Thursday, January 2, 2014

I can still read!


I really slacked off in December with books. I'm pretty sure I only finished ONE book, but considering some months I finished more than two and January I'm on track to finish at least four, I think it evens out! So I'm going to discuss one December book, and one book I read almost entirely on New Years Day (minus the two chapters I had read before)

Book #1
Everything is Perfect When You're a Liar by Kelly Oxford

This was on kindle special for $1.99 so I figured what the hell. She's a "twitter celebrity" that has somehow gained a whole lot of fame and followers. I've never been overly fond of stuff that I've read of hers, minus the very rare times she's actually pretty emotionally honest. This seemed more like Look How Cool I Am: Humblebrag edition. This is a memoir without any sense of self awareness. She comes across as very full of herself and falsely modest. (You know, when people mention that OTHER people say that I'm x, y and z but oh golly I don't know...) I liked it the most, I think, when she was talking about her childhood, though even those were tinted with various degrees of how smart and amazing she was.

This is a person that came from a good family, married very young (and very well). Her writing is full of privilege of varying degrees and I can't imagine how exhausting it would be to be around such a narcissist full time. It would be impossible to be her number one fan because that title will always belong to her. Maybe the title was more literal than first thought?

Book #2
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Okay, I have a mega crush on John Green. Gosh, he's cute! Okay, that out of the way.

The first few chapters were a little jarring. It's a book written from the perspective of a 16 year old girl with cancer. If I didn't know that this was written by a man in his mid 30's I would have assumed it was written by a young girl and the protagonist, Hazel, was a total Mary Sue. This isn't a good thing, by the way. But as the book went on I feel like he found his voice and it become more authentic and realistic. As previously noted, I read almost all of this 313 page book in a single day, having read two chapters the day before.

The plot itself, even the "twists" I saw coming from a mile away, but it was still relatively moving. It's important to keep in mind that this is, indeed, Young Adult fiction. It's a good book and a fairly quick read. It's being adapted into a movie which I will likely see, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the other 3 books he's written. And mooning over his youtube videos. Smart, funny, and handsome! Gosh.




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