Spring Break is over. My 10 days of uninterrupted reading has ended. I am looking forward to getting back to work - I have missed my class and I'm excited to hear all about their breaks. :)

Also, I just learned how to put a book on hold online at the library and suspend it until the date I want it to come in. I think that's pretty cool. I put about 15 books on hold using this feature. Oh, and speaking of the library, I had a book on hold at a library that I don't usually visit. Nate and I were headed to my parents on Friday, so I thought we could stop at the library on the way down. I copied the directions exactly as they appeared on Google Maps and off we went. Imagine our surprise when we circled the area for FIFTEEN MINUTES and still could not find the library. I ended up canceling the hold and placing a new hold for the same book, to be picked up at my regular library. What a mess.

Army Wives is all new tonight! And Glee on Tuesday! And the last episode of Ugly Betty on my birthday :(

Yum! Wasabi flavored KitKats!

my read shelf:

13 Reasons Why

I just finished 13 Reasons Why, which fulfills a challenge for The Nest Book Club Spring Challenge (5 points, Read a book with a number in the title). This book was written with two narrators, telling the story at the same time. One story is the past and one is the present, but the past affects the present. It was written well and surprisingly not confusing to follow at all. Not the best book I've read this month, but still "enjoyable" (for a very sad topic).

Its very hard to believe that my spring break is over in a day and half. Where did it go?? Although, I am looking forward to heading back to school.

TROUBLE

my read shelf:

I finished two books in two days - I may not have enough books from the library for my whole spring break!

I read The Hunger Games in less than one day. Its a YA book about a post-apocalyptic world. I could not put it down! Normally, I have a hard time with YA books because I feel like they are too whiny and filled with teen angst. But I loved this one. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, Catching Fire. Things between Katniss and Peeta are so unfinished. And what happens when Katniss returns to her family? Are they proud of her or are they ashamed at how she's acted, the way that Peeta is? And I read the jacket cover for CF and I am already wondering why Gale is so cold towards Katniss. Unfortunately, I am #7 on the list at the library.

The book I finished yesterday was While I'm Falling. It was a good book, but I was anxious to finish it, not because it was un-put-down-able, but instead because I wanted to move on to my next book. It was a solid read, with good character development and a nice pace. But it wasn't overly gripping.

Last night, Nate and I rented The Watchmen and An Education. Both movies are based on writing, one a comic book and the other a book by Nick Hornby. We only saw The Watchmen. Maybe we'll watch the other before we go to the his parents house later today.

Today is Easter, so Happy Easter!




my read shelf:

Spring Break started at 1:45 today! And since I have 10 whole days with nothing important to do and nowhere important to be (with the exception of my sister's visit in the middle of the week and my visit to the Body Works exhibit at the Franklin Institute tomorrow), I made sure to stop at the library on my way to pick up two more books I had on hold.

I got:
Hunger Games. I have read so much about this book on The Nest boards that I couldn't resist borrowing it from the library. I am only 10 pages in, but so far I think its going to be a quick read.
Columbine. I also heard about this on The Nest.
While I'm Falling. I saw this on display at B&N when it first came out. I didn't have any money at the time and made a list of about 15 books that I wanted to get. This was one of them.
Nanny Returns. I enjoyed The Nanny Diaries. I thought it was a cute book. So far - I hate this one. But I will try to get through it.

My thoughts on my upcoming unemployment? Maybe, finally, I can read the books on my bookshelf :)
That's a positive outlook, right??

my read shelf:

two more!

So I just finished The Law of Similars. I felt that everything happened a little too quickly. I think that the relationship between the "homey" and the dad could have been fleshed out a lot. Seriously - who falls in love after 2 dates?? It held my interest though. I kept hoping for more details, though. 3 out of 5.

I also finished House Rules. I keep reading Jodi Picoult books, in the vain hope that she will return to the writing of her early books, when it wasn't so damn predictable. I figured out the "twist" less than halfway through the book. It was a lot of work to finish this one, but I trudged on. I enjoyed Jacob's character, though, which is why I kept reading. I couldn't stand his mother and I just felt bad for his brother. 2 out of 5.

I also just found out that the library does digital audio book downloads! So I downloaded Water for Elephants, First to Die, and a Dean Koontz book.

Up next: Water for Elephants (already starting listening on my way to work today - and LOVING it)
While I'm Falling (picking up at the library tomorrow)

Two more down!

Okay, so I just finished Sometimes Mine by Martha Moody and Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby.

I've never read anything by Nick Hornby before, but I've seen High Fidelity and it was one of my favorite movies in college. I am also a huge fan of About a Boy (the movie). But I wasn't sure if I'd like his writing style, as I had tried to read Fever Pitch and never got through it. This time I went for the audio book. And I loved it. The ending was a bit far fetched, but I loved the development of Annie and Tucker and Duncan. Overall, I give it 4/5.

I adore Martha Moody. I read Best Friends right after college and instantly related to it. I felt that way about my college roommate at the time (we were super close, but we were drifting in different directions in our lives.) so I read the whole book in two days. Office of Desire took me a little bit longer to get through, and in my opinion was considerably darker. Sometimes Mine is the most recent book. It had a lot of the darkness that Office of Desire had. Genie is so lonely, and I felt her loneliness. I felt the unraveling of her life. There were certain plot points that echoed some from Office of Desire, which annoyed me at first. For example, Howard's insatiable need to increase profits for the practice, but he was not careful about these decisions. But in the end, these plotlines were necessary for the end of the book. I was torn between loving Karn and hating her, even though she's the wife, not the mistress. And Mick - I did not like him. I think that his personality conveyed in the book was boring. All he talked about was basketball, and in the end that protected him from talking about his cancer. I give this book 3.5/5. Office of Desire is still my favorite Martha Moody book.

Up next: Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. And I'm thinking about listening to The DaVinci Code because I cannot get through the book. I've been trying for 5 years. (I loved Angels and Demons).

10/100 (possible spoilers)

10% to my goal! That's not awful. I guess all these snow days are serving a purpose. I just finished Between Sisters by Kristin Hannah. Normally, I enjoy her books. They are easy reads, even if they tend to be on the sad side. I liked this one, but not as much as Firefly Lane. After reading that, and True Colors, this one was a little predictable. I knew, the first time he was introduced, what was going to happen between Joe and Meghan. I also had a feeling what the diagnosis would be, after the second headache. The relationship between the sisters, which was supposed to be the focus of the book, developed and resolved too quickly in my opinion. All of a sudden, there was the problem. And then Claire gets sick, and the problem is gone. When she is healthy again, they are best friends like before. Yay for the happy ending and all but...

I just got The Other Queen by Phillipa Gregory, Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby (an audiobook. I've liked the movies made out of his books [About a Boy, High Fidelity, Fever Pitch], so I'm going to try an actual book this time), and The Law of Similars by Chris Bohjalian. I also just ordered The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette and Shutter Island (I kind of want to read the book before I see the movie). So, if there is really going to be another snow storm on Wednesday (and I hope there ISN'T), I should be prepared. :)