Category: Book Stuff

Guest House by Barbara Richardson

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)26 Comments

One night, Melba Burns is driving home and witnesses a horrible accident.  The accident so completely affects her, that Melba changes her life style in that second of life and death.  The quits her job, removes herself from the rat race, and even gives up driving.  She retreats to her Farmhouse, which to her means comfort and security, Melba over her doors to a roommate who is a trouble magnet. And as Melba adjusts to her new life, of guests who are real and flawed, she becomes someone different, stronger, and richer.


I have to admit, this book is total cover love…  I mean look at.  Go ahead.  I will wait.

…………………………………..

As this book opened with Melba peering into the windows of the for sale by owner farmhouse, a line in the book catches my breath:

Is it lunatic to believe a property actually needs you?

That one line hit home for me… but that… is a different story.

Melba’s story moves along in a steady pace with a rapid introduction of characters that left me backtracking to keep track of who is who.  Yet, with a witty sense of humor and colorful well-developed characters, the book started to take on a life of its own and I soon felt like a guest in Melba’s farmhouse.

Thanks to the writing talent of Barbara Richardson, a book that could have been considered heavy is not.  Instead I found myself taken for a pleasant reading experience that as I turned the pages of the book, I became deeper and deeper into the read.

My Amazon Rating

Book Journeys map has been updated to include Guest House

When in Portland Oregon (besides checking out the old stomping grounds of my friends Brett and Kate Richmond)…  rumor has it Elephants Delicatessen has a cup of coffee to die for and deli foods as well!

218 pages

Cover Story:  Seriously fabulous.  I want to print it out on photo paper and frame it.

I received this book for review from The Book Report Network

My Next Read Is Chosen by – YOU! (Winner)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

Thank you to everyone who participated in last weeks post on Choosing my next read.  I was so excited to toss all entries into Random.org tonight and see what book I was going to pull out of the pile, read and then pass on to the lucky winner.

The person who won the drawing is:

Bookjunkiemom09

Her comment was:

“This was a hard choice but… “Between Sisters” by Kristin Hannah”


So, the book that I will be reading throughout the weekend is:

Thank you to all who entered – I appreciate you all so much and once this book is read and on its way to its new owner, we will do this again 🙂

Morning Meanderings…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)51 Comments


Ok…. two cups of COFFEE in to my morning… I have a confession.

*deep breath*

*just rip the band-aid off…*

I almost went to the triple movie showing last night of all three of the Twilight movies.

I know – I know!  If you know me you know I love adventures and love to be a part of unique things – I mean seriously, I waited 6 hours with my 18-year-old son a couple of years back for a Wii that was going to be released at midnight in Wal-Mart.  I stood in line among Quiddich clad youth to go to a midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie with Chance….. I mean,

this is what I do.

And, for a moment, ok – more like for an hour and a half, I seriously thought my friend Wendy and I were going to do the triple movie experience.  It started at 7:00 pm with Twilight, followed at 9:25 pm by New Moon, and at 12:05 am Eclipse.

Then I thought about it and knew I could not do 7+ hours in the movie theater…. plus, I have a 9:30 am meeting this morning that not looking like I have been up half the night wearing a Team Edward shirt and ju ju bees stuck to the side of face (and probably in my hair) would be a plus.

However.  Today.  This afternoon….   Wendy and I will be going to the afternoon showing of Eclipse.   I have seen the other two movies and thought they were good, I read all the books back when they were first released, and yes, I am continuing my Twilight adventure with my head held high (hopefully ju ju bee free) to the completion of the movies.

Last night, I read the short second life of bree tanner, in part, because Bree shows up in the book Eclipse.  I hope to have that review up this afternoon.  My only hint…. it wasn’t like the other books.


For giggles – here are my original reviews of the books – note:  I wrote these pre blog.  This means, I didn’t really format them for other readers, they are mainly my on-line journal – and probably a bit raw and totally unplugged:


Twilight (I have my Sally Field moment here… I like it, I really like it)

New Moon (I fight the critics here that say this book is awful…)

Eclipse (in this one I gush a little too much about Edward and threaten to bite someone…)

breaking dawn (I rave about…. the title.  And something about locking the characters in a box with Harry Potter….)


How about you – I know there is a lot of talk about the Twilight series – for and against.  Would you see the movie?

Morning Meanderings…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments


I woke up and stretched about an hour and a half ago.  I looked outside and said, “I shall call you… Tuesday”.

I worked close to 12 hours yesterday so I am probably a little punchy.  🙂  The meeting I have been prepping for was last night and it went off fairly well.  Today – may be a short day at work…

It’s gorgeous out and I already want to play hooky.

Ok… I have Coffee Cup with me so I should be able to focus on this post and not the day developing outside.  I am a bit later posting this morning than I wanted to be but I really wanted to visit all the Monday What Are You Reading posts before I completed this and I just finished now.  WONDERFUL reading going on in the world!

Here are a couple of books I have put on reserve at my library that I discovered yesterday:


Keeping Corner by Kashmira Sheth, I seen this one over at Second Childhood Reviews


I picked up on The Great Deluge (about Hurricane Katrina) over at Nancy’s  2010:  The Year In Books.  I have friends that go at least once a year to Mississippi to help with the repairs (still!) even after now 5 years since this Hurricane hit.

And then…

Over at Alyce’s At Home With Books, author L. Diane Wolfe shares her stories on book signings that blew me away…. but also made me very interested in her YA series…

So that’s what I have been doing the last 24 hours – working and catching up on the reading world.  I am hoping to rollerblade like the wind later today.  Ok, maybe not like the wind…. I am not even sure that the wind rollerblades…. but you know what I mean.  I think.  😉

Off to work I go!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)101 Comments

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

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

Last weeks winner (using Random.Org) was:

Lydia Presley

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

I think this past week went fairly well.  There were a few nights that I didnt get on the computer at all but instead used that time to read.  Looking over the past week I am pretty excited about all I accomplished:

Review:  Dovey Coe by Francis O’Roark Dowell (a quick read that captured me from beginning to end)


Review:  Dreaming of Dior by Charlotte Smith (I LOVED this book!)


Choose The Next Book I read and Win it for yourself (yup – this is still on until Wednesday!)


Review:  Chosen:  House Of Night audio by PC Cast (a case where the narrator made the story so wonderful…. but the story line short for me)


Author Chat with Sarah Pekkanen (author of Opposite of Me) – SQUEEEEEE!!!!


Opposite of me signed giveaway of two books (SQUEEEEEEE again!!!)  😀


Review:  Suite Scarlet by Maureen Johnson audio (Cute audio – 1st Maureen Johnson experience)


Audio Books:  Can You Hear Me Now? In celebration of Audio Book Week I lay out what I think is what audios so awesome and why you should too 🙂



So yeah…. looking over this past week…. I did kick a little literary booty.  😀


So let me see if I can pull off a Venti (that’s really big in coffee talk) week again this week.  Here is what I am planning to complete:

I am sailing through this audio of Step On A Crack the first book in the Michael Bennett series (although I have already read the other two that follow….)

Long overdue from its stay on the TBR shelf, I am flying through this read.

A treat for me out of the BEA stash – can’t wait!  Cant wait!!!

The “mystery” book that you my readers have asked me to read out of the choose my next book post.  This book will be the one taking me into the weekend!

And finally, I have it on good faith that I am going to have an author chat here with an author I am  so excited to spend a little time with as I recently finished the book and have so much to talk about!

Enough about me!  I am prepared to stop in and see what you are reading this week and plan on adding to my TBR list through my travels through your posts!  Please link here by clicking below where it says Click here.  That way we can all stop in and see what everyone is reading this Monday!  😀

↓

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

Morning Meanderings…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments


Good morning.  I am scrambling this morning but Coffee Cup is here and we are moving right along.  I slept well…. I feel good… the weather outside is gorgeous…. I may go bike riding this afternoon.

A couple of days ago I went to the local laundromat – probably for the first time in 20+ years.  I had all the sheets, blankets, comforters, and pillow cases to wash for the 18 people we had in the IHN program last week.  I wasnt about to do 18 sets of bedding in my home…. I would still be doing laundry now!  😀

In my head, I had this picture of how the laundromat scenario would go.   I would have all the laundry put into many (many) washers.  Then I had brought my laptop so I would proceed to grab a cup of coffee and sit in a quiet space and do a little blogging throughout my afternoon.  I was actually a little excited about this outing.


This is not the way it went down at all.  Nope.  Instead I pull up with my laundry and find a crowded area where you wheel in your laundry on a basket with wheels… and start grabbing washers wherever you can.  This is when I discovered I had not thought ahead to bring soap…. so instead I purchased all those little boxes of laundry soaps… one at a time out of a machine.

After I figured out how to make the coin operated machines work I ran back to get the rest of my stuff I had yet to pick up, the pillows, the blankets we did not use, food we did not finish, etc…  I ran into a woman there that would be serving this week and her and I proceeded to chat for about an hour.  She had many questions, I was willing to help.

I learned in Laundromat language being late to move your wash is not cool.

I get back to the laundromat and find all the bedding has been removed from the washers.  People need the machines.  I have been hogging them with my tardiness.  They are right.

Then I put the laundry into the dryers and I am surprised that they are only a quarter.  I use 5 large dryers.  Put a quarter in each, and run home to pick up my hubby and take him up town where he is going to drive a piece of our excavating equipment home.  I then hurry back to the laundromat to avoid another mishap…. I find all the machines have stopped, but my laundry is still wet.

An elderly gentleman calls over to me “Your never going to dry the sheets that way – you have the dryers too full.  I tell him I am new, hoping that excuses my lack of laundromat knowledge.   He tells me to use more dryers, which I do then spread out to 12 dryers.  Then he tells me that a quarter in a dryer equals 6 minutes.  I need to put in several quarters… he advises me to put 3 quarters in each machine.  I take his advice and do so.

I am then going to relax with my laptop but see there really is no place to sit in this laundromat.  The tables are for folding laundry and there are no chairs.  I prop a hip on one of the tables and try to answer a few emails but the distance between me and lap top is not working for me.  Its awkward and hard to see what I am doing.  As for the coffee… no…. get that idea out of your head.  I did however have a nice diet Pepsi and all in all the laundry project did not take me nearly as long as I thought it was going to thanks to one man.

Today I work.  I will have a review up later and possibly more audio talk.  It is audio book week and if you did not see yesterdays post on audio books, please check it here.

Here are a few books that have come my way…

Audio Books… Can You Hear Me Now?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)55 Comments



I have been planning to do an audio post for a while now and when I seen that Jen from  Devourer Of Books was having an Audio Book Week, I knew I had to jump on board and support this.

I love audio and I have expressed that time and again on this blog.  I really started listening to them last summer when I received a few for review through Hachette audio.  I discovered that while I was traveling during the summer months I preferred listening to audio over the radio.

Here are some times that audio is more beneficial that books:

  1. It is hard to read and cook.  You either wind up burning dinner; the book, or both.  Audio can play at a safe distance from all things flammable and you can stir or chop or set the table while listening.

  2. Driving and reading is frowned upon.  It could get you a ticket or worse.  Audio cds are fair game in the car and feel free to yell to your hears content when the character makes you angry, and pull over and weep on the steering wheel when alas…. the incredible read comes to a heartbreaking end.

  3. I can sweep and mop the floor and not try to balance a book while doing it or feel disgruntled because the house work is cutting into my reading time.  Wash and fold laundry, dust,do windows – even mow the lawn all while listening to audio.

  4. Sometimes a book on the treadmill can be difficult and dangerous.  Drop that baby on the tread and you could take a nasty spill.  On the other hand, pop in an audio and you are moving right along getting into a great story and  have the added benefit of not hearing the guy running next to you gasping for breath.

Ok – I am just being funny here – but the point is that audio can go where books can not.  I have only listened to audio for a little over a year now and I love it.  A great audio has made long road trips interesting and bearable.  Just this afternoon I sat in my car in the garage to hear what was going to happen to Mike Bennett as he defused a hostage situation in James Patterson’s Step On A Crack.  In my bathroom while I get ready in the morning my IPOD sits in its speakers and I hear Zoey make tough decisions about life and death…. literally in House of Night: Chosen by Kristin Cast.  In my CD player for when I am buzzing around the house Jim Dale takes me back to Hogwarts with Harry and Ron in a voice that I love and makes up for the fact that I do not have time to sit down and re-read this series I love so much.

This may be a bit much, but my point is that I can turn on an audio as I do my life.

What I would like to know from my readers is – if you do not do audio… why not? (expect me to try to change your mind 😀 )

And if you do like  audio, I would love to hear what book is awesome on audio, as I am still new to this but when you find one that is read well – it is like finding the gold ticket in the Wonka Bar…. you already had the delicious chocolate, the ticket is just a bonus!  😀

My favs at this time have been:

The Kite Runner read by Khaled Hosseini (author) Blew me away!

Anything by James Patterson – his readers are wonderful!

House Rules by Jodi Piccoult is read by 6 different people and is incredible

The Harry Potter books read by Jim Dale

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)105 Comments

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

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

Last weeks winner (using Random.Org) was:

Laurelrainsnow

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


I had a busy busy week.  Once every 4 months I am part of a group that houses the homeless for a week.  We stay in the downstairs of a local church and use the Sunday school rooms as bedrooms.  We provide meals and a place to sleep for 7 days.  This past week was our week and while I have many volunteers that take a ton of the work load off of me…. it is still mentally and physically exhausting – so reading time this week was not as productive as I had hoped.

Here is what I managed to complete:

Symptoms of a bookaholic….

The Boneman’s Daughter by Ted Dekker (Dekker is a suspenseful author who required attention)

Eyes Of Darkness by Dean Koontz (an old favorite author but not the best he has delivered)

Vampires, Werewolves, Sea Monsters, and Me (thoughts on paranormal in the classics)

I caught a break on Friday morning and went biking with my friends

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (this book surprised me!)

Ok, looking at that…. my week doesn’t sound so unproductive in my book world.  🙂  Bottom line, I did not get through the books I had hoped to so bringing back for a “take two”:

Duff – waiting for me on my kitchen table….

Choices, I am just starting this one.

The Michael Sullivan Series is going to be completed this week.  Seriously – I have taken way too long on this….

It is also Audio Book week and I am a big supported so I will be filling in audio wherever and whenever I can 🙂

So that’s the week – I cant wait to spend some time seeing what you have going on in your books!  Please link to where it says “click here” and add your link to your Monday What Are You Reading Post.

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

BEA Swag Bag Winner

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Hey all – it is beyond time for me to choose a winner of the swag bag giveaway from BEA.  If you missed this post and want to see the contents in this great bag you can check it out here.   I was excited when the BBC (Book Blogger Convention) organizers offered an extra swag bag to those who wanted one.  This one I brought back for one Book Journey reader.

So… using random.org… Isn’t this SUPER exciting?  The winner is….

Jen Forbus!!!

Woo hoo Jen!!!!  I have emailed you at once I have your address I will send this package of BEA/BBC treats your way!

Morning Meanderings…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)23 Comments


Happy Sunday!  Looks like today going to be a good day – sunny and warm here in Minnesota – even at 7 am!  Al and I went out and had dinner last night to celebrate father’s day early.  Today I need to tear down from our serving week for the homeless, which means I will spent many hours today at Giant Wash, washing all the bedding and then putting it away for our next serving dates in September.

On the upside… I am taking Laptop, Coffee Cup, and a book….

Speaking of books….  I think at least for the summer I will add books that have come in to my morning meandering posts.  I just don’t have the time to create the long one I usually do for In My Mailbox this time of year.  I will just put a few on as they come in daily, if there are any.

I really want to keep my focus on the reviews, the pondering moment book discussions, meanderings, and of course the Monday, What Are You Reading.    On that note…. here is a little of what I seen come in this week:

Ehhhhhh?  I know, right?  The sequel to The Farfield Curse.  Woo Hoo – thank you Sourcebooks!

FSB and Associates sent this one over… it is supposed to be written in a Janet Evanovich style, so a funny, mystery.

I recently read Kris Radish for book club, and would like to see how this book is.

Later I need to – I have to put a review up….  I must catch up on these!  🙂  Hope you have a wonderful Fathers Day everyone!