:)

37-Books I read in September & October

I only read one book in September (sad, I know), so I am combining both months for this post. Here we go:

September

1. Marked (House of Night #1)-P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

October

1. Betrayed (House of Night #2)-P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 
2. Chosen (House of Night #3)-P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast 
3. How Tia Lola Came to (Visit) Stay-Julia Alvarez 
4. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (Chronicles of Narnia #1)-C.S. Lewis

I began reading The House of Night series years ago, but didn’t get very far. I found books 1-4 at Goodwill and had to buy them (10 books for $1, seriously). I love vampire stories and mythology and this series has plenty of both.

So, what is this book about? Zoey Redbird is a ‘regular’ 16 year old girl who gets marked to become a vampire. Once someone becomes marked, they have to live at the House of Night until they go through the change to become adult vampires. Zoey soon discovers that she is a special kind of fledgling and receives special gifts from the goddess Nyx. These gifts lead her to make friends, as well as enemies, and to take on a lot more challenges than she anticipated.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, but feel that the other books were kind of slow (and a bit repetitive). That being this is an easy read and I will be on the lookout for the rest of them.

#3 and #4 are books that I read to my kids. #3 is the story of Miguel and Juanita, two siblings who, after their parent’s divorce, move to Vermont (from New York City). Their mother invites Tia Lola to visit (from the Dominican Republic) and her arrival causes Miguel to have a cultural identity crisis. In New York, there were many people like him, but Vermont is primarily Caucassian. He already feels like the odd ‘brown’ boy and his eccentric Tia Lola does not make matters easier. In the end, of course, Miguel comes to appreciate his aunt. I like that this book deals with real issues and I think it is a good way to introduce these topics to children.

The Chronicles of Narnia series is like required reading for children.  I read it as a child and wanted to share that with my kids. I’m happy to day that they enjoyed it.:) I don’t have much else to add about it. I’m pretty sure everyone knows what this series is about. If not, read it!

36-Feliz Cumpleaños!

My birthday was at the beginning of this month. I don't usually celebrate in any special way, but this year I decided to gift myself something I've been wanting forever.
I'd like to add that, while I'll gladly buy my kids expensive things, I cringe at the thought of doing the same for myself. It took me a million years to finally decide that I was getting this for myself, which is pretty funny because I know that some people would not consider this item as super expensive.
Anyway, these are my b-day gifts to myself. Except for the book, that was given to me by my awesome bf.<3

35-Currently

Loving; The weather. It’s not exactly cold, but it’s not as hot as it was during the summer. Also, all the (new to me) books I’ve bought and my birthday presents!

Reading; Chosen by P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast. Also, textbooks for school (so much reading for school!) I'm also reading The Chronicles of Narnia to the kids (we're on the second book).

Watching; My bf watches a lot of reality TV, which leads to me watching a lot of reality TV. Our current new show is Duck Dynasty and, I have to admit that, I really like it. I’m also watching Switched at Birth (with Jackie), and my telenovelas (Spanish soap operas): Rosa Diamante and El Rostro de la Venganza.

This episode was so funny!

Anticipating; Lots of things! Halloween, Christmas, Jackie’s (12th) birthday, Zoey’s (4th) birthday, graduation, Ben’s (11th) birthday!

Listening to; Rilo Kiley; never gets old.

Planning; What to do once I graduate. I applied to grad school last night (!).

Working on; Finding a (real) job, managing my time, school work. Life is so busy!

34-Book I Read in August

1. The Turk and my Mother-Mary Helen Stefaniak
2. Girl, Interrupted-Susanna Kaysen
3. Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea-Chelsea Handler

First off, I want to mention that I get most of my books from thrift stores. This means that (most of the time) I have no idea what these books are actually about and buy them because a) I like the cover b) I like the author c) The synopsis sounds cool.
I kept seeing The Turk and my Mother every time I went to the store and finally decided to buy it. I'm glad I did because I really enjoyed this book. This is a collection of stories, spanning four generations of a family, and there is everything from forbidden love affairs to people who come back from the dead. I totally recommend it.
The book I least enjoyed this month was Girl, Interrupted. This memoir chronicles Susana Kaysen's two years in a psychiatric hospital. I don't want to say that it was a bad book, because it's not a work of fiction, but it was just not my cup of tea.
The last book I read in August was Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. Like her other books, this is a collection of anecdotes. I liked this book a lot more than My Horizontal Life: A Collection of One-Night Stands , which is her only other book I've read. If you like Chelsea Handler and comedy, you might like this book.

As a side note, I don't think I'm actually going to meet my goal of reading 50 books this year (I still need 15!) and that makes me really sad. Between work (I finally have a job, but let's not go there), school, and family I have no time to read.:/