It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on December 23, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 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.

Last weeks winner: Martha E

Congratulations! Please choose a book or bookish item from the Reading Cafe!

Happy Christmas everyone! In light of the holidays upon us I am going to keep this short and sweet. Here is what was posted this past week:

Ravens Heart by Jesse Blackadder (Oh historical fiction – how I have missed you!)

14 By Peter Clines (a little our on my genre but I liked it!)

I have reviews to write yet but have spent most of my free time this week shopping and prepping for Christmas. With College Son coming home tomorrow and being here for the week I am not committing to any massive reading, just finishing up what I have going and of course planning my first read of the year which is always a big deal to me.

Speaking of the first of the year, there is still time to get in on the super fun Where Are You Reading Challenge. 🙂

SO please add your link to your Where Are You Reading below and I will try to pop in and say hi and see what you are reading.

And to all of you who celebrate Christmas – Merry Christmas, Happy Christmas to you and yours! 😀

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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:

14 by Peter Clines

Published on December 22, 2012December 22, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

It’s so hard to find a decent apartment that is affordable.

When Nate gets a tip on an apartment at an incredible price with utilities included he jumps at the chance to get at it. While the building is old, the studio like apartment works for Nate and he is moved in quickly.

Things in the building are a little off. As Nate meets the other tenants he finds that each apartment is very different and each tenant has a reason to not really care because, as previously stated – the price was right. Yet as the tenants continue to meet up, Nate finds things to be more and more strange. There is a strange staircase int he basement… and lets not even get started on Apartment that has been painted shut and padlocked and never NEVER rented out.

As the tenants work together to solve the mystery of their building cautiously avoiding the building manager, things become more and more strange…

I discovered this book on audible.com last week and thought it sounded really interesting. Sci fi is not normally my thing and for the most part the book did not give off a sci-fi feel (until the very end).

I really enjoyed the mystery and the friendships built-in this book. Never creepy or gory I found I enjoyed this audio right from the very first. Narrator Ray Porter did a fantastic job for a multiple character read. Normally I don’t like books with many characters playing front and center as I find it confusing to get to know them – but that was not the case in 14, the characters were introduced to Nate at a good pace and perhaps because it was a first meeting for him as well. it seemed to work for me too.

Half way through this read I knew I wanted to try something else by this author as well. I see he has many other books but they all looked pretty sci-fi based to me and again, not my style. This one seemed to be his first dabbling into a bit of suspense/adventure and mystery almost taking center stage. Although I may try him anyway as I was so impressed with this one.

Again, I listened to this on audio. While not my usual genre, I think this would greatly appeal to lovers of sci fi. This book won the best sci-fi audiobook of 2012 by Audible.com.

Morning Meanderings… Missing The Action!

Published on December 22, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)35 Comments

Morning all. 😀 For today’s Saturday Snapshot I thought I would reflect a little on the fun events I took part of in 2012. Winter, is not my favorite season. It leaves me feeling….

restless.

As the days have become colder and yeah, whiter, I find myself thinking of the warmer weather more and more, and yeah I know I have a long time to wait for it but maybe some sunny pictures will help. 😀

**This was the first mud run Amy and I had participated in. It gave us both the fever for more….**

**This is one of my favorites because I did the color run with my son Justin.**

This is my favorite event pic of the year – the girl with the 65177 number is my friend Belinda, I am directly in front of her with the little ponytail. Both are arms I raised trying to get as much color on us as possible.

Ahhhh… that feels better. On January 13th Amy and I are doing a 5K Obstacle course in the cities called The Iceman. I am pretty excited!

I am working on a Challenge for my Fitness website Team Kickin It. I hope to have it up this weekend so if you are interested, please watch for it – I think it is going to be fun and I would love people to join me. 🙂

So…. This is The End?

Published on December 21, 2012December 21, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

Happy December 21! So here we all are on the day that generated news articles, jokes, movies, count down timers… and more. It is like the end all right, the end of an era of a Mayan trend. As I look at my window at the sun shining its hard to imagine anything different.

Some friends of mine are going to a Mayan “End Of The World” party tonight. Al and I are going to a friend’s house who has a standing get together each year the Friday before Christmas. Not Mayan themed, but if I owned anything “Mayanish” I would probably wear it. 😀

SO in light of this day… I must share some of my favorite (perhaps a little inappropriate) jokes I have seen regarding the Mayan calendar… I am so sorry, but I must get this on the blog:

Ok – I have to work out yet, have a lunch date with friends, a little shopping to do, and then home this afternoon to read a bit and prep my food for tonight’s gathering. I hope your 12-21-12 is a good one.

Any fun plans for today or through the weekend? Any Mayan jokes to share?

The Raven’s Heart by Jesse Blackadder

Published on December 19, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

The Blackadder family has waited a long long time to bring their name back to restoration. Stemming back all the way back to young Alison’s grandmother who was captured and forced into marriage with a man named Hume. Quickly sending her son William away so he was not captured and killed, the times have changed and history is made….

Now in Scotland 1561, William is aboard a ship with Alison who has been kept safe by being disguised as a boy since she was a young girl. Now with the long-awaited Queen returning, William feels the tide is about to change, and he hopes, in his favor. It is now up to Alison yo let go of the learned male ways of walking and talking, and instead take on the role of a lady in waiting to the Queen.

Alison, has to wonder, how is she about to pull this off?

Ahhhhh. It has been a long time since I have been able to indulge in historical fiction. The Raven’s Heart was an excellent selection to break back into a genre that I enjoy. Based on the true story of Mary Queen Of Scots, author Jesse Blackadder weaves a fictional thread through what we know to be true and adding in this delicious tale.

Alison’s role in the book is a tough one, perhaps if she had grown up as a lady things may have been easier but, readers of this book will find that having been raised as a boy to protect her from danger has caused this change to be difficult.

I like a book that engages me from the start and I was lucky and pleased to discover this one did. The fast pace on the novel kept me up late at night not being able to find a break in the action to put it down until, droopy eyed, I had to. Now that – makes for good reading!

While a love interest is apparent in the novel, this is not a romance, instead the book leans on action, suspense, and a little mystery. Filled with characters that felt real, I found the book overall to be an enjoyment to read and learned a little history along the way.

Note: You probably noticed that the authors last name is the same last name used in the book. Author Jesse Blackadder traveled to Scotland in 2004 to trace the roots of her name… her name signifies the original Blackadder Estate and House, by the time she left, this story was coming together in her head.

Morning Meaderings… Book Reviewers, Do You Ever Forget To Review A Book?

Published on December 18, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

Good morning fellow book lovers! I can’t tell you how good I feel. But – of course I will try…. 😀

After the craziness and business of life recently I have reached a week of four days in a row – YES! Four Days in a row that I have no commitments after work. A moment of silence please for my sanity 🙂 WOO HOO!!! This means that I can:

Christmas shop at my leisure

Go to the grocery store without feeling rushed

catch up on reviews, memes, things I wanted to check out

READ.

😛

So…. this morning I was putting the finishing touches on a review of Round House that I wrote for the her Voice Magazine. I also wanted to send in my review of Insurgent by Veronica Roth as it was placed in the best of 2012 by Goodreads. So I do a search for my Insurgent review. AND I search. I find it in my Monday What Are You Reading post as a “to be read”, I find it in another morning post on my deck while I was reading it. But alas – no review. 😯 Seriously, I forgot to review it.

Please, please tell me that has happened to you.

In other not so craziness, this morning I started listening to 14 by Peter Clines and I am thrilled. Sometimes audio takes a while for me to get in the rhythm of the read, but this one started out with a real good vibe, I liked the narration right away, and the story line and I literally had a smile on my face this morning as I listened.

So that’s my morning meandering. Hope all is going smoothly in this week before Christmas for you.

Oh, and if you are a reviewer – and you have forgotten to review a book… please share. I could use the “OOPS!” Company. 😀

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on December 16, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)56 Comments

Last weeks winner: Lori from Escape With Dollycas (Woo hoo!!!)

Congratulations! Please choose a book or bookish item from the Reading Cafe!

Looking back over this past week I am thrilled to see I actually posted something. Here is what happened here this past week:

Forgotten Road by Randall Arthur (WOW!)

One Second After by William Forstchen (another WOW!)

Books To Movies… “Heck Yeah! or Hell’s No!!!” What do you think?

It has been a busy BUSY week but here it is Sunday evening (here) and I have a nice quiet week ahead. No commitments on any evenings this week until Friday when we have a Christmas party to go to. I can not even tell you how happy that makes me. When I get so overly busy I just DRAIN all my energy and I have felt drained.

Books of course, are on the agenda… and I am so excited about getting into BOOKS!

Hannah Smith, the latest in several generations of strong, no-nonsense Florida women who live life on their own terms. Hannah, who has inherited a PI agency from her uncle, feels her ancestors’ rugged individualism in her bones but has been unable to let it rise to the surface—until she agrees to help a fishing client by searching for his missing niece. The case gives her the chance she needs to find her game, tracking and ultimately confronting a sociopath who specializes in seducing rich, timid women and divesting them of their fortunes before tossing them aside, dead or barely living. Hannah, a perplexing mix of timidity and strength, must confront multiple personal demons in the course of the tale, and she does so with grace and savvy. With its Gulf Coast setting and watery landscape, this is less a new series for White than it is the introduction of a new character to Doc Ford’s world, but that’s all good for the author’s fans, who will welcome another seaworthy star, whether she works solo or in tandem with Ford.

When Vianne Rocher receives a letter from beyond the grave, she has no choice but to follow the wind that blows her back to Lansquenet, the beautiful French village in which eight years ago she opened a chocolate shop and first learned the meaning of home.

But returning to one’s past can be a dangerous pursuit. Vianne, with her daughters, Anouk and Rosette, finds Lansquenet changed in unexpected ways: women veiled in black, the scent of spices and peppermint tea – and there, on the bank of the river Tannes, facing the church, a minaret. Most surprising of all, her old nemesis, Father Francis Reynaud, desperately needs her help.

Can Vianne work her magic once again?

Padlocked doors. Strange light fixtures. Mutant cockroaches.

There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment. Of course, he has other things on his mind. He hates his job. He has no money in the bank. No girlfriend. No plans for the future. So while his new home isn’t perfect, it’s livable. The rent is low, the property managers are friendly, and the odd little mysteries don’t nag at him too much. At least, not until he meets Mandy, his neighbor across the hall, and notices something unusual about her apartment. And Xela’s apartment. And Tim’s. And Veek’s. Because every room in this old Los Angeles brownstone has a mystery or two. Mysteries that stretch back over a hundred years. Some of them are in plain sight. Some are behind locked doors. And all together these mysteries could mean the end of Nate and his friends. Or the end of everything….

I am excited to get started on these stories. SO what are you reading this week between the hustle and bustle of the Holidays? I look forward to seeing what you are reading and what I will be adding to my reading in the upcoming weeks. 😀

Please add your What Are You Reading post below where it says “click here”. I think I actually have some to visit this week and I an sooooo excited!

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Sunday Check List…

Published on December 16, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

Good morning.

It has been another busy week and today and tomorrow are pretty crazy too. This afternoon we have a Christmas party here – about 20 people with kids in the house. Tomorrow I am supposed to head to the cities for a board meeting but I am feeling so overwhelmed I am thinking I may cancel that.

I have to get my son in the Navy’s Christmas box out and I have a big mailing to do for my job. You ever get that feeling when you just feel pushed to do one more thing.. one more thing….

that’s where I am at.

I am going shopping this morning before Church to try to make the most of my time today.

As for books that have come in:

I am reading Round House today and I have to finish it to get a review written for a magazine deadline. I am really hoping to get it finished today.

I am looking forward to Survivor Finale tonight…. love that, but will miss my weekly watching of the show!

I hope your Sunday is a little more relaxing than mine 😀

Books To Movies… “Heck Yeah!” or “Hell’s No!”

Published on December 15, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)43 Comments

As readers/book lovers I believe we take the reading experience quite personally. From the discussions I have had here at Book Journey to the discussions I have participated in or just read all over the web, books can touch our very innermost soul. They make us laugh, cry, become angry, and take us to places we may never step foot in if not for the book. The characters become a part of us… we may know them, or wish we could know them. Some books cause us to wear t-shirts saying ‘Team ______________”, and some make us publicly defend their honor. Some books stay with us for years afterwards, and just thinking of them brings up fond emotions as we gush to a friend, “It’s one of my all time favorites!”

Now… let’s say (Insert a Favorite book title here) is going to become a movie. Enter Joe the Director (yeah, for this post we will call him ‘Joe’). Now Joe has big – BIG ideas of how he is going to turn your beloved book into a movie. He has a vision and you start to hear and see the hub bub of who might play this character or that one….

BUT (and it’s a big one, I will not lie) what if this Director, Joe Whats-his-face’s vision does not line up with what you or I had felt was the heart of the book? What if Joe takes the book an entirely different direction and now what you loved, what you admired, seems to be gone…

Are you in camp:

A. I hate it when my favorite books become movies – it ruins what I loved about the book. I do not see movies that were made from books.

B. I am so excited when a book becomes a movie, I LOVE to see what they will bring out on the screen and how their vision may differ from my own.

C. I am ok with a book becoming a movie as long as they stick true to the nature of the book – like when ____________________ became a movie.

D. I have no opinion either way…. I am just reading the post to see what you are up to. 😀

E. Other

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. Can you choose a camp you fall into? Can you name a book to movie that was extremely successful in your opinion? Can you name a book to movie that was an epic fail?

Morning Meanderings… Library Budget Cuts

Published on December 15, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good morning. In light of world happenings yesterday I need a distraction from the incredible pain that has been let loose into Connecticut. I can not even imagine…. and my heart cried for each and every one of those who have been hurt by this unthinkable tragedy.

That said…

This last week I went to a public hearing in support of our local Library. Two weeks ago, while the city was planning the 2013 budget, our local Senior Center spoke up that they needed more funding and the city pulled $20,000 from the Library budget to give to the Senior Center.

This is a tough decision – both are very worthy non profits. I knew for our local library this was a huge blow that would possibly include reduction of staff hours and services like the Book Mobile that delivers books to the surrounding area.

I went in support of the library while they hashed through this decision to finalize the City Budget. I have never sat through one of these meetings before and it was both amazing, and harsh as they battled it out – and in the end…

the library lost the funding.

There were moments I actually teared up to think of how hard our Library works to provide great services and now how much harder they will have to work on their own budget to make ends meet. This makes me think, as book lovers what can we do to help support our libraries?

I am going to post more on this topic later when I have more time to process…. as for now, I will share a few pictures for Saturday Snapshot. These pictures are from the 22nd floor of a hotel (gah – can not recall the name….) in Minneapolis when I was with my Library Team for the Literacy Institution I am assisting in. The floor is called “windows and it is all huge windows all the way around this huge meeting space. I imagine in the summer it is beautiful – but even here you can get a little sample:

Kind of a rambling post …. but yeah. There it is.

Today I am off to a morning brunch Christmas party and then coming home as it is a rainy wet day here in Central Minnesota and I do not want to be in it.