John Green... Perhaps you've heard of him?

I must admit I jumped on the John Green bandwagon late.  I didn't start reading until The Fault In Our Stars came out.  But, I have now breezed through most of his books (the only exception being Will Grayson, Will Grayson) and can see where the attention he's getting comes from (and it's well deserved).  Each of his books have a quirkiness about them that is wonderfully entertaining, but there are such strong messages at the heart of each novel that he ultimately blows you away. 

Since so many people have read, loved, and cried over The Fault in Our Stars, I thought I'd post a review for two of his other books that I've read in the past couple weeks instead.

The first is An Abundance of Katherines. 

 

3 of 5 Stars

I started off really liking this book: the quirkiness of it and how different the story is from today's typical teen read (no post apocalypse! no tears shed! no zombies!). However, I was hoping for more than what it ended up being. That's not to say that I didn't like it, because I did. I loved the main character, Colin, and the way he told his story of the summer he was dumped by the 19th girl named Katherine. I loved the message that sometimes we need to find meaningfulness in our every day actions and situations. But, I think reading "The Fault in Our Stars" and "Looking for Alaska" prior to this was not to this book's advantage (I liked them both better).

Long story short, this is a sweet story about a wonderfully smart boy named Colin and his desire to get over his broken heart by taking a road trip with his best friend. I recommend it for teens and those looking for a fun, quirky summer read.

One of my favorite things about John Green books is that my highlighter or post-its really get a good workout marking quotes.  I think the quote collection that would come out of John Green novels would be an easy 5 of 5.  But let's move on...

The second book is Paper Towns.

4 of 5 Stars

I really thought Paper Towns was going to be my favorite John Green book (thus far). And it is very close between this and The Fault in Our Stars... Paper Towns totally had an edge over The Fault in Our Stars, because I loved the concept of it (and it didn't make me sob into my pillow). The mystery of what happened to Margo and Q's journey to figure everything out was so well executed. John Green is a master of creativity when it comes to how he tells his stories (the use of classic literature and random facts thrown into his novels are excellent... I now know what a "paper town" is!) and this book is definitely no exception. I'm just not convinced it ended in a way I liked. It wasn't a bad ending, but I'm just not sure it was the ending I would have chosen. I don't want to go into detail because I hate spoilers... so I'll let you read it and figure out the ending (and whether you liked it or not) yourself. I will say though the book is definitely worth a read... I love the way Green talks about the future and how fixated we are on how to get there and get what we want out of life... when really we should be focused on this moment.

I just finished Paper Towns last night, so it's still fresh in my mind.  I really do think this may be my favorite of John Green's books.  The idea that so many of us are caught up in having the perfect future, that we don't always appreciate the moment we're in is a really powerful message.  I also loved that Green made each character have flaws, and emphasized the fact that either you must ultimately accept a person as they are even if they might not be who you thought/wished they were.

To all of you have read John Green... what were your favorites by him?  Your favorite quotes?  

Get more info on John Green and his books on his website.