked about Curve was not its smell on the skin but its sillage, the fruity sweet smell of its leaving."
page 35:
...Colin Singleton's distance from his glasses made him realize the problem: myopia. He was nearsighted. The future lay before him, inevitable but invisible.
page 36:
"Colin had always loved Chicago's skyline. Although he was not a religious person, seeing the skyline made him feel what is called in Latin the mysterium tremendum et fascinans - that stomach-flipping mix of awestruck fear and entrancing fascination."
page 39:
"'It's the tortoise and the hare, though K. I learn faster than other people, but they keep learning. I've slowed down, and now they're coming.'"
"He felt himself drifting away from the one-sided whispered conversation, wondering if maybe everything big and heartbreaking and incomprehensible is a paradox."
Sunday, January 29, 2012
an abundance of katherines: chapter four - pages 21-25 (becca)
In this chapter we learn how Colin and Hassan met. Hassan changes a word on a picnic table and I think it's really admirable that John Green has created such a strong character with him. He knows exactly who he is so we know what to expect from Hassan. I love seeing the associations Colin makes so everything reminds him of her. It shows how he can't stop thinking about her and Hassan's efforts of distraction lead Colin to bringing her up constantly.
an abundance of katherines: chapter three - pages 12-20 (becca)
Colin and Hassan decide to go on a road trip together. We learn about Katherine I and how the importance of Katherine began.
memorable lines:
page 13:
"'Right, except I'm not going to lie to my mom, because what kind of bastard lies to his own mother?'"
'Hmm.'
'Well although, someone else could lie to her. I could live with that.'"
page 15:
"And the beautiful thing about driving was that it stole just enough of his attention... to distract from the gnawing hole in his belly."
To keep his mind occupied, he thought of other holes in other stomachs. He thought of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated in 1914. As he looked down at the bloody hole in his middle, the Archduke had said, 'It is nothing.' He was mistaken. There's no doubt that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand mattered, although he was neither a prodigy nor a genius: his assassination sparked World War I - so his death led to 8,528,831 others.
page 16:
"Dating, after all, only ends one way: poorly. If you think about it, and Colin often did, all romantic relationships end in either (1) breakup, (2) divorce, or (3) death.
page 17:
"Colin was skinny for his age, but tall, with tight brown curls that erupted from his head with an Einstenian unpredictability."
{I adore this description of Colin as a toddler. It ties in well with the prodigy that he is and gives a hint at what is discussed on this page.}
"This was Colin's first memory: his dad slowly lowering the paper and smiling at him. His eyes were wide with surprise and pleasure, and his smile was uncontainable."
{This is such a beautiful first memory. The story behind what his dad is smiling at has the right amount of humor mixed with the brilliant revelation that takes place.}
page 18:
You're a very special person. Colin would hear this a lot, and yet -somehow- he could never hear it enough.
"He liked all books, because he liked the mere act of reading, the magic of turning scratches on a page into words inside his head."
{This is such a gorgeous description a person who enjoys reading for the pure act of it. Not to be transported to another world, not to forget reality, but to marvel that inside your brain you've learned to interpret the lines and swirls into meaning.}
page 19:
"It made him feel like no one liked him, which, in fact, no one did. His single consolation was that one day, he would matter. He'd be famous. And none of them ever would. That's why, his mom said, they made fun of him in the first place. 'They're just jealous,' she said. But Colin knew better. They weren't jealous. He just wasn't likable. Sometimes it's that simple."
memorable lines:
page 13:
"'Right, except I'm not going to lie to my mom, because what kind of bastard lies to his own mother?'"
'Hmm.'
'Well although, someone else could lie to her. I could live with that.'"
page 15:
"And the beautiful thing about driving was that it stole just enough of his attention... to distract from the gnawing hole in his belly."
To keep his mind occupied, he thought of other holes in other stomachs. He thought of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated in 1914. As he looked down at the bloody hole in his middle, the Archduke had said, 'It is nothing.' He was mistaken. There's no doubt that the Archduke Franz Ferdinand mattered, although he was neither a prodigy nor a genius: his assassination sparked World War I - so his death led to 8,528,831 others.
page 16:
"Dating, after all, only ends one way: poorly. If you think about it, and Colin often did, all romantic relationships end in either (1) breakup, (2) divorce, or (3) death.
page 17:
"Colin was skinny for his age, but tall, with tight brown curls that erupted from his head with an Einstenian unpredictability."
{I adore this description of Colin as a toddler. It ties in well with the prodigy that he is and gives a hint at what is discussed on this page.}
"This was Colin's first memory: his dad slowly lowering the paper and smiling at him. His eyes were wide with surprise and pleasure, and his smile was uncontainable."
{This is such a beautiful first memory. The story behind what his dad is smiling at has the right amount of humor mixed with the brilliant revelation that takes place.}
page 18:
You're a very special person. Colin would hear this a lot, and yet -somehow- he could never hear it enough.
"He liked all books, because he liked the mere act of reading, the magic of turning scratches on a page into words inside his head."
{This is such a gorgeous description a person who enjoys reading for the pure act of it. Not to be transported to another world, not to forget reality, but to marvel that inside your brain you've learned to interpret the lines and swirls into meaning.}
page 19:
"It made him feel like no one liked him, which, in fact, no one did. His single consolation was that one day, he would matter. He'd be famous. And none of them ever would. That's why, his mom said, they made fun of him in the first place. 'They're just jealous,' she said. But Colin knew better. They weren't jealous. He just wasn't likable. Sometimes it's that simple."
an abundance of katherines: chapter two - pages 8-11 (becca)
In chapter 2, Hassan, Colin's best friend is introduced. He has such humor that it lightens Colin's depressive state and you can't help but laugh.
memorable lines:
there were a few i liked but there was only one i seemed to find very important and that is found on page 11:
"... you have a very complicated problem with a very simple solution."
memorable lines:
there were a few i liked but there was only one i seemed to find very important and that is found on page 11:
"... you have a very complicated problem with a very simple solution."
Saturday, January 28, 2012
an abundance of katherines: chapter one - pages 3-7 (becca)
First sentence: The morning after noted child prodigy Colin Singleton graduated from high school and got dumped for the nineteenth time by a girl named Katherine, he took a bath.
In this chapter we meet Colin Singleton. The skinny child prodigy who just graduated high school and was dumped, by a girl named Katherine, for the nineteenth time.
did that sound redundant to you?
memorable lines:
page three:
"Colin had always preferred baths; one of his general policies in life was never to do anything standing up that could just as easily be done lying down."
"He did recognize, albeit faintly, that he was too long, and too big, for this bathtub - he looked like a mostly grown person playing at being a kid."
"'Eureka!"1
footnote: Greek: 'I have found it.'"
page four:
"But mothers lie. It's in the job description."
page five:
"She said i love you as if it were a secret, and an immense one."
page seven:
"He anagrammed 'yrs forever' until he found one he liked: sorry fever. And then he lay there in his fever of sorry and repeated the now memorized note in his head and and wanted to cry, but instead he only felt this aching behind his solar plexus. Crying adds something: crying is you, plus tears. But the feeling Colin had was the opposite of crying. It was you, minus something."
In this chapter we meet Colin Singleton. The skinny child prodigy who just graduated high school and was dumped, by a girl named Katherine, for the nineteenth time.
did that sound redundant to you?
memorable lines:
page three:
"Colin had always preferred baths; one of his general policies in life was never to do anything standing up that could just as easily be done lying down."
"He did recognize, albeit faintly, that he was too long, and too big, for this bathtub - he looked like a mostly grown person playing at being a kid."
"'Eureka!"1
footnote: Greek: 'I have found it.'"
page four:
"But mothers lie. It's in the job description."
page five:
"She said i love you as if it were a secret, and an immense one."
page seven:
"He anagrammed 'yrs forever' until he found one he liked: sorry fever. And then he lay there in his fever of sorry and repeated the now memorized note in his head and and wanted to cry, but instead he only felt this aching behind his solar plexus. Crying adds something: crying is you, plus tears. But the feeling Colin had was the opposite of crying. It was you, minus something."
Becca's first book: an abundance of katherines.
author: john green
From the back cover:
19
KATHERINES AND COUNTING...
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, washed-up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocked, 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 may finally win him the girl.
Why I'm starting with this book:
Although I own 5 John Green books, I've read only 3 of them. This is one of them. Although I love this book, I didn't love it as much as Looking for Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars. And since I haven't read Will Grayson Will Grayson or Paper Towns yet, I thought I'd start with this one.
Although I'm writing this post now, I started reading this book Jan. 26.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
and so it begins~
two teenage girls decided that to have a john green read-athon. so here's a blog created for the sole purpose of discussing these pieces of great literature, sharing impacting, humorous and overall inspirational things that are discovered while devouring a book by the wonderful john green.
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