Book Talk: Me and Earl and The Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

     This book is literally about three people. Greg, Earl and Rachel (who is the dying girl). The book is nothing special if you think of it but the writing style is so hilarious, I sometimes suddenly just laugh aloud and people in the vicinity will think I'm crazy but that's fine.

     I thought this book was going to make me cry but it did the complete opposite. Anyway, the story is told from Greg Gaine's point of view (which is hilarious). Greg has always managed to stay under the radar in high school and he never joined any social circles because he doesn't want to be labeled as one of the people he sits with at lunch or talks to. He decided to infiltrate each and every one of the social circles and has managed to be in everyone's good graces until his mom forced him to befriend his 'exgirlfriend but not really', Rachel. Rachel has leukemia and is dying and Greg doesn't really care because according to him 'he has problems with emotion'. Fast forward to Rachel about a month away or more from dying, someone asked Greg to film something for Rachel and he and Earl started making different kinds of videos for Rachel. Greg and Earl have always done these silly little videos that they show to no one because they think they're not good enough but Earl decided to show them to Rachel with the reason that 'she is dying'. Earl is Greg's 'sort of friend' and co-direct all of his films. They've done a lot of videos about Rachel and they didn't know how to really highlight her because they don't know her that much. In the end, they decided to mush all of the videos together and show it to Rachel and according to Greg, it was the worst film that they had ever made. When Rachel died, Greg thought of the different ways that they could have done for the film and that the film was not about Rachel at all but that they just used her as a subject of a film which is really for them. 

     The book is touching despite of its hilarity and it really highlights high school students'/teenagers' problems that are rarely mentioned in books. How we struggle to cope with our studies, how some of us can never find a social circle or a group of friends that we really fit into and others more like it. The meaning hidden behind the hilarious writing is astounding if you really give thought to it (which I have). This book is extraordinary and I can honestly say that I've never read anything like it. Some of the content are not really suitable for young people (some of the words) so if you're sensitive about those things then this book isn't for you.

Cheerio and DFTBA

How to Buy Books

     So that 'book buying' time of the year is here. Not really, since I know almost all of us probably buy books every week.

     The things/tips I am going to tell you are the things I do whenever I buy books so they may not be applicable to some of you.


1. Go in the bookstore, look for the book, check the price
   
          If you have enough money to buy the book then that's great but if not, save up for it first and then go back later when you have the sufficient amount.

2. Check for other copies of the same book

          I do this so that when I do my 'checking' of the book, I have other books to compare the quality to.

3. Check each and every side of the book

          I am an absolute perfectionist when it comes to my books so the book I buy has to be in a very good condition. Check every side of the book. The spine, the cover, the pages (or sides if the book is sealed), the bottom part, the top part, the front part, the back part and any other part of the book you can think of.

4, Contemplation process

          If you only found one copy of the book and you checked and found damages, DO NOT settle for this book yet. Go to another bookstore or call another bookstore and ask them about copies of the book you want. If they don't have any then go back to the bookstore with only one copy of the book you really like and then contemplate whether the damage can be ignored or if you need the book that much in order for the damage to be tolerable. I tolerate minor damages but if the damage is, for example, a 'spine crack', do not settle for this book. If you found other copies of the book compare them and then choose the best one.

5. Buying and happiness

          So you bring the book to the counter and you get your money from your bag and then suddenly THE COUNTER WOMAN DECIDED TO BE CLUMSY AND DROPPED YOUR BOOK. There is nothing to be ashamed of. You can ask the counter woman to be careful about handling your book if you feel like they're going to damage it or if they're going to be clumsy about it. Now, you give them your money and then... BOOK ACQUIRED AND HAPPINESS COMMENCE.



These are the things I do whenever I buy books (also the reason why I take too much time when I buy a book). If you do these, you will not regret it I promise you. I hope these helped.


Cheerio and DFTBA

Book Talk: The Existence trilogy by Abbi Glines

     WOAH. These books are so awesome.

     So the story is about Death falling in love with a girl (which is not supposed to happen because he is Death after all) who can see souls because a voodoo prince has a claim on her. That sentence alone will make me want to read this if I haven't yet. These are the first Abbi Glines books that I've ever read and I am not disappointed at all. Basically, in this story, Death is a hot guy who can appear in human or 'soul' form. When he is human, he is Dank Walker, the rocker. When he is Death, he gets the soul of people whose bodies can no longer function or hold the soul. One day, Pagan saw him and thought she can ignore him like all the other spirits but he suddenly talked to her (which never happens with other spirits) so she got intrigued and the story continues from there. The only downside to this is that Pagan is so clingy and is doesn't think about the consequences of her actions at times though nothing else is wrong other than that. Leif, who became her boyfriend, is apparently, a voodoo prince who has a claim on her soul because Leif's father, who is the voodoo god, saved Pagan from dying when she was a baby. THAT IS A REALLY SURPRISING PLOT TWIST. Dank and Pagan face different problems in each book (except in 'Leif', which is kind of a novela) and each are unique and contains a surprise whenever you find out what that problem is. My favorite book out of the 3 is probably Predestined because we get to explore Vilokan (the voodoo place where Leif's father leads), we get to know a lot about Death and Gee (the transporter) has a lot of parts there. Gee is probably my favorite character because of her sarcastic, over protective and witty personality. The story is very well written and the writing style is not boring at all. I'm sure most of you guys will enjoy the trilogy as well as I did.

Cheerio and DFTBA

Book Talk: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Genevieve Tucholke

     I have never read a book like this before so I can say that it is pretty unique (for me, at least). The plot is, for a lack of a better word, different and the story is kind of strange at first and it takes a lot of getting used to but after that, you get to really enjoy the story.

     I haven't really read a lot of Gothic horror stories but this one is kind of disappointing because when I heard that this was a "horror story", I expected it to be scarier because that's what horror is but it is creepy though since this is the first time I've read of something like kids holding stakes in the cemetery. It ended up being more of a love story than a horror one. The characters are really interesting and I would've put this down  but I really want to know who or 'what' River West is. The introduction of the main antagonist was very sudden and we only get to have 2 or 3 glimpses of him (and it's not even obvious that he's important until the introduction) before the author suddenly decided to put him in the story. Luke and Sunshine, in my opinion, are horrible people and I think Tucholke only put them there to make Violet look better. The story can be compared to the typical love story where the girl falls in love with the bad boy despite her attempts of stopping herself but with all the devil stuff and supernatural powers thrown in. The ending seems cramped up as well because the author revealed everything all at once (and like I said, the antagonist came up all of a sudden). The writing style is very enjoyable though and I enjoyed the book but there is just that little something that is missing. The cover is ace though and I love the vibe it gives off.

Cheerio and DFTBA