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	<title>Kate&#039;s Book Nook</title>
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		<title>Kate&#039;s Book Nook</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com</link>
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		<item>
		<title>Hours 17 &#8211; End of Readathon Running Update</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/hours-17-end-of-readathon-running-update/</link>
		<comments>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/hours-17-end-of-readathon-running-update/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Apr 2012 03:27:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>kathrynlouw</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[24-Hour Read-a-thon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/?p=841</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, I am cohosting the last five hours so there isn&#8217;t a point in having an update thread for then so I will just make this post my home base. Ya&#8217;ll, I am in a SLUMP! I haven&#8217;t read a think in two and a half hours! I have been surfing the web trying to [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=841&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/readathon.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-430" title="readathon" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/readathon.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></p>
<p>Well, I am cohosting the last five hours so there isn&#8217;t a point in having an update thread for then so I will just make this post my home base.</p>
<p>Ya&#8217;ll, I am in a SLUMP! I haven&#8217;t read a think in two and a half hours! I have been surfing the web trying to decide what to read. The real problem is that I allowed myself to have too many choices. Next time I need to severely limit myself or this will happen again. Right now, I am about to run down to 7/11 down the street and pick up a soda. I am hoping that will wake me up and get me out of my slump. I am thinking about reading the first chapter of my books I am debating until one of them grabs ahold of me and forces me to continue reading.</p>
<p>Thanks for following my updates!</p>
<h2>Hour 19 Update -</h2>
<p>Well, I just re-read the end of The Hunger Games. I was only looking for a small part, but I got pulled into the part I flipped to and ended up reading the rest. lol I think I read about 80 pages. This brings my <strong>page total</strong> up to <strong>353</strong>. I love this series and I really, REALLY need to reread them. I am currently reading Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter.</p>
<p>For snacks &#8211; I haven&#8217;t really eaten anything. I have been drinking Cheery Sprite, which I love. I am eating a revel bar, but I have just been nibbling on it for about an hour now. I ate a wedge or two of grapefruit.</p>
<h2>Hour 20 Update -</h2>
<p>Well, I have read 50 pages of Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter. This is a series I really love. I love the Gallagher Girls. I wish I could be a Gallagher Girl. They remind me of Alias, but in a teenage, all-girls boarding school type of way. I have been a fan of strong, female spies since I first fell in love with the show Alias. Jennifer Garner sure knows how to kick some bad guy butt! I wanted to be just like her. Of course, now I have accepted that I will never fit into or have that type of life. I am no genius (like Marshal) and no super spy like Sydney. *Sigh* just thinking about this show makes me want to do a rewatch! Anyway, now total amount of pages read comes to 403. I am pretty proud of myself considering how much of a slump I have been in today. I certainly did get as much read as I had hoped, but whatevs!</p>
<p>I am about to start co-hosting duties. Luckily, I have the GG girls to keep me company (Gallagher, not Gilmore). I have the book on audio so I hope that I will be able to multi-task.</p>
<p>No snacks consumed this hour, but I am going to go get something before I get too busy!</p>
<h2>Hour 24 Update -</h2>
<p>Well, while cohosting and tweeting from the official readathon account, I have been listening to Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter. I am now on page 189. I will be able to finish it during this last hour so by the end of the challenge, I will have read just over 600 pages. Not my best effort in the readathon, but I am still pretty proud of myself. I am super exhausted and as much fun as I have been having, I cannot wait to get some shut eye! Below is my End of Challenge Meme:</p>
<ol>
<li>Which hour was most daunting for you? <strong>It was all pretty daunting this time around. I was so tired the whole time. I was doing cohosting during the last few hours so at least the tweeting was keeping me awake.</strong></li>
<li>Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? <strong>Umm, anything with action and drama is pretty good. And go with shorter books because the longer books can get discouraging.</strong></li>
<li>Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year? <strong>Maybe start planning a little earlier so that the word can get out faster/better. Normally I see things about it all over the blogosphere but I didn&#8217;t this time around</strong></li>
<li>What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon? <strong>The hourly posts were posted timely. It doesn&#8217;t always happen like that, so that was pretty good.</strong></li>
<li>How many books did you read? <strong>I read two full ones and the last 1/3 of The Hunger Games.</strong></li>
<li>What were the names of the books you read? Delirium by Lauren Oliver; Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy by Ally Carter; and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins</li>
<li>Which book did you enjoy most? <strong>Probably The Hunger Games because I started at my favorite part and it is one of my favorite books. Of the other two, I probably enjoyed Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy because I love this series and it is really light and easy going. There is humor in it. Delirium didn&#8217;t have that so much</strong></li>
<li>Which did you enjoy least? <strong>Well, that leave Delirium, but I didn&#8217;t even really dislike it that much. I picked pretty good books this time around.</strong></li>
<li>If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?</li>
<li>How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time? <strong>I will definitely participate next time. I will definitely be a reader. I really enjoyed cohosting this time around so I might try to do that again!</strong></li>
</ol>
<br />Filed under: <a href='http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/category/24-hour-read-a-thon/'>24-Hour Read-a-thon</a>  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/841/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=841&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
	
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			<media:title type="html">kathrynlouw</media:title>
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	</item>
		<item>
		<title>Hours 11 &#8211; 16 Running Thread</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/831/</link>
		<comments>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/831/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Apr 2012 22:17:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>kathrynlouw</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[24-Hour Read-a-thon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/?p=831</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hour 11: Reading Status: Books Read since last update: Delirium by Lauren Oliver (278 &#8211; 318) Pages Read since last update: 40 Total Pages Read: 150 Foods Consumed this Hour: Revel Bar Books Started: Delirium by Lauren Oliver Books Finished: none Total time read: 360 Well, I took what I had intended to be a one hour nap but turned into 4 [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=831&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/readathon.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-430" title="readathon" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/readathon.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></h2>
<h2><strong>Hour 11:</strong></h2>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (278 &#8211; 318)</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: <strong>40<br />
</strong>Total Pages Read: <strong>150<br />
</strong>Foods Consumed this Hour: <strong>Revel Bar</strong></address>
<address><strong></strong>Books Started: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong><br />
Books Finished: <strong>none</strong><br />
Total time read: <strong>360</strong></address>
<address><strong>Well, I took what I had intended to be a one hour nap but turned into 4 hours. But considering I am cohosting the last 5 hours, I will live with that. I need to be able to be awake for that.</strong></address>
<address> </address>
<h2><strong>Hour 12:</strong></h2>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (318 &#8211; 348)</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: <strong>30<br />
</strong>Total Pages Read: <strong>180<br />
</strong>Foods Consumed this Hour: </address>
<address><strong></strong>Books Started: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong><br />
Books Finished: <strong>none</strong><br />
Total time read: <strong>420</strong></address>
<address> </address>
<h2><strong>Hour 13:</strong></h2>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (348 &#8211; 388)</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: <strong>40<br />
</strong>Total Pages Read: <strong>220<br />
</strong>Foods Consumed this Hour: <strong>Pizza</strong></address>
<address><strong></strong>Books Started: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong><br />
Books Finished: <strong>none</strong><br />
Total time read: <strong>480</strong></address>
<h2><strong><br />
Hour 14:</strong></h2>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (388 &#8211; 418)</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: <strong>30<br />
</strong>Total Pages Read: <strong>250<br />
</strong>Foods Consumed this Hour: </address>
<address><strong></strong>Books Started: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong><br />
Books Finished: <strong>none</strong><br />
Total time read: <strong>540</strong></address>
<address> </address>
<h2><strong>Hour 15:</strong></h2>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (418-441)</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: <strong>23<br />
</strong>Total Pages Read: <strong>273<br />
</strong>Foods Consumed this Hour: <strong>pineapple (YUMMY)</strong></address>
<address><strong></strong>Books Started:<br />
Books Finished: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong></address>
<address>Total time read: <strong>6</strong><strong>00</strong></address>
<h2></h2>
<p><strong>Well, I have finished Delirium. It was really good, but I am not sure I want to start Pandemonium right at this moment. Anyone have a recommendation for a book from <a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/and-so-another-readathon-begins-in-5-hours/">this post.</a> Thanks!!!</strong></p>
<h2><strong><br />
</strong></h2>
<br />Filed under: <a href='http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/category/24-hour-read-a-thon/'>24-Hour Read-a-thon</a>  <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/831/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=831&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
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			<media:title type="html">kathrynlouw</media:title>
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		<item>
		<title>Running Post for Hours 5-8</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/running-post-for-hours-5-8/</link>
		<comments>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/running-post-for-hours-5-8/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:05:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>kathrynlouw</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[24-Hour Read-a-thon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/?p=826</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hour 5: Book Sentence Mini- Challenge: Reading Status: Books Read since last update: Delirium by Lauren Oliver (208 &#8211; 248) Pages Read since last update: 40 Total Pages Read: 150 Foods Consumed this Hour:  Books Started: Delirium by Lauren Oliver Books Finished: none Total time read: 240   Hour 6: Reading Status: Books Read since last update: Delirium by Lauren Oliver (248 [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=826&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/readathon.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-430" title="readathon" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/readathon.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></p>
<h2><strong>Hour 5:</strong></h2>
<h3>Book Sentence Mini- Challenge:</h3>
<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/book-sentence.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-739" title="Book Sentence" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/book-sentence.jpg?w=645&#038;h=481" alt="" width="645" height="481" /></a></p>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (208 &#8211; 248)</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: <strong>40<br />
</strong>Total Pages Read: <strong>150<br />
</strong>Foods Consumed this Hour: </address>
<address><strong></strong>Books Started: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong><br />
Books Finished: <strong>none</strong><br />
Total time read: <strong>240</strong></address>
<address> </address>
<h2><strong>Hour 6:</strong></h2>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (248 &#8211; 278)</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: 3<strong>0<br />
</strong>Total Pages Read: <strong>180<br />
</strong>Foods Consumed this Hour: <strong>Beef Jerky</strong> </address>
<address><strong></strong>Books Started: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong><br />
Books Finished: <strong>none</strong><br />
Total time read: <strong>300</strong></address>
<address> </address>
<h2><strong><br />
</strong></h2>
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			<media:title type="html">Book Sentence</media:title>
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		<title>Running Post for Hours 1-4</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/running-post-for-hours-1-4/</link>
		<comments>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/running-post-for-hours-1-4/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Apr 2012 12:30:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>kathrynlouw</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[24-Hour Read-a-thon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/?p=816</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hour 1: Introductory Questionnaire   1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? I am in central California (which sucks). It is 5 am here and I am NOT a morning person!!! 2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? All of them. I seriously have no clue where [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=816&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/readathon.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-430" title="readathon" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/readathon.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></p>
<h2><span style="text-decoration:underline;"><strong>Hour 1:</strong></span></h2>
<h3>Introductory Questionnaire</h3>
<address> </address>
<address>1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today? <strong>I am in central California (which sucks). It is 5 am here and I am NOT a morning person!!!</strong><br />
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to? <strong>All of them. I seriously have no clue where to start. Maybe Jessica&#8217;s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side?</strong><br />
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to? <strong>I made these revel bars and they are so delicious. I haven&#8217;t made them in years, but they are so good!!!</strong><br />
4) Tell us a little something about yourself! I am a German soccer addict. I watch it several times a week. Unfortunately, I sometimes let it cut into my reading time. I also love to cross stitch. Sometimes I will put on an audiobook and just stitch away for hours.<br />
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? <strong>I am cohosting this time, and so that will be different. Also, I am going to just do one post for every four hours instead of doing a post every hour.</strong></address>
<address> </address>
<address> </address>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (starting on page 98)</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: <strong>just started</strong></address>
<address><strong></strong>Total Pages Read: <strong>just started</strong></address>
<address><strong></strong>Books Started: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong><br />
Books Finished: <strong>none</strong><br />
Total time read: <strong>none</strong></address>
<h2><strong>Hour 2:</strong></h2>
<h3>Reading in Translation Mini-Challenge:</h3>
<ul>
<li><strong>On your blog</strong> (could be in your read-a-thon update post, for example):
<ol>
<li>If you could read any book that’s been translated into English in its ORIGINAL language, what would it be? <strong>Anna Karenina (honestly, I don&#8217;t really read books that weren&#8217;t originally written in English). I prefer YA and I haven&#8217;t soon too many non-English YA books.</strong></li>
<li>Include the original book’s cover if possible; if you want, also post the English cover for comparison. <img class="alignnone" title="1st edition" src="http://www.cowanauctions.com/itemImages/78276.jpg" alt="" width="356" height="420" /></li>
<li>Optional imaginary bonus points: post a sentence from the book in its original language. Левин хотел сказать брату о своем намерении жениться и спросить его совета, он даже твердо решился на это; но когда он увидел брата, послушал его разговора с профессором, когда услыхал потом этот невольно покровительственный тон, с которым брат расспрашивал его о хозяйственных делах (материнское имение их было неделенное, и Левин заведовал обеими частями), Левин почувствовал, что не может почему-то начать говорить с братом о своем решении жениться. Он чувствовал, что брат его не так, как ему бы хотелось, посмотрит на это.</li>
</ol>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (98 &#8211; 138 )</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: <strong>40</strong></address>
<address><strong></strong>Total Pages Read: <strong>40<br />
</strong>Foods Consumed this Hour: <strong>Blueberry Muffin</strong></address>
<address>Books Started: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong><br />
Books Finished: <strong>none</strong><br />
Total time read: <strong>60</strong></address>
<address> </address>
<h2><strong>Hour 3:</strong></h2>
<h3>Book Puzzle Mini-Challenge:</h3>
<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/time.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-821" title="Time" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/time.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/travelors.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-822" title="Travelors" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/travelors.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></p>
<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/wife.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-823" title="Wife" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/wife.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></p>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (138 &#8211; 168)</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: 3<strong>0<br />
</strong>Total Pages Read: 7<strong>0</strong>Foods Consumed this Hour: <strong>nothing</strong>Books Started: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong><br />
Books Finished: <strong>none</strong><br />
Total time read: <strong>120</strong></address>
<h2></h2>
<h2><strong>Hour 4:</strong></h2>
<h3>Reading Status:</h3>
<address>Books Read since last update: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver (168 &#8211; 208)</strong><br />
Pages Read since last update: <strong>40<br />
</strong>Total Pages Read: <strong>110<br />
</strong>Foods Consumed this Hour: <strong>Chocolate Milk</strong></address>
<address><strong></strong>Books Started: <strong>Delirium by Lauren Oliver</strong><br />
Books Finished: <strong>none</strong><br />
Total time read: <strong>180</strong></address>
<address> </address>
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			<media:title type="html">kathrynlouw</media:title>
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			<media:title type="html">1st edition</media:title>
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		<title>And So another READATHON BEGINS (in 5 hours)!!!</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/and-so-another-readathon-begins-in-5-hours/</link>
		<comments>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/04/21/and-so-another-readathon-begins-in-5-hours/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Apr 2012 06:41:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>kathrynlouw</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[24-Hour Read-a-thon]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/?p=810</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Well, it is that time of the year again folks&#8230; You know, the time of the year when your Google Reader throws up all these hourly updates and you are like &#8220;WHAT IS GOING ON???&#8221; Well, I will tell you what is going on! It is Dewey&#8217;s 24-Hour Read-A-Thon. I pretty much think it is [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=810&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/readathon.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-430" title="readathon" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/readathon.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></p>
<p>Well, it is that time of the year again folks&#8230; You know, the time of the year when your Google Reader throws up all these hourly updates and you are like &#8220;WHAT IS GOING ON???&#8221; Well, I will tell you what is going on! It is<a href="http://24hourreadathon.com"> Dewey&#8217;s 24-Hour Read-A-Thon</a>. I pretty much think it is one of the best days of the year&#8230; except for the fact that there are two of them!!! It is like being allowed to have two birthdays or two Christmases or two blissful days when you can say &#8220;No, friend, I don&#8217;t care to hang out because I am going to hang with my hommies online and read some awesome books!!!&#8221; I know, pretty exciting, right?!?</p>
<p>Now readathon is the one time (LIES) of the year that I allow myself to splurge on snack and to basically treat myself and this year is no except. I was going to do a vlog about it but apparently my deal does not like to cooperate with me and refused to work. Let&#8217;s just say there are some delicious snacks like string cheese and Dorritos and Cheetos and leftover easter candy. But before you all freak out on me and remind me that I could gain a lot of weight, rest assured that I also bought grapefruit (already peeled and everything so I don&#8217;t have to get messy and I can spend more time reading) and grapes (which I froze because that is the best way to eat grapes!!!) and pineapple. I also have Greek yogurt and cottage cheese and froze gogurts (wow, I didn&#8217;t realize how much dairy I had gotten until just now). I made revel bars WHICH ARE DELICIOUS (I can post the recipe if anyone is interested!). For drinkage, I have Bolthouse Farms Amazing Mango smoothie-esque drink, Mucho Mango from Arizona Ice Tea (except it isn&#8217;t ice tea), Chocolate Milk, and Amp energy drink for later in the challenge. I also might pop over to 7/11 before readathon starts and pick up a soda.</p>
<p>Speaking of later in the challege, I WILL BE COHOSTING! That is right, you get to have this delightful voice in your head for the LAST FIVE HOURS! It is going to be tough, friends, to make it through to the end. It will be even tougher to wake up at 10:00 am the next day (less than 5 hrs of sleep is not fun!) but since it will be one of the most fun experiences, I am looking forward to it. I have an audiobook that I may listen to while cohosting so that I can stay in the reading mode!</p>
<p>Which comes to the real challenge of this challenge. Normally when I am doing the readathon, I have some sort of idea where I will start off, but this year I am overwhelmed with options. I have too many books calling out to me to read them. I will list the primary canidates and if you have any recommendations, please leave a little comment and tell me what you think I should read first. I am warning you in advance though, you might be tempted to smack me upside the head for letting some of these lovely books go unread for so long&#8230;</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/43774-gallagher-girls">Gallagher Girls Books 2-5</a> by Ally Carter (I have read 2-4 already but I forgot a lot of the plot and have been rereading them so I can properly enjoy book number 5)</li>
<li><del><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11283552-delirium">Delirium</a></del> and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9593911-pandemonium">Pandemonium</a> by Lauren Oliver (like I said&#8230; the books that I haven&#8217;t read&#8230;)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8306857-divergent">Divergent</a> by Veronica Roth (I can feel the glares and there is nowhere to hide)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8525590-wither">Wither</a> and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11112619-fever">Fever</a> by Lauren DeStafano</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7129598-nevermore">Nevermore</a> by Kelly Creagh</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3389671-jessica-s-guide-to-dating-on-the-dark-side">Jessica&#8217;s Guide to Dating on the Dark Side</a> and <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10025007-jessica-rules-the-dark-side">Jessica Rules the Dark Side</a> by Beth Fantaskey (I have seen so many good reviews of these books)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/872333.Blue_Bloods">Blue Bloods</a> by Melissa De La Cruz (I heard good things about this series)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6487308-fallen">Fallen</a> by Lauren Kate</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6990472-if-i-stay">If I Stay</a> by Gayle Forman</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6936382-anna-and-the-french-kiss">Anna and the French Kiss</a> by Stephanie Perkins (I absolutely loved Lola and the Boy Next Door)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10866233-the-list">The List</a> by Siobhan Vivian</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7008041-the-ghost-and-the-goth">The Ghost and the Goth</a> by Stacey Kade</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11715276-born-wicked">Born Wicked</a> by Jessica Spotswood</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/516182.The_Boy_Book">The Boy Book</a> by E. Lockhart (really enjoyed the first book)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9464733-beauty-queens">Beauty Queens</a> by Libba Bray</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6380822-the-dark-divine">The Dark Divine</a> by Bree Despain</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3167229-the-knife-of-never-letting-go">The Knife of Never Letting Go</a> by Patrick Ness</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7171637-clockwork-angel">Clockwork Angel</a> by Cassandra Clare</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6933141-xvi">XVI</a> by Julia Karr</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/305234.Wicked_Lovely">Wicked Lovely</a> by Melissa Marr</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1306948.The_Tea_Rose">The Tea Rose</a> by Jennifer Donnelly</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5821978-the-summer-i-turned-pretty">The Summer I Turned Pretty</a> by Jenny Han</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/99561.Looking_for_Alaska">Looking for Alaska</a> by John Green (I am ashamed to say that I don&#8217;t think I have ever read a John Green book)</li>
<li><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/73758-the-hunger-games">The Hunger Games Trilogy</a> by Suzanne Collins (because I have been meaning to reread them sense I saw the movie. I love them so much and it is on the top of my reread list).</li>
</ul>
<p>The saddest part is that isn&#8217;t even close to the books that I have that are screaming for me to read them&#8230; but it is a start and I do need to read many of these. So do you all have any suggestions? What should I start with? What should I save till the end when I need a wake up book? Please leave a comment and let me know what you think!!! And if you are interested in being a part of the readathon but haven&#8217;t sign up yet, it is never too late. Just head on over and sign up to join us in this amazing reading extravaganza! I mean, I will be there, what else do you really need??? Now it is off to bed with me before I wake up in five hours. That is the worst part about readathon, it means a full weekend with little sleep!!! But like I say, you can always sleep when you are dead!</p>
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		<title>Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/chocolate-chip-cookie-murder/</link>
		<comments>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/chocolate-chip-cookie-murder/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:33:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>kathrynlouw</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chocolate chip cookie murder]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[joanne fluke]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/?p=805</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Title: Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder (A Hannah Swensen Mystery #1) Author: Joanne Fluke Summary from Goodreads:  Hannah Swenson already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother s attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden, Minnesota s most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=805&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/chocolate-chip-cookie-murder.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-806" title="Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/chocolate-chip-cookie-murder.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></p>
<p><strong>Title: </strong><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/511292.Chocolate_Chip_Cookie_Murder">Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder</a> (A Hannah Swensen Mystery #1)</p>
<p><strong>Author: </strong>Joanne Fluke</p>
<p><strong>Summary from Goodreads: </strong></p>
<p>Hannah Swenson already has her hands full trying to dodge her mother s attempts to marry her off while running The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden, Minnesota s most popular bakery. But once Ron LaSalle, the beloved delivery man from the Cozy Cow Dairy, is found murdered behind her bakery with Hannah s famous Chocolate Chip Crunchies scattered around him, her life just can t get any worse. Determined not to let her cookies get a bad reputation, she sets out to track down a killer.<br />
Who would have the sheer audacity and the motive to kill the most punctual delivery man Hannah ever had? Topping the list is the high school football coach. What exactly was his wife doing, making the rounds with the milkman? Could Max Turner, owner of Cozy Cow Dairy, have had a secret he didn t want to share with his top employee? The more Hannah snoops, the more suspects turn up. Why has Lake Eden s most prominent prodigal son, Benton Woodley, just resurfaced? And what about the mysterious Mr. Harris who seemed interested in buying the property next to the dairy, but then disappeared? This is one murder that s starting to leave a very bad taste in Hannah s mouth. And if she doesn t watch her back, Hannah s sweet life may get burned to a crisp.</p>
<p><strong>Personal Review: </strong>Oh, how much I wanted to like this book&#8230; I really did. I like to read a good mystery on a nice winters day when I don&#8217;t have anything better to do than lay in bed. And perhaps I would enjoy have enjoyed it if there was any other female lead than Hannah Swensen.</p>
<p>Hannah Swensen was one of the most annoying female leads I have ever read. She was like a crazy mix of that friend you have that always thinks that she sucks and is too fat and nobody likes her, etc, and an extremely self-assured (but in the annoying way). Hannah acts like she is the only one that can possibly solve a mystery and that she is God&#8217;s gift to earth in practically all things except looks. In addition, her love for her cat is&#8230; sickening. One review I read described it as she thought they would start making out at any moment and that is truly disturbingly accurate. The other thing that was annoying about Hannah is the way she treated her mother. I have a really good relationship with my mother and I cannot imagine being that rude to her or about her.</p>
<p>In addition, Hannah is extremely mean about other people in her head, and since we are in her head all the time, we are privy to it. She was making fun of one &#8220;fat woman&#8221; who was around 300 pounds. She treated and &#8220;thought&#8221; about her brother-in-law (the police officer) as though he was stupid and incapable of solving the mystery. And in many moments in the book, Hannah is just a plain bully. One character told Hannah that she couldn&#8217;t talk to her at that moment, and Hannah proceeded to wedge her foot in the door and then force her way into the house. She then strong armed other characters into telling her their secrets in badly hidden threats. I found it really hard to route for her.</p>
<p>Other than Hannah, though, the book was okay. I didn&#8217;t not see the &#8220;murderer&#8221; coming and so when we found out who it was, it was unexpected. The other characters were pleasant, though not fully developed. I will try the next book in this series, but if I do not come to care about Hannah a little bit more, than I will be abandoning this series.</p>
<p><strong>Rating:</strong> 2.5/5</p>
<br />Filed under: <a href='http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/'>Book Reviews</a> Tagged: <a href='http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/tag/chocolate-chip-cookie-murder/'>chocolate chip cookie murder</a>, <a href='http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/tag/joanne-fluke/'>joanne fluke</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/805/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=805&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Sprinkle With Murder</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/sprinkle-with-murder/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 14 Jan 2012 10:14:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>kathrynlouw</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cozy mysteries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cozy mystery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[melanie cooper]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Title: Sprinkle With Murder (A Cupcake Bakery Mystery #1) Author: Jenn McKinlay Summary from Goodreads: Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are finally living out their dream as the proud owners of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. But their first big client is a nightmare. She&#8217;s a bridezilla who wants 500 custom cupcakes for her wedding. When [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=800&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/sprinkle-with-murder.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-801" title="Sprinkle With Murder" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/sprinkle-with-murder.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></p>
<p><strong>Title: </strong><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6633516-sprinkle-with-murder">Sprinkle With Murder</a> (A Cupcake Bakery Mystery #1)</p>
<p><strong>Author: </strong>Jenn McKinlay</p>
<p><strong>Summary from Goodreads: </strong>Melanie Cooper and Angie DeLaura are finally living out their dream as the proud owners of the Fairy Tale Cupcakes bakery. But their first big client is a nightmare. She&#8217;s a bridezilla who wants 500 custom cupcakes for her wedding.</p>
<p>When Mel stumbles upon the bride-to-be dead-by-cupcake, she becomes the prime suspect. The police believe that a secret ingredient in the cupcakes caused her death. To save Mel and their business, the ladies need to find the real murderer &#8212; before the cupcake killer ices someone else&#8230;</p>
<p><strong>Personal Review: </strong>This was like many cozy mystery novels&#8230; interesting mystery that you figure out almost immediately, but the journey sure is interesting. I really like to read cozy mysteries, especially in winter&#8230; it is just so gosh darn cozy. hehehe. Okay, that was way lame.</p>
<p>In this series, we are introduced to Melanie Cooper, a marketing guru turned cupcake maker. After five years in the fast lane of competitive marketing, Mel realized that she wasn&#8217;t happy and decided to help make the world a happier place through cupcakes. I wish that she had her shop in my town because I could really use some yummy cupcakes!</p>
<p>Fast foward to her mid-thirties and Mel is finally about to realize her dream. With the financial help of her best friend, Tate Harper, and the shop help of Angie DeLaura, Mel opens up Faery Tale Cupcakes. So when Tate Harper plans to marry local celebrity, Christie, and asks that Mel do their wedding cupcakes, she eagerly accepts so that she can get some much needed publicity.</p>
<p>But when Christie dies, clutching one of Mel&#8217;s cupcakes, and Tate and Mel become the main suspects, Mel knows that she has to find out who really murdered Christie before she lost everything important to her. And thus ensues an entertaining story with an  amusing cast of characters.</p>
<p>Angie DeLaura is the only girl with seven older brothers. They are constantly interferring in her life, chasing away any potential suitors. Then there is Angie&#8217;s brother, Joe, who is an assistant DA and Mel has been crushing on him for about 20 years. And Alma, one of Christie&#8217;s assistants who dresses all in black and is rather depressing for a fashion designer. And finally, in the list of amusing cast members, there is Olivia, the local competition that just might be mental. She stalks the shop and constantly tries to steal Mel&#8217;s business.</p>
<p>Melanie Cooper is perhaps the only annoying character in the book. She is extremely self-conceited and doesn&#8217;t like to let other people into her schemes. She is the quintessential &#8221;strong female lead&#8221; and many times I find these leading ladies to be a turn off. Luckily for this series, there are enough other interesting characters that makes reading this book a pleasure instead of a punishment.</p>
<p>The mystery itself was rather easily solved and I was fairly certain who the murderer was right away, although that might be because I have read a few too many mysteries and I usually know who to rule out and who to keep on the suspect list. Perhaps one of the best things about this series is the cupcake recipes in them. Last night I made Tinkerbells (lemon cupcakes with raspberry frosting). They were delicious. This book was worth it if for nothing else than the recipe to these delicious cupcakes!</p>
<p>All that said, the next book in this series is waiting for me at the library and I am eagerly looking forward to reading it. Hopefully there will be more delicious recipes in this book!</p>
<p><strong>Rating: </strong>3/5</p>
<br />Filed under: <a href='http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/'>Book Reviews</a> Tagged: <a href='http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/tag/cozy-mysteries/'>cozy mysteries</a>, <a href='http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/tag/cozy-mystery/'>cozy mystery</a>, <a href='http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/tag/melanie-cooper/'>melanie cooper</a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gofacebook/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/facebook/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gotwitter/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/twitter/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/" /></a> <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/800/" /></a> <img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=800&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Juliet Immortal</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/juliet-immortal/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:44:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>kathrynlouw</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Title: Juliet Immortal Author: Stacey Jay Summary from Goodreads:  &#8221;These violent delights have violent ends And in their triumph die, like fire and powder, Which as they kiss consume.&#8221; —Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare The most tragic love story in history . . . Juliet Capulet didn&#8217;t take her own life. She was murdered by the [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=797&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/juliet-immortal.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-798" title="Juliet Immortal" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/juliet-immortal.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a><strong>Title:</strong> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9972882-juliet-immortal">Juliet Immortal</a></p>
<p><strong>Author: </strong>Stacey Jay</p>
<p><strong>Summary from Goodreads:<br />
</strong> &#8221;These violent delights have violent ends<br />
And in their triumph die, like fire and powder,<br />
Which as they kiss consume.&#8221;<br />
<em>—Romeo and Juliet</em> by William Shakespeare</p>
<p>The most tragic love story in history . . .</p>
<p>Juliet Capulet didn&#8217;t take her own life. She was murdered by the person she trusted most, her new husband, Romeo Montague, a sacrifice made to ensure his own immortality. But what Romeo didn&#8217;t anticipate was that Juliet would be granted eternity, as well, and would become an agent for the Ambassadors of Light. For 700 years, she&#8217;s fought Romeo for the souls of true lovers, struggling to preserve romantic love and the lives of the innocent. Until the day she meets someone she&#8217;s forbidden to love, and Romeo, oh Romeo, will do everything in his power to destroy that love.</p>
<p><strong>My Review:<br />
</strong>Okay, I know that I have given a lot of negative reviews lately, and I really am sorry about that. I want to give books the benefit of the doubt, but I would rather be honest with my review than to say it has more good qualities than it does and then you might pick it up and hate it just as much as me. All that said, please note that this book has received many good reviews, and my opinions are just that&#8230; mine</p>
<p>All of that out of the way, I am just going to lay it out straight&#8230; I hated this book. I mean, I really, really disliked it. I read one review that said that if you liked Romeo &amp; Juliet by Shakespeare then you wouldn&#8217;t like this, but if you didn&#8217;t like Romeo and Juliet then you would like this. I am hear to report that is no true because I dislike Romeo &amp; Juliet (I would not kill myself for love&#8230; there is still too much to live for. I also do not like that suicide dressed up all romantic and everything is being taught to impressionable teenagers who already deal with enough angsty things in life) and I also disliked this book a lot!</p>
<p>I was not able to buy into anything in this book. The narrator of this book was Juliet and I understand that she was young when she died, but she has since been around 700 years so you think that she would have matured a little bit, but no, she still came off sounding incredibly immature. Her voice was incredibly annoying to read and so because of that, it was hard for me to feel sympathetic to her at all.</p>
<p>And then there is the love interest. I am just going to disclaimer this by saying that I do not believe in love at first sight. I believe in lust at first sight, but not love. I believe that to love someone&#8230; really love them, you have to know them. You can disagree with me or whatever, but that is my personal opinion. And because of that opinion, I was unable to buy into the instant connection and love that happened in this book. And even looking aside from that, I found no chemistry at all between Juliet and Ben. And since so much of this book is based upon the love story, it pretty much killed the book for me.</p>
<p>And then there is Romeo&#8230; I really can pretty much not write about Romeo without spoiling the book&#8230;</p>
<p>Finally, my thoughts on the &#8220;twist&#8221; in the book. Can anyone else say they saw that coming a mile away? Because I did. It was pretty much completely obvious. There wasn&#8217;t much in this book that wasn&#8217;t completely obvious and while that might work for some books, it did not work for this book.</p>
<p>And as one final thought&#8230; the ending. It was such a cop out. I mean, like seriously, if you have read this book, you will know what I am talking about. If you haven&#8217;t read this book and you plan on it, you will see what I mean&#8230;</p>
<p>SPOILER</p>
<p>SPOILER</p>
<p>SPOILER</p>
<p>SPOILER</p>
<p>SPOILER</p>
<p>SPOILER</p>
<p>SPOILER</p>
<p>SPOILER</p>
<p>Multiple realities&#8230; SERIOUSLY! That is so weak&#8230; so pathetic. And even though Ben does not remember Juliet in the new alternate reality, he again is instantly mesmorized by her? Come on, I wasn&#8217;t born yesterday. This book sucked some serious balls, but the ending was the worst. Treat your reader a little better than multiple realities. It would have been just as bad as the whole &#8220;oh it was all just a dream&#8221; ending that some have tried. If this had been a good book all along (which it wasn&#8217;t) that alone would have killed the book in my eyes.</p>
<p>And now I will rant a little about Romeo &#8211; All this time with Juliet blaming Romeo, it turned out that he just did it to she would go to heaven and have a good afterlife and she is the one who killed herself, and still she blames him for everything. That ticked me off to no ends. I am a big believer in sacrificial love. I would do almost anything for those few people that I truly love, and that is what Romeo did. It just turns out he sold his soul to the wrong side. But even after Juliet finds that out and finds out that he has loved her all along, she still acts like a little child and it was so aggravating. I felt really bad for Romeo throughout most of the book. I may read the sequel just because it is suppose to be about Romeo and I found him somewhat interesting.</p>
<p><strong>Rating:</strong> 1/5</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Perfect</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/perfect/</link>
		<comments>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2011/11/14/perfect/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:09:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>kathrynlouw</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/?p=794</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Title: Perfect (Impulse #2) Author: Ellen Hopkins Summary from Goodreads: Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there. Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=794&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/perfect.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-795" title="Perfect" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/perfect.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a><strong>Title: </strong><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9917945-perfect">Perfect </a>(Impulse #2)</p>
<p><strong>Author: </strong>Ellen Hopkins</p>
<p><strong>Summary from Goodreads:<br />
Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they’d rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.</strong></p>
<p>Cara’s parents’ unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, <em>perfect </em>means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love. Kendra covets the perfect face and body—no matter what surgeries and drugs she needs to get there. To score his perfect home run—on the field and off—Sean will sacrifice more than he can ever win back. And Andre realizes that to follow his heart and achieve his perfect performance, he’ll be living a life his ancestors would never have understood.</p>
<p>Everyone wants to be perfect, but when perfection loses its meaning, how far will you go? What would <em>you </em>give up to be <em>perfect</em>?</p>
<p>A riveting and startling companion to the bestselling <em>Impulse</em>, Ellen Hopkins&#8217;s <em>Perfect </em>exposes the harsh truths about what it takes to grow up and grow into our own skins, our own selves.</p>
<p><strong>My Review:<br />
</strong>I love Ellen Hopkins. She is seriously one of my favorite authors. She choose issues&#8230; important issues, and she writes about them in a way that is engaging to teens and young adults. The first book I read by Ellen Hopkins was Identical and it was seriously trippy. When I picked up my first Ellen Hopkins books, I did not have very high expectations. For one thing, I am not a fan of poetry, and her books are written in verse. And yet, as I read it, it did not read like it was written in verse. It read like a normal book, just formatted differently. That is something I really enjoyed about her books.</p>
<p>All that said, I must confess that this was not my favorite Ellen Hopkins book. I just couldn&#8217;t find myself really caring about any of the characters. I had trouble liking any of them and more over, I didn&#8217;t always agree with the things I knew she was pushing us, the audience, into thinking. I found the various romance aspects very hard to accept and thus hard to buy into. [SPOILER: i.e. One of the characters goes from being totally in love with someone to being in a new relationship in the matter of a couple days. I found this incredibly difficult to buy into].</p>
<p>The second thing I found difficult about this book was it seemed to me as thought the author would abruptly change things and I felt myself getting whiplash somethings. The ending felt altogether abrupt and felt like she had reached her page quota and had to abruptly wrap up all the story lines. I did not feel as though the characters had really, emotionally, reached where they ended. That disappointed me.</p>
<p>As a final note of mild negativity [this contains a mild spoiler so please skip this paragraph if you don't want to know] on of the character experiences a sexual orientation change (I am not quite sure how that should be worded). I am fine with that. That is not what I am complaining about. What bothered me in this event is that this characters partner was kind of not understanding about the difficulty of coming out. After they had only just been seeing each other for a couple of weeks (it could have been a little bit longer but it is hard to gauge time passage in this book) they were pressuring the main character to come out of the closet. Coming out of the closet is difficult and if you only discover your sexual orientation recently, it isn&#8217;t right to be pressured into coming out on anything but your own time.</p>
<p>Now all that aside, this was still a very good book. Ellen Hopkins is very skill at getting to the heart of the issue and addressing. Perfection is something that most of us strive for, and sometimes we let that destroy us. The journey to the unattainable perfection is often lead with self-destructive things&#8230; drugs, alcohol, eating disorders, and thoughts of suicide. Many of us have the desire to please others&#8230; this goes hand in hand with the search for perfections. We think that if we can only be good enough at this then they will love us or want to be friends with us or they will be happy with us. But that isn&#8217;t always the case. Those who truly love us love us despite our imperfections.</p>
<p>Ellen Hopkins really brought to life the search for each of the main four characters to be perfect. The desire for perfection manifests itself in so many ways&#8230; destructive ways. Because the truth is that no one and nothing will ever truly be perfect, and Ellen Hopkins show us the truth of that reality. We should always strive to be the best that we can be, but the truth is that we will never be fully perfect.</p>
<p><strong>Rating: </strong>3.5/5</p>
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		<title>Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins</title>
		<link>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/lola-and-the-boy-next-door-by-stephanie-perkins/</link>
		<comments>http://kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/lola-and-the-boy-next-door-by-stephanie-perkins/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 08 Nov 2011 13:54:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>kathrynlouw</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Book Reviews]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Sorry that this post was originally blank. I guess I accidentally deleted it when I went to schedule it for posting. I really don&#8217;t know what happened. But I rewrote it so here it is! Title: Lola and the Boy Next Door Author: Stephanie Perkins Summary from Goodreads: Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in [...]<img alt="" border="0" src="http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=kathrynsbooknook.wordpress.com&amp;blog=9743943&amp;post=783&amp;subd=kathrynsbooknook&amp;ref=&amp;feed=1" width="1" height="1" />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Sorry that this post was originally blank. I guess I accidentally deleted it when I went to schedule it for posting. I really don&#8217;t know what happened. But I rewrote it so here it is!</strong></p>
<p><a href="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/lola-and-the-boy-next-door.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-786" title="Lola and the Boy Next Door" src="http://kathrynsbooknook.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/lola-and-the-boy-next-door.jpg?w=645" alt=""   /></a></p>
<p><strong>Title: </strong>Lola and the Boy Next Door</p>
<p><strong>Author: </strong>Stephanie Perkins</p>
<p><strong>Summary from Goodreads:<br />
</strong>Budding designer Lola Nolan doesn’t believe in fashion . . . she believes in costume. The more expressive the outfit &#8212; more sparkly, more fun, more wild &#8212; the better. But even though Lola’s style is outrageous, she’s a devoted daughter and friend with some big plans for the future. And everything is pretty perfect (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the dreaded Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood.</p>
<p>When Cricket &#8212; a gifted inventor &#8212; steps out from his twin sister’s shadow and back into Lola’s life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.</p>
<p><strong>Personal Review:<br />
</strong>Okay, first thing I want to go over is the cover. I love the cover of this book. The model who portrays Cricket is really good looking. I love his outfit. The plaid shirt and the pinstrip pants are an interesting combination, but it totally works. And then there is Lola&#8230; She is cute. I love her outfit. I would totally wear it. I am so not god at putting together outfits, but what she is wearing is so cute.</p>
<p>And the story was so cute. I haven&#8217;t read Anna and the French Kiss yet, but this book totally put it on my library queue. I cannot wait for it to arrive. As you may have realized from my rant about Matched, I do not like love triangles. I was initially worried that I would have this problem in this book, since there was the whole Criket &#8211; Lola &#8211; Max triangle&#8230; but Cricket is so perfect that really it was no competition, and in the end, Max was not worthy of Lola.</p>
<p>The cast of characters that Perkins put together were perfect. Nathan and Andy remind me of Cameron and Mitchell from Modern Family. They are probably two of my favorite characters so you can view this as a compliment. I like how they are strict and not your &#8220;typical gays&#8221;. They are awesome!!! And then there is Lindsey&#8230; I love how she is a Nancy Drew wannabe and that she called Lola &#8220;Ned&#8221;. She was amazing. She truly was a great best friend. And then there is Anna and St. Clair. I have not read Anna and the French Kiss yet but seeing them in this book makes me really interested in it. They are so cute and really seem to be soul mates.</p>
<p>Collipe is one of those characters that, by the end of the book, you are on her side&#8230; and you totally get why she acted the way she did. As an overprotective sibling, I totally get why she did some of the things that she did to Lola. Max is someone that you are kind of ambigious about until you aren&#8217;t&#8230; I won&#8217;t say anything more about that because I don&#8217;t want to ruin anything. And then there is Cricket. Perfect, dependable Cricket. There isn&#8217;t really much to say about Cricket other than that he is amazing.</p>
<p>I love how the setting is in California. I am from California and let me tell you, there aren&#8217;t a lot of great books set in California.</p>
<p>Really, all I can say is that this book is AWESOME and if you haven&#8217;t read it&#8230; go get it! Read and it! And then come back here and tell me what you think about this book!</p>
<p><strong>Rating: </strong>5/5</p>
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