The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie by Alan Bradley

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

It’s the summer of 1950 and twelve-year-old Flavia de Luce is tinkering away in her chemical lab inside the once great house of Buckshaw, in a sleepy English village.  The lab is an inheritance from her passed on mother and eccentric uncle.  And Flavia loves it, after all she has a gifted mind for mixing chemicals and the study of poisons. 

One morning Flavia left the comforts of the lab for a stroll around the acreage she calls home and after finding a dead bird on the doorstep with a postage stamp stuck on its beak,, to her surprise (and delight) she discovers a body among the cucumber patch.  While the police seem to be taking their own sweet time making error after error in trying to solve the crime, Flavia decided to solve the crime herself. 

Welcome to Flavia de Luce’s world. 
For Flavia, life begins in earnest when murder comes to Buckshaw. “I wish I could say I was afraid, but I wasn’t. Quite the contrary. This was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life.”

"Flavia de Luce", "Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie", Alan Bradley"
Flavia makes an appearance is three more books...

Finally I find myself exploring Alan Bradleys books.  I knew nothing going in.  I did not know that The Sweetness At The Bottom Of The Pie was the first in a series of Flavia De Luce novels… see…. out of loop…. 

I went into this one on audio and my first initial thought was I thought it sounded a bit like the Bloody Jack audio books (stories of a wild and smart tom boyish young girl), and the narration of Jayne Entwistle gave it that feel, which excited me as the Bloody Jack audio are fantastic!

The story line of our young detective Flavia, is fun.  She it witty.  She is smart beyond her years.  She has siblings that do not play strong enough parts (at least in this book) for me to even remember their names, but she being the youngest, and seemingly the smartest, has a bit of fun with them that makes their back seat roles in this read favorable and “smile worthy”.

While I found the writing rich, the narration with the strong accent delightful, I can not say I loved it.  I think for starters I could not wrap my head around Flavia being twelve and working in a chemical lab and being as smart and as able to get around the way she did …

it just didn’t mesh for me – and yeah, I know I am in the minority on this one.

So my thoughts are if you enjoy well written (and well read) books that may be a bit far-fetched but certainly fun… you will want to give the Flavia de Luce mysteries a try.  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is the first of the books. #2 – The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag,#3- A Red Herring Without Mustard and #4, I am Half-Sick of Shadows.

See some other reviews from bloggers that I trust:

Beth Fish Reads

Rhapsody In Books

Book Lover Book Reviews

Amy Reads

I borrowed this audio from our awesome library

Morning Meanderings…Huh? What?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

 

Morning.  *BIG sip of COFFEE*

How ya’ all doing?

Do you ever have those days where you wake up super early … like hmmmm…. 4:00 am and feel good?  Real good because you do not feel tired but actually like you could start your day?

AND then you go back to bed because 4 am is just silly and you can top it off with an hour of sleep and then wake up at 7:00?

7:00????  And you work at 8:00!

Hate that.

Now I am having my coffee, missing my relax time of the am…. one eye on my post… one eye on the clock wondering how close I can push it until I jump in the shower… and

GAH!

Any hoo…. in bookish news On audio I am with Detective Harry searching out yet another victims home and yes, there is a snow man.  Who does that???  (The Snowman by Jo Nesbo)

In other audio I am hanging out with Michael Zarkade as he juggles career and kids while Jolene has been called to active duty for a year in Iraq.  As if the marriage wasn’t bumpy enough, the children feel abandoned and Michael cant quite get a grip on anything.  (Home Front by Kristin Hannah)

In yet another audio (my IPOD, Milton Podricker) I am on a lifeboat and the ship has sunk taking hundreds if not thousands of lives with it.  No, it was not the Titanic.  There are 39 of us on the lifeboat and it is day… I don’t remember but it has been at least a week.  The weather is bad and we are discussing that is the weather continues this way the water will sink the lifeboat because there are too many in it.  Hard decisions, UNBELIEVABLY hard decisions are about to be made…  (THe Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan)

and in books, I am on the streets of New York with Sarah Beth as she has just walked out on her life… at least for a while.  She has left her best friend in a restaurant thinking she is in the bathroom, but she will soon get the note from the waiter that things are not good, have not been good for a while and this break, if that’s what it is… has to happen.  (Whole Latte Life by Joanne Demaio)

Ok that’s my time… I look at the clock and find it (and me) wanting.  😀

 

Have a super day!  I want to talk about World Book Night but that will be tomorrow!

 

 

Hereafter by Tara Hudson

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

A review by Camryn

Can there truly be love after death?

Hereafter is a book written by Tara Hudson that is about a young ghost named Amelia. Amelia drowned when she fell (or jumped, she doesn’t remember) from High Bridge, right off High Bridge Road. Amelia is having another one of her disturbing nightmares, where she re-experiences her death in a state of unconsciousness. When she wakes up, she is floating in the river, looking at a pair of glowing lights in the water. Panicking, she swims down to the lights, where she sees a boy around her age, probably eighteen years old. His eyes are closed, and he is unconscious. Dead set to make sure he survives, she screams with all of her might, hoping by some miracle he would swim to the surface of the water and survive. He does just that, and makes it to shore. As paramedics arrive, he tells her his name is Joshua.

Amelia is visited by Joshua the next day, and she tells him she is dead. Though a bit frazzled and shocked, he continues to ask questions about her past. Amelia and Joshua grow even closer together, so much to the point where Amelia finds herself falling for him. Joshua helps Amelia remember her distant past. Another ghost, Eli, is doing his best to keep them apart. Joshua’s grandmother, who also happens to see Amelia, is not fond of her, and is planning on exorcising her as soon as possible. Will Joshua and Amelia’s bond continue? Or will they be ripped apart as fast as they met?

 

I personally loved the book.I did struggle somewhat with how a ghost and a human boy could be together, but overall it was an excellent read and I greatly enjoyed reading it. 

I would recommend it to anyone who likes to read about supernatural/paranormal.  If you enjoyed Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, you will probably enjoy Hereafter.

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… So Many Fun Happenings!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Good morning!  Happy Tuesday!  I think today is going to be a GOOD GOOD Day!

Monday morning I woke up to this:

Yup.  SNOW.  😯  Let’s recap, Saturday, sunny, 72 degrees, GORGEOUS our!   Sunday stormy…. Monday… snow.

On the bright side… Tuesday morning.  Sunny and should be mid to high 50’s.  I’ll take it. The snow is almost gone.. just a little on the deck.

There is a lot of fun things I want to tell you about this morning so hang on to your COFFEE CUP while I spill all. 

Historical Tapestry is a blog that has been promoting all things Titanic for the last week.  They have some really interesting posts and if you are interested in Titanic topics this is a must stop.  Yesterday I did a guest post over there on Titanic memorabilia, featuring my Titanic Bears.  Yes, I have Titanic Bears.  Yes, you can see them over at Historical Tapestry.

If you know Jill at Fizzy Thoughts you know that she likes to change words to songs, something I used to do all the time in High School with my friend Barb, the only other girl in our home room.  I still can’t sing Eye Of The Tiger with  the correct words after we spoofed it….

Anyway, a couple days ago on one of her post I left her ummm…. a little challenge per se… and rumor has it (ok, she told me) that she will be changing the words to the song I gave her today over at Fizzy Thoughts.  Pop over later and see what she came up with!  I know I will!

I also updated Team Kickin It this morning with my weekly check in of my fitness goals and what is happening in that part of my world.  Stop over cheer me on…. 😀

What does this number mean to me? Click and find out!

And finally, a couple weeks ago I had a major SQQQUUUEEEE  moment when a box of YA books arrived on my door step.  While I would say most of us book lovers would agree, books on the doorstep are totally back flip worthy, I wanted to be sure these treasures were reviewed in a timely manner.  A friend of mine’s daughter Camryn is a big time book lover and I invited her over to look through the books and read and review any she wished, on the agreement that she would point out the super fabulous ones to me so I could make sure I read them soon too.  😀  The day before Easter she left here with five books, that evening she sent me two reviews and by Monday of last week she had finished and reviewed all five for me. 

I should have recruited a long time ago…  😛

So later today, Camryn’s first review is going up for Herafter by Tara Hudson.  I hope you will give her a warm welcome as I see an up and coming book blogger in this one.  😀

I work today… plan to work out after and then a wonderful evening at home…. I really like the sound of that. 🙂

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)75 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:

Joy from Joy’s Book Blog

Congratulations!  Please email me your book choice out of the Reading Cafe at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com. 

The winner each week gets pick out of the Reading Cafe, which I am excited to say has been totally cleaned out this week, organized and lovely so pop in and check it out.  I hope to be much more pro-active on keeping this updated and adding books weekly to the choices to be used for giveaways.  😀

On a separate note – I have went through all emails this week and should be 100% caught up on mailing out to my book winners.  If you have been a winner and not received your book(s) from me by the end of this week please be sure to email me at the email given above and I will look into it promptly.

Here is what happened on Book Journey this past week:

The Girl Who Was On Fire by Your Favorite Authors (what a fun read!)

Love In A Nutshell by Janet Evanovich (audio review)

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff (A FANTASTIC book discussion with my book club!)

2108 Eyes Open by K L Glanville with a signed copy for giveaway!

My Sunday Salon reminds you of the Dewey Read A Thon next weekend and links to sign up!

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens (Oh my word people!  You have to read or listen to this one SOON!)

210 MILLION books in the world how do you choose just one?  (Book discussion!)

So another good week!  I think that is two in a row! 

Now for this week I am not adding any books to my plate BECAUSE I have a few I want to finish this week that have been on past weeks lists but I never made it to them.  So instead of adding more, and with the Dewey Read A Thom coming on the 21st, I have decided to work this week on finishing up those books.

I am however adding audio books as I have finished two over the weekend and a third will finish this week…. so here is whats up in audio:

 

 

"The lifeboat", "Charlotte Rogan"

Grace Winter, 22, is both a newlywed and a widow. She is also on trial for her life.

In the summer of 1914, the elegant ocean liner carrying her and her husband Henry across the Atlantic suffers a mysterious explosion. Setting aside his own safety, Henry secures Grace a place in a lifeboat, which the survivors quickly realize is over capacity. For any to live, some must die.

As the castaways battle the elements, and each other, Grace recollects the unorthodox way she and Henry met, and the new life of privilege she thought she’d found. Will she pay any price to keep it?

The Lifeboat is a page-turning novel of hard choices and survival, narrated by a woman as unforgettable and complex as the events she describes.

I think it is my Titanic mood that brought this one on.  I seen it on a couple blogs this past week and it really interested me.

 

 

Internationally acclaimed crime writer Jo Nesbø’s antihero police investigator, Harry Hole, is back: in a bone-chilling thriller that will take Hole to the brink of insanity.

Oslo in November. The first snow of the season has fallen. A boy named Jonas wakes in the night to find his mother gone. Out his window, in the cold moonlight, he sees the snowman that inexplicably appeared in the yard earlier in the day. Around its neck is his mother’s pink scarf.

Hole suspects a link between a menacing letter he’s received and the disappearance of Jonas’s mother—and of perhaps a dozen other women, all of whom went missing on the day of a first snowfall. As his investigation deepens, something else emerges: he is becoming a pawn in an increasingly terrifying game whose rules are devised—and constantly revised—by the killer.

Fiercely suspenseful, its characters brilliantly realized, its atmosphere permeated with evil, The Snowman is the electrifying work of one of the best crime writers of our time.

OOH right?  Ok Nesbo, I have heard the positive rumblings… lets see what you got!

 

There will be a third audio starting but honestly… I dont have a third audio in the house.  Yup, after Home Front ends in the car I have no more CD audios and am going to need one fast!  Suggestions?  😉

So that is the plan….what is yours?  Be sure to link up below where it says “click here” and add your own What Are You Reading post so we can come by and see what you are reading!

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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:

210 MILLION Books In The World… How Do You Choose “1”?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)58 Comments

The number of books in the world is certainly debatable.  According to Google, at one point they figured it be around 210 million.  A report they did in April of 2011 says that count is closer to 130 million.

After sorting for duplicates, meaning that Google does not want to count the same book in two different places twice, there are a stunning 210 million entries to be counted from library and other databases around the world. You have to marvel slightly at that number, even before they cut it some more.

210 million is a big number, but it is not exactly correct. Google then sorts out microfilm, videos, maps, and anything else with an ISBN that has come through its listing process. After all of that final threshing, the number of books, as least as well as Google can count them, is 129,864,880.

No matter how you look at it, the number is GINORMOUS.  (Yeah…. really really BIG).

"Lets just say there are a whole lot of books out there!"

 

 

So….. looking at that number and then looking at me, or you for that matter, and our average reading of hmmm…. give or take two or three books MAYBE a week.   Maybe 100 to 150 a year?

Then I looked at how many books are published a day.  Some reports said world-wide up to 2,000 books a day are published.  US alone is publishing between 350 – 800 books a day.

People….. no way are we ever going to catch up.  😯

Sooooooo….my point today is…. how do I (and how do you) choose that next book to read.  As book bloggers, many of us are offered books to review consistently from publishers and authors, and believe me… some of these – many of these offers are great sounding reads.  AND if you are not a book blogger but a lover of books (first of all you are AWESOME!), you as a consumer who buys a book here and there…..

how do you, how do any of us choose?

This is what I want to discuss.  Share how you pick that next book.  For myself, I am a little embarrassed to admit that in my reading room right now there are hundreds of books that are currently unread.  I pick them up at sales, they are my personal library, and yes, there are many that are review books as well.  Yet… when I go in there.  I get to pick “1”.

What drives you to choose a book to read?  Is it popularity?  A topic?  A feeling?  Do you buck the trends and go your own way and read something completely off the charts (perhaps something called The History Of The Paperclip?) 

I want to dish!  Talk to me 😀

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Imagine… you are a single, attractive, woman in your early 30’s, you are a Realtor and you do ok for yourself.  At this time in your life your biggest concerns are selling a house, practicing patience with your quirky mother, and being on time for dinner with your boyfriend.

You are spending a gorgeous Saturday afternoon stuck at an Open House showing that is extremely slow.  As you are packing up your things and calling it a day a van pulls into the driveway.  A well dressed man gets out of the vehicle and you can tell he is really interested in seeing the house.  Maybe this day wont be such a loss after all.  As you take him through the house and start into the back yard you feel something blunt and cold press against the middle of your back.

A gun.

Suddenly you find yourself in a cabin, God only knows where.  Your abductor, soon to be known as “The Freak” in your mind, certainly never said out loud, has thought of everything and you have no escape.  You are put on a strict schedule of when you can eat, and when you can use the bathroom.  Any changes to this resulted in being hit or having to drink out of the toilet.  And honestly, this was not even the worst part.  There were the scheduled baths…

Certainly someone will find you.  Certainly it is only a matter of time.  Yet days turn into weeks, and weeks into months. And survival is your only thought.

The book, Still Missing, is the story I described above.  This is a thriller told about Annie O’Sullivan and her abduction, eventually her escape.  Much of the book is Annie talking to her Therapist, reliving the past and sharing the present.  Annie still lives in fear of sounds in the dark, strangers, and being alone.  Of course, its hard to be with people when you have trust issues. 

I have read books where the flash backs and present time chapters do not work.  They are confusing.  This is not one of those books.  I listened to this on audio and the book flowed smoothly.  I never felt lost in the story, instead I found myself right from the start thinking “this is good, this is really really good.”

I have become a little gun-shy of thrillers as I find they are either gory or over the top unbelievable.  Again, author Chevy Stevens knocked that chip off my shoulder.  Well told, very believable (maybe a little too believable!) and kept me listening.  I wanted to know, HAD TO KNOW what was going to happen.

Extremely well done I give high marks to a very talented author who blew me away with the story line and kept me guessing all the way through. 

I cant wait to read Chevy Stevens again!  Make sure you do as well!

Need more convincing?  Check out these great reviews:

Alison’s Book Marks

Presenting Lenore

Life With Books

Devourer Of Books

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

Purchased from audible.com and an excellent selection!

Morning Meanderings… Sunday Salon

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)34 Comments

Good morning and Happy Sunday!  😀

It is back to dreary rainy weather here which… is getting old and I hope it clears up this week as I have a pretty much “no commitment week”

I know right??? 

That never happens for me.  I usually have a study group on Mondays, and we are not meeting this week.  Tuesdays are usually something I have to do, but not this time, Wednesdays I work with students and they are going to a Rally this week and my services will not be needed, Thursday free, Friday free, Saturday is the Dewey Read a Thon..

Whoa… what?

Yes.  The 24 hour Dewey Read A Thon is Saturday April 21st and  I plan to participate and it is not to late for you to sign up as well.  Seriously… get on that.  😀  I love this read-a-thon, it’s about the only one I do, and I read for charity, which I will share more about later this week.  Oh and there are always fun mini challenges where you can win books or bookish items like gift certificates.  I will be hosting one here you will not want to miss out on – it is going to be on so fun! 😛

At some point this next week I also need to road trip to go pick up my books for World Book Night.  Are you participating in World Book Night?  If so what books are you handing out on April 23rd?  I will have 20 copies of The Hunger Games at my finger tips!  AND at some point soon I have an idea to go along with this that I must also get posted this week. 😀

Hmmmm…. what else?  I received one book this week in the mail:

The second book to Wolf Hall.  Which admittedly, I have yet to read.  NOW I really need to get on it as this one sounds good!

And finally, today marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, a topic that always touches me.  I have some artifacts in my home surrounding the Titanic that I am pulling our for a post later.  And today I will spend some time reading Titanic related reads, in memory of the day. 

Have a great day, I am off to church and then back home here to write-up a couple posts and get some reading done this afternoon.  I may go to the Titanic movie today if I find someone to go with.  Pretty sure my hubby will not sit through that 3 hour movie again.  😀  Oh, and one more thing – I added a giveaway to my post that went up yesterday for 2108 Eyes Open.

2108 Eyes Open by K.L. Glanville w/ GIVEAWAY!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

It’s 2018. Jewel (or Charmskinned as fondly called by her dad) has just turned 16. 16! That means she can finally access the autopilot on her Aerokopa (think of the Jetsons cartoon and how they traveled). Life is opening new doors right and left!

But really what good is being 16 and being able to explore the countryside when you do not have a date to your BFF’s party of the century? Well, except for that one boy, Loyal who’s cute and all but he is also a HOLDOUT… and that is a can of grief Jewel is not ready to open. And of course there is the whole hush hush business of the Trollers docked at the quay , believed to be spies working with the Aliens, but Jewel’s dad is a big shot in the Government and he is on top of all of that. It’s best to avoid that area, and it would be all out treason to make friends with one of these Trollers, even if he was a really cute teenage one, who seems to be really nice and brings you gifts….

That would be the wrong thing for Jewel to do right?  Right?

I am not a big sci fi “fan girl”, yet when asked if I would take a closer look at this new book by K.L. Glanville, something caught me. It might have been the fun synopsis of a young girl about to get in a heap of potential trouble. And really if I followed my own rule of things “I will not enjoy” then I never would have experienced Hunger Games, Pandemonium, The Knife Of Never Letting Go,” so seriously… what do I know?

What I liked about 2108 is that this is what I would call a great young YA read. By young YA I mean although it is written about teenagers, and there is a mention of champagne towards the end of the book, it is a clean read, almost upper MG. (I hope I am making sense)

The people of the book are categorized:

Naturals: People like Jewel and her dad. They live as nature intended, no alterations to their DNA or bodies. Most live in New Zealand which is the only area where no Bionics or Aliens live, which is a big bonus!

Aliens: Those who invaded the globe. Untrustworthy.

Bionics: People who are in cahoots with the Aliens. Some of them even have their DNA altered to mix with the Aliens DNA.

Holdouts: People who still believe in the old ways, they have two parent families and usually a number of children (how crazy is that?)

Jewel’s character was interesting and I felt well developed. I felt the futuristic feel of this book was not over the top. It was fun, and I got into the story line, wondering what would happen next.

Fair waring: This book does leave you with unanswered questions and I see on Amazon it is marketed as Volume 1, on the bright side, that means there is more to come of this interesting and fun story!

I am connecting this review to Julie at Booking Mama’s Kid Connections.  A meme I wish I took part in more often!

I was just notified by the publishing company that I can give away one SIGNED copy of this book with 5 books marks to one lucky commenter!  Simply leave a comment on this post between April 14 – April 18th, and on the morning of the 19th I will announce the winner.  😀

 

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book:

Luminations Media Group, Inc.
“2108: Eyes Open” New Young Adult Book Release!

Morning Meanderings… Spring and a new family member!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)50 Comments

Good morning.  Yesterday was a dreary wet day, gloomy and overcast, cold and windy.  A perfect day to read and write.  Today…. looks to be a little different.

I was on the deck at 6:30 am this morning and the air was not unpleasant.  I am thinking it is going to be a gorgeous day which in my Saturday world means:  bike rides, fresh air, and probably a little more reading as weekends that are not over booked are rare and will get rarer as the weeks go on… bike rides, cabin weekends, and events will soon fill up my luxurious low-key Saturdays.

This morning for Saturday Snapshots (*waves at Alyce*) I thought I would show you some pictures of my world from the back deck this morning.

Let me set the scene…. this is Brainerd Minnesota.  Currently the temp is 42 degrees.  (Yesterday it didn’t even touch 42 degrees).

Taken from the back deck... the yard swing.

 

My reading swing on the deck. Still a little early in the year for me to be in it but once that sun warms up - I will be there!

 

The back yard.

 

The tree in the deck. When we expanded the deck in 1997, I told Al the tree had to stay. So... the deck was built around the tree.
And that little guy in the pic... that is Sam.

 

Earlier this week, I posted a pic of this "maybe ours" dog. A girl in my book club had found him about a week ago and brought him to Book Club on Tuesday. We decided on Thursday morning that he could stay. We are calling him Sam.

 

Stop over to Alyce’s At Home With Books to find more pictures posted for Saturday Snapshots.

 

Tonight we are going to dinner with friends.  That will be nice.  As for this morning and afternoon I am going to spend a little time writing a review, read a little and hopefully a bike ride. 

What are your weekend plans?