Kayla's Book Nook

The other day a co-worker asked me how many books I read a week, to which I replied about 1 to 2. This question really got me thinking about how much I read, and how many books I own right now that I haven't yet read. This led me to my new journey and goal: I am going to read 100 books in 12 months. That equals about 8.3 books per month. I will be using the September start date and the books that I have already read in September, October, and December. September 2010: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (re-read) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (re-read) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (re-read) Jellicoe Road Hunger Games (re-read) Catching Fire (re-read) Mockingjay Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea October 2010: My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands The Prodigal Son The Little Princess A Secret Garden Slam! An Ice Cold Grave November 2010: My Name is Memory Winter Girls Take Me There Although some of thes...

Here is my list of the top 10 things I am thankful for this year: 10. Life itself, you can't go wrong when you Live, Laugh, Love. 9. That I graduated college, in my major, in the four years, with great friends and colleagues. 8. For my friends, from home, from high school, from college, and now from work. 7. That my family, brother, sister, cousin, and grandpa, have stopped smoking for real. 6. My huge library of books, without them I probably would go crazy during the week. 5. I am extremely thankful for my full-time job, even if it isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life. 4. Having our awesome dog, Brama, finally living with us at our apartment. 3. That my mother is an awesome cook and baker, and that she passed those skills down to me. 2. My awesome family, both sides, who love me, support me, care for me, and pick on me throughout the years. 1. Finally being married to the love of my life. <3 He is everything that I love, need, want.

A new craze has swept over the nation in the form of a new tv show, Glee. I have been hearing from many friends that they love Glee, and are now a Gleek. I admit, at first I was hesitant about getting into a new teenager show, but after watching just a few episodes of Glee I was hooked. Then, I tried the ultimate test, I rented the DVDs and made my husband watch them. Turns out, he loves the show too! I was very surprised, but pleasantly so, because now we can watch Glee together. In my opinion, Glee is a refreshing show about teenagers. It's not about the rich, the popular, the pretty, or the elite. It's more about geeks, unique students, diversity, minorities, and real life situations. Now I am not saying that I love everything about this show, but there is so much to love anyways. I love that a girl got pregnant and it wasn't all happy and sappy, I love that Kirk is gay but is supported by friends and family although bullied at school. I love that Mercedes is big, be...

For so long I have been focused on getting a full time job, and now that I have that I am once again focusing on my future. Questions just keep plaguing me like: "What am I going to be doing in a year?" "Will I go to grad school?" "Will I get a teaching job?" "Will I stay at my current job?" "Will I get another job somewhere?" And now I just can't seem to get these questions out of my head. I feel so lost.  I don't know what to do, where to apply, how to find new opportunities. Ever since I was a little kid, I have been striving for something. Whether it's doing well in sports each season, or getting good grades at the end of the year, getting Top 10 of my class, and then graduating high school, then it was doing well in college, finding a good major, and then graduating. Now that I am done with all that, I am finding that it's hard for me not to feel a little lost, lonely, confused, and without purpose. Once I discove...

I was shown this video during college, and it made me sit and really think about teaching for once. I love this video, which is also slam poetry. It's a great video from a teacher's perspective, and it so emotional that it makes me want to cry every time I watch it. Take a minute and watch, you'll be surprised.  

This is for all of you who think poetry is slow, read from pages, boring, and uninteresting. This is slam poetry, a form of poetry that is about rhythm, emotion, performing, and heart. This is a great poem, a great poet, and an awesome performance. Take a minute, listen to this poem and think about what it says, you'll be surprised. 

This teen has been blowing up all over the web, and personally I think he is awesome. Therefore, I've decided to post one of his videos to my blog, and get some more hits for him. I think he is incredibly brave, funnny, cute, and imaginative. If you like, go onto youtube and check out some other videos of his at,  http://www.youtube.com/user/BeenerKeeKee19952#p/u/9/T4ChcMtiiic .

This year at the Putnam Penguin Publishers book sale, I got 53 books for 97$, that makes each book about a $1.83 each. That is an amazing deal and steal. My mom also bought me two Taste Of Home cookbooks for 6$. This year was a little different for me, I went on the first day of the sale, Saturday. My mom, sister, and I got there about 2, and waited in line for about 2 hours. I know that sounds ridiculous, but it was well worth the wait. Once we were in the warehouse, my mom got boxes and picked a spot, and my sister and I went out shopping. It was great, and the deals were awesome. Many books were between the $1 and $4 range, and some were in the $6 and up range. All my books were $4 or less, which is amazing. Waiting in line to pay was long as well, but they pack your books back into your bag or boxes, and since we had 4 boxes and one bag, they took our boxes out to our car for us. It was a great day with beautiful weather, and awesome book sales. Here are some pictures of the li...

Here is another video of Liz, being crazy to meet Sandra. This time she mows down on two habanero peppers, and waits 30 seconds until she gets a drink of milk and yogurt. You go Girl! haha So watch it, share it, send it to friends, comment on it, whatever you want! Thanks! Good Luck Liz!!! <3

 One of my favorite book series, is of course Harry Potter. I have been reading these books, and watching these movies since I was 11 years old. I have been an book lover since about third grade, maybe younger, so when I found the Harry Potter books it felt amazing. Finally, here was a series that I could really sink my teeth into. I read the first book, and just sat back in awe. Here was a fantasy book that was fun, interesting, exciting, and new. Each year or two, a new book would come out, and I would devour it within a day or two, and just marvel at the wonderful writing, amazing characters, and intricate plot lines. Each book in my opinion, was amazing in its own right. There are good and bad things about each book, but it really comes down to personal opinion, and I love them all. It was heartbreaking when the 7th and final book was released. It meant the end of the Harry Potter series, and it's been hard for me to handle the truth that no more will be published. The movies ...

The other day, my husband and I were discussing something, and the topic of MTV came up. The only thing that we watch on MTV these days is the Challenges between Real World and Road Rules people. We still love these shows even if they are a bit fake, and not real reality. We really enjoy the physical aspect of the show, and the challenges they show. This got me thinking, MTV has gone severely downhill since I used to watch it as a kid/teen. Back then I watched Daria, Beavis and Butthead, Real World, TRL, and actual music videos. What do kids watch on MTV now? Engaged and Underage, Teen Pregnancy, My Supersweet 16, Jersey Shore, and so many more horrid shows. Even Real World has gone downhill in my opinion, it's the same exact cast every time, there's always like three guys, three girls, maybe one more of each, one gay person, one black person, one shy girl, one promiscuous girl, and meaty guy, one shy guy, etc. It doesn't feel that real anymore. What are these shows teach...

Hey everyone, so my friend Liz who I have known since 9th grade is trying to get on Ellen so that she can meet her hero, Sandra Bullock. She is starting to do some videos that might help her get Ellen's attention. In an attempt to help, I am going to add any and all videos to my blog to help her out. She is a wonderful, fun, kind, and generous person that deserves to get to meet Sandra. So please watcher her videos, comment on them, send them to friends, write funny stuff for her to do for Ellen. It's all for fun, so have some! Here's the video: Also, check her out on youtube at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=midA8KH8THQ&feature=player_embedded . Thanks everyone! Love ya Liz!!!

It's that time of the year again! Maines warehouse is hosting the Penguin Group book sale in Binghamton, NY. This is a great sale, it is in a warehouse and many hardcovers and paperbacks are lowered down to about $1!!!! Here are the days and times of the sale, make sure you bring a big back to carry them all home in! Saturday, November 13  —  1-8PM Monday, November 15  —  5-8PM Tuesday, November 16  —  5-8PM Wednesday, November 17  —  5-8PM Thursday, November 18  —  5-8PM Friday, November 19  —  5-8PM Saturday, November 20  —  1-5 PM Thousands of titles available including Reader's Digest and DK ALL SUBJECTS FICTION * NONFICTION * JUVENILE HARDCOVERS * PAPERBACKS * AUDIO PRICED AS LOW AS $1.00   No entry fee Cash and checks only - NO credit cards (Checks require two forms of ID, including 1 photo ID) Location: Former -Maines warehouse on -Terrace Ave. in -Conklin, NY. Directions: Interstate 81 Nort...

Every year around this time, I start thinking about the upcoming year full of holidays. First there's Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Year's, then Easter. These are the major ones, because I don't even want to get started on Christopher Columbus day, gah! Halloween in my opinion, has actually been made better. I think that it's great children and even adults get to change who they are for one day! It's freeing, fun, and exciting. The only thing I do dislike about this holiday, is how much money candy companies make of it! I guess trick or treating is fun, but maybe we should slow down on the candy. It's sad to me that now when we think of Halloween it's not only about how cool we'll look in our costumes, but about how much candy we can get from all the people that are generously giving it away. Thanksgiving is an awesome holiday in my mind, because on one day I see my entire family usually, and we get to eat some really delicio...