reading right now ( )

I actually liked looking for alaska better, but this was a good one too. The teens in his books always seem to have some sort of life-changing moment that usually is pretty simple, which is how 'eureka' moments go. ( )

In an attempt to understand and/or outrun the albatrosses in his life, Colin Singleton takes a road trip after graduating from high school. He needs to leave behind the nineteen girlfriends (all named Katherine) who dumped him, and eighteen years as a prodigy crushed by people's expectations of him. Traveling with his best friend Hassan, they decide to swerve off their scheduled path to visit an unlikely tourist attraction, the Duke Ferdinand of WWI fame's alleged grave site. This detour takes Colin away from his normal life and with a bit of luck, lands the pair in Gutshot Tennessee, where Colin gets deeply involved with the lives and lore of the locals.

Through it all, Colin's focus remains on the big picture: developing a scientific theory / mathematical formula (described, like the footnotes in the book, in tongue-in-cheek detail) to explain his failed relationships. Filled with footnotes and including an appendix explaining the formula, Green's book is built on an abundance of wit, empathy, and insight. ( )

After falling in love with John Green's writing in Looking for Alaska, I took the opportunity while visiting the Elliot Bay Book Company in Seattle, to buy both An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns.

An Abundance of Katherines is about Colin Singleton, a high school graduate and child prodigy who has just been dumped by his girlfriend, Katherine. In fact, all Colin's girlfriends have been called Katherine...all nineteen of them. After being dumped shortly after graduating, Colin and his best friend, Hassan, decide to go on a road trip, while Colin continues to work on his Theorem of Underlying Katherine Predictability. On this road trip, Colin and Hassan find themselves in middle of nowhere Gutshot, where they meet Lindsay, not a Katherine but something very different.

Katherines is a little more daring than Looking for Alaska, while at the same time, very little appears to happen. Although I did not find myself becoming particularly attached to the characters in this book, I did enjoy the writing, particularly the mathematics that pervade the story. I also liked Green's use of footnotes for these mathematical formulae and other amusing tidbits.

Sadly, I did not love Katherines as I did Alaska, but it was a well written book regardless. I would recommend it as an example of John Green's intuituve and insightful writing, although as other bloggers have pointed out, not everyone would consider this book suitable for younger teens.

Colin is voor de negentiende keer gedumpt door een meisje dat Katherine heet. Hij onderneemt een 'roadtrip' die eindigt in het gehucht Gutshot. Daar ontdekt Colin de waarheid over de liefde en de negentien Katherines. ( )