Filled with staccato bursts of humor and tragedy.

Hello my people. I don't really think that you are "my people" but you're obviously a little bit of the kind of people that I like to surround myself with, so hello!! If you're wondering, I like to surround myself with great, funny, kind people that totally get my weird sense of humor, and just let me ramble. Sound familiar?

Anyways, I wanted to share with y'all the fact that I read a book this weekend. I know that I read a lot, so this shouldn't come as any surprise, but I literally bought the book late Friday evening and stayed up until late last night to finish it. Yes, my little old lady self stayed up late on a Sunday night and still managed to get up and come to work ON TIME. Booyah!! I would've been done with it quite a bit sooner, but unfortunately I had things like going to family functions, some work, eating, sleeping, and showering that to had to be done. You know, normal people things. But I loved it so much, and became so engrossed in it that I just couldn't stop until I had finished it. The book that I'm speaking of?

The Fault In Our Stars.

Yes, I know that I'm a bit late to the party, but you know, better late than pregnant. Unless you want to be pregnant. In which case congratulations and good luck to you! Godspeed!! But me? No. Babies can smell my fear. But, seriously? This book y'all! I had heard many good things about it, but mostly I had heard wonderful things about the movie. I wanted to give it a try, but just like anything else I wanted to form my own opinion about it. Even though the hype is still ridiculous (because of the movie) I decided that it was just time to break down and get the book. I wanted to read it that bad. Y'all it was SO good. And SO sad. If you haven't read it yet, then be aware- SPOILER ALERTS!!

I knew that someone was going to pass away. Then after everyone on the planet seemed to read the book or watch the movie, I knew that it was going to be Augustus. I was prepared for this. I was prepared to feel sad when this happened. However, I was not prepared to feel as sad as I did and to cry. Yes, I admit it. I cried. Not horrible, sobbing, ugly crying, but crying nonetheless. But I didn't just cry when Augustus passed away. I cried long before that, and long after that. It was the way the story was told that actually got me.

John Green makes you fall in love with these characters. Not just one, but all of them. You fall in love with Hazel, Augustus, and Issac. You come to love the parents, Van Houten, and Lidewij. You even love Dr. Maria for acknowledging the fact that even though Hazel has cancer, she is still a young woman. She wants to experience things while she still has time left. She wants to see things and feel things. She wants to be a sixteen year old girl. She knows that she has cancer, and she doesn't deny that it's killing her. None of that information is new to her. But once she meets Augustus and realizes what's out there, she wants to live while she's still alive. This made me cry, but it also made me laugh. It made me laugh quite a bit actually. And it made me think. Have you ever read one of those books that just make you think? I found myself stopping in the middle of a sentence just to think something through. And I loved it.

It's an amazing book. I would/will recommend it to any and everyone that I possibly can. I'm sure the movie is fantastic to, but the book? Oh, I just don't think that it can be beat. Many people hated John Green after they read this or watched the movie. Don't worry, I was cussing him a bit too, but honestly he did it right. He told this epic lovestory that gets interrupted by sickness and eventually comes to an end with death. He told the story that no one else wants to tell. The true story. The truth is people we love get sick. People we love pass away. Even though we would love that not to be true, it is. And not all the time is it pretty. Not everyone gets to pass away at the ripe old age of 98, peacefully in their sleep surrounded by all of their loved ones. Sometimes, people suffer and others have to see the person they love go through things that they never thought imaginable. But their life? How they live and love while they're still with us? Now, that my friends is the real story.

In case you were wondering, I am one of those people that believes in love. True love. Great love. I don't pretend to know it, but I believe it. I believe that it's there. And if we're lucky enough to find it in life, then we only find it once. You can love more than one person. You can love a hundred different people. All with a different kind of love varying from mother to child. Child to friend. Friend to enemy. You can love with everything to everyone. But to be IN love? Now that my friend is something entirely different. And that's what this book shows. It shows great love. From beginning to end, and all that is in between. Love, understanding, suffering, perseverance, honesty, integrity, and great sadness. Be prepared. You will be sad, but it is more than worth it. Read it. Right now. And thank John Green for sharing the story with us.