It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on August 8, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)102 Comments

Happy Monday everyone! I just came home a few hours ago from a two-day 150 mile bike ride for charity and I am pretty wiped out right now. I had a blast and the weather was pretty good to us. I do a more detailed post about this on Tuesday.

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:

Nancy at A Musing Reviews

and I have to confess I have been reading Nancy’s blog at A Musing Mother and she seriously cracks me up! You may need to check this out. 🙂

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

Last week was fairly busy and I did not get the reading done that I had hoped to. Here is what I did accomplish:

The Wildwater Walking Club by Claire Cook review

Hearts On A String by Kris Radish review

My thoughts on The Color Purple Movie (I was really blown away!)

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows by JK Rowling (audio review)

Author Chat with Barbara Richardson (author of Guest House)

My Game On Diet Journal (my active game journal)

What Does It Mean To Be Present by Rana Diorio

I have several reviews to be written and I hope to really make a dent on them this week. I am keeping my reading plans fair, but not too heavy as I have an out of town meeting this week and not sure my weekend is going to hold. here is the game plan:

Summer at Tiffany is a book I am so looking forward to! This is the Wordshaker read a long for August 22. If you are signed up and taking part in this review, YAY! If you have not, and right now you are going GAH! I wish I would have known about that, no worries, you can still connect here.

The Handmaid’s Tale is a read-a-long taking place over at Hey, Lady! Watcha Reading? It s not too late to join in the fun!

And that’s it … not a big goal but as I said above, I am super tired tonight (still Sunday evening when I post this) and I want to honestly add a third book from the TBR but that is way across the room and I really can not move. 😉 AND – on that note where I usually hang around and start seeing what you are reading right away, I think tonight I am going to bed, getting a good nights sleep and tomorrow (Monday) U will be around to see what you are reading.

Please enter the link to your Monday What Are You Reading below where it says “Click Here”.

Have a super reading week!

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on August 1, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)100 Comments

Last weeks winner (using Random.Org) was:

Dollycas: Dollycas’s Thoughts

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

Ok – I seriously blinked and missed the weekend. I traveled to our cabin on Friday, did some cleaning and reading, and came back Saturday evening. Sunday morning we left early to take out youngest son to college and help him set up his apartment he is renting. By the time we got back to Brainerd…. the weekend had passed us by.

Here is what I read happened here this past week:

Review Not Without Hope by Nick Schuyler (heart wrenching read!)

Review: Game On Diet by Krista Vernoff and AZ Ferguson (You may want to read this review as I am going to be talking A LOT about this book in August! 😀

Review: The Color Purple by Alice Walker (I had never read this before and it really blew me away!)

Finished reading/listening to:

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hollows Audio (review coming soon)

The Wildwater Walking Club by Claire Cook (review coming soon)

Auf Wiedersehen by Christa Holder Ocker (review coming soon)

Men and Dogs (audio) by Katie Crouch (review coming soon)

Hailey Twitch is Not A Snitch by Lauren Barnholdt (review coming soon)

I had a good reading and audio weekend due to all the travel. This week will be a tight one with the big bike ride this weekend I know I will pretty much get no reading done over the weekend. So knowing that here is my plan for this week:

This is a tour book coming up on Wednesday and I am kind of pumped about this one! 😀

This one is from my library giveaway and the winner (Jennifer) chose this as my next read. Once it is read I will be passing it on to her and then I will run the contest again. 😀

And that is it for my plan – I am keeping it light this week, if I am able to complete more I will be thrilled. So I am so anxious to see what you are all reading (now that my name is cleared at the library…. LOL see my I am on the lam post about that one…. hee hee)

Please enter the link to your Monday What Are You Reading below where it says “Click Here”. Have a good week with great reads! 😯

Have a super reading week!

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Morning Evening Meanderings… Off To Mankato (I feel like the Ingall’s!)

Published on August 1, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

**This post was supposed to go live this morning but WordPress was down and I had to leave for the day, as you will see below. So – since this is a time sensitive post…. and will make no sense in a couple of days, I am posting it now. 😀

(as told at 7 am this morning):

I am sitting here sipping coffee This is the kick off to a busy, crazy, fun and wild month.

Today we move college son back to Mankato into his apartment he is renting with a friend. Yes, Mankato Minnesota is the one and the same “Big town” where the Ingall’s family would go shopping for supplies. 🙂

Today starts the Game On Diet – 30 days….. I am hopeful I will do well. To follow this journey I have made a journal on my sidebar… Game On!

Next weekend Aug. 7-8 is the 150 mile bike ride for a camp in Brainerd that is for children with Aids. This will be my second year doing this ride.

Aug. 10 I am in Minneapolis for the day training for my job on a software program, sadly that is the same day as my book club meets and I am more than likely going to miss attending. I really dislike missing book club.

August 21 is a 75 mile bike ride through Itasca Park and I will be doing this one with Wendy. This was a beautiful ride last year and I am so excited to be on this one.

August 22 – 24 I am up at Mink Lake Camp in Grand Marais Minnesota for Leadership training

Somewhere in there I am hoping to get tickets to Wicked which will be performing in Minneapolis. I had tickets two years ago when they were here and a friend of mine decided to get married on that day and I was in her wedding so I gave my ticket away.

What does August look like for you?

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Published on July 31, 2010July 31, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)42 Comments

Celie is 14 years old and considers herself to be a good girl. She hasn’t caused any trouble in her young years and has listened to her mama. She helps take care of her siblings, helps with the cooking and the cleaning. But things are about to change for Celie and not for the better.

What happens to Celie over the next 20 years of her life is indeed, The Color Purple.

I have several confessions. One: I have never read this book before. Two: I have never seen the movie. Three: I truly had no idea what this book was about. Sometimes, I think I live under a rock.

Saying that, if you have experienced this book or the movie, you can imagine then my shock and disbelief by the time I read page one.

Yes, page one.

And the pages that follow do not get any better than that. As I type this review words fly through my mind, shocking, heartbreaking, electrically charged, high emotions…

And yet once I picked up the rhythm of the language and the story line, there was no way I was putting it down. Celie’s story may be shocking – yes, but it also rang real for me, of a time and a way I know nothing about except from my small presence on the outskirts of Celie’s porch (where in my mind I planted myself within these pages as an observer).

When a woman marry she spose to keep a decent house and a clean family. Why, wasn’t nothing to come here in the winter time and all these children have colds, they have flue, they have direar, they have newmonya, they have worms, they have the chill and fever. They hungry. They hair ain’t comb. They too nasty to touch.

Page 19, The Color Purple

Much of the book is Celie’s prayers to God. In fact the first words of the book are “Dear God”. Later in the book there are letters from Celie’s younger sister Nellie who now as an adult and a Missionary in Africa writes Celie of her life and how she is trying to get back home to her sister.

I appreciated this book that pulled me out of my comfort zone and into a time and a place that is so foreign to me and yet so real. Real people with real happenings. I am trying to be so careful with this review as I am sure there have to be others out there that have not yet experienced this read. And let me tell you – this book needs to be fully experienced. If you have never had the opportunity to read The Color Purple I highly recommend this book.

Heather had posted discussion questions for this read and I am going to put them on a Spoiler Page – enter only if you have read the book.

Bookjourney has updated the 2010 reading map to include The Color Purple

288 pages

Cover story: Perfect. I have what I think is a newer cover on my copy but it shows as much as I think you could possibly hope to know going into this read with no prior knowledge of where this book will take you.

I read this book as part of a read a thon I found on Heather’s Blog 30+ A Lifetime of Books – thank you to Heather and to Nicole at Linus’s Blanket for finally giving me the kick I needed to read this book. 😀

I purchased my copy of this book from Barnes and Noble in Duluth, MN

Choose (AND WIN!) The Next Book I Read

Published on July 28, 2010July 28, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)93 Comments

We have played this before and it is time for round three of “Choose The Next Book I Read!” For those who are new to this occasional post, I will explain what this is.

I LOVE book sales and our local library has a spring and a fall one that are wonderfully priced books that I can not resist. The books are beautiful and gently used. The opportunity lies in the fact that once I bring these treasures home they tend to stay in the box I placed them in when I purchased them for months to come. This is where you come in.

What I am posting here is the pictures of all the books I have picked up from the spring library sale as well as the new additions of the books I purchased last weekend at the Silver Bay Minnesota Library sale.

All you do is look over these titles and leave a comment here with the name of the book you would like to win. On Friday morning I will use random.org to choose a winner. Then that book will go with me this weekend to be read and once read I mail it on to the winner. It is a win – win! I actually read one of the treasures that I bought, and you get a book that you would like! 😀

So here my little beauties are – have fun picking!

You choose the book 😀

Morning Meanderings… Driving Without Brakes

Published on July 28, 2010July 28, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)43 Comments

Morning! I thought I would use this morning to share a little with you about the highlights of last weekends cabin trip with two of my friends Amy and Sara.

First off we left my house about 4 pm and headed North. We made it to Duluth a little after 6 pm and of course there was the dreaded dirty words “road construction”. We turned into the detour lane and then promptly into the parking lot of a Burger King for a much needed rest room break. Back on the road and we travel up into Duluth (Duluth is hilly – really hilly) and wind our way through the detour signs that make no sense. 45 minutes later we are lost and frustrated. Normally Duluth is a straight shot through. We are coming back down the hill to see where we goofed the detour when I start pumping my brakes and I have …. uh…… nothing.

*gulp*

As we are rolling I keep pumping and fill a slight grab to the brakes but nothing great so I get up against the curb until I can stop. At that point black smoke pours out of the front of my car. We are still an hour from our destination. I am thinking that maybe the car has overheated due to all the hills, I have seen that happen before. I wait a while – the smoke goes away (although it leaves this nasty burnt smell) and then I slowly put it into drive to see if I can brake. I am still on a hill after all – going down – into a stop light, and beyond that – Lake Superior.

The brakes do grip and I ease my way down the hill to a gas station to find that the 16-year-old boy working there knows nothing about cars. he sends me down the road to a car wash/ body shop. The 19-year-old girl working there also knows nothing about cars, the body shop is closed – it is Friday evening after all, and she just moved here and doesn’t drive so can not help us. 🙄

Anyway – to wrap this up, the car felt good to me – it had cooled down – my brakes were working and we found that our correct detour did not go up the hill at all – but where we turned to go into Burger King, we needed to keep going on that road. A flat road. So we cautiously moved forward and the vehicle worked great the rest of the weekend. (And yes, upon my return home – the Durango is now in the shop and they are saying it was a faulty part when the new breaks were put in two months ago).

026 — The Cabin book shelf.... (you knew there had to be one) 😀

The rest of the weekend went wonderful – we ate out Friday night, Saturday hit the library sale (you will see these books this afternoon here), went on the Alpine Slide at Lutsen Resort, watched a movie at the cabin, went to a street dance and on Sunday after a wonderful brunch we made our way (safely!) home.

Today the sun is out again! We have had some dark days here and I for one am tired of the funky weather! I work and then I work out with my friend Wendy and tonight I have a meeting where we are planning a food bagging event for Haiti. I hope to finish The Game On book tonight for tomorrows review and put some final touches on reviews I need to get posted.

Oh and you may have noticed I have been going a bit emoticon crazy as of late (I do love those little guys!) Here are the codes I found for wordpress:

text	text	full text	full text
🙂	🙂	🙂	😆
😀	😀	😀	😳
😦	😦	😦	😥
😮	😮	😮	👿
😯	😯	😯	😈
😕	😕	😕	🙄
8)	😎	😎	❗
😡	😡	😡	❓
😛	😛	😛	💡
😐	😐	😐	➡
😉	😉	😉

Ok… LOL…. It didn’t show the codes, because the codes in the post turned to emoticons. So – here is the link instead. Smiley Codes.

Have a lovely day!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on July 25, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)137 Comments

The Mondays come around fast don’t they? I was gone all weekend and just popped in the door around 4 pm on Sunday afternoon.

Last weeks winner (using Random.Org) was:

Lynne – Lynne’s Book reviews

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

As I was saying above, I just came home Sunday afternoon from our cabin up North where I spent the weekend hanging out with a couple of wonderful friends. We had wonderful weather as we did some exploring, road carts down a ski hill and even went to a Library Sale. (more details on all this with pictures on Tuesday during the Morning Meanderings. 🙂

I did not get squat down for reading this weekend but did a little during the week:

Review: Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook (I sooooo enjoyed this fun beachy read!)

Author Chat with Claire Cook (how fun is this woman?)

Review: The Icing On The Cupcake by Jennifer Ross (a sweet read that didn’t quite hit the mark for me)

Review: The Accidental Adult by Colin Sokolowski (a humorous closer look at the guys who struggle passing into adulthood)

(I have a few reviews I need to get posted too)

That’s it. Not the most productive week I have had but that’s summer. 😀 I am going to set my goals lower for this week as I have a few books to finish up on and if all goes well I am going to the cabin this next weekend alone to do some cleaning so I will get in some good reading time as well if that happens. Here is my new books I plan to start this week:

Yes, another Claire Cook book. I am anxious to read her again!

One that has been on my shelf too long…

Another one from the TBR shelf…. my friend Angie (By Book Or By Crook) was recently reading this one and spoke highly of it at our last book club gathering.

This one is on my personal book shelf – unread but it needs to be so it is coming on the list!

So that is the lofty plan. I hope to read each night this week and really have a pretty open week to do just that. If I go to the cabin alone, that gives me 3/12 hours audio each way so that helps too.

I can’t wait to get around and see what you are reading! Enter the link to your Monday What Are You Reading below where it says Click Here. Have a good week with great reads!

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Morning Meanderings… North Shore Here I Come!!!!

Published on July 23, 2010July 23, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)48 Comments

Ahhh… yes you caught that right. FINALLY – I am heading up to our cabin for sure this time. I am going with Amy from my book club and Sara who I used to work with. We are leaving later afternoon and making the three plus hour trek but it will be so worth it. 😀

Total SQUEEEEEEE moment.

Maybe it is a double squee moment…..

SQUUUUUUUEEEEEEEE!!! SQQQQUUUUEEEE!!!

Ok now I can move on. We have no real big plan – that is the beauty of the cabin. It is a festival weekend in Beaver Bay Minnesota and I try to go every year. They have a blueberry festival, craft fairs, their library sale, boat races, street dances, and more… I make chicken fajita, we can build a camp fire and roast smores, sit in lawn chairs and read….

Uhhhh….. what?

Oh yeah – I did mention a Library sale there didn’t I? yes, Silver Bay has its library sale this weekend too and last year I left with a couple of grocery bags full. As Amy says, we are both in need of some reading material…..LOL 😀

So that’s the plan but know things will be active here. I have not had internet reception in the past at the cabin but we now have new internet and I have a chip I can bring with that will give me internet wherever I have cell phone coverage. Either way if I am on it will not be much but I do have posts prepped for my absence….. 😀 The Icing On The Cupcake review will be up today.

the fanastic four — Last years cabin weekend

I will catch up on all the conversation when I get back on Sunday! Have a super fab weekend!

Author Chat With Claire Cook

Published on July 21, 2010July 21, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

Hopefully you have read my review that I posted earlier today on The Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook. I had a fun little story about how I discovered the book and broke land speed records to get to the book store before the last copy was snatched up.

Today I am enjoying an iced coffee because its summer and it sounded good, while I prep for my chat with Claire Cook. Claire has already turned out to be an amazing author and I really have just met her through her book I just read and through a couple emails. I am so excited not to get to learn a little bit more about this author so please welcome, Claire Cook.

Claire, first off, I need to know how do you take your coffee?

Claire: I take it right up to my office as fast as I can and get to work! Oh, wait, I get it. One percent milk, no sugar.

We are chatting over coffee today to discuss your book Seven Year Switch. I simply adored this book and you really brought out the “foody” in me with all the foods you describe from different parts of the world. What was the idea behind putting this side job for Jill in the book?

Claire: Thanks so much, Sheila! I’m so glad you enjoyed Seven Year Switch and I’m thrilled to be having coffee with you. All seven of my novels are about women reinventing themselves in one way or another, and readers always tell me how much they enjoy my characters’ jobs and how these jobs often given them ideas for their own lives. Jill’s life didn’t turn out quite the way she planned, so I knew that instead of jetting all over the world as a cultural coach, she’d be doing something much less glamorous. Teaching Lunch Around the World classes just seemed like something she’d do, and I thought my readers would enjoy both the cultural info and the food!

I really did enjoy the cultural references! In Seven Year Switch, Jill works for a company called Great Girlfriend Getaways, which of course is totally where I want to work when I grow up! Do you like to travel or prefer to leave that to your characters?

Claire: I know, too bad GGG doesn’t really exist — I want to work for them, too! I went to Costa Rica for research for Seven Year Switch — tough work but somebody’s got to do it! I also went to a fabulous lavender festival in Washington state as research for The Wildwater Walking Club. I love to travel, especially for my novels, and I try to pick places I think my readers would enjoy!

I am a total cover snob and LOVE LOVE LOVE this cover. Do you have any say in the covers chosen for your books?

Claire: Thank you! I love the Seven Year Switch cover, too! I have a wonderful publisher, Hyperion Voice, and they’re very open to my input. As soon as I saw this cover, I knew it was perfect!

What is coming up next in your world? (another book, life happening…)

Claire: The revisions for my next novel have just arrived via FedEx, so I am about to disappear into author land again. I can’t wait till everyone can read it — it’ll be out in the summer of 2011. I’ll post more about it at http://ClaireCook.com and do some fun giveaways, as soon as it gets a little bit closer!

You currently have seven novels that are published. Out of all of your characters that you have created, which one would you most likely be friends with and why?

Claire: I would totally hang out with all of my characters! Otherwise I wouldn’t have let them into one of my books. And I’d never be able to pick a favorite – I’d worry too much about hurting the rest of their feelings!

Claire that is an awesome answer – it sounds like something I would say! I hate to admit this, but this is the first book I have read written by you. I have seen and own the movie Must Love Dogs, but have not read this book. Since I am now excited to read something else you have written which one of your other books would you recommend to me start with and why?

Claire: That’s okay! I’m always thrilled when a new reader (and a talented blogger!) discovers my books! I find that if someone enjoys one of my books, they usually like them all, so you can jump in anywhere. But if I had to pick one, I’d say The Wildwater Walking Club – it’s about a group of neighbors who start walking together as they figure out their lives, and I think it’s a fun and inspiring summer read.

I ordered that one today on your recommendation, it also has a fabulous cover! Claire, you are having a pretty exciting giveaway on your website, could you tell us a little about that?

Claire: I’m giving away a beach bag filled with all 7 of my novels, plus a beach towel! Head over to http://ClaireCook.com for more info. I love doing giveaways, so make sure you sign up for my newsletter while you’re there, so you stay in the loop for the next one!

I am so on that! I love fun giveaways! It is tradition for me to ask every author I chat with to share a little known fact about themselves. Spill it Claire!

Claire: A zillion years ago, I was one of the country’s first certified aerobics teachers!

Thank you so much Claire for your time! If you ever come Minnesota way give me a shout!

Thank YOU, Sheila — and thanks for the coffee! I’ll definitely look you up if book tour (or research!) takes me to Minnesota!

Readers, I hope you will find time to stop by and check out Claire’s Lovely Website as well as the fun giveaway she is having!

A Skeleton In God’s Closet and More Than A Skeleton by Paul Maier

Published on July 20, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Imagine it is present day and a an archeological team has just unearthed bones in an Israel tomb which all point to be the bones of Jesus. But how can that be? If there are bones then doesn’t that change everything we know and believe about the resurrection?

This book is from my 2005 book journals. I am planning on converting my hand written reviews to Book Journey, and therefore will occasionally be presenting one of the amazing reads of my pre blog days.

This book qualifies as one of those amazing reads. I have always been a fan of a good suspenseful mystery. I also like a good Christian Fiction read. This one gave me a big dose of both with a little theology thrown in for good measure. The topic of this book blew me away.

What Paul Maier presents in this book is what would happen to the world in the face of the death of Christianity. Main character Johnathon Weber, an archeologist and Bible Scholar works hard against the clock to prove that these bones could not possibly be the bones of Jesus.

This book is for anyone who likes a good suspenseful novel that makes you think. To this day, this book brings back wonderful memories and I have two sets on my shelf. One is mine and one is to loan out to friends.

In Paul Maier’s follow up to A Skeleton In God’s Closet, archeologist Johnathon Weber is once again called to investigate what is either an elaborate hoax, or the return of Christ.

When Joshua Ben-Yosef, an Israeli from Galilee-born in Nazareth to parents Mary and Joseph-begins assembling twelve followers, attracting crowds, and performing miracles, the world takes notice. Is this the return of Jesus?

It seems everyone is a believer including Johnathon Webber’s wife Shannon.

You have to hand it to Maier…. he doesn’t mess around with light subjects. I devoured this book almost as soon as I closed the last page to A Skeleton In God’s Closet. Another book that really made me think…. how would I react in such evidence? Seeing is believing…. right? And if that’s the case…. I can truly understand how people must have struggled with Jesus performing such acts even when he did walk the earth.

The more I think about this book, the more I like it. This is another one that I have on my “keeper” shelf and have a spare around to loan out.

Dr. Maier is The Russell H. Seibert Professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan University and a much-published author of both scholarly and popular works. His novels include two historical documentaries: Pontius Pilate and The Flames of Rome, as well as a theological thriller that became #1 national bestseller in Christian fiction: A Skeleton in God’s Closet. A sequel, More Than a Skeleton, appeared in 2003.

I purchased both books from Christianbooks.com