Book Journey

Morning Meanderings… It Is A Small World

Published on December 20, 2013December 20, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Friday! There is a happy dance going on here! Almost like a starting line really as I have not even put our tree up yet. I know right? Life gets busy and I well.. yeah. Today’s the day. I am also not done Christmas shopping… but between today and tomorrow… I plan to be. 🙂

Recently (yesterday) I won a copy of the upcoming gorgeous looking book, Evertrue from Amber at Me, My Shelf, and I. When Amber emailed me for my address and I responded back, she emailed me this:

Shut up. I could drive this to you!

Turns out, Amber lives about two hours from me in Minnesota. 🙂 I love that!

I also recently had a win of a bookish ornament from Ashley at Papyrusaurus that arrived in the mail yesterday. How cute is this:

This morning I am having brunch here at the house with three great friends. We will do our little Christmas exchange and hang out over great coffee and conversation. Then this afternoon I have coffee with another friend, and then tonight we attend an annual Christmas party of friends. In between all of that, I will be trying out a couple of caramel variations off my recipe and maybe… maybe a little shopping.

Hope this start to your weekend is wonderful!

Oh – and I have two giveaways going on – dont miss out:

Platform 21 book

Percy Jackson Sea Of Monsters DVD

Red Hill by Jamie McGuire

Published on December 19, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

Scarlet raises her two young daughters alone while holding down a good job at the local hospital. When it is her ex- husbands weekend with the girls, Scarlet does not mind working an extra long shift to help out a co-worker. Then the woman comes into the ER with a mysterious story. She claims a few days ago while coming out of a bar with her boyfriend, she was bit by what seemed to be a deranged man. Since that time, this woman has lost around 20 pounds. 20 pounds!?! When examined the findings are bleak.

And this is just the start of the strange happenings…

Soon the reports are coming over the news and radio stations. There seems to be some kind of outbreak happening. People are being bitten and dieing at alarming rates but then, coming back to some sort of “zombie like life” where they are up and walking but what used to be the person inside is gone….

Suddenly all Scarlet wants to do is to get to where her children are if she possibly can. It seems that the Apocalypse is at hand.

Yowza. After reading a couple incredible gushing reviews of this book, I decided to give it a try on audio. Having recently becoming obsessed with the Walking Dead series (another story for another day….) I was curious how this would compare. While some things were a bit too spot on to Walking Dead ( they bite you or eat you and you too become one of them only to be put down by a shot through the head…), the rest was intriguing and fast paced…. and creepy real feeling.

This is my first book by Jamie McGuire and pretty sure it will not be my last. Red Hill took me through a fast paced different world than I am used to. One of fear and survival, but also of connecting with people and creating a sense of family.

Morning Meanderings… An Old Post Keeps Picking Up Traffic (ooh – and a giveaway!)

Published on December 19, 2013December 19, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

Good Morning! How ya all doing this morning? I am just back from the gym and that makes me happy. I feel as though I have accomplished something positive when I start my day out that way. 🙂

For those of us who have been blogging books for a while, do you ever see a post you wrote a long time continue to get hits? Not only hits, but discussion? That’s the may my Lightning Thief Movie Spoiler Page has been.

At first when I seen in my email that post was receiving traffic I figures it was spam. After all, I wrote this post in early 2010. However, upon closer look – no, they are still commenting – still fired up by the differences of the book to the movie. Isn’t is funny how us book lovers get all worked up about movies changing our books? 🙂

Lightning Thief as a book was really good. Way to go Rick Riordan! *knuckle bump* And Lightning Thief the movie was really good. If you read the book AND seen the movie..well, thus the spoiler post.

I have been curious for some time now if they were going to do another movie. There are after all, there are after all 5 books in this series (my College son loved them!). So super funny and coincidental that I was contemplating this post, when yesterday I was offered by Think Jam Digital to have a giveaway here for a Blue Ray bundle of The Sea Of Monsters DVD (2nd book in the series). This DVD has just been released to the public for sale – but here, you can sign up to win the movie as a well as a companion comic book. Kind of a sweet deal, and I admit – I am curious about this movie.

Enter for a chance to win the Percy Jackson Sea Of Monsters Blu-ray Combo Pack and exclusive Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Sea Of Monsters comic book!

Synopsis

The magical, mythical adventures of teenager Percy Jackson — son of the Greek god Poseidon — continue in this heroic, action-packed thrill ride! Out to prove he’s not just a “one-quest wonder,” Percy and his demigod friends embark on an epic, cross-country journey into the treacherous Sea of Monsters, where they battle terrifying creatures, an army of zombies, and the ultimate evil. With time running out, Percy must find and bring home the fabled Golden Fleece, which has the power to save his world…and save us all!

Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters 3D Blu-ray Deluxe Edition,

available on Blu-ray and DVD December 17

For a chance to win your copy of the Blu-ray, just answer the question below:

Percy Jackson is the son of which of the Greek Gods?

Poseidon

Zeus

Hades

I will post a winner on Sunday morning – December 22nd.

Be sure to follow Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment on Twitter @FoxHomeEnt for the latest Blu-ray & DVD releases

I am curious, have you read any of the Rick Riordan books? I admit, I have only read the first one as of this time.

Platform 21 by T. R. Patrick

Published on December 18, 2013December 18, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

It is 2052. Luke Gibson, his sister Laura, and his parents are excited to be at the first ever World Evergy Initiative Conference. This conference is a celebration of energy and thousands of people fill the stadium to be a part of this monumental event.

Suddenly the earth rumbles and a massive earthquake takes place. As Luke struggles to understand what is happening as he sees people dieing all around him and his own life is ebbing away, he sees a gurl reaching for him.

And then all is black.

Death… as it turns out is not the end. Luke awakens to a world that is not the one he knew… as life (is that what this is?) plays out Luke is left to try to figure out what sort of conspiracy is going on and what can he do to stop it before it is too late.

Ok. Seriously. If that synopsis did not give you chills you need to go back and read it again. I will wait. ……

🙂

Platform 21 sold me on the description of a teenage boy in a futuristic world that takes on a twist that is new to me – and if you know me… that is always a draw.

It is shocking, fast paced, adrenaline creating and once into it…. I had to know how this was all going to go. I enjoyed Luke, love that he is a writer and a protagonist that I could cheer on. In this style of book… you need someone to cling to…. Luke was that guy.

I really enjoyed this and look forward to see where this new series will go.

Would you like to win a copy of this book? Click the link below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Morning Meanderings….Every Library Needs Friends

Published on December 18, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)11 Comments

Good morning everyone! Midway through the week already! I don’t know if I should be thrilled or panicked! 😀 Next week we as a staff have made the decision to put all of our hours and efforts into Monday and Tuesday and then we are going to close the office the rest of the week, probably working close to 12 hours each of those two days. That means, I need to be ready for Christmas by Sunday night. EEP!

Recently I had written a post about helping out with the Christmas decorating at our Local Library. As a Friend of The Brainerd Public Library, we have our own decorations and we set up trees and lights, and wreaths and jazzed the place up the first part of December. Someone at that time had commented that they did not know the friends did that – and while I am sure all Libraries are not the same, and all friends groups do not function the same… I wanted to put a plug in for joining. 😀

As books, (probably obviously…)are a big part of my life – I naturally wanted to be involved in my local Library. When I signed up as a friend I really did not know what they did. Two years later – I am still learning. 😀

The Friends Groups are a group that supports the library through fundraising efforts and we assist the library with purchases an needs that are not necessarily covered by the libraries budget. As Dawn in our Friends group put it, we are the icing on the cake. Our money raised goes for the little extras – our group personally helps with movie licensing so movies can be checked out at the library, we purchase additional copies of best-selling books (if you are from the area – when you walk in the library and see that white stand to the right that is our contribution of best sellers and these books and audio do not go on the wait list – if you are lucky and pop in at the right time you may find that coveted book!). We assist in bringing authors in to the library (during June we bring in a Minnesota author each Monday), we assist in reading programs for children, the holiday open house and so much more. We have two used book sales a year, and this past year added the Wine and Words event that was soooo fun we plan to do it yearly (mark your calendars – August 22, 2014). This year we also have been working with a group of Teenagers to try to get books in their lives and create venues from their perspectives to make the teen area of our library something incredible.

My point in sharing this today is that I encourage you – Lover Of Books ( I say this in my best Narnia “Daughters Of Eve” voice) to inquire at your library about a friends group. There is a yearly fee – ours is $5. This goes directly into supporting our library and gives you the keys to the adventures of the Friends. I can’t speak for all friends groups but I have seen some pretty amazing ones out there and have to say ours I believe is pretty awesome as well.

There it is. My friends plug. 😀 Have a super day – I have a full one! If you have any questions about Friends groups please ask – if I dont know the answer I will try hard to find out! If you are a Friend of your library, I would love to hear about the things that you do!

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Published on December 17, 2013December 17, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)34 Comments

That day that Eleanor got on the bus and Park had the only available seat, or more truthful, the only one that would make room for this overweight girl with frizzy red hair and clothing that looked like they belonged to a man, was a day that Park would not soon forget.

As their bus routine continues, Park finds himself becoming more and more interested in Eleanor, and Eleanor felt the same about Park. An odd couple to say the least, Park with his half Korean heritage and Eleanor who is bullied at school, friendless, and lives in fear of her moms boyfriend create a friendship based on a love for music and comic books.

*sigh* Why didn’t someone tell me about author Rainbow Rowell sooner than this? After having recently listening to Fangirl by this same author and finding it a pretty sweet listen, I followed up on the buzz on Eleanor and Park.

I think one of the things I appreciated most about this book was the fact that Eleanor and Park were not your typical protagonists. They were not the popular students. They were not the shy misunderstood student that takes their glasses off, gets a hair cut, and comes out beautiful and everyone wants to be their friend…. Instead, Eleanor comes from a very povertish home. Her mother is in an abusive relationship and Eleanor lives in fear for her family’s safety. Her clothes are not new and stylish but whatever her mom can scrape together and find. Park is quiet. His home life is good but he feels he can’t be himself. His mother is over protective, his father… well his dad for the most part is pretty cool… everything that Eleanor’s family life is not.

Set in the mid 80’s, you have to just fall in love along with this misfit pair, believing first love can last forever… and in a way…. doesn’t it?

Swoon worthy. Thank you Rainbow Rowell for braving the road less traveled and creating characters that can make your heart ache. *I bow to you*

Morning Meanderings… Merry Christmas to me the KOBO has arrived!

Published on December 17, 2013December 17, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Happy Tuesday ya’ all! The fact that you are reading this means that we all survived Monday! WOO HOO!

I had to share this morning that my KOBO win from Alison’s contest she had has arrived. I am super excited to give it a try and am downloading the information now as I type to activate this baby! 😀

**Not sure what is up with the “fuzzy” picture my camera is taking… lighting maybe?**

I love the size of it. It looks to be about 7 inches tall and 5 inches wide. A great size to slip in my purse! I already ordered a little case for it to protect it.

In other news I have been a baking fool…. I have made so many batches of caramels that they are everywhere…. and tonight I plan to make 3 double batches more. Tomorrow is our office staff party and along with a suet holder and homemade suet for the birds (thanks Leslie for that recipe!) that is my gift of the year. I have another gathering Friday morning, and a few gifts to drop off Friday afternoon as well as a Christmas Party Friday night. *whew* Tis the season…

Anyhoo… next question is.. what to download first on that KOBO?

Ok… must get ready for work! Have an awesome day everyone!

The Anti Prom by Andy McDonald

Published on December 16, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Bliss Marino has waited a long time for her prom, she is the popular girl and with the hot guy she had as her boyfriend, she would rock the event.

Jolene has no desire to have anything to do with the ridiculous outdated tradition of a prom. Seriously it made her want to hurl. There was like a zillion things she would rather due than ever be a part of that lameness.

Meg, quiet and reserved, wants badly to change her reputation of blending into any wall. If she asks to the prom… she will say yes. She will.

There is no reason that these three girls would ever find themselves in conversation or even remotely pleasant to one another. Yet when circumstances around the prom bring these three together… things can really get interesting.

The Anti Prom is a sweet twist on todays YA reads. There is no dystopian dooms day looming, no one has any special powers, and no one is thrown into an arena to fight to the death (although…. that could have been funny in this case). Nope. author Andy McDonald writes about an event that most of us have either experienced (possibly close to the way one of these girls experienced it) or at least were aware of it.

Taking three girls whose personalities could not be more different, The Anti Prom can make you cheer for a crazy life that can turn everything upside down and remind us that friendships are sometimes found in the least likely places.

Enjoy this one!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on December 15, 2013December 15, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)78 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!

I hope everyone had a good week. I did! We had book club this week, and I am finally getting into the Christmas mood… which is typical for me… it takes me a while to get there 😉

Here is what I posted this week:

Ladies Night by Mary Kay Andrews

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

The Bookies Christmas Party

Pain Parties Work by Elizabeth Winder (The Sylvia Plath Story)

An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatfield

When I Practice To Deceive by Ann Rule (“Meh” of the week)

Homemade Caramels – a recipe for you (oh… and for me too!)

also these challenges coming up:

WHAT Are You Reading Challenge 2014

Bucket List Challenge 2014

First Book Of The Year 2014

It feels good to be an active blogger again! 😀 So for this week I am cruising right along into these:

For Scarlet, raising her two daughters alone means fighting for tomorrow is an everyday battle. Nathan has a wife, but can’t remember what it’s like to be in love; only his young daughter Zoe makes coming home worthwhile. Miranda’s biggest concern is whether her new VW Bug is big enough to carry her sister and their boyfriends on a weekend escape from college finals.

When reports of a widespread, deadly “outbreak” begin to surface, these ordinary people face extraordinary circumstances and suddenly their fates are intertwined. Recognizing they can’t outrun the danger, Scarlet, Nathan, and Miranda desperately seek shelter at the same secluded ranch, Red Hill. Emotions run high while old and new relationships are tested in the face of a terrifying enemy—an enemy who no longer remembers what it’s like to be human.

I smoked through this one in the last couple of days… review this week!

They had nothing in common until love gave them everything to lose . . .

Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has barely been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex–Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair bound after an accident. Will has always lived a huge life—big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel—and now he’s pretty sure he cannot live the way he is.

Will is acerbic, moody, bossy—but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected. When she learns that Will has shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is still worth living.

Just started this one this afternoon 😀

In Parkland (originally titled Four Days in November), author Vincent Bugliosi “has definitively explained the murder that recalibrated modern America” (Jim Newton, Los Angeles Times Book Review). Releasing this fall, the movie—starring Paul Giamatti, Zac Efron, Jacki Weaver, and Billy Bob Thornton—follows a group of individuals making split-second decisions after this incomprehensible event: the doctors and nurses at Parkland Hospital, the chief of the Dallas Secret Service, the cameraman who captured what has become the most examined film in history, the FBI agents who had gunman Lee Harvey Oswald within their grasp, and Vice President Lyndon Johnson who had to take control of the country at a moment’s notice. Based on Vincent Bugliosi’s Reclaiming History—Parkland is the story of that day.

I started this last week and ooh… it is good!

Luke’s life is about to take a dangerous turn.
But first he has to die.

In the year 2052, high school sophomore Luke Gibson considers himself an average teenager in a world on the brink of monumental change. Joining his parents and sister, Laura, at the first World Energy Initiative Conference, he is among thousands gathered in a Denver arena to celebrate free renewable energy when a massive earthquake strikes killing everyone in the stadium. The last thing Luke sees before his death is a girl reaching out to him–a stranger whose face he remembers from his dreams.

The end, however, is not the end. Suddenly, inexplicably, Luke is back home in Ohio and everything is different. His sister is gone, the victim in an unsolved homicide years before. Angela, his mysterious dream girl, is here also, and the only person besides Luke who recalls the previous reality. And now their determination to uncover the truth about Laura’s murder and their transformed world is making them targets–forced to flee for their lives from a nameless shadow organization and a government seeking vengeance for an unthinkable act of terror–as they stand on the threshold of a dark conspiracy that threatens all humankind.

I am reading this one for a blog tour this week.

Beyond that I have a few books I have started but have yet to finish that I would like to work on cleaning up before year end. How about you? What are you reading this end of December? I would love to know! Please add your What Are You Reading link to the link below where it says click here:

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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!

Weekend Holiday Cooking: Homemade Caramels

Published on December 15, 2013December 15, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments

Recently my husband and I were at an annual Christmas Party at a friends home. She is an amazing cook and baker and as usual was handing our her delicious (dangerously so!) home made caramels. Now this is something I would have never tried at home assuming that the gift of caramel making would never be something my fingers could do… but then, our host said something in conversation “They are so easy to make, its just having the patience to do all that stirring!”

Within a few short days, in preparation for our book club Christmas gathering where our theme this year was “home made”, I thought I would try my hand at caramels. (Don’t worry -I also had home made ornaments so I had not put all my hope in the caramels) To my amazement – they turned out delicious and were one of the coveted items at our gathering.

This weekend, today actually, I made more. We have our office party this week, and I thought they would be a wonderful treat for our mailman, and others as well. This time I recorded the process so you an see how it is done and maybe make your own if you like.

Ingredients

1 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1½ c. packed brown sugar
¾ c. light corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
¼ c. heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ c. chopped walnuts (optional)

– See more at: http://simplykierste.com/2013/10/best-homemade-caramels.html#sthash.qtKJOoDN.dpuf

Ingredients

1 c. unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1½ c. packed brown sugar
¾ c. light corn syrup
1 tsp. salt
¼ c. heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla extract
½ c. chopped walnuts (optional)

– See more at: http://simplykierste.com/2013/10/best-homemade-caramels.html#sthash.qtKJOoDN.dpuf

You will need:

two sticks of unsalted butter
3/4 cup light corn syrup
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla (or a different flavor of extract to jazz it up)
1 teaspoon salt
wax paper

* some people add nuts, since mine are for gift giving and some people have allergies, I opt out from using nuts

Put all ingredients except for the vanilla into a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring fairly constantly until the mixture reaches a temp of 245 degrees on a candy thermometer or passes the hard ball test using a cup of cold water for testing.

The beginning…. ingredients in saucepan over medium heat

1ee — Heating and stirring to 245 degrees.

Remove from heat and add the extract (as I mentioned above, while vanilla is standard I have tried it with both cinnamon and orange extract as well and it is delicious, giving it more of a special occasion flavor). Beat in the extract well and then pour the entire saucepan into a 9 x 13 BUTTERED pan immedietly before it starts to harden.

1eee — Remove from heat and stirring in the extract

Place pan somewhere to cool. This time of year is ideal in Minnesota as I set my pans outside in the garage to cool. It does not take long, and once mixture is cutable (mmm hmmmm…. my word) cut into 1 inch by two inch squares, roll in fingers to make an oblong shape and roll up in wax paper.

*Note – if you do live in a cold area like me and you happen to cool the caramels too long and they become hard in the pan, place in a warm over for a few minutes until they reach the desired hardness.

Place in a bag or fancy container for gift giving or a cute bowl for your own holiday gatherings. As you can see here, I tried mine in jars. This would make a great thank you gift, teacher gift, or just “Merry Christmas” to a friend!