Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificently adventurous Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs into his life—dressed like a ninja and summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge—he follows. After their all-nighter ends, and a new day breaks, Q arrives at school to discover that Margo, always an enigma, has now become a mystery. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Urged down a disconnected path, the closer he gets, the less Q sees the girl he thought he knew…
My review:
I’m not generally drawn to YA books, but I really enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars, so when I was gifted Paper Towns I was pleased to take on another John Green read.
I was quiet surprised by how much I actually enjoyed this one, even though at times I thought Margo seemed overly philosophical for a 17/18-year old girl, and most definitely selfish. I wasn’t particularly a fan of her character, but I don’t think Green actually intended for us to cheer for her. The true story, for me, was the bond between Q and his friends.
Green did an excellent job in creating Q, Ben and Radar’s friendship; they are a fairly accurate representation of most 18-year old boys and their friendships – constantly ragging on one another but sticking by each other’s sides when things go a little nuts.
While I’ll never quite understand Q’s obsession with Margo, I can understand why he wanted to find her. I can also see the bigger picture Green wanted us to see – that despite how well you think you know someone, there’s a lot more underneath the surface.
A lot of other reviewers compared Paper Towns to Looking for Alaska, but since I’ve yet to read the latter, I can’t judge. Paper Towns was light enough to breeze through relatively quickly, but still thought-provoking enough to make it interesting and not just a bunch of drivel.
I was standing on one leg shucking oysters when the problems began…
Don and Rosie are back in Melbourne after a decade in New York, and they’re about to face their most important project.
Their son, Hudson, is having trouble at school: his teachers say he isn’t fitting in with the other kids. Meanwhile, Rosie is battling Judas at work, and Don is in hot water after the Genetics Lecture Outrage. The life-contentment graph, recently at its highest point, is curving downwards.
For Don Tillman, geneticist and World’s Best Problem-Solver, learning to be a good parent as well as a good partner will require the help of friends old and new.
It will mean letting Hudson make his way in the world, and grappling with awkward truths about his own identity.
And opening a cocktail bar.
Hilarious and thought-provoking, with a brilliant cast of characters and an ending that will have readers cheering for joy, The Rosie Result is the triumphant final instalment of the internationally bestselling series that began with The Rosie Project.
My review:
I really enjoyed the previous two instalments of the “Rosie Series”, so when the third came out I was looking forward to reading how things would wind up in the end. As expected, Don is back and his mannerisms have not changed – except they perhaps need to in order to be an effective parent to Hudson and partner to Rosie.
I wanted to love The Rosie Result, but this book had a bit more of a serious tone to it and I had a hard time looking past that. I could understand the angle of Don and Hudson figuring out who they were and where they lay on the autism spectrum, and I enjoyed that aspect of it; I felt though that the addition of anti-vaxxers and gender/job equality needed to be either developed more or nixed completely.
Still, despite Don’s quirky personality, his concerns as a parent were relatable for anyone who has a child in school – you’re constantly worried about them fitting in, making friends, succeeding, etc.
While a little drawn-out, The Rosie Result wrapped everything up quite nicely in the end, and it was heart-warming to see just exactly what the “result” was that Rosie has had on Don’s life.
Just over 22 years ago, my mom took me to my first ever concert – the Backstreet Boys! A fan for life, I have been. So when it was announced that they would be coming back to Vancouver I just had to try and get tickets! Obviously, I was successful, and last weekend my mom and I road tripped once more to live out my fangirl dreams!
We left early Friday morning and made pretty good time getting into downtown Vancouver considering there was quite a bit of congestion and traffic. We were staying with my brother so we swung by his office to pick up keys and a parking pass before making our way to his place!
The view from his apartment was pretty stellar, as long as I didn’t look down!
After dumping our stuff we took the sea taxi across to Granville Island to kill some time/pick up things for dinner while we waited for my brother to get off work. We also took a little walk along the beach before the humidity got to us and we had to retreat back to the apartment.
Once my brother got home from work we went out again to get a few groceries for breakfast and to make a quick stop at the liquor store. Fun note: I was asked to leave the liquor store for not showing my I.D. even though I wasn’t buying anything. (My brother was already in line paying and I was just standing there beside him.) So that was hilarious! We went back to the apartment and had an awesome dinner before venturing out again. Vancouver was gearing up for Pride Week, so there was a bunch of free entertainment going on by the Art Gallery, including Drag Queen dance lessons, so that was fabulous to watch!
Saturday morning I was able to check a run on the Seawall off of my Run Route Bucket List! One day I’d love to run the Seawheeze, but until I’m prepared for that, this was the next best thing. The views were pretty spectacular, especially as the sun rose over English Bay!
Post-run selfie with the Burrard Street Bridge!
By the time I was done my run I was hot and disgusting, so I headed back to the apartment and sat myself in front of the fan while I waited for my mom and brother to wake up.
After breakfast my brother thought it would be fun to go to the Stanley Park Pitch & Putt. It was actually super fun and we laughed so hard! We were starving by the end of the round so we found a place to have some lunch. Lucky for me, they were still serving brunch, so I ordered a crab cake eggs benny with a pineapple margarita, and it was delicious!
After lunch we ventured towards Robson Street and meandered to the Jack Poole Plaza to check out the Olympic Monument solely because I had never seen it in person before. (#TouristMode) It was a little underwhelming but the people watching was good!
We slowly made our way back to the apartment to relax before ordering dinner (Door Dash is amazing in Vancouver) and getting ready for the concert! We were about a 1/2 hour walk away from Rogers Arena, so we left with plenty of time to navigate the streets and find our seats!
The opening act started almost right on time (which happened to the the 16-year-old son of one of the Backstreet Boys, which made me feel wicked old), and then … it was SHOW TIME FOR THE BACKSTREET BOYS!
Let me tell you, they seriously put on an amazing show, and I’m not just saying that as a life-long fan! They nearly performed for 2-hours straight, singing all of the classics as well as a few new ones off their latest album. The audience was electric and I am so glad that I got tickets to this show. My inner 11-year old is very happy with my adult self, is what I’m saying!
We arrived back to my brother’s apartment just around midnight and I promptly fell asleep, mostly because I was exhausted. (I logged just over 35,000 steps according to my FitBit!)
On Sunday we managed to hit the road at a decent time and casually made our way back home! As much as the break was wonderful, I missed Kyle and the girls and was happy to be reunited with them!
So with that, July was a pretty amazing month and I’m looking forward to whatever August has to bring!
What are some July highlights for yourself? Are you still a fan of a singer or group that you started listening to when YOU were a kid? Share in the comments!
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