What I'm Reading Wednesday

Since I had a few really positive responses to my "Book Love" post the other day, I decided to make reviews and recommendations of what I've been reading a weekly thing (for summer at least, when I can plow through 2 or more books a week most weeks!).  This week I've been continuing my love affair with teen author John Green.

Paper Towns by John Green
Summary from goodreads.com: When Margo Roth Spiegelman beckons Quentin Jacobsen in the middle of the night - dressed like a ninja and plotting an ingenious campaign of revenge - he follows her. Margo's always planned extravagantly, and, until now, she's always planned solo. After a lifetime of loving Margo from afar, things are finally looking up for Q . . . until day breaks and she has vanished. Always an enigma, Margo has now become a mystery. But there are clues. And they're for Q. Printz Medalist John Green returns with the trademark brilliant wit and heart-stopping emotional honesty that have inspired a new generation of readers.


When I started Paper Towns, I had mixed feelings--honestly, it felt a little bit like a poor man's Looking for Alaska, another John Green Book.  The thing is, a lot of Green's characters are pretty darn...similar.  That is definitely the case in this book, but as I read on, I loved it nonetheless.  Because even though most of his books have the practically the same characters, I love those characters, so I love all of the books anyways.  I loved the questions the characters raised in this book (and all of Green's books) about why we are here and what friendship and love mean.  Definitely a captivating read.


Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Summary from goodreads.com: One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two teens—both named Will Grayson—are about to cross paths. As their worlds collide and intertwine, the Will Graysons find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, building toward romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history’s most fabulous high school musical.  Hilarious, poignant, and deeply insightful, John Green and David Levithan’s collaborative novel is brimming with a double helping of the heart and humor that have won both them both legions of faithful fans.

So when I realized that I had read all of the John Green books in existence, I was pretty bummed.  Then I found out that he coauthored this book with another teen author, David Levithan (author of Boy Meets Boy), so I checked it out and hoped it would be as good as its Green predecessors.  I was not disappointed.  The narrator in the book alternates every chapter between Will Grayson 1, a slightly shy resident of Evanston, IL who is learning about love, about himself, and how sometimes friendship is much deeper than enjoying hanging out with someone all of the time, and Will Grayson 2, a resident of Naperville, IL who is dealing with depression while coming to terms with his sexual orientation and learning many of the same lessons as Will Grayson 1.  At first, I was turned off by the Grayson 2 chapters (written by Levithan), and wanted to get through them quickly to get back to the Grayson 1 chapters (written by Green).  But midway through the book, I totally came to love both Will Graysons.  This book had many laugh out loud moments for me (mostly in the Grayson 2 chapters, which surprised me after their somewhat emo beginning!). Ended up totally loving this one too, even loving the contrast between the two narrators.  Another quick read!


All cover pictures and italicized summaries courtesy of goodreads.com, my favorite book website!


What are you reading this week?