Paper Towns

     I normally eschew Young Adult literature. I find myself thinking of what I was like as a teenager and what my friends were like and what my younger siblings are like and I think that there is no way that I can possibly enjoy something written for those people. Teenagers are immature and annoying and emotionally volatile. Books aimed at that demographic can not possibly have anything to offer me. (A ridiculous overstatement and generalization, I realize. My favorite bookseries is *technically* aimed at young adults, and there are a lot of teenagers I actually like). While that may be true of a large portion of YA fiction, I have been very surprised at the books I have been reading lately. Paper Towns in particular was an incredibly pleasant surprise.
     The message of the book had so much more depth than I am used to expecting from YA literature. The book deals with imagining and its dangers. The problems with imagining someone as somehow more or less than human (when we idolize someone or have a crush on someone, we think they are in some way perfect or flawless, and when we make enemies, they are inhumane monsters). Imagining is damaging for people, but also for ideas and plans we have for our lives. One line from the book that was particularly resonant with me was "“The pleasure isn't in doing the thing, the pleasure is in planning it.” This reminded me of the many ways in which I find myself living in the future instead of the present. I am so excited about grad school and graduating and moving away. However, I spend so much time planning, that eventually, there will be absolutely no way that the reality will live up to my plans (the problem I have with over-hype, as described here). 
     Anyway, Paper Towns is another masterpiece by John Green, and I think I may have liked it even more than The Fault in Our Stars, mostly because the message of the book really hit home with me. There are definitely some parts (and character monologues) that, in my opinion, take away from the book's depth a bit, but I would, without hesitation, recommend this book to anyone who likes to read (young adult or not).

#3 The Fault in Our Stars

I loved this book; loved John Green's writing style, his intelligent characters, the beautiful descriptions of Amsterdam, and even the last third of the book which resulted in a perpetual waterfall of tears for me. Sitting in my living room while my two roommates worked on homework, I was crying and sniffling and feeling like a fool. I don't think I've cried like that from a book since Sirius died. I was reminded me that Young Adult Fiction can be as good, and in this case better, than anything meant for adults. Green respects the intelligence and emotional maturity of his readers and the result is a beautiful and utterly fantastic work of art. I was especially impressed, because the book has had nothing but rave reviews, and oftentimes when I come across something that has been so well-received, I fail to like it as much as I think I should. Over-hype is always a problem for me, but The Fault in Our Stars definitely lived up to its own reputation.

(This was technically the third book I've read so far this year, but the other two, in my opinion, weren't really worth reviewing. Stolen Souls and Will Grayson, Will Grayson were both books that I feel very neutrally about. I enjoyed them, but they weren't anything special, in my opinion.)

Next Up:
Paper Towns
The History of Love
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Great House

22

   As anyone who knows me well will attest to, I have an unreasonable fear of getting old. It weirds me out that I'm an adult now with things like bills and my own house. While I'm sure this is not all that unusual, and probably a complex issue, I believe that it all stems from a Sex and the City episode I saw a few years ago where Samantha dates an older man. Long story short, I've been scarred ever since. It's not as though I spend my days dreading aging, but I definitely have a fear of missing out, and the older I get, the faster each year seems to go by (again, any grown person will also tell you this, so I don't know why it's such a revelation to me). I don't want to wake up one day and realize that suddenly I missed out on being young, like I've seen with so many older people in my life. I read a fun article about being a 'grown up' earlier today that made me feel better, and reminded me that, despite the fact that I am now in my 20s (when did that happen?) and have all these responsibilities and such, there are a lot of great things that come along with getting older. I am also really enjoying the age that I'm currently at. The roundabout reason for this rant is that today one of my best friends turned 22. Birthdays remind me of the inevitable. Anyway, we went out and celebrated and had a great time.  It was a really casual birthday, because not very many people are back in town yet (we live in a college town, and it's still technically Christmas break, so our friends are still with their families. lame), but it was super fun and we baked cookies and I put a candle in one of them and sang her happy birthday.

My eyes are so squinty :/

  Given that it is January 1st today, I think I'll start with a few of my goals for this year. I really like the idea of New Year's resolutions, though I fully understand that they are almost always setting me up for failure. That's why I've decided to make just a few and make them fun and manageable. I figure that I'll actually follow through if I make my goals enjoyable; plus most of them are extensions of things I already do, which helps as well.

• Read 30 Books: This year I had a similar goal, but only made it to 20. 30 is a very attainable goal in my opinion, and I absolutely love reading, so this will be a good way for me to do something that is good for me and that I like as well.
• Take more pictures. I have seen this around the social media sphere for a few years now and I think it will be really fun to do a 365 day challenge and take a picture every day in 2013. Not only will I get to document the huge moments (graduation!), but at the end of the year, I will have pictures from all of the mundane ones in between. Call me sentimental, but I really like that idea.
• Run a 5k. I'm definitely going to go with the stereotypical health resolution here. I want to eat better and continue working out. As much as I love my current workout routine, I am not a runner, and I think that doing the 2013 Color Run would be so much fun. I know that 5k is very achievable
• Write a blog regularly (here's the start of that one!)

Here is the picture I took for day 1: My New Years was a very relaxing experience. Nothing crazy, which was actually quite nice. Two of my friends came over to my house and we watched Valentine's Day and ate cake and drank champagne. I took a picture of the spread:

That's all I've got. Off to read a bit before going to work!

Andrea

Happy New Year!

     And here we have it everyone-I've finally decided to start a blog! I wrote one when I was studying abroad in Spain a couple years ago, and have been wanting to write again ever since. Unfortunately, I cannot exactly continue a study abroad blog while I'm back and living in my home state of Minnesota. With that dilemma, I'm not exactly sure what I want this blog to be yet-do I want it to have a theme (here's what I'm reading; here's my opinion of the various coffees I drink; here's an account of my travels)? Do I just blog about whatever happens to be on my mind today (man, I'm tired; time to go grocery shopping)? We'll see, but for now I know that there are a few things that I will definitely include here: 1) I have a pretty extensive list of things I want to accomplish this year, so I hope to be able to blog about my successes :) 2) In the coming September, I will be moving to the United Kingdom to get a Master's degree. I have read a ton of expat blogs, and I really love them, so I'm hoping to take a page out of their metaphorical books, and write something that perhaps other people will like as well!
     I have titled this blog "The Next Great Adventure," first as a nod to one of my favorite literary characters, Albus Dumbledore, but second, and more importantly because I am currently living in a time of huge transitions. I am a senior in college, and as such will be graduating a few short months. Very soon after that, I will be moving across the world to begin another adventure! My life is changing dramatically and quickly, and I choose to be optimistic and see it as my next great adventure (very cheesy, yes, but there we are. Also, if I don't decide to be excited, I will be terrified, and that's not helpful for anyone).
    So there it is: my first post! I don't imagine that many people will be reading this blog, but if you are, please comment/leave things for me! I love the idea of an interactive experience here.

Happy 2013 everyone!

Andrea