Book Journey

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. 😉

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on January 12, 2014January 12, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)69 Comments

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!

Wow… 2nd week of January already put to bed! It was a fast week and a full one and I am happy to be home from North Dakota as of late today after going to see PINK in concert. *sigh* I will never look at concerts the same way again.

As busy as this past week was I did manage to put some posts up:

Flowers In The Attic by V C Andrews (a re-read of a book I read about 30 years ago….. eep!)

Longbourn by Jo Baker (not the Downton Abbey read I was looking for…)

Looking for the 2014 Authors For Wine and Words (Please pass this post on if you have connections 🙂 )

Book Club People… How Do You Choose Your Books? ( its fun to see the different ways book clubs pick the books they read!)

I need your help with a BLIND DATE! (join in the fun – there is a gift card going to one lucky commenter)

Reconstructing Amelia by Kim McCreight (our book club pick for January – my thoughts befre the group review 😉

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion ( a great audio listen!)

What Book Are You Afraid of? Freshly posted… I am looking for your thoughts 😉

So pretty fair week I think! 😀 Here is what I am sinking my eyes and ears into this week!

Eyes:

The secrets, struggles, and self-redemption of a Depression-era coal miner’s wife and three daughters play out against a turbulent historical backdrop of Ku Klux Klan intimidation and the 1933 Pennsylvania Mine War. Their intertwined lives eerily mirror the 7th century legend of St. Barbara, patroness of miners, reenacted annually in the town pageant. Tested by scandal, heartbreak, and tragedy, each woman will write her own courageous ending to St. Barbara’s story.

Wow right? Reading this one for a tour 🙂

With death only a heartbeat away, Gene and the remaining humans must find a way to survive long enough to escape the hungry predators chasing them through the night. But they’re not the only things following Gene. He’s haunted by Ashley June who he left behind, and his burgeoning feelings for Sissy, the human girl at his side.

Their escape takes them to a refuge of humans living high in the mountains. Gene and his friends think they’re finally safe, but not everything here is as it seems. And before long, Gene must ask himself if the new world they’ve entered is just as evil as the one they left behind. As their enemies close in on them and push Gene and Sissy closer, one thing becomes painfully clear: all they have is each other…if they can stay alive.

I have put off reading this one for too long!

Ears:

Mom loved adages, quotes, slogans. There were always little reminders pasted on the kitchen wall. For example, the word THINK. I found THINK thumbtacked on a bulletin board in her darkroom. I saw it Scotch-taped on a pencil box she’d collaged. I even found a pamphlet titled THINK on her bedside table. Mom liked to THINK.

So begins Diane Keaton’s unforgettable memoir about her mother and herself. In it you will meet the woman known to tens of millions as Annie Hall, but you will also meet, and fall in love with, her mother, the loving, complicated, always-thinking Dorothy Hall. To write about herself, Diane realized she had to write about her mother, too, and how their bond came to define both their lives. In a remarkable act of creation, Diane not only reveals herself to us, she also lets us meet in intimate detail her mother. Over the course of her life, Dorothy kept eighty-five journals—literally thousands of pages—in which she wrote about her marriage, her children, and, most probingly, herself. Dorothy also recorded memorable stories about Diane’s grandparents. Diane has sorted through these pages to paint an unflinching portrait of her mother—a woman restless with intellectual and creative energy, struggling to find an outlet for her talents—as well as her entire family, recounting a story that spans four generations and nearly a hundred years.

I enjoy Diane as an actress and I heard (Florinda!) that this was a good one.

On a cold and snowy night in 1910, Ursula Todd is born, the third child of a wealthy English banker and his wife. She dies before she can draw her first breath. On that same cold and snowy night, Ursula Todd is born, lets out a lusty wail, and embarks upon a life that will be, to say the least, unusual. For as she grows, she also dies, repeatedly, in any number of ways. Ursula’s world is in turmoil, facing the unspeakable evil of the two greatest wars in history. What power and force can one woman exert over the fate of civilization — if only she has the chance?

Well.. that sounds interesting!

Thats the plan.. How about you – what did you read this last week? What do you plan to read this week? Add your What Are You Reading Post to the link below and check out the other links as well 🙂

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For those of you that read mainly middle grade and children’s books, be sure to also link to the younger version of It’s Monday by using the link below!

What Book Are You Afraid Of?

Published on January 12, 2014January 12, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)56 Comments

There are different ways to be afraid of a book. The most common way to think of it is obviously, the scary ones… the ones that you feel may just be too dark, too frightening, or perhaps on a topic that kind of freaks you out… like lets say…. CLOWNS.

But there are also other ways to be afraid of a book and this is the type I am talking about today. It could be that final book in a series that you want to read, but at the same time you don’t want to end… don’t want to set free that character, or perhaps really… even know what will happen.

It could also be, as in my case…. a book you are afraid to read because you have put said author up so high on the pedestal from previous books they have written that you LOVE and you are afraid that this new book may just show you they are human after all.

My book that I am afraid to read is:

If you know me as the BIG HARRY POTTER fan dork that I am… then you may understand why. I thinking JK Rowling is brilliant. Every time I re-read a Potter book or an article on the books – I catch something new and then I love her writing even more. It’s kind of like people who do not want to go to a funeral of a friend because they want to remember them as they were…. and no I am not comparing Casual Vacancy to a funeral. 😛

I am not saying I will NEVER read Casual Vacancy. It is JK Rowling after all. I do own the book, I pre ordered it before release and it has sat on my shelf in the “R’s” ever since. I will get there…. someday. I just need time.

Is there a book that you are afraid to read? Please share your thoughts here!

Morning Meanderings… Ice Ice Baby….nothing like a great story

Published on January 12, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)28 Comments

Good morning from Fargo North Dakota. I feel like I should say “ayyy” but I think that is Canada….

Last night three of my friends and I went to the PINK Concert. Oh wow. BEST concert I have ever been too…. do not miss the chance if she comes to a venue near you! More on that later this week.

**Amy, Deb, Dee, and me…. in our seats at the Fargodome!**

We arrived in Fargo yesterday early afternoon and ate at an Old Chicago restaurant. Our waiter (Paul) was super nice but super busy. We asked for waters right away and then watched him pass us many times with other things going on. Finally I caught him… “The waters?”

“Oh yeah!” he said and off he went and forgot us again. Pretty soon he did remember the waters and we waited about 40 minutes for our food. At first we were a bit annoyed at the lack of good service but then we started to notice…

Paul was the only one working the 20+ tables that were occupied. When he did come out with our food we asked him if it was always this busy. He said not usually and two people had called in sick. Ahhhhh…..

The food was tasty and we left him a very nice tip. 😛

These are the books that came in this week. The top one I picked up at the library. I had it on reserve and now I have no idea why…. (I must have read a review on it 😉 )

**This is our hallway in the hotel that leads to our room. Does this remind anyone else of a scene out a certain spooky movie? Can you name that movie? 😉**

I have had two phone calls this morning that Brainerd Minnesota had an ice storm last night. The roads are bad so we need to think about our plan for our travels back there today. It is supposed to warm up this afternoon so we may hit a couple of shops in Fargo before we head back.

Hope your Sunday is wonderful. I am looking forward to getting back home and doing some reading. 🙂

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion

Published on January 11, 2014January 11, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)36 Comments

Don Tillman is a professor of genetics with a few social issues, possibly with a touch of Asperger’s. Don is awkward in social situations, including trying to find someone suitable for dating and eventually, as his genetics mind calculates – marriage.

Don, as his nature tends to be, decided that the proper way to meet that special someone would be not to waste time on idle chit-chat (which he hates) over ridiculous dating rituals, but instead to create a 16 page survey for potential female partners to complete to filter out the undesirables. Undesirables in Don’s mind, are those who have tendencies to be late to appointments, vegans, those who smoke, and/or drink.

Thus, the Wife Project is born.

When Rosie Jarman walks into the room where Don is working on the Wife project applicants, she is not only late, but also excuses herself in the middle to go out and smoke. SMOKE! Did she even read the application? As time goes on Don finds that Rosie pretty much does everything that was on his list of undesirables.

Yet Rosie, with her wild red hair, does have something that Don is interested in. Rosie is hoping to find her biological father, and Don just happens to work with DNA testing, decides that while she is eliminated from the wife project, he wouldn’t mind assisting her in what could be called the Father Project.

As quite an unlikely pair, (every person Don meets his mind automatically calculates how old he thinks they are as well as their BMI), Don and Rosie find out throughout the Father project that not all relationships, fall into report worthy categories.

YAY! I say YAY! The Rosie Project was a fun quick audio jaunt with a geeky over detailed guy named Don, and a fiery red-head named Rosie. Loved it! I have heard people refer to this as a “Big Bang Theory” type read and I would tend to agree. Picture the geeky dude who over thinks and analyzes everything because that’s the way he is wired, and then the girl who lives each day to the fullest. Put them together to solve out a problem, and you have The Rosie Project.

I think this is a time to bring our the words, Awesome Sauce.

The Rosie Project was fun and funny. Don’s quirky ways were laugh out loud at times. He calculates everything with a scientific mind right down to how long it takes him to shower…. and adding in an extra minute when he conditions his hair because of the “leave in” instructions. As the two go through the story line, I smiled often. And that… is a good thing.

Dan O’Grady is an excellent narrator for this book. He gives a believable rendition of Don.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audio. It was light and fun and perfect for coming off a busy season and wanting something that fits that category.

Give this one a try, at 7 hours and 32 minutes on audio it is a perfect sized audio to finish in a week or less while working in the house, cooking, or while calculating your BMI. 😉

1aa — The Rosie Project is set in Australia

Morning Meanderings…. The Pink Curse

Published on January 11, 2014January 11, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)9 Comments

Tonight, three of my friends and I are going to the Pink Concert in Fargo North Dakota. Ahhh… yes, my first time out of Minnesota for 2014. SCORE! 🙂

We have tickets to the 7:30 show.

We think. 😉

I am a little leery about Pink at this time.

Last February, we also had tickets to Pink. She was going to be in Minneapolis. We had purchased our tickets through a friend who was buying a group of tickets. We purchased them in November 2012 and we were EXCITED!

A couple of days before we were supposed to go we discovered we never had tickets. 😯 The girl who has purchased them did so through a ticket venue that had actually over sold. They had called to tell her she did not have tickets and say they left a message which she never received. The ticket cost was on her husbands credit card and when they cancelled the charge he did not tell her. She was curious why they had not come by mail so had called and that is how we found out we did not have tickets.

THEN….

In November of this last year she was going to be in Fargo North Dakota. Again we purchased tickets… and 3 days before the concert she had a throat condition that her Dr made her cancel her tour dates for a week. We were cancelled. 😯

So…..

This is the rescheduled date tonight. I am happy to be hanging out with my friends… but after having been shut down twice… you can probably understand my paranoia 😀 . We leave town in about an hour. If nothing else it will be an adventure… and if you remember… my word for the year is Embrace. 😉

Have a great day – I will be back tomorrow afternoon. There are posts still coming. If you have any concert stories to share… I would love to hear them. 😀

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

Published on January 10, 2014January 17, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)32 Comments

Strong single parent Kate Baron has had no problem raising her daughter Amelia on her own. Amelia, even now at the age of 15, has always been a fairly easy laid back kind of girl. She didn’t get in trouble or hang out with the wrong crowds, she had few close friends but by choice not because she couldn’t have them. She gets good grades, Amelia’s easiness made it possible for Kate to pursue and be successful as a litigation Lawyer in a good firm.

So when Kate received the call from the Private School her daughter attended saying that she had been caught cheating, Kate is floored. Amelia had never done anything like this before and there must be some mistake. When Kate arrives at the school she is hit with an even bigger shock, Amelia had went to the roof of the school and jumped to her death.

Suddenly Kate is caught up in a whirlwind of emotion and pain. What had she missed? Where did she go wrong? The police have ruled it a suicide. Then Kate receives a text.

Amelia didn’t jump.

Now Kate is searching for the truth. Looking through her daughters emails, texts, and Facebook posts, Kate uncovers what everyone had missed, and she discovers a daughter she never really knew at all.

Why did I want to read this book? This book was chosen for our January Bookies read. When it was nominated, the synopsis was so powerful it brought tears to my eyes. I had to read this book.

Reconstructing Amelia is a YA style read with a lime twist. It has a bit of a zing to it that makes it different from any YA I have read before. That zing is both surprisingly good and a bit bitter at the same time.

It is hard for me to put a rating on this book. On the one hand, I have always appreciated books that surprise me and this one did indeed do that. I liked Amelia. I liked the setting of the Private School. On the other hand, I had a hard time keeping in mind that Amelia was 15. It felt as the protagonist role was written for an older girl… 17 or 18. That may be just me.

Reconstructing Amelia is a good read. If you enjoy YA reads with modern-day and realistic teen dealings, this will be a good fit for you. I can see this as a movie.

Because my head is full of questions, I am wheeling out the Spoiler Button. All DOT certified for 2014… here we go.

1aa — Reconstructing Amelia is set in New York

Morning Meanderings….. COFFEE Morning

Published on January 10, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

6:00 am the alarm goes off. *GROAN*

I had a delivery of a table I sold on a Facebook site to a town 30 minutes away. ETA: 7:00 am. After loading the HEAVY marble-topped table into my car and cursing myself for thinking this was a good idea to meet up this early for the entire 30 minute drive (yes – that’s A LOT of cursing…) I arrived at the exact minute of 7:00 am where I met up with the delightful (not even being sarcastic) buyer who took the table off my hands and I purchase a coffee and drive back to town a little less annoyed with myself than I was previously.

Now I am wide awake having purchased coffee at the gas station we met up at (don’t dis gas station coffee – some of the best coffee is there 🙂 )and came home to prep for the Friends meeting at the Library at 9 am while I made another cup and now as I load up my car with everything I need for the meeting I make the third cup of coffee to go with me while I write this post.

COFFEE

I need the COFFEE as then I need to come home to meet someone here at 11:00 am, then back to town to do bank stuff, post office stuff, pick up dinner stuff, and prep everything I need to leave town tomorrow morning for Fargo for the Pink Concert. Yes, Fargo like in the movie…and yes, a LOT of Fargo was filmed where I live in Brainerd.

No we do not talk like that.

Does the movie annoy the crap out of me? YES.

And that is not the coffee talking.

Do you think I am rambling because of the coffee? Probably.

In bookish news – I finished *happy dance* the Book Club Book, Reconstructing Amelia. I think I will post my review today when I get home from said activities. 😀

Its Friday everyone. Cheers to you! Whats on your weekend agenda?

Readers! I Need Your Help With A Blind Date! ;) w/ giveaway!

Published on January 9, 2014January 9, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)116 Comments

Hi everyone! For February at our local library we are putting up a ♥ Blind Date Display.♥ I am pretty excited about the concept, which is to take people out of their comfort reading zone and try a new genre or a new author. We will have a whole display up of books wrapped in brown paper with only the scan code uncovered for check out. Other than that you have no idea what you are checking out to read. We will put a little “singles ad” on the outside of each book so they have a little idea about who they will be dating…. for instance:

**If this book were wrapped up and on the shelf the singles ad may read… “I am overly sweet and predictable, but people tend to love those qualities about me.”**

I am VERY excited about this!

This afternoon I will be going in and setting up the window at the library to let people know about this and encourage them from February 1st – 15th to come in and check out a blind date. 🙂 Once they return the “date” they will have an opportunity to the end of February to fill out a little “Rate Your Date” survey with fun questions like, “Would you date this author again?” “How was your date as a whole, did you find you had things in common? ” Stuff like that.

Here is where YOU come in. 🙂

I am working on compiling a list of books for the library staff that would make for great dates. As we will be pulling these books off the shelf we do not want to use the uber popular books that are hot right now, but instead books that may expand the reader. You know, the favorites of your past. A book that might make the reader, “Go wow! I have truly been missing out!”

My challenge to you that I hope you will accept is to leave in the comments titles of books that you think would fit this “blind date” event. I will enter each person who responds with a book title between now and January 17th into a drawing for a $10 Amazon gift card. IF you can also give me a fun singles ad to go with the book you suggest you will receive two entries. 😀 We want to have enough books to keep filling the shelf we set up as they are checked out. I will be encouraging my book club to go in and give it a try as well. 🙂