Bookaholic's Backroom: A Light in the Ruins

Okay guys, I'm going to try out something new. Because when I started this blog I had no idea where it was going. I thought I did but in all reality I had no idea where I was going. 

Obviously it's taken a little turn in the last few months, less UW and more introspective. I plan on keeping it like this, even when I go back to Wyoming. I'll be there for a year, and then because I'm growing up and making changes with my life, I'm going to move away. 

Wyoming has been my light, and the large majority of my life. My family, friends, and some of my favorite places in the world are in that state. And if you aren't from Wyoming you should go visit. I am blessed to live in a country that is so incredibly diverse, and it is only a fraction of the world. 

Getting back to the something new. I've come to realize that everyone advocates for a slant on your blog. Well mine is me. And I'm completely unapologetic about it. I'm not just into politics, or fashion, or comics, or books, or travel. I love all of those, and some other crazy things. 

So for now I'm going to try and do it one Friday a month (hopefully the last one!), but I'll bring you something I love, call it Kaite's knick-knacks. This is coming out now because I was busy with events and travelling this weekend. 

So here is my grand reveal of Bookaholic's Backroom, where I'll give recommendation's and review of books I've been reading recently. Over the last month or so I've been reading A Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian

I truly enjoyed this book, a bit outside of my normal tastes and tendencies, the cover drew me in (I try not to let that happen too often) and I'm glad that I decided it needed to come home.

Set during at after WWII in Italy, it follows a family through the struggles of the war and the killer that haunts them ten years later. It made learning about the family as important as possible to the reader, wanting you to uncover their darkest secrets, while leaving you rooting for a happy ending.

I guessed the killer about halfway through, but I blame that on my mother and the copious amounts of CSI and NCIS that I watched growing up. I think my favorite part was even though you time hop, and even hear the killer's thoughts that are ongoing, you still don't find out why, and what the darkest secret they had been hiding until the end.

I certainly couldn't put it down for long, and I would recommend this good read. It's fairly quick but that made it even better for me.

Overall I'll give it a B+ because while the family is the center of the story, the main character, the detective, isn't as real to me as the rest of the characters even though I really liked her. Also because I guessed the killer.

Let me know how you like it!

Investing in Yourself

So, no one more than me was surprised when I actually took my advice in the last post and became more productive. Which naturally kept me away from posting, because I was busy. I'm working on a good middle ground, and I've figured a lot out. Naturally, this weekend was the exception to having a better busy, but I think we all need those weekends where we make interesting life choices, and then veg out. 

I'm not one who likes to buy myself things, or spend a lot of time on me. I love people, and as such I love to be around people. I love hosting get-togethers, going out, and just being near others. But at some point we all need down time, we all need to treat ourselves. I like to think of it as investing in yourself.

Now there are many ways to invest in yourself, and every time I take some me-time it's different. One of the last times I made tea and had cookies and listened to Sinatra while I wrote. Every day I like to find 5-10 minutes of thing that will make your soul a little happier. I invest in myself that way because I will then handle life better. 

This weekend I spent five hours on the phone with my best friend. I don't know about you but having a good long talk with one of your closest friends always makes me feel better, I just don't have the luxury of living in the same town as her so we often go a month before we realize we haven't actually talked. 

I also splurged, now with an intern salary I've learned to budget fairly well. Especially when you have trips planned (say for spring break?) and want to save some of the cash, limiting your intake even more. However, I'm a sucker for a good deal. I'm even more of a sucker for a great deal on quality items. Don't get me wrong Ross and T.J.Max are normally my jam. But getting something that is just so classic and so well made that you know it will last for easily the next 7-10 years? I look at that as an investment, because truly it is.

So I'll just put a small PSA to the world, J.Crew is having the best sale I've been to yet. Now I didn't grow up on J.Crew, and I certainly didn't grow up on Kate Spade, but I've grown into them when the time (and more importantly price) is right.  To me it is an investment. 

So I had bonding time with my roommate, we did nails and a mask last night. I read a large portion of a book I've been working on. I talked on the phone with my best friend. And I bought two skirts I fell in love with. 

What did that give me? I mean besides a cute outfit to come to work in today, I was excited for work. I was excited to be productive and accomplish things. And I know that this will carry over for my whole week, and the next month is going to be kinda crazy busy for me and then I start one of the busiest semester of my college career. 

So if you're ever a little run down, a little frustrated, or you just feel like you don't want to do anything. Invest in yourself. Listen to what you're body is saying. Listen to the signs the universe is putting out for you, and remember you have to put something in to get something out, and that counts with you as well. So invest a little and see where life takes you.