Category: audio review

eat the Cookies… buy the Shoes by Joyce Meyer

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)23 Comments

Discipline discipline discipline.  Structure is a way of life.  Make sure you hit the gym 5 times a week.  Do not splurge on yourself.  Never give in to desert and never ever fall for the gorgeous pair of shoes in the window.

In Joyce’s new book, eat the Cookies… buy the Shoes Joyce explains how we were not built for guilt.  Using biblical stories Joyce Meyer reminds us how God likes to celebrate, and while we shouldnt give in to our every whim… we certainly can celebrate and enjoy “cookies” that come our way.


Ok…. confession time.  I would like to think that what this book is telling me is go ahead Sheila…. eat ALL the cookies you want!

Or…. moderation…. shmoderation!   Get the shoes….. get all the shoes!

Ok, I am just being funny.  I really did enjoy this read because I came from that world that Joyce Meyer’s describes.  There was a time when I thought that I had to always be on my game… that I was never to falter and had to remain structured and disciplined at all times. What I found interesting is that is where Joyce once was as well, and like her – our worlds were bland.

Joyce in a light humorous manner explains in this book why it is ok to enjoy life and what is has to offer.  Moderation of course is the word, and making good choices, but God does want us to have fun…. and the sooner I learned that the better my life became all the way around.

If you woke up this morning with more body parts that don’t hurt than those that do, you are blessed.

If you have food, clothes, and a place to live, you are richer than 75% of the world.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, or spare change at home, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthiest people.

If you have never experienced the dangers of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of the five million people in the world.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than two billion people in the world who can not read.

eat the Cookie… buy the Shoes page 100-101

I also had the opportunity from Hachette to review the audio version of this book.  The audio is read by Sandra McCollum, who is Joyce Meyer’s daughter.  While the audio is handy to listen to while driving, and I really like that…. I almost hate to say this,but the reading was not what I had hoped for.  Sandra’s voice felt to me like she was reading to a child and gave me the impression she was always talking down to the listener.  I am hopeful that is just my opinion.  I was unable to finish the audio for that reason.

Overall – the message in the book/audio is an easy one to follow with gentle reminders of how we can live out our lives fully as God had planned being able to be who we are He created us.  I found it enjoyable and refreshing.

I received both the book and audio from Hachette Books

The Passage by Justin Cronin

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)39 Comments

Where Will You Be
When The Lights Go Out?

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.


I entered into this audio cautiously.  I was not really sure I had a full grasp on what The Passage was going to be about – or if I would like the direction it took.  Yet, it had such a  mysterious buzz about it when I was at BEA in New York and U knew whatever it was – I wanted to know more.

A futuristic read which is normally not a genre I would choose for myself, I started this audio and was introduced to Amy.  This little girl who’s mother tried – but made poor choices, and eventually – all there is… is Amy.  I quickly grew attached to this little girl and at times in the beginning when the audio stretched into so many different directions, and I was lost in the government testing, and the odd inhabitants of the facility…. I clung to the fact that eventually it would get back to Amy.

And while I waited…. the story began to mesh and an audio that first made me wonder how I felt about it, suddenly I couldn’t wait to hear more.  Soon as the story brought Amy into each scene, and I learned how she fit into this, I began to really enjoy this.  The audio started following me to the bathroom when I fixed my hair, to the kitchen while I cooked or cleaned…. to the lawn mower…. to the  reading room.

It is hard to put The Passage into words…. it is not so much a vampire story, but a story about a virus.  A virus that takes out the world as we know it and the few that survive, live solely for that purpose – survival.   Justin Cronin has woven such a detailed story here – so deep entwined in each person, in each event – that I listen in amazement in the world he has created from his mind to these words.

The “virals” as Cronin calls these blood thirsty creatures, are “spooktacular.”  They keep you on your toes and seriously even on the audio I think I actually got goosebumps a few times as I worried for our small group of non effected survivors…. and they really were survivors – minus Jeff Probst.

And you really do not know when your fire will be snuffed out.

Suddenly you realize – this ain’t your grandma’s version of vampire….

Over all – the hype surrounding the book was right on and I am so glad I gave this one a try.  I enjoyed this very much and highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good book adventure with qualities you found in books like Harry Potter, the originality of

With awesome words like flyers, virals, slims, jumps, smokes… and Cronin says himself , the vampire story will never go away, because it asks an essential question: “What part of your humanity would you be trading away if you got to live forever? It’s ultimately a fable to reassure us that it’s better to be mortal.”

This is the book of the summer for me. It blew me away!

My Amazon Rating

 

Book Journey’s 2010 Reading Map has been updated to include The Passage

While passing through Colorado (if you are not a viral) you may be hankering for a bit of coffee… I would recommend The Laughing Goat Coffee House for the name and the ambiance.  AND – as far as I know…. it’s a no “smoking” zone.  (A little Passage humor….)

Cover Story:  Oh it is fantastic!  And perfect because you must always, always watch the trees….  😉

I purchased my copy of this audio through audible.com

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hollows (AUDIO)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)38 Comments


The seventh and final entry to the Harry Potter series we start this audio with Voldemolt (gah!  He who shall not be named!) coming and taking over the Ministry of Magic.  These are dark days, and Harry, Ron, and Hermoine, have all dropped out of school to do what they can to put a stop to Volde… He Who Shall Not Be Named’s rule.


What was once a series of light-hearted fun reads with a little “spooky to them” but a lot of magic, has now entered the seventh season and the books have become much more serious, and quite darker as they progressed.  Volde…. He Who Shall Not Be Named (HWSNBN)started out a scary guy but beatable and as we enter into the Deathly Hollows , HWSNBM is a force to be reckoned with and really – I for one had no idea how it would all end.

If you have been following my audio reviews of the Hatty Potter series you will notice that I somehow skipped many books and wound up in book 7.  This is true, and was a total error on my part.  I have been picking these up from the library and I requested the wrong one… I should have been on Goblet Of Fire.  Yet, once I had these cd’s in my hand, I could not give them up and so just started listening.  (I have read all the books so really…. there was no spoilers!)

I will rave forever about Jim Dale’s narration of this audio series and have to tell you if you have not experienced these books on audio you are truly missing out.  Jim voice takes you right into the reading and he does the voices so well that I actually get goose bumps as he booms out the voice of Hagrid, Snape, and the others….

I am always so impressed with JK Rowling too.  Every time I listen to one of the books, especially the early ones, I am amazed at how many seeds were planted early on that would come up later; many books later.  I had forgotten until I listened to them after all the books were out and especially in this final book you see pieces of other books coming into play.  (A great blog to check out for super detailing on each of the books is The Zen Leaf, Amanda’s eye for detail astounds me!)

So for me – this was an excellent experience and I hope to one day own all these cd’s for myself.  Maybe, this was the audio I was meant to listen to as this movie (at least part of it) will be out this November.  I truly cannot wait!


The seventh and final installment of the Harry Potter series, left many of us Potter heads (*raises hand*) with a bitter-sweet feeling.  I remember I was so excited for the final book to come and see what JK Rowling would do to tie everything together – and at the same time, you didn’t want to finish it because in your heart you knew it was the end.   I had hoped that JK would leave it somewhat open in case she changed her mind years down the road, but for those of you who have read this book, you know that she did her best to close the doors to that hope.

However – rumors have sprouted around the internet that maybe…. there may be another Harry Potter book.  J K is quoted:

While Rowling said that she has no immediate plans to write any more Potter books, she didn’t rule the possibility out altogether. Instead, she suggested that “maybe 10 years from now” it could happen.

She also told one child she does want to write more books, adding that, “I’m quite sure in the not-too-distant future I will bring out another book.”

Marjorie Kehe, April 6, 2010

So I leave you with this….. do you think there should be another Harry Potter book?  Or should J K just leave the series as is?  If there was another book, what could/would it be about?


The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (book, audio, and movie – a love hate relationship)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)45 Comments

First paragraph:  My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. In newspaper photos of missing girls from the seventies, most looked like me: white girls with mousy brown hair. This was before kids of all races and genders started appearing on milk cartons or in the daily mail. It was still back when people believed things like that didn’t happen.

The Book

Taken from my book journal – July 2004:  This book was nominated for our book club read for August but did not win the vote.  Many of the book club members thought it was hitting too close to home as a local 21-year-old Brainerd Minnesota woman’s remains had just been found in May.  She had been missing since October 2002.

I went on to read this book on my own and found it to truly be a unique read, the story being told by 14-year-old Suzie Salmon who had been murdered.   Suzie is seeing everything happening on earth while she is a place that is the step before Heaven.  Before she can move on she needs to let go of earthly things and while she watches her family struggle on earth and her murderer go around unsuspected – she finds she can not let go until things are resolved.

A highly emotional book, I felt the families pain as Suzie’s father refused to give up, her mother could not bear to hold on, and the pain of all things surrounding Suzie rips them apart.  I read most of this book with a lump in my throat and a feeling of uneasiness and anxiety for Suzie.  I was left knowing I had just experienced something unique in this style of writing, a brilliant step I feel made by author Alice Sebold.  While the ending did not satisfy me, the book as a whole was a “wow”.

**Update:  Since I wrote this review in 2004, I am not sure what exactly about the ending left me unsatisfied as I did not elaborate.



The Audio

Fall 2009:  I receive the audio version of The Lovely Bones and it is read by Alice Sebold herself.  I am so excited to get into these audio that I put the first cd in right away while I am putting around my house.  My cd number two I quit listening.  The narration is so monotone I can’t stand it.  The voices from the dad, to the mom, to Suzie herself do not change.  I gave up on the audio, hoping I did not give up too soon.

Suzie and her dad, Jack, building ships in a bottle together

The Movie

Current date:  I am offered a chance to watch the movie that just recently came out on DVD.  I am hesitant as my most recent time spent with this was the audio and I still have this unfortunate memory of that experience.   Next thing I know, the DVD is on my kitchen counter, sent home to me by a friend of my sons who thinks I need to give it a try.  On Saturday evening after an attempt with a poor video rental choice that Al and I agreed needed to be shut off 20 minutes in because we had no idea what was going on – I put in The Lovely Bones.

Is it possible for those first feelings I had when I read the book come up again?  I think so.  With a lump in my throat I watched as this story unfolded, beautifully heartbreaking, beyond what I would have ever thought possible.   The film makers did an incredible job on capturing this story.  The imagery of Suzie’s Heaven was breath-taking and the scene of the large ships in the bottle caused my heart to break just a little.

Jack feels Suzie is out there, somewhere

I was truly impressed with the movie all the way through.  Very tastefully done.  The ending was wonderful too and my heart wept again.  I would highly recommend this movie.

If you want to talk more deeply about the book, the audio, or the movie, please enter below by clicking on the spoiler button.  This will take you to an area where we can chat more openly about this without spoiling anything for those who have not yet experienced The Lovely Bones.

I own the book and the audio, borrowed the movie

Step On A Crack by James Patterson & Michael Ledwidge (audio)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)11 Comments

Step on a crack is the first in the series surrounding the Michael Bennett family.  Michael is not your usual run of the mill detective.  What might set Michael apart is first and foremost he is the father of ten adopted kids from ages 3 to 12.    Secondly while trying to keep New York safe, he is also trying to manage his home life and his breaking heart as his wife, the love of his life, is dying of cancer in the hospital.

Patterson does know how to weave an interesting tale doesn’t he?

But wait – there’s more…

In the midst of Mike Bennett’s already chaos of a life, the former first lady is poisoned and while St. Patrick’s Cathedral is filled to capacity with Government leaders and celebrity mourning this loss… the entire congregation is kidnapped at the hands of a group of unknown gunmen.  All this is happening right in Bennett’s back yard.

St Patrick's Cathedral in New York

Life….  it’s never dull.

This is the first book in the Michael Bennett series and if you have followed my reviews for any amount of time you may be aware that yes, I read (or listened) to them in the wrong order.  I have already listened to and reviewed Run For Your Life and Worst Case. I loved them both, and this one, the one I should have listened to first, is no exception.

It’s hard to explain what I really find in good audio – but this is it.  The narrators, John Slattery and Reg Rogers lead you into a full body sense of suspense when they alternate the voices between good guy Bennett, and the eerie flat tone  of the man known only as Jack.

A good story line – I enjoy the tameness a family man like Bennett brings to a genre that on occasion can be harsh – even offensive.  yet at the same time – this story is not weak by no means.  I bounced between the intensiveness of the kidnapping a church filled with well-known people… and the story line between Mike and his wife Maeve from the hospital bed.  The latter causing me to sit in my car while parked in the garage to listen a little longer to their conversations with tears hitting my steering wheel.

I have raved about Patterson’s audio before and I am doing it again.  Don’t write off audio until you have experienced one of Patterson’s recent audio – and even if you are not a Patterson fan, do not write off Patterson until you have read/listened to,  this series.

In a word:  Intense.

Amazon Rating

Book Journey has updated the 2010 reading map to include Step On A Crack

For those in the New York area, like Mike Bennett, and hanging out by St Patrick’s Cathedral,be sure to take the short walk over to Candle Cafe for a great cup of coffee and a delicious bite to eat.

Cover Story:  It holds mystery and fits well with the other two covers of the books so far in the series.  I am not really sure what the theme is though.  Is it a carving off a building?  Is it part of the cathedral itself as that is in all three books?  I do not know.

I purchased this audio book from Amazon.com


Chosen: House Of Night by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (Audio)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

Zoey Redbird really has her hand’s full.  As a fledgling vampyre, living at the House Of Night, a school for teens like herself, she couldn’t be more stretched.  Her Grandmother is doting, her mother is not understanding this “choice” Zoey has made, her boyfriend …well seriously, that’s a whole other issue, and her best friend is dead.  Or is she?


This audio was a genre stretch for me.  Yes I like YA reads, but I have not  dabbled too much in the paranormal.   I find that if I am going to tackle a difficult story or a genre I may or may not like, audio can help pave the way.  When I picked this one out at audible.com, I did not realize I was stepping into the middle of a series, book 3 of 7, to be exact.

*sigh*  Rookie error…. always, always, check the books (especially YA, to make sure you are starting with book one)

Honestly, I didn’t think I would really enjoy this audio but I wanted to give it a try.  I liked the voice of narrator Edwina Wren right from the start.  Edwina really captures an amazing voice for Zoey.  Youthful, bored, overwhelmed…. I can hear it.  Edwina handles the other characters in this audio with a smooth ease, changing from one voice to the other, in a distinct manner and I immediately knew who was speaking.

I have to admit, I seem to have a preference for male narrators, especially when there is many voice changes.  Women narrators tend to struggle with the male voice parts and it comes off as sounding fake or forced.   Edwina handles the voice changes so smoothly I didn’t even think about the male voices.

And as I listened to this audio that I was not going to like… I started to really like it.  I liked Zoey, even when she irritated me with her boyfriend issues.  I laughed as she struggled with what she sarcastically called “Birthmas”, the combination gifts she seemed to always receive because her birthday was so close to Christmas.   She could almost guarantee that gifts for her birthday would b wrapped in festive reds and greens and a snowman – well that was just a bonus.

There were parts that I didn’t enjoy – for one, too much talk of blood for my liking.  Secondly, too much “sexual action,”, with more than one boyfriend, Zoey does have some issues she really needs to work out.   I can see where the appeal to YA’s would be;  I am just not sure where I stand in the midst of a well read, mostly appealing audio.

So here is a dilemma for me… I landed almost  in the middle of this 7 book series.  They are in order:  Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, Hunted, Tempted, and Burned. (Here is a link) Do I back track?  Do I move forward from here?  Or can I just walk away from the series leaving Zoey to the next phase, the next battle… without me?


Book Journey’s map has been updated to include Chosen

When in Tulsa, your coffee stop of choice is Nordaggio’s which is known for amazing coffee and gelato

Cover Story:  I like it a lot.  It holds a mystery and is applicable to the story itself

I purchased this audio from audible.com

House Rules by Jodi Piccoult

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)37 Comments

Book Journey traveled to Vermont! (See updated map here)

Coffee and a book store combo in Vermont?  Yes!  At Seasoned Books and Bakery

532 pages  audio:  19 hours and 55 minutes (chunkster!!!)

Cover Story:  It works.  While Jacob is actually quite a bit older than the boy pictured here – this could represent Jacob as a younger boy and his sense of isolation

HOUSE RULES is about Jacob Hunt, a teenage boy with Asperger’s Syndrome. He’s hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, and like many kids with AS, Jacob has a special focus on one subject – in his case, forensic analysis. He’s always showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner he keeps in his room, and telling the cops what they need to do…and he’s usually right. But then one day his tutor is found dead, and the police come to question him. All of the hallmark behaviors of Asperger’s – not looking someone in the eye, stimulatory tics and twitches, inappropriate affect – can look a heck of a lot like guilt to law enforcement personnel — and suddenly, Jacob finds himself accused of murder. HOUSE RULES looks at what it means to be different in our society, how autism affects a family, and how our legal system works well for people who communicate a certain way – but lousy for those who don’t.

∞        ∞       ∞        ∞

First let me get this out of the way.  I adore Jodi Piccoult’s writing style.  From the first time I read her with My Sister’s Keeper I knew I was on to a “must read” author.  When I followed up with Nineteen Minutes and discovered lightning can strike twice and Jodi has once again glued my eyes to a book , I pursued her books like an addiction.

Piccoult writes a court case that makes you feel as thought you are sitting on the jury.  In House Rules, I am introduced to wonderfully detailed characters such as Emma, single mother and sole bread winner for herself and her two sons, Jacob and Theo.  Life did not turn out as planned for Emma when Jacob is diagnosed as having Asperger’s and with that announcement, Emma’s husband Henry departed soon after.

Theo is the younger brother but he doesn’t feel that way.  He is always having to help out with Jacob and his plans are always put on the back burner when Jacob has a need.  Which… in Theo’s opinion… is pretty much all the time.

We meet Oliver, a young and upcoming lawyer who is just starting out in an office/apartment.  When Jacob is accused of murdering his tutor, Oliver is who Emma finds and who becomes very close to the family.

And then of course there is Jacob.  I loved his character.  Jacob has Asperger’s, in his own words he thinks it sounds funny, “Asperger’s. I mean, doesn’t it sound like a Grade Z cut of meat? Donkey on the barbecue?” Jacob is smart, and witty, but does not process relationships well.  He takes everything at face value.  If you say you are going to hit the hay, he will wonder where you are going to find hay and why you would hit it.  He likes his routines:

  • Monday:  All food must be green
  • Tuesday:  All food must be red
  • Wednesday:  All food must be yellow
  • His clothing is arranged by color
  • The Crime Show he likes to watch is on at 4:30 and he will not miss it.

As odd as all this sounds.  You have to love Jacob.  On the audio – I loved the chapters that were his.  He was always so matter of fact.  He would dryly tell you why things were the way they were and he loved to make lists…  and count…

All together, this incredibly character driven book knocked the ball out of the part.  The characters were real, the crime left me up in the air throughout the entire book, I thought he couldn’t have done it, then later thought of course he did it, then I thought he was covering for someone else, then I went back tot here is no way he did it… and then back to – of course he did, but he didn’t know what he was doing.

An a+ read all the way until the end.

ahem.

Until the end.

Suddenly the whole story lined was wrapped up in the matter of minutes.  When what happened finally came to light, the book made me think that author Jodi Piccoult suddenly looked at her watch and saw she was late for an appointment and signed off with a “The End.”

Listening to the last part of this audio while working in my office this week, when they announced that was the end of the audio I looked bewildered at my IPOD and said loudly, “No way!”

I don’t mean to discourage anyone from this read because as all Piccoult books it is incredibly powerful and the subject of Asperger’s was so informative that I was glad I had spent the time once again with the powerful mind of Jodi Piccoult.


I purchased this audio from audible.com