Books (and Their Words) Are Important

       So, NPR's Top 100 Young Adult Books List just came out.  I was ecstatic to find some of my personal favorites on it! (I jumped up and down in my seat when I saw #4!)
        Books are wonderful.  They're great in the same way that TV and music are -- they're entertaining.  But I find even more that books help me form new ways of thinking. New ways of feeling. New ways of putting thoughts into words to explain the things I feel. The things that everyone feels.
        I had this exact thing happen while reading John Green's Tumblr the other day: 

 "The strings inside a person breaking struck me as a better and more accurate abstract description of despair than anthropomorphized symbols (broken heart, etc.)."

        I assume I must have felt it when I read Paper Towns.  If I went back to that page and that body and read, "Maybe his heart broke," I would feel it, but not the to the degree that I can feel strings pulling against me, as a part of me rebelling against the whole of me.
        Words are important.

“So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavour, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.”- John Keating, Dead Poets Society (I need to see this movie.)

        Anyway, I'd just like to put in my two cents about the books on the list.

        1. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

                It's absolutely no surprise that Harry Potter got first spot.  It's freaking Harry Potter. It probably has the biggest fandom in the world, way over Sherlock and Nutella. Brava, J.K. Rowling. You done good.

        2. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

                The Hunger Games was good. Or at least, the first two books were. I haven't been able to get over this new-and-improved whiny Katniss yet, so I don't know how I might feel about the third book. (Shh. No spoilers.)  

        3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

                ERMAGERD To Kill a Mockingbird got spot number three! I voted for this one. I voted. For this one. To Kill a Mockingbird was really a kind of surprising book for me. When I read it before ninth grade, I hated the homework and was pessimistic about the entire experience... but it is still one of my favorite book of all time. When I saw the play, I cried my eyes out and remembered, yes, this is one of the greatest books of all time. Thank you, people of the internet, for agreeing.

        4. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

                Fifteen minutes after I finished this book, I wrote a blog post about it.  Now the blog post is just a draft because it was basically, "(Sob) It was so good. I cried. I'm crying. (Cries) John Green, why would you do this to me? Why would you make me have all these feels? (Blubbering foolery continues)." I treasure this book, and I recommend it to everyone. You will feel all the feels.

        9. Looking for Alaska by John Green

                I'm completely devoted to John Green's books. Although you will not feel all the feels you will feel in TFiOS, you will feel many feels. 

        20. Paper Towns by John Green

                Again, I love John Green Books. Read it For Margo, at least, Okay?

        22. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

                Not my favorite John Green book by a long shot, but it's an alright read. Every time I hear the title, I think of Hank... "I don't know about An Abundance of Katherines in Your Pants (I promise, I don't), but one Katherine in my pants is quite nice." (facepalm)

        34. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

                This made me and my sister cry. Making her cry is no easy feat.

        55. Thirteen Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

                I'm reading this right now. I like it! If you read it, make sure you read past her stay at Richard's place. That part is kinda blah.

        58. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

                KANWEOIAN Is good. Read it. Is a demand. I no can use good words because Riggs used all them.

        72. Unwind by Neal Shusterman
                This book alone prompted me to say Neal Shusterman was my favorite author all throughout middle school. I completely loved this book. It was frightening because... I could see it happening, in just a bit more twisted world than we live in.  I must say, this is where I'm a book hog. I see people say that they loved this book, that it was one of their favorites, and it hurts in a hollow way. Its new popularity got it to this spot on the YA list... but it also has made it feel like a battle between the true adorers and "posers". Which is ridiculous. So read it, but try to feel it as if it's the real world....

         74. The Maze Runner by James Dashner

                I really like this series, and I really like James Dashner (local author)!  I still love the Jimmy Fincher saga..  He should start owning the fact that he wrote the Jimmy Fincher books again. It feels like only people in Utah know about that series, and it's sad. I used to kiss the Jimmy on the cover every night.

        78. Matched series by Ally Condie

                I highly recommend this series, or at least the first two books. It's sort of poetic, heart-breaking (not surprisingly, I cried), and just a twisted wrench away from reality. (Another local author!)

        80. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale

                My fourth grade class read this book, and I still remember it fondly even though I don't remember much of the story. I need to reread it! (She's another local author!)

        

        And now I have a longer list of books I want to read.

        If you're not already a friend with me on Goodreads, you should be! I'd like to know what you're reading. :-)