My favorite book (this week) is the Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. I love the characters, in particular Oliver who is so funny and spontaneous that he keeps definitely you on your toes. Hadley has a complicated life and I can connect very well to what happened with her father. The conversations they have on the plane are funny and open, I love how they talk so easily to each other. There are hints here and there but you don’t know until Hadley reaches the church, that Oliver was actually going to his fathers funeral, not a wedding like she had presumed.
Hadley thinks her father is bad but finds out that Oliver’s was worse. Hadley reconciles with her father and ends up with Oliver. My favorite part is when Oliver makes up a bunch of different stories about what he studies and at the end, Hadley asks him to remind her what they were; Oliver says that he studied “the statistical probability of love at first sight”.
This novel features Hazel Grace Lancaster, a cynical, gritty, and sarcastically witty teenager dealing with her aggressive thyroid cancer, and has an oxygen tank that shadows her every step. Every week, she goes to a support group of kids who have, or has dealt with, cancer.
Right from the beginning, you know that this book is going to have characters destined to be amongst the stars, black holes, and oblivion: aka, the afterlife. As to which character it is going to be, the reader has plenty to choose from. Everyone in the support group knows that death is merely a friend that everyone was going to greet sooner than expected. Some have gone into remission, while others are tacked onto the long list of names that are mentioned in the prayer. When Hazel Grace Lancaster meets a boy name Augustus Waters, they bond over a beautiful book, the fictitious “An Imperial Affliction”; they, then, set off on a wonderful love affair that takes them across the ocean, and back again.
The writing style of this book is ethereal, and full of wringing energy. Before you read this book, you should be prepared to become emotionally attached to the characters as well as okay with your tears hitting the pages. I cried the way one falls asleep: gradually. If you are going to read only one John Green novel, this would be the one.
My favorite book of all time would be Lure of the Dead (#10 in the Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney). I liked it not only because it is one of Delaney’s latest books, but also because it is so well written. The author kept my attention and I read it without a break. It felt like I was one of the characters in the book and was beside Tom, watching him slay the vampires and defeating siscoi. Tom is the seventh son of a seventh son, and is apprenticed to the village spook in Book 1 of the series, Revenge of the Witch.
French-Canadian author and illustrator Michèle Lemieux’s existential story and illustrations for Stormy Night cleverly mix the common childhood fear of thunder with the questions everyone has regarding their sense of belonging in the world.
Through her illustrations, which add to the philosophical nature of the book, Lemieux skillfully contrasts the protagonist’s emotions with the howling storm outside her window. She achieves this effect by using small, whimsical black ink drawings to depict the young girl’s inner thoughts and full spread, greyscale illustrations to show the exterior landscape. As the storm settles, Lemieux’s artwork moves from dark to light shades with decreased crosshatching, leaving the viewer with a sense of relief.
Through the positive yet open ending, Lemieux’s book proposes that although thunder and questions can both be scary, all storms must end and the mysteries of life can sometimes allow for happier thoughts. Despite the potentially dark subject matter, Lemieux’s illustrations of the young protagonist and her pet dog are smart and humorous, calling to mind the work of the great gothic illustrator Edward Gorey.
Although this picture book is marketed towards elementary school students, its illustrations and themes mimic a graphic novel format, making it an enjoyable book for any child, teen or adult. Since discovering Stormy Night in a children’s literature course earlier this year, I have read this breath-taking work over ten times, with each reading enhancing the work.
Even though it is fall, flowers can still brighten up a rainy day: call it flower power! Much the same can be said for a small genre of novels that I will call hippie lit.
The lighter side of this genre must, by necessity, include Tom Robbins, in particular his first novel Another Roadside Attraction. In it, a countercultural couple open a combination zoo/hot dog stand in the Pacific Northwest. Many misadventures follow. Filled with bizarre characters in surreal situations, this book is a real trip.
Also on the lighter side of life, is young adult author Gordon Korman’s Schooled. Middle school-aged Capricorn “Cap” Anderson is forced by circumstance to change schools: from being home-schooled on the rural commune he was raised on to being a student at the very mainstream Claverage Middle. Once there, he soon learns that he can run for class president: an unconventional young man in a very conventional situation.
And then, there’s the children’s novel Mr. And Mrs. Bunny – Detectives Extraordinaire!, written by Mrs. Bunny (and “translated from the Rabbit by Polly Horvath”). Set on Hornby Island, BC, the story begins when Madeline’s hippy parents are kidnapped. She seeks the assistance of the Bunnys in finding their whereabouts. The detectives and Madeline follow a funny trail along which we meet sinister foxes, a marmot and a shadowy Bunny Council. Are the parents found? Find out!
On a more serious note are two adult novels: Drop City by T. C. Boyle and Arcadia by Lauren Groff. In Drop City (named after a real commune in New Mexico), a group of commune dwellers travel from California, up the coast, to Alaska in the hopes of starting fresh in the wilderness. But, the Alaskan outback is a much harsher place then they bargained, particularly when they are still reeling from a traumatic event within their ranks and when they conflict with the locals. In Arcadia, the setting is upstate New York and the commune dwellers are latecomers, moving on to the farm (with a Victorian mansion on the premises) in the 1970s. Things go well for a while before they, some would say inevitably, begin to decline and the youngest character, Bit, has to decide whether or not to stay.
My favorite book (this week) is the Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith. I love the characters, in particular Oliver who is so funny and spontaneous that he keeps definitely you on your toes. Hadley has a complicated life and I can connect very well to what happened with her father. The conversations they have on the plane are funny and open, I love how they talk so easily to each other. There are hints here and there but you don’t know until Hadley reaches the church, that Oliver was actually going to his fathers funeral, not a wedding like she had presumed.
