Category: Meanderings

Morning Meanderings/ (NOT!) Saturday Snapshot: A Room With A View

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)3 Comments

1j

Ok…. lol…. I wrote this post this morning totally thinking it was Saturday.  What a hot mess I am…. LOL  Then I went on ALyce’s site to link up thinking I was super cool as it is 6 am and look for early I am and… ummm …. yeah.  Anyhoo – I am leaving the post as is because I am at a conference and I do not have time to put together another post… so ha ha…. pretend it is Saturday with me 😀

Good morning!  I slept amazing last night. I am in Minneapolis at the last session on our Bremer L3 Training for Libraries and Literacy.  This is the activity I signed up for last fall along with Jolene who is out Library Manager and Laurel who works with outreach in our community through her role at the Library.

When we drove here at noon yesterday I was so tired having been up since 3:00 am the night before.  Why?  I have no idea… my head kept thinking of things I needed to be sure I did before I left.  I worked yesterday to noon, so I had to be packed and ready to go so I could leave right from work to meet up with the other two and e in the cities by 3:00.

We had a lovely afternoon of each group talking about what they have accomplished.  Our group was speaking last but what was cool about that as we all have to have a power point presentation ready of our experience, that being last, we were then able to pull up the Wine and Words website on the big screen and then they left it up.  AWESOME.  I think we sold at least a table for the event 🙂  WOO HOO!!!

So pictures.  From my hotel room on the Coates Plaza I have a lovely view of the Mississippi.  My pics are not awesome as I was shooting them through a window and I really need to figure out the camera on my phone before I am in New York next week. 

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So do you like the reflection of the lamp in my room in the second picture? 😀

This morning we have breakfast and then a couple of sessions, a celebration lunch as we are then done with our training and leave here at 1:00.  It has been a great experience.  Not only is it by attending this training that the idea came for Wine and Words, but hanging out with Jolene and Laurel has really helped me understand the library more in my role as a friend of the library.

If this actually was the Saturday Snapshot I would have directed you to Alyce’s post at, At Home With Books. 😀

Morning Meanderings…. Exciting Books And Judging Begins!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)6 Comments

1j

Good morning!  Happy Sunday!  I was watching Harry Potter last night, Order Of The Phoenix and I love that when they take Christmas break he tells them all “Happy Christmas!”  I love that!   I am from the “Merry Christmas” part of the world but totally want to change it up!  Perhaps I should say “Merry Sunday” to you!

Perhaps… I should quit rambling.  😛

I left the house on Friday early afternoon for a short trip to the cabin up North.  Not short in driving… it was almost 4 hours (one way) with the road construction which is always a sign of spring in Minnesota, but short as in I only stayed overnight and returned later Saturday afternoon.  I went to check on things as I have not been there since January and watched two movies, ‘Grown Ups’ and ‘Jump The Broom’, and then proceeded to get deep into the book Confessions Of A Prairie Bitch by Alison Arngrim (Nellie Olson).  Possible review up later today. 

For the last few weeks I have been planning a Sunday post with the books that have come in the house and week after week I seem like I never get the post up – SO…. here it is.  The books that have arrived over the past three weeks:

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A couple of the books, With A Name Like Love and Wreath are for the INSPY Award judging.  I am a judge in the YA category.  There are 5 books to read total for that.  Houdini was a find I picked up at a sale on Friday.  When I made my purchase the elderly man running the sale told me to “not try the stunts inside”…LOL  How did he know?

So there we are.  A little over a week out from BEA, I will be flying into New York next Tuesday morning.  If you are also going to BEA please look me up and say hi!  I will be watching my twitter @bookjourney for messages and the Blogger Connection list that people have signed up on will be going out later today or tomorrow.

Morning Meanderings… The Bookies In The Pink

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)4 Comments

1j

Good morning!  Happy Wednesday… yes my friends, we are at the half way mark for the week!  😀 

Last night was our May book club meeting.  We were meeting at a restaurant and we had a plan.  One of our lovely members had just shared with us a couple weeks ago that she was diagnosed with breast cancer.  Last Wednesday she underwent surgery… last night… we all went Pink for her.

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Mmmm hmmmm… love these gals!  😀

The book we reviewed?  The Light Between Oceans was a “wow oh wow” discussion.  That review will be up later today.

So… I am out of town all day today, meeting at 7:30 am and car pooling to another get together and will be back tonight around 10 pm.  L O N G D A Y.  I need to take a book….  😀

Morning Meanderings… What Rock Is This Thy Crawled Out From Underneath?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)11 Comments

1j

Good morning!

Last night I was reading the blog of a new follower and was reading a list of books she was looking into when she had made a comment about one that caught my attention.  She was speaking on Cassandra Clare (Mortal Instrument series) and she was saying that she liked her even though she did not approve of  the whole fanlore things and Harry Potter.

Well… if you know me at all, you know the words that stuck out for me were Hatty Potter.  I knew nothing of this so started my internet snooping late last night and found information on the Fanlore site (who knew?) regarding her trilogy she wrote called The Draco Trilogy.

Well seriously!  Where have I been – calling myself this big Potter head – movies, books, tours, board games…. and not ever having heard of this?  Why do I not own a time turner to go back in time and find these books and read them… and if you are wondering why I dont read them now…

they appear to have been deleted off the site. 

As the site says:

Author’s summary: “When Hermione is kidnapped, Harry and Draco must team up to rescue her from a thousand-year-old evil that threatens the entire wizarding world. Cursed demon swords, love potions, time travel, dementors, flying dragons, Draco wears leather, and everybody dies at least once. Except when they don’t.”

It also says the trilogy only appeared on line for about two weeks before the author pulled them to start her own writing career.  SO….. riddle me this:

Did you know of these books?

Did you read these books?

And most importantly… do you know anyone who downloaded the books?  😛

Morning Meanderings… A Fish Story

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)36 Comments

1j

Good morning.  It’s Saturday in Minnesota!  From what I seen on Facebook this morning it was also snowing earlier.  SNOWING. 😯  I think I may have slept through it.  After two incredibly busy days – work, library fund-raiser, work again, Mankato son hang out lunch and rollerblading and a board meeting for camp last night… I just wanted to stay still for a while.  SO I did. 😀

Today in Minnesota is also fishing opener which is the oddest opener ever as our lakes are still icy.  Al (hubby) and I are not fisher people so it doesn’t really affect us but the weird weather is still annoying. 

In honor of fishing opener and Alyce’s Saturday Snapshots. I thought I would give you an honest to goodness Fish Story…

and here it is.

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My dad and my uncle Dallas

 

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In 1979 while my dad was in Alaska visiting relatives he caught a King Chinook Salmon.  The salmon weighed 62 pounds and 4 oz and 52 1/2 inches.  When he returned to Minnesota he left the fish there to be stuffed and mounted to be sent home at a later time. 

In January of 1980 my family went through a house fire that took the lives of my father and 5-year-old sister, Tara.  I lost my dad and sister and our entire home and everything in it in one swoop.  My mom and I were the only ones who made it out. 

Now – I don’t tell you this to make you feel bad, I tell you, because it is a part of this story…

When my uncle Dallas came to the funeral, he brought the fish with him.  Dad had never seen it after it was mounted but it was in our new home from that day forward, hanging on the wall.  When I was married, mom passed the fish on to me and to this day it hangs on one of my walls.  It fits no decor in my home but it is not coming down and as you can imagine it is quite the conversation piece as no one believes that it is real. 😀  It makes me smile as I have hardly anything that belonged to my dad, it was all lost in the fire…

 

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When people come over, they think it is fake.

 

but I have this humongous fish…. and the story.  And that works for me.

 

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This post was made for Saturday Snapshot and is hosted by Alyce and At Home With Books.

*pictures of dad with the fish are saved from a partial album that was in the house during the fire.  Several photos survived and while they are burned on many of the edges, we still transferred them to another album that I have to this day.

 

Today I am hoping to get in some reading time – I have the weekend to read the book club book, The Light Between Oceans by M L Stedman. 

Morning Meanderings… Game Of Game Of Thrones (hillarious!)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

Good morning!  Game of Thrones is one of those book series I want to (I wanna I wanna!!!) try but now 752 books into the series… ok currently 5 of 7 books are released but you get what I mean… with so many books still on t he shelf to read its hard to look at these mammoth size reads and say, “sure… that’s a weekends worth of reading.”  😛

Has it stopped me from purchasing them if I find them at a good price?  No, because someday I hope to read them much like another long-standing huge booked series and of course Gone With The Wind.  (Yes…. I know… I have yet to read Gone With The Wind…. I should be banished to a tropical island with only that book … and possibly a cabana boy…. and maybe an unlimited supply of diet Dr Pepper and Twizzlers…. but that’s it.  No more until it is read!

Ok… I am clearly off point here… Game Of Thrones.  Have you read these books?  If so are they awesome?  If not so you plan too?  Shall we make a pact that we all set aside a time period to read the first book?

Enough rambling… I came across this funny little video about Game Of Thrones and  it’s worth it for you to refill your cup of coffee and/or grab another slice of toast and watch…

Have a super start to your day!

Morning Meanderings… We Have To Move On Despite The Weather

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

1j

Good morning!  Happy Saturday to you. 😀

You have probably heard by now some rumblings of Minnesota’s never ending winter.  It is May and parts of Minnesota had another 11 inches dumped on them the last couple of days.  Thankfully, this time it wasn’t Brainerd.  No instead we are getting the cold… the wet… averaging around 40 degrees for the day, high 20’s in the morning.  It is cold.. wet.. frustrating and getting very old – even to the snow lovers (which… for the record… I am not one of).

Yet – this last Monday it was nice out.  It was in the high 70’s and dry.  My friend Amy and I decided it was long past due that we got the bikes out on the trail.  I agreed….

I had warned her that in past March/ early April’s that I had been on the trail in occasional spots you could run into some snow.  The areas where the trail was protected by tree cover and the sun took a little longer in those areas to melt away the last memories of snow. 

Our goal was from Brainerd to Nisswa…. 32 miles round trip. 

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This is my friend Amy. About mile 8 we seen that we were in for some :EXTREME BIKING”. Still, we decided to go on.

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… ummmm yeah. There were parts of the path that we could not bike. We had to get off and walk the bikes.

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Yup…. going through it.

And we did!  We biked/walked the 16 miles to Nisswa and then bike/walked it back.  It took up about 45 minutes longer than when we usually do that ride but it was fun and I love having a die-hard friend that not once said, “let’s forget it and turn back.”

I am posting these pictures today for Saturday Snapshot hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books.  Stop over and see what other people are posting – and feel free to add your own as well. 😀

I had mentioned yesterday that I was going to the cabin but a friend asked me to check the weather in that area.  Up by Duluth it was all snow and rain yesterday and today I did not want to deal with it.  Instead I started working on College sons bedroom which has been sitting for the past couple of years and I am now making it into an office.  Perhaps… that will be next weeks pictures. 😛  Tonight we have a benefit and a concert.  Should be fun.

Listening to audio today – Raven Boys is coming to an end and deciding what to start listening to next…

What are you doing this Saturday?

Morning Meanderings… A Little Adventure

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

1j

Good morning!  It s May in Minnesota and while I still have a random glob of snow in my yard here and there… for the most part it is gone (oh but be sure and stop and see tomorrows Saturday Snapshot pics!)

Today I am going to go garage saling… yes those die-hard Minnesotan’s know it is May and even though it is a tepid 27 degrees out there (not kidding.. just checked), I am going to put on my hoodie, jeans, and tennis shoes and head out for adventures!  😛  I have a list of about 10 sales I want to pop in and check out… last year I hardly went at all but this year I have some ideas of what I am looking for so off I go!

I think this will be a fun month.  Yesterday was College sons 23rd birthday (I know…. how can he be 23???)  While I did not get to see him as he is in Mankato, he will be here next week for a few days and I will be going out to lunch with him next Friday!  Love that!  I have not seen him since my birthday in February.  Next weekend Mothers Day, third weekend bike ride – 4th weekend heading to New York for BEA.

This afternoon I am heading to the cabin for a one day overnight.  I have not been there since January so just heading up to check on things as my weekends are filling up fast and I will not make it back there until mid June when a few friends and I are going up for a weekend adventure.

Am I reading?  Yes.  While We were watching Downton Abbey is fun and I should finish it tonight.  🙂

Also… if you know fellow book bloggers who are going to BEA this year,please let them know about the form to fill out to connect with other book bloggers attending.  So far we have over 20 bloggers signed up!

Morning Meanderings… Dewey Read A Thon Recap

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

1j

Good morning!  How many of us groggy book blogger peeps did the Dewey read A Thon yesterday?  From the looks of the Dewey site and Twitter…. I would say a LOT.  The hashtag #readathon was trending for awhile and I heard last night that over 1,000 pictures has been uploaded to instygram for the #readathon.

Impressive?

I think so… imagine all of us reading around the world…. seriously, it gives me goosebumps.

So how did I do?

Not as good as I had hoped. 😀

It started yesterday at 7 am central time.  I woke up at 6 am and started reading.  By 7:30 I decided I should work on my posts for my co-hosting shift coming up for the readathon…. and that took me almost to the time that I started hosting, hour 5.  😯

From hour 5 to hour 8,  I was co-hosting which was a BLAST!  It was my first time and it really was a wake up call to how much is happening behind the scenes on the read a thon!  I watched for emails and questions, I stayed active on twitter, made sure the links worked to the mini challenges, carried on conversations on the comments at the website… it was a lot of fun and I was honored to be a part of it.

At hour 9 I had to get out or the recliner that I had been in since an hour before the read a thon started.  I put on an audio (Requiem) and went outside to clean off the deck as yesterday was the first nice weather day we have had this year in Central Minnesota.  Just 3 days ago it was still snowing… now it is finally melting and the deck is clear….

At hour 12 I had made supper (while listening to audio), picked up the cheese bag by the wrong end and “cheesed” my entire kitchen floor and then went to book for hour 13 – 16.

Ah hour 16 (10 pm) I was fading…. I was trying to read but I kept closing my eyes.  I tried coffee but I was done for.  About 10 to 11 pm I went to bed.

At hour 22 I was up. 

I immediately went back to audio (now Raven Boys) and finished out the read a thon doing that. 😀

Here is the end of event meme questionnaire:

  1. Which hour was most daunting for you?  Hour 16.  I was just too far gone and all I could think was I am TIRED.  😛

  2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year? Requiem was awesome… I listened to it on audio while I got up and moved around… really good!

  3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?  I thought it went well… I enjoyed the changing hosts on the sites and the fun things they posted.

  4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?  Hmmm…  I think everything, the mini challenges were fun, it seemed like it went really smooth.

  5. How many books did you read? only 2 finished and a couple of audio advanced in.

  6. What were the names of the books you read?  How To Start A Home Based Event Planning Business (lol it was good!) , Requiem

  7. Which book did you enjoy most? I actually really enjoyed them both – for different reasons 🙂

  8. Which did you enjoy least?  none

  9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?  I was not a cheerleader.

  10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?  I hope to always participate, I really look forward to it and as soon as I know the dates I put it on my calendar.  I have joked in the past about going to a hotel for the day just to get away from everything and do the read a thon and I still may do that one of these times 🙂

      I would love to help with the co hosting again… I was new this time and I learned a lot of how it works and how to keep up with it. 😀

That’s the read a thon.  If you are curious about it, go check out the site.  I highly recommend it!

 

 

 

Today I have my uncles funeral and some family things after wards.  My uncle fought cancer hard for years but this last year it really took over his body.  Last September he decided no more chemo and so he quit all the treatments to not feel sick all the time.  He had some good months before he started slipping these past weeks.  While it is a loss to our family, we are all happy that he is no longer suffering and in pain.  Today will be a celebration of his life. 

Morning Meanderings… I was never a reluctant reader… but I was a non reader

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

1j

Good morning! 

This morning while sipping on my coffee using THAT CUP you see above, I was reading Shelf Awareness and reading some of the stories that surround World Book Night.  I enjoy reading about the reluctant readers who received a book this past week and who are curiously (hopefully excitedly) cracking open that book and falling into a story.

I love that imagery of “falling in” because that has happened to me so many times before. 😀

As I sit here this morning ignoring the clock and the fact that I still need to do my 4 minute express workout before prepping for my day (a promise I made to myself), I think back over my history with books.

Books have pretty much always been there for me although I do not come from a family of readers.  Neither my mom or my dad were readers,  I only had my sister for 5 years and during that time she was not a reader…. I wonder now if she would have loved books the way I did and the way I do….

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As a child – I think life circumstances brought me to books.  I was an only child until the age of 7 with two working parents.  People didn’t travel then as much as they do now and I found my way around the world through books.  As a kid it was Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and The Little House On The Prairie Books.  As middle grade it was more like Judy Blume (there was not a lot of great choices for middle grade and YA then like there is now).

I remember I fell away from books in High School when life was BUSY and homework, friends and boys called my name… when I had my first real job and driving was suddenly an option. 

After High School when I was living on my own and holding down a job I went back to books and stayed there through my twenties finding Dean Koontz, and Stephen King to my liking for mysteries and crazy suspense….  I think I dropped off a bit as the boys became involved in sports and boy scouts … and then back again as they became involved in their own lives and branched out… by then I was in the Bookies and book doors had opened wider than I ever thought they would.

The cool thing about book clubs I think you will agree, is that you will read a book that you may never have chosen for yourself or by yourself.  Book Clubs stretch our reading and boy… .mine did that for me!  I love watching people come into our book club with a “I do not read this, and I won’t read that….” and months later they are reading this and that and enjoying it. 

Books change people.

Well… the rest of my book life is history.  Books led me to book club, book club led me to blogging, blogging led me to you fellow readers, and book expos and author events and well….

That’s my train of thought this morning.  Books are amazing.  Readers are amazing.  It’s almost like we take on an extra dimension in our way of thinking in our way of relating….

ahhhhh….. books 😀