John Green Audiobooks

I think I'm a bit late to the party on being a huge fan of John Green YA books, but I just had to mention that this is my current favorite (obsession?) listen for running. I started with Stars just last month, which won The Odyssey Award at the ALA Youth Media Awards earlier this year. The Odyssey Award is given to the best Children's/YA audiobook, so I had to give it a try. Although it deals with death in teenagers, the writing is so real and honest and pretty darn funny - loved it. I saw some of the twists coming, but one really surprised me!

So then I moved on to Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Ooooooh, the teenage angst in this one! I remember one time switching to NPR news because I just needed a break from all the weltschmerz! It took me awhile to get into it, but eventually I was hooked. And, another mention of Schrodinger's Cat. This seems to be the scientific thought experiment du jour. It keeps popping up in my reading and on TV. (Weltschmerz also pops up on Big Bang. No wonder I'm loving these books.)

The one I have "read" (my punctuation for audiobooks!) most recently is Paper Towns. I didn't even read the summary before putting it on my MP3 player. I was so delighted to find that it was a mystery! I planned to read it while running, as I usually do. But I just could not turn this book off. My boys were at grandma's for a few days for Spring Break, so I listened to it over the course of a day and a half. I was fascinated by this girl, Margo, and then couldn't look away when she disappeared. Great book.

One element of all of these books that I enjoy is the smart, funny, GT kid dialogue and inner thoughts. As an adult, I have to wade through the angst just a bit, but the sharp, crisp dialogue and thought processes of the characters is worth it.