Event Report: John Green Party

So on Saturday night, I went to the John Green party at Birmingham high street Waterstones. I didn't really know what to expect but they said there would be cake so I thought it would be cool. Although the cake part ended up being a bit disappointing.

The friend I was supposed to be going with had to cancel last minute, which made walking into a room full of people I didn't know, being unsure what was actually going to happen, really nerve-wracking. Luckily I managed to sit with three girls (and met more awesome people later on) so it was fine.

The event started with announcements of some future events ( Maze Runner Party, Lauren Oliver Signing and the Launch of Alice Oseman's Solitaire, all very exciting) followed by a really hard TFIOS quiz (who can remember the name of the drug Hazel was on?).

We were given awesome goodie bags (see picture above), even though they're both ones I've already read. Though the new John Green covers are so pretty and I've been wanting a hard copy of The Year of the Rat so I'm keeping both!

Then we were let loose to buy books (all buy one get one half price), raffle tickets and event tickets, eat cake and chat. The cake consisted of a table of nibbles with a disappointing lack of cake. There were cake balls, which you have to try if you get the chance, but they were 50p each. The money went to a cancer charity, which is great, but after delicious cupcakes at the Laini Taylor signing, I expected more.

The raffle was filled with loads of amazing prizes that I didn't win, and I mean loads. So many people were made happy by winning T-shirts and signed posters and star prize goodie bag that I'd have sold my soul for.

The whole event was just amazing. I met a ton of people and had a lot of fun. The cake, while being a lie, was lovely and I can't wait for the next event.

Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green and Lauren Myracle

Synopsis (From Goodreads)

Pages: 352

Publisher: Speak

Released: 2nd of October 2008

Sparkling white snowdrifts, beautiful presents wrapped in ribbons, and multicolored lights glittering in the night through the falling snow. A Christmas Eve snowstorm transforms one small town into a romantic haven, the kind you see only in movies. Well, kinda. After all, a cold and wet hike from a stranded train through the middle of nowhere would not normally end with a delicious kiss from a charming stranger. And no one would think that a trip to the Waffle House through four feet of snow would lead to love with an old friend. Or that the way back to true love begins with a painfully early morning shift at Starbucks.

What I Have to Say

I loved the fact that this was three different stories, from three different authors that fit so well together. The fact that all three stories were set in the same town, with three overlapping sets of characters worked really well for me.

They blended seamlessly too. It wasn't like it was three different authors. Even when they had characters that were crossing between stories, there was no moment when it felt like those characters were off or acting out of character.

Having read and reviewed a lot of Maureen Johnson and John Green, I won't repeat how awesome they are. They are amazing. I love them. That's all that needs to be said. So I'll focus on the third author, Lauren Myracle. Having never read anything by her before, I had no idea what to expect. But I actually think I liked her story best. It was interesting, had a good character and a cute pig.

So yes. I really loved this book! I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

Synopsis (from Amazon.co.uk)

 When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton’s type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed up child prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy–loving best friend riding shotgun—but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.



What I Have to Say

 So after reading the Fault in our Stars, I went on a bit of a John Green binge. Well I say binge. I read this and Will Grayson, Will Grayson (which I won't be reviewing, not because it was bad, just 'cause it was nothing special. If you want to hear my thoughts, feel free to drop me an email). So a lot of my thoughts about this are in relation to the Fault in our Stars. If you haven't read my review of it then go and read it before reading this. Go on. I can wait.

Okay is everyone back? All on the same page? Great. :) So I think that John Green has some sort of amazing ability to make readers fall in love with normally unlikable characters. In the Fault in our Stars, there's Augustus. I mean come on he puts cigarettes in his mouth and doesn't light them just for the irony! What's there to like? And in Katherines, it's Colin. Colin is the typical child prodigy. He doesn't exactly think that everyone is beneath him, but he's smarter than them and knows it. In any other book I would hate both of them! But I love them so much.

I came away from the Fault in our Stars, thinking that it was the humour that did it. People like humour and if someone makes them laugh it makes them like the person.  But in the Fault in our Stars, it was Augustus's sarcasm that the humour came in. A typically, cynical, teenage sense of humour. I love it. In anything, I love that sort of humour. But with Katherines it's different. Colin is jokey and funny but what makes him lovable, in my opinion, is the simplistic view in which he sees the world. The very premise of the book shows this view. He dates girls called Katherine. He tries to use maths to solve his romantic problems. It's almost naive and that's why I love the Abundance of Katherines.

I'd love to hear other peoples opinions about this. Go read the book and then come back and comment. Or if you've already read the book, just comment. I'd be really interested.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Synopsis (From The Waterstones Website) 

Diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer at 12, Hazel had prepared herself to die until, at 14, a medical miracle shrunk the tumours in her lungs...for now. Two years later, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means) Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and to Hazel’s surprise interested in her. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.

What I Have to Say 

I am breaking what little routine that this blog has for this book. Normally I wouldn't post up a review this soon after reviewing a book by the same author. And I apologise profusely for posting on a Tuesday after promising to only post on Mondays :P I'm also writing this directly into the blog post box thingymy rather than writing it out by hand first, which is what I usually do. But it is important to me to write this review and post it up now on the day it's out, on the day I've brought it and a few minutes after I have finished reading it.

Normally, books such as this don't appeal to me. It's not that I don't like books about cancer sufferers, it's just that I probably wouldn't pick one up in a bookshop. So it was only really because it written by John Green that made me so excited, excited enough to go to Waterstones this morning worried that they wouldn't have it in stock (I screwed up the amazon order so I had to hope that it would be in stock). 

Anyway. Since the moment, on the bus back from Waterstones when I started reading this book. I put it down three times. One time was walking back from the bus stop to home as I didn't want it to get wet and another was a few minutes ago once I'd read the first page. It was very similar to my experience reading Looking for Alaska in this way. 

I started out the book with the same feeling that it would be okay but probably nothing special, but again John Green surprised me with his ability to write such touching characters as well as humour and sadness. In one part of the book he actually got me to cry and laugh at the same time. 

What I'm saying is that this book was amazing and yet again Green managed to create something absolutely wonderful. 

Looking for Alaska is still my favourite John Green book, but The Fault in our Stars has definitely become a first second.

 So seriously. Buy this book. 

On Monday we will return to books that I read a while back which I don't want to miss. We apologise for the inconvenience (cookies for anyone who gets the reference).

Looking For Alaska by John Green

Synopsis

I'm not going to post a synopsis with this book for reasons that I go into in more depth in my review. To give the book a decent synopsis would be to spoil the plot and to give anything less would be a gross understatement of the book.

What I have to Say

 

As I just said, ignore any summary of this book. It's impossible to give it credit without spoiling the story. The reason is that there's an important event that happens towards the middle of the book and the plot centres around it. So just trust me there is much much more to the book than it appears to be from the blurb.

This book is fast paced, intreging and gives the reader the kind of urgency to read that stops them from doing anything else until they find out what happened. I think I read it in about 4 hours because it was too good to put it down. Luckily it's short enough that even a slow reader shouldn't find it too hard to read it in a day. So clear out a day when you can just do nothing but read.

What I'm really trying to say is read this. It's such a wonderful novel with just enough mystery to keep you guessing.

Plus it's John Green! He's made of awesome.

For anyone interested in more by John Green, his new book The Fault in our Stars comes out tomorrow!!! *iswaytooexcitedconsideringshehasimportantunistufftodo*