Saturday, January 12, 2019

129. My Year of Big Books


This year, I'm attempting to read 10 big books. I defined "big books" as books of 500 pages or more.
I did some browsing and thinking about the big books I've wanted to read but not made time to.
Most of these are books that have been sitting on my bookshelf.


The books and schedule I determined for myself is below (keep in mind I'm not starting this until
three weeks into the year):


Weeks 3 - 8


Weeks 10 - 17


Week 18 - 21


Weeks 23-24


Weeks 26-29


Weeks 31- 34


Weeks 36-37


Weeks 39-43


Weeks 45-48


Weeks 50-52


I haven't broken each of these schedules up by chapter just yet but I have scheduled out my first book.
If you want to read with me through my Big Book Challenge, here's my schedule for The Count of
Monte Cristo


January 14 - January 20: Chapters I - XXI
January  21 - January 27: Chapters XXII - XXXVII
January 28 - February 3: Chapters XXXVIII - LIV
February 4 - February 10: Chapters LV - LXXIV
February 11 - February 17: Chapters LXXV - XCII
February 18 - February 24: Chapters XCIII - End


For each of these books, I'll be doing blog check-ins at the beginning where I'll share some basic
information about the history, context, and author. I'll check in halfway through. Finally, I'll check in
at the end with my final thoughts.


I would LOVE it if you joined me! I'll be using #YearofBigBooks as the tag for this project. I'm also
not going to be super rigid about the timeline. If this list goes into 2020, so be it. Life happens and
there has to be wiggle room for the unexpected.


I'll pop in tomorrow with my first check in of The Count of Monte Cristo!


d'Artagnan

Sunday, January 6, 2019

128. Paper Towns by John Green


Green, John. Paper Towns. New York, NY: Penguin Random House, 2008. Print.

305 pages

Reviewed by Jess d'Artagnan Love

My YouTube Review

"Paper towns" are town names that map makers use to catch plagiarizing competing map makers. The towns don't actually exist in reality. This concept of perception versus reality is a theme of John Green's novel. The enigmatic Margo is missing and her childhood friend, Quentin, is searching for her. She's left a series of clues for him to follow and each clue leads Quentin to question how well he really knows Margo. 

A fan of one of Green's most famous works, The Fault in Our Stars, I read this with high expectations. By the end of the novel, I found myself disappointed. Paper Towns lacked the finesse and sophistication of his other work. Some of the dialogue felt forced. It was typical teenage dialogue with lots of "dudes," and "likes," scattered in for age appropriateness.

Ben and Radar, Quentin's two friends, could easily have been just one character. There weren't many differentiating qualities between the two and I found myself not able to keep track of who did what. In my head, they just became one merged character. The same happened with the two supporting female roles. They would have worked just as well being one character rather than two. 

I did like the discussion of perception both how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us. This discussion is what got me through the end of the book. I wasn't attached to the characters or the plot, but I was curious about how perception was discussed. 

Overall, not a bad read, but not a great one either.


Would I read it again? 
No, but I will keep reading Green's other work. Other fans I've discussed this book with agree that Paper Towns isn't his strongest work..

Recommended for
John Green fans who already know he's a good writer.

Not Recommended for
Readers who haven't read Green yet. Start with The Fault in Our Stars.

Word Bank
  • None

3 stars out of 5

John Green's website: http://www.johngreenbooks.com/
John Green on Twitter: https://twitter.com/johngreen


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