Without giving anything big away: in the first book, Jack is told to keep a journal of events. When he goes to buy a journal, the *guy behind the counter* tells him it would be cheaper to just make a blog. I THINK that the blogs mentioned from time to time in the book, are the blogs we can read easily online. I thought this was MIND BLOWING and just beyond original! to answer the other questions: Finding Vanessa is a spinoff, I think it’s actually written by a different author, but the guy walked into the gas station, and stayed inside long enough to become a part of the TFTGS archives. And you’ll understand the Tony Carlos thing after a certain point, I just don’t want to say when. IMO: read the blogs first, then the books. Thats how I did it anyways, and it was freaking magical.