Kayla's Book Nook

I was really in the mood to read a mystery thriller, so I read the book, The House of Thunder , by Dean Koontz. Dean Koontz is a fantastic writer, who can write about just about anything, and usually does! I enjoy some of his novels, not all, but he does have a great writing style, and a knack for writing interesting stories. This particular novel is about a women who gets in a severe car crash while on vacation, and wakes up from a coma in a hospital with people she has never met before. She works with the doctors to recuperate from her injuries, and time in the coma, but something freaky starts to happen. She stars seeing the four fraternity brothers from 10 years ago that tortured and killed her boyfriend then, but who also tried to kill her. She recognizes these men at the hospital, but no one believes they are the men that changed her life forever in the House of Thunder all those years ago. The reader watches the main character, Susan, fighting to keep her rational, ...

Over the past couple of days, I read the novel, Rooftop , by Paul Volponi. This is a book about a teenage boy, who lives in the projects and is struggling with substance abuse, gangs, and family trouble. The main character, Clay, struggles with smoking pot too much, and so he is sent to a day program like school called Daytop, where kids that have all kinds of issues, go to get better, and study for their GED. Clay is  really trying to make an effort  to get better, and get on the right track, when his cousin, Addison, comes to the program after getting caught selling drugs on the street. Addison and Clay start to becomes friends again, after their mothers fall out years ago. Clay finally has someone to talk to about everything, but Addison is only going through the motions to pass and not really change. Then, Addison is killed by police coming up on the rooftop to find out what is happening. Clay is left devastated, and has a hard time getting over Addison...

Thanks to a co-worker who lent me the book, and friends and family that told me how amazing this book was, I finally read, Water for Elephants , by Sara Gruen. I have been hearing rave reviews from friends, family, coworkers, online sites, and other blogs about this book, and I have to say that I agree whole-heartedly. This is a wonderful book about love, life, the circus, and how connected people can become with each other and animals in such a short time. It's a stunning tale of the carnival and circus people of a time long ago, and how their lives revolved around the circus, the performers, the workmen, the animals, and the crowds. I loved all the characters in this book, and it was really interesting going from the past to the present with the main character. The love between Marlena and Jacob is so wonderful, and pure that it's a great part of this book. I also love how involved and invested Jacob becomes with the animals and some people in the circus. It's a tale of...

Last December, while surfing the internet for teaching jobs or jobs related to teaching, I came across Teach for America. This is a non-for-profit organization that rigorously interviews teaching candidates, and if accepted are placed in schools around the country that are in high-need. The teachers are placed in areas where there is a high achievement gap, so that these very qualified educators can start fixing the problem that low budgets, low parental involvement, and a belief in stereotypes cause. Once I read the online literature, testaments from Corps members, and everything else, I decided to apply. This application process is long, and sometimes hard, there is a lot of information that needs to be provided as well deadlines to hit for certain aspects of the interview process. All this information can be found online at their website, for a better idea of the timelines. This last week I went to my final interview for Teach for America, and it was a great experi...

Over the past few days, I read the book, Holes, by Louis Sachar. This book is about a boy, Stanley Yelnats the third, whose family seems to always have bad luck. This story follows Stanley as he gets arrested for a crime, and then goes to a camp in the middle of the desert, called Camp Greenlake. There we follow him, as he discovers friends, how to dig, his own personal strength, and a confidence he never had before. I loved this book, and I would definitely recommend it to other people adults and young adults alike. It has some really funny moments, great characters, a quick pacing, and an easy to read but enjoyable plot. The book jumps from past to Stanley's great-great-grandfather and his travels, to the present with Stanley and his troubles. They are connected not only by lineage, and their solution is wonderful. There is a movie called Holes as well, that has Shia LaBouf, Sigouney Weaver, and Jon Voight in it as well. This is a great movie, it goes along really well with t...

Since I couldn't get in to work today, because we got about 12 inches of snow last night, I read the book, Dust , by Joan Frances Turner. This book is about a girl who dies when she is fifteen, and is reborn as a zombie once she is buried. This book explores the science fiction world, and pushes the boundary of conventional thinking about life and death. Once Jessica, the main character, becomes a zombie, she is pulled into a nearby gang of zombies, and sets out to live the rest of her undead life in peace with friends. Although, this does not happen, the world turns upside down, and a new species takes over, and it's all that Jessica and her friends can do to survive something no one saw coming. Lately, I have been a lot like everyone else, getting into this new zombie phase, for example my favorite game is Nazi zombies from Call of Duty. This new phase just like vampires recently, has seeped into literature, movies, music, and so much more. I admit that when I read the dust...

Over the past couple of days, I read College Girl  by Patricia Weitz. This is a story about a girl who goes to college, and loses herself while trying to find herself. It's about a girl with a lot of issues, insecurities, and problems to overcome all while trying to have a real normal college experience. The main character, Natalie, goes through a lot during the book, and yet in the end it's not about love, or sex, or drinking, it's about Natalie trying to process her brother's death, while trying to become herself and not be afraid. When I first started this book, I have to be honest I didn't like it at all. I disliked the main character so much throughout the whole novel, because she is weak, insecure, confused, and so much like the girls that guys usually take advantage of in college. I pitied her, and yet I wanted her to change, to get better, to become herself throughout the whole book.  In the end though, I really liked this book, I think the end, and the ch...

Last week I read the book, The Lightning Thief, by Rick Riordan which is the first book in a series of books, about humans that are half-human and half-god, they are called half-bloods. This book brings us back in the world of Greek mythology, and then brings that world into western civilization in the United States. I loved this book, not only for the great writing, action packed plot, and dynamic characters, but because it has a lot of history, facts, myths, and tales rolled up into a fiction novel. I love that as a teacher's viewpoint, students would read this, and then want to read some Greek mythology to better understand characters in the book, circumstances, and innuendos. This story follows a 6th grade boy, Percy Jackson, from a school where he is attacked to Olympus where he.... I'll leave that up to you to find out! I do have some criticism, Percy Jackson in the book is supposed to go to the Underworld and get the lightning bolt back, and then return it to Zeus to...

Late last night, I finished The Time Traveler's Wife,  by Audrey Niffenegger, which is also a wonderful movie. Most people already know, but this book is about a man who time travels and meets his future wife in the future when she is a young girl in the past, makes sense doesn't it? It's about how Henry time travels, and gives up his free will in order to see what his life is going to be like, who he marries, if he has children, etc. He already knows what will happen in his future, therefore most of his free will is gone, he still chooses things, but in the end those choices are the ones that get him to his future he's already seen. What I truly love about this book, is the unwavering love story. Through time and space, past, present, and future, Clare and Henry share a love that transcends all problems, all absences, all scrutiny. It's interesting that these characters never really question their love, or the fact that they will in time get together and get marr...