April 2011 – Page 2 – Book Journey

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on April 24, 2011April 25, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)103 Comments

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between! D This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

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 telling me how many you visited. **You do not have to have a blog to participate! You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Last weeks winner:

Dollycas from Dollycas’s Thoughts

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

**Updates have been made to the Reading Cafe Grab shelves!

Due to a crazy pinched nerve in my back that slowly took me out of the game this week… I managed a LOT of reading time. I made it through books over the past four days that I have been wanting to get to for awhile. And those I have not posted yet I do have the reviews written so really…. I feel GOOD!

Here is the week in review: (dim the lights please)

Book Bloggers Beware!!! (my trips to the chiropractor this week led me to a discovery and this could happen to you too!)

Massacre At Mountain Meadows (audio on a real massacre in the 1800’s….)

My Girls Weekend and Rick Springfield concert

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen (My first Dessen and not my last that is for sure!)

Hate List by Jennifer Brown (I do not know what took me so long to read this… everyone told me too… and WOW)

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (oh …. wow.)

I also read and reviewed CLOAKED by Alex Flinn and I will link to that when it shows up on the Fairy Tale Fortnight site.

I have more book reviews written just not posted yet. Going into this next week there should be a pretty steady flow. 😀 Here is my plan for the week:

After a thrilling trip to South America, Jen, Holly, and Amanda, three Manhattanites in their mid-twenties, decide to climb off the career ladder for a year to travel the world. Inspired by The Flame Trees of Thika, Jen has always longed to see Kenya, while Holly wants to study yoga in an ashram in India. Amanda has dreams of pursuing a career as a freelance travel writer, but when she takes time out from their adventures to work on articles, it grates on the nerves of Jen, who is hoping to truly immerse herself in their surroundings. Though the three encounter snafus on the way—Holly initially finds the rigors of the ashram disheartening, the girls find themselves trapped in a car with a frightening taxi driver in Vietnam—there are many rewards on the journey, most notably when the three friends organize a group of Kenyan girls to perform a play about an influential Kenyan woman. For those with similar wanderlust, Jen, Holly and Amanda’s lively accounts make for the ideal armchair journey.

Blog tour this Tuesday….. grab your hat – we are going on an adventure! 😀

For everyone who has received an invitation to their high-school reunion and broken out in a cold, clammy sweat, Berg nails the experience: the dread that morphs into downright fear; the bouts of self-doubt that coalesce into prolonged periods of self-loathing; the internal inventory that comes up short in the bragging-rights column. Of course, there’s just as much potential for life-affirming and life-altering revelations. Glory days can be relived, damaged reputations repaired, lapsed friendships restored, lost loves rekindled. As Dorothy, Pete, Mary Alice, Candy, and Lester consider returning to Clear Springs for their fortieth high-school reunion, each contemplates the chance for redemption and revenge, renewal and retribution. Ultimately, they are then surprised to discover how much they have yet to learn about human nature and their own capacity for joy and forgiveness.

This is the WORDSHAKER on line book group read and I am so late on this it is embarrassing to even post it (I am the host of this on line group and really should be hung up by my toe nails and force fed orange peels….)

Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Told in the captivating voice of a woman who refuses to live in sorrow, bitterness, fear, or foolish romantic dreams, it is the story of fair-skinned, fiercely independent Janie Crawford, and her evolving selfhood through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trials, and purpose. A true literary wonder, Hurston’s masterwork remains as relevant and affecting today as when it was first published — perhaps the most widely read and highly regarded novel in the entire canon of African American literature.

This one is new to me…. I am drawn to it… I dont know why.

AND… another audio but it is a mystery to me… I have several requested at the Library, just depends on what comes in first 😀

So there it is … the plan 😀 I am super excited to see what your plan for this week is 😀 Please add your Monday What Are You Reading post to the Linky below and I as well as others will come and check out what you are reading 🙂 I love this part of my week! 😀

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BEA -“utiful! Check out updates on BEA (Book Expo America)

Published on April 24, 2011April 25, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Oh!

BEA is sitting right at a month away!

SSSQQQUUUEEEEEEEE!!!!

A couple of weeks ago I shared with you my thoughts with you on “What I Learned at BEA“. This was a recap of my adventures last year as a first timer to the Book Expo in New York and what advice I would give those of you who are new to BEA. (I am paying it forward here as last year there were many posts about BEA and what to bring and not to bring and I devoured all their advice.

My roomy again will be the lovely Reagan of Miss Remmers Reviews and she also has created a couple good posts I encourage you to check out…. she is braver than me – she even did a VLOG. 😀

BEA – What To Bring

BEA What To Wear

She also created a BEA Blog Feed you can sign up for

** If you have written a BEA post let me know and I will link you up here

If you have any BEA “utiful” questions – please post them here on the comments – if I do not know the answer myself I will do my best to find out for you. Oh – keep the questions BEA related…. I know nothing about the earths hemisphere or the volume pitch a killer whale can produce. 😛

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

Published on April 24, 2011April 24, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)49 Comments

It is Berlin 1942. When 9-year-old Bruno comes home from school one day he finds that the house maid is in his room packing up his belongings. In short notice he finds out that his father has received a promotion and the family will moving to a new home far away. Bruno is devastated as his best friends in the world are here and he loves his neighborhood and loves to explore, however there is no changing the plan that has been set in motion.

Along with his mother, and 12-year-old sister Gretel, they make the move. Their new home is large and creepy. There are no neighborhood kids to play with and nothing to do. Out of boredom Bruno decides to go on an adventure and discover what lies beyond the property where his father has forbidden him to go…. and here is where he finds Shmuel, a skinny, dirty, little Jewish boy.

Shmuel is also 9, in fact he was born on the same day as Bruno! Bruno is excited and is already planning adventures in his mind of what he and Shmuel can do together. Yet this seems to be a problem as Shmuel is on the other side of a large sharp wired fence and for some reason is always wearing striped pajamas, much like all the other men and boys behind this fence.

As Shmuel tells his story of being taken from their home and made to live in a one room area with another family making 11 people living in the room, Bruno feels Shmuel must be lying, surely that many people in such a small space is impossible!

Bruno continues to sneak out to see Shmaul and brings him food which he devours, and they talk and talk and become fast friends. While Bruno does not understand his fathers job, he does know that his father would not approve of this friendship so he keeps his adventures with Shmaul a secret.

Until one day Bruno and Shmaul have an idea… an idea that brings this book to a conclusion that pretty much stopped my heart and put a whole new twist on Holocaust literature.

1cc — This movie was one that will stick with me for a long long time.

I seen the movie, The Boy In The Striped Pajamas before I read this book. That is usually a taboo thing for me to do, but I had never read the story and one day thought it would be good to see the movie on Netflix. The movie shocked me. How can I think I know what a book is about but I really know nothing?

In short time I had secured the book from my local library as I always appreciate the book more than the movie (well – almost always). Yes time went by and I renewed the book twice and still had not read it. In fact this week it was in the car to go back to the library unread…. and then when I was going to the chiropractor this week I needed something to read in the waiting room and guess what the only book was I had in the car? Yup…. this one.

So – between the three appointments I had this week, I devoured this book to the point of no return…. and I mean that literally…. when I went to the library and turned in an audio I had completed, this book remained in the car. No return not then anyway…. 😀

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas is a devastating read. Lets just put that out there now. I am amazed how we as human beings can treat each other so poorly – be so mislead in what we think is right… it breaks my heart. Time and time again you can read fictional stories like this (that may as well have been real) as well as true stories that you wish were fiction.

Hannah at Word Lily has been posting a blurb out of a book called True Grit, every day for lent. Talk about your frightening statistics and some of them are just what I am talking about here… the things we as people do to other people – some due to race, background, gender, faith, where they live, the list goes on and on…

and so… back to the book. I give John Boyne so much credit for writing this. It is a hard story. It is a maddening story. I was just as impressed with the book as I was with the movie. The innocence of Bruno is perfect as he meets daily with his friend and not understanding that Shmaul is in a concentration camp – or even what that would mean.

What this book shows is a friendship that no fences can separate. It is a heartbreaking innocent story that could not have been told as well if the main character had been an adult. It had to be a child… the innocence of childhood that makes this work…. and work well.

The movie shocked me…. the book broke me.

A POWERFUL read of historical fiction that will knock personal prejudices down to rubble.

spoiler button — I have a bit to discuss on this one...

AMAZON RATING

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include The Boy In The Striped Pajamas

I borrowed (and borrowed and borrowed) this book from my local library

Morning Meanderings… A VERY BOOKISH Easter Weekend

Published on April 24, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)38 Comments

Well… what’s a girl to do who has been layed up since Friday with a bag of ice on her back and shoulder-blade between chiropractor appointments? I am under Doctors orders to not lift, strain, work out…

Well of course I am going to READ.

I did make a dent in the reading over the weekend which was actually…. nice. With the weather still cool and rainy it was not a big sacrifice to hang out in the house. We have no big Easter plans, other than College Son is coming home this morning – WOO HOO!!!!! And we get the day to hang out and he goes back to Mankato tomorrow.

We used to have the Easter Basket hunt when the boys were real young. As they got older… it became a neighborhood scavenger hunt. All the neighbors have been here since I was growing up including my aunt who lives two doors down. The boys would be given a clue at the house and they would have to do whatever it said to get the next one… such as:

“Go over to John and Peggy’s and hop on one foot while asking if you can borrow an egg.”

Of course all the neighbors were in on it and they would give them the next clue until they came tot he final clue which would give them hints to the “basket” whereabouts. Of course the “basket” itself was always improvised as I did not like the traditional baskets….

One year the candy and goodies were in baseball caps, one year football helmets, once plastic totes filled with their favorite trading cards and tickets to a Weird Al concert (which was their first concert!) and then one year – they were new 10 speed bikes hiding in my aunts garage.

As I type this up… I am filled with fond memories of having the kids here. At this moment they would have been all over me waiting for their first clue. 😀

I miss that.

Do you have any fun Easter traditions?

I am still hurting, but not as bad. I have another appointment tomorrow but am really hoping to get to the gym tomorrow – even if it is only the treadmill. The first big bike ride of the year is next Sunday – the Ironman…..and I am excited about it, praying for good weather… and of course none of this back/arm stuff. I really want to do the ride. 😀

Have a SUPER AWESOME HAPPY EASTER!!!!

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

Published on April 23, 2011April 23, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)36 Comments

It was just a list. Just a list that Valerie started in a notebook of those people in school…. in life who bugged her. And when Valerie and Nick became a couple… she shared the list with him and it became a “thing” they liked to add to…. the bullies, the tormentors, just a way to vent and release the pressures of home life for both her and Nick.

or so Valerie thought.

Until one day at the end of their Jr year in High School, Nick pulls a gun in the commons, looking to take out those on “the list.” When the shooting is done, 6 students and one teacher are dead, Valerie has a bullet in her leg from trying to stop Nick, who shoots her before he takes his own life. The list is discovered as evidence and it looks to her fellow students as well as Valerie’s parents, that she was an accomplish in the shooting.

And even Valerie has to wonder…. was she to blame?

When she bravely returns to school for her SR year she finds that everything has changed. Her once friends have nothing to do with her. With the help of her therapist and a determination to see things as they really are, Valerie begins to see things in a new light and finds friendship comes in many different forms.

Another cover, but I prefer the one I have which is the one at the top of this review

Ok… you may be saying, “really Sheila? Another book on school shootings?” And in a way you could be right. I have no idea why tragedy draws me in to books – fiction and non, but it does. Take my reviews of Think No Evil by Jonas Beiler (true Amish school shooting), Columbine by Dave Cullen ( true story about the Columbine shootings), Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Piccoult (fictional story of a boy teased to the point of doing the unthinkable), We Need To Talk About Kevin (fictional take on a troubled boy…) read pre-blogging for book club, She Said Yes (pre blogging read about a girl who survived the Columbine shooting… ok, you get the gist… I do read about tragedy and overcoming…

BUT (and it is a big BUT) this book is not about a school shooting. Ok – it is, as in it starts with a school shooting… but really, this book is about Valerie and what Valerie does to overcome what has happened. Even the author says this in the back of the book under authors note, “Hate List was never a story about a school shooting. From day one, this story was always Valerie’s story.”

I really like that because Valerie’s story can be so many others story…. others who have survived similar tragedies and must go on… because really, not only the dead are victims in any crime. So many live, or try to live with the aftermath and Hate List is really about that. What do you do when you feel you should have known what was going to happen? When others blame you and you are not so sure they are wrong?

Author, Jennifer Brown says when the idea was forming in her mind for this book there was a song stuck in her head… it was Nickelback’s If Everyone Cared”, and so to put you right “there for the rest of this review…. let’s get a little Nickelback going, shall we?

Hmmmm….. Valerie’s song? I think so. (I have to say this is an easy sell for me – I really like Nickelback).

I really liked the way Jennifer Brown wrote this book. I mentioned books above that I have read with a similar topic but this is the first book I have read that focused on a survivor and how she moved forward. And really I have to say this story speaks to anyone who has survived any tragedy…. you become someone new and as you try to understand this “new you” and you battle your old self as well.

Ok I digress…

Valerie is a well written character and Jennifer Brown does an excellent job of flushing out who she really is as she struggles to find her place in this new world, after the shooting. What I also liked is that throughout the entire book we know that Valerie loved Nick and…. I can even understand that. Nick is also written well so you can see him as a vulnerable victim as well. I think the beauty of this particular book is that it takes some unlikely friends to change the mind of an entire school – to look at things differently and see things and people as they really are.

“Just concentrate on being in the moment”, he said. “Don’t read into things. See what’s really there ok?”

~ Dr. Hieler page 17 – Hate List

Hate List was an amazing read. In the end – I was left with that gentle hum inside of reading a great book. I still keep flipping through those final pages, mainly because it makes so much sense. Its like I am trying to hold that to memory, that we are who we make ourselves to be… and sometimes… sometimes, it takes a completely different perspective to open our eyes to what is real.

Thank you Jennifer Brown…. for opening my eyes.

Amazon Rating

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Hate List

I purchased this book at Barnes and Noble

Morning Meanderings… Book Bloggers/Long Term Book Readers Beware

Published on April 23, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)76 Comments

Good morning! 😀
Lovely post title right? Just gives you warm fuzzies I am sure…..

If you have been following my “pain” saga (here and here) the past few days you will know I have been having back pain and seeing a chiropractor. Note: This is something I don’t do…. haven’t done…. and am going because as of Thursday morning I could hardly turn my neck… what I thought was a pinched nerve went from between my shoulder blades, up my back into my neck and right arm. Yesterday morning after having my first treatment on Thursday, I could not turn my back, sit in a chair, or stand. My back felt like it was on FIRE and I called the chiropractor again in tears saying I was not sure if I needed them or a doctor but something was seriously wrong (and yeah…. scary too).

After this second time in they took x rays of my neck and spine. My spine was perfectly straight (hey I have to take the little wins right?) however my neck was looking straight too which I though “yay me”, but was told…. nah ahh.

Apparently our necks are supposed to have a nice backward “C” shaped curve to them. Mine does not. What was shown to me is that people who do a lot of computer work, laptop work, and even reading, can cause their neck to pull straight from looking down so much…. putting pressure into my arm and back.

Guilty. On all three accounts. 😯

So what do I do?

I need to keep my laptop on a table at a level that I am not leaning over it (instead of my usual on my lap in the recliner). When I read the book needs to come up more so I am not looking down to read it but more straight forward…. and I am supposed to exercise my neck by rolling it back as far as I can….

Even though I work out, the doctor said while that is good and strengthens muscles, it is apparently not enough to counteract the time I spend at a computer. This is true… between work and writing, I easily spend 4 – 10 hours on the computer a day.

So there is this mornings post. I figure many of you must spend pretty close to the same amount of time reading, and computer work as I do, so maybe a little heads up will prevent you from the pain I am currently in.I have been so tired! 😀

This morning I have another appointment. They have been doing an ultra sound on my shoulder and working out the ache and pain there and I am taking 800 milligrams of ibuprofen every 5 hours.

On the upside – hanging out at the house with an ice pack has caused me to really catch up on some reading. I have finished two books in the last two days and started a third. Nuts I know… but I am always looking for the bright side and hopefully will be back to working out on Monday.

Do any of you experience any of this pain? What do you do to prevent it?

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen

Published on April 22, 2011April 22, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments

Caitlin has always seemed to sit in her older sister Cass’s shadow. Even now that Cass has left their home, running away to live with her boyfriend…. leaving… on Caitlin’s sixteenth birthday.

Caitlin tries to move forward in her life while her parents watch her every move wondering if she too will take flight. Caitlin’s mom starts trying to mold Caitlin who had always been the invisible sister into her everything. When Caitlin makes the cheer leading squad (ugh…. cheer leading) her mom takes charge with schedules and uniforms and showing up at practices – much as she used to do with Cass. Could it be that Cass left because she felt smothered by this parental over achieving?

And as Caitlin deals with this new life she finds herself caught up in a whirl of new friends, friends that did not know here as Cass’s sister… friends she can hide herself in and Caitlin begins to become smaller and smaller, flying under the radar as she experiments with drugs and alcohol under the overly watchful eye of her new boyfriend Rogerson.

Strange, sleepy Rogerson, with his long brown dreads and brilliant green eyes, had seemed to Caitlin to be an open door. With him she could be anybody, not just the second-rate shadow of her older sister, Cass. But now she is drowning in the vacuum Cass left behind when she turned her back on her family’s expectations by running off with a boyfriend. Caitlin wanders in a dream land of drugs and a nightmare of Rogerson’s sudden fists, lost in her search for herself.

And this begins my adventures in reading with Sarah Dessen. I thoroughly enjoyed this book in audio format. Narrated by Liz Morton, she brought the perfect “bored and uninterested” voice to Caitlin and her friends as well as she brought the concern into her parents. I found this book to be an important read just like SPEAK is.

Caitlin’s attempt to lose herself after she loses her sister is one that I believe speaks volumes to our society. As Cass was the one who always took the spotlight, Caitlin had no idea what to do when Cass left and the spotlight was all too glaring on her. In times of great tragedy or loss in our lives it is tempting to try to reinvent yourself to cover up the pain. Cass nearly succeeds but by doing so puts herself in grave danger with an abusive boyfriend and drug loving friends.

SO just for a moment without going “spoilerly”… I can’t stand Rogerson. He is a horrible teen who is obviously carrying on what he has learned in his own home. Sad…. very sad. So saying that – I can also say that I am reading this from a parental perspective and Rogerson is a bug that must be squashed…. from a teen girls perspective he is dreamy. Mysterious. Brooding. Handsome. Dangerous. All the things that many young girls are attracted to and really this is where the heart of Dreamland lies within the relationship between Rogerson and Caitlin.

This book as I mentioned above is an important read. Abuse is never something to be accepted.You can feel bad for the one causing the abuse, you can understand why they may be doing it – but it is wrong and they need help.

The following is taken from the ACADV Dating Violence:

Teen dating violence often is hidden because teenagers typically:

are inexperienced with dating relationships.

are pressured by peers to act violently.

want independence from parents.

have “romantic” views of love.

Teen dating violence is influenced by how teenagers look at themselves and others.

Young men may believe:

they have the right to “control” their female partners in any way necessary.

“masculinity” is physical aggressiveness

they “possess” their partner.

they should demand intimacy.

they may lose respect if they are attentive and supportive toward their girlfriends.

Young women may believe:

they are responsible for solving problems in their relationships

their boyfriend’s jealousy, possessiveness and even physical abuse, is “romantic.”

abuse is “normal” because their friends are also being abused.

there is no one to ask for help.

Sarah Dessens characters are memorable and even beyond the abuse in the book the story line is strong, and witty. There is more to this book than your typical YA although it will appeal to those who are just looking for a good read as well.

Amazon Rating

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Dreamland

I borrowed this audio from my local library

Morning Meanderings…. Last Weekends Girl Weekend and Concert

Published on April 22, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments

Good morning! Quick check in on my back….. PAIN. BIG PAIN. Not sure what my next step is. I seen the chiropractor yesterday and felt pretty good when I left but as the day went on it got worse… now if I clench my hand into a fist on my right hand a shoot of pain goes into my back. Good grief…. I am so not this girl. My back hurts so bad I am propped in the recliner and even that is not helping. I am trying to decide if I try the chiropractor again or if I need to go to the hospital. GAH. Hate this.

Ok… anyway… last weekend I had went with 8 other girls to Walker Minnesota for a girls weekend. This group does this once a year and last year I had missed out because it was the home show weekend and I was already committed to it.

So this years adventure was not very far away – a little over an hour from home is Walker Minnesota and our reasoning for going was to go to the Rick Springfield concert. Now personally – while Rick Springfield was ok back int he 80’s… I probably would not have chosen to go to his concert…. HOWEVER you mix in 8 fun friends and suddenly the idea sounds brilliant. 😛

We left on Friday and went to a beautiful hotel called Chase on The Lake. We had two suites and you have to see these rooms:

008 — One of the two bedrooms in our suite

The rooms were fun and Friday night we stayed in, had dinner, and played board games. On Saturday we went to the shops near by and I bought a cute summer shirt and a sweater (ugggh…. with our weather lately you just do not know which way to go). Saturday afternoon I even had time to write a review while some of the girls played more games or napped. Saturday evening after a good dinner in the hotel we went to the concert.

Color me impressed. Rick put on a very good concert and turns out I knew more songs than I thought I did. He was high energy, pulled people on to the stage including a little 7-year-old girl who sang “Don’t Talk To Strangers” with him. Amy, Paula, and Heidi spent the whole concert right up front and Paula and Heidi were both hugged by Rick when he went into the crowd.

Saturday night we were back in the hotel and played board games again until one in the morning…. I love board games!

A fun weekend and I actually liked that we were not that far away as we were home on Sunday around 1:00 pm. So I still had Sunday to get the house cleaned up and have dinner with Al.

Seven of the nine: (left) Dee, Jill, Paula, Me, Heidi, Deb (front) Amy

Morning Meanderings…. Well Everyone Else Is Doing It….

Published on April 21, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

Good morning. Probably going to the chiropractor this morning…. so ridiculous but the nerve in my back has now went up to my neck (I can’t look down) and over to my right arm – it hurts to lift my coffee cup….. now that is serious. 😛

In the mean time – as I psych myself up to use the shower…. (how sad that it takes a pep talk with myself to get me going in that direction because it calls for standing and moving), I thought I would do this little meme thingy that Bonnie linked me up too.

Ok… with no more rambling ( as I really do need to figure out a way to move), here is the 4 x 4

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:

Wal-Mart (Customer Service Manager, Support Team, Promotional Chairperson, Department Manager)
Family Life Administrator (I prefer the FLA – it sounds very CSI) 😛
Hardees fast food counter person
Domino’s Pizza (driver, day shift manager, office manager)

Four books I would read over and over:

The Bible
Any of the Harry Potter books
Summerhouse by Jude Deveroux
Three Sisters Trilogy Nora Robers – Dance Upon The Air, Heaven and Earth, and Face The Fire

Four places I have lived:

Bemidji Minnesota
Virginia Minnesota
Soldotna Alaska (one year with my aunt and uncle and mom after the house fire)
Brainerd Minnesota (there is no place like home :D)

Four books I would recommend

Summer House by Jude Deveroux
Three Sisters Trilogy by Nora Roberts (see book titles above)
ROOM by Emma Donoghue
Little Princes by Conor Grennan
(bonus) Thirteen reasons Why by Jay Asher

Four places I have been:

Honduras
Costa Rica
California
New York!

Four of my favorite foods:

Thai
Mexican
Chinese
anything chocolate….

Four of my favorite drinks:

Ice water
fresca
diet Dr Pepper
skim mocha latte no whip

Four places I would rather be right now:

on a secluded SUNNY beach
Disney World
in a hot tub
can I just say the secluded SUNNY beach again?

Four things that are very special in my life:

my family (Al, Brad, Justin) and friends
my church
my activities: biking, rollerblading…
my online conversations here

Alright…. yes, I am still going to recap last weekend…. really. I just need to prep some pics and I know… I can not believe it is Thursday already. Have a super day everyone… I am off to slowly get ready for work and make that appointment to hopefully get this pain taken care of as I have never experienced anything like this before and it is driving me crazy that I can not be active.

*I do not do a lot of these meme/questionnaires anymore, and I don’t mean to be rude when people tag me or connect me with blog awards – it’s just honestly… I don’t have the time to do all that they entail. I apologise to people who gave my a blog award and I commented “I will stop by and check it out” because more times than not, as I continue doing whatever I am doing I forget to stop by and do that. Thank you for thinking of me though, I think that it is so nice that you even find my ramblings blog award worthy. 😀

Morning Meanderings…. Books and Such… oh – and Undesireable #1

Published on April 20, 2011April 20, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Good morning! 😀

32 degrees here this morning in Minnesota…… thirty-two….

They are talking snow and rain for the rest of this week. Uggghhhhh… it is snowing right now….

Oh come on Spring!!!

*my heart sinks with the weight of waiting for weather I can bike in*

So…. change of subject – lets talk books. 😀

I visited the Monday What Are You reading Monday between time I had on Monday and then finished yesterday evening. Wow…. there are good books out there.

At Serendipity, Vivienne wrote a review on an interesting looking book called A Year Without Autumn by Liz Kessler.

At The Eclectic Reader, Sheree read and reviewed Stay by Deb Caletti that seems so SSQQUUUEEEE worthy I am looking for that one now!

At “And Anything Bookish“. Kim had a post up about Sarah Dessen’s book What Happens To Good Bye. I have only experienced Dessen once but liked it very much and this one sounds as though it may be my next Dessen stop.

At Kristen’s Book Nook, she had a review of Bossy Pants by Tina Fey. I have watched and wondered about this book from afar. I find Tina Fey to be really fun and have enjoyed movies she is in.

Library says YES to all 😛 except a Year Without Autumn…. 😦 they do not have that one.

Oh and finally I heard about this in my travels too…. there is a website called Magic Is Mite, News From The Ministry Of Magic. This site has updated posts regarding the search for well….. undesirable #1….. (the site is hilarious) and a must view for all you Potter heads out there. (Uhhhh…. not me of course….. I am posting this for you…. :razz:)

Ok – I have to get ready for work. I have a pinched nerve in my back which is ridiculously annoying and makes me walk a bit like the hunchback of Notre Dame. Well then….life – is never dull 😛