'An Abundance of Katherines', Puppy Chow Cupcakes, and Death Cab for Cutie's The Photo Albums.

Yesterday, Thanksgiving, marked the end of my week long adventure of reading John Green's "An Abundance of Katherines". Here is my review from goodreads.com:

I truly enjoyed "An Abundance of Katherines", but it took a lot of work to get there. Unlike John's first novel, "Looking for Alaska", which I could not put down, I had to keep reminding myself that I loved the writing and I love John Green. I do not mean to discount the math included in this book, but I failed Trig for a reason. While Green manages to bring the math down to earth and actually make it hilarious, when I see graphs, my mind freaks out and shuts off. With that said, Green made it inevitable to get passed that and actually enjoy the graphs and find humor in it. Overall, I believe working to like a book, does not mean it wasn't good. "An Abundance of Katherines" is amazing and a must-read. I hope everyone will pick this up and fall in and out of love with Katherines, too.

While this is not my most eloquent review, to date, it sums up my feelings rather well. As a side note, I loved "Looking for Alaska"! The story itself is larger than the book, it busts out of the pages and takes over your life. For my review of "Alaska", go here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/99561.Looking_for_Alaska

Another interesting review, of my (ahem, my friend Britt's) baking. I helped by interpreting dancing and singing, "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". Our Puppy Chow Cupcakes turned out really well! The crunch of the chow and the unrivaled yumminess of sweetened peanut butter made for mouth-watered smells wafting through my friend, Raina's, apartment. We had a swell time mixing up the ingredients and trying fun new combos. We used puppy chow, crushed puppy chow, peanut butter chips, peanut butter frosting (pb mixed with vanilla frosting), powdered sugar and plain vanilla frosting. We filled a checkerboard pattern of white and silver cupcake liners with chocolate cake batter. Next, we made nine different configurations for a total of thirty-six cupcakes. They look fun and dandy:

Also in my life this week, Death Cab for Cuties, The Photo Album. I completely forgot how much I love this album. I popped it in when I was on my two hour drive to Raina's house on Wednesday night, Thanksgiving Eve. When I saw Death Cab in concert earlier this year, they performed "A Movie Script Ending", "We Laugh Indoors", and "Why You'd Want to Live Here". I like those three songs, but the songs that really make the biggest impression me are: "Blacking Out the Friction", with is rhythmic rivalry between piano and guitar, "Styrofoam Plates", about a poor father and his poor family, "Coney Island", and "Debate Exposes Doubt", which features a lengthy, hypnotic interlude. This album really creates a force field around a broken heart, no matter it's cause. As always, Death Cab truly hits the spot. And the fact the Zooey Deschanel and Ben Gibbard are engaged! I love it.

On the next post:

Terminator Salvation, 'The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party', and the sisters.