Top Ten Tuesday: Discussable* Books

* I’m not entirely sure that’s a real word, but I’m too tired to look it up now.

This week (please ignore how I skipped several weeks since last time) for Top Ten Tuesday hosted by The Broke and the Bookish is books that would be good for a book discussion.  My list includes books that I’ve gotten to discuss and were great, books I will be discussing and am looking forward to, and books I would love to discuss.  In no particular order…

1.  Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling
All of my answers to Top Ten Tuesday may include Harry Potter.  Everytime I re-read any of these books…or even think about them for longer than one minute…I think they’re amazing and want to talk to someone about how intricately woven they are.

2.  Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
If you’ve read this blog at all in the past, you may have seen me reference this book before.  Because it’s AMAZING and my favorite adult book EVER.  I’ve actually gotten to discuss this before and while it was a good discussion, pretty much everyone else was like “eh, it was ok.”  😦

3.   The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I’ve discussed this book officially 2 times in a true book discussion and have another one coming up in March.  Can I just say it: I am burnt out on The Hunger Games!  *whew*  But it does make a good discussion, and next time the discussion is with adults, so should be interesting.

4.  The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I read this a few weeks ago and instantly wanted to talk about it.  I am so sad that it will not come out in paperback for at least a year and therefore cannot be a true book discussion that I lead or co-lead for a long time.

5.  Beauty Queens by Libba Bray
One of my coworkers and I started a book discussion group for adults (and teens) who want to read YA books.  I would LOVE to do Beauty Queens, but again, waiting for paperback.

6.  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
We actually just discussed The Book Thief with our new book discussion group for adults reading teen books and it was a great discussion.  Even though I kind of hate the book (please don’t hate me!), the adults were pretty into it.  Particularly when it came to what the colors symbolized and why it is a teen book.

7.  Chime by Franny Billingsley
So even though I was confused by this book while reading it and wasn’t sure I even really liked it, I cannot stop thinking about Chime!  It has a lot of fabulous elements and I desperately want to re-read it for a true discussion about its narrator, writing style, and fairy tale-esque qualities.

8.  When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
It’s been awhile since I’ve read this, but I definitely remember loving it.  It’s definitely the kind of book you want to go back instantly and re-read, which I think means it would be great to discuss.

9.  Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
This one is FULL of ’80s references and nerdiness.  I read it for a discussion with some friends, and it was great – both the book and the discussion.

10.  The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
After seeing Midnight in Paris, I really wanted to read or re-read books of the jazz era.  The Great Gatsby is at the top of my list since I haven’t read it since sophomore year of high school and remember nothing besides a car crash and a green light.  (I think?)  If it were part of a book discussion, I would definitely pick it up.  Anybody interested??  (I wish I hadn’t missed when the nerdfighting community read it this summer.)

What books do you want or love to discuss?

– Jill

Anna and the French Kiss: Jen vs. Lindsay

Lindsay: YAYAYAYAY!

I think it’s only fair to let you know that this is Lindsay typing this part. Part? Yes! Jen and I have TEAMED UP to bring you this post about Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins! (Did you go visit Stephanie’s site?  Can you believe how she can tell how good we look today?  Also, I HAVE been working on my smile for photos lately – it’s nice that someone noticed.  And OMG, isn’t she just so super cute??)  The reason for this is because even though we both read the same book, one of us LOVED it, and one of us LOATHED it!  Spoiler alert: I LOVED it!  Jen LOATHED it.  I have read through Jen’s opinion, and can see where she is coming from.  And to be honest, I was wondering if her opinion would sway mine, but it didn’t!  I still love it!  Sometimes my opinion isn’t super strong and can change when someone else states their case, so this just proves that I SUPER LOVED this book!

So you probably would like a summary, huh?  Well here’s one from Indie Bound:

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris – until she meets Etienne St. Clair: perfect, Parisian (and English and American, which makes for a swoon-worthy accent), and utterly irresistible. The only problem is that he’s taken, and Anna might be, too, if anything comes of her almost-relationship back home.

Would you like a mini-review by John Green?  @realjohngreen:  @maureenjohnson have you read ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS? It’s like you and me and Sarah Dessen had a really sexy baby.

Do you really want to miss that, people?  DO YOU?  Even though that’s one heckuva weird description.  But still, 3 authors I adore!  And their ….baby…?  WHATEVER!  I LOVE IT!

So in order to save people from spoiling themselves on accident, I am going to make this an after the jump kind of post!  Now, how do I do that? (Hold on a second, I have to hunt…I know you can do it ’cause Jen’s done it before…holy cow, what is the kitchen sink?  …You can do polls??? is shortlink what I’m looking for?  …OK, NOTE TO JEN!  CAN YOU MAKE THIS A JUMPING POST?  I WOULD DO IT BUT I’M AFRAID TO HIT THE SHORTLINK BUTTON AND THEN DELETE ALL THIS STUFF.  THANK YOU! ❤ )

The Holiday Book Everyone Needs to Read

This is just a quick video blog where I blabber on (slightly incoherently) about my new favorite book Let It Snow by John Green, Lauren Myracle, and Maureen Johnson.  If you don’t feel like watching the video, I will sum it up by saying:  GO READ THAT BOOK!

(Also, please try not to pay attention to the fact that I look like death run over by a truck.  I haven’t been feeling great and am fresh off an early evening nap, which is never a good thing.)

Jen

Authors Who Are Awesome: John Green

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