The Acting Of Narration – Narrator Johnny Heller

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)41 Comments

Audio month

Johnny Heller is a narrator of audio books and as all narrators, considers himself an actor.  With over 500 narrations, Johnny has narrated in almost all genres.

 

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Johnny started his narrating career in the 90’s and holds to his name these (as well as many other narrations):

  • MASH
  • Marley and Me
  • The Mickey Rawlins Baseball Murder Mysteries by Troy Soos
  • THE GRIMM CONCLUSION.
  • the Platypus Police Squad series
  • The Horrible Harry books
  • The Vampire Files series by PN Elrod,
  • Dan Gutman baseball card time travel books
  • DAVE BARRY’S COMPLETE GUIDE TO GUYS
  • The NERDS series
  • BACK IN THE FIGHT
  • SHOT ALL TO HELL
  • HOUSE OF LIES
  • CLOSING TIME
  • THE LAST STRIPTEASE
  • THE FAT MAN – A Tale of North Pole Noir
  • The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

 

When asked about the similarities between Narration and narrating, Johnny responds,
Audio book narration IS acting. People will often ask me -“are you still acting?”  Of course I am! I don’t know that there is a more organic acting form than the audiobook narration.  You have a script – the book; an audience; and you.  

The major difference between stage and screen and the audio art is that the narrator plays all the roles.  I am not – when narrating reacting to cues or the immediate response from an audience or playing camera angles or scenes as plotted by a director. The narrator is a story-teller.  The narrator must be immersed in the truth of the author and faithful moment to moment to the text.  It is essential that I share the author’s truth. 
 
In a theater piece, the actor plays a single character and he immerses  himself in the life of that one character.  In narration, the actor (still acting!) plays the narrator and all of the characters – giving each one life as dictated by the authors’ truth which we get from the text.  Each character has his/her own traits and the narrator must be adept making choices that propel the story forward.  A flawed or faulty choice will halt the narrative flow because it disconnects the actor and therefore the audience from the authors truth.  
 
It’s a very risky thing to narrate a book and one must make choices and one must be an actor with a gift for storytelling. 
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Johnny personally will read through a book once prior to narrating to get a feel for the voice of the book.
As I read, I make a list of characters and next to the character I note whatever I need to write to tell me who that character is.  Is she mean, sweet…if I was casting it for a film, who would I pick.  Is this guy a Clint Eastwood type or a Jon Cryer type?  I make notes that may not make sense to somebody else but tell me what I need to know to help me make appropriate choices.
The hardest books to narrate according to Johnny are the ones that are emotionally wrenching.  Out of his personal narrations he mentions Marley and Me,and A Day No Pigs Will Die.  He especially is proud of an amazing book called The Education Of Little Tree.  Written so beautifully he says, that he was brought to tears several times while narrating.
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When asked if there are any “tricks of the trade, Johnny responded:
I have a few “tricks” although I’m not sure I’d call them that.  I always have some tissues with me.  Not just for tears! but you never really know what’s gonna come out of your body at any given moment until you are in a booth hoping for quiet!  
I recommend remaining hydrated.
A slice of apple can keep your mouth moist (without being slushy) and settle those stomach noises.
When you find your mind wandering during your recording to things like: “hmmmm, I wonder what we’re gonna have for dinner” or “I really gotta do the laundry today…” YOU NEED A BREAK!  I frequently step out of the booth and just take a few moments and not think about the project.  Just to clear my head. If you find yourself wandering, you are not in touch with the text and you are not telling the story anymore.
 
And any mistake is fixable!  Nothing is etched in stone — if you yawned, belched, yodeled – whatever, you can fix it, don’t worry. But note it because you really must fix it!
Check out more about Johnny on his website:  www.johnnyheller.com
Please watch this site for June audio book related posts.  For every post you comment on in June that has this audio book symbol:
Audio month
I will put you into a drawing for a $25 book certificate for each comment (Barnes and Noble or Amazon – your choice).  Winner will be drawn in July.

Intro To Audiobook Month: Narrators, Reviews, and Giveaways

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)97 Comments

Audio month

June is Audiobook Month.  A time when we celebrate Audiobooks, Narrators, Great Audio, and more.  If you read reviews here at Book Journey you know I listen to A LOT OF AUDIO.  That was not always the case. In fact, there was a time I thought audiobooks were so geeky….

My Aunt and Uncle live in California.  Every spring they bring a large RV back to Minnesota and stay with my other Aunt and Uncle here in Brainerd on their property until October.  For their trek from California to Minnesota…. they listen to audio.  One time I had to get something out of their RV I went in and seen this huge box of audio cassette tapes (bear with me… this was a while ago 😉 ).  UGH I thought, how could you just listen to audio for hours on end?  They must REALLY BE OLD.  (yeah… I am not proud).

About 4 years ago I was offered audiobooks for review.  I thought I would give one a try, and put it in my cars CD player.  My world has never been the same.  I fell in love with a story, and finished a book over the next couple of weeks while driving.  Then I started listening to it while cooking, and cleaning, and mowing, and gardening, and playing scrabble on line…

Note:  All audio is not AWESOME audio

You might be thinking “But Sheila, I tried audio once and I could not get into it.  I can not handle someone reading to me!”

Good audio, as I recently discussed with Narrator Karen White, does not give you the feel that someone is reading to you.  Good audio… makes you forget that… good audio, you never hear the narrator reading, instead you fall into the story, much like when you watch a tv show you do not focus that the actor is acting.

audio narrators
Audio Narrators Luncheon in New York

 

Please watch this site for June audio book related posts.  For every post you comment on in June that has this audio book symbol:

Audio month

I will put you into a drawing for a $25 book certificate for each comment (Barnes and Noble or Amazon – your choice).  Winner will be drawn in July.

To give you a clue to what has already been posted this month that is audio related (including this one) – here are the links:

Delicious by Ruth Reichl

(Ok.. I have been busy… but lots more to come 😀 )

 

Do you listen to audio? 

Why or why not?

When did you start if you do?

What do you like most about audio?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)32 Comments

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Hey there!  Welcome to It’s Monday, What Are You Reading!

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. Fair warning… this meme tends to add to your reading list!

What a week!  Back from the expo, worked in my new office, first Author event of the summer at the library, a movie, a blogiversary,  prepping for camp, and I leave tomorrow for camp for the week.

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This has been a whirlwind week on the blog as well… here is what I posted here:

Faces On Book Covers – Like or Dislike?

Brown Bag Author Event – Nathan Jorgenson

Blogger Con at the expo

FACE OFF – super cool multi author book where protagonists face off against one another!

Harper Collins at The Book expo

BEA Author Breakfasts

Delicious by Ruth Reichl – do not miss this one!

The 5 Year Blogiversary party!

The Fault In Our Stars Movie – SSQQQQUUUEEEE!!!

YA not For Adults?  Grrrrr….

 

Yeah… my week has been like that.  😀

This next week I will be putting a lot of focus on Audiobook month – I am excited about it and I have some narrators working with me to share with you the full audio experience.  Stay tune… giveaways too.

As for what I am planning for this week:

 

For my ears:

 

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Summer, 1926. Ernest Hemingway and his wife, Hadley, take refuge from the blazing heat of Paris in a villa in the south of France. They swim and play bridge, and drink gin with abandon. But wherever they go they are accompanied by the glamorous and irrepressible Fife. Fife is Hadley’s best friend. She is also Ernest’s lover. Hadley is the first Mrs. Hemingway, but neither she nor Fife will be the last. Each Mrs. Hemingway thought their love would last forever; each one was wrong.

Narrated by Hemingway’s four wives – Hadley, Fife, Martha, and Mary – and peopled with members of the fabled “Lost Generation” – including Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott Fitzgerald – Mrs. Hemingway paints a complex portrait of the man behind the legend and the women behind the man, a riveting tale of passion, love, and heartbreak.

 

 

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Rachel Wiltshire has everything she’s ever wanted: a close group of friends, a handsome boyfriend, and acceptance to the journalism program at her top-choice college. But one fateful evening, tragedy tears her world apart.

Five years later, Rachel returns home for the first time to celebrate her best friend’s wedding. Still coping with her grief, she can’t stop thinking about the bright future she almost had, if only that one night had gone differently. But when a sudden fall lands her in the hospital, Rachel wakes to find that her life has completely changed. Now the people she loves most are not the way she remembers them. Unable to trust her own recollections, Rachel tries to piece together what really happened, and not even she can predict the astonishing truth.

 

For my Eyes:

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Shadowhunters and demons square off for the final showdown in the spellbinding, seductive conclusion to the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series.

Darkness has descended on the Shadowhunter world. Chaos and destruction overwhelm the Nephilim as Clary, Jace, Simon, and their friends band together to fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Infernal Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell. Nothing in this world can defeat Sebastian—but if they journey to the realm of demons, they just might have a chance…

Lives will be lost, love sacrificed, and the whole world will change. Who will survive the explosive sixth and final installment of the Mortal Instruments series?

 

I dont know how much I will get done being gone all week… but hopefully a little reading time 😀

How about you?  How was your reading this past week?  What is on deck for this week?  Please share your Monday What Are You Reading posts below where it says click here:

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YA: NOT For Adults? Oh Heck No.

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)83 Comments

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I just purchased a book I was pretty excited about.  So excited in fact, that as soon as I was out of the book store I took a picture of the book and put it on Twitter:

 

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Shortly after my return home with my purchase, I was reading on line and discovered an article on The Slate Book Review called AGAINST YA, 

with a tag line that reads,

Read whatever you want. But you should feel embarrassed when what you’re reading was written for children.

 

Oh…. dem’s fighting words.

According to Ruth Graham, author of this *set my soul on fire* article, states that as adults we are better than this.

 

Errr… excuse me?
Ms. Graham, also feels that by not becoming emotion over books such as Fault In Our Stars is not because she is heartless, but because she is grown up.
Well… here is my response to that.
I love YA.  I am not ashamed.  There are times throughout my reading where I am devouring YA book after YA book.  Yes, I read many different genres, but YES, YA is among them.  When I was growing up we did not have the wonderful YA choices of today.  I remember I had Judy Blume (YAY Judy!  *knuckle bump*) and that is about all I recall.  I mean, Judy did a great job, but honestly most of her titles are more middle grade than YA.
Today’s YA is full on ENGAGING.  It is PASSIONATE.  And honestly, when I really think about it… I think that is what sells me.  YA character’s are emotionally amplified. They are out… saving the world, dealing with bullies, family members, and harder topics than honestly I ever dealt with.  They are teens so their emotions run HIGH and God Bless them…. I LOVE it.

YA character’s are emotionally amplified. ~ Sheila-age 40 something 😉 

If reading YA means I am not “grown up”, and/or “emotionally immature”  then so be it.  Because if being a grown up means that I am segregated in what I read… well to heck with that.  I will put on my pouty face, slam the front door, made annoying large bubbles with my gum, and sit on the step and read what I want to read.
YA, Sheila DeChantal, Book JOurney
Be sure to note that to the top left is all my Harry Potter books in Hardcover, paperback, and audio 😉

 

Over to you.  Do you read YA books?  Why or why not?  If you do, what do you think draws you to them?  How do you think YA compares today to previous generations?

The Fault In Our Stars Movie

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

The Fault In Our Stars, John Green, Book Journey, Sheila DeChantal

Certainly by now you must have heard of The Fault In Our Stars by Author John Green.  And if not the book, surely the movie.  I was told that whatever the first John Green book I read would be my favorite.  I will never know if that is true because my first John Green book was The Fault In Our Star and is my favorite.  And while I have read all of his books (and enjoyed them), I can not imagine that if I had read any of the others first that they would have trumped my experience with this book.

I can not even put into words where this book took me… to attempt to understand, you would have to read my review of the book from April of this year; or my review of the book from July 2012.  Yes I have read and reviewed it twice.  I liked it THAT MUCH. 🙂

This week, on June 6th the movie was released (SQQQUUEEE!!!) and myself and my wonderful friend Amy went to see it:

I…

loved it.

Shailene Woodley who plays Hazel (and also plays Beatrice in Divergent!) is fantastic.  She is witty and sickly and plays her role well.  Ansel Algort (also in Divergent!) makes for a wonderful Augustus as well.  Truly, these two just make a wonderful team.

IMO, the movie played close to the book. There are some lines that just made my heart leap because I knew them from the book.  Of course, as in all book to movie renditions, there are always slight changes or leaving out, and I sadly missed a scene from the book where Hazel and Isaac are playing the video game at the end after Isaac can no longer see and the voice commands they shout at the game.

 

My thoughts?  See the movie but read the book first.  The book is of course where you fall in love with these amazing damaged characters; the movie… will just reinforce your love.

Our book club is reading this book now and will be reviewing this week. I look forward to hearing their thoughts on the book and yes, even though I have reviewed it twice here, I will review it again from a Book Club perspective.

 

Movie up people… do not miss out on this one.

Morning Meanderings: Party Hangover, Winners, and BOOKS!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

1aaaaaaaaaaaaa1Good morning 😀

If you stopped by yesterday for the 5 Year Blogiversary party, thank you, it was a blast as it is every year.  If you missed it… well, you missed out on lots of fun foods, drinks, hot air balloons, trains, and elephants.  Yes…. elephants.  😛  I LOVE everyone’s great comments… (some are amazing (Ryan- Wordsmithonia) if you have time… check them out.  😀

 

Lots to announce here – winners first of the 4 prize packages (using random.org) from yesterdays party:

 

Package #1:  Barbara N – emailing her now!

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Package #2: Jill from Rhapsody In Books!

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Package #3: Steph The BookWorm!

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Package #4:  Laurel Rain Snow!

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Thanks again everyone – I had a blast!  Winners please email me addresses, I am out of town this week but will mail a week from Monday.

As far as books that came in this past week (not BEA books)here is what graced my doorstep:

book journey, Sheila DeChantal

The One and Only by Emily Griffin (audio)

The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman

The YOUNG World by Chris Weitz

Chasing The Milky Way by Erin Moulton

Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff

Dreamworld by Heather Mackley

Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler

The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothy Benton Frank

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And then… I usually do not receive too many children’s books but clearly I am on a mailing list as these little treasures came in last week as well.  Cute little square children’s reads 😛

SO that is what came in.  Yes, yes, the Book Expo books arrived and I will highlight that in future posts. 😀  Tomorrow I leave for Camp and on Tuesday I will kick off AudioBook Month so please pop in for those posts – they are going to be fun, informative, and there will be giveaways 😀

Today, I pack, I shop, I prep signs for camp, possibly mow….What are you doing with your Sunday?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blogiversary YEAR 5!!! Biggest Giveaway Of The Year!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)187 Comments

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Holy smokes???  5 Years!  I never thought that when I started this “on-line book journal” (that’s what I thought I was doing in the beginning), that it would take me on this AMAZING adventure ride!  This year I would like to list a few things that have changed in my life in the past 5 years mainly due to this little project website I call Book Journey:

 

  • I was asked to write for a local magazine after an editor seen my reviews here

  • I learned about the Book Expo in New York by reading other blogs and have just returned from my 5th year attending, representing this blog site.

  • I have met the most incredible people through blogs and then in many cases, in person which blows my mind, and they have become great book friends – you all know who you are 😉

  • 3 years ago I did not have a library card :shock:, but reading other blogs helped me realize that this is an important part of our community and I have since carded up, became President of our local Friends Group and was put on our City Library Board.

  • I have participated in World Book Night the past three years

  • I have been asked to speak on panels around Minnesota and beyond (most recently at the book expo!) on blogging, writing, and reaching readers

  • My advocacy for books has risen times a zillion…. I will talk books any day… any time 😀

  • I have learned A LOT about social networking, blog “curb appeal”, and advanced my knowledge of the internet.

  • I have written a book and have connected it to publishing houses.  *fingers crossed*

  • I have made wonderful relationships with the Publishing world and have learned much.

  • Don’t even get me started on the wonderful authors I have had the privilege to meet and talk with.

  • Myself and a team created the Wine and Words event in Brainerd Minnesota, a literacy fundraiser and I invited authors I knew from the expo to come and talk books…. and they did.  (My heart overflows with gratitude!)  The event was such a success last year, that we are doing it again this fall and 5 authors are coming again.  ♥♥♥

  • Just yesterday I was called by MALF (Minnesota Association Of Library Friends) and asked to be nominated to be on their board.

Non of this would have happened without Book Journey.  Sure, pre-Book Journey I was a reader, but nowhere near to this extent or involvement.  I think those of you who have book blogged for a while can relate to what I mean. 🙂  For this… all of the above… I am so grateful.

 

Enough about me.  This blogiversary is really my celebration of YOU!  The readers!  Because seriously… as much as I enjoy talking books… I LOVE LOVE LOVE talking about them with you.  I love your comments, your questions, your occasional emails, and honestly… I love it when I see Book Journey on your sidebars (if you blog) – to this day it gives me a little “SQQQUUEEEE” inside that you enjoy reading my crazy ramblings here enough to add me so others may come visit too.  You are what makes Book Journey a well…. Book Journey.  You are why I get up in the morning with COFFEE CUP and turn on my laptop and share with you the inner workings of my day, life, work, wins and fails, and the books I am reading.

Thank you.

For today only, as in past years… I offer up a set of giveaways.  A few of these books are duplicates from the expo, many are from my personal stash.  I will add what is in each group shortly here – right now I just want to get this post up (I meant to write this last night but instead went with a friend to the movie Fault In Our Stars, then out for appetizers and to chat and got home after midnight.  *oops*  😉  Winners will be announced tomorrow morning – Sunday June 8th.

 

BookJourney, Blogiversary, Book Expo

 

 

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As per tradition,

For those of you who have come to my party the last few years, the basics are pretty much the same… to be entered for the great giveaways (pictured above), simply leave me a comment here telling me how you traveled to the party, and what virtual gift or food item you brought with you:  For example, you may have come by freight train to the party and brought with you Twinkies … (really be as crazy as you want… I love the fun imaginative comments!) For a little bonus if you would like to share how long we have known each other (blog or otherwise) and if you are brand new to the house of Book Journey – feel free to share that too!  I love new friends!  :D

 

Delicious by Ruth Reichl

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)72 Comments

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I simply ADORE books about food… memoirs, non fiction, fiction…. and I have read everything that Ruth Reichl has written.. Delicious being her first fiction story I was THRILLED to dive in!  Whatever this woman writes… turns into magic.  ~Sheila

Billie Breslin is excited when she lands a job at Delicious, the cream of the crop magazine of New York.  She is young and feels unqualified to be playing in the big league, but Billie has something that is rare, she has a refined palate that can identify even the toughest of ingredients within a dish. While Billie loves to be a part of the behind the scenes of the magazine, even with much prompting she has no desire to actually cook for reasons she chooses not to say.  Then suddenly, while it looks as though all of Billie’s dreams are coming true, the magazine is shut down, leaving long term employees stunned and Billie in shock as her dreams seem to tumble broken to the ground.

When Billie is asked to stay on as the sole employee of Delicious to continue to respond to letters to uphold the Delicious guarantee (if any recipe is not to your satisfaction you will be refunded the cost of your ingredients), she reluctantly agrees as she has no other immediate plans.  While exploring the abandoned Delicious library before it goes on the market, she discovers a series of letters hidden in a secret room off the buildings library.  These letters dating back to WWII, written by Lucy Swan, an intelligent 12 year old open up a part of Billie that she did not know existed, and may finally help her to release the secret she has held on to tightly for way too long.

As Ruth Reichl’s first fiction book I do admit I was a little cautious. When I first seen the book title I figured she had written another wonderful non fiction read centered around her amazing life of food tastings, restaurants, and more… a fiction story gave me pause, but also… curiosity.

Let me just tell you, no need to pause.  PLEASE readers of food memoirs, foodish themed books, and also those who enjoy a good fiction read centered around characters you want to go have dinner with – DO NOT PASS UP ON THIS BOOK.

I listened to this on audio and absolutely fell in love with Julie Whelan’s narration.  She brought the characters to life and I so want Sammy to be a real person because I think he and I could talk for hours and hours.  I enjoyed this book so much I do not want to give up these amazing people I met within the pages and would absolutely follow them down another path if another book ever just happened to continue on with them.  Just saying… 😉

Audiobook listeners – treat yourself to this DELICIOUS book… and those of you who do not do audio, I am confident that this book will read just as engagingly.

Fun note:  While in New York for the Book Expo I attended an Audio Book Tea and Ruth Reichl was speaking there (the draw for me).  She mentioned that several things in this book actually happened to her – the loss of a  magazine job due to the closing of its doors, and some of the amazing descriptions within the book.  I wish I could have chatted with her about this as I am SO CURIOUS as to how much is fiction….

Just today while looking for Ruth Reichl’s website I discovered a recent article by The New York Times regarding this book.  I have not read it yet as I try to avoid all reviews and articles on books I have plans to review, but as soon as I finish typing this out, I am off to read it.  I am sure it is a GLOWING review.

I have added this post to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking.

Audio month

BEA: Author Breakfasts

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

BEA BUZZ

The continuing Book Expo 2014 posts.  If you missed any the others were: Blogger Con/BEA Bloggers,   Harper Collins Gathering and Party

 

One of the little bonuses of the Book Expo is you have an opportunity to attend Author Breakfasts.  These breakfasts are charged above the Expo fees, however if it is an author that you are really interested in, it is a fun time.  You can pay a breakfast that includes seats that are closer to the front, or you can pay a smaller price to sit in the farther back seats without a breakfast.  When I go, I sit in the farther back seats as to get good seats at the breakfast you need to wait in a line for an hour or more and I am just not that great at line waiting 😀

On Thursday Morning, the breakfast line up was Neil Patrick Harris (the draw for me), Angelica Huston, Tavis Smiley, and Lisa Scottoline.  Neil. was incredibly funny and engaging.  He was everything I felt he would be so really made this breakfast pop:

Really, take the time to listen to this clip – it is AWESOME.

When you attend these breakfasts, you usually get a copy of some of the speaking authors books and this breakfast included:

Neil Patrick Harris, Sheila DeChantal, Book Journey, Book Expo
We did not receive the whole book, it was a small sample of the book but one I will be interested in when it does come out in all of its glory 🙂

 

Angelica Huston, book expo, Sheila DeChantal, Book JOurney

On Friday, I attended the Children’s Author Breakfast.  I know right?  Why would I attend the Children’s Author breakfast?  I review few children’s books, I have no small children at home…. oh… I know why….

Jason Segel.

Do not judge me…. 😉

Another one worth watching.  I will wait….

……….

Ok, awesome right?

The books included with this breakfast were:

Jason Segal book, Nightmares, Book JOurney, Sheila DeChantal, book cover
Cute right???

 

baby bedtime, mem fox, Sheila DeChantal, book journey

And, I have to plug one more author, Jeff Kinney who is the author of The Wimpy Kid series.  Now these are not books that I have read, but after listening to Jeff talk at the expo – delightful, funny, and a bonus surprise for me… I may need to start watching his books.

Grad another cup of coffee… this one is well worth the watch as well:

 

Do I recommend the breakfasts?  I do.  If you are interested in any of the authors who will be speaking, you get a great seat to hearing them chat about their books and you get to hear some great insights into their lives (seriously, listen to Jeff’s BEA talk above… at the end he has some pretty amazing plans that all stem around his love of books).

 

 

 

 

Morning Meanderings: Bitter Sweet Days and a Whole lot of Happenings Here

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)35 Comments

Morning Meanderings, Book Journey, Sheila DeChantal

I interrupt the BEA posts for a quick update on a lot of great things coming up here, in life, and a bit of sadness too.

Let’s just get the sadness out of the way.  Today is the 18th anniversary of the loss of my mom and my step dad to a car accident.  Every year,I never know how it is going to hit me.  There have been times, this day has been while I was at the EXPO, and busy is good.  It’s the days like today where I am home, and planning what I will do today where it is a little harder.

Moving on.

 

What’s happening here?

The Book Expo books arrived yesterday.  That’s a SSSQQQUUUEEEE.  I have not opened the boxes yet.  I have a tradition where a friend of mine comes over with her daughter Camryn (the YA reviewer) I have tabbed above, and we go through the boxes together.  They help me sort and we chat books and the expo and I enjoy the experience with other book lovers.  I will be posting highlighted books soon.

 

Camp Benedict, book journey, Sheila DeChantal

Camp Benedict.  Camp starts on Monday.  I am off next week from Monday afternoon on.  This weekend I will be working on our “One Word” project which is our theme this year… positive thinking.  I love the theme and I look forward to a pretty amazing week.

blogiversary, Sheila DeChantal, Book JOurney

My 5 year Blogiversary.  Now that is exciting!  I am going to put the post up tomorrow – June 7th, and we (please come!) are going to have some fun as we have in the past years.  I will be having BIG giveaways and an all day celebration here of book goodness.  5 years wow…. how did that happen?

 

 

Audiobook month, Bookjourney

Audiobook Month.  YAY!  Did you know that June is audiobook month?  I am excited to kick off a lot of fun posts and giveaways next Tuesday thanks to a wonderful group of narrators who will be sharing some fun things here.  There will be giveaways, gift certificates, and more.  Audiobook lovers and those who are not there yet, this is going to be FUN. 😀

 

 

I actually have so many posts to write I have a list!  Next up in book expo posts will be the Author Breakfasts, then a random picture post of the expo floor etc with wrap up thoughts.

 

Today while working on Camp Projects I will be listening to audio.  I hope to get in a bike ride today and possibly tonight see the Fault In Our Stars Movie with Friends.

 

What will you be doing with your Friday?