90 Minutes In Heaven

I started a new book recently called 90 Minutes in Heaven which is a true story of Don Piper. Don Piper got into a car accident and was pronounced dead instantly. However, Don says he experienced heaven and its beauty and came back to life. It wasn't until after 90 minutes was Don back to life with the memories of heaven. My mom recommended this book to me and I was unsure if I was going to like it. It's a very cool concept to think about, to die and come back and have these memories of heaven. I was skeptical at first but when I started reading it, I couldn't put it down. I didn't favor the way the book was written but after some getting used to, it wasn't that bad. I really enjoyed how Don Piper explained heaven and it was exactly how I imagine it would be in my head. There have been many stories of people thinking they have been to heaven but this book made me think that these people were not crazy and actually might have experienced heaven for a short time. This book also has a great meaning behind it which I learned from. It seems to help cope with losing a loved one and to never take people you care about for granted. Luckily for Don, he came back to write about his experience to share with others. I am excited to continue reading because I think this experience changed Don's life even though I do not personally know him. It is a very influential book and a "feel-good" story. It makes you really think about what could be up in heaven and it made me want to become more spiritual in my life. I really enjoy that someone else's story could have such an impact in my life that I want to get more spiritual. I recommend this book because it has a unique story that I think anyone could get something out of.

TFIOS Trailer vs. Book

One of my favorite books is coming out as a movie this June. This book is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I recently read this book and I was so excited to hear about it coming out. I saw the trailer of the movie and I wanted to write about what I think the differences will be between the book and the movie. The biggest difference I think will be when Hazel and Augustus go to Amsterdam and meet with the author. This was a very big part in the book and I feel like it will not be as big a deal in the movie. I think the movie will be more centered about their love and the little time they have. I really hope that it stays on track with the book because one of my other favorite books, My Sister's Keeper, had a totally different movie ending from the book and I did not like it at all. Everyone always says that the book is better and I think that will still be the case after The Fault in Our Stars comes out. John Green, however, did a great job of making the story so that it seems that it could actually happen so it's not going to be so make believe that it is hard to enjoy. I think that people that haven't read the book are at a disadvantage because they will not know how the story is supposed to go and how/if it will be different in the book. This is the first movie and book duo that I have been very interested in and excited to see the differences. I think after I see the movie, I want to read the book again to get that full affect of the story being very similar or completely different. I really enjoyed  the book and I hope that I can enjoy the movie as well. I also think that the book will make the movie more emotional because it will be my imaginations of certain scenes being brought to life. I don't think the movie will suffer with the emotions that the book did. I can't wait to see the movie and compare it to the book. Every time I see the trailer I get more and more excited. I want to continue reading books like this especially ones by John Green.

Comparing John Green

For this blog post I wanted to switch it up a little bit. Instead of talking about what I am reading right now, I want to talk about John Green as an author. I have finished reading Looking for Alaska, and The Fault in Our Stars, and I am currently reading An Abundance of Katherine's. After reading a lot of his work, I really like John Green as an author. His style is so different from other authors that I am used to like Jodi Picoult. His books are very easy to relate to and they have plot lines that may actually be real for some people reading his novels. Something about his style of writing also makes me want to read more of his books. I can't pinpoint if it is the style of the point of view he uses or the actual structure of the novel. I like the fact that all three books have short chapters and each of them get to the point of what they are explaining.  Every part of the book is evolving from another part and John Green does that on purpose. For example, the fact that Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars, reads a certain book comes back into play when Hazel and Augustus go to Amsterdam to find out the ending of the book. Some of the smallest details always come back into play with John Green books. John Green is also amazing at imagery. Every single scene has enough details that you can put yourself in the scene in your head. I really like this because sometimes it is hard to enjoy a book if there is not enough detail to picture the scene in your head. The overall tone of John Green books are very comforting. I don't exactly know why it seems so comforting but something about these books calms me down and makes me want to read more John Green books until there are no more left. They are all so different but all have structural things in common and some plot lines overlap enough to still enjoy the individual books.

An Abundance of Katherine's #2

In An Abundance of Katherine's by John Green, Colin and Hasaan take a road trip away from Chicago to get away from the real world.  This concept of just leaving with a friend and some money just interests me so much. I don't think I could ever do it myself but the fact that Colin and Hasaan did it makes me think about how it would be if I ever did get away. I feel a connection to the innocence of Colin. Even though it is not obvious, I get the feeling that Colin is very apprehensive about new situations. He is the "goody-good" of the novel. I have a lot less knowledge than Colin but I get nervous with new situations even if I am not good at showing it. As a character, Colin has some qualities that are similar to me but we are also very different. I think as the story continues, I will see more sides of Colin that I can relate to because we are both kind of shy and sheltered in a sense that we have not experienced much which makes us nervous for new things. One of my favorite parts of John Green's books is how relatable the characters are. Even though I haven't related to some characters in his other books, I feel like other readers can. These connections with characters make the book more enjoyable to read because I know when I connect with a character, I contrast their situation with how I would react in a similar situation. In An Abundance of Katherine's, Colin goes along with the road trip and doesn't seem to mind. But if I were in his situation, I might like it at first but after a while I would be home sick. This also makes me predict what will happen in the future of the book because I know what I would do and I wonder what Colin will do.

An Abundance of Katherine's #1

I am only about 8 chapters in of An Abundance of Katherine's by John Green and the beginning was a little hard to understand. The plot jumps back and forth between Colin's past break-ups and the "real time" of the novel. A lot of the flashbacks about the break up with one of the many Katherine's tells us about his relationship with her and how devastated he was when they broke up. What made me confused was some of the transitions between the flashbacks and what was actually happening and especially at the beginning when I just started reading. However, now getting into the plot of things, it is easier to tell what parts Colin is reflecting on and what situations Colin is actually in. I think John Green might have done this confusion on purpose so you just learn about Colin as a character and not focus on what is happening. For example, if there were no flashbacks in the beginning, we wouldn't know that he has dated so many Katherine's and we would not know why he started the book being so upset. At first it was very confusing, but continuing reading helped. However, I do like the flashbacks because they provide information that Colin wouldn't provide himself. I also am finding that Looking For Alaska and An Abundance of Katherine's both by John Green have some similarities. They both have a boy who is average, kind of dorky, falling for girls that are out of his league. Hopefully, John Green does not take me on another emotional roller coaster with An Abundance of Katherine's. I like that with John Green's books, you can tell that he is the author. The plots are similar, but the style is also similar. In Looking For Alaska, the sections, or chapters, were broken up by number of days before or number of days after Alaska's death. In An Abundance of Katherine's, the chapters are legit chapters, but within them, they have subsections that seem to be counting down to something as well but I do not know what that is yet. I have a bad feeling that Colin is going to get heartbroken again and something sad is going to happen at the end of that countdown. I am very interested in what will happen with Colin's adventure out of his home town and with a new girl who is not named Katherine. But I am also apprehensive to read because I am afraid of what might happen to Colin.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Shu Lien says, "Promise me one thing: whatever path you take in life, be true to yourself" to Jen. Shu Lien means that Jen should not change for anyone and to follow her heart. I think the main reason why Shu Lien says this is because of her hidden love with Li Mu Bai. I believe that Shu Lien regrets not telling Li Mu Bai how she really feels and she doesn't want Jen to feel the same way with Lo. Another underlying reason why Shu Lien says this to Jen is because I don't think Jen really wants to be a "full-time" warrior and I think Shu Lien saw that in her, especially after seeing the connection between Jen and Lo. I think this is addressed in the beginning in the conversation between Jen and Shu Lien when Jen is asking a lot of questions about Shu Lien's lifestyle. I think Jen just wants to be free from her arranged marriage and her parents but not be free like Shu Lien. Shu Lien is telling Jen to do what she wants and to not do what other people want and I think this includes Jade Fox. Even though we don't see much interaction between Jade Fox and Jen, I think Jade Fox made Jen keep up with fighting because she wanted her to not because Jen wanted to. I think Jen does do this because when she jumps off the waterfall after Lo making a wish for them to be together in the desert, she knows it will come true because of the story told earlier in the movie. The wish does not have to do with fighting and it does not have to do with going back home. I don't think she would have jumped for a wish that she didn't want to come true. In the end, I think Jen took Shu Lien's advice of being true to yourself and not doing anything because of someone else.

The Fault in Our Stars Blog #2

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green was so easy to read and I could not put it down. I finished so quickly and was sad when it was over because I wanted it to keep going. However, the ending was very appropriate. The physical relationship between Augustus and Hazel had ended before the ending, but I believe that Hazel's attitude towards his death, showed that the spiritual relationship between them will never end. They were in love and not for long before Augustus passed away. Also, throughout the book, Hazel wanted to know how the book An Imperial Affliction ended because the main character had also suffered from cancer and died before the book was "finished." That came to an end because Augustus had wrote an ending for her just so that she could have answers. Once the plot twist happened,  the ending was kind of predictable because Augustus said that his cancer was terminal so I knew that he was going to die by the end of the book. However, I was wondering if Hazel was going to survive or if the end of the book was going to be here dying as well. But I liked how Hazel did not die during the book because it would have been very emotional and I think the ending would be a little awkward if it just ended mid sentence. But I think even before I knew Augustus' cancer was terminal, I knew that the ending of the book was going to be sad whether it was Augustus or Hazel passing away so that part of it was predictable. But I don't think that anything in the book related to the ending was not out of left field. It all made sense and related to other parts of the book well. I really respect John Green as a writer because he does an awesome job ending the book appropriately and doesn't do anything too crazy that would make the book or even the ending seem unrealistic. I really enjoyed this book, definitely in the top of the best books I have read.

The Fault in Our Stars Blog #1

Since I last blogged, I have read another John Green book and I have to admit that I liked The Fault in Our Stars much better than Looking For Alaska. John Green's style as an author just intrigues me and I can not even pinpoint exactly what it is about his writing that I like so much. Going into TFIOS, I knew that it was going to be a sad book but at the same time it was so happy. Through these fictional characters, Augustus and Hazel, I could feel as if I was reading about a real relationship that was happening in real life and I loved it. However, there is a plot twist that I was not expecting right in the middle of the book. Hazel has cancer and Augustus started the book as being in remission from cancer. But when the couple travels to Amsterdam as a wish for Augustus, he shares that he went to the doctor for a check-up and the cancer had spread to many parts of his body and it is terminal. At the beginning of the book, I thought that Augustus would have been the one dealing with Hazel's death because her cancer is also going to be terminal. But the plot twist happened and Hazel had to go through the heartbreaking event that was Augustus' death, her first love. I never expected this plot twist because Augustus was acting as such a strong man, recovering and getting better every day, but it was the opposite. It did make the story more interesting and when Augustus told Hazel that the cancer had come back, I felt for them in the moment and actually cried while reading the plot twist. I usually don't cry at books and I know I liked this book when I cried at what was happening. I think without this plot twist, the book's ending was very predictable and I think that was the reason John Green included such a heart-wrenching plot twist. I think John Green does a great job giving details about the characters which makes the plot twist a lot more difficult to read and not get emotional. However, I did not like how the plot twist happened and then Augustus died not long after. And I know that is the point but I wish there were a couple more events in between to really feel the sadness between Hazel and Augustus. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the plot twist made the book ten times better, but also ten times more sad.