Kayla's Book Nook

I have just finished up an awesome book, if i stay,  by Gayle Forman. This is truly an "achingly beautiful story" like NPR's The Roundtable said in the front cover. Another wonderful find from the warehouse book sale, $1. This is a story about a girl who has lost everything from the living world, and needs to make a decision about whether to stay or go. It's about her struggle to live without her family, or to die with her family. It's about giving up the familiar, and going into the unknown. I love this book, because of it's bold tale, the flashbacks, the memory, the sensory detail surrounding the music of her life. It's a tale that makes you look at both sides of her life, and wonder exactly what she will decide. Will she stay? In the end it's a decision only she can make, and it's a hard one at that. The pull between the living and the dead, the light and the dark, the known and the unknown, the familiar and the unfamiliar, the hard and th...

This is exactly how I feel today. Here are the awesome lyrics describing my terrible day Given Up lyrics Songwriters:  Bennington, Chester; Farrell, Dave; Shinoda, Mike; Delson, Brad; Hahn, Joseph; Bourdon, Robert; Waking in a sweat again Another day's been laid to waste In my disgrace Stuck in my head again Feels like I'll never leave this place There's no escape I'm my own worst enemy I've given up I'm sick of feeling Is there nothing you can say? Take this all away I'm suffocating! Tell me what the heck is Wrong with me? I don't know what to take Thought I was focused but I'm scared I'm not prepared I hyperventilate Looking for hope somehow somewhere And no one cares I'm my own worst enemy I've given up I'm sick of feeling Is there nothing you can say? Take this all away I'm suffocating! Tell me what the heck is Wrong with me? God! Put me out of my misery Put me out of my misery Pu...

Today I had a day off, so I spent my day cleaning my apartment, listening to christmas music, catching up on shows, and the best of all, reading. I started and finished the 18th book, Something Like Fate  by Susane Colasanti. Another wonderful book from the warehouse book sale. This is by far my favorite of the three Colasanti books that I own, and have read recently. This is a book that really shows the reality of high school: the pressures, the people, the attitudes, the cruelty, the mocking, the relationships, and the hardness. I remember high school and how easy it was for someone to ruin another person's reputation with a few words that might not even be true. That's what happens in this book, Lani and Erin are best friends and then Erin starts dating Jason. Although, Jason and Lani are pretty much soul mates for high school anyways. The chaos ensues from there, and we see how relationships are built, torn down, and how reputations are ruined. This book also adds in fa...

The last book that I managed to finish in November is, Waiting For You  by Susane Colasanti. She also wrote Take Me There  which was book number 17. My own copy of the book, bought at the warehouse sale. This book is about a girl waiting for love, waiting for life to start, and waiting for her anxiety to stop. I liked this book much better than Take Me There , which is a little different in style. I like that this book offers the reader more than one relationship, it's not all about girl-girl friendships, or boy-girl dating, or boy-girl friendships. It's about all of them, and how as a teen you can have many relationships that are different and complicated, but that still work. I like the reality of her books, her characters aren't always the popular ones or the dorky ones either. She brings a realness to her characters, which is probably from her time being a science teacher to teenagers. Observation in these instances is key. Susane Colasanti writes books about teena...

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...