"You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." ~C.S. Lewis

As I sit here drinking my morning coffee, I think about tea.
Yes, tea.
I adore coffee in all forms (I generally drink it black in the mornings) but sometimes I think I prefer tea.
For one, tea doesn't usually give me a stomachache. >_<
When I am most likely to have tea, I am about to curl up with a book.
Or wind down for the evening.
So I put the kettle on and browse my tea shelf while I wait for the kettle to sing.

Tea and books.

Why is it that the two go together so well?
For me it's because 75% of what I read happens to be British, and they are always drinking tea.
Naturally, I want some.

So, in celebration of the union of tea and books, I present you with some literary teas.
At this point I have not actually tried any of these teas.
I will, of course, but anyway.

Bingley's Teas, Ltd. I found this company last year, and still haven't ordered anything! I really should.... As the name suggests, they have teas that are Jane Austen inspired. The link will take you to their Jane Austen Tea Series, which I think is quite clever. They sell other teas on the site, as well.

Steep Show Teas: Literary Collection I just love the name of this company; how cool! They have a small literary collection with teas inspired by various figures such as Jane Austen, Emily Dickinson, and Oscar Wilde. They also sell a mug for each person. I'll definitely be checking these out soon.

Bag Ladies Tea: Novel Tea The Bag Ladies don't have specific teas for literary figures, fictional or otherwise, but they do have this Novel Tea, which is a box of tea bags with literary quotes on the tags. Simple but enjoyable, I'm sure. :)

Harry Potter House Teas I found these on Etsy! They sound delicious and I can't wait to try them.

And as seems common on the interwebs if you know where to look, there are probably many more literary teas out there.
What is your favorite tea to drink?

The Fault in Our Stars

Disclaimer: I am not a nerdfighter.
I have not read every single book by John Green.
In fact, I can't stand him as a person and his philosophy towards life is all wrong.
He believes in everything a Christian should stand against. (Don't most writers, though? Annoying.)
Ugh.

But I digress.

This particular book, The Fault in Our Stars, I wanted to read for a few reasons.
1. Super popular YA author? Guess I better check out his writing.
2. This is a book about teenagers with terminal cancer.
3. The title comes from a Shakespeare play. (Forgive me, but I can't remember which one at this moment. >_<)
4. I snagged a signed copy of it at Kmart for, like, 12 bucks. Hardcover, mind you.

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Hazel Grace is a sixteen year old girl with terminal cancer. Pulled out of school at age thirteen when she was diagnosed, Hazel has not been all that social. She has a few friends, but mostly she reads her favorite book (An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten which sadly is all completely utterly fictional), and goes to classes at the local community college. When she is also diagnosed with clinical depression, her mother decides that Hazel must (Absolutely Must) start going to a support group for young cancer survivors. Hazel does this rather unwillingly, but it is there, in the basement of a church, that she meets Augustus Waters, seventeen year old hottie that smokes unlit cigarettes (it's a metaphor, he says) and is probably the most existential teenager ever.
Augustus is quite insistent in getting to know Hazel, though Hazel is unsure at first. They hang out, watch V for Vendetta (Hazel doesn't much care for it, even though Augustus insists she looks like Natalie Portman), and exchange favorite books (Gus gives Hazel a novelization of his favorite video game, entitled The Price of Dawn). A friendship ensues, especially because Gus becomes just as enamoured of An Imperial Affliction as Hazel is.
Of course, the pair fall in love. But to give you anymore of the story would be telling. This is definitely not the kind of story I can give spoilers for.

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Seriously, though.
THIS BOOK.
The characters are brilliant.
I loved both Hazel and Augustus, their respective sets of parents, and even their mutual friend Isaac.
There were a few characters I disliked, but they were the kind of characters you were supposed to dislike.
The writing is quite good.
Somehow, John Green captures the mind of a sixteen year old girl very well.
Of course, Hazel is no typical teenager, so I liked that, too.
There was a lot of literature quoting, and some philosophy.

**************************************

It's not a long book.
I laughed a lot.
I cried kind of a lot, too.
I read it in four hours; almost one sitting, but the kittens started climbing all over me when I had twenty pages left, so I had to take a break. :P
I'm giving this book five stars, because it was actually quite incredible.
Certainly the best YA book I've read in a long, long, long time.
Whatever else I don't like about him, John Green can definitely write.

So yeah, read this book.
Please.
You just might thank me for it.