Literary Blog Hop June 23-27

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)151 Comments

Welcome to The Literary Blog Hop hosted by Judith of Leeswammes Blog!  Not really sure what is considered a Literary read, Wikepedia defines it as well written, critically acclaimed and usually serious in nature.  Still not sure?  Goodreads has compiled a list of over 500 titles of literary fiction.

My giveaway will be for a literary book of your choice of $20 or less from either Amazon or the Book Depository.  To enter I have one question you need to answer.  I would like to know what is the best book you have read (or listened to if it was on audio) so far in 2012.

I will draw a winner the morning of the 28th and announce it here.

For the list of the other participants to hop your way too – click here

Long Gone By Alafair Burke

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

Alice Humphrey really could have it all.  After all her father was the famous award winning director, Frank Humphrey.  Alice knew that life wasn’t for her and had insisted that she make it on her own.  After months of struggling financially she can not believe her luck when while visiting an art gallery, she meets Drew Campbell who offers her a job as a new gallery manager.  The owner who chooses to remain anonymous, will leave the details up to Alice, and it will be as though Alice owns the gallery herself!

There is one tiny catch….

At the opening of this new gallery this mysterious owner wants only one artist to be featured and promoted.  Once this artists run is up, Alice is open to choose any other artists to feature in the gallery.  The artist Alice must represent has some pretty far our unpleasant art pieces.  Alice just continues to remind herself that this is only for a time and then she can make the gallery more to her liking… and hey, the paychecks are coming in!

But a group of protesters against the art set Alice’s nerves on edge, and then finding the gallery emptied to the bare bones and Drew’s body in the gallery the morning after the protesters is impossible to wrap her mind around.  Who would do such a thing? 

When the police are involved, Alice soon discovers that Drew is not who he says he was.  And now the art that was displayed and the gallery itself seem to be tied to a missing girl.  When pictures turn up of a woman who looks like Alice in compromising acts, Alice knows she has been set up.  To save herself from being put behind bars she has to get to the bottom of this twisted area of her life.  Who is this girl and how is she tied to the gallery?  As she works to find answers Alice begins to discover long hidden secrets within her own family – secrets that could get her killed.

Why did I want to read this?  The synopsis is fascinating… a mysterious job offer, a murder centered around an art gallery and a protagonist who comes from a life of plenty but chooses to make her own way.  It is funny how those family ties no matter how hard we try to distance ourselves in some cases, can come back when we least expect it.

Long Gone is definitely a page turner.  There is no long drawn out front story to this book – instead we jump into the gallery job offer and things spiral into action from there, which I like it when a book gets to the point.  I liked Alice, she felt real.  I was surprised that the missing girl was not a bigger part of the story.  While that story line hovers around the edges of the book, a small part about it in the beginning and then a few sprinkles throughout the read, it is really more about Alice. 

As you get to the end it all starts coming together and meshes into a fantastic climax.  As I think about the lack of information about the missing girl I can not help but wonder if that was not the author being strategic… after all the girl is missing… it could make sense that she does hover – almost ghost like and not quite there, throughout the read.

Lovers of great suspense and good fast action should definitely check this book out.

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

Thank you to TLC book tours for letting me solve the crime with Alice!

Morning Meanderings… A little Bookish Travels

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)23 Comments

Good morning!  It is Friday and I can not tell you how happy that makes me!  FRIDAY!  It is my day off and it is a real day off!!!  By that I mean I am not buried in “to do’s”.  Laundry is caught up, the lawn (yes… my ever dreaded lawn) does not need to be mowed for a few more days… and the sun… dare I say it… is shining!

This morning I read a post over at Hurtled To 60 and Now Beyond about the real inspiration behind the book, The Secret Garden.  It really is a beautiful place And Frances Hodgson Burnet was actually a tenant there.  I encourage you to stop over and read the post – it really is fascinating and the author of the post (I could not find her name) was just there on Wednesday so this is what it truly looks like today!  Errr, well what it truly looked like two days ago!  😀

On Shelf Awareness this morning there was a lovely video called “How does a New Book Make You Feel?” 

If you get breathless watching this as you see the titles and the emotions… then… you feel like I do.  I swear, this is such a  great time in the history of our world to be a reader.

Ok – I do have one small errand this morning… Sam (our dog) is about to get his first haircut.  I am going to drop him off now and will not pick him up until this afternoon.  As for myself, I suspect if this afternoon I am not on my bike – I am for sure on the deck.  😀

It is also the last day to take my Blog Survey -which I will either pull later today or tomorrow early morning.  I will post results.

Bookish Friday – what bookish thing are you or can you add to your day?

These Girls by Sarah Pekkanen

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

Welcome to New York.  It’s busy and fast paced and feels as though you are surrounded by a constant buzz of electricity that feels the air. 

For Cate, New York has brought her the sought after title of feature editor for the magazine Gloss.  It is everything that Cate had hoped for in a career, and everything she has dreaded as well.

Renee, is in the running for the coveted position of Beauty editor of Gloss.  She suffers from low self-esteem to her constant battle with her weight and her two components for the position seem to have it far more together than she does.  However, the diet pills she has started taking seem to be giving her energy and curbing her appetite and she is learning that if she takes more pills, she has more energy…. and maybe the weight will drop faster.

Abby, had her life together.  She was happy and in a dream job where she was able to go to school in the evenings and by day live with a young family and take care of their darling little girl.  But the man of the house, Bob, is pretty good-looking, and oh so kind, and the wife just works all the time late into the evenings…. leaving Abby alone with Bob…

As these three women connect and eventually become roommates, the secrets that can busy us… perhaps friendship can save us?

Sarah Pekkanen and I in 2011, BEA week, New York

Why did I want to read this book?  Helloooooo… it’s Sarah Pekkanen!  I loved Sarah’s book The Opposite of Me which I read in 2010, and then I loved Skipping A Beat her book of 2011.  You can bet I was super excited to read this one!

Women friendships.  Why do they have to be so complicated?  Cate has the job that she loves and is getting her feet wet into this new career with a flourish.  Yet her friend and roommate Renee struggles through life with weight issues that seem to shadow over everything she does.  If a date does not go well, it is due to her weight, if she doesn’t get the position she wants.. no doubt it is contributed to her weight… and the mean comments that show up on her beauty tips blog just seal the deal that she has to do something about her weight.  They Abby enters the picture and by the time Cate and Renee meet her she is a fragile broken girl with a story that they know nothing about.  Abby’s career as a nanny is now over – and as the pages turn we get a glimpse into what was true then….

Now every author can pull off the multiple protagonists, Sarah Pekkanen does it with a flourish.  Not once did I get confused over whose story line was taking the wheel for a part of the book.  And each of these women – Cate, Renee, and Abby felt like real women to me.  What each woman was going through was so different from the others, yet I could relate to each.  Cate had a drive which I loved, but she also had to balance that out with friendships, and family issues.  Renee’s battle to look good believing it would lead her to feeling good… is a topic I think many of us struggle with, and Abby just fell into the wrong situation which never felt pre meditated… it just… happened.

Reading a Sarah Pekkanen book is like spending time with friends.  I enjoyed spending times within its pages.

I bought this book from Amazon

Amazon Rating

Goodreads review

Morning Meanderings… Sun? Then lets have a giveaway!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)52 Comments

Good morning!  I mentioned yesterdays storms here in central Minnesota.  At that time, and now until later in the day at work did I hear about Duluth Minnesota and the animals in the zoo (a polar bear and a seal escaped when the water rose high enough they could swim out of their cages! And unfortunately, in some cases a few animals drowned).

Ok… that is a downer way to start a post.

In better news, today, if I dare say it out loud looks as though it could be….

sunny.

I hate to even say it out loud as yesterday was off and on too.  I would look out the window at work and see the sun come out and think yes!  Deck time!  Then ten minutes later it would be gray again.. than later sunny… then, well, the gray won out.

And looking at today’s forecast is calls for storms… again.

Ok.. that’s a downer post isn’t it?

Well – for now there is sun so that is what I am going with and maybe this song is premature… but I need it so here we go:

Ok – as part of my book room lets get out act together project 2012 (you will see more on this in the coming weeks…) I have a book giveaway today:

Gorgeous cover yes?  This is a duplicate for me so leave me a comment today about your EXTREME weather memories (or maybe they are current…) and I will enter you into a chance to win this book.  I will keep this open until next Tuesday.

Have a super day!

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)48 Comments

A few weeks ago I hosted a read-a-long for this classic book.  For me, this was my first time experiencing it, for a few that read a long, it was their first time as well.  Here are my thoughts, on The Secret Garden…

~Sheila

Mary Mary, quite contrary how does your garden grow? 

When Mary Lennox is orphaned she is moved away from everything she ever knew and relocated to her uncle’s home in Yorkshire.  It doesn’t take long for all those around to see that Mary is not the most agreeable child in the world.  Through her lonely days in her new home, Mary explores the large home with many rooms.. searching for the crying sounds she hears but no one can tell her what it is.  When she finally does venture outside she meets Dickon, a mysterious boy who tells her of a secret garden… one that has not been entered in many many years. 

Mary’s adventures outdoors leads her not only to the garden, but into a magical world for her to explore with talking animals and adventures beyond her imagination!  Suddenly, Mary’s demeanor changes as the garden blooms her into a whole new girl….

Would you dare enter? Would your life ever be the same if you did?

Why did I want to read this?  I feel like I missed the boat on many of the great reads that many people read in high school.  None of the greats were required reading where I went to school, and honestly in a way I feel cheated.  I have been trying to implement the classics into my reading diet… and thus… this book 😀

The Secret Garden was what I had hoped it would be.  This story was one of innocence and a time when kids did not sit in front of a tv show or a video game but actually got outside and used their imaginations.  I enjoyed Mary, even when she wasn’t the most likable and I think that was because she had potential.  When she meets her cousin and he is just as pouty and unpleasant as she is (probably even more so). To see them work together and help one another is a pretty sweet part of the book and the discover y of the garden and how the garden itself heals people….

well, honestly the message is a powerful one.

I enjoyed the read and I am so thankful so many joined me in this reading of a classic that I can happily now cross off my to be read list. 

I think this book should be on every child’s book shelf.  The Secret Garden is a book that truly is meant to be read.

I listened to this book on audio and really enjoyed Victoria Mcgee’snarration.

Be sure to see our discussion we had on this book and the other reviews from the read a long.

Morning Meanderings… yet another Storm WARNING hits Minnesota (this time with lawn furniture casualties…)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)40 Comments

Good morning. 😀 

Excuse while I go grab coffee cup…. I am going to need the caffeine today.

Some people leave a trail of crumbs… I have of late, left a trail of grumbles regarding our rain.  I have grumbled on both Twitter and Facebook… and yeah, I have grumbled here.  I know some of you mentioned you would love to have the remain where you are at as your weather is warm and dry….

well I am talking EXTREME rain.  AT least every day this past 7 days, and pretty much 3-4 days a week all spring it had rained.  And not pretty watch my flowers grow rain… no it is  EXTREME “batten down the hatches she’s gonna blow” rain!

Last night the wind picked up so strongly it blew my framed pictures off the coffee table next to the open window.  Al (hubby) and I thought we heard an animal cry and I went and opened our garage overhead door (much to hubby’s amusement) so the poor thing could seek refuge if needed.

This morning I woke up and it is still raining and we are supposed to get hit with another round of storms this morning.  I understand that when we have had extreme heat, but we have not. 

I took a quick walk around my squishy wet back yard this morning to see how things fared.  I had put the deck furniture away a couple of days ago so that is all fine but my yard swing did not fare so well…

This swing has been with me for 20+ years.  I know he was old, but he carried a lot of memories.  This is the swing I sat on when I got the news about my moms accident.  It is the one I rocked the boys on when they were young and the one I sat with one of my good friends was offered a promotion she was excited – and scared to take.  It has moved with us twice and sat in the yard since we moved here in 1996.

The rest of the yard was fine.  At least for this storm.  My hostas are extremely well watered.  Swimmingly even.

Now I need to get ready for work.  I am hoping this mornings storm blows by quickly and I can back to outdoor things I love like biking…rollerblading… sitting on my deck with a good book.  😀 

Share with me your stories of sunshine… I miss it 😀

Fairest by Gail Carson Levine

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

I have not featured Camryn for a couple of Tuesdays here as New York threw my scheduling for a loop.  Now, Camryn’s Tuesday YA reviews are back, Camryn is a little older since she was last featured here 😉 … and she is sharing with us about the book, Fairest by Gail Carson Levine.  Seriously… cover love alone would have caused me to pick this book up!

~Sheila

Fairest

Fairest is a novel written by Gail Carson Levine. Aza is very insecure; she feels she was born ugly, and the guests at her adoptive parent’s inn don’t help the matter by staring, or not looking at her at all. But Aza has a skill that makes up for her lack of beauty; she is an amazing singer. She has even learned how to throw her voice and imitate sounds. This is a skill she calls illuse-ing. One day, one of the guests at the inn is without a traveling partner to go to the palace to see the royal wedding of the King and his bride, Ivi, Aza is chosen to accompany her. At the palace, Aza becomes Ivi’s lady-in-waiting. She meets a handsome prince, Ijori, and likes him quite a bit, and he doesn’t seem to mind her looks. But everything turns sour when Queen Ivi demands a dangerous task from Aza, threatening her parents livelihood should she refuse. Aza is forced to do the Queen’s bidding, but the real question is, at what cost?

 

I loved this book. I’ve read Ella Enchanted by this author as well. It’s really good fantasy, but probably for a younger audience. So a few interesting details I picked up out of the story is that they live in Ayortha, where everyone’s name ends with the same vowel it starts with. And it made me interested in htun, but I doubt it actually exists. I think this would be a great gift for someone less than fifteen years old. I would recommend it to any fantasy fan or anyone looking for a good suspenseful book.

Camryn is 12 13 years old, and enjoys reading YA books of the fantasy and romance genre. A few of her favorite books are “Hourglass” by Myra McEntire, “The Other Countess” by Eve Edwards, “Hush, Hush” by Becca Fitzpatrick, “The Immortals” series, the “Marked” series and the “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” series.  When she’s not reading she enjoys watching Gilmore Girls or going to book sales for more books to add to her ever-growing collection.

Check out Camryn’s other YA reviews here

Morning Meanderings… Sometimes my dorkiness even astounds me…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)36 Comments

Good morning people of Tuesday!  I come in peace…. and with coffee 😛

Ugh…. raining AGAIN in Central Minnesota….  gloomy and gray….

The view off my back deck this morning.

Anyhoo…

YESTERDAY afternoon I came home from work.  The day had a bit of a fall feeling to it, cooler and overcast and I was going to work on some on-line stuff.  SO I grabbed my laptop, my mouse, my blanky, and popped into the recliner.  Logged on… and for the life of me, could not get the mouse to work.

*Note:  I am nothing without the laptop mouse.  It is a crutch, I know… but I can not navigate pages, scroll to comments, or I sure can not play Scrabble on Facebook because I can not figure out how to hang on to the tiles to move them into place without the mouse. 

The mouse, appears by all appearance to be working fine.  The little light on the bottom indicates a good battery.  I reset it.  I take the battery out and put the battery in.  I even get up and grab two more batteries out of the drawer and try them.  All the same results… mouse looks fine, will not work.

I… am seriously frustrated.  For some reason the mouse will not be acknowledged by the laptop. 

I…. am wasting time.

 

About 30 minutes later I get up go do something else…. as I pass by my kitchen table I see this:

 

 

For those unfamiliar with the workings of the cordless mouse, this little do-dad here is what plugs into your computer/laptop to make the mouse work.  Without it… by all appearance your mouse is going to look like it should work… it will not.  😯

😛

SO…..  once I put that little guy into my laptop side… all was well in mouse world again…. but I….

was feeling pretty foolish and wondering how that detail fell out of my head.

Moving on…. today I work, but tonight… I have no agenda.  I LOVE that!  And it is rainy but no matter, all my outdoor work – mowing, trimming, is done.  😀  Quite the opposite of last week when I had something going on every night.  😀

How is your Tuesday unfolding?  Are there books in your day?  Which one(s)?  Mine may be the conclusion on Jane Eyre and finishing up Some Girls by Sara Pekkanen as well.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)86 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.

This past weeks winner:

Heather from Based On A True Story!

Congratulations!  Please email me your book choice out of the recently cleaned up and LOVELY Reading Cafe at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com. 

I had moments this past week where I wondered if I would ever review a book again!  😛  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, I just felt (and still feel a bit_ so behind!)  I have a list of reviews to do that is currently 9 long of unreviewed but read/listened to books.  Mainly – this week has been a whirlwind of activity… Monday I was in Duluth at the book sale, Tuesday was book club, Wednesday I had a friend over to help me with the BEA book boxes, and another friend over for dinner, Thursday I had a birthday dinner for a friend, Friday I had company for dinner, Saturday Al and I went out to dinner for Fathers Day.  And each of those days (other than Monday and Saturday) I worked at the office as well.  😯

Due to that… I hardly reviewed books at all this week.

BUT here is what did go up:

The final BEA (Book Expo) recap

Rebecca Read-A-Long!  Come on and join in!

The Bookies book club new idea for a July read

The books I brought home from the Book Expo in New York

Come Home by Lisa Scottoline (yes, same author as my book club read this week)

BLOGIVERSARY party!!!!  (The comments are hilarious!!!!)  The giveaways were awesome!)

127 Hours by Aron Ralston (the true story of the guy who caught his arm between a rock and a wall while hiking and actually cuts his own arm off to get free and survive. 

Look Again by Lisa Scottoline (book review and Bookies book club review)

 

How To Build A Better Blog (just my thoughts…. :razz:)

 

I am also running a Blog Survey this week that will end next Friday.  I would love it if you could give me some feedback – the survey is only a couple minutes long, mostly multiple choice.

 

Ok..looking at all that, I guess maybe I did have a busy blog week too.  While all my posts were not reviews… I did have some big posts between the BEA books and recaps, a read a long and a blogiversary.  😀

 

Looking at this week, here is my plan:

Everything is about to change. The government has seized control of every aspect of society, and this is the astonishing testimonial of Wisty and Whit Allgood, a sister and brother who were torn from their family in the middle of the night, slammed into prison, and accused of being a witch and a wizard. Thousands of young people have been kidnapped; some have been accused; many others remain missing. Their fate is unknown, and the worst is feared–for the ruling regime will stop at nothing to suppress life and liberty, music and books, art and magic . . . and the pursuit of being a normal teenager.

 

 

 

When Shaw McBride and Romeo Zderko drive into the small town of Brunswick , Georgia, their only thought is to fix their car’s leaky right tire and continue on to Key West, Florida, away from their dead-end jobs as computer technicians in Ohio. But when Shaw discovers that the 318 million dollar Georgia State Lottery has just been claimed by an ordinary Georgia family, he sees an opportunity – he and Romeo will blackmail the Boatwright family for half their winnings and ditch their deadbeat lives for good.

Disguised as a state lottery representative, Shaw enters the Boatwright’s home and holds the family hostage, while Romeo patrols the town, staking out the homes of the family’s loved ones, should the Boatwrights refuse to comply with their demands. But Shaw isn’t your average criminal out to make a quick buck. Instead, he has a grand messianic vision and he’ll stop at nothing to see it through — and soon, the Boatwrights find themselves living a Flannery O’Connor American nightmare from which they can’t properly awaken.

 

 

 

An ancient prophecy divides two sisters–one good, one evil.

Who will prevail?

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, they find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents’ deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.

 

I am still working on cleaning up some books this week so I am going to leave it at that. 😀  I am excited to see what you are reading!  Please link up below where it says click here!  Checking out what others have to read this week is part of the fun!

 

Powered by Linky Tools

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

and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please also link your post here: