Book Journey

Morning Meanderings…. Fitness and Reading

Published on January 16, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

Good morning all! 😀 I am back to work today and that’s good because I do like my job. 😀 I am on the next couple of days and then I believe I am going to the cabin this Friday for the weekend and I am pretty stoked about that… it’s been since November since I have been there.

Yesterday among other things, I finally put up my fitness challenge that I was working on since early December and then busy times happened. I am kind of excited about it! I know there were a dew of you waiting for me to get it posted and I finally have:

Mmmmm hmmmm…. there she is! 😛 The 2013 12K Fitness Challenge is on! Well, almost on. It officially starts on February 1, but the sign up is on. I hope you stop by Team Kickin it and read what it is about. There is something for all levels… all goals. If you know anyone who may be interested in joining me on this adventure, please send them my way. 😀

In bookish news, I am about half way through Level 2 by Lenore Appelhans and I am liking it. What an interesting concept! I hope to get that finished in the next day or two here.

Hope your mid-week is awesome 😀

Mad River by John Sanford

Published on January 15, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

During a poorly planned robbery, a store clerk is left dead. Now the three Minnesota teens, Jimmy Sharp, Becky Welsh, and Tom McCall try again and their second victim dies in a car heist during the getaway. With two murders under their belt, the teens sense of fear of the unknown has reached such a level it is like an adrenaline rush. They decide as long as they have gone this far, they might as well settle some old personal hurts.

And the crime spree begins.

When Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Virgil Flowers comes on the scene, he walks into a case that is already a hot mess. The teens have so far avoided getting caught leaving a wake of destruction. While they seem to have no morals, they are not dumb. Virgil is put in charge of the case but it is like herding cats when you try to get all the different areas of the law to play nice together. While Virgil works to bringing in the kids alive, that is not a shared feeling throughout the investigation.

Virgil eventually is able to make contact with one of the teens who is having second thoughts about the plans. Now Flowers is trying to get to the teens to get them out of this mess alive, before the other arms of the law get to them first.

Hot mess is a great way to describe this one. I think this is my first John Sanford and I was surprised at the raw bluntness of the book…. harsh words, insane and graphic acts of crime, fast paced action… you open this read and you are thrust head long into the middle of the action and be careful not to get hit by the blood splatter.

*whew*

I enjoyed John Sanford’s writing, and his characters even if he wrote some without a soul or a conscience. Creepy characters are not a deal breaker for me, kids with no sense of right and wrong hit a gray area for me. I did however like Virgil Flowers, described as an aging hippy type, log hair, flowered shirts… he somehow alone leveled this read out bu his sense of humor and his battle against his upbringing by his Pastor Father who has given Virgil an underlying faith that even against his will, curbs his decisions.

I personally don’t think I will seek out any more of the Virgil Flowers novels, I would however like to take another look at John Sanford and see what else this great author writes.

Morning Meandering…. Challenges For Me!

Published on January 15, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Good morning! These bonus days off have been AWESOME! Yesterday I had a couple of meetings and a couple of errands in the morning and then the rest of the day was mine – *insert mwwwwaaaaa haaaa haaa laugh here* . I updated my sidebar, wrote a review, cleaned up some tabs and yes – I ever read. 😀

I have missed books.

Then last night after setting up the rest of my 2013 WHERE Are You Reading Challenge, I stared looking for other challenges I wanted to be a part of…. and here is what I came up with:

The audio book challenge is always a fun one and really, not a big challenge for me as I am constantly listening to audio every day. Still… I like to play. 😀 Here is how she sets it up:

There are five levels to the challenge

Flirting-Listen to 6 Audio Books

Going Steady- Listen to 12 Audio Books

Lover- Listen to 25 Audio Books

Married-Listen to more than 25 Audio Books

You Define the Relationship- Create your own challenge (choose your own name and level starting as low or going as high as you’d like)

This is a fairly laid back challenge and I want it to be as enjoyable as possible.

Audio Books can be any genre
You can cross challenges
You don’t have to be a blogger to participate. You can tell us about what you are listening to in the comments of the monthly link up.

So using Teresa’s guidelines, I am going to up the level and say I will go for a goal of 40 audio books this year and I will call it the ADDICT Level 😉

And Lori is having an A to Z Challenge that looks like fun so I thought I would try that too:

This challenge is simply to read a book that has a title that starts with each letter of the alphabet.

I think that is about it. Last year I had signed up for about 7 and just couldn’t keep up with them and honestly I don’t know how I did on them. They are fun though, so here I go again :D. It feels good to be getting back on track.

Today on my day off one of the things I will be doing is reading Lenore Appelhan’s debut book, Level 2. Lenore is awesome, a book reviewer and someone I have had the privilege of meeting in New York. You can find Lenore at Presenting Lenore, stop by and congratulate her on release day!

Between The Lines by Jodi Picoult and Samantha Van Leer

Published on January 14, 2013January 14, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

Delilah would rather be reading a book then hanging out with friends, taking on sports, or hitting the coffee shops like most girls her age. She has been labeled a loner, and that is fine by her.

But lately, it has been just one book that has her attention and it’s a bit embarrassing as it is a Fairy Tale written for someone much younger than she with illustrations and the whole works. But there is something about this book called Between The Lines that speaks to her….

I mean… REALLY speaks to her. Because one day, Prince Oliver calls out to her literally from the pages. Page 43 to be exact…

and both their worlds change.

Oliver has a life within the book, he plays a role when the book is open and does his part, as all the characters do, to perform for the reader. When the book is closed, the characters have lives, playing chess, baking cakes…. but Oliver has seen the world behind the readers face when the book is open and he knows there is something more out there… something he longs for, and the fact that Delilah’s face is pretty nice to look at, just makes him want out of the book even more.

So… how do you pull a character out of a book? Oliver isn’t no background character like third henchman on the left… nope… he is the main protagonist.

So Delilah and Oliver work together to try to figure out a way for him to be released from the book. Oliver finds his world flat and bland and Delilah really doesn’t have much more of an exciting one. Can this fairy tale really have a happy ending?

So I am in Barnes and Noble recently (yes, yes, my Mother Ship) and I am craving a little YA. This book caught my eye and after reading the first few pages I knew I wanted to know how this story would end.

Jodi Picoult explains in the beginning of the book that this story line was actually her teenage daughter Samantha’s idea. Samantha called Jodi one day while she was on a book tour and said she had an idea for a story. What if the characters within a book had lives once the cover was closed, just like we do when we are not reading? Jodi liked the idea and offered to write the story with Samantha. This decision led to a two-year project of writing and editing through weekends, evenings, and during summer vacation… the result? Well….

I read Between The Lines in about 4 hours. I literally did not want to put the book own. Beautiful illustrations pop up on the occasional page and lets just say, I can see why Delilah was fascinated with Oliver. The story alternates between the Fairy Tale, Delilah, and Oliver and honestly to me it was brilliant. I always love books that break the mold and this is one that did just that.

The book is sweet and funny. When it is Oliver’s chapters and he is trying to understand Delilah’s world, there are some funny moments. For him, if it doesn’t exist in the book, he knows nothing of it… here is a funny section from page 21 that Oliver narrates as he is trying to understand the readers world:

I’ve learned many things the otherworld has that we don’t: television (which is something parents do not like as much as books); Happy Meals (apparently not all meals bring joy, just the ones that come in a small bag with a toy; and showers (something you do before bedtime that leaves you drenched).

I really enjoyed the book… it has its flaws but nothing that was a deal breaker for me and I honestly loved the break from serious reading to enjoy a sweet tale of fairy tale romance between a Prince and a book lover (I personally think, the way it was meant to be.)

I will keep this book with my other books by Picoult, but this one I think will hold a special place in my heart as it is not the hard story line that she writes for adults, but a softer side that I really really enjoyed. I recommend this book for YA lovers young and old…. not every YA book needs to be tricked out with hot guys on motor cycles, high school age gorgeous vampires, or dystopian bread makers, some just require a prince….

and his horse.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on January 13, 2013January 13, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)71 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:

Angie S!!!!

It was a fairly decent week, I feel like I am Stella… and I am starting to get my grove back. 😛 What does that mean? It means, I am enjoying books again! Not that I didn’t enjoy books, but that I didn’t have time to enjoy books if that makes sense. I am coming off a HUGE busy season and books while logged to read… were not.

Finally… I am reading again. SO what happened here this past week:

The Road by Cormac McCarthy (I felt it was a must read in my lifetime… see if I was right. 😀 )

In The Belly Of Jonah by Sandra Brannon (Our book club read and oooohhhh so much fun – check out what the author sent us for our review!)

Gods In Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson. Audio book lovers, do not pass on this one!!!!

Not too bad this week. I actually had some book time and with Monday and Tuesday off this week (YAY!!!) that should continue. Here is what is on tap:

What happens when happily ever after…isn’t?

     Delilah is a bit of a loner who prefers spending her time in the school library with her head in a book—one book in particular. Between the Lines may be a fairy tale, but it feels real. Prince Oliver is brave, adventurous, and loving. He really speaks to Delilah.

     And then one day Oliver actually speaks to her. Turns out, Oliver is more than a one-dimensional storybook prince. He’s a restless teen who feels trapped by his literary existence and hates that his entire life is predetermined. He’s sure there’s more for him out there in the real world, and Delilah might just be his key to freedom.

     Delilah and Oliver work together to attempt to get Oliver out of his book, a challenging task that forces them to examine their perceptions of fate, the world, and their places in it. And as their attraction to each other grows along the way, a romance blossoms that is anything but a fairy tale.

On Long Island, a farmer finds a duck pond turned red with blood. On the Lower East Side, two boys playing at a pier discover a floating human torso wrapped tightly in oilcloth. Blueberry pickers near Harlem stumble upon neatly severed limbs in an overgrown ditch. Clues to a horrifying crime are turning up all over New York, but the police are baffled: There are no witnesses, no motives, no suspects.

The grisly finds that began on the afternoon of June 26, 1897, plunged detectives
headlong into the era’s most baffling murder mystery. Seized upon by battling media moguls Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst, the case became a publicity circus. Reenactments of the murder were staged in Times Square, armed reporters lurked in the streets of Hell’s Kitchen in pursuit of suspects, and an unlikely trio–a hard-luck cop, a cub reporter, and an eccentric professor–all raced to solve the crime.

What emerged was a sensational love triangle and an even more sensational trial: an unprecedented capital case hinging on circumstantial evidence around a victim whom the police couldn’t identify with certainty, and who the defense claimed wasn’t even dead. The Murder of the Century is a rollicking tale–a rich evocation of America during the Gilded Age and a colorful re-creation of the tabloid wars that have dominated media to this day.

I have no idea how this got on my IPOD. Do I download it? I can’t recall but I am listening to it…

In the isolated Cape Cod village of Prospect, the Gilly sisters are as different as can be. Jo, a fierce and quiet loner, is devoted to the mysteries of her family’s salt farm, while Claire is popular, pretty, and yearns to flee the salt at any cost. But the Gilly land hides a dark legacy that proves impossible to escape. Although the community half-suspects the Gilly sisters might be witches, it doesn’t stop Whit Turner, the town’s wealthiest bachelor, from forcing his way into their lives. It’s Jo who first steals Whit’s heart, but it is Claire–heartbroken over her high school sweetheart–who marries him.

Years later, estranged from her family, Claire finds herself thrust back onto the farm with the last person she would have chosen: her husband’s pregnant mistress. Suddenly, alliances change, old loves return, and new battle lines are drawn. What the Gilly sisters learn about each other, the land around them, and the power of the salt, will not only change each of their lives forever, it will also alter Gilly history for good.

OOH, doesn’t this sound good?

So that’s my reading plan and I am THRILLED about it. I also want to see what you are reading this week! Please add your What Are You Reading link below where it says click here and then others can come and see what you are reading as well. You never know where that next great read may come from….

(On Twitter our hashtag is #IMWAYR)

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

For those of you who review mainly Middle Grade (MG) and/or Young Adult (YA) reads, please also add your link to this meme as well:

Gods In Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson

Published on January 13, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Arlene left Alabama a long time ago and with it, a deeply buried secret. She had made a deal with God that she had held true to these past ten years….

Then Alabama came knocking on her door in Chicago in the form of a once classmate, Rose May Lolley. And Rose May is asking questions… questions that Arlene never wanted to have to answer and questions that have her making her way back to all she left in Alabama along with her boyfriend Burr, who has been wanting to meet Arlene’s family for a long time.

Be careful for what you wish for…

Arlene already knows her strong Southern Baptist family is going to have trouble with her African-American boyfriend, but really, Burr is the least of her worries. Arlene’s long kept secret is starting to come to the surface and she must do everything she can to keep the past in the past, because what happened in Alabama… really needs to stay in Alabama. Buried deep.

Last year I listened to Joshilyn Jackson’s book Back Seat Saints on audio and really enjoyed it. At the time I did not know that this book was actually written and published before Back Seat Saints and involves many of the same characters.

What was fun about this book was that it took a small character (Arlene) from Back Seat Saints and made her the main protagonist. It did not seem to make a difference that I listened to them in reverse order. Some of the story line overlaps within the two books, as Rose May Lolley and Arlene encounter one another in the earlier book, but this is fun and interesting as while Back Seat Saints is told from Rose May’s perspective, Gods In Alabama is told from Arlene’s. It’s hard to explain but I for one thought it was brilliant and lapped up both reads.

I listened to both on audio and audio book lovers, you are going to LOVE this narration by the author. The fun Alabama accent with have you feeling like you are right there enjoying the down home craziness right along with them.

Seriously, a joy to read. I had so much fun with this one and look forward to reading Joshilyn Jackson again.

Morning Meanderings… Coughing Into Sunday

Published on January 13, 2013January 13, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

Yesterdays 5k was a blast! While not the most impressive obstacles…. at one point we had to carry a block of wood around a large area and through some ropes set at different levels… (what is that… a Minnesota thing?) we did have a good time. 😀

One of the obstacles was to go up over this wooden board. You climb it with a rope and then go over the other side. It was about 10 feet high and it was set up pretty unsafe. I couldn’t get up it, there were no foot holds, and my friend Amy got to the top but seeing there was nothing to help you down but to jump on to the icy ground she and I chose to walk around those. Later we were talking to friends and found out one of them broke a rib on that thing and another a finger. 😯 The worst thing that happened to us is that ever since I quit running, I keep coughing. Too much cold air in the lungs I guess. *cough*

Today is a pretty low-key day (YIPPEE!!!!). I am going to church this morning, then picking up a few groceries and then home to dive into a book. I bought Jodi Piccoult’s new one, ‘Between The Lines’ yesterday and I am looking forward to diving in. The house is warm, my blanket snugly. I may see if Al wants to go see a movie later today – there are a few good ones out there.

As for books that came in this week… tis the season! Something about winter and being surrounded by books… makes me so happy!

Don’t these look good? AND a couple of audio too!!!

I have Monday and Tuesday off this week due to an abundance of hours used the end of December and the first of January and I am looking forward to a doing a little work in the book room, a Library meeting, coffee with a friend, and mmmmm…

MORE BOOKS! 😀

How has your weekend been? Anything fun? Have you seen any good movies?

In The Belly Of Jonah by Sandra Brannan (Bookies Review)

Published on January 11, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

Liv Bergen lives a small quiet life of managing a limestone mine in Colorado. It may not be the life that many women would seek out, but Liv enjoys what she does and would have it no other way.

Then a young female employee of the mine is found murdered and suddenly Liv’s life is anything but quiet. The mine soon becomes a part of the crime scene and police and FBI are coming around with questions. Then Liv’s former classmate, now FBI Profiler, Lisa comes into town and takes residence at Liv’s home when all the hotels are full. Soon Liv discovers that the crimes are too close to home and she can either sit back and wait to see what will happen next or she can work on being part of the solution.

As Liv starts looking at clues, she discovers she has a sort of knack for putting things together and the murdered may soon find that Liv Bergen is his worst nightmare.

I first met author Sandra Brannon in New York in 2010 at the Book Expo. It was a short time before this, her first book was about to be released and Sandra was a little nervous and I instantly took a liking to her. As Jill at Rhapsody In Books recently said in a review, “You can not meet this author and not like her immediately”.

In The Belly Of Jonah was a good solid mystery. I love it when fiction teaches me something and I learned a little bit about mining, and even a little about forensics. This book is a great fast paced read that is never over the top out there (and that can be scary!) but feels like a good level mystery with awesome good guys, and of course the notorious bad guy.

I enjoyed the book so much and like it when a book takes me from the pages to my laptop to look at words and scenes more closely. While In The Belly Of Jonah is written as a series, it is just as easily a stand alone read. I for one enjoyed it so much I want to jump into the second book now – and it may please you to know that three books in the series are currently available: Lots Return To Sodom, and Widow’s Might.

The Bookies Review…

I was thrilled when my book club chose In The Belly Of Jonah for our January 2013 read . I was also thrilled when Sandra offered to SKYPE with us! It was out first SKYPE with an author and it was a lot of fun! The girls really enjoyed talking with Sandra. It was fun to hear about her back ground in mining and her characters and who they may be designed after.

Sandra had sent us a goodie box:

and in it was chocolate rocks for each of us (ahhhhhhh!!!!) and she sent us ingredients to make a drink:

This is the makings of a “hairy buffalo” which Sandra says is like a Colorado Bulldog but with chocolate milk. 😛 When Sandra was in the cities in September I went out to dinner with her and a girl from my book club and introduced her to the Colorado Bulldog. This was a fun gift that we will try next month. 😀 Thanks Sandra – you are funny and amazing!

Another fun moment of the evening was when one of the girls n out book club decided to reveal a little secret by making her own book cover:

Very creative! Laura is pregnant and she announced it to out book club with this cover… Sandra loved this!

and finally, we had a great group picture that we took for Sandra but really – I like it too 😀

ps… if you are wondering about the doll… we reenacted a crime. Enough said. 😉

Morning Meanderings…. First 5k Of The Year Eve

Published on January 11, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Good morning! The house is feeling nice this morning, warm and cozy. I went to bed last night at 7 pm and got up at 7 am this morning. I finally feel caught up on my sleep. I feel rested and ready to move into these next 5 days off.

Soon here I need to get ready to go have lunch with some awesome friends. We couldn’t find a way to get us all together before Christmas so we are meeting today for lunch and our Christmas celebration. I am looking forward to it.

As this post is titled, tomorrow is the first 5k of the year. It is called the Iceman and is in Dayton Minnesota. As far as we know, my friend Amy and I have never been to Dayton Minnesota, but we are on out way there tomorrow morning for our 11 am run. I am both excited and a bit anxious. 😀

The weather has gone weird here… warmer this week, like in the 20’s ans then yesterday it rained an froze over night. I hear that the roads are ice rinks and that school has been cancelled. Tomorrow it is supposed to drop to the teens and rain/snow mix…. not the best 5k weather…. but I guess we will see.

Later today I am going to share with you my review and our awesome book club experience with author Sandra Brannan…. I will also revile what she sent us in the box…

Really… this is worth stopping in later for 🙂 Hope your ay and weekend are fabulous, I just finished listening to Gods In Alabama and wow. I need to find more by this author!

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Published on January 8, 2013January 8, 2013 by Sheila (Book Journey)46 Comments

In a post apocalyptic world of little light, no animals, and the only people you occasionally see may be as likely to kill you for food as to shake your hand…

the future… is not looking so bright.

The man (only referred to as The Man) and his middle grade age son, take to the road in look out for food, shelter, but all is temporary in this new world as staying in one spot too long is certain death and the times of warmth and food to eat are scarce.

As the story moves on down the road the man, who is hardened by the weariness of the world tries to give his son hope when hope is nowhere to be found as they walk the boy grows in knowledge way beyond his years in ways many of as adults could not even comprehend.

Why did I want to read this book?

The Road is one of those books that seems to be on my invisible “must read in my lifetime” list. Actually… as I write this, I should really make that list.

The Road was a book I listened to on audio. Tom Stechschulte (who also narrated Dennis LeHane’s Shutter Island) did a wonderful job of portraying a weary father trying to give his son a future when no future is to be found.

The Road… I am not going to lie, is über depressing. As the audio went on, even the good moments are short-lived and time and again the pair return to the road going onward…. towards… what? They and you as the reader, have no idea.

So what makes The Road so popular? Is it our thirst for the unknown even if it scares the poo out of us? Initially released in 2006 was it a bit ahead of the great Apocalypse/Dystopian genre era we are currently in? I don’t have the answers to these questions. For me, The Road was good… but not outstanding. I wonder why? AM I desensitized by the current dystopian reads that are way more action packed? Again, I don’t know.

The Road for me was interesting and sad and heartbreaking and frightening. It made me look out the window and try to picture such a world where daily instead of blogging or going to work or hanging with friends at a coffee shop – the only thing to do is try to survive. When we think about the growing earth population and the demand demand demand for more…. more media, more food, more rights, more control…. I have to wonder….

How far off is McCarthy’s world? Is it a possibility? Think of the last 50 to 100 years and how the world has changed. Now go forward 50 to 100 years. What do you see?

Overall – obviously The Road is a thinker and I am glad to be able to say I have read it. I look forward to seeing the movie… perhaps tonight.