The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

General Synopsis:

Link here

     Hazel is termly ill. She would give anything to stay at home and read and watch her favorite TV show but when her mother forces her to attend a cancer support group her life is changed. There she meets Isaac who has cancer in his eye and Augustus Waters. The three quickly become friends and Hazel and Augustus start to become something more. This book tells the story of Hazel and Augustus' story and it hurts my heart.Warning there will be some spoilers.

Quality Rating: 4 1/2 Book
     This book is so good. The writing is very eloquent. It is not the kind of story I would normally read but because of the writing style I loved it. Honestly there is nothing more to say except that I sobbed through the last five chapters. No joke.

Content Rating: 3 1/2 Books
     I figured out how to more accurately rate the content! Average the numbers. Wahoo! I am so smart. Anyway you will see why this lovely book has received a mediocre rating for content. It's main shortcomings are in the language and the romance categories.

Age Scale: (Again parents you know your children better than I do this is just a general guide)
     0-11: High Caution. This is not a book for youngsters for the reasons I will list below
    12-15: Medium Caution: there is quite a bit of language and lots of talk of death
     16+: Low Caution:    

Link Here

Positive Elements:
      There are three main positive elements I want to highlight. 1) Hazel's parents. They are amazing loving parents who are super supportive of Hazel and love her especially when she needs it most. They are model parents yet very realistic. 2) The insight to what it is like to loose someone/be the one dying. For anyone who has lost someone they love will find this book very relatable. *SPOILER* In the end Hazel was torn by the fact that Gus died but she did recover and move on without forgetting. And for those of us who aren't dying or haven't lost people this give as an insight to their pain. It makes us more understanding of those who have gone through this. It helps us understand (as much as someone who hasn't experienced these events) what is happening on an emotional and physical level so we can better relate to other. 3) Love. Ok so if you have seen the movie trailer you have seen the part where she tells Gus she is a grenade and for a long time she pushes Gus away because she doesn't want to love and she doesn't want to hurt people or be hurt. This story highlights the decision to love and be loved, and how glorious that is, even if there is pain in the end.

Language: 3 Books
    In addition to a well developed vocabulary John Green also uses a fair amount of language. As well as some crude jokes.

Romance: 2 Books
     Ok so there is one sex scene and although it is brief it's still there and slightly uncomfortable (at least for me I skipped most of it). It is also not graphically described. There is a part after Gus dies in which there is a pretty crude joke (not sure where to put that but it seems to fit best here). If that stuff bothers you then you have been warned.

Violence: 5 Books
     This is a contemporary book about cancer so there isn't a lot of violence. There is talk of violence and they play a violent video game but nothing graphic or even worth docking down for.

Alcohol/Smoking: 4 Books
     While in Amsterdam Gus and Hazel drink campaign and one of the side characters is very fond of drink. Also just FYI Gus often puts cigarettes in his mouth but doesn't light them. It's a metaphor. See what I did there? Huh? Huh? Ok I'm done.

Beliefs: (Again no rating)
     There aren't any clear religious beliefs in this book. The support group happens in a church and makes fun of fake Christians. I am a Christian and could relate to the annoyingness of fake/theatrical Christians but I do feel it didn't give Christianity a fair chance. Believe it or not but most Christians aren't fake/theatrical. If I am not mistaken most of the characters are Atheistic. 

Magic: N/A 

Things That Go Through My Head When I Walk Into (and through) a Bookstore

I saw a post on the B&N Blog about 23 Things We Think Upon Entering a Bookstore and I though I would do one of my own. Some of them will be the same as that post but others will be mine. So if you have ever wondered what goes through my mind when I walk into a bookstore your wait is over.

     1. I...can't....breath. Must....read....words *walks into store and breaths deeply* Ahhh...I feel better already.
     2. I'll just look around for a minute *checks watch* oh has it been three hours already
     3. My people
     4. I think I'll check the YA section one more time
     5. *sigh* I am content
     6. Dang! That is one beautiful cover.
     7. Hmm...I may have to rearrange my shelf when I get home
     8. In and Out. Got it. In and Out. In and....oooh new releases
     9. You may only spend 20 dollars Lauren 20 dollars *thinks for a few minutes* I could spend $25 or $30. Yea 30 sounds good
     10. I love the smell of books and coffee
     11. Two hardbacks or three paperbacks....so hard to decide
     12. Do I need more books...what a silly question I always need more book. Thomas Jefferson had over 6,000 book and I don't have anywhere near that many
     13. Sooo many books so little time
     14. I wonder if they are hiring and if they would pay me in books
     15. The membership should really come with a rewards program
     16. Oooo....I haven't seen this book before
     17. Oh my gosh they have the second book!!! 
     18. I wonder if I have any coupons 
     19. *spots someone reading a book I love* Hello, you are my new friend
     20. Why aren't there any baskets...I can only carry so many books
   

Top 5 Free News Podcasts

I listen to the news...a lot. Sometimes I don't have access to the internet so I like to listen to podcasts which I have downloaded on my phone. Here are my top 5 news podcasts.

1. The Economist: Week Ahead
     This podcast takes the top three stories that will be featured in the next week. It is a great and quick listen that let's you know what to pay attention to. It also gives you a quick background/overview of the issue. This podcast is updated once a week.

2. BBC World Service: Global News
     This is a thirty minute podcast updated every other day (sometimes more often). I love BBC's analysis. It is a little liberal but they do a pretty good job at keeping the bias at a minimum. They take the top stories from all of their news services and combine them into one podcast.

3. The Economist: All Audio and Special Reports
    These two podcasts are like the Week Ahead but they focus on the news of the day. Having all three of the Economist podcasts will give you a general yet well rounded idea of what is going on in the world.

4. CARO Institute's Daily Podcast
    This podcast mainly focuses on economic topics and it is not always common man in the sense they use quite a bit of economic language however their analysis is good and shows pretty interesting (in my opinion)

5. BBC: Best of Today
    Several of these 2-3 minute podcasts are out every day and focus on one event. I like this podcast because they report on a plethora of news stories.

A Call to Action

     Hey y'all so I know I have been gone for a while but my life is crazy. I had a tournament two weeks ago and I am currently in Seattle doing the same thing. Now that we have excuses out of the way let's get to the reason I am writing this blog post. Now you guys know how much I love books. I wrote a post about how important books are, I do book reviews, and have over 200 books on my shelf. (If you think that's amazing did you know Thomas Jefferson had 6,487 books?) I always talk about how everyone should read but I have done nothing to ensure that people who can't afford books have access to them. I have thought about donating them to my public library but what if we could send it somewhere where they are needed. I mean we have 120,091 libraries in the United States! What about third world countries? Think about it. Most people in third world countries don't have access to libraries and if they do they aren't very big. Of course I am not under the delusion that I can provide books to everyone in the world but I can make a small difference. Shannon Ippolitot from cozyteareads has partnered with an organization whose goal is to create libraries in Africa. All you have to do is send them books and they will give these books to children in Africa. That's right there is a whole organization dedicated to making sure children in Africa can read!!!! 
     
      These are the books they are looking for:

           -Books at U.S 4th to 8th grade reading level. 

           -Juvenile literature 

           -Children’s fiction and non-fiction 

           -Teacher's resource books for school libraries 

           -Dictionaries 

           -Encyclopedias less than 15 years old 

           -Accurate up-to-date atlases 

           -Thesauruses 

           -Books with universal themes (friendships, animals, love) 

           -Books like Chicken Soup for the Soul (inspiring stories with life skills lessons) 

           -Books about Africa or African-Americans 

           -Educational kids science and literary magazines in good condition 

           -Brain teasers, flash cards, educational games and puzzles

     They also need about $500 to help ship the books. So you can donate money if you don't want to donate books. Here's a short cut. If you don't want to pay for shipping (because you are international or you have to buy books anyway and don't want to spend the extra money) go on the Book Depository Website (found here) which has free world wide shipping. Just put Shannon's address in instead of your own. Or if you don't mind spending money on shipping go to the Book Outlet (here) which has super cheap books but does have some shipping costs and again send it directly to Shannon. Shannon's address can be found here. Read the information then send Shannon and email with what you are going to do and also to get the exact address. I challenge every single one of you to send books to help these children. The deadline is May 15, 2014. I know I will be going through my bookshelf as well as sending an order from Book Outlet. And if all of my readers, few though you may be, send a couple books we will be able to make a difference. 

If you do send books let me know down in the comments. 

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

General Synopsis:
      Delirium by Lauren Oliver is a dystopian novel in which Love is a disease and the government has found a cure for it. When you are 18 you get the cure which removes all love from you, turning you into an compliant apathetic citizen and Lena, the main character, can't wait to have the procedure. The thing is when you take away love you also take away passion. A child could fall and scream and cry and no one would go to help him/her because they know s/he will be ok eventually. But there are those who resist and live in the Wilds, the area outside of the fences. This story follows Lena and her struggle to realize that love isn't a disease but a blessing.

Quality Rating: 4 1/2 Book
     This is a page turning first book which I thoroughly enjoyed. I finished this book in two or three days. I was very well written and there was one part where I gasped out loud (earning some curious/concerned looks from the other people in the room) and parts where my breath quickened. If you like dystopian then you will love this book. I am eager to read the next book Pandemonium.

Content Rating: 3 Books*
     There are some problems with this book content wise. It is implied that Alex and Lena sleep together and are very intimate and there is quite a bit of language in the last half of the book. Those two factors led me to give it three books. I will explain it in more detail a little further down.

Age Scale: (Again parents you know your children better than I do this is just a general guide)
      0-11: High Caution: this is defiantly a YA book and is not appropriate for young children
      12-15: Medium Caution
      16+: Low caution.

Positive Elements:
    This is a story about the importance of love and how it conquers all. Another theme is truth and how important it is to pursue and protect it. Throughout Delirium the consequence of not thinking for yourself are very clear and pretty realistic. I feel that this is one of the most philosophical dystopians I have read to date. For those of you who don't like philosophy never fear they are underlying themes.

Language: 2 Books
      Like I said earlier the language doesn't really start until half way through the book and if I am not mistaken the most popular swear words are used at least twice through out the book.

Romance: 3 Books
     It is implied that Alex and Lena sleep together and are very intimate but this is a fleeting reference. There are many kisses shared between these two character but most of them are sweet kisses.

Violence: 4 Books
         There was some intense violence and some of it was graphic but the reason I didn't take away more books is because the amount of violence and depth of description is necessary for the plot and the over all feel of the book. If you are super squeamish or can't stand violence in books this is probably not a book for you.

Alcohol/Smoking: 4 1/2 Books
     At one point Lena recalls the day when her and Hana (her best friend) got drunk.

Beliefs:
     There are several mentions of a Judeo-Christian-ish God and it appears that the main character believes in God however this particular believe seems out of place. She doesn't quite believe in a personal God but he isn't a fully scientific God either...I am just kinda confused on this aspect.

Magic: N/A 

*Note I am still trying to figure out the system for content stars. Right now I am just going with my gut but soon I will have a more consistent. If you have any questions about my rating system let me know in the comments.

An Amazing Video

So I attended Teen Pact last week (a post to come) and during one of the evening sessions they showed one of the most amazing videos I have ever seen. Full of truth, entertaining, and theologically dense. I encourage you to take a listen and tell me what you think in the comments. 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Source

General Synopsis
     This book, set in Nazi Germany, follows the story of a young girl named Liesel. Liesel lives with a foster family and begins stealing books, which is where the title comes from. She steals books from a Book Burning, a graveyard, and even the mayors house. Death, the narrator, follows the life of Liesel in her new foster home. A little ways through the book a Jew by the name of Max shows up on their doorstep and we see the relationship between Max and Liesel bud. Then the air raids begin.

Quality Rating: 5 Books
      This is a fantastic book with a unique narrator. The format is also unique but it worked for this book. I would give it 5 stars because it is just that good! This might just be my new favorite book. If you don't like books with sad endings this may not be for you but you will be missing out on a fantastic book.

Content Rating: 4 Books
     Overall Zusak kept the book pretty clean. Minus some language he didn't go too in depth to the horrors of bombings or what the Nazi's did to the Jews. There are several scenes where Death talks about taking the souls up in his hands and plenty of talk about the dead (what do you expect the narrator is Death). I would give this book 4 stars out of five for cleanliness.

Age Scale (note: This is my view on the age scale but I also checked other sites to make sure I wasn't way off.)
      0-9: High Caution. The content is (in my humble opinion) too weighty and mature for such a young age.
     10-12: Medium Caution. Again there is some mature content and the language could be an issue to some people.
      13+: You are good to go. I think this book has some great aspects and it is beautifully written.

Positive Elements:
     From what I know of history there are many elements in this story that are true. For example the German's did have huge book burnings and there were Hitler Youth groups. Friendship is a huge theme in The Book Thief and racism is, in many ways, looked down upon by the main character and the narrator. Another theme is strength through trials and Zusak illustrates that life can go on even when horrible things happen.

Language: 3 Books
     There is a fair bit of language in this book. Most of the time it is in German but you do know what it means and it doesn't change the fact that they are cursing. Another phrase they say is "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph". To be honest I am not really sure if it is a bad thing. Sometimes it is used when a character is surprised and other times it is implied that this phrase is a curse. There are a few other instances of cursing but the two above are the most prevalent.

Romance: 5 Books
      There are a couple times where Rudy asks for a kiss and eventually Liesel does give him a kiss. But it is a very sweet kiss and rather sad.

Violence: 4 Books
     As this book is set during WWII there is a certain amount of violence but it isn't graphic (doesn't really go into a detailed description of the effects of the bomb). Most of the violence and cruelty that happened in during the war is simply implied. Death does talk about carrying the souls of the broken bodies away in is arms.

Alcohol/Smoking: 4 Books
      Children and Adults smoke and there is a scene where Liesel tastes champagne but no one gets drunk or anything. Just FYI the thought of champagne makes me want to cry...

Beliefs (I am not sure how to rate beliefs because your rating may change depending on what religion you have. I will try to stay impartial and just present the facts presented in the book)
     At one point Death acknowledges the fact that God exists however he says that God is silent and that he doesn't answer even his prayers. As state earlier the phrase "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph" is used frequently.


Magic: N/A