Morning Meanderings… Dewey Read A Thon Recap

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

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

Impressive?

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

So how did I do?

Not as good as I had hoped. 😀

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

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

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

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

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

At hour 22 I was up. 

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

Here is the end of event meme questionnaire:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  8. Which did you enjoy least?  none

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

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

Book Appetit! Dewey Read-A-Thon Mini Challenge!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)63 Comments

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Hey read-a-thoners!!!!  Watcha reading???  Are you getting a little hungry while reading?

My book club meets each month at someones home and we try to bring food to go with the book we just read.  It is a lot of fun to see how creative we can get!  For instance when we read the book ROOM by Emma Donoghue, there was Jack’s birthday cake as described in the book, Jack’s favorite meal of macaroni and cheese, ma’s favorite treat and on the creative side – we had pigs in a blanket renamed for the book “Jack in a rug”.  (To get that one you have to have read the book).  😛

Another example would be… say you are reading Chocolat.  Well, of course you would be whipping up some tasting chocolat concoctions!  Or…  you are reading The 19th wife which has to do with Iowa and a funeral… you would always do funeral type foods that were popular in Iowa at the time…. 

Anyhoo.. for this mini challenge if you choose to accept it, I will be asking you to come up a menu to go along with your current read or one of the books in your reading pile for today.  Now… imagine that you have friends coming over to discuss the book with you.  You have prepared food and beverage items to go with your meeting (money…. is no object).  And what I need to see from you is:

1.  Book title and author

2.  The menu, food, beverage, you can even go as far as background music, decorations…. have fun with this!

3.  You will receive an additional entry if you create a drink to go with your book event and give it a name

4.  While you are welcome to post your response in the comments below, you will receive an additional entry if you leave a comment AND link up to a post about this on your own blog.  (Linky available below)

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SO…. Swedish Chef…. what are they playing for?

A winner will be chosen at the end of this mini challenge time using Random.org and will be announced here that they have won a $20 Amazon gift card that will be sent by email today to the winner!  **If more than 40 participate in this challenge, a runner up $10 Amazon card will be added.

Have fun!  I can not wait to see what you come up with!  😀

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Winners of this mini challenge are

$20 Amazon gift card to Jo Jo from Jojo’s Corner
$10 Amazon gift card to Melissa from Avid Reader’s Musings

 

Dewey Read A Thon – Updates and Challenges

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)5 Comments

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Check in:  it is 12:23  my time and sadly I have nothing to show for these first 6 hours.  I am go-hosting the Dewey read a thon site with 5 other awesome peeps and I spent the early hours prepping my posts for my hours (and checking links and double checking links… and then when my posts started going live I am watching the website, the twitter feed, emails from participants, and the lock so I post my next one on time.  😀  *whew*  Its a ll good fun though.

So not I am 35 minutes out before the next post so I am going to try to do a couple mini challenges because I am a confirmed game geek and I love the mini challenges.

So for Book Spine Poetry I went a little dark….  (you should probably imagine a dark room, people holding up their lighters and some sort of low tone twanky music in the background….

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Say it slow and poetic like…. Man and boy…. the crying tree… black and blue… fatal incident….

For The Self Portrait mini challenge, here it is:

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7:00 am Central time kick off of the Dewey Read a Thon for me… so this is the post that I will use for updates and challenges.  And this is hour one and we have been asked to share a little info….

Introductory Questionnaire

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?  I am reading from Central Minnesota and yes, we still have snow…
2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?  I have been wanting to start While We Were Watching Downton Abbey for a while now.
3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?  Hmmmmm……  baked Doritos and salsa I guess… ooh or guacamole!  Of hummus!
4) Tell us a little something about yourself!  Book lover, bike rider, adventure seeker, likes long walks on the beach…. (lol sounds like a singles ad…)
5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to? Staying on task.  I am hopeful to last longer than I did last year and read more for the cause I am supporting.  😀

And I am off! 

Dewey Read A Thon Is Here!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

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*This post will be a sticky post for the day – all new posts including the mini challenge post and my mini challenge post will be directly below this one. 😀

Are you ready?  I sure am!  I love the Dewey Read a Thon and today is going to be a lot of fun participating.  I have a couple audio books I hope to finish up while doing things around the house but I also have several books I hope to sit down and dig into. 

As I have done the past two years I will be reading for a cause today and my cause is for Camp Benedict, a camp for people infected and affected by AIDS.  You can read about my connections to this camp here.  As in the past, I will personally donate  10 cents per page I read and $1.00 for every 10 minutes of audio I listen too.  If you would like to sponsor me for this wonderful cause I would be so appreciative and humbled by your generosity. 

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So for the book possibilities today….

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Any mini challenges I sign up to do and updates to how I am doing will be continued on a separate post below but I will only use one post so as not to create multiple post pop ups in your emails and readers if you are following me.  Also, my mini challenge will come up today (it’s a fun one! :D) and that too will be a separate post to give a shout out to those participating.

I hope those of you doing the read a thon have an awesome day of books and audio!  😀  Pop in and say hi throughout the day – as I need breaks I will be popping in ans seeing a few of you as well 🙂

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

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

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Good morning! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Books change people.

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

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

ahhhhh….. books 😀

Morning Meandering…. The Day After WBN and the Virus Monster

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

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Good morning!  Wednesday right?  Its been a pretty sweet week so far.  Last night, or yesterday I guess, was World Book Night… my second year participating, the second year in the United States.

My quest…..

to hand out 20 copies of John Green’s Looking for Alaska. 

My day began like this…

I stopped at the gas station to get a cup of ice (mmmm hmmmmmm…. that’s what I do….).  I was wearing the “I am a book giver” sticker and when I checked out the lady behind the counter said “Ok, I will ask, what is a book giver?”

Now… as much fun as it would have been right there to go all sci-fi YA dystopian on her, have my face fall off to reveal a creature that laughs high and shrill and screeches “It is a VIRUS!  And you are now one of us!”….

Instead I (Sheila, me… not virus monster) responded “I am so glad you asked!”  I explained what WBN was.

“Oh,” she said… “I am not much of a reader”.

Again… Virus monster wanted to jump up on the counter, green spittle flying everywhere and say in that same creepy shrill voice, “Oh…. but you are now my dear….. you are now!”

But alas, no, just Sheila said “That is perfect! That is what WGN is about, and you obviously have never read John Green!”   I shared with her about the book I had, which was in my purse and handed her a copy.

“I suppose I could give it a try.” she said.

“Touchdown!”  yelled Virus Monster raising his long finger nailed green hands high over his head in triumph.

“That’s great,” I said and went on my way to work.

😀

And so my day went like that.  I found a young boy in the library with his mom – no no no….  she was the reader, not he… and no no no I was not handing out my books at the library (kind of a cheat don’t you think?) – I was stopping there to pick up books I had reserved…. but I knew the mom, and her son was just along because he had to be. 

I talked to him about books and he received one from me too.

The rest was basic hand outs at Costco where I realized quickly my book choice of a YA read did not fit my clientele of 3:30 pm at Costco.  These people were busy moms or dads or the older generation who looked at me cautiously like I was going to bring out the Virus Monster again….

I should have taken my chances at pick up time at the high school.  😀

Anyway – as always it was fun and I am so honored to have been a part of it two years in a row!  Next year our library is hoping to have a bigger part in WBN and really make a presence in our community.

How about you – did you participate in WBN?  If so how did it go?  If not, did you see or know any givers in your area?

Morning Meanderings… It is World Book Night!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

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Good morning!  Would you believe that yesterday I drove home from St Cloud in a snow storm?  Well… I did.  This is truly the winter that will not quit.  Although… we are supposed to be in the 70’s this weekend so who knows.  😯

I was in St Cloud yesterday visiting the Mother Ship Barnes and Noble to pick up my World Book Night books.  As today is world book day I know I was pushing the deadline but last week was a whirlwind of activity and St Cloud is an hour away and I did not have those couple of hours that I needed to make the round trip. 

And now today… April 23rd, is World Book Night.  According to the statistics I read this morning on Shelf Awareness, more than 25,000 givers (like me!) will be out and about today handing out 500,000 free books to lite and non readers. We had 30 titles to choose from.  This year was a harder pick for me because I am not choosing the book that I most enjoyed out of this group (although I did enjoy my pick very much!) I was looking for the book that would pull in a non reader.  Last years choice was easier as Hunger Games was in the mix and with the movie having recently been released it was a book that had piqued people’s interest.

So…. what did I go with?

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John Green’s looking for alaska.  Not my favorite by John Green, but still… it is John Green.   If given the choice, The Fault In Our Stars would have been the book I would have liked to have given out by him because John Green writes as awesome YA!  (Finished that one on audio last year on the 4th of July on the back of a motor cycle, tears running down my face….. yes… it was that awesome!)

So later today after work, I need to go to Costco, and then will be at the gym for Group Power so will work on giving books out in both places.  I may move on to the grocery store after that if I have any left.

Oh, and to the Lady I met last year at the bank who I tried to give a copy of Hunger Games and instead wanted to know if I had any copies of 50 Shades Of Gray…. even if that would have been a choice out of the 30, I still would not be handing that one out.  😀  You would have to find a different giver. 😛

Hope you all have a wonderful World Book Day and Night.  What a wonderful event and I am sooooo excited to be a part of it. 

Dewey Read-A-Thon is coming!!!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)9 Comments

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The read-a-thon is coming!!!  The read-a-thon is coming!!!  April 27th is the read-a-thon!!! This is my FAVORITE read-a-thon each year and I am always thrilled if I can participate!  Originally it looked like I would not be doing much of the read a thon as I was leaving town Saturday and doing a bike ride on the 28th.  Well… life stuff has happened and now I will be in town and unfortunately skipping out on the bike ride due to other commitments, BUT that also means I will be around Saturday for the read-a-thon!!!

So what is the Dewey Read-A-Thon?

Well the event has a wonderful history, while by the time I became involved in this crazy world of book reviews, Dewey was gone, but I absolutely love the tradition that long-term book bloggers have kept going… passing the torch so to speak and keeping the candle over the memory of Dewey and this event eternally lit.

SO….. I am sharing ALL of this with you because it is not too late to join!  It doesn’t matter if you can not do all 24 hours.  Do what you can – and believe me, setting aside a day to enjoy books is wonderful!  AND bloggers offer mini breaks where you can go and do challenges to take a little break and have a chance to win a prize!  (I LOVE) the mini breaks 😀

Join me, and many (currently over 300) other book bloggers and book lovers for this event!  Check out details and sign up here! 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

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Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

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.  I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment telling me how many you visited.  **You do not have to have a blog to participate! You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Under the new and hopefully improved 2013 guidelines, the winner each week will receive a $5 Amazon gift card.  This past weeks winner is:

 

Joy from Joy’s Book Blog!

(Congratulations!  I will email you the gift card)

I have been fairly absent this week.  I have an uncle who has been very sick with cancer for over the past year.  It has been a long battle for him and I spent time with him and my aunt this past Wednesday when I heard that things were not looking good.  I am so glad I did as he passed away on Thursday evening.  On Thursday, I was working 13 hours on the Camp Benedict benefit dinner which happened to be in the middle of a snow storm and we still had a wonderful turn out!  On Friday morning I had two meetings, and then my friend Amy picked me up and I went with 8 of my girl friends to Breezy Point Minnesota for a fun relaxing girls weekend.  The break was needed, and as you can imagine, this week will be busy again.

With all that going on my reading was non-existent but I did get a little audio time in.

Here is what was posted this past week:

Book Expo planning and roommate update

 

Loving Frank by Nancy Horan (seriously, if you have not read this book I think you must!)

And wow… that was it.  That was all I posted.  😯  This week I am pretty much continuing what I already has going but this is my current audio listening…

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They’ve spent years at the same high school without speaking a word to one another, but that’s all about to change. Popular Bliss was having the perfect prom until she found her BFF and boyfriend making out in the back of a limo. Bad girl Jolene wouldn’t be caught dead at the prom, yet here she is, trussed up in pink ruffles, risking her reputation for some guy – some guy who is forty minutes late. And shy, studious, über-planner Meg never counted on her date’s standing her up and leaving her idling in the parking lot outside the prom. Get ready for The Anti-Prom, Abby McDonald’s hilarious, heart-tugging tale about three girls and one unforgettable prom night.

A trip to the library in search of audio brought me home with this.

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The prequel to the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series—The Kill Order is a modern classic for fans of The Hunger Games and Divergent. It can be read alone or as a companion to the action-packed series.

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next.

Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive.

James Dashner (my author crush) comes through again with an engaging tale….

So what have you been reading?  What will you be reading?  I want to know!  😀  Please ass your Its Monday What Are You Reading post to the linky below!  Oh and remember, our hashtag is #IMWAYR

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And for those of you who read mainly YA or Middle grade books, feel free to also link up the younger version of # IMWAYR as well

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Loving Frank by Nancy Horan

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

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I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current.

So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives.

~As seen on Amazon

 

 

 

 

A couple years ago a good friend of mine brought me this book.  Her book club had just finished reviewing it and she said it was a  “must read!”

The book went to the shelf and although I totally planned on reading it, there is always more books then there is time and two years later that book still is say on my shelf.  Recently, I found ‘Loving Frank’ on audio and thought that this may be the way to go on this one.. and I am so glad I did. 

Joyce Bean narrates and does a masterful job with the different voices on Mamah (pronounced May – mah), Frank, and the others who gather around their lives. 

Frank’s story of his life and his long affair I am ashamed to admit, was all news to me.  I had no idea of the mans life beyond his name and the architecture he is known for.  I admit, I found his life to be quite interesting.  Although he fathered six children with his wife, Frank did not seem to have a paternal bone in his body.  Yet more interesting than even Frank, was Mamah.  Having left her own husband and children for Frank I think has to be extremely had in that day and age, (not that it would not be now as well.) Beyond that Mamah believes a woman has a right to her own life and not just as a wife and mother.  She is years ahead of her time in the feminist movement and something about her odd convictions made me want to know more about her.

Loving Frank is engaging and the best of historical fiction when it is done right.  I enjoyed the book and was blown away with the ending which has my Googling like crazy to find out more.