Let It Snow ~ Maureen Johnson, John Green, & Lauren Myracle

An ill-timed storm on Christmas Eve buries the residents of Gracetown under multiple feet of snow and causes quite a bit of chaos. One brave soul ventures out into the storm from her stranded train and sets of a chain of events that will change quite a few lives. Over the next three days one girl takes a risky shortcut with an adorable stranger, three friends set out to a win a race to the Waffle House (and the hash brown spoils), and the fate of a teacup pig falls into the hands of a lovesick barista. 

A trio of today's bestselling authors - John Green, Maureen Johnson, and Lauren Myracle - brings all the magic of the holidays to life in three hilarious and charming interconnected tales of love, romance, and kisses that will steal your breath away. 

Book Review:

I will be giving a review for each of the stories individually and then the novel as a whole.

The Jubilee Express ~ Maureen Johnson

 This was the first work of writing that I have ever read by Johnson and it certainly won't be the last. I loved every second of it. I loved how our main character, Jubilee, introduced herself in the beginning, how she described events in such a blunt manner, and how even though she knew something wasn't going to work she had to try anyway. I loved how she was just a normal girl, because sometimes in stories, the main character has to have some extraordinary detail about them, Jubilee doesn't. 

Rate: 5/5

A Cheertastic Christmas Miracle ~ John Green

This was not a bad story, but I have come to expect so much more from John's writing that it wasn't my favorite. I expected more raw emotion and more depth. One thing that I have come to love from his writing was still very evident throughout and it's this strange humor. It's a humor that isn't outwardly funny unless you are a bit nerdier and profound when it comes to your comedy. I love it. It's something that I really began to notice in Looking For Alaska and have been able to find in everything that he writes since then. I did like the character development in this story, though.

Rate: 3/5

The Patron Saint of Pigs ~ Lauren Myracle

I had never read anything by Myracle before this story and in all honesty, it wasn't my favorite. Her writing style was okay and the story was interesting and funny, but it didn't have that extra something that I was hoping for. The constant bickering between the main character and one of her 'friends' really irritated me. All I could think was, "why don't you drop this bimbo from your friends list? She disrespects you, invalidates your feelings, and complains that you make everything about you when she is doing that very same thing. Ugh." It just wasn't great.  

  Rate: 3/5

Full Book:     Pages:352                                                    Rate: 4/5

This Star Won't Go Out ~ Esther Earl (ESTHER DAY!)

Diagnosed with thyroid cancer at age twelve, Esther (Persian for "Star") Earl was an exceptionally bright and talented - but very normal - teenager. She lived a hope-filled life as she navigate her physical decline with grace. A cheerful, positive, and encouraging daughter, sister, and friend, Esther died in 2010, shortly after turning sixteen, but not before inspiring thousands through her growing online presence. 

Book Review:

I read this book last year, after I first bought it at a local book store (BUY LOCAL). It didn't take me long to wish that I was Esther's friend, to feel for her friends and family, or to cry like a baby.

Esther, who inspired John Green to write The Fault in Our Stars, which he dedicated to her but is not about her, was so talented and so loved. John Green's introduction which starts out with the best sentence ever, "My friendship with Esther Earl began, as so many great love stories do, at a Harry Potter convention," shows how even though he was old enough to be her father they had an amazing friendship. That friendship was so amazing that he and his bother Hank, whom if you don't know them go watch their vlogbrothers videos on Youtube or read John's books,  started a holiday for her. So every year on her birthday, August 3rd, she wanted everyone to celebrate love, not romantic love, but the love between friends, family, and even coworkers. 

This book is just plain amazing. 

Book Discussion: SPOILERS

Esther Earl was diagnosed with thyroid cancer while living in France with her family, but this is only after living in Saudi Arabia, which was after being born in the US. She saw much of the world at a young age, while she was always active and seeking knowledge. She loved her older sisters Abby and Angie, her younger brother Graham, and later youngest brother Abe. Her father was a pastor. Her mother was an educator. 

Her prognosis quickly worsened and the family had to move to  Boston so that she could be close to the children's hospital. Eventually she had to always be on oxygen, her family had to convert their dining room downstairs into her bedroom, and her medical team grew. She went to Leaky Con where she met John Green. She was a main member of Catitude which founded Project for Awesome (http://www.projectforawesome.com/). She had more Online Friends than IRL friends. 

She used her Make - A - Wish to bring 7 of those Online Friends, who from now on are just going to be considered IRL friends as well, out to Boston for the weekend so that they could all be together and have fun. This was only a month before she passed away. John Green even came, at his own person expense, to be with Esther. 

Her last days were brutal and uncomfortable, to the point that when I read that she passed away I was relieved for her and  her family, who watched her go. She was with God, whom she wholeheartedly loved and had faith in. Finally she was free of this sickness, of all of the poison that she had to put in her body to kill the poison that was killing her.

This is the second time that I've read this book in a day, while listening to Wrock (Wizard-Rock,  rock music based on the Harry Potter Universe) in a day, really only in a couple of hours. And I cried like a baby. 

Esther Earl, Happy Birthday and I love you.

Pages: 431                                                                                                    Rate: 5/5

Esther Day!

Happy Esther Day everyone! Also, Happy Birthday Esther! 

I never had the privilege of knowing Esther but through her Youtube videos, John Green's videos of/about her, and the book that her parents had published after she passed away, almost five years ago, This Star Won't Go Out: I feel as if I know her. 

So in honor of Esther Grace Earl, I want to remind all of you to tell those you love, even those that you have a hard time telling, just how much you love them. Here are the main people I love:

Mom: You gave birth to a premature me at 19 years old. You have been my friend, my confident, and my protector my entire life. I love you.

Dad: You became a father at 17 years old. You've worked every job imaginable to make sure that I was taken care of. I know that you would give the world for me. I love you.

All of my siblings: I love each and everyone of you individually so. Each of you, at different times, have been the only person that I wanted or needed in my life. So thank you. I love all of you. 

All of my grandparents: Each of you are so different than the other and yet each of you give me the same sense of home as the other. I love all of you.

To every other person in my life: If it weren't for you my life would be boring. I need you to push me, challenge me, and love me the way only you can. I love all of you. 

My best friends: If it weren't for you all, I'd  be lost. I wouldn't have been able to survive these past few years between the loss and anxiety I would have lost myself. I love all of you. 

Esther: You died at such a young age, after such a long battle. Yet you touched so many people in your short life. Thank you for showing the world that love really is the only thing we need to survive, even if only for  a little while. I love you.