The format of Will Grayson Will Grayson is a very unique and interesting premise for a novel: two authors, two main characters, and one unlikely similarity ' the name Will Grayson.

Once I got over the initial shock of the utter disregard for capitalization of any kind that David Levithan's Will Grayson has, I started to enjoy the differences between the two styles, and the two completely different Will Graysons. (Wills Grayson?)

Like much YA fiction out there, the main theme of the novel revolves around love. But Levithan and Green accomplish this in WGWG in two distinctly unconventional ways ' firstly, they write about love in a way that isn't movie-character love. It feels real, especially the way that Green writes about unrequited love is especially poignant.

The descriptions of High School love are extremely real. It's that time when you have a crush on someone, but you haven't yet admitted it to yourself, thinking that if you don't acknowledge it you won't have to do anything about it. And you certainly haven't admitted it to your friends yet, because then they'd talk to you about it, and ask you questions about it, and you'd have to admit your feelings to yourself. And then what would you do?

And they acknowledge the existence of gay teenagers.

Thank You.

But WGWG is even more a story about friendship, true friendship than it necessarily is about romantic love. And this novel tells that story just as eloquently and completely as it does the other.

Plus there's this line: 'I can feel my fake ID in my front pocket, tight against my thigh, and it feels like I've got a ticket to the whole frakking world.' (pg 54)

Battlestar Galactica references for the frakking win.

It took me quite a while to get through this book - I even read another book entirely between the first & second thirds of reading this one.

Rex Murphy is a Canadian institution, he is an incredible orator, and has an amazing way with words. At parts though, Murphy's overwhelming cynicism at the state of the world (or at least, how I perceived it in this book) was hard to take.

I appreciate sarcasm. But 329 pages of it is a lot for me to take all at once. Murphy's weekly columns are enough cynicism and sarcasm for me - a book of them is a bit too much.

Pieces of it I truly enjoyed, and I always enjoy well-written prose, and this book is full of it. The book itself was a collection of segments written over the past 5-6 years, with some commentary added upon editing for publication. I enjoyed reading Murphy's commentary on events that I don't have distinct memories of - as I was developing my social consciousness and news-reading habits over the period of time these articles were written. So events that are hazy in my mind have suddenly been brought back into the realm of news, discussion, and opinion. That I did enjoy.

Now, if you haven't read Martel's 2001 novel, 'Life of Pi' I suggest you go and do so immediately.

Now that you've read 'Life of Pi' I can continue with my review of Martel's incredibly different work - this nonfiction, Canadian, political, epistolary novel. I don't know how to better categorize it. How does one categorize a book of letters about books that have all been sent by a Canadian Author to the current Canadian Prime Minister? Because that's exactly what Martel has done in this book. He started sending Prime Minister Harper books in April 2007, chosen all for specific reasons, to help with understanding, or governing, or culture. Martel picks a book every two weeks, writes a letter and sends it off to Harper.

In this book Martel has published all of his letters, and compiled a book of recommended readings for a prime minister of Canada. The project is still ongoing and current books & letters can be found at [...]

Some of the books Martel has chosen I have read, others I have heard of, and still others I have now added to my list of books to read in the future. I think that so far this has been a wonderfully crafted & thought-provoking project and I look forward to see what other works Martel chooses to send to Harper on a biweekly basis.

No matter if you're a Canadian, interested in Politics or Governance, or are simply looking for new & diverse book recommendations I would suggest starting here!

I admit to a love of YA (Young Adult Fiction). I loved it when I was a teenager, and I loved it through University, but most importantly I love well done YA.

Edited by Holly Black and Cecil Castellucci, Geektastic is a collection of nerdy stories by excellent Young Adult Fiction authors. From John Green to David Levithan, Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld to M.T. Anderson and Cassie Claire, this is an anthology that truly speaks to nerds of all ages.

All of these authors are known mostly for writing novels, but these short stories show how good they are at exploring characters in just a short time. Ranging from the story of the Klingon who falls in love with the Jedi (Black & Castellucci), to an education in nerd-dom (Lynn), Quiz-Bowl dramatics (Levithan), Geektastic speaks to all sorts of geeks & nerds.

So many of these authors have truly outed themselves as geeks of the highest order - from describing perfectly the awkwardness of meeting someone "IRL" for the first time, when previously you've only known them online, to the joy of introducing someone to the glory of Lord of the Rings or Star Trek, among other epics.

I would recommend this book to any lover of YA fiction, anyone who was ever a self-proclaimed geek or nerd, or anyone who is looking to find a new author to explore. I know I've finished this book with a few new authors in mind to find next time I'm in the library or at a bookshop.

For a more in-depth review see my blog at [...]

I really enjoyed all of the stories in 'Dancing Barefoot'. This collection turned out well. His stories are interesting, moving, and emotional. He connects with his readers and allows us some of our own reflection, jumping off from the experiences he writes of, to those of our own memories. Having read Just A Geek, I could tell that the two were written around the same time - in tone, the two are similar, and the stories are relevant to same period in his life that Wheaton writes about in Just A Geek. While not necessarily having to be companion pieces, they compliment each other.

This type of personal writing is a genre that I find particularly interesting. While I love fiction, I have a certain curiosity about other people's lives, what they struggle with, what they find comfort in, how they live their lives.

Overall, a really enjoyable book of short stories, well written and captivating.

For a more detailed review see my blog at [...]