Mini-reviews: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woodson

I read these books aaaages ago and never reviewed them and now it's been too long for me to say anything substantial, but I still wanted to mention my overall thoughts.

So first, The Fault in Our Stars is a book I know sooo many people have read and that includes me! And I loved it. I thought it was touching and real and funny and I just really loved it. It's an interesting book that is also a celebration of life and even though I am not terminally ill nor do I have cancer (that I know of) it really made me consider the idea of actually truly living and loving. I cried a lot a lot and I liked that the book sugar coats nothing. Also I love John Green. When I saw him at the Festival of Books this past spring, that entire panel was like a shot of BOOKS AND AUTHORS ARE AWESOME joy I needed for my soul. He's smart and funny and gracious and he seems to genuinely enjoy his fans and he writes smart books for them. So yay John Green!

Oh and also I see people say all the time that high schoolers don't talk like his characters do, and I realize they didn't know my friends in high school, because yes we were just that pretentious. I don't know there was a definite sort of intellectual zeal among the people I knew in high school and so I do get frustrated by the idea that teenagers must only act a certain way. WHY? Also these kids were forced to grow up fast in this book, there are no universal rules for this kind of thing.

I also love and adore Jacqueline Woodson and while I appreciate Beneath a Meth Moon, I didn't love it quite as much as some of her other books. Like I told my friends, Jacqueline Woodson will not write a bad book. This book is heartfelt and it's real, there isn't a quick fix to the depth of problems the characters face, it has her same beautiful language, but I just...I don't know I just couldn't connect with it. I loved the idea of it, I admire what she accomplished, but it's not my new favorite Jacqueline Woodson book. It doesn't matter though it's still better than a lot of what is out there and I will still gobble up her books. In short, btw, it's about a girl who has suffered a tremendous loss after Hurrican Katrina and uses meth to cope with those problems.

So! Now I think I have given space to all of the books I've read so far this year on this blog. It's strange but it's actually a relief. Also, I had neglected to update my reading stats spreadsheet since February. I've only read 32 books this year so far. I think this is an all time low and I doubt I'll hit 100 this year. But guess what? I DON'T CARE! :) There's more to life than reading, like reblogging pretty pictures on tumblr and following the latest dust-up on Twitter. Just kidding.

Oh also, I bought both of these books.