Reluctant Recommendations, St. Patrick's Day, and pea plants

-Rocking some St. Patty's Day sunglasses-

Ok, Kiddos. First things first, Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all. I must admit, I haven't really been a fan of this 'holiday' since I graduated from elementary school and leprechauns stopped leaving chocolate gold coins on my desk. However, I thought I might do a little research on the significance of this day in order to better understand, and therefore obtain a greater appreciation for it. Naturally, I turned to wikipedia (where the search for all great knowledge begins--and often ends) but soon found that I'd rather just buy a bag of chocolate gold coins and save myself the trouble. I did discover something that I found to be somewhat enlightening in regards to St. Patrick's Day customs in the United States. Apparently, In the Northeastern United States, peas are traditionally planted on Saint Patrick's Day. Who would have ever guessed that March 17th would mark the birth of many a pea plant over the years! That's WAY more exciting than wearing green and drinking beer.


Anyway, that's not what I wanted to talk about. On to my real post topic for today... Ahem:


Reluctant Recommendations


First, a confession:


Hello. My name is Stephanie. I am 22 years old and I am proud to admit that I read books written for and marketed  to teenagers. Apparently I didn't get enough angst of my own in high school, so I delight in reading about it now. It wasn't until I was nearly finished with college that I took a Young Adult Literature class and finally realized that I wasn't the only 'adult' out there still devouring stories about teenagers with no intention of ever moving on to books for grown ups. Needless to say, it became the best class I ever had. I suppose these days, it is far more socially acceptable for adults to read tween and teen fiction, since many of the good ones have been or are currently being made into movies. Anyway, that's not really what I wanted to talk about either. (Scatterbrained AND long-winded = me)


I have found that when I tell people that I majored in English, they often react with a series of predictable questions (which I will talk about more in a later post) and then eventually get around to asking: "What are you reading? What are some good books you can recommend for me/my daughter/my son who hates reading/my dog/my pet lizard/etc.?" I LOVE this question. There is nothing I love more than to introduce new readers to my favorite books. However, in the past I have felt I had to approach this question with caution. A while back I was reading a blog post by a soon-to-be-published writer in which she outlines why she doesn't like to recommend books on her blog. She says she usually gets one of three reactions: (Blue text = stolen... ahem... quoted text)


1. I loved it too. Thanks.


2. I didn't love it. And I want my $17.95 back. And I want you to give it to me. 


This reaction is usually accompanied by pitchforks and torches. Probably because of the tough economic times out there.


3. I gave it to my teenage daughter, based on your approval of it, and it has this word in it, and we don't talk about this word ever, and we don't say this word ever, and I don't appreciate you paving my daughter's pathway to hell.


(to read the post in its entirety, including an excellent review of an exceptional book that I will be recommending later, click here. But don't forget to come back!)


I'm definitely not afraid of running into reaction number 1, and I don't even really mind getting reaction number 2, but reaction number 3 scares me a little. And also makes me laugh. a lot. 


So... at the risk of becoming a construction worker on the road to hell, I've decided to share a select few of my favorite books that I have been reluctant to recommend in the past, explain why I may have been reluctant to recommend each one, and finally, to officially recommend them. 


Official Book Recommendations 


(NOTE: Instead of ordering them from 'most favorite' to 'less most favorite' I've decided to simply list them in the order that they were published because I love them all at nearly equal levels most days, and some days I love one more than another so it is impossible to make an accurate most favorite to less most favorite list that remains accurate in general)

1. Looking For Alaska by John Green 


This book is about a boy who goes off to study at a private school and meets a girl named Alaska. 


Reasons for reluctance: language, and a couple of scenes involving this word (It starts with an 's' and makes tweenagers giggle... actually, in my experience, it still makes quite a few English students at BYU giggle, which is more than a little ridiculous.) 


All I can say is that I love this book, and that any scene that could be considered inappropriate is included and portrayed the way it is for a reason. (Here is an excellent video in which John Green himself effectively explains the content of his book that some consider inappropriate for teenagers.)

2. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green


I mentioned reading this book in an earlier post. It's about a kid named Colin who is obsessed with anagramming and only dates girls named Katherine, among other things. It is also excellent.


Reasons for reluctance: language, excessive use of math equations that threaten to make your head explode if you think about them too much, danger of spending late night hours anagramming instead of sleeping. 


Seriously, though. Don't let the graphs and math junk in the footnotes scare you away. Throughout the book, Colin is trying to come up with an equation that will predict the outcome of all relationships but believe me when I say that you don't have to understand any of the math to enjoy the book. Beware of anagramming obsessions, though. 

3. Paper Towns by John Green


I would hope that you see a pattern here. This book is about a girl who runs away, and a guy who tries to find her. Most of the time, this is my favorite of the three John Green books I have listed here. 


Reasons for Reluctance: language, I guess. Although, foul language doesn't much bother me when I'm reading. I find it pretty easy to ignore, but I know that it is something that will often turn people away from a book. Still, I definitely recommend this one.

4. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

This is a book about a girl named Anna who gets shipped off to Paris to attend an American private school. You'll notice that it was not written by John Green, but it was through a recommendation BY John Green that I discovered this book.

Reason for Reluctance: language, drinking, a little bit of this word. However, if you clicked on the link to Brodi Ashton's blog up there and read her post on this book, you've probably already stopped reading this and are on your way to the book store to pick it up... at least you SHOULD be. It could be argued that THIS is my favorite book most days. Read it. Seriously. 

So there it is. My top four reluctant recommendations. I realize that my incredibly brief descriptions don't do any of them justice and merely scratch the surface of the plots. Read them all. And then tell me what you think. If you can't buy a copy, get one at the library. If you can't get to a library, I own a copy of each and would maybe possibly consider loaning them to you, although you might have to leave a spleen on deposit (name that movie...) 

Just so y'all are aware, I don't ONLY read books with foul language, teenage drinking and sex scenes. I always enjoy a good, wholesome, cheesy Mormon romance novel. (Nope. Not afraid to admit that either) I'm always looking for a good book, so if anyone has any recommendations for me, I'd love to hear em! 

Don't forget to wear green and birth a pea plant! 

-all book cover photos were taken from amazon-