An Abundance of Katherines by John Green (unabridged audiobook read by Jeff Woodman; 7 hours on 6 discs): I came into this expecting to love it, as I have loved every other John Green book I’ve read. And I did, though there were parts that hit uncomfortably close to home. Colin is a prodigy – that is, he learns and retains information extremely well and quickly. He is not necessarily, he maintains, a genius (someone who comes up with truly original ideas). When the 19th Katherine in a row dumps him right after high school graduation, his hilarious friend Hassan takes him on a road trip that ultimately lands them in Gutshot, Tennessee. I picked out the love interest in about three nanoseconds, which was kind of annoying, but the characters themselves were so much fun it didn’t really matter. I fell a little bit in love with Hassan, but that seems par for the course with me and Green’s secondary characters. This book says a lot about self-centeredness and being special, lessons I took a long time to learn. In short, I wish I’d read this, like, fifteen years ago. Too bad Green is almost my same age, and probably hadn’t learned these lessons yet fifteen years ago either. Oh well. I’ll get a TARDIS and remedy this at some point, I’m sure.

Also posted on BookCrossing.