Amazing and bittersweet. Love that novel.

My son is going into 8th grade in the fall and I just was flipping through his summer reading list. Many of these books are on there. As for me, I avoided reading the assigned reading. I read and still do read avidly, but once someone recs something to me, I avoid it. Dunno why. So when I was in my early 20s, I finally read all the books which I should have already read instead of faking my way to A's. "Catcher in the Rye" was one I had read before I had it in class. I loved it read it every year for about 10 or 11 years. I revisited this one when I turned 35 (I'm only a couple years older than you) and had two kids. I was astonished that I just wanted to slap Holden Caufield in the face. Caufield, who was a hero to me since I was 11! Has this ever happened to you with a favorite work? I'm going to revisit this one soon and see how it looks in yet another phase of my life. Romeo and Juliet was an incredible piece, but Hamlet is my favorite play by Shakespeare. Predictable? Yes, but a damn fine play. If you enjoyed his lighter side, I highly recommend "Much Ado About Nothing".

Congratulations to your sister and her family (which includes you). Love those choices! I adore thinkgeek.com. My husband doesn't get it. And I don't get how I got my husband when he lacks both geekliness and a library card. There must be some good chemistry after 17 years of marriage.

I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you. I sincerely hope you get it back.

Okay, I'm queen of dorkdom. I love John Green's books (the one he autographed for me has pride-of-place in my sparse collection) but didn't know he was one of the vlogbrothers. But John is rather astonishing.