Book Journey

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on April 7, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)39 Comments

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:

BookGoil!

(Congratulations! I will email you the gift card)

It was a good week! I was busy and am still (STILL!) listening to the same three audio books but, I feel I am moving forward.

Here is what I posted:

The BIG reveal of the author event I have been working on – Wine and Words!

Book Chat with Randall Arthur (author of the unbelievably good Forgotten Road)

Wow. No book reviews. No audio reviews. 😯 That may be a first. Hopefully, a last. I have Sarah Pekkanen’s new book reviewed and ready to go live tomorrow and the book club book will be posted this week as well. With a little luck, I can finish some audio.

As far as this week, I am keeping it light… one book:

Once, a long time ago, I walked down a night-darkened road called Firefly Lane, all alone, on the worst night of my life, and I found a kindred spirit. That was our beginning. More than thirty years ago. TullyandKate. You and me against the world. Best friends forever. But stories end, don’t they? You lose the people you love and you have to find a way to go on. . . .

Tully Hart has always been larger than life, a woman fueled by big dreams and driven by memories of a painful past. She thinks she can overcome anything until her best friend, Kate Ryan, dies. Tully tries to fulfill her deathbed promise to Kate—to be there for Kate’s children—but Tully knows nothing about family or motherhood or taking care of people.

Sixteen-year-old Marah Ryan is devastated by her mother’s death. Her father, Johnny, strives to hold the family together, but even with his best efforts, Marah becomes unreachable in her grief. Nothing and no one seems to matter to her . . . until she falls in love with a young man who makes her smile again and leads her into his dangerous, shadowy world.

Dorothy Hart—the woman who once called herself Cloud—is at the center of Tully’s tragic past. She repeatedly abandoned her daughter, Tully, as a child, but now she comes back, drawn to her daughter’s side at a time when Tully is most alone. At long last, Dorothy must face her darkest fear: Only by revealing the ugly secrets of her past can she hope to become the mother her daughter needs.

A single, tragic choice and a middle-of-the-night phone call will bring these women together and set them on a poignant, powerful journey of redemption. Each has lost her way, and they will need each one another—and maybe a miracle—to transform their lives.

An emotionally complex, heart-wrenching novel about love, motherhood, loss, and new beginnings, Fly Away reminds us that where there is life, there is hope, and where there is love, there is forgiveness. Told with her trademark powerful storytelling and illuminating prose, Kristin Hannah reveals why she is one of the most beloved writers of our day.

Fly Away Home is a sequel to Firefly Lane and a pleasant surprise for those of us who read and loved that book… (I still remember exactly where I was when I finished reading Firefly Lane.

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Book Chat with Author Randall Arthur

Published on April 7, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Let me just start by giving you my background story with this author. I read Randall Arthur’s books Wisdom Hunter as well as Jordan’s Crossing and Brotherhood of Betrayal and enjoyed them so much I became a stalker of his work… waiting and waiting for that next great read. As time went on I could not find any info of any upcoming books so sadly, stopped checking. Then, he contacted me several months ago to let me know he had a new book out and asked if I would review it. Has the word “yes, ever been typed faster? Forgotten Road was everything I enjoyed about Randall’s writing and more… it was real, and painfully so and that was exactly what I had always enjoyed about his writing… Randall does not take the easy road…

but the real one. The one that I walk, the one that many of you walk… the hard one at times.

Please welcome, Randall Arthur.

Should I call you Randall or Randy?

Randall: Randall. It keeps things more consistent with my recognized name as an author.

Randall it is. Are you a coffee drinker? And if you are, how do you take it?

Randall: This is no exaggeration; I drink maybe 5 cups of coffee a year. A couple of times I will drink it black, other times I will add a bit of cream.

Ummm… I am sorry, “5 cups a year” does not compute. 😛 Just kidding. So, as you know, I am a big fan of your past writing and was so excited when Forgotten Road came to be. What was the reason for the large time span between the books?

Randall: First of all, let me say I am not a full-writer. I write only in my spare time. Secondly, I wrote Wison Hunter, Jordan’s Crossing, and Brotherhood of Betrayal during the years I lived in Europe. The pace of life was a bit slower; therefore; I had a greater amount of spare time to write. Over the last twelve years I’ve lived in the United States, the pace of life for me and my family has been absolutely maddening, with many distractions. I’ve honestly had less spare time to write.

Forgotten Road was certainly worth the wait and I also found this newest book to be significantly different from your previous books. Why did you choose to write this story?

Randall: I don’t see Forgotten Road as being significantly different. In all my books, including Forgotten Road, I try to create characters who – because of extremely bad choices or extraordinary courageous choices to live contrary to the cultural norm – win the readers deep interest. We need these type of characters who will challenge our world views and our average behavior.

Very well put Randall. Forgotten Road deals with an incredibly hard subject, the death of a child; and I was amazed by the way you wrote that particular part of the book. What was writing about such a hard topic like, and what was the effect you were hoping it would have?

Randall: The death of the child in Forgotten Road is a scene-by-scene re-creation of a real life tragedy that happened to a two-year-old son of a lifelong friend. The book was written in memory of this little boy. I wanted this part of the story to draw the reader into the main character’s overwhelming shock and pain. I wept as I wrote it.

What is the one thing, if you had to choose only one, that you hope reader’s would take away from this book?

Randall: I learned years ago that any one of my books can relay myriad messages, even a few messages that I never even thought of. With that said, one of the main messages of Forgotten Road, as least from my perspective, is that God can not be manipulated by our faith, and that He is not predictable. Subsequently, we must learn to trust and love Him regardless of the pain and discomfort He allows to come our way. He knows ultimately what is best for us. We must learn – despite our massive self-centeredness – that we are not the center of the universe and are not entitled to everything good and easy.

With my fingers crossed, I have to ask, any more books in progress?

Randall: Yes. I hope that my first nonfiction book will be released sometime in the next 18 months. Beyond that, I have at least two more books of fiction that I eventually would like to put into writing.

A nonfiction? I will be keeping my eyes open for that one! Any other thoughts you would like to share?

Randall: My goal as a writer of Christian Fiction is to rip the smiling mask off American Christianity and tell stories that portray true-to-life-struggles, true-to-life-thoughts, true-to-life-reactions, and true-to-life-journeys. As a result, my first book Wisdom Hunter got me fired from a mission agency in 1992 after serving that agency for 17 years. Even though being fired was devastating at the time, I now count it as a badge of honor. Granted, Forgotten Road will not be as controversial, but I am pleased to the max that the reviews of Forgotten Road – from both men and women – have already exceeded all my expectations.

Wow Randall, thank you for sharing with us so openly. There is something powerful about being kicked out of our comfort zones. I have my own stories of such, and so do many of my friends. I know I truly appreciate that in your books… they are not sugar sweet, they are hard stories but they come across as real life if we like to admit it or not. It has been a pleasure chatting with you.

Randall: Thanks Sheila for being a fan, and for your special interest in Forgotten Road. I am truly honored.

Please check out Randall Arthur’s website here

You can find his books here:

Forgotten Road

Wisdom Hunter

Jordan’s Crossing

Brotherhood of Betrayal

Morning Meanderings… My Return to Books and Brainerd

Published on April 7, 2013April 7, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

Good morning and happy Sunday! I had a wonderful start to the weekend with friends. I went to the Chanhassen Theater on Friday evening to a 80’s Power Balladz. It was AWESOME! If you are an 80’s gal or guy and still think it is the best music of the ages…. this is for you…. its music you love and a lot of funny comedy to go with it. I think we laughed until we cried. I have not laughed like that in a long time.

We shopped our way back home and I arrived at home base yesterday evening, happy and tired out. Hubby and I tried to watch The Hobbit last night but I fell asleep in the recliner by 8 pm.

#Hobbitfail

A few books came in the house this week and they look fantastic:

Mmmmmm hmmmmm….. don’t these look awesome? I am excited about these!

Today I will get book time. This afternoon I need to dig into our book club read as this is going to be a fun one. The book, Garlic and Sapphires is about Ruth Reichl and how she used disguises when she was a food critic for the New York Times. Book Club attendees have been encouraged to come to the meeting in disguise……

AWESOME 😀

I hope you have a wonderful day planned…. later I am also planning to post my interview with Author Randall Arthur, the author of Forgotten Roads, as well as three other older titles that I have enjoyed through the years.

Morning Meanderings… Mini Road Trip with friends

Published on April 5, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

Good morning. I am here with COFFEE CUP (it looks so huge in the above picture….LOVE that!) and waiting for three of my friends to meet me here at 8 am. We are road tripping today, trickling our way to Chanhassen where tonight we will go to the Chanhassen dinner theater. I am excited, I have never been there.

My week has been… BUSY. I have many things coming up at work that I am working on and stayed late yesterday making sure everything was as it should be for the weekend. Each late afternoon this week I have had another commitment…. Friends Of The Library meeting, Wine and Words Meeting, Camp Applications meeting… it’s all fun, things I enjoy… but escaping for a day… sounds wonderful. 😀

We will be back tomorrow later afternoon so it’s a quick trip but it should be a lot of fun.

Of course, I am taking a book.

Which one?

Ruth Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires. Our book club book that we are reviewing this coming Tuesday. I read it a few years back and really enjoyed it. 😀

Have a wonderful start to your weekend!

Morning Meanderings… The BIG News revealed and ITS ALIVE!!!!!

Published on April 4, 2013April 4, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

Good morning. I smile because I am drinking out of that exact cup in the picture. 😀 But there is more to smile about as well. I mentioned Wine and Words a while back… the event the Friends Of The Brainerd Public Library thought they would give a try for this coming fall. I mentioned yesterday that I had news to reveal but needed to finish one last thing.

Last night about 11:35 pm I finished the last thing.

And now… it’s ready to talk about, sqqquuuuuueeee about and oh please…. pass it on! 😛

The point of Wine and Words was to create an author event locally that would have appeal for people to purchase tickets, have a silent auction, author presentation and a nice dinner. Afterwards you would be able to purchase books and have them signed.

It was a big idea with a lot of details…. we needed sponsors for printing, designing, rooms for the authors, free wine during the silent auction and of course – we needed wonderful authors too who would agree to come and hang out with us and talk….

and before I knew it… we were clicking off that to do list quickly. Far more quickly then I thought we would.

SO if you click on the logo above it will take you to the website and I hope you do check it out…. However I can not wait to share with you the authors who have already committed as Minnesotan’s are going to be thrilled about a couple of them for sure… and my blogger bookish BEA buddies are going to be thrilled about a couple other names.

I present to you… the current authors for Wine and Words:

I know right? 😛

Kent William Krueger is a Minnesota author who has won many awards, has many books and just over all a super addition to our list. He just had a book released called Ordinary Grace and it is receiving wonderful reviews. He has another book coming out right around the time of Wine and Words.

Wendy Webb, also a Minnesota author and just had her second book come out in February, The Fate Of Mercy Alban, based off a mansion in Duluth Minnesota. SHe has a third book coming out in January 2014.

Sandra Brannan is a three book author with her In The Belly Of Jonah kick off series. Those of you who were at BEA in 2010 and 2011 may remember this new author. She is down to earth, real and a joy to hang out with. Her 4th book, Noah’s Rainy Day is due out the first week in September.

Sarah Pekkanen is an author of 4 books, her 4th book The Best Of Us comes out April 9th and again BEA people you may remember this delight of an author as well. My very first year I went to BEA in 2010, I won my BEA trip from her in a contest (I know… I am still excited about that one!) and really got to know Sarah as we toured Simon and Schuster together and went to the Blogger event together. Contacting her to see if she would come was a LONG SHOT…. but when I emailed her she promptly responded when she seen on my blog what I was working on she hoped I would ask her.

I still am looking for a 5th author and have a few emails out there but things have come together so nicely I am really not worried about it.

SO there it is. I hope you check out Wine and Words. I hope you tell your friends. I hope if you live anywhere near me you plan on coming. I know a few of you bloggers in Minnesota that I would love to see attend. Email me and I will see if I can work out a discount at the Lodge on rooms. It is going to be awesome 😀

Proceeds of Wine and Words is going to assist with literacy programs in our community. If you are an author or a publisher or a book seller and wish to contribute to our silent auction or table sponsorships, shoot me a message – my email is journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

Morning Meanderings… Bursting With News!

Published on April 3, 2013April 3, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

Good Morning! A few weeks ago I mentioned something I was working on locally here called Wine and Words. I am very excited to say…. well, it’s been an active month for this event and I have INCREDIBLE news I am wanting to share so badly… but I am waiting for one more piece to come together so I can present it well.

I am hoping I can put that piece together today. 😀

Sorry to give you this big hint and an almost “SSSQQQQQQUUUEEEEE” and then leave you hanging but really, please watch tomorrow morning as I am really hoping I can get this one piece done later today *fingers crossed* I can say – local friends are going to be excited and I think my book blogger friends are going to be too when I make the reveal 😀

In other news – I finished Sarah Pekkanen’s new book The Best Of Us last night and ooohh…… my review will be up later today. Have you read it? You may want to …. 😀

Have a super glorious Wednesday – we are finally seeing sun here in Minnesota – not “throw on a pair of shorts and grab your sandals, but definitely – no jacket 😀

Have a super day!

Oh ad I seen this today and thought I would pass it on…. so cute!

Morning Meanderings… You Are Kidding Right?

Published on April 2, 2013April 2, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Good morning! 😀 I feel great today – almost 100% through with this pesky cough. We made wonderful progress yesterday with a great Friends Of The Library meeting (more on that later this week), and today after work I am meeting up for finalizing camp applications and then meeting my cousin at the gym. Sounds to me like a well-rounded day of work, volunteering, and working out. 😀

Now…

I don’t always claim to be the sharpest tool in the shed… (I was the girl who once argued with a friend who told me the word gullible wasn’t in the dictionary so I grabbed a dictionary to prove her wrong… 😳 ) But I admit I tend to believe what I see and what I read – not in a “oh my gosh there really are FLYING MONKEYS” kind of way but more of a Mark Zuckerberg kind of way as he was in The Social Network Movie…. “Is this real?“

So… let me get to the point. I admit – maybe reading emails at 6 am pre-coffee/ pre-shower isn’t the best idea. But as I read the latest Redbox email stating this:

and then going on to say that they are proud to offer a variety of cold cuts bologna, turkey, liverwurst and of course… the always coveted olive loaf. 😯

I admit…. I may have toyed with the idea for a while that they may be serious and I admit I may have wondered how would they keep the lunch meat cold….

Ok… ok…. I get it now. 😛 It is just a brilliant way to grab your attention and yes yes YES I did click on the link to look at the “selection” which of course was just movies. 😀 So…. anyhoo… Redbox is brilliant, the person who thought of that advertising should get a raise. Or at least an extended lunch break and a Redbox sandwich of his or her choosing.

Ok, I must go…. much to get going on.

Have a wonderful day – take my advice, read a book, not your emails… they are just confusing. 😀

Find

Did I mention there was cheese?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on March 31, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)32 Comments

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

Charlotte!!!!

(Random.org is loving you – that is two weeks in a row… I dont think that has ever happened before :D)

For those of you who do Easter – Happy Easter! I had a wonderful day of church and then spending the day with my hubby, enjoying good food and a good movie. Lets just say… I need to get back to the gym tomorrow. 😀

This week was ok for reading and blogging – here is what I posted:

Six Years by Harlan Coben (WOW OH WOW OH WOW!!!)

The Guilty One by Lisa Ballantine (it’s been a while since I have read this level of creepy crazy)

A new read a long for April: The Hobbit (looking for joiners!) 😀

Little Women by Louise May Alcott ( a March read-a-long that includes in my opinion what Marmee should really say to her daughters…)

I completed my first 7K for the year (pics of all the people!!!)

Not too bad a week. I am in the middle of three audio books that I feel like I have been listening to FOREVER. I am going to need a shorter audio when I finish these for a break 😀

Here is what is on the reading agenda this week:

An all-expense-paid week at a luxury villa in Jamaica—it’s the invitation of a lifetime for a group of old college friends. All four women are desperate not just for a reunion, but for an escape: Tina is drowning under the demands of mothering four young children. Allie is shattered by the news that a genetic illness runs in her family. Savannah is carrying the secret of her husband’s infidelity. And, finally, there’s Pauline, who spares no expense to throw her wealthy husband an unforgettable thirty-fifth birthday celebration, hoping it will gloss over the cracks already splitting apart their new marriage.

Languid hours on a private beach, gourmet dinners, and late nights of drinking kick off an idyllic week for the women and their husbands. But as a powerful hurricane bears down on the island, turmoil swirls inside the villa, forcing each of the women to reevaluate everything she knows about her friends—and herself.

Oh sweet Martha’s cookies! I am so enjoying this one. I love Sarah’s writing and I am reading this one every chance I get!

Kate Vaughan is no stranger to tough choices.

She’s made them before. Now it’s time to do it again.

Kate has a secret, something tucked away in her past. And she’s getting on with her life. Her business is thriving. She has a strong relationship with her family, and a devoted boyfriend whom she wants to love with all her heart. If Kate had ever made a list, Rowan would fill the imagined boxes of a perfect mate. But she wants more than the perfect on paper relationship; she wants a real and imperfect love. That’s why, when Kate discovers the small velvet box hidden in Rowan’s drawer, she panics.

It always happens this way. Just when Kate thinks she can love, just when she believes she can conquer the fear, she’s filled with dread. And she wants more than anything to make this feeling go away. But how?

When the mistakes have been made and the running is over, it’s time to face the truth. Kate knows this. She understands that a woman can never undo what can never be undone. Yet, for the first time in her life she also knows that she won’t fully love until she confronts those from her past. It’s time to act.

Can she do it? Can she travel to the place where it all began, to the one who shares her secret? Can the lost ever become found?

SO excited about this one… starting it later this week.

Ruth Reichl, world-renowned food critic and former editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, knows a thing or two about food. She also knows that as the most important food critic in the country, you need to be anonymous when reviewing some of the most high-profile establishments in the biggest restaurant town in the world—a charge she took very seriously, taking on the guise of a series of eccentric personalities. In Garlic and Sapphires, Reichl reveals the comic absurdity, artifice, and excellence to be found in the sumptuously appointed stages of the epicurean world and gives us—along with some of her favorite recipes and reviews—her remarkable reflections on how one’s outer appearance can influence one’s inner character, expectations, and appetites, not to mention the quality of service one receives.

I read this one a few years back but now I am reading it for book club… I am excited to freshen up this review.

Thats the weeks plan. My week is not too busy so should be doable. I am curious what you are reading…. Add your post to the line below where it says click here.

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Morning Meandering…. Easter, Books, Blog, and Everything Inbetween

Published on March 31, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)25 Comments

I have spent entirely too much time screwing around with the blog look this morning. I liked the purple background but found it dark… too dark for a girl who is wishing and hoping for Spring… REAL SPRING…. it is snowing (AGAIN) here this morning and I am pretending not to notice….

So…. Happy Easter! We have no kids home this year – Justin (College son) has to work so will not be making the drive, Brad (Navy son) is soaking up the rays in Florida so not feeling too bad for him, other than I miss them both. Just Al and I today…. we have church then maybe later we will do a movie or something… I am looking forward to maybe a little reading this afternoon. I feel like I am in the middle of three audio books and two books and nothing is near completion. 😯

Anyhoo…. because I spent about an hour trying different headers here and going back and forth and honestly still not sure if the header is “the look” I am going for, I must bid you adieu, as now I have sat here with coffee cup and my PJ’s way too long and I need to get moving before I am known as “that late girl”. 😀

Have a lovely day – I will be back this evening with the “Monday, What Are You Reading” post, but other than that I suspect as it is a holiday, it will be pretty quiet around here.

I will leave you with this link to my Easter message to all of you 😀

Morning Meanderings…The First Run Of 2013

Published on March 30, 2013March 30, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)50 Comments

I missed the last two weeks of Saturday Snapshot. Two weeks ago I was in the cities getting ready for a 7K and last Saturday I was buried in books at the Spring Library sale.

Today I thought I would share about the 7K.

When I say really cool words like “7K”, a lot of people will say to me, “I didn’t know you are a runner!”

My response, “I am not. I am a runner want to be.”

I want to say for the record, I blame the books. Over the past couple of years I have read some pretty good books on running. Those that can run… fascinate me. Their bodies get lean, their heart rates and over all health improve… they talk of a “runners high” and they can go on and on and on for miles… in some of those books, they would run like 100 miles in a day….

they are my heroes.

So… here I am FAR on the other side of the spectrum. I have running gear. I do ok on the treadmill… I have not yet mastered running.

SO this is before the 7k (which by the way is 4.34 miles). It was SUPER cold that morning… I don’t even recall but we were dancing in the freezing air before go time… don’t let the sun in the picture fool you. On the far left is my cousin’s wife Farrah, my cousin Jarrod, my friends Sheila and Belinda, Belinda’s cousin and wife – April and Ryan, and then me.

Over 11,000 people were registered for this run… close to 10,000 showed up. This is as we walked towards the starting gate.

We were not that far back from the start but I heard it took 26 minutes to get everyone across the starting line. We wore a chip on our tennis shoes that activated from a mat we step on when going across the starting line and then it gives out time when we cross the line at the end. Kind of cool.

This is my friend Sheila who I ran most of the race with (until her pace kicked my pace – I need to fast walk occasionally at this stage in the game and she can keep a nice steady pace). At the end the water they had for us was freezing in the glasses! If you look close you can see that she has the chunk of ice in her mouth. 😀

At the end we were all able to hang out at this Irish Pub which was kind of cool. SO MANY people there… had to be over 1,000. Here a few of the group are showing the “pie” medal we all received for doing the run – you can also see the hoodies that April and Ryan are wearing – this was also something each participant received.

My pie 😀 The first of 4 from the Ortho events this year.

Overall – the run was fun to hang out with friends, but the cold sucked. I warmed up quickly while running but soon discovered I have training to do before I am going to be any kind of rock star at running. I finished the 7k at 51 minutes. I believe the best time in our group was Jarrod at around 35 minutes. He is training for a triathlon.

So that’s my Saturday Snapshot for today. Check out more Saturday Snapshots at Alyce’s At Home With Books. I do not have a lot going on this Easter weekend as Justin (College Son) has to work so he will not be home and Brad is in Florida in the Navy. It will just be Al and I and I think tonight we may watch the Hobbit. 😀