Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

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Amazon.com description: One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, Will Grayson crosses paths with . . . Will Grayson. Two teens with the same name, running in two very different circles, suddenly find their lives going in new and unexpected directions, and culminating in epic turns-of-heart and the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high school stage. Told in alternating voices from two YA superstars, this collaborative novel features a double helping of the heart and humor that have won them both legions of fans.

Funny, enlightening, exaggerated, painful, and full of heart. Those are my words to describe this excellent novel. You can't help but grow to love both Will Graysons and Tiny, the one who brings them all together.

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Here's another cover:

I think it might be from Australia due to the quote from Melina Marcheta, an Australian YA author. I think I like the U.S. cover better, though. It also fits the story better.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

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Neil Gaiman takes the African god of mischief and mayhem, Anansi the spider, and takes him and his family into modern day. Neil Gaiman has an obsession with all things mythological, I think. This book is no exception. Fat Charlie (who's not fat) has always been down on his luck and embarrassed by his father all his life. When his father dies, he soon learns that his father was a trickster god and that his unknown brother got all the awesome god powers. His brother Spider comes into life and starts to mess it up even more. Spider moves in and begins to steal his fiancee, his job, etc. Fat Charlie decides to get revenge which ends up messing up things even more.

It's pretty light-hearted, for the most part. But I have a hard time with characters that get oppressed and oppressed for too long. Charlie didn't get redeemed til toward the end. And overall, I just didn't care a lot about the characters.

I love what Neil Gaiman's trying to do with his books. They make for some interesting stories, for sure. But I haven't been able to really get into his books, yet. I'm working on American Gods right now....

I read this for one of my book clubs and used a library copy.

Happy Love Day!

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Interesting factoid. St. Valentine's Day was literally a holy day to honor the Catholic saint Valentine and others as martyrs. It didn't start gaining its romantic connections until the tradition of courtly love came about (1000-1300 AD). By the 15th century it had finally evolved into an occasion for lovers to express their love to each other! 600 years later, we're still celebrating love in its many forms between friends and family, and lovers, as well as celebrating our love for humanity!

I plan on celebrating with my son Gabe by cutting out hearts and drawing pictures on them. We'll give them to his friends and his dad tonight! Maybe we'll even go out for a Valentine goody!

I think we'll go all out next year with some house decor and maybe even some baking of cookies and crepes! We'll see.

Recipe!

 Go read up on Cupid and Psyche and show some love today!

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