The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Published by Penguin Books
Date: January 3, 2013
Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Romance
Pages: 316
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

- Goodreads

Hazel Grace has resigned herself to a life of living with cancer. She lives her life based on a routine that she has no reason to change, and she's okay with that. But, her mother insists on sending her to Cancer Support Group, which is where she meets Augustus Waters. And, Augustus Waters changes everything. Augustus lives like everyday is a gift, and he challenges Hazel to step out of her comfort zone and learn what life and love are really all about.

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Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Okay, the official topic is: "Top Ten Books That Will Be in My Beach Bag This Summer." However, I don't live anywhere near a beach nor do I plan on visiting the beach this summer. So, I'm going to list the top ten books on my summer TBR list instead.

1. Looking for Alaska by John Green: I'm on a big John Green kick right now. So far I've read and reviewed An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns, and I just finished The Fault in Our Stars (review to come). It seems only fitting to round things out and read everything John Green. (Click here to read my review of An Abundance of Katherines and here for my review of Paper Towns.)
2. Where She Went by Gayle Forman: I recently finished If I Stay. I loved it so much that I knew Where She Went absolutely had to be on my summer list.
3. Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson: I bought this book a couple of months ago. I saw it one day when I was browsing in Barnes and Noble. I was in the middle of a Once Upon a Time kick--right smack dab in the Neverland episodes--so a twist on Peter Pan seemed really interesting. I haven't had a chance to read it yet.
4. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan: This book has been on my TBR list since I don't know when. I started reading it a few months ago and then stopped for some reason. It is my mission to finish that book this summer.
5. A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin: I started the audiobook of this way back in December. I decided I wanted to test out Audible and made the abitious decision to make A Game of Thrones my first audiobook. It's really good, but it's such a monster of a book that I haven't finished it yet. Finishing this book is a must this summer. (And I might give up on Audible, maybe.)

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Paper Towns by John Green
Published by Speak
Date: September 22, 2009
Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Pages: 305
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

Two-time Printz Medalist John Green’s New York Times bestseller, now in paperback!

Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life — dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge — he follows.

After their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues — and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees of the girl he thought he knew.

- Goodreads

Margo Roth Spiegelman has intrigued Quentin Jacobsen since they were kids. So, when Margo mysteriously disappears and leaves clues behind, Quentin makes it his mission to solve the mystery that is Margo. He searches for clues that he hopes will help him find Margo. Along the way, Quentin not only finds the trail of clues Margo left behind, but he also realizes that he never really knew Margo to begin with.

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Top Ten Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

Choose your own topic?! What?! This week I decided to list some of my favorite quotes from books. This topic is partly inspired by The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I just finished reading it (it's amazing by the way; go read it immediately), and I was blown away by how many great lines are in the book. It's very rare for me to stop while I'm reading and think, "That's a really great line," so for that to happen to me multiple times while reading a book must be a sign from the universe (and we all know how much the universe wants to be noticed). So, here's my list of top ten favorite book quotes.

1. "My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations." - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
2. "We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided . . . Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open." - J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
3. "I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I think the universe is improbably biased toward consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed. And who am I, living in the middle of history, to tell the universe that it--or my observation of it--is temporary?" - John Green, The Fault in Our Stars
4. "Real courage is when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what." - Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
5. "All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time." - Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven

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The Here and Now by Ann Brashares 
Published by Delacorte Press
Date: April 8, 2014
Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Pages: 242
Format: eBook
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Follow the rules. Remember what happened. Never fall in love.

This is the story of seventeen-year-old Prenna James, who immigrated to New York when she was twelve. Except Prenna didn’t come from a different country. She came from a different time—a future where a mosquito-borne illness has mutated into a pandemic, killing millions and leaving the world in ruins.

Prenna and the others who escaped to the present day must follow a strict set of rules: never reveal where they’re from, never interfere with history, and never, ever be intimate with anyone outside their community. Prenna does as she’s told, believing she can help prevent the plague that will one day ravage the earth.

But everything changes when Prenna falls for Ethan Jarves.

From Ann Brashares, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series, The Here and Now is thrilling, exhilarating, haunting, and heartbreaking—and a must-read novel of the year.

- Goodreads

Prenna immigrated to New York when she was twelve, but she didn't come from a different country; she came from the future. Faced with the harsh reality that humanity can no longer survive in their time, Prenna, her family, and other members of the community traveled back in time to safety. Once settled in their new home Prenna and her family must follow a strict set of rules in order to stay secure. However, Prenna begins to question everything--the leaders in her community, the rules she's been told to follow for years, and the real purpose she traveled through time in the first place--when she gets to know Ethan, a boy from her school who has the uncanny ability to recognize travelers on sight. With Ethan at her side, Prenna attempts to solve the mystery surrounding the future of humanity, tearing down everything she's ever known along the way.

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An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
Published by Speak by Penguin Group
Date: 2012 (First published September 21, 2006)
Genres: Young Adult, Realistic Fiction
Pages: 236
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased

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 child 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, avenge Dumpees everywhere, and finally win him the girl.

- Goodreads

Colin Singleton is a prodigy whose sole goal in life is to matter. He wants to matter to the important people in his life, to the world as he knows it, and to future generations to come. And, how does he propose to accomplish his goal of mattering? By proving he's not merely a prodigy, but a genius, of course. When Colin is dumped by his girlfriend Katherine--the nineteenth Katherine in a long line of Katherines whom Colin has dated--Colin's quest to matter becomes more important than ever. By proving himself a genius--by proving that he matters--Colin believes he can mend his broken heart and win Katherine XIX back. With his best friend Hassan at his side, Colin embarks on a road trip that will change his life forever and teach him the true meaning of mattering.

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Divergent by Veronica Roth
Director: Neil Burger
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet
Production Company: Summit Entertainment
Release Date: March 21, 2014
Genre: Science Fiction

DIVERGENT is a thrilling action-adventure film set in a world where people are divided into distinct factions based on human virtues. Tris Prior (Shailene Woodley is warned she is Diverent and will never fit into any one group. When she discovers a conspiracy by a faction leader (Kate Winslet) to destroy all Divergents, Tris must learn to trust in the mysterious Four (Theo James) and together they must find out what makes being Divergent so dangerous before it's too late. Based on the best-selling book series by Veronica Roth. (C) Summit

- Rotten Tomatoes

This past weekend I saw Divergent starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James, and I have to say that I absolutely loved it. Like the book, the society in the film is broken into five factions: Abnegation (Selflessness), Erudite (Intelligence), Candor (Honesty), Amity (Kindness), and Dauntless (Bravery). Tris, the main character, takes her aptitude test, which is supposed to tell her which faction to choose during the Choosing Ceremony, which is a kind of right of passage when the young people in the society choose which faction they want to be a part of. Tris' test results, however, are inconclusive, and she discovers that she is Divergent--she doesn't fit into any single category determined by the leaders of the society. As the story progress, Tris has to discover what it truly means to be Divergent and what she needs to do to survive in the society.

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