New Format: I have made changes to my book reviews to provide a more critical and comprehensive review. I hope you enjoy! If you have any questions, have feedback, or want me to review a book, feel free to contact me. At a GlanceFrom the Back of the Book"19 Katherines and counting ... When it comes to relationships, Colin Singleton's type is girls named Katherine. And when it comes to girls named Katherine, Colin is always getting dumped. Nineteen times, to be exact. On a road trip miles from home, this anagram-happy, washed-up prodigy has ten thousand dollars in his pocket, a bloodthirsty feral hog on his trail, and an overweight, Judge Judy-loving best friend riding shotgun - but no Katherines. Colin is on a mission to prove The Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, which he hopes will predict the future of any relationship and avenge Dumpees everywhere, and may finally win him the girl." About John Green
StrengthsA strength in An Abundance of Katherines was the use of footnotes. Usually we associate footnotes with boring citations and longwinded explanations to an unknown word or event the author is alluding to. John Green did provide actual definitions of unknown words and/or historical events, but in a humorous way. He also gave the reader explanations to inside jokes between characters and funny anecdotes. An excellent example of Green's footnote use happened on page 46 of the book in a conversation between one of the many Katherines and Colin. Please excuse my makeshift footnotes. Colin was explaining to one of the Katherines, "Because its important to know things. For an example, I just recently learned that Roman Emperor Vitellius once ate one thousand oysters in one day, which is a very impressive act of abligurition, (^21) ..." Later, Colin contemplated, "Why had Ovid lived in Ancient Rome in 20 BCE (^22) and not Chicago in 2006 CE? …" _____ (^21) An actual, if very obscure, English word, which means “the spending of too much money on food.” (^22) One no longer says AD or BC. It’s just not hip anymore. These days, one says either CE (for Common Era) or BCE (for Before Common Era). Another strength the book had was John Green capturing colloquial language between characters. This "everyday language" showed Green's strong development of characters that made them relatable to the reader because of the language they used. For example, Colin and Hassan often say the word "fug" instead of "fuck". On page 119, Colin says, "I'm fugging exhausted from staying up half the night reading a fugging book about the invention of the television ..." Lindsay questions the use of "fug" with, "Hey, why the fuck do you and Hassan say fug all the time?" Colin goes on to explain the origin of the word "fug" was from American novelist, Norman Mailer. When Mailer wrote The Naked and The Dead, he littered the original manuscript with the f-word, and the publisher turned down the work because of it. Mailer, in turn, replaced all the f-bombs with "fug" and the work was published in 1948. Colin was reading Mailer's "fug" filled book when he met Hassan. He shared the replacement word with Hassan, they came to the conclusion that they could "say it in class without getting in trouble" (120), and the word "fug" became a part of their vernacular. WeaknessesI found Colin to be an annoyingly stubborn character. I know, the book is about self discovery and that takes a while to develop, but this plot line was too drawn out for me. Colin was constantly stuck on solving his theorem, the Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability, and was missing out on new adventures with Hassan and his new friend, Lindsey in Gutshot, TN. I also found myself skipping over portions of the book that had charts, graphs, bell curves, and math equations. I'm not much of a math person, so this part was confusing. I still got the gist without reading all of the math jargon, and you can too, if math confuses you, too. Why Did I Read This Book?During an interview for an English teaching position, I was asked, "What young adult book have you recently read AND enjoyed?" I had just finished Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and did not like it, and had been only reading my required texts for #RCWP2015. I did not have an answer. I told the hiring panel about Speak and then told them about my long list of YA books from #BookBracket2015, but knew that I needed to read more YA. When I got home from the interview, I started An Abundance of Katherines because I realized I needed to be reading more YA as a teacher of English to both enjoy and recommend to my students. I also read An Abundance of Katherines because it counted towards a category in the Spring/Summer Goodreads Reading Challenge that I am participating in. I earned 15 points for reading a book that did not have an "L" in the title and the author's name. The category originates from "No 'L' Day" which is celebrated on December 25th every year. If you read that fast enough, you would have noticed its a pun on the word "Noel." RecommendationYou should read An Abundance of Katherines if you are looking for a fun and engaging YA book that just so happens to be about self discovery. I think anyone could find a "way in" and connect with this book.
Also, if you consider yourself a John Green fan and have only read The Fault in Our Stars, you need to expand your knowledge of the John Green canon and read An Abundance of Katherines.
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I gave the book a "monumental" rating because it is just that - monumental. The first half of the book provides the reader with a detailed look into how and why people procrastinate, and it is very fascinating. I'm not much of a science guy, but because I have a history of procrastinating, I was able to relate to the instances that were given. The authors also provided a lot of their own experiences with procrastination. This allowed the reader to relate with them and made the authors not seem so high and mighty. The second half of the book provided suggestions to avoid procrastination. I was able to take out a few of the suggestions and apply them to my life. These tips include: dividing projects into small, manageable chunks; making daily to do lists; starting small by taking just twenty minutes to sit down and do something; and placing time worked on projects in my calendar after I have completed it. Overall, I have seen a lot more projects getting completed on time and I hope to continue this trend as I step into my first classroom in the fall!
I feel that this book would be great for other runners to read. It doesn't matter if you are an Olympian runner or a recreational runner, like I have turned into. This book is great. It is easy to read and follow. Lear chronicles practically each day of the 1998 season. The team and individual dynamics are captured well with quotes, reflections from different runners' journals, and candid moments of both pain, suffering, and victory. The book was "exceptional" in my opinion because of the nostalgic feelings it gave me. It also serves as a great mentor text for journals/diaries. I had some issues with the formatting of quotes between people, some occasional typos, and random musings that carried on for longer than I desired.
I'm not sure if it was because of the mundane daily entries or learning more information about the highly anticipated secret that the narrator holds very close to her. I could not connect with this book. I provided it with a "reasonable" rating because I believe that it would make an impression on another reader. It didn't move me in ways that it may move others. Would I have this in my classroom library? Absolutely. I did find Melinda's daily high school perspective to be entertaining at times, including her take on the school's struggle to find a suitable mascot, the descriptions of her teachers, and her generally dry sense of humor. Laurie Halse Anderson allowed the characters to come alive, but did not develop a meaningful or engaging plot for the characters to navigate and live through. Goodreads Reading Challenge Update This Reading Round Up was jam packed with potential for the Reading Challenge I participate in a Goodread's group. Each book counted for 15 points and allowed me to move up in the leader board. As of this post, I have completed four tasks, four books, and have earned 55 points. As far as reading challenges go, I have always enjoyed them. I have been participating in this group's reading challenges for several years now, and they motivate me to read and allow me to be competitive at the same time. I think reading challenges with categories and points would be a fun way to develop an Independent Reading unit. I thought about developing one during my teaching internship, but came up with #BookBracket2015 instead.
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The Avalanche of Books
As an educator and avid reader, I am constantly hearing about books. I feel like I am being chased by a giant, rolling avalanche of titles and authors. Rating System
5 books - New fave! Read it now!
4 books - Shelf worthy 3 books - Quality read, but ... 2 books - Borrow it 1 book - Skip it Archives
December 2017
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