Looking for Alaska - John Green

I first heard of this book after reading The Fault In Our Stars because I was so fascinated and drawn in by the writing, the characters, and pretty much everything else and I wanted to read something else by the author. I was not disappointed in the slightest with this one either.

Looking for Alaska follows the not-so-exciting life of ‘famous last words’ obsessed Miles Halter as he leaves his high school and heads off to Culver Creek Boarding School. You can bet, however, that once he gets there, his life finds some excitement in his new friends Chip “The Colonel” Martin and the oh-so-intriguing Alaska Young. These two show Miles a completely different way of traveling through the labyrinth and seeking the “Great Perhaps.”

One thing I like to do when I’m reading is keep post-it notes nearby to mark my favorite quotes, and with John Green, there is never a shortage of quotes that grab my attention and make me think, and I think that’s what I love the most about his books. They really make you think. The story is great, but what’s really exciting is that you get to discover things alongside the characters. This particular book has a lot of talk about religion, and more specifically an afterlife, but the best part about it is that it explores this idea through the eyes of more than one faith. I can’t share too many of my marked quotes without giving anything away, but this one really got me thinking:

“People, I thought, wanted security. They couldn’t bear the idea of death being a big black nothing, couldn’t bear the thought of their loved ones not existing, and couldn’t even imagine themselves not existing. I finally decided that people believed in an afterlife because they couldn’t bear not to.”

-       Miles (Pudge) Halter (page 100)

I’ll leave you to ponder that one on your own.

You know how sometimes you reach the back cover and the book comes to a close, and you just sort of sit there with the book in your hands and let it all sink in? This was definitely one of those books. With ups and downs, intrigue, romance, pain, and everything in between, this book grabbed me from page one and I think that a lot of people can relate to the things that the characters in the story go through. John Green does it again with this one, and I cannot wait to read more of his work.

I hope you all have the chance to check this one out! Feel free to leave comments, thoughts, questions to discuss, etc. in the comments section below.

Happy Reading!

Divergent - Veronica Roth

Like many others, with Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, etc. all having come to an end, I needed a new series that provided me with the same awe, wonder, and excitement that those stories gave us. A friend of mine had recently read the first in an interesting new series: Divergent. I decided to head to the bookstore and get myself a copy. After reading I can say that my purchase was not in vain. Divergent grabbed me from chapter one, capturing not only my need for excitement, but also grabbing my intrigue and curiosity. For those who haven’t read, I will not spoil anything, but I will give a short summary:

Taking place at a point in the future, we find ourselves in a society that has been split into 5 factions. Each different faction is meant to uphold a specific virtue. Abnegation, meant to uphold selflessness; Amity, meant for the peaceful; Candor, meant for the honest; Dauntless, meant for the brave; and Erudite, for the knowledgeable. Once a year, all 16 year olds take a test that will tell them which faction they are best suited for. After they get their results, they must make a choice: Stay with their family in their faction, or move to a different one and undergo initiation to become a part of the new faction. The story follows the life of Beatrice Prior, born into Abnegation, and her journey as she makes her choice and experiences the struggle of being Divergent.

As the book progressed I loved being able to see the characters grow and to be able to learn and grow with them. I will say that the book gets really heavy. Like Hunger Games for example, it focuses on some really mature emotions and content, and if you’re like me, someone who really connects with the books they read, it hits hard.

As most of you probably already know, the movie adaptation of this book hits theaters this year, and I think I speak for us all when I say that I hope they do this book justice and stay true to the storyline.

I sincerely hope you all get the chance to grab yourself some tea and sit down with this one!

Feel free to let me know what you think after you read, or even while you read!

Blurb

As an avid reader, and as someone who seems to have a never-ending list of books to read, I've decided to start this blog to give summaries, reviews, discussions, etc. on the books I have read and/or am currently reading! I hope you find my ramblings enjoyable and interesting and that it leads you to discovering more books to add to your list!