100 Books 2014: 57-62

Somehow all of the John Green books I had on hold at the library because available all at once. So I had a little John Green marathon! I ordered them by how much I liked them, starting with...
An Abundance of Katherines by John Green This is the first John Green book I've haven't liked very much. Its the story of a math obsessed boy who has just been dumped by his 19th girlfriend named Katherine. He goes on a road trip with his best friend to forget about it. Which sounds pretty great, but the road trip is over within a few pages and the rest of the story was just boring to me. Meh.
Paper Towns by John Green I really enjoyed this book. It is a mystery and I loved the way the story unfolds and the twists along the way. It also made me really excited to plan our fall roadtrip, even though it really only mentions roadside America attractions for a few pages. It's the story of a boy about to graduate high school and the girl he has been into since they were children. It isn't the typical story though. At times sad, scary, tense, sweet and surprising. I thought it was great.
Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan This is my favorite of the bunch! It is told in alternating chapters by two late teen boys, both named Will Grayson. A coming of age story, a "coming out of the closet" story, and a musical written by a high school kind named Tiny called "Tiny Dancer" is featured prominently. A lot of the story focused on the (friend) relationship between Will and Tiny and it felt really authentic to me. This was one of those books where I was having such a good time reading it I was a little sad when it was over.

Before my John Green/Young Adult Fiction marathon I had a little bit of an unintentional dark subject marathon. All three of these books were great, but DARK and all three put me in a weird head space while I was reading them.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn I read Flynn's book Gone Girl earlier in the year and loved it. Her other books are just as good! Dark Places is the story of a woman who's brother murdered their mother and two sisters when she was seven years old. This story is what happens when she starts to think that he might not have done it. Just like Gone Girl I was surprised by a LOT in this novel and couldn't have predicted what was going to happen. It was interesting to think of what happens to a kid who grows up in the spot light for something so awful.
Child of God by Cormac McCarthy I couldn't think of a good way to describe this book, so here is what it says on Good Reads:"In this taut, chilling novel, Lester Ballard--a violent, dispossessed man falsely accused of rape--haunts the hill country of East Tennessee when he is released from jail.  While telling his story, Cormac McCarthy depicts the most sordid aspects of life with dignity, humor, and characteristic lyrical brilliance". This book is disturbing, bleak  and beautifully written. There are so many passages that I had to read over a few times because the descriptions were so lovely. Even when it was something twisted and awful. I'm really looking forward to seeing the movie that James Franco made of this story recently. 
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn This story is about a reporter who gets sent back to her hometown to write a story about some chilling murders that are happening. They involve the disappearance of preteen girls who show up strangled with all of their teeth pulled out. Like her other books, Flynn tells a mystery story but it is far from the conventional storyline. I thought I had it figured out by the end but I totally didn't. It was an answer I hadn't even thought of, but thinking back over the story she had been pointing to it the whole time. I read it in two days, one of those I couldn't put down!