There are certain things I love about living near “The City.” And when I say “The City” I mean Naperville, IL. Because Naperville is home to one of the best book stores in the entire country…Anderson’s Bookshop.
Last Friday I went there with my friend Abby to see one of her favorite authors, Mr. John Green. I went along because even though I hadn’t read any of his books yet, he is young and hot and I’m always up for a road trip.
There were probably around 130 people crammed into the store to hear him speak and he bravely stood on a chair the whole time so that those of us in the nosebleed section up near the cash registers could see him. Needless to say he was charming, well spoken, hilarious, complex, intelligent, and emotionally deep. We waited around so he could sign Abby’s book and he was so friendly when we got up there even though he had literally signed 80 books before hers (probably more because some people were clutching all three of his titles). He talked with Abby and then thanked me for coming even though I was just a straggler who hadn’t even bought one of his books.
I don’t remember everything he talked about when he was up there on that chair (I know it was all great) but I do remember he talked about the “in your pants” game. I think it is from his book An Abundance of Katherines, but I am not sure, I am reading that one next. But anyways, the way you play the game is you add “in your pants” to the end of any book title. Mr. Green pointed out that two of his books work very well: Looking for Alaska in your pants and An Abundance of Katherines in your pants. I have been looking at my bookshelves and found some others:
Shel Silverstein’s The MIssing Piece in your pants
Andrew Clement’s Things Hoped For in your pants
Mary Higgins Clark’s Remember Me in your pants
Lesley Blume’s Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters in your pants
Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women in your pants
Oh my, it never gets old! (Have I mentioned I have the maturity level of a fourth grade boy?)
Anyway, John Green is awesome. Period. He won the highest award in YA lit (the Printz) with his first book!!!! And his second book got a Printz Honor (so close). He has a new book out now called Paper Towns that is getting GREAT buzz. Go to his website here and make sure to check out his YouTube channel because he is hilarious! Also go to Abby’s blog to see a pic of her with Mr. John Green himself.
Jen
NerdGirlBlogging 
Looking at my bookshelves…
The Last Wild Place in your pants
White Sands, Red Menace in your pants
Masterpiece in your pants
Theodosia and the Staff of Osiris in your pants (is it just me or did your mind go to a very Bad Place with that one?? 😉
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in your pants (that might be my favorite)
Oh, my. Seriously, I could do this all night. I should not do this all night.
I like how all the Harry Potter books work well with this too. My favorite is Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in your pants.
Amber loaned me her copy of An Abundance of Katherines a couple of months ago. I didn’t love it though. I mean, I appreciated it, but it wasn’t quite my cup of tea. But then again, considering my cup of tea is basically any book Meg Cabot has written, of course I am not going to find a John Green book tea-ish.
Yeah, I keep saying that his books are “Very YA” whatever that means. It’s not my usual stuff either (princesses and fairy tales and elementary schoolers) but sometimes I need to break out of my box. I read “Looking for Alaska” and liked it, but from what I hear, I think I will like “An Abundance of Katherines” more and I am reading that next.