Book Journey

What Makes a Good Book – Book Discussion Worthy?

Published on January 19, 2014January 19, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)39 Comments

Books. There are great books out there. As readers, we are quite familiar with these books. Perhaps they are beautifully written and each word creates a full picture in your mind of the scene, the scents, the heat (or lack there of) in a room. They can create great emotions – from joy to pain; laughter to anger. (Come on, admit it – haven’t you ever thrown a book down on a table or across a room because of the emotion it evoked? No? Just me? Well… this is awkward…. 😛 )

My question I present today is what types of books lead to great book discussions? Not all great reads make for great discussion. I know personally from my own book club experiences, some are really hard to group review other than just opening the room up to discussion. No hot topic questions come to mind… no great emotion. The book may be perfectly fine, there’s just really not much to say. 😯

I love books that stretch us. That make us think differently. They cause a difference in opinions within the group – love or hate the protagonist; lets talk about it. Hot topics of today and/or in the past… lets discuss.

SO I toss this question out to you. Many of us are in book clubs or book discussion groups.

When choosing a book that you think would be great to bring to the group to read, what do you look for within that book?

Do you look for something in the synopsis that you think will work great for a group discussion, or is that not a part of it?

When you select a book for a reading discussion have you already read it?

I am excited to hear what your group does. 🙂

Morning Meanderings… There Are Always Books

Published on January 19, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

Good morning! I am sitting here this morning of course with COFFEE CUP, kind of staring out the window into the whiteness of our corner of the world. I can hear Hubby out there with the back hoe plowing a path from the back yard to our shop. Soon he will plow the driveway. I am tired of the snow already and I know there is more to come. I need a second cup of coffee.

*gets second cup and returns to laptop and comfy chair*

This time of year there are so many reasons I don’t want to go outside – its cold, it’s slippery, it’s hard to walk, let alone run. Instead – there are the books that take me away to places that are warm (like In Labor Day by Joyce Maynard), and places where the fruit seems ripe and juicy ( That Part Was True by Deborah McKinlay). It’s also a good time of year to read through tasty cook books (like the Runners Cook Book I am reading now) and take in recipes that taste like the seasons I love – Spring, and summer, and Fall.

Here are the books that came in this week (I think there are a couple more packages down in our shop but I have not went done there yet today to see what they are):

Creating Room To Read by John Wood

The Junction Of Sunshine by Holly Schindler

Black Crow White Lie by Candi Sary

Today after church is a day I need to get a few things done. This is a busy week coming up with a game night on Monday, an author event on Tuesday, students on Wednesday, son over on Thursday, and Friday leaving for the cabin for the weekend – Sunday evening is our work retreat where we will be until Tuesday afternoon and hopefully another author event a week from Tuesday as well. Yup…. busy next 9 days. 😀

Weekend Cooking – Hibachi Time!

Published on January 18, 2014January 18, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

This past week for book club I was in charge of one of the main dishes for our group. We love to theme the food to the book. In Reconstructing Amelia, there is a part in the book where her mother was going to take Amelia out to her favorite Hibachi restaurant. This was a chance for Amelia to share with her mom what was going on in her life, but then the doorbell rang and the neighbor was reminding Amelia that she had agreed to babysit that night. This would have been the last meal that Amelia and her mom shared together. (Want to know more? Read the book! 😉 )

SO Hibachi. My first attempt but it wasn’t that difficult and it sure was delicious!

Here is my modified recipe that I made for book club and now share here for Beth Fish Read’s, Weekend Cooking:

Chicken Hibachi

4-6 skinless chicken breasts

1 large onion sliced

3 -4 Zucchini Squash

2 yellow squash

3 cups mushrooms (I bought the pre sliced from the produce area of the grocery store)

2 cans drained bean sprouts ( or 3 cups fresh)

2 colored peppers (I used red and yellow – these are optional)

soy sauce

butter

salt and pepper

lemon juice

sesame seeds

olive oil

Slice chicken into bite size pieces and set aside.

Take the mushrooms and slice into bite size pieces and set aside.

Slice the onion, squash, and peppers into strips of bite size pieces, keep separate from the mushrooms.

Place a tablespoon of olive oil in two separate large fry pans. Over medium high heat heat the oil in both pans. In one pan place the chicken, in the other pan place the vegie mix of onion, squash and peppers. Place 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of butter over the chicken. Add salt and pepper. Place two tablespoons of soy sauce and a tablespoon of butter over the vegies. Saute the vegie pan while occasionally stirring the cooking chicken pan.

When chicken is done (about 8-10 minutes), vegies should be done as well. Take the vegies off the hot burner and set aside. Take the chicken and slide it to one side of the pan sprinkling it with a little lemon juice and then sprinkle on sesame seeds over the chicken. In the other half of the pan place a tablespoon of butter and as it melts stir in the mushrooms. Put a little soy sauce over the mushrooms. When mushrooms are cooked, mix it with the chicken and add the rest of the vegies from the other pan. gently toss the mixture over medium heat for a couple of minutes.

Place chicken vegie mix into a large serving pan.

In the pan you just used for the chicken and vegie mix, place a tsp of olive oil and toss in the bean sprouts until they are hot. place the bean sprouts on top of the chicken mix in the serving pan.

Serve hot with the Hibachi Sauce.

Hibachi Sauce

15 oz jar of mayo

1 Tbls sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp Katsup

3/4 tsp Tabasco sauce

1 1/2 tsp ground mustard

1 1/2 tsp Paprika

1 tsp ground pepper

1/8 cup water

Place the mayo into a bowl. Stir in all the other ingredients. Pour into a resealable container. I used a canning jar as this makes quite a bit of sauce. Chill until time to serve.

Thank you to the book Reconstructing Amelia which caused me to look up how to make Hibachi style food. It is an easy recipe to change to the vegies you prefer as well as adjusting quantities to serve larger groups. It was fun to try and my book club enjoyed it, as did my hubby the next night. Delicious with the sauce.

Morning Meanderings… Last Weeks CONCERT!

Published on January 18, 2014January 18, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good morning! Happy Saturday! I think it snowed here again last night. Poo. I am sooooo over it. 😛

Last weekend I had the fun opportunity of going to Fargo with three of my friends and going to a PINK concert. We have a little history with PINK that I posted about last week so we were a little nervous. But – imagine our surprise when no unforeseen catastrophe cancelled the concert, we did not come down with some strange illness that prevented us from attending, our car made it to Fargo with no break downs AND by golly…. our tickets were good. 😀

For Saturday Snapshot this morning I thought I would show you some of the amazing concert:

Upper left – yes that is her in the air. A regular Tinker Bell! The rest are different stage sets

She seems like an amazing person inside and out. She was funny and great with the audience. She stopped to sign posters ans shirts. She thanks ed the audience over and over.

**At the end of the night we had our picture taken with the opening band, KIN from Australia.**

and you have to see this short clip I took of her flying over the audience.

Basically, I am ruined from all future concerts. If someone is on stage just singing I am going to be like, “What, you don’t fly?” 😆

If you EVER have the opportunity to see her in concert, do it. It is much more than a concert. It is a show.

Today, this morning yet, I am out for a run in honor of Meg, a fellow runner who was killed by a drunk driver while out for her run on the morning of January 13th. I did not know her, but there is a Facebook event up called Meg’s Miles, encouraging people from all over the world to run today in honor of her. As of a few moments ago, when I looked, over 80,000 people were signed up to run for her today. Wow right? If you run… or even if you go out for a walk today either outside or at a gym, please add your miles to Meg’s Miles.

Bookies Review: Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

Published on January 17, 2014January 17, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

In past years I posted my book club book review along with my book club thoughts in one post. Starting this year I will be posting my personal review of the book club books and my book clubs thoughts separately. Click here for my review of Reconstructing Amelia.

This past Tuesday the Bookies Book Club gathered to review our January book, Reconstructing Amelia. As anticipated, the book made for a wonderful discussion.

Reconstructing Amelia is about a 15-year-old girl who joins a coveted undercover group at her Private School called the Maggie’s. If you are tapped to be a Maggie, you do not say no. The book centers around coming of age issues such as; parent/child relationships, trust, friendships, sexuality, fitting in, bullying, social media and oddly… adults in high position roles who act in the most inappropriate ways. When Amelia dies early on in the book (not a spoiler, this is part of the books synopsis on the back cover), her mother is left to figure out the pieces as to what happened. Through a series of emails, texts, and Facebook posts, things start to come together to a shocking conclusion.

Reconstructing Amelia is a tangled weave of dishonesty and rabbit trails that cause you to think things one way… only to wonder (even in the end) if it was not something completely different. This sort of writing can be both exciting and frustrating as our book club discussed.

What discussion topics can Book Clubs pull from this read?

There is so much that makes for good group discussion here.

Peer pressure…. how hard is it at 15 to say no? How important at this age is it to fit in?
Social media… how much worse can social media make it for teens? Now when friends disagree it can be posted for everyone’s eyes.
In a world where we know everyone’s business… how much is too much? Where do we as parents draw the line when it comes to internet, social media, texting, emails, dating….
Bullying is such a huge topic right now. How can we protect our children – especially when they are at the age where they do not necessarily come to us with problems.
Single parenting is common. How does a single parent juggle maintaining a job, a home, the bills, and relationships with their children?
What about these clubs in schools like college? The ones that include hazing. Is it a right of passage? Is there reason for concern?
How important is it to keep communication with your teen child? Do you have a limit to what you want to know? If you do not, do you give off the impression that you do?

Top left: As the center pic sign says, Amelia’s favorite food was Hibachi and that was what I tried my hand at. It was good – lots of seasoned chicken and fresh vegies as well as home-made hibachi sauce.
**Center row: left is a spinach bacon salad and far right is an assortment of wines that we called Maggie hazing potions… you must drink!**
**Bottom: center is a pea and cheese salad and far right in a New York Cheese cake as the book is set in New York.**

The Bookies had a vibrant discussion over these topics, occasionally even talking over one another. Many of us had stories of our own kids being bullied. Social media is another fire conversation. For a group of women who grew up for the most part without Facebook and cell phones and instant pictures; we are concerned as to the “where does it go from here.” So little is considered taboo now, what does the next generation have going on?

Reconstructing Amelia scored well with the Bookies overall. On a scale of 1 -5 (5 the best), Amelia landed at a solid 4 rating out of the 17 of us who rated the book. Over all the bookies found the book to be hard to put down, it kept you guessing as to what actually happened all the way to the end.

Book clubs looking for a fairly quick read (the pages of texting and Facebook posts make for some quick chapters) with great discussion topics are encouraged to choose this book. Reconstructing Amelia will leave you with some questions, and either intentional by the author or not, most of the Bookies were not bothered by this unknowing.

Morning Meanderings… What’s Next On The Crazy List?

Published on January 17, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Good morning! It is Friday! There is a happy dance coming soon. 😛

After coffee of course. 😯

So last Saturday while I am on my way to Fargo my friend Belinda called me and asked how my half marathon training was going.

Meh. Was my response. With the holidays and the business of work and snow storms it was safe to say I had fallen off track.

She was asking because a half in Eden Prairie had just been announced and it was for 100 people only. DO NOT…. she repeated… DO NOT go on the website unless you are pretty sure you are going to do it she said. Once you see the medal you will want to sign up.

SO once I arrived at our hotel room in Fargo you all know what I did right?

I went on the website.

and of course… signed up.

February 23rd and no, I dont know if I can be ready but I sure am going to try. I may not finish it by running the whole way but I will finish it. 😀 Stay tuned.

In other news, set your DVR’s people…Flowers In The Attic the Lifetime movie is on tomorrow, Saturday evening. SSSQQQUUUEEEEE!!! I love this new preview:

Creepy good right? I am soooooo excited! If you have time… grab the book today and read it before the showing tomorrow… you know I want to chat about this 😀

Half Marathon Questions….

Any advice from runners out there?

Is it crazy to do my first BIG run in Minnesota in February? (Probably do not need an answer to this one… 😉 )

What is the longest distance you have run? (and yes to the bathroom does count)

Flowers In The Attic questions…

Have you ever read this book?

Have you read the new release of it?

Are you planning on seeing the Lifetime movie?

What snacks do you plan on eating if you are? 😛

Then Again by Diane Keaton

Published on January 16, 2014January 16, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

Diane Keaton was born Diane Hall in 1946 (two years before my mother was born!). After studying in the arts and graduating she took her mother’s maiden name Keaton as her own. Then Again is a recap of Diane’s years growing up with a mom (Dorothy) who spent her early mom years reaching for something more by entertaining contests (and sometimes winning – Mrs. Los Angelas for Homemakers !). Diane adored her, right through her golden years and her battle with Alzheimer. It was her moms early influence that caused Diane to want to be an actress. It is also about Diane’s battle with food addiction, and of course her movies. She spends time talking about her earlier movies (many I have never seen) as well as the leading men not only on the screen, but in her life like Woody Allen, Warren Beaty, and Al Pacino.

Hmmmm….. I love the movies I have seen with Diane Keaton in them. I have fond memories of The First Wives Club, Hanging Up, Father Of The Bride 1 and 2, Somethings Gotta Give, The Family Stone and Because I Said So. She has always been that actress that is effortlessly funny. Needless to say when I started seeing positive murmurs of this memoir Then Again on the blogs, I knew I wanted to listen to it on audio as Diane Keaton narrates it herself.

Listening to Then Again is like sitting down and talking with Diane. It was pleasant to listen to this as she reads like she is talking, with emotion, and sighs, laughs, and pauses. At times, Diane is a slow steady pace and will list things or repeat sentences, like types of foods, or emotions, (and at one point even her bank account numbers!) which gave me a feeling she was trying to stretch her words.

I did like Then Again. She puts a lot more attention on the movies from her earlier career then the ones that I am more familiar with, but maybe that just gives me reason to watch some of her older movies. She also spends a lot of time talking about her mother, and I was hoping for more Diane, but it was still interesting and I did come out the other side knowing a little more about the person I see on the screen.

1aa — Then Again is mainly set in California, where Diane currently lives.

Labor Day Book Party with Movie Anticipation!

Published on January 15, 2014January 15, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

When our book club was first chosen to be one of the groups that received ten copies of Joyce Maynard’s Labor Day to read and discuss our anticipation for the movie I was thrilled! I put out info on our Bookies Facebook page and sent it out by email… the first ten to commit to reading this book and discussing it at the end of our next book club meeting would get the books.

The Bookies went wild. 😀

Within a couple of hours I had the ten spots filled and more. Being the kind of awesome gals we are, we shared the books. A couple of us downloaded it on to our readers, in the end – 14 of the 18 Bookies read Labor Day. We had a few that could not make the discussion, one is in Florida (lucky gal) and one is preparing for a trip to Mexico (also lucky gal!) and one was out sick (poor gal!).

We tried our hand at creating a recipe to go with the book. I gave them the option of making the item, or creating the recipe. We had a mix of both. Amy P in our group came up with a Labor Day Lemonade (mmmmmmm), Angie created a recipe for Frozen Peach Lemonade for Labor Day, and Lori N created a Peach crisp that sounded heavenly.

Brenda brought a Cheesecake with a peach topping. Laura brought a homemade pie. I made a Labor Day Peach Slush that I called “Shake My Peach Tree” with frozen Mikes Hard Lemonade, a dry champagne, and (as I could not find fresh ones this time of year), canned peaches all blended and then put in an ice cream bucket to keep in the freezer until serving time (or… Labor Day!).

We drank and sampled the yummy desserts and discussed what we were excited about for the movie.

We discussed that we are excited about Josh Brolin playing Frank. In fact many said that is who they pictured as they read the book.

The opening scene when Frank finds Henry and Adele at the store is one that we are excited about. We are curious as to what that will look like when Frank first observes them, and feels that this will be a good choice for him to go with them.

The pie scene both in the book, and on the screen was a good discussion. First of all personally, I want to try my hand at making that pie… it was described so well that I think me (a non pie maker) may actually be able to do it. 😀 There is also something a little sexy about a man making a pie in the first place.

How they portray both Henry and Frank at different ages is also something we are looking forward to. We are thinking that we will get together for appetizers either before or after the movie when we go to do a little group bonding and either anticipating or recapping, depending on when we go.

A few of us pointed out having seen the movie trailer that Frank appears scary in the movie and Henry and Adele appear scared but fear is not the feeling you get from the book. It will be interesting how we interpret those feelings after we see the movie.

I have the recipes that we created to go with the book just not the time to post them this morning but they will be coming. 🙂 It was a fun discussion and we are looking forward to the movie! Thank you to Harper Collins for giving us this opportunity to chat about Labor Day.

Playing St Barbara by Marian Szczepanski

Published on January 14, 2014January 14, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

1933 Southwestern Pennsylvania is a hot spot of activity. The coal miners are on strike and the Klu Klux Klan is gaining momentum and both are striking fear into many hearts. The Sweeney family: Fin, Clare, and their three daughters; Deidre, Katie, and Norah are right in the midst of it all. Fin, who coal mines for a living is an angry man who fights for the rights of his fellow miners by day and then takes his anger out on his wife and daughters by night.

Secrets are held within each of the Sweeney women and as each shares their story, you see that what is happening within these stories, mirrors the legend of the 7th century St. Barbara, patron of miners, which plays out annually at the town pageant.

Sometimes…. historical fiction blows me away. I felt as though I had donned my own pair of coal mining boots as I sunk dust deep into this amazing read. This was such a change from what I have been reading so far this year and I enjoyed it so much. Sometimes I forget how much I enjoy good historical fiction. And really, who better to tell it? Author Marian Szczepanski whose own grandparents were immigrant miners.

I have a feeling I will be gushing about Playing St. Barbara for some time to come. It was amazing to me, who honestly knew little of this history, how the KKK played a role in what happened. Exasperating, breathtaking, and awe inducing…. Playing ST. Barbara is a must read for lovers of historical fiction novels. I want to say more, but more than that, I want YOU to read this book.

Authors Website

Thank you to TLC Book Tours who sent me this amazing book for my honest review.

Playing ST Barbara is set in Pennsylvania

Morning Meanderings: ANGRY Chicken

Published on January 14, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)23 Comments

Good morning! Thought while having my coffee this morning I would share with you a little story from this weekend after the PINK concert. I think it’s funny…

So…. We get out of the PINK concert around 11 pm. By the time we get through the stalled traffic lines and heading towards our hotel we are tired and hungry. We haven’t eaten since 2:00 pm when we had lunch. We decide we just want something fast and we will go to a fast food restaurant near our hotel. By the time we get back to our area of the hotel however, almost all restaurants are closed. We do however see a Burger King and we make the decision it is this, or the popcorn and chips we have back in the hotel. We chose the King. 😀

We try the door to go in but it is locked, closed apparently at midnight and it is now 12:02. However, the drive through is open until 12:30. YAY!

We pull up and decide we are going to make it easy on the guy working and we are going to try the Angry Whopper, which, so you know, looks amazing when you are hungry.

I know I know.. it’s too early here to look at this now, but the other night…. oh yeah. A burger with bacon and onion rings on it… jalapeno and pepper jack cheese. What is not to love 😉

SO we order 4.

BK Dude: I am sorry our Whopper machine is broke.

Me: What? There’s a machine?

BK Dude: It’s the second time today (he sounds sad)

Me: Ummm…. ok. So exactly what can we order?

BK Dude: Anything chicken.

Me: Alright… we need a minute.

Voice from the back seat: Can we get angry chicken?

Me: Excellent! Can we get 4 Angry Chickens?

BK Dude: Uh.. yeah. I think we can do that.

Total of our bill with onion rings shows on-screen $31.34

We each pony up $8 and pull around to the pick up window. New dude opens the window.

New BK Dude: Your total is $24.88

Me: Oh, we were told $31.34

New BK Dude” Yeah he forgot to give you the 2 for $5 deal. I fixed it.

Me: Looking at the money in my hand. Can you take tips?

New BK Dude: Uh… I guess so.

Me: (handing all of the money to him) Well here then, we do not want to have to figure this out.

Anyhoo…. that’s the angry chicken story – which seemed tasty at the time…. but not so much in the morning. 😉 Some of us… had angry tummy. 😛

Hope your day is awesome! I have book club tonight so I am pretty excited. We are reviewing Reconstructing Amelia and afterwards, talking about the book Labor Day. I am making something tasty from the Reconstructing Amelia book….and still trying to think of what my recipe will be for Labor Day but I kind of have an idea. 😉