Hey guys, I know I'm a little late, and I'm so sorry, but I've had sooo much work this week, and 2 tests. It was only a four day week but I'm so happy that it's finally over. So this report/review is on the book club meet we had on September 26th, to discuss Will Grayson, Will Grayson, by John Green and David Levithan. I recently re-read this book just for book club and if you want to know what it's about or read my review, you can click here to do that! If you by any chance don't want to read my review or think it's too long, here's a trusty synopsis straight from Goodreads to get you all caught up.
"Will Grayson meets Will Grayson. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers are about to cross paths. From that moment on, their world will collide and lives intertwine. It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old - including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire - Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical."
So thanks to Goodreads for that amazingly short, yet informative synopsis. (Or to whoever originally wrote it) Moving on to what actually happened at the book club meet.
So as always our wonderful leader librarian, T , brought us cookies and tea but this time there was also hot chocolate. *gasp* I know, and everyone tackled it, obviously. I don't think one person actually had tea, T was surprised and tbh so was I. Then right away we got into who liked it and who didn't. Surprisingly I was one of the only people who had read it before, and who re-read it for book club. I was also one of the only people who actually finished it and liked it, at least somewhat. Everyone else, either has really high standards or just didn't finish it I guess, but most of them just didn't like it. A lot of people said it was just too depressing but at least nobody died. A few people also mentioned how they thought it would get better, but it just never did. I actually disagree, and think that it got a lot better. So overall, a few people said they kind of liked it, but most just said it was depressing and boring, and honestly I can see where they're coming from...
Right after that we started discussing who liked which Will Grayson more. And I was right, WG1 was written by John Green (friends with Tiny), and WG2 was written by David Levithan (friends with Maura). Most people (like 10 out of 12) liked the first one more, me included. But surprisingly the 2 oldest girls and the leader all liked WG2 more. (Btw we have boys in it too) Some people also mentioned how WG2 was emo, and for some reason I completely didn't believe it. Like I don't know why but ya I though he was a little weird and too depressed but I didn't think he was emo, I thought that was just Maura. Then we also talked about how this book talked a lot about how any relationship requires work, and that in life having true friends that you can talk to about anything is important. We also talked about whether or not you have friends who are like burdens to you. Someone also mentioned how both of the Wills were messed up, but Will 1 was less messed up. I think this is because he had more friends who were there for him, and because he had Tiny. On the first page of this book it says "
"
Then T brought up that the play, titled "Hold Me Closer" is actually a published book that David Leviathan published last March (2015). It is a companion novel to Will Grayson, Will Grayson and it called "Hold me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story" but it's written by David Leviathan. This is the most confusing part because we all agreed that Tiny and Will 1 were written by John Green, so how come David Leviathan published the play. I really didn't understand this part at all, because most of the play parts were in Will 1's Pov, which in turn is John Green's writing. We were all very confused until someone said that David Leviathan could've wrote the play and then John Green just used it in his Tiny parts, in WG1's perspective. We also dicussd who really created the character Tiny, and nobody really knew. We guessed it was John Green, but technically David Leviathan could've made that character up or just wrote that whole part. (Note: I googled it, and I was right, John Green did write WG1 but then who wrote Tiny or the play???) But the true story, I guess we'll never know. ;)
That's a summary of our meeting for September. For the month of October we are reading Everyday by David Leviathan, and I am actually really looking forward to it. I also really want to read "Hold Me Closer" now, maybe I'll add it to my October tbr. I will probably post my October tbr sometime this week or next, because I am currently reading A Shadow Bright and Burning and I'm almost done, and it's amazing, and I have to post my review for it first. That's actually half the reason why I finally posted this book club post, because I knew I would post that one as soon a I finished and If I didn't post this one I might never end up posting it. Lmao. Anothe thing that came up, was that apparently there's going to be a Looking for Alaska movie, and Imdb says that it will come out in 2017. Well there's already one for Paper Towns and The fault in our stars, why not. Let there be more John Green movies, *cringe*, I really did not like Looking for Alaska or Paper Towns for that matter... Oh well. And can you believe it's already October? Anyways thanks so much for reading!
"Will Grayson meets Will Grayson. One cold night, in a most unlikely corner of Chicago, two strangers are about to cross paths. From that moment on, their world will collide and lives intertwine. It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old - including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire - Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical."So thanks to Goodreads for that amazingly short, yet informative synopsis. (Or to whoever originally wrote it) Moving on to what actually happened at the book club meet.
So as always our wonderful leader librarian, T , brought us cookies and tea but this time there was also hot chocolate. *gasp* I know, and everyone tackled it, obviously. I don't think one person actually had tea, T was surprised and tbh so was I. Then right away we got into who liked it and who didn't. Surprisingly I was one of the only people who had read it before, and who re-read it for book club. I was also one of the only people who actually finished it and liked it, at least somewhat. Everyone else, either has really high standards or just didn't finish it I guess, but most of them just didn't like it. A lot of people said it was just too depressing but at least nobody died. A few people also mentioned how they thought it would get better, but it just never did. I actually disagree, and think that it got a lot better. So overall, a few people said they kind of liked it, but most just said it was depressing and boring, and honestly I can see where they're coming from...
Right after that we started discussing who liked which Will Grayson more. And I was right, WG1 was written by John Green (friends with Tiny), and WG2 was written by David Levithan (friends with Maura). Most people (like 10 out of 12) liked the first one more, me included. But surprisingly the 2 oldest girls and the leader all liked WG2 more. (Btw we have boys in it too) Some people also mentioned how WG2 was emo, and for some reason I completely didn't believe it. Like I don't know why but ya I though he was a little weird and too depressed but I didn't think he was emo, I thought that was just Maura. Then we also talked about how this book talked a lot about how any relationship requires work, and that in life having true friends that you can talk to about anything is important. We also talked about whether or not you have friends who are like burdens to you. Someone also mentioned how both of the Wills were messed up, but Will 1 was less messed up. I think this is because he had more friends who were there for him, and because he had Tiny. On the first page of this book it says "
"
This quote is what started our whole discussion. Will saying that if he could pick his friends he would never pick Tiny. This is probably because Tiny is a lot of work to look after, and Will himself is falling apart. We started discussing why Tiny is a bad friend as well, and it surprised me how bad of a friend he truly was. Will literally gave up his group of friends for Tiny when he wrote that letter to the school, about Tiny being allowed to be in the change room even if he was gay. Tiny does not appreciate this at all and is very self-centred and many times just forgets about Will. Especially when he is with WG2 he totally doesn't even talk to WG1 which is very rude on his part. Tiny also never really includes Will 1 in conversation, he just lets Will 1 hide behind him, and never asks for his true opinion on important things. Also Tiny is always complaining to WIll about his many boyfriends but when Will complains 1 time to Tiny about Jane, Tiny overreacts and says that Will is super annoying. He even puts it into the play, which seems really rude and unfair to Will. (Btw I just found this page on google books, and a review said that they can relate so much to lowercase Will, and I was so confused until I saw that WG2 wrote everything in lowercase, not a single capital, and I never noticed that. Lmao)
Then T brought up that the play, titled "Hold Me Closer" is actually a published book that David Leviathan published last March (2015). It is a companion novel to Will Grayson, Will Grayson and it called "Hold me Closer: The Tiny Cooper Story" but it's written by David Leviathan. This is the most confusing part because we all agreed that Tiny and Will 1 were written by John Green, so how come David Leviathan published the play. I really didn't understand this part at all, because most of the play parts were in Will 1's Pov, which in turn is John Green's writing. We were all very confused until someone said that David Leviathan could've wrote the play and then John Green just used it in his Tiny parts, in WG1's perspective. We also dicussd who really created the character Tiny, and nobody really knew. We guessed it was John Green, but technically David Leviathan could've made that character up or just wrote that whole part. (Note: I googled it, and I was right, John Green did write WG1 but then who wrote Tiny or the play???) But the true story, I guess we'll never know. ;)
Some other things we mentioned were that when WG2 was told to meet "Isaac" at a porn store, some people knew that Isaac was probably not who he said he was. Still nobody actually saw coming that it was Maura all along. We also mentioned that maybe it was fate that brought the two Will Graysons together, because they met in a porn store, but neither one of them actually went there for the right reason. We talked about how everything happens for a reason, and that you can have a connection with anyone, anywhere and how you never know before it happens that it will. WG1 just needed to use his fake Id, and WG2 was meeting Isaac. This is actually a very important point, because if they hadn't met then there would be no real climax, or point where the two stories interconnect. Also they both changed a lot because of this event, and because of how Tiny played a part in both their lives after. We also talked about who had it easier. We all decided that WG2 had it harder because he was poor, he only had one parent, he was gay (and had a problem with coming out), he only had one friend and she was a fake, and he was actually diagnosed with depression. While Will 1 said that he had "such a hard life" but honestly he wasn't poor, he had two loving parents, and he had Tiny, and later Jane. He honestly had a way easier life, he just really liked to complain about it. Someone also mentioned how people who don't care have it better and are "more chill" because they don't get so worked up about it all. WG2 kind of is like this after the Isaac fiasco and comes out to his mom and friends without actually thinking about it and life gets so much easier for him, he now has Gideon and is closer to his mom. We also talked abut how when you get older you don't care as much and take more risks, but by then it might be too late and your life might have passed you by already. So therefore, you should start doing things you want to do and taking more risks at an early age. And some people just give up on life, while others get up every morning and live it with joy, even if they are 102 years old. Not all old people want to die, unlike what someone said, a lot of them want to live and those are the ones who live longer, they make friends and they do exercise, and they're actually happy. Cough Cough Maya. who said that by that age they all just want to die, which is very untrue.
Some people also said that they thought that Will 2's depression seems a little too extreme and fake. But in my opinion everybody's different and everyone experiences' mental illnesses differently. People exaggerate so that nobody gets offended, or can't relate; authors sometimes overestimate things just so that they seem more over-exaggerated then under-exaggerated. Which is always worse, because then people also complain that it's not realistic enough, and they get even more mad because it is an unrealistic portrayal or there very real illness. There was also a question asked about how hard it is to reach out to people that can help you, and we all agreed that it is pretty tough. You can only really talk to your parents, but sometimes you just don't want to or they can't actually help you. We also mentioned how neither Will Grayson actually reached out to anybody for help, and maybe that's why they suffered so much. Also it was discussed how Guidance counsellors are supposed to be there to help you with your problems, but they never really are. They're only there to deal with your school issues with classes but even them you can't always get in touch with them.
So overall, as you can see our hour long discussion was very deep and meaningful this time around. I think it was mainly because the book had a lot of themes to discuss like fate, depression, and true friendship. These are the monthly recommendations as per usual:
~ Such a Pretty Girl -- Laura Wiess
~ The Lovely Bones -- Alice Sebold
~ Empire of Storms (me) -- Sarah J. Maas
~ An Abundance of Katherines -- John Green
~ The Raven King -- Maggie Stiefvater
~ The Games -- Ted Kosmatka
~ All the Truth that's in me -- Julie Berry
That's a summary of our meeting for September. For the month of October we are reading Everyday by David Leviathan, and I am actually really looking forward to it. I also really want to read "Hold Me Closer" now, maybe I'll add it to my October tbr. I will probably post my October tbr sometime this week or next, because I am currently reading A Shadow Bright and Burning and I'm almost done, and it's amazing, and I have to post my review for it first. That's actually half the reason why I finally posted this book club post, because I knew I would post that one as soon a I finished and If I didn't post this one I might never end up posting it. Lmao. Anothe thing that came up, was that apparently there's going to be a Looking for Alaska movie, and Imdb says that it will come out in 2017. Well there's already one for Paper Towns and The fault in our stars, why not. Let there be more John Green movies, *cringe*, I really did not like Looking for Alaska or Paper Towns for that matter... Oh well. And can you believe it's already October? Anyways thanks so much for reading!
- <3 Katia
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