It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  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: Lori from Escape With Dollycas!

Congratulations!  Please choose a book or bookish item from the Reading Cafe!

And this week with Thanksgiving and all I put up another pretty lite week of posts:

Breaking Dawn Part II (I say “See It!!!”

Update with “the dogs”

The Language Of Flowers – Bookies Book Club Review and food!

 

 

I have posts to write, just havent got there yet 😀 

 

 

This week I am working on:

In a Norman Rockwell town in North Carolina, where residents rarely lock homes, retired army colonel John Matherson teaches college, raises two daughters, and grieves the loss of his wife to cancer. When phones die and cars inexplicably stall, Grandma’s pre-computerized Edsel takes readers to a stunning scene on the car-littered interstate, on which 500 stranded strangers, some with guns, awaken John’s New Jersey street-smart instincts to get the family home and load the shotgun. Next morning, some townspeople realize that an electromagnetic pulse weapon has destroyed America’s power grid, and they proceed to set survival priorities. John’s list includes insulin for his type-one diabetic 12-year-old, candy bars, and sacks of ice. Deaths start with heart attacks and eventually escalate alarmingly. Food becomes scarce, and societal breakdown proceeds with inevitable violence; towns burn, and ex-servicemen recall “Korea in ’51” as military action by unlikely people becomes the norm in Forstchen’s sad, riveting cautionary tale, the premise of which Newt Gingrich’s foreword says is completely possible.

 

 

I have to pick up some more audio this week as the car is “audio free” and that’s just weird and my kitchen cd is empty too.  I need some good audio!!!  😀
I am going to finish the books I have going before I post more 🙂
Now what are you reading?  Please add your link below where it says “click here”

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and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please also link your post here:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  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: Sam from The Little Munchin Reader!

Congratulations!  Please choose a book or bookish item from the Reading Cafe!

Email me your choice at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

Well it is another Sunday and I am pretty sure  I posted nothing this week besides a couple morning posts to say “heyyy….. I am alive”. 😀  My week was so busy each night that I did not pick up a book all all – until today.  I did get some audio time in but I did not finish any… just made a dent.  I do have a few posts to write but did not get them finished yet.

So I will move right on to the next section… what I plan to read this week.

Nashville music star and family man, Cole Michaels, is persuaded to embrace an ‘American Dream’ theology that promises comfort, happiness, and success. But when the unimaginable happens, Cole blames God and abandons his faith. More vulnerable than ever, he is clueless that an evil character with an unspeakable secret is using every available resource to find him.

Can two old sages, a beautiful blonde, a violin called the Mysterious Lady, and a Triumph motorcycle help prepare Cole for his ultimate trial?

Many (many) years ago I read this author and LOVED his writing.  I watched his sire for years and seen no clue of anything new coming out so I kind of forgot about him.  I was thrilled when he emailed me a little while ago to say he seen my reviews and would like to know if I would review his new book.  Uh – YEAH!!!! 😛

In a Norman Rockwell town in North Carolina, where residents rarely lock homes, retired army colonel John Matherson teaches college, raises two daughters, and grieves the loss of his wife to cancer. When phones die and cars inexplicably stall, Grandma’s pre-computerized Edsel takes readers to a stunning scene on the car-littered interstate, on which 500 stranded strangers, some with guns, awaken John’s New Jersey street-smart instincts to get the family home and load the shotgun. Next morning, some townspeople realize that an electromagnetic pulse weapon has destroyed America’s power grid, and they proceed to set survival priorities. John’s list includes insulin for his type-one diabetic 12-year-old, candy bars, and sacks of ice. Deaths start with heart attacks and eventually escalate alarmingly. Food becomes scarce, and societal breakdown proceeds with inevitable violence; towns burn, and ex-servicemen recall “Korea in ’51” as military action by unlikely people becomes the norm in Forstchen’s sad, riveting cautionary tale, the premise of which Newt Gingrich’s foreword says is completely possible.

I think (I hope!) this is a book my friend Amy recommended to me about a year ago.  I am anxious to give it a try.

I think the audio’s I am listening to this week will be ending and that will generate dome reviews.  I also have a movie review and my book club review to finish.

This week should be more productive with another quiet weekend coming up 🙂 

So… I am curious what are you reading?  Please add your Its Monday link below where it says click here.  I am hoping to get around to visit many of you this week.  Thank you all for making this meme so much fun!  😀  If you post about this meme on Twitter please use the hastag IMWAYR.

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and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please also link your post here:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  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: Lori From Escape With Dollycas!!!!

Congratulations!  Please choose a book or bookish item from the Reading Cafe!

Email me your choice at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

 

I had a glorious productive weekend at home.  Key words “at home”.  It seems like I never have weekends without commitments and I just had one!  I was able to read a book, listen to audio, work on blog posts, go out to dinner with friends, and today I cleaned out our storage room, filled a dumpster, shampooed our carpets, swept and mopped all floors, cleaned up my kitchen, fixed a plugged drain, and gave all three dogs a bath.

Yup.  I am a rock star.

😛

LOL

Ok, enough about my tired head… here is what went down here this week:

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith

Late, Late, At Night by Rick Springfield (ummmm… yeah.)

Charlotte Street by Danny Wallace

Movie Review:  The Raven (OOH!  Loved this!!!)

As for this week, its a busy week but here is what is currently true:  (click on covers to go to more info)

Leave it to me to find an audio really interesting only to find out it is tenth (yup tenth!) in a series!

I am on part two of this three part audio and really enjoying it.  I am learning  a lot!

This is a short 3 cd audio but very interesting!

That’s all audio.  As far as books I have a few to clean up so I am going to work on that this week. 😀  I am looking forward to seeing what you are reading!  Ass your what are you reading link below where it says click here!   And if you chat about this meme on Twitter be sure to use the hastag #IMWAYR

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and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please also link your post here:

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? (Georgia Mini Version)

 

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  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.

 

 

Hi all!  No bells and whistles to this post tonight as I am currently in Georgia enjoying the company of my College Son and Navy Son.  I will choose two winners next week (yes, I will pick from this past weeks participants) but tonight I want to spend my last night in Georgia hanging with my boys so I am not going to list my posts form this past week (there was not much anyway) and my reading going forward is pretty much the same as last week… I have been in Florida since Thursday morning and drove to Georgia yesterday to spend the weekend with Navy son so book time has been very slim….  however, if you did not see my Saturday post about Harry Potter World in Orlando… I think you should take a look :D.
Other than that – here’s the link to post your It’s Monday What Are You Reading.  I hope that once I get home tomorrow evening that life will slow down for a bit and I will get back to visiting all of you because I really do enjoy seeing what my bookish friends around the world are up too and what you are reading.  😀

 

 

Drinking Butter Beer at Universal Studios Orlando.

 

 

 

Both my sons: Justin (left) and Brad

 

Have a glorious start to your week!

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and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please also link your post here:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  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: West Virginia Red Reads

Congratulations!  Please choose a book or bookish item from the Reading Cafe!

**Please note I am way behind on sending out books so if you are waiting on a book from me I do apologize.  I am planning on packaging and taking a trip to the post office this Tuesday so be sure if you are waiting on a book from me that you have sent your mailing address (not PO box numbers) to my email at joureythroughbooks@gmail.com

I have still not surpassed that reading slump.  I don’t even think “slump” is the right word because its not that I don’t want to read, its that time has not allowed for reading and by the time I get home from whatever I am too tired.  That should change a bit this week as I leave for Florida on Thursday morning and will have plane reading time and a little down time too while there with College Son visiting Navy Son through the weekend.  😀

Last week here are the posts I put up:

Good In Bed by Jennifer Weiner

Building a Pole Barn to survive a Zombie Apocalypse

I Michael Bennett by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge

 

 

SO here is what is on the reading plan for this week:

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating mistrust and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings. Now eighteen and emancipated from the system with nowhere to go, Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But an unexpected encounter with a mysterious stranger has her questioning what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

This is out book club pick for November.

Nashville music star and family man, Cole Michaels, is persuaded to embrace an ‘American Dream’ theology that promises comfort, happiness, and success. But when the unimaginable happens, Cole blames God and abandons his faith. More vulnerable than ever, he is clueless that an evil character with an unspeakable secret is using every available resource to find him.

Can two old sages, a beautiful blonde, a violin called the Mysterious Lady, and a Triumph motorcycle help prepare Cole for his ultimate trial?

Many years ago I fell in love with Randall’s writing – I devoured the three books he had out and waited and waited for more but nothing came…. here is where blogging gets cool – when he wrote this book – he found me, emailed me and asked me to review it.  😛

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

At a time when America is seeking ways to sustain its innovative edge, and when societies around the world are trying to build digital-age economies, Jobs stands as the ultimate icon of inventiveness and applied imagination. He knew that the best way to create value in the twenty-first century was to connect creativity with technology. He built a company where leaps of the imagination were combined with remarkable feats of engineering.  

Although Jobs cooperated with this book, he asked for no control over what was written nor even the right to read it before it was published. He put nothing off-limits. He encouraged the people he knew to speak honestly. And Jobs speaks candidly, sometimes brutally so, about the people he worked with and competed against. His friends, foes, and colleagues provide an unvarnished view of the passions, perfectionism, obsessions, artistry, devilry, and compulsion for control that shaped his approach to business and the innovative products that resulted.

Driven by demons, Jobs could drive those around him to fury and despair. But his personality and products were interrelated, just as Apple’s hardware and software tended to be, as if part of an integrated system. His tale is instructive and cautionary, filled with lessons about innovation, character, leadership, and values.

Just a book I have really been interested in.

 

 

 

 

In search of a place to call home, thousands of Hmong families made the journey from the war-torn jungles of Laos to the overcrowded refugee camps of Thailand and onward to America. But lacking a written language of their own, the Hmong experience has been primarily recorded by others. Driven to tell her family’s story after her grandmother’s death, The Latehomecomer is Kao Kalia Yang’s tribute to the remarkable woman whose spirit held them all together. It is also an eloquent, firsthand account of a people who have worked hard to make their voices heard.

Beginning in the 1970s, as the Hmong were being massacred for their collaboration with the United States during the Vietnam War, Yang recounts the harrowing story of her family’s captivity, the daring rescue undertaken by her father and uncles, and their narrow escape into Thailand where Yang was born in the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp.

When she was six years old, Yang’s family immigrated to America, and she evocatively captures the challenges of adapting to a new place and a new language. Through her words, the dreams, wisdom, and traditions passed down from her grandmother and shared by an entire community have finally found a voice.

I met Kao this past week at a literacy conference and she blew me away… I could not wait to read her book!

 

 

 

That’s the plan – what is yours?  I would love to see what you are reading and what you read this past week as well.  Please link up your What Are You Reading post below where it says click here.  I am going to try to get around to your posts as I can this week. 

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and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please ALSO link your post here:

Morning Meanderings… New Books In Da’ House!”

Good morning!  I am here this morning with coffee and listening to Rick Springfield’s book Late Late AT Night… read, by him.  It’s not bad.  After a nap on Sunday afternoon, an embarrassing nape yesterday afternoon and then another one a couple hours later… I think I am caught up form the hustle of last week.  Now I play catch up!

For starters this morning I really wanted to post about the books that have graced my mailbox and my door step the past two weeks. 

OOH right?  I think it is kind of funny that I got a book on beer and a book on wine i the same week. 😀   I can not wait to have some good reading time!!!

Today I work and then I should run some errands as tomorrow is busy and Thursday morning I leave for the Library Sessions… more on that later this week. 

Any of these books look interesting to you?  Have you read any of them? 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  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.

Since I was out of town last weekend I never got the previous winner posted so this is the two week ago winner and this past weeks winner using random.org (because that is how I roll!)

 

Last weeks winner: Mardel from Rabid Reader

Congratulations!  Please choose a book or bookish item from the Reading Cafe!

:D

It’s been a crazy week and even now I am still tired.  I wont bore you with the details I will just say that my week and weekend were extremely busy and still tonight I am feeling like I have sand in my eyes.  Saying this, the unimpressive week I am about to post is this:

Hobbit Book Club – have you heard about this?

 

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

 

Wonder by R J Palacio

 

 

Yup.  That’s it.  In fact as log as we are confessing here… I have not read one page this week.  Nope.  Not one.  Even today I say with a book next to me all day to pick up and I just never felt like it.  I am hoping as we move into this next week that will change. 

With that being the case, I am not going to post any new books/audio foe this week.  I have commitments Monday and Wednesday evening and will be out of town Thursday and Friday for a Library seminar and will take a book with me there since this will involve one night in a hotel.

So lets get right to the – What Are You Reading part of this!  😀  Link your own post below – I am curious… what did you read last week… what will you read this week?

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and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please ALSO link your post here:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  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.

Since I was out of town last weekend I never got the previous winner posted so this is the two week ago winner and this past weeks winner using random.org (because that is how I roll!)

Last weeks winner: Joy from Joys Book Blog!!!

Congratulations!  Please choose a book or bookish item from the Reading Cafe!   :D

 

What a busy and great week!  I am sitting here EXHAUSTED but in a good way.  I just returned Sunday afternoon from a craft weekend on the North shore.  We crafted, we watched movies – it was a good time!  I did manage to read a bit too:

 

A Wilderness Of Error by Errol Morris (True Crime)

 

 

The Wizard Of Oz by Frank Baum – a Bookies review and some fun dress up pics!

 

Telestrations – a fun new board game!

 

 

Titanic’s Last Secret’s by Brad Matsen

 

You’ve Been Warned by James Patterson

 

 

Not too bad a week and here is what is happening this week:

 

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.
Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them-not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.
His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.
But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all-family money, good looks, devoted friends-but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys.

 

 

 

Stalin’s Soviet Union strives to be a paradise for its workers, providing for all of their needs. One of its fundamental pillars is that its citizens live free from the fear of ordinary crime and criminals.

But in this society, millions do live in fear . . . of the State. Death is a whisper away. The mere suspicion of ideological disloyalty-owning a book from the decadent West, the wrong word at the wrong time-sends millions of innocents into the Gulags or to their executions. Defending the system from its citizens is the MGB, the State Security Force. And no MGB officer is more courageous, conscientious, or idealistic than Leo Demidov.

A war hero with a beautiful wife, Leo lives in relative luxury in Moscow, even providing a decent apartment for his parents. His only ambition has been to serve his country. For this greater good, he has arrested and interrogated.

Then the impossible happens. A different kind of criminal-a murderer-is on the loose, killing at will. At the same time, Leo finds himself demoted and denounced by his enemies, his world turned upside down, and every belief he’s ever held shattered. The only way to save his life and the lives of his family is to uncover this criminal. But in a society that is officially paradise, it’s a crime against the State to suggest that a murderer-much less a serial killer-is in their midst. Exiled from his home, with only his wife, Raisa, remaining at his side, Leo must confront the vast resources and reach of the MBG to find and stop a criminal that the State won’t admit even exists.

 

 

 

 

At first my eyes wouldn’t make sense of the letters. Finally, they unscrambled. Loving a Larger Woman, said the headline, by Bruce Guberman. Bruce Guberman had been my boyfriend for just over three years, until we’d decided to take a break three months ago. And the larger woman, I could only assume, was me.

Cannie Shapiro never wanted to be famous. The smart, sharp, plus-sized pop culture reporter was perfectly content writing about other people’s lives on the pages of the Philadelphia Examiner. But the day she opens up a national women’s magazine to find out that her ex-boyfriend has been chronicling their ex-sex life is the day her life changes forever.

Loving a larger woman is an act of courage in our world, Bruce has written. And Cannie — who never knew that Bruce saw her as a “larger woman,” or thought that loving her was an act of courage — is plunged into misery, and into the most amazing year of her life.

 

 

 

 

Meghan Chase has a secret destiny—one she could never have imagined…

Something has always felt slightly off in Meghan’s life, ever since her father disappeared before her eyes when she was six. She has never quite fit in at school…or at home.

When a dark stranger begins watching her from afar, and her prankster best friend becomes strangely protective of her, Meghan senses that everything she’s known is about to change.

But she could never have guessed the truth—that she is the daughter of a mythical faery king and is a pawn in a deadly war. Now Meghan will learn just how far she’ll go to save someone she cares about, to stop a mysterious evil no faery creature dare face…and to find love with a young prince who might rather see her dead than let her touch his icy heart.

 

 

 

Thats the week.  How about you?  Add you Its Monday What Are You Reading link to where it says click here below.

 

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and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please ALSO link your post here:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  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.

Since I was out of town last weekend I never got the previous winner posted so this is the two week ago winner and this past weeks winner using random.org (because that is how I roll!)

 

Last weeks winner: Lori from Escape With Dollycas!!!

 

Congratulations!  Please choose a book or bookish item from the Reading Cafe!  And for those of you waiting on a win, the book room as you will see below is now done so I can find the books to mail you :D

I am coming in a little later on this one today.  Usually I post on Sunday evening for all of you who live outside the US and my Sunday is your Monday… however,

I am currently in Mankato Minnesota where yesterday morning I biked with friends for the Mankato Ramble, and then I spent the rest of the day with College Son and stayed at his place.  I never get to Mankato – it is a 3/12 drive from my home in Brainerd coming this weekend to ride bike one last time this year and see my son was so worth it.  We went out to dinner last night, and then to a movie.  By the time we got in I was wiped out and knew this post would have to wait…

BUT  – here it is and if you hung out here at all last week didn’t we have a great time with Banned Books Week?  And if you did not hang out here last week then this is all the awesome stuff that was going on:

PREP by Curtis Sentenfield (Banned book with a giveaway!)

 

The Giver by Lois Lowry (banned book with a giveaway copy!)

 

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky ( banned book and now a movie!)

 

Sad Desk Salad by Jesse Grose (a book tour)

 

The Chocolate Wars by Robert Cormier – a banned book and a giveaway

 

The LORAX by Dr. Suess (discussed for Banned book week – yup – it is banned!)

 

October Mourning by Lesea Newman -(a book surrounding thoughts on the terrible murder of Matthew Shepard)

 

 

If there is one thing banned books do for me, is they give me an incredible reading list for a week each year,  There are so many great books to chose from and if you scrawl through my posts of last week you will see all the wonderful book bloggers and authors who also tied into banned books week with reviews, talks, and giveaways.

So this week is going to particularity crazy – today when I get back to Brainerd I need to change out the Banned Book Window in the library.    I think I am going with a theme of “Spooktacular” Reads and going with a shelf of good books for October – one shelf for kids, one for MG, one for YA, and one for adults.  Any thoughts on what those titles may be – please feel free to give me ideas in the comments 🙂

Then tomorrow is book club – we are dressing up and reviewing The Wizard of Oz! Wednesday I work with students after work until 8 pm and Thursday I am leaving for the cabin with friends to have a crafting weekend.  Coming back on Saturday evening.  😀

So – knowing that I will not get a lot of reading in this week – here is my lay out:

 

 

I never liked jazz music because jazz music doesn’t resolve…I used to not like God because God didn’t resolve. But that was before any of this happened.In Donald Miller’s early years, he was vaguely familiar with a distant God. But when he came to know Jesus Christ, he pursued the Christian life with great zeal. Within a few years he had a successful ministry that ultimately left him feeling empty, burned out, and, once again, far away from God. In this intimate, soul-searching account, Miller describes his remarkable journey back to a culturally relevant, infinitely loving God.

I have heard this is excellent and I have had the audio for a while.  It is my “listen: on the way home today.  It is also a movie now!

 

 

 

 

The brutal murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming, brought violence based on sexual orientation to public view. His mother, determined that Matthew’s life should have meaning, has become an activist for the inclusion of sexual orientation in hate crime legislation (the federal act, named for Matthew, was enacted in October 2009) and for gay rights in general. Judy Shepard’s narration is consistent with her statements in the book that in various public situations she is determined not to break down–as she wants the focus of the story to be Matthew, not her. Matthew’s father delivers the statement he made at the trial of one of the assailants. Both parents read in tightly controlled voices that are poignant and, by the absence of dramatization, tell a haunting story.
This past Saturday was the anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s beating that led to his death.  Above, I had read October Mourning but thought it was going to be more about his life and story – it was poetry and I did not know that going in.  However, I have had this one on my shelf for awhile, written by Matthew’s mom. 

 

 

 

That is probably all I am going to list from Mankato.  😀  Once I get home I may see something in my notebook that I am supposed to read this week so I am going to keep this the way it is. 

Now it is your turn!  What are you reading these fall days?  Has your reading style changes as summer came to a close?  I would love to know!  Please link up your Its Monday What Are You Reading here below where it says click here:

 

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and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please ALSO link your post here:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  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.

Since I was out of town last weekend I never got the previous winner posted so this is the two week ago winner and this past weeks winner using random.org (because that is how I roll!)

Last weeks winner: Lisa from Lisa’s World Of Books!!!

Congratulations!  Please choose a book or bookish item from the Reading Cafe!  And for those of you waiting on a win, the book room as you will see below is now done so I can find the books to mail you 😀

What a great and crazy week!  The construction finished on Wednesday for the book room, I set up and had a family reunion at my house on Saturday and I am tired but now geared up for Banned Book Week!

Here are the posts worth checking out from this past week:

 

We Need To Talk About Kevin – book and movie reviews – I read this book so long ago but it still haunts me

 

There And Back Again by Sean Astin – an interesting take on being a hobbit and the working behind the scenes of the Lord Of The Rings

 

Defending Jacob by William Landay – OOOHHHHHH lets just say….oooooohhhhh!!!!

 

Back Seat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson – wow!  I think I found another author to wacth!

 

SSSQQUUEEEE  The book shelves are finished!!!!  Here are the pics and the final room look!

 

PREP by Curtis Senterfield – my first banned book review and a giveaway of a gift card!  (OOH – everyone likes gift cards!)

 

Banned Book Blog Hop is going on and I am doing a giveaway as well as many MANY more blogs check it out – its a good week to win some great books!

 

Banned Book Week kicked off on Sept 30 and I will be hosting blogs and giveaways all week long!  Here is the first post and amazing book giveaways you will not want to miss!

 

 

It was a great week but thank goodness for audio because I have been not getting any book time lately.  I set the book room, cleaned the house and garage all to audio.  Because of this I am ahead for banned book week with two more banned audio books to review and a third being listened to right now.

So as I said, it is banned book week and if you know me – you know I love chatting Banned Books!  Here is what I will be reading/listening to this week:

 

In a world with no poverty, no crime, no sickness and no unemployment, and where every family is happy, 12-year-old Jonas is chosen to be the community’s Receiver of Memories. Under the tutelage of the Elders and an old man known as the Giver, he discovers the disturbing truth about his utopian world and struggles against the weight of its hypocrisy. With echoes of Brave New World, in this 1994 Newbery Medal winner, Lowry examines the idea that people might freely choose to give up their humanity in order to create a more stable society. Gradually Jonas learns just how costly this ordered and pain-free society can be, and boldly decides he cannot pay the price.

A banned book and one that has graced me shelf way too long unread.

 

 

 

Long before saving the earth became a global concern, Dr. Seuss, speaking through his character the Lorax, warned against mindless progress and the danger it posed to the earth’s natural beauty.

One of the funnier banned books – I want to review book and movie.

 

 

 

On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one-year-old college student named Matthew Shepard was lured from a Wyoming bar by two young men, savagely beaten, tied to a remote fence, and left to die. Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Lesléa Newman, discussing her book Heather Has Two Mommies. Shaken, the author addressed the large audience that gathered, but she remained haunted by Matthew’s murder. October Mourning, a novel in verse, is her deeply felt response to the events of that tragic day. Using her poetic imagination, the author creates fictitious monologues from various points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to, the stars that watched over him, the deer that kept him company, and Matthew himself. More than a decade later, this stunning cycle of sixty-eight poems serves as an illumination for readers too young to remember, and as a powerful, enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard’s life.

On October 6 I am going to break away from the banned books to review this sad book about Matthew Shephard on the anniversary ate of his brutal murder.

 

Ok I plan to fit in more banned books but we will see how this week goes.  Now I am so excited to see what you are reading!  Please add your link below where it says click here.  😀

 

 

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