I always liked watching Mr. Bean when I was little. Somehow though, I overlooked this skit.

Blurb for the back cover:
It’s a fantastic build up of mystery and suspense.

Margo Spiegelman is probably the most interesting person Quentin Jacobsen knows. Since they have lived next to each other for many years, they’ve known each other since they were little. But since high school started they have drifted apart. That is until one night Margo taps on his window and leads him out for a night of fun complete with revenge and danger. The next day at school, however, she is gone. Vanished and nobody knows where she went. The police just believe that she ran away, but Quentin has a feeling that that is not the case. He discovers clues that lead him to believe that Margo has left a trail for him to follow. Convinced of this, Quentin and his friends begin their search to find out where Margo Spiegelman has gone.

Paper Towns is a fantastic novel. I easily read over the course of a couple days and completely neglected my school work (sorry Jane Austen). It reminded me of the pulp fiction stories that I have a soft spot for because essentially this book is a mystery novel. Throughout the book Quentin finds clues about who Margo was and what she was doing. Since the reader is just as in the dark as the protagonist, you try and figure out what happened and why. It’s so much better than the other mystery novels where there are clues discovered but are not revealed until the last moment. It’s a fantastic build up of mystery and suspense. Another compelling aspect of Paper Towns is that there are a wide variety of characters. One of Quentin’s friends is obsessed with correcting vandalism on the Omnictionary website (think Wikipedia) and has parents who collect black Santas. Margo herself is interesting because over the course of the novel it is revealed that she was different things to different people leading Quentin to ask the question of which Margo is the real Margo.

Paper Towns is a fantastic young adult novel. It doesn’t come off as sophomoric and older readers should enjoy it just as much. And look, it comes in two different covers! I came across John Green after coming across his brother singing about Harry Potter on Youtube. Quite possibly the most inadvertent way to discovering new authors yet. John Green and Hank Green can be found over at the Nerdfighters.

20 in 2009 Challenge: 3/20

Various boring book titles read in an oddly soothing voice.

Truly there must be some higher power at work here. I was all set to give my presentation on the Jane Austen book that I have not finished reading when, low-and-behold, class was canceled.

I’ll shut up about Jane Austen soon. I proimise.

Yesterday I was faced with a tough decision. Should I go to my Bible as Literature class or ditch and go hear Marc Acito speak as a guest speaker in some other class (Book Publishing?)?

You’re right. It’s not a tough decision.

So I did. It was interesting. Marc talked about pitching his books and how he came about being a published author and what not.

Here we have Marc marveling at the fact that class rooms nowadays have the internet hooked up to a projector.

“Fuck it,” said one group member before standing up and joining another group leaving ours with one less person.

I’m taking a class this term called Comedy and Satire. Thus far it’s been more Satire than Comedy. We’ve studied Horace and read the required Modest Proposal. Now we are reading Persuasion by Jane Austen. We were assigned this book Friday afternoon and we were suppose to have it read by today (Monday). Out of my group, I was the one who got the furthest in the book. Three chapters away from finishing this book. I cheated and downloaded the audiobook and have been listening to that all weekend.

Now in class we are trying to form a 20 minute presentation on a book that (1) I do not see as satire and (2) everybody else in my group have not gotten past the second chapter. Needless to say, we’re screwed.

Amazon today announce the Kindle 2. Set for release on Feb 24th for the economically friendly price of $359. The sequel contains many features that were available in the original Kindle such as being able to read books.

It is at this point that I would like to announce that my birthday is Feb 27th and a Kindle 2 would make that perfect gift for any book pirate.

I would also like to point out this bit of news regarding the Kindle 2 and Stephen King. (Copy and pasted from Publishers Weekly):

“The presentation included an appearance by Stephen King, a self-described fan of the Kindle and who was persuaded by Amazon to writer a short story to be offered exclusively on the device. In the novella Ur, King includes a scene which is a long product placement for Amazon and the Kindle, and noted that in the piece the main character’s Kindle gives him super powers. “

Really Stephen King? A Kindle that gives the character super powers? *cough*sellout*cough* :-)

..i’m testing something.