Reading for work.. Google Resume

Last year,  I started working with technical students. I bought The Google Resume: How to Prepare for a Career and Land a Job at Apple, Microsoft, Google, or Any Top Tech Company in order to better understand my students and some of the issues in which they were facing. While I flipped through part of it last year, this week, I read it cover-to-cover. In all it is a good book. It has basic advice on how to be successful at any entry-level job. The career advice is not earth shattering as long as you accept that a very important job search tip is to complete research a company.  
While this book is not for everyone, it serves its defined purpose: to help you succeed in working with technical companies. It had great advice and great resources.


(Check them out: http://www.careercup.com/ or http://www.thegoogleresume.com/)
If this falls into your career path, check it out. It is a good fast read!
Happy Reading! August Books coming up!

Love On a Boat

Happy Summer! Reading in the summer is both the best and worst thing. I can sit and read pages in no time while wasting hours not reading.

I FINALLY finished Love in Time of Cholera. All in all not my favorite book. It is beautifully written ... but the plot and characters are not memorable. The story is not great, and love finally comes together at the end.

If you like Gabriel Garcia Marquez or historical romance, you may like this book. For the average reader, it is just the story of two lovers who are told their entire life they cannot be together.

I could have skipped this book.

Happy Reading!

Secret Confession

I have a confession to make... I love to read... but more than loving to read... I love the thrill and excitement of discovering new books. When I decided to read 100 books of 2013, I discovered my planning nature quickly took over. Over 85 books were on the list within 24 hours. I discovered the magic of Goodreads and started organizing everything I read and wanted to read in 2013.

Here is the thing...Goodreads, friends, bookstores, and now new bloggers exposed me to great books that I am dying to read. While I try to mix it up and keep to the books I pick out each month, sometimes I discover I need something different or I am really excited about a new book.  Now in July, I miss my strolls through used book stores (The Book Escape is amazing in Baltimore- You can't beat McKays in Tennessee)  and browsing Amazon and Target for new books.

Some of my books...

So forgive me, if I delve off from my list or if I move a book to a different month. I believe I will be a life long reader. Ideally, I will read them all at some point. Many books I just keep adding to my Goodreads shelf.  It looks like I have about 43 books left to choose from. I encourage you to check out my Goodreads to-read shelf. Let me know if there is a book that I am missing, or I should try to include this semester.

Let me know your suggestions!

Maybe, I will even  take a planned month of reading off( gasp) and read for fun...
Hope to finish.. Love in Time of Cholera tonight!


Happy Reading!

A Royal Children's Book

Across the pond, great children's literature is common. Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, and Harry Potter just to name a few. Magic, royalty, and great plot lines are quintessential British. One book, however, was off my radar as a kid, Elizabeth Goudge The Little White Horse.

It seems fitting that on this night of a royal birth, I review this famous British children's book.

Maria Merryweather is orphan and goes to live with her cousin in ancient family home of the Merryweathers. Soon the legends of the town and community are revealed. Family pets come alive and stories that are past down seem to have more truth in them than at first glance. The men of the Dark Wood constantly terrorize the village. Only the Moon Princess can restore peace.

At first glance, this is a modern day fairy tale. Magic is mentioned but never explicitly seen. The writing is high quality and almost every page adds to the under lying story.  Overall, it was a good story.  I had to adjust because I think I wanted the magic of Harry Potter. It has its own magic but is hidden within the pages and legends. It was good, but not amazing. It is not a children's story to be missed!

Happy Reading on this Royal Day!

Creating a New Oz

Wicked might be in my top 50 favorite books. I hate to say the rest of the series does not live of to the standards or hype of  the first book. Macguire has a very set way of writing and crafting a story. A Lion Among Men was reviewed last month not favorably. Out of Oz story and plot has much to be desired. Many lose ends were addressed and the war was solved. Oz is at peace. The plot lines and stories were drawn-out over 500+ pages. Extra ideas were brought in making an already complicated story more complex. It is great to see Candle take on some of Elaphba personality and final story lines resolve. Beware though. With all the complexities, I would suggest reading all 3 books in the series to best understand the book.

Happy Reading!

Maus out runs Cat

After reading Maus I,  I decided that I should read the entire series. (I should say Art Spiegelman decided for me as Maus I ended in a climax. Maus II comes to a dramatic but satisfying ending of a sons attempt to write his father's Holocaust story.

There are many Holocaust books around, Maus is unlike any story you have read before. It can be read in just a few hours. A graphic novel may not be your cup of tea, but the Holocaust is a hard subject. Family issues can even be even harder. Art does an amazing job tackling these issues in an authentic comic. Take a break from your light summer reading and take a look into this important, tragic time in history and remember.

Happy Reading!

A little Shakespeare in the mix

Over the years especially in college and high school, I read many of the Shakespeare classics. Some were better than others and it took some reflecting to really grab the meaning of the stories. For most of the Shakespeare's reading, I rely heavily on Shakespeare's Folger  Library editions. These editions give scene break downs, Elizabethan language interpretation, and many other great incite.

Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare's better known comedies. Star-crossed lovers, war, scandal, and everything in between. After the war, Leonardo  welcomes back Prince Don Pedro and his war hero Claudio. Quickly he falls in love with Leonardo's daughter Hero.  The stage is set then for another solider and friend Benedick to start courting the stubborn Beatrice.

With exciting twist and relatively easy plot to follow, Shakespeare creates great charters and fun story to read. If you like drama or classics I would take some time to read into this good play!


Happy Reading!


I know I am a little behind for July. Travels, Holiday, and just summer fun...

Maus II was amazing. I will try to blog tonight or tomorrow.  Additionally, I should finish up Out of Oz tomorrow.

Change is coming

Change happens. How we react to change defines how we succeed? Johnson retells his story of how four characters react to their cheese being moved. Who Moved My Cheese is a great story and reminder that those who do not move with change will soon be left behind.

Books come into your life at the right time. I just went through quite a bit of personal change, and this was a great reminder that sometimes your cheese moves. You have to recognize life signs to accept them and move on. This book is applicable to both personal, professional, family life, and everything in between. While this book has pretty basic advice, it narrates a good story of how we look around and analyze a problem or stop and take action.

If change is in your life or you just want to better adapt to change, read this book. It is a quick 50 min read.

Overall it was not a earth-shattering read, but still good.

Enjoy.

Happy Reading!

Happy Fourth!

Reflecting back.. the First 50

Can you believe that 6 months ago I decided to start reading 100 books in one year? It has been quite a journey and an adventure. Whether it is a conversation stater, a laugh, or just sometime to read a great book that I have always wanted to read, I have truly enjoyed the last 6 months!

If you want to see what books were read by month, check out this link.

Like any adventure, life doesn't always go as plan. I almost always swap out at least one book because I didn't have time to go find it or I just didn't have time to read that many books that month. Life happens. Plans change, a trip comes up, you get sick, other parts of your life need more time. That is okay. During this first month, I had to find of balance of making reading and the blog important, but not the center of my world. (Some people will attest to the fact that I do always have a  book in my bag though)

Many of the books have been amazing and have shaped my perceptions. I often get asked what were some of my favorites. That is so hard because I love to read, but here are my top 12.


Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone  (all of them)
Life of Pi
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lord of The Flies
Outliers: The Story of Success
Half the Sky
Blackberry Winter
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Tuesday with Morrie
The Book Thief
The Alchemist 
What Color is Your Parachute?


As you can see the blog has had some updates. I am still in the process of adding pictures to my favorite post and cleaning up tags and labels to them all. I know I know. I need to spellcheck and proofread 100 times over. With that being said, over the last week I learned that there are some great book blogs out there. It has been great to see their pages and learn all the great things I can do with this blog to help others find great books.  (Maybe in a few weeks I'll try and spotlight a few of my favorites). If there is something you want me to add to the blog or if you have any suggestions please let me know. (I am going back and adding the tags: 3 star, 4 star, and 5 star to all reviews!)


Finally, I just wanted to say thank you. This is my first attempt at a blog. Everyone has been so supportive. I hope you all have found new books you want to read and rediscovered your love of reading!

And we are off to the last 50 books!


Happy Reading!


Kate

Letting go of the Past to Make Room for the Future

To me Nicholas Sparks is a hit or miss author. His books are either over the top and so sappy that you are question why you read them or they find the perfect blend of love, mystery, and plot.

A Bend in The Road which was one of Sparks earlier books can be considered a hit in Sparks world (yet not my favorite Sparks book). Miles loses his wife Missy in a tragic accident. After searching for two years in search of the cause, he loses himself in the trama until he befriends his sons second grade teacher,Sarah.

This book was a little harder to read than expected as my life took its own personal bend in the road. But the message is universal: You have to learn to accept the past and let go of the past in order to move on. This book has great twist and turns. It is pretty easy to guess what will happen. Overall, if you want a light easy read. This is a great book.


Happy Reading!

And now I'm 50 books down! I'll have a great 50 book recap post tonight!