#1 Seriously...I'm Kidding

I decided to take a break from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I received a lot of books for Christmas, and this one looked too good to wait to read. I finished Seriously...I'm Kidding, by Ellen DeGeneres, in a day. It was very fast read. It was extremely entertaining and wonderfully hilarious. I know DeGeneres is a funny talk show host, but she had me laughing out loud with this book-- and books never make me laugh. Not even the confused sideways glances from my mother could distract me from the book. I was hooked and laughing out loud after simply reading the back cover. It really helps to give the reader a great sense of what kind of book this will be, and as to the kind of writer DeGeneres is. Usually the back of a book cover is where one can find praise from famous people or groups about the book. Well, DeGeneres took a very different approach and decided to praise the reader. Here are some examples of what she said:

"That is a beautiful blouse you're wearing. It goes so nicely with this book"- Ellen DeGeneres

"I love the way you're holding this book. It's like you were born to buy it and hold it forever."-Ellen DeGeneres

"You know what I love most about you? That we get each other. And also your eyes."- Ellen DeGeneres

"You're my favorite reader. Ever, of all time. Shhh...don't tell the other readers."-Ellen DeGeneres

DeGeneres wrote this book in hopes of communicating with a broad audience. I believe she succeeded, and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes DeGeneres, or likes to laugh in general. I liked that each chapter was about a different topic such as the importance of honesty, how to be a supermodel, common courtesy, family, the secrets of life, writing books, dreams, and gambling tips, to name a few. She often connected these topics with personal anecdotes from her life, opinions, or serious pieces of advice. This allowed DeGeneres to appeal to different audiences. Despite the changing topics, I found it all to be very interesting and I could relate most of what she was saying to some part of my life. A lot of what DeGeneres wrote was downright funny, but she balanced the humor nicely with valid life tips and genuine advice she gave with hopes of making the reader happier, or at least the knowledge they need to do so.

The chapters were also short which was nice because the end of every chapter seemed like a good place to stop, if the reader needed to, since there wasn't a continuing story line. I feel like the shorter chapters made the reading feel really fast, and allowed DeGeneres to cover a wide range of topics, as mentioned before, which I absolutely loved. Her writing cracked me up, and I will have to add her two other books to my "to-read" list!

#1 Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (maybe you saw the movie) is by Jonathan Safran Foer. This story is about a boy named Oskar Schell, who's father, Thomas Schell, was recently killed in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. One day, while searching through his father's closet, he knocks over a vase. Inside the vase is a small envelope with the word "Black" written on it, and a small key inside. Oskar and his father loved to play games, especially ones with clues. Oskar knows that his father must have left this as some sort of clue for him, but he has no idea what it means. He is determined to figure out who or what Black is, and what the key is for. He began this journey, and so far he determined that "Black" must be someone's name. But there are many "Blacks" in Manhattan, so now Oskar has to figure out what he will do next. I am excited to see where his father's game will take him.
The case of Oskar and his key is the main story line. However, there has been one section so far that doesn't connect to Oskar's story at all. This section was a letter, written in 1963, addressed "To my unborn child". In this letter, the speaker explains how he became silent. He started losing the ability to say certain words. It started with him not being able to say the name, "Anna" (I do not know who that is). He starts losing other words, little by little, until he can't speak at all. He has the words YES and NO tattooed on the palms of his hands, and carries a book around with him, that he uses to write in so he can communicate. In this letter he tells his unborn son how me met his mother, and then the chapter ends. The letter was not signed, so I don't know who wrote the letter. This left me quite confused, but really interested to learn how it will tie into Oskar's story.
Oskar greatly admired his father, and the two were very close. Oskar's father would take him on adventures and tell fantastic bedtime stories. It is clear that Oskar is grieving the loss of his father, and he talks a lot about having "heavy boots". Certain things, like homeless people and his moms friend, Ron, give him "heavy boots". But other things like, touching his father's clothes and inventing things in his head, make his boots feel lighter. This is an interesting way to describe what I believe is the grief and sorrow that weighs him down. Foer was smart to describe it this way because it helps the reader better understand Oskar. Oskar is young, only nine years old, so his heavy boots are his way of expressing the grief that he is battling. This really helps me empathize with him, and to better feel the weight of this burden he constantly feels.
 Foer does a terrific job of creating Oskar's character for the reader. Oskar is a very interesting character, and there is a lot to know about him. I know he often has heavy boots, he bruises himself when he thinks too much about his father, he is seeing a therapist, he only wears white clothes (I'm interested to figure out why that is), he is very intelligent ( he takes French classes for fun), he is extremely curious and has a thirst for knowledge,and he can be very animated, chatty, and out going (he wrote letters to Stephen Hawking and Ringo Starr). Oskar is an interesting character, and I can't wait to see where his journey takes him.

#1 Paper Towns

My twelve year old sister has been raving about The Fault in Our Stars. I figured this John Green guy must be a pretty incredible author, because she went on and on about what a great book it is, but how sad it is. She was enthralled by the characters he created. She even told me she cried at one part, which I thought was very strange for her, but was a hint that Green must be a powerful, convincing writer. However, since my sister is holding the book captive, I decided to read a different Green book I found on my shelf, and, a short while back I finished Paper Towns.

Paper Towns is a story about Quentin (usually referred to as Q) and his neighbor and childhood friend, Margo Roth Spiegelman. Though Margo has always been a love interest of Q’s, he has been “friend-zoned”. After all, they come from two completely different worlds: Q is a video gaming band geek and Margo is the popular high school goddess. But as the reader and Q soon discover, she is a puzzle and a mystery that is very difficult to solve.

In the beginning, Q accompanies her on a wild night of reckless revenge and pranks that could have only been dreamed up by a high school senior. After that night, however, Margo goes missing. Her family and peers know she has run away before--this is part of the mystery that shrouds the real Margo-- but this time is different. When she doesn't return after a few days, her friends begin to wonder if she will come back. Q enlists the support of his friends Radar, Ben, and Lacey, and the team embarks on a journey to find Margo. Throughout their investigation, they discover clues and secrets about Margo that no one ever knew.
This was a quick read for me, but I really enjoyed this book. There was a clear sense of forward momentum. I felt like the story was always leading me somewhere, and I was excited to see what would happen next. The story never stagnated, or slowed down to a point that bored me. This was a fun story, filled with crazy high school antics. Even though for me, some of the pranks seem beyond my reach and a bit unrealistic, the relationships between characters seemed very real. I especially liked reading the dialog between Q and his therapist parents. The way he analyzed them and called them out whenever they started using psychological tactics was very entertaining. As someone who has two psychologist parents, I could relate to Q, and Green portrayed their relationship truthfully and authentically. Green did make the seniors seem like seniors-- with them staying out late, keg standing at parties, stressing about prom, and often disregarding authority (sounds like senioritis to me)--but it wasn’t all negative. I also really appreciate that there was a real message and some wholesome substance to it as well. The title “Paper Towns” ends up carrying a double meaning, one of which I think serves the purpose of explaining how Margo was so tired of the superficiality and lack of sincerity at school and at home. She understands that there is so much to life than one’s social standing in high school, and that is a valuable message.