Author Chat with Emma Donoghue (author of ROOM)

Published on September 24, 2010September 24, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Just yesterday I finished reading the newly released book by author Emma Donoghue, ROOM. Now today I am delighted to have her here at Book Journey to share with us a bit about herself and the book that’s being talked about everywhere. Please give a super warm welcome to Emma Donoghue.

Welcome Emma! I am so delighted to have you here today. First off, it is a tradition that I ask you how you take your coffee?

Emma: Caffe latte only. Which means that when staying in luxury hotels, as I am on this US book tour, I have a lot of trouble getting hold of my morning brew, because a latte is the one thing most hotels can’t provide!

You are right Emma, being a plain black coffee drinker,I hadn’t thought about that! When did you first find your love for books?

Emma: A male babysitter (a ‘spoiled priest’, meaning one who dropped out of the seminary) read me the entire CHRONICLES OF NARNIA when I was about four. Bless him for ever!

Oh, I love that! What a great memory! What would you consider to be a favorite book you have read and why?

Emma: Recently… SKIPPY DIES by Paul Murray, the other Irish writer on the Man Booker Prize long list. I’ve no idea why it didn’t make it onto the shortlist because it’s the most dazzling study of an Irish boys’ boarding school with some of the funniest dialogue I’ve ever read.

ROOM is such a powerful read. Where did you get the idea to write such a book?

Emma: From being a mother, really. Because when I heard about the Fritzl case in Austria, the idea for ROOM sprang fully formed into my mind: a child’s story of growing up in a single room and mistaking it for the whole world.

I remember that story Emma, it was horrifying. Was there any part of this book that was harder to write then the rest?

Emma: I had to sweat over the middle section (I’m trying to avoid spoilers here!) to make it plausible in every detail, and to capture the sensory shock of it for Jack.

What would you hope that your readers experience when they read ROOM?

Emma: Utter involvement, not just in Jack’s consciousness but in that of Ma – and to achieve that they have to do all the work of figuring out what Jack doesn’t know yet.

Emma you have written several novels. I have only had the pleasure of reading ROOM so far, what would you suggest I read next of yours?

Emma: Well, they’re all very different, but my 2008 novel THE SEALED LETTER is quite a page-turning courtroom drama about a notorious Victorian divorce.

Thank you Emma, I will take you up on that, it sounds good! Where do you enjoy doing your writing and do you have any sort of rituals that go with it?

Emma: No, I just flip open my cracked-screen laptop wherever I happen to be and go to it. My only ritual is, get the kids off to school and daycare first!

Is there a fictitious character that you would like to be friends with and why?

Emma: I’d love to meet Emma Woodhouse, heroine of Austen’s novel, partly because I was named after her but mostly because she’d be a sparkling conversationalist.

Great pick! It is customary that I ask each author I chat with to share a little known fact about themselves.

Emma: Well, all that springs to mind is a negative fact, but it’s unusual given that I’m Irish: I can’t stand the taste of alcohol. So I’ve never had a drink, which on the plus side means I’ve never lost a day to a hangover, but on the minus side means I have to ask friends for advice whenever I’m writing a scene with any kind of intoxication in it.

Emma thank you so much for time today! I appreciate you chatting and sharing here with us at Book Journey.

Readers, you can see more of what Emma is up to here at her website. Also – for those of you who have read this book, I had one more question I asked Emma, but that is going to have to go on the spoiler page. If you have read the book, be sure to check that out.

ROOM by Emma Donoghue

Published on September 24, 2010September 24, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)37 Comments

Jack is 5. He lives with his ma and he loves to sit at TABLE and play games using RUG. He sleeps in WARDROBE and spends hours of time with his ma every day. Jack loves his life. To his mother, it is a nightmare.

What makes Jack different from all other five years olds is that he has spent his entire life in a single room having never see anything beyond and not even knowing that anything exists beyond the room. Jack’s mom was abducted when she was 19 and has been kept locked in this room for the past 7 years. Told from the perspective of 5-year-old Jack, we experience his life through his eyes. He likes his routines and he enjoys how they make up games using paper bags or string. He hides when Old Nick comes to visit at night.

But things are about to change.

ROOM is an extraordinary read. I stepped into a read like no other I have read. It took a few pages to get into the way Jack talks, and to fully get the understanding of his world, but once there, I could hardly put the book down. What impressed me throughout this book was the devotion of Jack’s mother. Everything is for Jack and what that brings out in this read is a mother and son relationship that many of us would envy. Jack is smart because ma has all day to teach him words, and spelling, and meanings. When Jack asks questions about what he sees on tv, ma has all the time in the world (quite literally) to explain to him.

What an amazing world Emma Donoghue created within these pages. I was astounded at the great detail of Jack’s character. It wasn’t hard for me to imagine five-year old Jack being so smart because of all the access he had to be taught. While this book is a fiction read I could not help but think about the real abductions that happen in this world, and stories like Ma and Jack;s that are sadly true.

I would say this book is one of the best books I have read this year and would highly recommend that you take the time to read this powerful that at times made me laugh, and eventually…. made me cry.

Picador.com has a layout of what ROOM would look like. Take a look and now imagine Ma in this room (and only in this room) for seven years and Jack for his entire life (yes, he was born in there too – on RUG).

I am going to activate the Spoiler Page for this read (see button below) as there was one part that disturbed me a little even though I worked hard to wrap my mind around it. A few bookish friends have also requested discussing the book in detail once I had read it so the spoiler page will be a safe place to do that.

Born in Dublin in 1969, Emma Donoghue is an award-winning Booker-shortlisted writer, now living in Canada with my family. Her books are ROOM, THE SEALED LETTER, LANDING, TOUCHY SUBJECTS, LIFE MASK, THE WOMAN WHO GAVE BIRTH TO RABBITS, SLAMMERKIN, KISSING THE WITCH, HOOD, STIRFRY (fiction), as well as INSEPARABLE, WE ARE MICHAEL FIELD, POEMS BETWEEN WOMEN and PASSIONS BETWEEN WOMEN (literary history).

Peter Carey, Emma Donoghue, Damon Galgut, Howard Jacobson, Andrea Levy and Tom McCarthy are today, Tuesday 7 September, announced as the six shortlisted authors for the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. For over four decades the prize – the leading literary award in the English speaking world – has brought recognition, reward and readership to the outstanding new novels of the year. The shortlist was announced by Chair of judges, Sir Andrew Motion, at a press conference held at Man’s London headquarters.

The six books, selected from the Man Booker Prize longlist of 13, are:

Peter Carey Parrot and Olivier in America (Faber and Faber)

Emma Donoghue Room (Picador – Pan Macmillan)

Damon Galgut In a Strange Room (Atlantic Books – Grove Atlantic)

Howard Jacobson The Finkler Question (Bloomsbury)

Andrea Levy The Long Song (Headline Review –
Headline Publishing Group)

Tom McCarthy C (Jonathan Cape – Random House)

Book Journey has updated the 2010 reading map to include ROOM

Cover Story: It works. Its plain and simple and makes me want to know more about a book with this cover and this title.

Amazon Rating

My author chat with Emma Donoghue

I received this book for review in New York at BEA in May 2010

Morning Meanderings… Banned Books Week Eve

Published on September 24, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)33 Comments

Good morning! Another yuck day here in Minnesota. The weather is cold and damp, the sky is deeply overcast. Horrible weather for bike riding (which I have canceled for the weekend) but a wonderful day for reading!

It is the day before Banned Book Week start and I have many of my contenders in house, and a few I am waiting on at the library. Earlier this week, I posted a list of the top 100 Banned Books of the last two decades. Many of you were shocked to see that titles that you know and love were on that list.

Banned Book Week starts on September 25 – October 2. My plan is to review a banned book a day as well as give as much information as I can as to why it was banned. I encourage you to join me by reading banned books over the next week. If you write-up a post about Banned Books Week,please let me know in a comment here. Tomorrow, I will set up a linky where you are welcome to link your reviews of Banned Books over the next week. I would love to stop in and see what you have reviewed.

Audio counts too, in fact I was on Audible.com last night and they too have a group of audio’s that are available for this week. I think I am going to try Fahrenheit 451 again as it is by a different reader than the one I found at the library.

I would also be very interested if there are any activities or displays in your book stores or libraries having to do with Banned Books Week. If so, please share that information here in a comment and if you are doing a banned books post, include that information in there as well.

Twas the night before banned book week and all over the table,

were books I planned to read this week, as much as I am able.

The books were chosen from the ALA list with care,

In hopes to encourage others to read these books if only they dare!

Now J K Rowling, what could you have been thinking?

Writing about a magical school – you must have really been drinking!

And Judy Blume, sure kids love to read your books,

but you are on that long list and getting dirty looks!

Irving, Bradbury, and oh yes you too Harper Lee,

some people think what a waste of a tree.

But I tell you I plan to read each with great care,

in hopes that during Banned Book Week you will join me there!

(Ok… I dabbled a wee bit in writing and poetry in school… and yeah, they were pretty much all silly like this.)

Have an awesome day! 😀

Morning Meanderings… What Was Lost Was Found… and Found… and Found… and OH WOW!!!

Published on September 23, 2010September 23, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)80 Comments

Good morning! What a wonderful day already! Thank you to everyone who commented yesterday on my missing book and passports. I appreciate the advice, concern and the shared stories. You really made my day!

First Find: My passport. After searching all the usual areas, I started searching purses I have used over the past year. BINGO! Sure enough I not only found my passport in the purse I used last year during the trip but also my lost license, a little cash in American and in Limps. WOO HOO!!!!

Second Find: Al’s passport. He spent the afternoon searching his office and before we left for a meeting we had last night he came up to the house and said he had no idea where it could be. I asked if he had checked his brief case that he carried his lap top in when he travels. We went back to the office and FOUND! Both passports secured! 😀

Third Find: The book. As much as I totally want to blame Bailey…. I can not. As I went over my moves again and again I kept remembering that there was a point when I was leaving for kickball that I thought maybe I should take the book and thought better of it. I went out in the garage and walked around my vehicle and then seen the book on a box with some papers I had brought out for recycling. Good Grief….. FOUND!!!!

Fourth Find: Ok…. if you read yesterday mornings meandering you should be counting on your fingers right now all the things I mentioned I had lost….. there was three. You are correct. SO you may be wondering what else could I have possibly lost and found?

Well… I have a fun story. I was in a deep sleep at 6 am when I heard a voice…. I slowly woke up and as my eyes adjusted…….

There was my son from the Navy! SQQQQUUUUEEEEEEE!!!! I didn’t know he was coming home! He has been in the Navy since December and he graduated a couple of weeks ago but said that he did not have his orders yet when he could come home and thought it would be some time in October. Apparently my husband knew he was coming but Brad wanted it to be a surprise. Oh WOW!!!!!!!

So how about that for an exciting 24 hours?

Morning Meanderings…. Seriously?

Published on September 22, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)90 Comments

Good morning bookie, bookette, bookers, booklings, and all around bookish types. You will not BELIEVE what happened to me yesterday.

I lost the book I was reading.

Yup. You heard me…. let me recount my steps:

4:45 pm I am in usual reading room in the reading chair…. errr…. reading said book.

5:22 pm I get up from said chair, and place junk mail acting as book mark into said book to hold place.

5:45 I am changed for kick ball (do not laugh…. I play kick ball… all the cool kids are doing it) and I leave said house in said jeep to go to said ball park

7:33 I return home after two kickball (yup there’s that word again) games in which we were beaten to a pulp at both. My only happiness will be found in the pages of the book that I am successfully reading through with full intentions of having review up for today.

7:40 I realize said book is not where I thought it should be (in said reading room by said chair)

7:45 a search is conducted of the area I had been in prior to my leaving the said house. This includes: my closet, the bathroom, the kitchen, the front room, the couch, the entryway, the garage, the jeep… I was thorough. I did this twice.

8:10 Now I am annoyed. I am wasting precious reading time during this search and I can not imagine where book has gone.

8:20 I start looking for suspects.

Suspect #1: The Husband. Sure, he is not a big reader but he is in the house where the book has turned up missing. I ask if he has seen it and he says no (a likely story!). I describe what the book looks like… I am sure he is thinking how is that different from the hundreds of other books in the house. His eyes glaze over and I let him go but tell him not to leave town.

Suspect #2: The dogs. Elmo is old and blind in one eye so I am doubtful if it was him. Plus he is so loyal to me. Bailey on the other hand, has never liked me and has always been Al’s (hubby) dog. I could see Bailey doing something with it just to watch me go crazy.

Suspect #3: me. I was in a hurry leaving the house and in a bit of a panic as I had just realized I did not know where our passports were (I know… a real night for losing things!) and we are 8 weeks out from Honduras. I was changing for kickball and looking for passports and I do not honestly know how much of this time the book was with me. Did I drag the book along the passport search trail? Honestly I do not know.

As of this morning. Book is still missing.

What book?

ROOM.

I know, right? I was at a really good part too.

*sigh*

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (Bookies Book Club Pick)

Published on September 21, 2010September 21, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)43 Comments

Harriet Vanger, a young member of a very wealthy Swedish family disappears at the age of 16. Gone without a trace, 40 years later, Harriet’s Uncle is still haunted by her absence… was she murdered? If so by who?

Mikael Blomkvist part owner of the magazine Millenium has just taken a huge hit to the pocket-book. Caught in a libel conviction he decided to take a breather from the magazine until the heat wears off and instead of a break, finds himself hired by Harriet’s uncle to research and try to find evidence as to what happened all those years ago. With the help of a very damaged young tattooed computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, Mikael finds himself searching for pieces that will change the lives of all involved.

Sound popcorn worthy? Well…. it depends on who you ask. This was my book club, The Bookies, pick for our September read. Due to a crazy busy month, by the time we reviewed this book last week I was not finished. Not even close to being finished. However, I think that really gave me an outside look at an interesting and somewhat hard discussion with our book club.

Our group met at a lovely Mexican restaurant and over assorted yummy dishes (I was so tired I forgot to order!) we discussed this book. This book brought out mixed opinions, strong opinions on both sides. I had ladies in the group who loved the read, found it interesting, fast paced, and fabulous. Several of the girls in the group had already moved on to books two and three. I had a couple that found it pretty neutral, even predictable, and had guessed the outcome long before the final pages were turned. And there were a few that hated the book. And I do not use that word lightly. The book brought up some hard memories and the gory, graphic parts of the book were found to be too much, as well as Mikael’s promiscuous behavior ( he seemed to have no problem sleeping with an assortment of women,including one who was his best friend, and married and her husband did not care).

While you may be reading that above paragraph and think the review must have been just a battle and a nightmare, no, it was quite the contrary. This remarkable group of strong women that I have the pleasure of meeting with each month (and have since August of 2001), are very respectful of each others opinions. I, having not completed the book at the time of review, really found this discussion to be intense and as I say often, the books that bring out the emotions in us are usually the best reviews, especially when we come up with an assortment of feelings about the book.

One of the thoughts that touched me was while what happens to the character of Lisbeth Salander is horrible, cruel, and truly hard to read, this really shows how strong of a woman she is and for those who have went on to read the other books, they feel that this first book really lays out the ground work of how she became who she is.

Read from my back deck (and a part in Finland, Minnesota)

Flash forward a few days ahead to where I have finished the books and these are my thoughts I would like to add:

Yes, there are parts of the book that are graphic and hard to read. I was a little glad I had a heads up about that through my book club because at the time of our discussion I was at a part in the book where things were flowing along much like a Sherlock Holmes read… solving a crime, looking for clues, just with the twisted addition of a very unusual relationship between Mikael and Erika.

While this book is pretty much centered around the activities of Mikael, it is to my understanding that in the next book and the one after, it is actually Lisbeth who takes the lead character role and I find that an interesting turn from our author. Actually, it is quite brilliant to bring Lisbeth in as a background character and then make her more important as the series goes on.

I ended the book very much satisfied that I had just read a good mystery and I would continue on with this series.

It is a fact that Stieg Larsson was contracted for 10 books when he wrote the three books in this series. Before these books were published, Stieg died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 50. It was his girlfriend who brought the books into the publisher and all three books were published.

Stieg had finished three detective novels in his trilogy “The Millenium-series” which were published posthumously; “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”, “The Girl Who Played With Fire” and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest”. Altogether, his trilogy has sold more than 20 million copies in 41 countries (spring of 2010), and he was the second bestselling author in the world 2008.

Movie version:

After I finished reading the book, I rented the movie to see what these characters would play out like. While I have heard great thoughts about the movie, I have to disagree. The character of Erika seemed to soft and always looked on the verge of tears. In the book her relationship with Mikael is ongoing and she is frequently featured. In the movie, I am not sure I would have understood the depth of the relationship if I had not read the book first.

As in most movies from books, many parts were left out including one of the crucial moments in the book that lets you really understand what Lisbeth is made of. I was surprised that it was omitted and still wonder if I just blinked and missed it. Overall thoughts on the movie: It looks like they are making American versions of all three of the books into movies. Currently the movie I watched was the swedish one with English subtitles. I would be interested in seeing how the new version will change from the one I seen.

My Amazon Rating

Book Journeys 2010 reading map has been updated to include The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

When in Ostergotland, stop by Steve’s Coffee, you may run into Mikael and Lisbeth grabbing a cup of joe, both are heavy coffee drinkers.

Cover Story: There are other covers to this book and while this is nothing special, it’s not an unlikable cover. Something about it is appealing.

I purchased my copy of this book from BookWorld

Morning Meanderings and Book Bloggers Unite!

Published on September 21, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)55 Comments

Good morning! Coffee Cup and I are hanging out at the lap top this morning, and watching what appears to be the sun breaking through the clouds. I am thrilled to squeeze in another sunny day and have been watching the weather carefully as I am on for a large bike ride this Saturday in Itaska. I have decided that if the weather is “el yucko” I am instead going to the cities to an author event. As much as I want to ride bike, I do not want to be cold, damp, and miserable.

Today I wanted to remind everyone about the upcoming Banned Books Week. It starts this Saturday and is an event I got behind for the first time last year and I was shocked at what books were considered banned. Before I really followed what banned books were, I figured they had to be horrible books, filled with filth and language that would probably make your ears bleed. Turns out, that’s not true. My beloved To Kill A Mockingbird is a banned book. All the Harry Potter books are and just last night I discovered that Twilight was as well.

Twilight?

Yes, currently Twilight ranks the 5th most requested book to be banned by Libraries. The word is that the book has been criticized for sexual content .

(And here I was thinking that I likes the twilight series because it was not heavy in that area)

My Sisters Keeper by Jodi Piccoult also makes that same list – for offensive language, homosexuality, drugs, suicide, and violence.

If you have been on Twitter or around any book blogs lately you probably have heard about the recent banning of the book SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson. It is about a young girl who has been raped and her battle to speak up and speak out.

My plan next week, starting on Saturday is to review a banned book a day. I have quite a little reservation sheet at my local library. I will share with you the book, the review, and the information I find on why it is considered a banned book.

I hope you will take a look at this following list of books that are banned books. I would love to know which you have read, if any. I am going to highlight the ones that I have read. Which would you like to read?

Top banned list from 2000 – 2009

1 Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2 Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3 The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4 And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5 Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7 Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8 His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9 TTYL; TTFN; L8R, G8R (series), by Myracle, Lauren
10 The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11 Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12 It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
13 Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
14 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
15 The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
16 Forever, by Judy Blume
17 The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18 Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
19 Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
20 King and King, by Linda de Haan
21 To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
22 Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
23 The Giver, by Lois Lowry
24 In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
25 Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan
26 Beloved, by Toni Morrison
27 My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier
28 Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
29 The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
30 We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
32 Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
33 Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
34 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
35 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
36 Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
37 It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris
38 Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles
39 Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
40 Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank
41 Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
42 The Fighting Ground, by Avi
43 Blubber, by Judy Blume
44 Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
45 Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly
46 Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby, by George Beard
48 Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50 The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
51 Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan
52 The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
53 You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco
54 The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole
55 Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green
56 When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester
57 Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
58 Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
59 Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
60 Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
61 Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle
62 The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
63 The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney
64 Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park
65 The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
66 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
67 A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
68 Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
69 Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
70 Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen
71 Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
72 Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
73 What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras
74 The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
75 Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
76 A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
77 Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert
78 The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein
79 The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss
80 A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
81 Black Boy, by Richard Wright
82 Deal With It!, by Esther Drill
83 Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds
84 So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins
85 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
86 Cut, by Patricia McCormick
87 Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
88 The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
89 Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger
90 A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
91 Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Graighead George
92 The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
93 Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
94 Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
95 Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix
96 Grendel, by John Gardner
97 The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
98 I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte
99 Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
100 America: A Novel, by Frank, E.R.

Top Banned from 1990 – 1999

Scary Stories (Series), by Alvin Schwartz

Daddy’s Roommate, by Michael Willhoite

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou

The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

Forever, by Judy Blume

Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson

Heather Has Two Mommies, by Leslea Newman

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

The Giver, by Lois Lowry

My Brother Sam is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris

Alice (Series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor

Goosebumps (Series), by R.L. Stine

A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck

The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

Sex, by Madonna

Earth’s Children (Series), by Jean M. Auel

The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson

In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak

The Witches, by Roald Dahl

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle

The New Joy of Gay Sex, by Charles Silverstein

Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous

The Goats, by Brock Cole

The Stupids (Series), by Harry Allard

Anastasia Krupnik (Series), by Lois Lowry

Final Exit, by Derek Humphry

Blubber, by Judy Blume

Halloween ABC, by Eve Merriam

Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George

Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane

The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison

What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters, by Lynda Madaras

Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers

The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood

The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton

The Pigman, by Paul Zindel

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier

Deenie, by Judy Blume

Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes

Annie on my Mind, by Nancy Garden

Beloved, by Toni Morrison

The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar

Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat, by Alvin Schwartz

Harry Potter (Series), by J.K. Rowling

Cujo, by Stephen King

James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl

A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein

Ordinary People, by Judith Guest

American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)

Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard

Asking About Sex and Growing Up, by Joanna Cole

What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons, by Lynda Madaras

The Anarchist Cookbook, by William Powell

Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume

Boys and Sex, by Wardell Pomeroy

Crazy Lady, by Jane Conly

Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher

Killing Mr. Griffin, by Lois Duncan

Fade, by Robert Cormier

Guess What?, by Mem Fox

Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

Native Son by Richard Wright

Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies, by Nancy Friday

Curses, Hexes and Spells, by Daniel Cohen

On My Honor, by Marion Dane Bauer

The House of Spirits, by Isabel Allende

Jack, by A.M. Homes

Arizona Kid, by Ron Koertge

Family Secrets, by Norma Klein

Mommy Laid An Egg, by Babette Cole

Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo A. Anaya

Where Did I Come From?, by Peter Mayle

The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline Cooney

Carrie, by Stephen King

The Dead Zone, by Stephen King

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison

Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez

Private Parts, by Howard Stern

Where’s Waldo?, by Martin Hanford

Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene

Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume

Little Black Sambo, by Helen Bannerman

Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett

Running Loose, by Chris Crutcher

Sex Education, by Jenny Davis

Jumper, by Steven Gould

Christine, by Stephen King

The Drowning of Stephen Jones, by Bette Greene

That Was Then, This is Now, by S.E. Hinton

Girls and Sex, by Wardell Pomeroy

The Wish Giver, by Bill Brittain

Jump Ship to Freedom, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

Fall Catch Up Read-A-Thon

Published on September 20, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments

While catching up on some blog visits today I found Michelle over at The True Book Addict running a little fall clean up of reads. As I looked around my home I have half read books everywhere. I know…. I have BADD (Book Attention Deficit Disorder). It’s not that they are bad books, it’s just that my mind goes from one read to the next…. first I want mystery and then oh look, now I want comedy, ooh but look over there a memoir….. oh but I must read that historical fiction….

you get the gist…

Michelle’s week-long clean up appeals to me because there are books I really want to get reading but also want to finish these other books I am reading as well… so I decided to sign up. This week is a great week to sit down evenings and pick up these books and get back to the joy of reading.

It’s not too late to join in. Pop in over at Michelle’s and she will welcome you to the group. 😀

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on September 19, 2010September 19, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)129 Comments

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme I love to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment. You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Last weeks winner (using Random.Org) was:

Laurel : Laurel Rain Snow Creations

Congratulations! Please choose an item out of the PRIZE BOX and email me your choice with your mailing address as well! journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

**Remember to qualify to win you need to stop back and let me know how many of the Monday What Are You reading Meme’s you commented on. One entry per every 10. I do this to encourage visits to new blogs and to build community. 😀

I had an insanely busy week this past week and for the first time in a long time I did not make it around to visit all the participants blogs. I really enjoy doing that but the days got away from me and with huge commitments almost every evening I was exhausted.

The good news is that as of this morning I am over the crazy business for now and have a pretty quiet week ahead that I am so looking forward to!

Here is my past week in the literary sense:

My Interview with Nat from In Spring It Is The Dawn (check out this amazing blogger who lives in Japan!)

Immanuel’s Veins by Ted Dekker with a giveaway (a good one from Dekker and a bonus giveaway!)

Minnesota/Wisconsin Book Blogger Meet Up Planned in October (I am working with Reagan from Miss Remmer’s Reviews to attend a book festival in the twin cities and hopefully create a meet up around this event. Check out the details! 😀

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Review coming this week!

I’d Know You Anywhere (audio) – Review coming this week!

Gave Up On

Farenheit 451 (audio): sadly, the audio narrator was just hard to understand. In a mumble type tone I struggled to catch what he was saying and found myself losing the point because I was picking up on every few words. Even more sadly, the narrator of this audio copy I have is none other than the author, Ray Bradbury himself. I still hope to read this book some day, or perhaps I need to try the audio with a different narrator.

And yeah…. that’s about it for this week. With BBAW I really enjoyed participating and I had a giveaway a day going on and did not get a whole lot of reading done. This week…. I am hopeful will be different.

Here’s What Is Brewing For Me This Week

You know how I love a good Patterson audio! I really do! This is what will replace Fahrenheit 451 in my kitchen Cd player.

Remember the pinky swear? I know Alita from Alita Reads started this (and probably has finished!) this book last week. Our swear was to read it in September so this is a must read for me this week.

And it is also time to start this one! This is the Wordshaker on line Book Club choice that we are reading currently and discussing on October 6. It’s not to late to join in and read along with us! I received a box of signed books for giveaway from the author this week! (WOO HOO!!!) Which will go up for giveaway as we get closer to review time. Those who are reading along are automatically given a bonus entry in the upcoming giveaway.

That’s my week! I even took a nap this afternoon so I am ready to come and visit you all this time around and cant wait to see what you have been reading! Be sure to leave the link to your Monday What Are You Reading post by entering where it says “click here” below.

I hope you all have an incredible week with books and audio that take you on wonderful adventures! 😀

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Morning Meanderings… and a happy ending to a crazy week

Published on September 19, 2010September 19, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)28 Comments

I am up and have about 30 minutes to get ready and go into town to help tear down our IHN serving week. That will consist of grabbing all the blankets and sheets, all the food and cleaning the areas we were in. I am hopeful to do this in record time…. one hour so I can make it to the 9:15 church service.

I have Coffee Cup by my side (hello friend!) and I have petted the dog as he got up and to go outside (hello friend!)

Last night we went out with friends for Al (hubbies) birthday celebration. As tired as I was, I do really enjoy hanging out with friends and after about an hour of good food and company I could almost feel the stress of the week melting off. I always have with me my trusty camera (carry it in my purse 24/7) so I had to get a couple of shots in.

Chad and Al (hubbie, hubster, birthday boy...)

I had such a blast and can chalk up some more good memories from last evening. 😀

Once my morning activities are done – I have no more commitments today.

Did you hear that?

No more commitments today.

The sound of silence…. crickets really…..

ooh… I like that!

I hope to do more reading a bit this afternoon and hopefully finally conquer The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and as I finish mowing the lawn I will be listening to ‘I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lipman’ on my IPOD. I love being able to sprinkle literature through my days.

Have an awesome day! The BIG crazy week is alas over! Hazzah!!!!