Reading in Review | Winter 2013/2014

In December, I mentioned 10 books I wanted to read this winter. Yesterday was the last day of winter and here are my reading results!

What ten books did I want to read this winter?

Tandem by Anna Jarzab

Just One Day by Gayle Forman

You Are Mine by Janeal Falor

Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn

Unbreathable by Hafsah Laziaf

Wide Spaces by Shelly Crane

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman

Defiance by Shelly Crane

The Selection by Kiera Cass

Mystery book jar pick - Incarnate by Jodi Meadows

Which books did I actually read this winter?

(Click the titles to read my reviews)

Tandem by Anna Jarzab | The Selection by Kiera Cass | The Prince by Kiera Cass | Just One Day by Gayle Forman | The Elite by Kiera Cass | Blood Will Tell by Samantha Young | Wide Spaces by Shelly Crane | Reverence by Shelly Crane | Defiance by Shelly Crane | Independence by Shelly Crane | Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers | That Boy by Jillian Dodd | Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins | Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn | Wide Open by Shelly Crane | The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini | The Other Fish in the Sea by Jenn Cooksey | Shark Out of Water by Jenn Cooksey | Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins | Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys | Cinder by Marissa Meyer | Incarnate by Jodi Meadows | Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker | A Father's Kiss by Colleen Hoover | Consequence by Shelly Crane | Scarlet by Marissa Meyer | Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll | Night by Elie Wiesel | Unravel Me by Tahereh Mafi | Destroy Me by Tahereh Mafi | Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi | This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Grace Earl with Lori and Wayne Earl

(The last two were not featured in the collage because...oops!) 

Just One Year by Gayle Forman | Glitches by Marissa Meyer 

Any short stories/extra scenes? Yes,

A Very Hexy Valentine's Day by Rachel Hawkins

Anna and the French Kiss Deleted Chapters by Stephanie Perkins

The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

If I Were a Man by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

The Story of an Hour by Kate Chopin

Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway

Everyday Use by Alice Walker

Which books didn't I get to?

You Are Mine by Janeal Falor

Unbreathable by Hafsah Laziaf

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman

Success Rate

Based on the top ten I wanted to read, my success rate is a 7/10. But I don't know; do the twenty-five other books make up for the loss of three books?

Most Surprising

When going into these books, I either a) did not know what to expect or b) did not have very high expectations. However, I'm so pleased to say I thoroughly enjoyed each of these books, rating them between four and five stars!

Most Frustrating

The main character in each of these frustrated the HECK out of me!

• Regina from Some Girls Are is not a very likable character. She's the protagonist so you want to root for and sympathize for her; and yet, she makes some really nasty, vindictive decisions that made me want to pull out my hair.
• I am not a fan of Warner in the Shatter Me series so whenever Juliette was going all ga-ga over him and swooning at the words he said that I found utterly unromantic, I could not see her point of view for the life of me.
• I am not even going to go into how much Adam in Fracture Me ticked me off because expletives will soon follow, but if you'd like to read my thoughts on this novella, scroll up and click the linked title. 

Most Disappointing

I read Anna Jarzab's mystery novel All Unquiet Things a few years a go and quite enjoyed it. I was excited to read another novel of Jarzab's but this one simply did not do it for me.

Most Moving

• The Kite Runner is a historical fiction novel about two best friends who grow up in Afghanistan before the Afghan War. The story that plays out is heartbreaking, captivating, and so indescribably beautiful.
• This Star Won't Go Out is the collection of journals and drawings of the girl and fellow nerdfighter Esther Grace Earl who passed away from thyroid cancer in 2010. This autobiography/biography of Esther includes updates written by her parents as she battled cancer for almost four years and letters and passages from her family and friends. Her story and friendship with author John Green fueled what would be The Fault in Our Stars. There were so many touching parts to her story and it made me sob.

New Favorites

I loved them all for different reasons, but the aspect they all have in common is that they made me feel.

Overview

I read forty-one works of literature this winter! Twenty-five novels, seven novellas, eight short stories, and one children's chapter book.

How many books did you read this winter? What were your favorites? Did any surprise you? Let me know in the comments! 

Click HERE to see what ten books I want to read this spring!

Review | This Star Won't Go Out by Esther Earl with Lori and Wayne Earl

About this book:

A collection of journals, fiction letter,s and sketches of the late Esther Grace Earl, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 16. Photographs and essays by family and friends will help to tell Esther's story along with an introduction by award-winning author John Green who dedicated his #1 bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars to her.

Release Date: January 28, 2014
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Pages: 431
Genre: Biography + Autobiography

My rating for This Star Won't Go Out:

Sometimes I wonder how I could possibly consider myself a writer when I cannot express even my deepest feelings through text. Every passage of Esther’s story stirred something within me that I cannot quite put into words. But as always, I shall try.

Esther was an ordinary girl. An ordinary girl who was diagnosed with, battled, and lost to thyroid cancer early in life, but was typical teenage girl nonetheless. She had hobbies, dreams, friends, family, a love for books and online communities. She wanted to help others but struggled with the conflicts of laziness and a lack of motivation. She pulled pranks on her sisters as much as she spent time playing video games with her brothers and served attitude to her parents as wonderfully as she wrote them letters of appreciation.

And yet, through reading This Star Won’t Go Out, I’ve just brushed upon how extraordinary of a human being she was. Her silly and fun yet empathetic and wise letters, journal entries, and passing thoughts revealed her struggles, passions, gratitude, dreams, fears, hope, faith, and overall essence of who she was as a person. It was real in the truest sense because through Esther’s scribbles, crossed out words, smiley faces, and drawings, her character shined through. She showcased the good times and the bad, her moments of doubt and hopelessness, as well as her strength in striving for a positive, faithful outlook. Esther was an ordinary girl but through her contemplations she showed extraordinary promise and her interactions with the people in her life made her remarkable in the eyes of those who loved her for being her.

I feel like I know Esther. Or at least, as much as I can through reading a book, which I am not discrediting the power of books but rather acknowledging and complimenting the complexity of every human being. I will never have the understanding of who Esther was that John Green has, that her Catitude friends have, that her parents have, that God has, but the minuscule understanding that I have of her—thanks to her journals, her YouTube videos, and the words of those who knew Esther while she was alive—is grand. So grand that the life and words of Esther Earl have knocked on my heart and entered (as well as tore it wide open when her father beautifully wrote her heartbreaking last moments).

While reading TSWGO, I have realized that we do not have to do extraordinary things to make an impact. You only really need to be true to yourself and be passionate about something to make an impact and that is something worthwhile. And when ordinary people come together, the most nature course for them is to play off of each other’s passions and the results always create something wonderful. Esther was like this in the way that she was passionate about Harry Potter, finding happiness in the books, movies, and every Harry Potter community that sprung from it. And then “with Esther” nerdfighters around the world helped the charity Harry Potter Alliance win $250,000. Esther did not particularly do anything to win the money, but John Green was affected by her character and her want to help HPA and so with Esther and John Green and nerdfighters around the world, they were able to win the money. HPA would not have won that money without Esther and that is what I mean by saying all you need is to be true to yourself and pursue your passions because without knowing, one thing leads to the next thing or person and extraordinary happenings result. That is simply one instance of how Esther affected a whole community by being herself. 

I am not capable of imagining how great of an impact she made on the people she knew. All I know is that her story brought me to tears. Tears of happiness and pride in her accomplishments and impacts on others, tears for the love she bestowed on others, tears of sorrow at the loss of such a great person, and tears of joy for remembering that she lived. The life and words of Esther Grace Earl are still impacting people today in vast and various ways, and I can attest to that.

"I know I will always carry her with me, and to have a piece of her grace shine through me 

is a gift I will continually strive to earn." 

- Lindsay Ballatyne, Esther's Catitude friend, This Star Won't Go Out