Month: March 2011

Morning Meanderings… Death of a Laptop… or not….

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

Morning….

Why why why why am I so tired?

I had a whole weekend of leisurely writing and yes don’t tell my husband who believes I worked like a fiend writing all weekend, but I napped too!  SO why on this Wednesday morning am I feeling like I am coming off a 20 hour work shift?

Last night I stayed in town as it is our serving week to stay with the homeless.  There is no reason why I should not have had some good quality reading of blog time as from 8 pm on I was alone, just me and Laptop (yes – LAPTOP, I will get to that in a minute…. ) but when I tried to read through some of the Monday Meme posts…. I was just ….

tired.

As for Laptop…. if you have been around this weekend you know he died on Sunday afternoon.  Yup.  Would not turn on.  I have had some opportunities the last couple weeks with Laptop and I think I know his issue…. even took pictures of the broken wires (very CSI of me!) to show how he died.  I even… and this is harsh so be warned…

I even pulled his plug.

Then…

Tuesday evening as I was preparing dinner I sat at the table and pushed his power button, just like old times… and

a message came on the previously blank screen:

Plug In – Your Battery Is Dangerously Low

So – well…. wow!  I ran for the plug-in and when hubby and Chance got to the table I told them do not look directly at it…. but look…. Laptop is BREATHING!

It’s a March Miracle!

I realize I am still probably on borrowed time so my plans to invest in a new one are still in place and I have now emailed myself all important documents off this one so I can no longer say “yup…. there went my book.”

I have another busy evening tonight but Thursday is looking promisingly uneventful and I do plan to read the Monday posts as I am in need of my book fix. 🙂

LISTEN by Rene Gutteridge

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)25 Comments

Marlo is normally a quiet, peaceful town.  Yet recently a website has popped up called Listentoyourself and it contains residents of Marlo’s most private conversations… conversations that were held in the privacy of their homes with people they trusted.  Soon accusations are flying and the local police force has its hands full trying to sort it all out.

Damien Underwood has been a journalist most of his life.  He has been the creator of the Marlo Sentinal’s crossword puzzle until as of recent he has been offered a chance to do a bit of reporting as well.  Damien along with his best friend Police Officer Frank Merrit are surprised by the sudden popularity of this website that is ripping the town apart.

And Damien has his own home to be concerned with as well, his wife Kay is struggling to fit in with the Cheer Mom’s, his daughter Jenna, normally sweet and easy-going has become sullen and in trouble at school for hitting another girl, his son Hunter is spending too much time in his room on the computer and Damien is concerned with what he may be looking at.

What is happening in Marlo?

This is the first Rene Gutteridge book I have experienced.  A few weeks back, Hannah at Wordlily celebrated a whole week of Rene Gutteridge and I was curious….

As “the power of words” is the theme of this post, Hannah used the power of her words to influence me to give this author that I honestly do not think I have ever heard of, a try.  I am so glad that I did.  And now I am going to use the power of my words to tell you why.  😀

LISTEN is a book surrounded all around the one question.  How responsible are we for our words when we think no one is listening?  What author Rene Gutteridge shows through this book is something I have always believed, words are powerful tools.  Words can lift someone up and they can tear someone down.

In Marlo, neighbor literally turns against neighbor.  While the website Listentoyourself does not mention names – the conversations written out for all to see is word for word of what was said.  People are hurt, in some cases they wrongfully believe some of the writing is about them, even more so, they decide who said it and react to it.

I really enjoyed that while the website is much of this book, it is not the only storyline that Rene Gutteridge has weaved within the pages regarding the power of words.  While Damien is working the website angle, his wife Kay is involved in the words that people say about each other – gossip.  As she tries to fit in with the Cheer Moms and they point the finger at one mom in particular Kay becomes part of the vicious circle of spreading words that hurt.  And a third story line comes in with Jenna and the mean girls (oh wow – they are MEAN) at school.

Every Monday evening I am in a small group that meets and discusses a study that we are doing and last night we touched on the subject of the power of words.  I smiled as it reminded me of this book.

While the book is not without flaws, there were a couple unresolved items and I was left with a few questions, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It is a book I did not want to put down and enjoyed the reminder of the power of words, as well as the power of truly listening.   I will most definitely read more of Rene Gutterridge.

Amazon Rating

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading map has been updated to include LISTEN

I borrowed this book from my library

Morning Meanderings… Feb Recap and winners

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Good morning!

This year I started the WHERE Are You Reading Challenge and I have already been having a lot of fun with it.  The idea was to just read what you are planning to read anyway – and just see where in the world you are reading.  I offered prizes as you got to the end of the year if you were able to read in each of the 50 states, and bonus entries and prizes for those who read outside the states.  You can find all details here.

Each month, I would like to recap where we have been and how this challenge is going for us.  Here is where I am for the month of January 2011:

In February I have read 13 books and 4 audio ( 11 books so far in January, and 6 audio).  On my Reading Map they have landed: (Jan and Feb combined)

Georgia

North Carolina

New York (2)

Minnesota (3)

Vermont

California (2)

Mississippi

New Jersey

Maine (2)

Illinois (2)

Connecticut

Washington

Missouri

Massachusetts (2)

Utah

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Washington

Iowa

One unknown (Clementine – friend Of The Week!)

Saudi Arabia

Australia

Singapore

I am having so much fun this and love seeing where I am reading! 

For those of you participating in the WHERE Are you reading challenge, please feel free to create a monthly wrap-up post and link it here if you would like.  I plan to do this each month.  For those of you who are not connected to this challenge, it is not too late to start your map and join in!  Challenge details here.

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As for the February comment winners –

My randomly drawn winner of a book out of the “Reading Cafe” (Yes, I changed the name…. more themed for me 😛 )is:

Rural View – Views From The Countryside

 

And the winner for the most comments in February and the $20 Amazon gift card is:

Hannah from Wordlily

 

Thanks everyone – I so appreciate your visits and love discussing books with all of you.  The March contest – starts today 😀

 

I have been having some lap top “opportunities” so please bear with me while I get this all straightened out.  I am missing my blog visiting time and will be back to visiting soon.  😀