Paper Towns : Viewing People in a Different Light.

"Margo always loved mysteries. And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved myseries so much that she became one."

Now, once again, this isn't what I'm currently reading, but I like to review a different book each week. I'm still reading Suite Scarlett. Read what I wrote about it down there.

But, this work of art is so good it took me forever just to find a quote, because all of the book is just that amazing.

Paper Towns is the twisted tale of two very different people that were once childhood friends, but slowly drifted apart after both found a man dead in the park on a playdate. Soon, they became very different people as they moved on to bigger and better things, like the tremendously terrifying walk over hot coals called High School. Margo, now the pretty and popular girl of the school had become a mystery to those around her. No one really had an idea about what she was really like, not even her friends. Then there's Ben, the band geek and all around nice guy, and he's been chosen to solve the mystery of Margo. Many hilarious things soon ensue that involve beer kegs, the world's largest balls, and the world's largest collection of Black Santa's.

John Green, the writer of this book, is amazing. I've gone to see him with a friend of mine, and have my copy of Paper Towns and An Abundance of Katherines signed by him. (He has terrible handwriting.) But, he's also the other half of the vlogbrothers. If you're heard of them, you're officially amazing, and if you haven't, go here www.youtube.com/vlogbrothers and check them out.

This book is actually a little raunchy, so I suggest this to anyone who has parents that approve! ;D

Suite Scarlett : Droop On, My Lifeless Friends.

"This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever played a dead body on stage or screen. It takes a big actor to lie on the ground and pretend they're dead. Droop on, my lifeless friends."

More Maureen Johnson, yes. I'm slowly falling in love with her books. She writes in this overly witty manner that could charm anyone into reading the books she writes. It's just the way she strings together words and paints these scenes with the characters she's got her hands on, it's quite amazing, and quite hilarious.

Johnson takes characters like the ones in Suite Scarlett, her newest book, throws them in a hotel that's slowly loosing it's income, and magically has this story. It isn't just one story going on, either; many of the characters in this book are parts of subplots that just all string back to the bigger picture, which is a lot of what real life really is like. That, in addition to the witty and flawed characters, gives the book a big shot of realism.

But, as for the story(suppose I should mention that?), Scarlett, and the rest of the four children living in, running and owning the Hopewell hotel with their parents in New York City, when one turns fifteen, they become in charge of a Suite within the hotel, taking care of any guest that comes upon it. But when this declining Art Deco hotel built in the Roaring Twenties recieves a guest staying for the entire summer in Scarlett's glorious Empire Suite, her boring friendless, vacation-less summer becomes a whole lot more busy.

I'm, honestly, not very far into it, but, hey, it's great so far and I suggest it to anyone whose up for a great story about washed-up actors, Art Deco Hotels, and just life and all it's humurous games.

Downsiders : The Woes of a Life Without Sky.

"Cities are never random.

No matter how chaotic they might seem, everything about them grows out of a need to solve some problem. In fact, a city is nothing more than a solution to a problem, that in turn creates more problems that need more solutions, until towers rise, roads widen, bridges are built and millions of people are caught up in a mad race to feed the problem-solving, problem-creating frenzy."

WHAT IS THIS, SHELBY. You have no Neal Shusterman on your blog?

Yes, I'm terribly neglectful of one of my favorite authors, forgive me, blogger. ):

This actually isn't what I'm reading as of right now, but if I do write something on that one, I doubt I'd hit the minimum mark of words that I'm supposed to be ranting out about it. But if you'd like to look it up--which I encourage--it's called The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart.

Anyway, onto this amazing piece of work. I believe that the main thing that catches my attention with books is originality, you know? Taking something that's either been used before in a whole new manner, or use some other totally new concept and weaving a web of words out of it. Downsiders does just that. It's about a civilization living in the abandoned Subway tunnels that litter the underbelly of New York City, also known as Downside, and a the strange occurence of a Topsider stumbling in upon the underground city.

Downsiders is one of those books that makes you think, as well as any Neal Shusterman book does. In this world, especially in a crazed infestation of people like New York City, do people have what it takes to step back and admire the good part of the work? To admire the details?

I'd suggest this one to anyone who likes these kids of books, as well as anything by the wonderful Neal Shusterman.

Devilish : Cupcakes and Evil, All Rolled Into One.

"I think I laughed when the knife whent in. At least, I made the motion, but blood came out of my mouth instead. I remember seeing the perfume bottles on the matelpiece as I fell back and, aside from the faint, somewhat implausable realization that I was dying, nothing else.

And I smilied.

'Got you,' I said."

So, my friend told me to read this, due to the fact that the main character and narrator, Jane, reminded her of me. Funny enough, a lot of Jane's reactions and adventures are all things that I would probably do. Haha. I'm really glad that she recommended this, because it was really a great book. It's about Jane, the spunky, super-smart, albeit outcast, high school senior, Ally, Jane's needy, more-of-an-outcast best friend, a demon hiding the midst of their school, a dead boy, a deal with the devil, and evil cupcakes. Oh, and a plot thrown into all of that.

I really liked this because even at the parts with the most tension, Jane's mind had to think of something that could make anyone laugh; such as making plans to convince her sister that earth actually has a second moon, it's just made of glass, therefore you cannot see it. The characters weren't perfect, which is what I love in a book, because they had all of these little quirks and things that you could find unique to anyone one the street. The way it was written really got me, too, Johnson stitches together this odd story with all of these little, unbelievable things that make the story all the more believable.

The only thing I really didn't like about this book was the cover. I'm a total OCD kid, and when you mix the artist in me with that, you get the girl freaking out because the girl on the cover's hand is as long as her forearm. Eh, maybe she's just one of the special ones.

I would suggest this book to anyone who loves John Green, twisted stories, and evil cupcakes.

Alice In Wonderland : Nonsensical!

"'I don't want to go among mad people!' Alice remarked.

'Oh, you can't help that," said that Cat: "We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad.'"

I'm sure we've all heard of this story, but have we read it? After watching the super old video I have of Disney's Alice in Wonderland too many times over (I swear, I know every single line of that movie by heart. I am sadly obsessed.), I decided to read it. Oh, boy, this would be a big feat for me.

See, the book may be only about 200 pages long, but the old english it's written in is really hard to follow. It's not the Alice that I remember from the movies, it isn't as cheerful, but I think I like this Alice better. It's a weird, astonishing book that really doesn't make any sense whatsoever. That is possibly the reason that I love it.

When I did finish it, and watched the movie for the eight billionth time over, I realized that the movie is quite different from the book. Or should I say books? Alice appears in two books by Lewis Carroll, and the Disney movie (and most other things that are spin-offs of the lovely Alice) actually mixes both Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There. Two books, sounds like three. If you'd like to know these mixes, I suggest you start reading them!