Fiction Friday - The Host

I wanted to start a new feature over here on KatieWrites. Now on a general week I'll read at least one book, sometimes more, sometimes less, but because I love reading so much and it's such a huge part of my life I thought I've give books their own home on my blog. They used to have a home here, Previously I'd give a brief summary of each book I'd read at the end of each month, but somewhere along the way they disappeared. So I though I'd bring it back.

Each Friday I want to show you what book I'm currently reading, what I'm thinking of it so far, why I picked it up and basically how much I love/hate it. So welcome to Fiction Friday (which has a very original name, I know.)

This week I'm reading The Host by Stephenie Meyer, and I'm not ashamed to say the reason I bought this book is because I loved the Twilight Saga. I am ashamed to say that this book has sat on my shelf for the past two years. I tried to read it last year but after 17 pages I gave up and left it to collect dust. That was until one of my youtube subscribers and online friend repeatedly begged me to read it. Boy am I glad that she did. Now don't get me wrong, I'm only 100 pages in, but I'm loving it so far.

The Host is a science fiction, alien invasion, apocalyptic love story, which so far holds the perfect balance between romance and action. Think Animorphs (a very old Nickelodeon TV series) without the animal morphing, and rather than slug like creepy ear invaders think beautiful glowing creatures that attach to the human spinal column.

I wish that a year ago when I originally picked up this book, I'd just stuck with it, or at least read the blurb, because so far this is my type of book. I'm loving the character development, and the ease of two uniquely different voices/characters sharing the same body. I'm loving the introduction of new characters, some of which you feel like you've know for years, and some of which you wish you'd never met.  I'm enjoying the plot development that catches you hook, line and sinker and when on the rare occasion that you being to loose attention Stephenie Meyer turns a corner and pulls you right back into the depth of things.

So far I really recommend this book, and from what I've heard the parts I've read so far are the boring bits, so I'm very excited to find out what is still to come.

That's all from me this week, as I'm now very eager to pick The Host back up and get my nose stuck in once again. What are you currently reading? I'd love to know. *cough* book addict *cough* Oh and next week I'll try to get this up a little earlier, and with only 1 hour and a half to spare.

Happy Reading,

Katie 

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Top 10 Books of 2011

Reading became such a huge part of my life in 2011, so where better to record my favourites than here? Now I've always been a big reader. I love books and spent many hours of my childhood mesmerised at how my Mum could loose herself within pages, and 2011 I decided that I needed to broaden what I read. Primarily I read Chick-Lits, but became bored with the similar stories, with each author bringing a similar idea to the table, so I decided to branch out into some different genres. I am so glad that I did, as this past year I've been able to absorb some amazing, incredible and such through provoking stories, and though my top ten list does include some chick-lits, I have found a new appreciation for them and found some truly amazing books.

And to anyone out there that feels they don't have time to read, well you do. For years I'd only ever been able to read a maximum of 1 book a month, and by maximum I really mean MAXIMUM. The majority of times it would take me three to four months to finish a book no matter how amazing it was. But it turns out that you can read practically anywhere. By just reading a couple of pages here and there, it's surprising how quickly you can actually get through a book. One of my favourite places to read is actually on my break at work, much to some peoples' annoyance. I love to be able to detach myself from a stressful working day just for half an hour, into the pages of someones vivid imagination, and after I'm left feeling refreshed and ready to start again. 

So enough rambling, heres my top ten books/series I read in 2011:

In no particular order:
Blindness by José Saramago
The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger 
The Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 
Delirium by Lauren Oliver 
Dark Inside by Jeyn Roberts
Divergent by Veronica Roth 
I Heart New York by Lindsey Kelk 
Babyville by Jane Green 
Uglies Trilogy by Scott Westerfeld

I rated all these books 5/5 stars and would happily read each one again. There are so many other books that I loved this year that this post was so difficult, but I think I've got it right. There were only a few books that I read this year that I truly hated but lets not mention them in this post. What books did you read and love this year? I love finding out about new books that I've never heard of. 

Happy Reading, 

Katie 

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Monthly Reads - August

Well hello there. It's been a while. I've been through a phase of having a complete lack of motivation recently and have just been getting through the weeks a day at a time. Gosh I sound so depressing don't I?! I don't mean to but it's a slightly tough time for me at the moment, nothing I won't get through but is still taking a lot to get used to. But I am ever the optimist. And don't worry it's nothing super serious I just clearly like to make things sound a lot more dramatic than they actually are. 

One thing I have been doing this past month without fail is reading. I managed to flick through the pages of 7 books in August which is insane. I've read some amazing books, some books I'm not too crazy about, and one book that almost drove me crazy. So without wasting any more time here are my monthly reads...

August

Linger - Maggie Stiefvater

Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone - J.K.Rowling
True Blood Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris

Babyville - Jane Green 

Forever - Maggie Stiefvater

The Immortals Series Book 3 Shadowland - Alyson Noel
Underworld - Catherine MacPhail

Linger is the second book in the Mercy Falls Wolves Series. Though I didn't really enjoy the writing style of Shiver (the first book) I still needed to know where Maggie Stiefvater was taking the story. I wont go into too much detail about Linger just incase you have not read Shiver but I will say that you have to read this series.
At first I struggled with the writing style due to the story being written from the point of view of all the main characters. I felt that in Shiver I struggled to differentiate between the characters Sam and Grace and found myself flicking back to the beginning of each chapter to find out which character I was reading about. When I realised that in Linger even more characters had been added with the same writing style I wondered how I was going to cope. I'm not sure if I just got used to it or if Maggie's writing improved but I coped a lot better than I expected.
One negative point about this book was the new characters. I found that more emphasis was put upon them and less upon the original characters, Grace and Sam. This I didn't enjoy as much as I loved Sam and Grace's growth in book one and wanted to learn more about them. But once I got my head around the new dynamics I learnt to enjoy these new characters. Phew! It's tricky to review a book that's part of a series without spoilers so I'm hoping that this is ok.

♥  ♥  ♥ 

I really enjoy the Sookie Stackhouse series. Over the past year or so I've read the whole series from the beginning to end and loved every single book. I must admit that at times they can be a little raunchy but Sookie is a young character but not a teenager so it is to be expected really. I love the world that is created and I really love Sookie's character. I'm not sure if I could read the series one after another as I think that it would be a little overpowering but that doesn't make the series any less enjoyable. 

What I'm trying to say is that I love True Blood and I recommend the books to anyone. I have watched the first season on TV and enjoyed that too but I wanted to finish the books before I watched anymore as I heard that they mix the stories up a lot and I didn't want any spoilers.  

The one thing I'm not too happy with is the front cover. I had to pick up the TV series version which I personally hate doing. Book 1 to book 9 I have in the typically UK edition version which I love, but I couldn't find Dead and Gone in this version anywhere so now I have the collection on my bookcase that doesn't match. I know, I know what a trivial thing to moan about. 

♥  ♥  ♥

What can else I say about Harry Potter that hasn't already been said? Well apart from while I was re-reading this book, after almost 10 years (yes I was slow on the uptake of HP but I got there) I found numerous amounts of people that have never even read a Harry Potter book, and one who had never even seen any of the movies. Seriously, what is this world coming to?
The first time I read Harry Potter many, many years ago I fell in love with the magical world, but as I was so young I just read the books, enjoyed the stories and took everything at face value. This time around I could truly appreciate them. J.K. Rowling's writing is exquisite and it's amazing how within the first few pages you are opened up to this world with such great detail and can see everything purely with the use of her words and your imagination. I remember when I first read this book I had no idea what any of the magical things were or looked like but somehow J.K. Rowling showed me the way.
Slowing over the next year I'm going to re-read all seven books and I'm so excited to re-live the series. I've not yet watched the final movie but I think I'm going to re-read the last book before I do as I don't want to movie to spoil anything for me.
If you've not yet read the books like some of the crazy people I have met recently, please pick it up as I assure you, you will not regret it.

♥  ♥  ♥

Shock horror, a book that is not part of the young adult section. Crazy. I've been on such a young adult (book) frenzy recently but I still love my chick lits. A this one was amazing. I love Jane Greens writing. She can really tell a story. 

Babyville follows the lives of Julia, Maeve and Sam. Julia is desperate for a baby and after months of trying she can think of little else, Maeve is a career girl and babies are the last thing on her mind, and Sam is pregnant with her first child. The book is spilt into three parts and each part is written from the perspective of the three main characters. 

Oh gosh, I loved this book. I could put it down. Now I'm not particularly 'broody' at the moment, one day I will have children but it's a long way off. Though this is the case I could still fully appreciate the story. 

The book starts off with Julia's story and I'm telling you that by the end of her part I was begging for more. I wasn't at all interested in reading about Maeve, I wanted more Julia. At the end of Maeve's part I wanted more Maeve and so on. Jane Green has a talent of making you fall in love with her characters with such ease that by the end of the book you never want to let them go. 

I urge you all to pick up this book. It's been out for quite some time now so I'm sure you'll find it on offer somewhere. 

♥  ♥  ♥

Forever, the third and final (and best in my opinion) instalment in the Mercy Falls series. But first lets start with that front cover  >>>>

How pretty is that?! When it comes to front cover I really do have a bit of magpie in me. Anything shinny and pretty I will pick up, and forever was no exception. Well actually it was, as I got it as a gift from my husband for my birthday. The US version of this book is not as pretty in my opinion but each to their own I guess. 

Now onto the plot. Forever follows the story of some of the characters in Linger (see no spoilers.) There are more twist and turns in this book and though most are predictable I enjoyed going along for the ride. There's not a great deal I can say about this book without spoiling the other two books but I will say I enjoyed it a hell of a lot more that the other two. 

Though saying that I don't believe that the ending was as satisfying as it could have been. Now I've read quite a few of the book reviews on goodreads and though a lot of people agree with me there are a lot who thought it was perfect. I guess I'll leave it up you to see who's side you take, but whatever you do don't let it put you off from reading it. 

♥  ♥  ♥

Now if you've read my other mini reviews about The Immortals series you will know how much I love them. Shadowland is the third book in the series about Ever and Damen. At the end of the second book something unimaginable happened that left me gasping and the plot of Shadowland picks up from there. Now I'm a sucker for Alyson Noel's writing. I love the way the story can be going nowhere but I'm that sucked into her world that I don't really care. Out of all of the books this is probably the slowest in terms of plot. Not a great deal happens and not a lot is learnt. Now I know there are many people out there (thank you Goodreads) that are easily irritated by Ever's constant poor choices but to me it's just the charm of the book. I know that this doesn't sound like a good book review but believe me I really enjoyed it, and I still recommend it to anyone. It's not my favourite but it still is an important instalment which then makes it a necessary read. 

♥  ♥  ♥

And last and most definitely least is Undeworld. Oh how I hated this book. What too harsh? Maybe, but let me explain why it holds such a dramatic impression. Now the idea behind the plot is pretty interesting. A group of teenagers are taken down into a cave on a school trip when the entrance to the cave 'caves' in and they are trapped. They then have to find a way out, without the help of their guide and that's when things really start to go wrong. A legend of a worm is also unnecessarily added the plot which we then have to deal with. But for me the thing that really annoyed me about the book was the over use of the word Zonk! I now hate this word beyond belief. I'd start to enjoy the story then zonk, zonking, zonked or any other version of that word would be mentioned and my ears would ring and my blood would boil. Too extreme? No! Yes I fully understand that teenagers generally overuse words, and yes it is rather irritating but I can be irritated by that on my own, I don't need you, Cathy MacPhail, to remind me every two sentences. Plus what makes it even worse is that the term zonk is very outdated. I've always been a firm believer that certain things should be omitted from books, like the mention of TV shows for example, as they are too time specific, and speech is one of those things. Now I don't mean speech as in old english against 'new' english, I refer to speech as in slang. Slang is so quickly changed that within a year or less it can be outdated. But the word zonk is even worse. According to my Mum (the best source of knowledge) the word zonk was common when she was young and she's 50. Because of this super annoying word I cannot fully review this book as I cannot get past 'zonk' so if you care to brave it I'll leave you to make up your own mind about this book. But don't say that you weren't warned. Now I've only got to find something to do with this book as it's not going anywhere near my book shelf.

♥  ♥  ♥

And that's that, my August monthly reads. I've had a pretty good month book wise and found some  truly amazing books and a truly awful book. These monthly books posts have to be my favourite posts on my blog. They take forever to write but I definitely feel that it's worth it. I love to round up the month and it's nice to relive the stories I've been sucked into each month. Plus it's a nice way to remember what I've actually read. I'm thinking of starting a youtube channel dedication to books but I'm not 100% yet. What do you think?

That's it for now.

I'm sure I'll speak soon.

Katie 

x

July Reads + Mini Reviews

I'm settling in to a lovely evening of blogging and what better way to start that with my monthly reads. I've had a pretty good month book wise and have devoured 5 books, a few of which have quickly become favourites. I'm now 22 books into my yearly challenge and 10 books into my 30 book challenge. I cannot believe that since setting this challenge midway through June I'm already a third of the way through. I cannot wait to buy a new book, my wish list is seriously growing. Anyway let's get cracking,

July

The Immortals Series Book 2 Blue Moon - Alyson Noel 

The Single Girl's To-Do List - Lindsey Kelk 

Crazy in Love - Chrissie Manby

Operation Sunshine - Jenny Colgan

The Wedding Girl - Madeleine Wickham

I mentioned the first book in this series, Evermore, last month which held a great place on my bookshelf and here we have the next book. I absolutely loved this. I must have whizzed through this one so quickly because I was hooked on Alyson Noel's every word. In this book we  have the opportunity to explore Summerland in greater depth, and the imagery created here is fantastic. A new character is also introduced who is interesting to say the least. I don't want to go into to much detail here because I wouldn't want to spoil the story for anyone, but what I will say is that I loved it. I cannot wait to pick up the next few books in the series and luckily there are four more... so far. I would recommend this book to anyone. I really am a sucker for teenage fiction which I know is not to everyone's taste, but if it is to yours then I'm sure that you will enjoy this one. 

 ♥  ♥  ♥ 

I picked this up a few months ago with high hopes of a fantastic read. After reading I heart New York and falling in love with Lindsey Kelk's writing style I predicted that this would be on par. Unfortunately I cannot say that this was love at first read. I did enjoy the story, but I did not fall in love with the characters and I wasn't really hooked from the first page as I am with all my favourite reads. Saying that I wouldn't give it a miss. I know that there are people out there that will love this book and rate it higher that any other but for me this makes it into the donate pile. 

The Single Girl's To-Do List is about Rachel who is dumped by her long time partner. Over a few too many drinks Rachel and her two best friends compile the list, which involves many adventures to get over her ex and to enjoy the single life. The challenges involve the typical 'make-over' (which Lindsey seems to be a huge fan of) bungie jump, travelling, and many more, all over the space of two weeks. A tough amount to get through in such a short space of time but it is fiction at the end of the day. 

Overall a good summer read but not Lindsey Kelk's best work. 

 ♥  ♥  ♥ 

I absolutely loved this book and finished it within a couple of days. I remember receiving this free with a magazine at least a year ago and adding it to my bookcase. It then didn't see the light of day for months until I needed a book to photograph my new bookmarks. From then on it has been staring at me begging to be read. I must say that I'm glad that I finally pick it up.

Crazy in Love is about Birdie Sederburg who is the heiress to the Sederburg Golf Resorts fortune. She has everything that money could buy, but the one thing she is missing is a boyfriend (and manners it seems.) This is until one day when she crashes into her future boyfriend's car and falls 'madly' in love. From this moment on you can enjoy the story unfold as she faces many challenges to keep him by her side. 

I really love this book but I can see how many wouldn't. Birdie is your typical rich 'brat.' She has more money than sense and also believes that money can buy you anything. To some this would seem too much, but for me that was part of the charm. It was different to anything I've ever read, and though parts were predictable, it was as predictable as others I've read which deserves a huge thumbs up! I now cannot wait to read more from Chrissie Manby. 

 ♥  ♥  ♥ 

Another free book, also from a magazine last year. At first this book was a little slow. I started this on the way to Manchester Airport so I had a good few hours to kill. (Nope I wasn't off on holiday. Shame I know.) It took a while to get into but midway through I'd gotten there and couldn't stop reading. Operation Sunshine is your typical holiday read with an easy, light hearted tone and once I'd forced through the tough beginning I really did enjoy it. Don't get me wrong it's not the best book I've ever read and I wouldn't rave about it to anyone and everyone, but I don't regret reading it. 

Operation Sunshine is about a receptionist in Harley Street who has never had a real holiday, or at least one that she has enjoyed. Desperate for some sun, sea and sand, but with no-one willing to go with her she strikes luck when she is asked to administer an event in the South of France. Obviously what follows is not quite what she expects, though she does get a bit of romance. Well why not? 

Anyway not bad for a free book, and something a little fun to pass those afternoon breaks at work, or very long journeys to and from the airport. 

 ♥  ♥  ♥ 

The second Medeleine Wickham book I've read and I must say that I really enjoy her writing. The story itself seems a little far fetched but what unfolds as you get deeper into the plot is well worth it.  This book made me laugh, cry, gasp and smile. I loved it. I read this within 24 hours because I just couldn't put it down. Every opportunity I had I picked it up to read just a few more pages. 

The Wedding Girl is about Milly who is only a few days away from marrying the man of her dreams but she has a secret... she's already married! The far fetched part comes from the fact that she agreed to marry someone else knowing full well that she was already married. But if you can get past that you are in for a very good read. Once I finished this book it had raised so many topics which kept spinning round and round in my mind that I couldn't stop talking about it for days. Though the main story is about Milly it's Rupert's that warmed my heart. The wedding Girl is a book that is definitely worth your time. 

 ♥  ♥  ♥ 

So that's it for this month. I have no idea what books are up for the month of August because I just grab whatever tickles my fancy on that given day, but be sure to expect August reads next month. Overall 'Crazy in Love' and 'The Wedding Girl' have now been added to my favourite books but there's plenty of room left over for many, many more. 

Happy Reading.

Speak Soon,

Katie 

x

Happy He's Home...

We headed off to the folks today. We missed Sunday lunch as my Mum phoned to tell us that she 'knew how much I liked my sleep' so instead we were invited to 'tea', which was ham and homemade chips. Nom Nom. It turned out that the ham was orange ham. Yes you read that correctly, 'orange ham.' It was awful. I originally thought that it had been laced with washing-up liquid which clearly was a stupid thought. My Dad's home by the way. He's back for about a week to recuperate then off over-seas again. I think when it comes to missing someone you learn to cope, but then when they are back home you are suddenly hit with all those feelings that you fought back. I can definitely say that I missed my Dad. I'm not looking forward to him going again but I'm going to enjoy the time I have. At the end of the day people have it a hell of a lot worse.

On a brighter note, what do you think about the new bow. I rustled this one up this afternoon and I'm in love. I'm now about to open up my crafting boxes and create a few more for every outfit. How sad?! But totally fun. (*cough* Geek *cough*)

Speak Soon, 

Katie 

x

P.S Today I finished Lindsey Kelk's The Single Girl's To-Do List, so the review will be up in my monthly reads posts. But as a pre-warning it's not that good. In fact I didn't even force it upon my Mum which I usually do with all my favourite books. 

June Reads + Mini Reviews

To keep me on track not only of my yearly book challenge but also of my 30 book challenge, I've decided to do a post of my monthly reads. For me June has been a good month book wise and has seen me flick through the pages of 5 books, 4 of which are part of my 30 Book Challenge. That's just over a book a week which is pretty impressive, but seen as I'm always rather competitive with myself I'd like next month to be better. 

June

Cocktails for Three - Madeleine Wickham (Sophie Kinsella)

Who's That Girl? - Alexandra Potter 

Silent Witness (Point Horror) - Carol Ellis 

I Heart New York - Lindsey Kelk 

Evermore - Alyson Noel 

I really enjoyed this book. It was a very easy but enjoyable read. I'd read so many mixed reviews before I finally picked this up, suggesting that it was nowhere near as good as Sophie Kinsella's previous work, but if you embark onto reading this with an open mind I'm sure you will love it too. 

The story is about 3 completely different women who meet at least one a month and catch up over cocktails in their favourite bar. Life is changing for all three characters though pregnancy, love and huge changes and through everything they must fight to keep their friendship alive. 

Like I said I enjoyed the story line but most of all I loved that it was easy to put down. Not normally a good point when reviewing a book but the characters were so easy to relate to and easy to remember that every time you picked it up it was like you'd never left. Plus when your only opportunity to read is on your lunch break then a book that's easy to put down is a must. 

 ♥  ♥  ♥ 

I was lent this book by a colleague at work and though I loved the concept of this story line I felt the author could have taken it a lot further and been a little more adventurous. 

Who's that girl? is about Charlotte who meets herself aged 21. She accidentally travels back in time and decides to give her younger self all the advice she wishes she had been given, but instead ends up being taught a thing or two. 

When you have a concept such as time travel the world is your oyster, and I felt that Alexander Potter didn't do the story justice. It took almost half the book to set the scene and ultimately I knew more about her banker boyfriend, who predictably didn't have that much of a large part, than any other character. Also there were seemly important topics raised that were taken no further and I felt that the ending was a little rushed. 

That being said I don't regret reading it, but I did feel that I came out of it thinking I could have done better. I know that sounds awful, but when reading the last page and closing the book I felt frustrated and filled with so many different ideas of where I could have taken the story. 

 ♥  ♥  ♥ 

I was never lucky enough to find Point Horror in my early teens and though I was always a reader I was never a 'huge' reader. When I finally found them in my late teens I was hooked and have been hunting them down ever since. I picked this one up in a local car boot and pretty much starting reading it as soon as I bought it. 

I love Point Horror books. They have a straight forward writing style, and though the series is made up of many different writers I'm yet to find one that I haven't enjoyed. I love how all point horror books have this air of mystery about them. They all have a predictable ending but it's also such an enjoyable journey. 

This book was about a tape which is given to Lucy after her friend tragically dies. Little does she know that this tape contains a deadly crime that someone is desperate to keep secret. 

I would recommend anyone to pick up Point Horror books and give them a read. I don't believe that they are published anymore but I'm sure that you will find them in charity shop, car boots, and most definitely on ebay. 

 ♥  ♥  ♥ 

I received this book free in a copy of Glamour magazine last year but never picked it up until now. The only down side about this book was the font size which was tiny, but that was only due to copy being a magazine freebie. And that's all I have on down sides because this book was amazing! 

I heart New York is Angela's story, who has recently broken up with her long term boyfriend, and to get over her heart break she runs away to New York. But instead of finding herself lost in a huge city she finds herself embarking on her biggest adventure yet. 

I loved everything about this story, and I think I feel in love with Angela's character as soon as I read the first page. It's unreal once that you finish the story that the majority of the story only takes place on about 3 weeks. So much happens, so much changes, and Angela grows so much, that you think you've known her for years. 

One down side to the story is that I don't yet own I Heart Hollywood, but I do own I Heart Paris! I also cannot buy it because I'm on my 30 Book Challenge. I'm holding out for birthday gifts in August and leaving plenty of hints in the mean time. 

 ♥  ♥  ♥ 

I bought this in one of my recent ebay hauls. I'd never heard of the Immortals Series before so I had no idea what to expect, but I was pleasantly surprised. I read this within about a week, but no because I didn't enjoy it. The story of this was pretty intriguing, not entirely original, but still thoroughly enjoyable. It's about Ever, who after an fatal car accident which kills her family becomes able to read minds. For Ever this is not a gift, and instead she fights a constant battle trying to block out these unwanted thoughts, until she meets Damen. 

Now the only down side to Damen for me is his name. Throughout the story you are to believe that he is evil so it may be intentional that his name sounds evil. I don't know if it's just me, but all I could think of when I read his name was Damian, eg. the evil, devil child from the 1978 movie The Omen. Probably just me. 

By the end of the book I was so in love with all the characters, including the evils one, that I had to pick up the second book. 

I believe as a stand alone book it doesn't have a very strong story line, but combined with the second in The Immortals series it is spectacular at setting the scene. You need to pick up this series. 

 ♥  ♥  ♥ 

So there we have it, my June reads. I have enjoyed all the books this month, and though one did leave me rather frustrated I don't regret reading it. I'm going to try to do this every month now, as I've loved summing up my month of reading. Plus it's nice to actually see everything laid out right in front of me. 

I'm loving goodreads at the moment as it enables me to keep track of everything. Personally my favourite feature is that it shows shows me how far I am through my current read in percentages, and I can record the date I started and finished each book. It's nice to see how long it actually takes me to read a book. If you have a goodreads account then please add me, I love seeing what everyone else is currently reading. 

What have you read this month? 

Speak Soon,

Katie 

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