The Fault In Our Stars By John Green

Summary: Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

Rating: ***** (5 Stars)
Review: So here I lay, after reading this book with swollen eyes, a runny nose, a wet puffy face and a whole lot of heart ache and a head ache too. For the past year I've seen this book everywhere. It was the first book cover I would see walking into Barnes & Noble, I often saw people reading it in Starbucks when I would stop in to get my green tea frap, & it was Goodreads Choice Winner for 2012. Let me just say the entire book is wonderful.  I loved John Green's wit. I gave his characters a little leeway on the maturity scale, but still I didn't believe they could be this articulate. But I loved Green's writing so much, I didn't mind. Without the wit and endearing characters, this would be nothing but a book about cancer. Green's characters feel real and quirky and I fell for them and felt for them. I cried for them. In unexpected ways, like Hazel's parents waiting for the loss they know is coming and Hazel trying not to be a grenade in their lives. And the complications of facing your own mortality and therefore being wise beyond your years but still having to live like a teenager with all its restrictions. Then there's watching your friends die off and dealing with the shallowness of people who weren't there through the tough times. I made the mistake of thinking I could read this book at work, I actually had to make myself stop reading because I had tears coming down my face at my desk! So if you don't want others to think you are having some kind of breakdown save it for the comfort of your own home where you can ugly cry all you want!

The Fault In Our Stars is an insightful and moving novel that will not just leave you with a inspiring story to remember, but also with a more optimistic understanding of life. I think the movie to this book comes out in June & after seeing Divergent this past weekend I'm really looking forward to seeing it. Shailene Woodley knocked Divergent out of the park for me & the trailer for The Fault In Our Stars also looked impressive. I'll be sure to bring along a box of Kleenex to go with my popcorn.

The Joy Of Motherhood

Motherhood is definitely the most fulfilling and challenging experience in a woman's life, it's the toughest but the most rewarding job. It's insane to think my baby is 5 years old which I guess doesn't make him a baby anymore, at least according to him. I thought the terrible two's or three's were bad, that's nothing compared to the attitude a 5 year old can posses. As a kid myself I admit I was full of attitude. Whenever I was giving my mom a hard time she always said 'when you get older and have a kid I hope they are just like you' and boy was she spot on. Don't get me wrong Holden is awesome. He's actually a really good kid & I'm lucky to have had a fairly easy time raising him. He's now able to understand sarcasm & has a tone to his voice if something doesn't go his way. Half the time it's hilarious to me and I want to laugh. There are times when he tries to be witty and makes no sense what so ever. The other day when I told him we were going to see Santa this weekend he was so excited but then got really serious and asked 'how long do I get to see Santa?' I explained to him you get to tell him about something you want and you get a picture with him. He tried telling me that simply would not do, he said 'mom I need like 20 minutes to talk to him.' And when I laughed he got a little mad at me. I told him we could write Santa a letter telling him everything he wanted to say, but he wasn't having any part of that then asked if we could just call him. I had to explain that Santa is so busy and wouldn't be home because he's working and he challenged me again asking why we couldn't just call his iPhone... As you can probably tell I'm trying not to laugh this entire conversation but it's just so darn cute. After getting through all of that I finally convinced him it would be fun to write a letter and draw some pictures. I love the way a 5 year old mind works.

Holden @ the Shedd in Chicago

Holden & my niece Trinity