Book Journey

Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

Published on May 19, 2012May 19, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

You would not recognize that Sylvia at 17 in Bohemian clothes and long flowing loose hair was the same Sylvia 38 years later who was a pressed suit wearing, hair dying, prim and proper politician’s wife. Life was a ritual of making her husbands schedule, getting his coffee and being by his side as the perfect cookie cutter political wife.

Then a very public scandal rips Sylivia’s marriage wide open and make’s her question everything she has become. Retreating to her mothers unoccupied seaside home, Sylvia works at distancing herself from the mess her life has become and creating a life she can move forward in.

Sylvia’s daughter Diane is dealing with her own marriage issues. Her husband Gary’s whiney nasally voice has trampled her last nerve. He wants nothing more than to stay at home and play games on his laptop while Diane thirsts for more… and more is what she finds in a man she works with at the hospital who seems to be everything that Gary is not.Lizzie, the youngest daughter has already led a troubled life. Having battled addictions already of drugs and alcohol at her young age, she fights to stay clean and sober, when a man comes along who seems to good to want someone the likes of her. Eventually, all three women wind up at the seaside home… each dealing with major curve balls in their life and trying to process through what the next step should be.

I think somewhere along the line of mountains of books and authors I enjoy, I forgot how much I enjoyed Jennifer Weiner (pronounced Why-ner). Listening to this audio just reminded me that she is not an author to miss.

Usually when a book has several strong protagonists, I usually find myself favoring a story line and going with that. That is mainly because when you split the top billing character, many times they lack depth and development.

In Fly Away Home, I have to say I enjoyed all three-story lines. Sylvia’s story was painful and honest and I loved how she handled herself, even allowed herself to change out of that stiff molding she had placed herself in. Diane’s story also felt real and captivated me wondering what she would ultimately do, and Lizzie, who never really seemed to live up to anyone’s expectations suddenly finds her own worth.

Really, Fly Away Home is an impressive heartwarming read that does not end with everything tied up in a neat little bow. Instead it feels real that some questions remain to be answered – and some choices, are still being processed through. Yet I was satisfied with the way it all ended.

I recommend Fly Away Home as an excellent summer read or listen.

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

Audible.com

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Morning Meanderings… Events the past couple of weeks

Published on May 19, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)46 Comments

Good morning! Happy Saturday! 😀

The past two weekends I have had bike rides, and in honor of Alyce’s Saturday Snapshots I thought I would post a few pics I took from these rides.

111 — **This is us pulling into the Ironman bike ride on May 6th. The weather was a bit gloomy….**

113 — **The first thing we have to do is go in and let registration know we are there, get out wrist band and then we are free to ride. This ride was a 17,30,50,68, or 100 mile ride**

117 — **Myself (left) and my friend Amy prior to the ride.**

119 — **I let Amy choose what route we would take – the weather was supposed to storm all day. she chose: 50!**

121 — **At the lunch stop we could gather around this little baby…. I love it! It looks like a cauldron and makes me think of Harry Potter!**

We finished that 50 mile ride without a drop of rain on us. No idea how that happened – we just missed it. 😀

Then last Saturday I drove to meet us with my MS team for a 50 mile ride in the Cities. This time the weather was awesome!

3aaa — **These are the girls I rode with: Me (Left), Belinda, Sheila, and Diane**

011 — **One of the pit stops on this ride**

I did not take a whole lot of pics on this ride -f or some reason when I rode I felt awful – I ached, my neck, my legs, my arms…. the total opposite of the weekend before when I felt great. A friend (ex -friend) of mine said, “Well Sheila, as we get older our body does not recover as quickly….”

*fingers in ears* LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA

LOL. So that is what I have been doing these past two weekends when not enjoying a good book. 😀

This weekend, my College Son and I are heading up to our cabin on the North Shore. We are both looking forward to this. It is about a 3 and 1/2 drive from our home. but we will stop in Duluth for lunch, maybe Barnes and Noble… and then continue on up. We are planning some biking, hiking, board games, movies… and we are not coming back until Monday afternoon. 😀

Stop over to Alyce’s At Home With Books and see what everyone else is posting for Saturday Snapshot! 😀

I do have posts prepped…. so please stop and see me – I will totally catch up with ya all early next week 😀

An Uncommon Education by Elizabeth Percer

Published on May 18, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)25 Comments

Naomi Feinstein is afraid of losing. She is afraid of losing her parents – her dad with a weakened heart…. her mom who is deeply depressed. She is afraid of losing her friend Teddy who she confides everything…

Setting her mind on becoming a doctor, Naomi buries herself in her books, hoping to be accepted into the college of her dreams, Wellesley. When Teddy does (as she had feared) departs from her life, the blow is too hard and too deep, and seems larger than she can handle – even when the hopeful acceptance letter from Wellesley arrives.

Hoping that college will fill all the gaps in her life where fear and loneliness seep in, Naomi heads straight into the school she believes will become her security. But, college is not what she had dared hope, and while Naomi finds herself surrounded by hundreds of other young women… at the same time she feels unreachable and alone.

When Naomi witnesses a girl fall into a freezing lake, things began to change. She learns of a mysterious society – called the Shakespeare Society with all the lure a secret society would have – rituals and secret meetings, and students with a canny passion. Finally Naomi believes she has found something that makes her feel a part of life and fills all those gaps. As Naomi grows into this new person, hard lessons are brought forth and Naomi is about to learn the most important lesson of her life.

Does anyone remember Dead Poet’s Society? It was a movie from the late 1980’s starring Robin Williams as an unconventional Professor of English, John Kleets. While I adore this movie and love all that John Kleets stood for, the best part of the movie to me, was the secret society of The Dead Poet’s. (Even as I type this my mind is thinking… do I still have this movie in my collection? Is it DVD or VHS? Please be DVD….)

I mention this now, because when I first read the synopsis of this book… that is what stood out to me. An ancient secret society…. sorry, I never went to college – I think I crave the whole secret sorority thing….

In An Uncommon Education, Naomi’s back story (prior to college) is a slow tedious start. I picked the book up. I put it down. I picked it up again. I believed it had a story within its pages that I wanted to read. I just had to find that story.

I hung in there. I found the book detailed, well-developed, I had a good feel for who Naomi was and what she stood for. I liked her. These are the things I clung too while I slogged through the first part of this book.

And then…

Wellesley.

Bringing Naomi to the school, the book picked up more of a heartbeat pace. It had rhythm… it had life. More importantly, I no longer wanted to sett he book down and move on. I think Naomi as well finds her heartbeat. When things get rough and a scandal is resented – Naomi then is forced into some hard truths that really bring this book full circle.

In a few words: Give the book some time to warm up, it is worth the wait.

In a word: WOW.

Thank to to TLC Book Tours for a gorgeous, thought provoking read

Morning Meanderings… Ladies Night Out Happenings

Published on May 18, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Happy Friday!!!! Looks like it is going to be a gorgeous day and I can not wait to get in it! 😛

Last Night is what our happy little town calls “Ladies Night”, and it’s actually, from this first time participants perspective – a brilliant idea.

How it works:

Prior to the event you stop at one of the participating businesses to pick up a card that will later be stamped by all the businesses. Then, between the hours of 3 and 8 pm, you go and visit each of these businesses on this given day – that day was yesterday, and myself, and my friends Amy, Laura, and Kerri all rode together to the 27 stops to get our card stamped.

Many of the stops had additional giveaways you could sign up for, spa packages, gift cards, oil changes, discounts, catering, etc…. and many of the stops had snacks: hor duerves, cupcakes, cheese, wine, bottled water, pizza, slushies, fresh fruit…

For every stop you go to, you get a stamp and at the end of the event you turn in your card for a ticket per stamp – that ticket then goes into a huge box with the other participants tickets and then this morning, on a local radio station WJJY, at 8:15 they announced the grand prize winners which were for:

A $300 pair of ear rings from EL Menk

A $500 spa package out at Craguns Resort

and the grand prize, $1000.00 cash

Last night was a lot of fun – not only just hanging out and running into these businesses and getting the stamps with friends but there are a couple newer businesses in town that I had not been in before that really caught my eye and I must go back in there. Honestly, the idea to do this is brilliant – these businesses just brought TONS of women traffic in their door, they usually gave you a gift certificate for a nice percentage off if you come back and purchase within the next couple of weeks… and they have time to shine….

we were on a deadline so we did not have time to stop and browse and as we discovered that it does actually take quite a bit of time to get around to all these businesses which are stretched out between two towns we made a little list of sort of rules:

1. No longer when we see people we know do we have time to say hi and chit chat…. just wave and role on by….

2. No browsing! No matter what you see! (We were slowed down by purses, jewelry, chairs and plants that we wanted to know more about….)

3. And finally, and this one is my bad… no asking the Jewelry store owner if they fix music boxes and getting caught in a conversation! We are on a deadline people! 😯 😛

SO this morning, I had to sit in my garage and listen to the radio at 8:15 am…. I do not have a radio in my home and I could not figure out how to make it work on line. 😀

None of us won the big prizes.

However, I am sitting here this morning smiling because I had a wonderful time just running around and being silly with three girls who are not only all in my book club…. they are all my friends.

Today… I have some reading to do and some prep work for weekend posts. I am thinking maybe a bike ride this afternoon now that I have finally finished the lawn and gardens.

Morning Meanderings…. Feeling RaNdOm

Published on May 17, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Good morning! It is Thursday and I really have no one topic in my head but fractured pieces of several. Bear with me… (bare with me? No, that doesn’t sound right either….)

Last night Bookcloseouts.com emailed me a 50% off audio books sale. Way to go Book Closeouts… much of my supposed “mowing in the evening” time went to browsing and drooling over great titles that were $7.99 and less…. many around that $4.00 mark. 17 audio books later, I came out the other side. I averaged less that $5 per audio. No kidding – check this out. (And I finished mowing at 9:15 pm, thank you Book Closeouts!)

Shelf Awareness posted this morning that the Pooh House is for sale and for several reasons…. I visualized it as mine for a few seconds… one reason being, how funny it is called the “Pooh” house…. and the looks you would get – HOWEVER it is called the Pooh House because it used to belong to Christopher Robin Milne, son of Winnie the Pooh creator A.A. Milne, and more recently – a Rolling Stone… not a rolling rock, but a rock man… errr, a member of the Rolling Stones. 😛

I picture myself in England, no doubt wearing long flowing dresses and carrying around a cup of tea as I think that is what the English do… with my pinky in the air because I think that is a “must” as well. Tally ho and all that…. I think that’s what you say…..

Tonight after work I get my hair cut (always frightening!) and then I am going on a town walk – a bout thing which sounds a little cheesy but a lot of fun. A few of my friends and I are participating in a thing where you go to local participating businesses and get your card stamped – some of the businesses will have treats to sample, and drawings, and one person will win $1,000 dollars, announced tomorrow morning on the radio. My friend Amy was the winner of that $1,000 the first year she participated.

Sounds just silly enough to be fun.

Have to run – have to work…. have a wonderful day…. our weather has gone from delightful the past three days where I have been busy mowing the lawn and preparing the garden to now – when I have time to be outside…. windy and cold. GAH…. Hopefully $1,000 will take the edge off the weather…LOL..

hey, a girl can dream can’t she? 😛

Viola In The Spotlight by Adriana Trigiani

Published on May 16, 2012May 16, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

It is no secret that I adore Adriana Trigiani’s books. While I have read Viola In The Spotlight and LOVED it, I have yet to get to this one. Thank you to Camryn who spied it on my shelves and took it out on loan and now having reviewed it… I want to read it right away! ~ Sheila

Viola in the Spotlight

Viola in the Spotlight is written by Adriana Trigiani. Viola Chesterton just came home from her school year a Prefect Academy, a boarding school in South Bend, Indiana. When Viola finally comes home to her Brooklyn, New York, she is relieved and more than ready to catch up with her best friends, Caitlin Pullapilly and Andrew Bozelli. Even if Viola is surprised that her BFFAA (Andrew) and Caitlin don’t have a totally free summer, she still feels like this summer will be the best yet. Trouble arises when Caitlin falls in love with the son of Viola’s parent’s tenant, Maurice. Maurice’s dad, Les Longfellow, is in Brooklyn only for the summer to direct a Broadway play, featuring Viola’s grandmother (Grand) and her boyfriend (George). Caitlin’s strict mom would never approve of Caitlin’s relationship with Maurice, so they keep it a secret. Viola gets an internship with the lighting designer of Grand’s play, which Grand got for her so Viola would have some way to spend her time that summer. Problems occur when Viola’s BFFAA, Andrew, starts acting weird around her. Viola brushes it off as nothing, but starts to second guess her judgement later on. As Caitlin and Maurice start getting closer and closer together, Viola knows it’s not right to keep this from Caitlin’s mom, but keeps the secret against her better judgement.

Viola decides to invite her Prefect roomies, Suzanne, Romy, and Marisol to the opening night of Grand’s play. After a few exhilaratingly happy days, they give a tearful goodbye and go their separate ways. When a sad tragedy hits Viola, she is forced to realize that she has the best of friends, and the best family she could ask for. With many not-so-easy decisions ahead of her, Viola realizes that this could be one of her most exciting summers, ever.

I ♥loved♥ this book. I read the prequel, Viola in Reel Life, a year – or a couple – years ago. I don’t remember exactly. I would recommend this book to anyone who read the first one. Or who wants a good series to read. It was a really great book, and the prequel was even better.

Camryn is 12 years old, soon to be thirteen 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.

Morning Meanderings… Now That is A World Book Day Story!

Published on May 16, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

Good morning and happy Wednesday! 😀 Truly how did I forget that spring is so much work? Every spare moment I have I am cleaning the deck, assembling lawn furniture, pulling weeds, redoing my hosta beds, mowing the lawn, planting…. and then looking around thinking, “I should really sweep out the garage, I should clean up that storage space, hmmmm…. can I make the yard scrabble board I found on pinterest?”

Ok Ok… that is not what I planned on chatting about this morning so let me just pack away “complaining about the to do’s Sheila” and bring out “I could do a back flip that is so exciting Sheila”….

Oh good… here I am…

SO, last week I mentioned that I had one copy left of the World Book Day book, Hunger Games. AND I knew where I wanted it to go, to Greg who works in the same building I do and who I figured was a prime candidate when we had a conversation about a month ago about the Hunger Games movie that went something like this:

Greg: So, do you know anything about that movie Hunger Games?

Me: Uhhh… YEAH! I seen it opening night and it was fantastic!

Greg: Well, isn’t it about kids killing kids?

Me: Now Greg, you say that like it is a bad thing…. (LOL, ok that’s not what I really said… let’s try this again…. 😛 )

Me (take II): It is hard to explain, it’s a book I never thought I would read but if you can say it is done well and tastefully… it really is an amazing read.

Greg: I don’t know… I will probably pass on it or wait for it to come out in DVD.

(Flash forward to last week when I brought him the final copy I had and offered him to read the book and asked him to put on the mask he wears when he is working at his stained glass business…. because, like I said in last weeks post… that’s just good Hunger Games humor.)

So now I bring you to present time… well, yesterday afternoon to be precise….

Scene: Greg comes up into the office I work in….

Greg: You ruined my weekend.

Me: Wha????

Greg: I could not put that book down. At first I thought it was so strange but then…

Me: Prim?

Greg: Yes! Wow, and ….

Me: Rue?

Greg: Yes! Wow when she ……………………………………….. (I wont say here in case anyone has not read the book/seen the movie)

Me: I know, right?

Greg: I will be finishing it later today.

Me: So, do you want me to bring in Catching Fire and Mockingjay for you to finish out the series?

Greg: That’s what I came in here to ask you.

Me: 😛

So yeah – that is a World Book Day WIN! I have the books packed up to go into work with me today where I am sure I will have a discussion with Greg about the ending of Hunger Games. 😀 I love book wins, and Hunger Games has been one I have recommended over and over again to reluctant readers and seen them come out the other side of the book with a “WOW!” 😀

Anyhoo… Wednesday… work, finish up the lawn this afternoon, work with the teens later tonight and then maybe try to finish up my hosta garden.

How about you whats happening on Wednesday? Books? Gardens? The ever growing lawn?

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty

Published on May 15, 2012May 15, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)64 Comments

Louise Brooks was going to make it big. She just knew it. Kansas, was not big enough to hold her, and in 1922, on her 15th year she leaves for New York for her big break. To her annoyance, a 36-year-old woman named Cora Carlisle is sent along with her as a chaperone for the free-spirited Louise.

For Cora, this is hopefully going to be the adventure she felt was missing in her life, and she also has an underlying reason for wishing to go as well. Yet Cora had no idea what an undertaking she was in for… Louise is a beautiful young girl who is arrogant, lacks respect, and is used to getting her own way. Louise’s constant flirting with older men to get her way, and leaping before she looks, keeps Cora on her toes, and complicates her own reasons for coming to New York.

For five weeks, these two women are together and as time goes by, they are changed by what the other brings to the table.

Open this link in a new tab for some back ground review music….

I love modern-day New York. This June will be my third time there and I just love it. Now, saying that, I try to picture New York in 1922 and how it would differ from my experience. Thanks to author Laura Moriarty, I don’t have to stretch my imagination far! This well detailed book leaves me feeling like I could walk down the streets of 1922 New York and feel right at home.

Maybe part of my love for this book is the fact that it is set in New York. Maybe part of that draw is that in a few weeks I will be walking where Louise Brooks one time did as well. Maybe part if the draw is that I will be meeting author Laura Moriarty in New York, and although it is 2012 (details, details), it will be like stepping into the book itself.

*sigh*

Seriously though, I did enjoy this book very much. I did not know prior to this read that Louise Brooks was a very real person, who shortly after 1922, made it big as a silent film star. She was, as Laura Moriarty tells in The Chaperone, very outspoken, and expected things to be her way. (I looked up some information on Louise and was fascinated to find that her father’s business took priority over raising children, and her mother felt that she gave birth to them, now they can raise themselves. An awful incident with a neighbor at a young age did not help Louise’s already wild state…. )

Ok, I digress, but what I can say about this book is that it was a page turner. I loved that while Louise Brooks is a fascinating possible protagonist, she actually plays second fiddle her to the real protagonist of the book, Cora Carlisle, The Chaperone. The story line, the secrets, WOW. Both women, I found be extremely interesting and I am going to highly recommend that fans of history, historical fiction, New York (YAY!), and strong female protagonists, snatch up a copy of this book.

The book releases on June 5th and is available for pre-order now. An excellent choice for a summer read.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for a review copy of this book

I bow before you with my 1922 Velvet Dress Hat,

This book was amazing!

Morning Meanderings… Christening The New Chair By Book

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

Good morning, happy Tuesday and all that. Looks like it will be another beautiful day here in Minnesota. Yesterday was fantastic – hot, with a little breeze….

and I sat in my new Mother’s Day Chair.

There it is! On the back deck, ready for me!

And every good chair needs a good book to be part of its maiden voyage (yeah I am stretching it here, but I am on a role…. 😛 ) and that said…

Myself, and Insurgent were on that chairs maiden voyage on the deck. Yesterday afternoon I basked in my favorite time of year with my favorite pastime….

Today, I work, I ride bike, I mow the lawn…. the last two while listening to audio.

Have you spent any reading time outdoors yet? if so, what book(s) have been part of your Spring 2012?

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Published on May 14, 2012May 4, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)25 Comments

Jenny Lawson, AKA The Blogress, shares what it was like growing up in a highly function dysfunctional home in Texas. Her father, a Taxidermist likes to stuff all sorts of animals, never passes by a road kill he can not think of a use for as well as raise a few animals of their own…. like chickens…. and goats….

From the school days, to her 15 year marriage to her patient but continuously confused husband, Victor, Lets Pretend This Never Happened is told in witty “this is what happened” chapters.

I mainly listened to this because Jenny Lawson is a Blogger and that is “Whoop worthy”. Although I admit, I was not familiar with her blog, I am almost always up for something that makes me laugh and occasionally makes pop come out my nose. Seriously, who would pass that up? 😛

After seeing a couple of reviews on this one, I decided I wanted to go with the audio version because I thought the book would come across better and because Jenny Lawson (author) was narrating this herself and that is usually pretty cool or AWESOME with a capital A. Or both. Yes, in this case both.

Jenny Lawson is an Awesome with a capital “A” narrator. She really does bring each story to life with her “yes this really happened” attitude. I enjoyed her telling of each story and her over use of the word “Ya’ all”, which makes me want to use it when talking with friends and when writing reviews… I have to be careful not to do that for the next couple of weeks until this gets out of my head so tell me if you see me using it.

There is no question that Jenny is funny and I am a big fan of dry humor and funny scenario’s. Some of the early childhood stories involving dead animal flesh, extremities, and other levels of “YUCK” were not my favorites of the audio. When Jenny gets more into her discussions with her husband Victor, I think those where the chapters I enjoyed the most. Victor’s bewildered “Seriously, what were you thinking?” to Jenny’s “Oh, but this will work and we should definitely patent this idea before it is stolen” counter is at times HILARIOUS.

Some of my favorite book/audio moments are:

Post it note argument with Victor.

The GPS – why do they give street names? Land marks would be so much easier “Turn left at that blue house where you once seen that bum passed out in the ditch”

The taxidermy Alligator on the airplane, (I laughed several times out loud when Jenny gave the Alligator a voice with a thick accent and had it talking to a much embarrassed and annoyed Victor.)

There are a couple of chapters that are pretty real too, so it is not all fun and games, Jenny’s attempts to carry a baby to term are heart wrenching, and when she openly speaks on her illness as well.

While Amazon says this is a good one to read if you are fans of Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants, I would say that Jenny Lawson’s crude language is far more frequent than Tina Fey’s was and if you are considering listening to this on audio you are going to overdose on the “F” bomb as well as a few other words. Did the language go to a point that it bothered me personally? Yes. I do not read Jenny’s blog so I am sure this is just the way she rolls, which is fine, but for me personally, I think it could have been just as good and maybe even better without all the language.