Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones But Words Will Never Hurt Me?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments

Remember that child hood sing-song saying”Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” 

What a load of crap.

😯

This week as I was listening to Home Front by Kristin Hannah, a story of a military woman with a rocky marriage who is called away to fight in Afghanistan.  Shortly before her deployment while in yet another heated argument with her husband over his time management skills and being there for their children he says these words,

“I can’t do this anymore.  I just don’t love you.”

The woman is shocked.  It is just an argument.  The book describes that she collapses and reaches out for the counter as the words sink into her very soul.  It is like the bottom just fell out of her life.

And they say words don’t hurt.  🙄

It was about that moment when that old saying about sticks and stones hit me.  I flashed back to a grade school version of me in a playground with friends while a boy taunted us over one thing or another.  I can recall my little voice singing out the sticks and stones thing and tossing my braids over my shoulder and off I went with my posse.

BUT…

The truth is there is a lot of power to words.  As writers, they are must have tools.  As readers we want the words to make us feel… feel pain, hurt, betrayal, love, fear adoration, sorrow, triumph, anger….

the list really goes on and on. 

In fact as I ramble on here and apparently am building up steam on this topic, words that make us feel are what we crave in a book.  We WANT to feel, even… if it is painful. 

And really – what a rush a good book is when it does make us feel.  From the very comforts of our own home we get the privilege of experiencing all this emotion through the books we choose to read.. through the words the writer gives out minds to play around with.

Who among us has not experienced emotion through reading?  Have you laughed or cried while in a book?  Have you turned a page in anger over what you have just read, or turned it slowly and fearfully… afraid what you will read next?

Honestly – I love it when a book makes me feel big emotions one way or another.  When I read a review, I want to know how the book made the reader feel. 

How about you?  Do you like your books to bring out emotions?  Do you agree or disagree that words have power?  On and off the pages?  Would love to dissect this topic with you!

Morning Meanderings: Are You Pre-Ordering This? (And WINNER!)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)34 Comments

Good morning!  Happy Friday The 13th!  😯  I know right?  I feel like I need to rent a spooky movie or something! 

Today is my day off and it looks gloomy out there.  The weather may sabotage my bike ride plan for the day… but that may mean that I will be inside reading instead which… makes me smile. 

When asked the question… uh, Sheila… if you were sent to live on a deserted island for five years and you could only take along with you 5 books, what would those books be?  While I would no doubt sweat this decision… I can guarantee you there would be at least one Harry Potter book in this mix. 

SO…. that said…

yesterday Shelf Awareness revealed that J K Rowling (master mind of all that is Harry Potter) is releasing a new book called The Casual Vacancy.  This books sounds as though it will have none of the magic that bought Harry a permanent residence in my heart, however… it is JK Rowling, and that makes me interested.

Publisher Little, Brown called the novel a “blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising” tale of what happens in the English village of Pagford after parish council member Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly. “Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war.”

according to Little Brown Publishing

I quickly popped on-line and pre-ordered this book that is due to release in late September.  While currently  the hard cover is sitting at a hefty $21, I believe it will go down in price before release. 

My question is, do you pre-order books from favorite authors?  Would you pre-order this one?

 

**I also need to announce the winner of the gift card for the Easter Egg Hunt that took place during the Monday What Are You Reading meme!  Thank you to all who participated! I was really pleasantly surprised of how many of you went egg hunting. I had a lot of emails saying that you really enjoyed doing this… enough so, that I will probably do it again in the future. 😀

The criteria was that you had to 1) find 3 of the 4 hidden eggs and email me where they were AND 2) you had to comment on each of these blog posts that had the Easter Egg in order to qualify. (a couple of you forgot that part!).  That said, using random.org, the winner of the $25 Amazon Gift Card is:

Lindsey from Literary Lindsey

Congratulations Lindsey!!!   The gift card will be in your e mail yet this morning, please let me know here that you have received it. 😀

Also…. thank you to my wonderful Egg Hosts:  Mari from Bookworm With A View, Lori from Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book, Kathy from Inside Of A Dog, and Reagan from Miss Remmer’s Reviews.  You all ROCK in my book! 😛

The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff (A Bookies Review)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)33 Comments

It is 1875, and Ann Eliza Young has recently separated from her powerful husband, Brigham Young, prophet and leader of the Mormon Church. Expelled and an outcast, Ann Eliza embarks on a crusade to end polygamy in the United States. A rich account of her family’s polygamous history is revealed, including how both she and her mother became plural wives. Yet soon after Ann Eliza’s story begins, a second exquisite narrative unfolds–a tale of murder involving a polygamist family in present-day Utah. Jordan Scott, a young man who was thrown out of his fundamentalist sect years earlier, must reenter the world that cast him aside in order to discover the truth behind his father’s death. And as Ann Eliza’s narrative intertwines with that of Jordan’s search, readers are pulled deeper into the mysteries of love, family, and faith.

Temple Garments, referred to as "secret underwear" in the book, were work under all clothing at all times. Even when you went to bed.
Members of Joseph F. Smith's family, including his sons and daughters, as well as their spouses and children, circa 1900.

I thought I knew what Polygamy was.  I knew there were those who believe in plural wives.  I haven’t watched it, but know there is a tv series right now called Sister Wives, about a man and his four wives.

Really I had no idea.

There’s something I really love about Historical Fiction.  I love the facts I find within the pages.  The 19th Wife is a fictional story, however woven through the chapters is a true story, the story of Ann Eliza Young the all too real woman who was married to Brigham Young and made the bold move to separate herself from what everyone in her circle believed.  From the very first pages I was hooked into something new, and different, and felt like I had walked into a world I knew little of.

A large part of this book is told through Jordan’s perspective.  Jordan is one of the “lost boys.”  As you come to find out, the lost boys are what is referred to when a boy in his early teens usually is excommunicated from the home and dumped out into the world to fend for themselves. 

Why?

The crude explanation is, this leaves more women to go around.  With the births being almost equally divided into boys and girls, and men are expected to have at least three wives… the numbers just do not add up. 

Although Jordan’s life has not been easy (there are some horrifying early years stories of what he did to survive), he is now at peace with where he is at in life and who he has become.  Or… so he thinks.

When Jordan’s mother is jailed and possibly going to be executed for a crime he does not believe she committed, Jordan sets his own judgements aside, and walks back into the life he never thought he would return to, to try to figure out what really happened.

The result is a twisting, informative, and all so close walk into the lives of those surrounded by what they believe to be God’s truth.  I personally, found it fascinating, like walking on the edge of something dangerous that I did not understand, but knowing I was safe as all was locked in the pages of the book.

I personally think this makes for an incredible discussion for a book group.  There are discussion group questions in the back of the book and out group made it through about 4 of them.  Our conversation flowed without the guidance of questions, facts and fiction mixed in our voices, from those who were appalled and did not enjoy the book (very few), to those of us who found it interesting and fascinating (the majority). 

Honestly, as we reviewed it, I felt this is what a book discussion is meant to be… we were bursting to discuss this book. 

As for the food:

"book lovers never sleep alone"
Had to use these napkins!

I missed some of the food pics.  There was also a delicious looking fruit salad. 

In the end, out of the eighteen women who sat down and reviewed this book, the average rating (scale of 1-5), the book rated a strong 4.  We felt it was very discussion worthy, informative and really… I could go on and on with this review … but yeah…. it has to end sometime.  😀

I think people who enjoy historical fiction will enjoy this book. 

Looking for some other thoughts on it?  here are some awesome book bloggers and their thoughts on The 19th Wife:

Becky’s Book Reviews

Caribou’s Mom

Devourer Of Books

Reviews By Lola

 

LoVe In A Nutshell by Janet Evanovich

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Kate Appleton’s life had hit the skids.  Suddenly jobless, husbandless, and really feeling kind of low, she decided that the only she wants to be right now is at her parents summerhouse, The Nutshell in Keenes’ Harbor Michigan.  Unfortunately, much like her life, The Nutshell has seen better days as well and Kate finds herself needing cash in supply if she is about to renovate this house into her dream, a bed and breakfast.

Enter Matt Culhane, owner of a local brewery but having some major issues with someone sabotaging his company.  When Matt meets Kate, he likes her spunk and hires her to be an undercover spy on his employees.  If Kate can figure out who is out to get him, he will pay her a $20,000 bonus.  Kate quickly accepts this “dangled carrot” and tries to wiggle her way into the trusts of the brewery employees.

Only… there are a few problems.  Kate despises beer and has an odd reaction if she drinks it.  None of the employees seem to trust her.  Oh, and she is falling for her boss. 

Janet Evanovich and I have not crossed paths for years.  Recently when I was in my local library I wandered over to a display they put up of new arrivals.  I like to see what audio has come in and there this was.   Evanovich writing something new after the recent release of the movie from her book One For The Money…. I admit I was curious.

While a fun listen (nice job narrator Lorelie King!) it was what I have come to expect of Janet Evanovich, cooky characters, a romance in the making, a small plot that unrolls throughout the book.  Kate is nowhere near as doopy (my word) as Stephanie Plum, and I did like that.  Where Plum is surrounded by family, Kate only has her potato chip addicted dog, a brief cameo of her mother and a briefer of her father, and a hostile ex husband. 

It was a good listen and I think Evanovich fans will enjoy this one as much as they have enjoyed her other books.

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

I borrowed this from my local library

Morning Meanderings… I’m Just In It For The Discussion… and a dog

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Good Morning! 

Happy Wednesday all, hopefully this day finds you well rested and ready to tackle whatever is to come.  Yesterday was second Tuesday of the month which for the past 11 years has meant something awesome to me….

Book Club!

Have I gushed recently about my book club?  Probably.  Am I about to again?  Probably.

So last night eighteen of us gathered in my home to discuss the 19th Wife.  We laughed, if only we could have had one more… 😛 

 

I absolutely loved our discussion surrounding this book on Polygamy, the mix of truth and fiction together made for an interesting topic and these girls really did their homework.  If you are looking for a great discussion book for your group I would recommend this one.

I was hoping that after all was said and done last night I would sit down and write the review and Bookies thoughts on the 19th Wife for the blog today.  However, after I had worked yesterday came home, cooked and cleaned and then cleaned up after everyone left around 8:30… I had little energy to do anything but answer a few email. 

Watch for it tomorrow.  😀

Oh… and I did mention a dog didn’t I.

 


His name is….. well, I don’t know.

My friend Kerri sent me a picture of him a couple of days ago.  Abandoned in her neighborhood seems to be the answer.  she’s called the police, all the animal hospitals and no one has turned in a missing dog.  She’s had him since last Thursday but already has a dog, a cat, and a day care, and does not want another dog.

I told her in so many words…. no.  With the loss of Elmo last October, Bailey (our shih tsu) has not been the same.  I didn’t want him to think “what is this?  A replacement program???”

Yet…

she could not find the dog a home.  I told her the dog could come with her to book club.  If the dog did not freak Bailey out, it could stay over night…. no promises.

Long story short… the dog is still here.  He knows how to work a room, laying down not bothering anyone… house broken…  we will see.  I have a friend who may be interested in him if it is not us.  Bailey is neutral right now… not freaking out, but not hanging out either.  We will see what happens when I leave the two together in the house ll day while I am at work. 

Speaking of work… I need to go there.

Have an awesome day! 

The GIRL WHO WAS ON FIRE by Your favorite authors

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

Still hungry for Hunger Games?  You have read the books, seen the movie, and now what?  This book will give you that fulfillment!  ~Sheila

Sixteen YA authors come together and take you back to the world of the Hunger Games with moving, dark, and funny pieces on Katniss, the Games, Gale and Peeta, even Buttercup (the cat), reality TV, survival, and more. From the trilogy’s darker themes of violence and social control to fashion and weaponry, the collection’s exploration of the Hunger Games reveals exactly how rich, and how perilous, Panem, and the series, really is.

Who is Katniss?

Comparisons to the book 1984

The Peeta Factor

Could Tracker Jackers Exist

Fashion

Does The Last Book Suck (arguments both ways by the same author)

CONTRIBUTORS: Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Mary Borsellino, Sarah Rees Brennan, Terri Clark, Bree Despain, Adrienne Kress, Sarah Darer Littman, Cara Lockwood, Elizabeth M. Rees, Carrie Ryan, Ned Vizzini, Lili Wilkinson, Blythe Woolston, Diana Peterfreund (NEW), Brent Hartinger (NEW), Jackson Pearce (NEW)

"Panem", "hunger games"

Yes.  I read the books.  I followed up by listening to Hunger games on audio as well.  Yes, I went to the movie.  Twice.  And yes, I was one of those people who did not love love the last book, Mockingjay. 

Yet… hungry for more, much like I still am with the Harry Potter books.  I want something more.

Thanks to this group of authors there is more, a lot more!  The Girl Who Was On Fire is not a bashing of the books by Susanne Collins.  Quite the opposite.  It’s taking the books (all three of them) and breaking them down into bite size pieces.  It is sometimes funny (Katniss being compared to Buttercup the cat – keeps surviving against all odds, doesn’t let people in easy), it is sometimes sad (could Katniss pick who she really loved or did she know what she had to do, who to choose to survive, and isn’t that what it is really all about?)

Each chapter, or topic, is told by a different author who gives their insight on a part of the books.  I found this interesting and have to admit I loved the chapter called Did The Third Book Suck, told from the perspective of an author who lists all the ways he felt as a writer it could have been done so much better, and then turns around and explains why just the opposite could be true as well, and why Susan Collins choices in Mockingjay may have been the authors road less traveled but also shows a deeper look into Katniss and Panem by writing it the way she did. (for the record, I did lean more towards this chapters first synopsis, and while I did not think Mockingjay sucked, it was my least favorite of the three books.)  My review of Mockingjay.

Who should read this?  Hunger Games fans this is a fantastic addition to the three books.  It will make you think, nod your head, and occasionally laugh out loud.  It is brilliant and fun – all rolled into one.

Why did I read it?  I loved the trilogy as a whole.  I thought the idea behind Hunger Games was so incredibly detailed and unique from anything I had read before.  And yes, I was left Hungry… especially after the release of the movie… I wanted more.  The Girl Who Was On Fire gave me that. 

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

This book was sent to me for review

Morning Meanderings… Two Out Of Three… and it is BEA!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

Good morning!  😀

As you know I have been planning to go to BEA however, my roommate of the past two years will not be attending this year and I have been roommate searching.  For a few days there I was even considering not attending, which really bothered me as it is something I look forward to all year.

Over the past week a few people came forward with possible opportunities I was looking into.  Then thanks to Twitter, I discovered Gail also did not have a roommate this year, hers was also not attending.  I had met Gail last year at the BBC.  We started chatting and emailing and as of yesterday morning we are booked!  😀

Seriously – just typing those words is such a relief! 

SO lat night I finished the BEA registration that had started and stopped over the past few weeks.  That felt good too!  😀

The final piece was to book a flight and I had been watching Orbitz and knew there were plenty to choose from.  Last night I made three attempts to book a flight and each time after I filled everything out and hit submit…

it would come up with a message that said sometimes seats get booked quickly and that one in so longer available.  😯

This happened two more times and I logged on to my credit card account to see what was happening there.  Sure enough, every time I tried to book a flight my card put that into a reserve hold on those dollars.  At that point I stopped thinking my credit card company is going to lock up the card thinking it is fraud… three attempts for flights.

So anyway…. that is frustrating. 

I will try again in a few days, or if I have time this afternoon I may call Orbitz and just let them know what is happening and find out how do I actually find a flight that exists. 

Anyhoo.. thats what is happening here.  I can still bask in the fact that I am for sure going to BEA.  I am excited and now planning out what I want to do there.

Hope your Tuesday is lovely.  I have book club here tonight and I am excited for what is sure to be an interesting review of The 19th Wife.  (Review, discussion, and food we had with the review will all be posted tomorrow)

 

Oh, and those participating in the Monday meme and the egg hunt – remember to qualify you must also comment on those blogs that had the eggs.  I am seeing entrants who have not done that part.  😀

 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)91 Comments

 

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading, Easter Addition!  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:

Laura from Words From The Tampa Bookworm

This winner will receive a $5 gift card from Amazon, while I straighten out the Reading Cafe this week to update the books i have for giveaway.  Trust me…. it will be worth it.  Next week I should have some sweet choices. 😀

I am behind on sending packages out and have worked today to get things bundled up to go in the mail tomorrow.  Thank you all for your patience!  😀 

***  Also be sure to read to the end of this post today – there is a fun bonus giveaway in honor of the holiday!

So anyway, Happy Easter!  I hope everyone’s weekend was wonderful.  Mine was a much appreciated quiet weekend.  After a busy week it was nice to not have much on the agenda for the weekend.  I read, I cleaned house, a little audio, and a little company.  A perfect combo. 

I know last week I mentioned I was still tweaking this look on the blog… but it is starting to grow on me and some positive feedback has allowed me to relax and let it be.  Here is what has happened this week:

 

The Buddha In The Attic by Julie Otsuka

 

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (Lisa See, as I am finding out, is an incredible story teller!)

 

The Shoemaker’s Wife by Adriana Trigiani (Oh yes… it is THAT GOOD!)

 

Looking for TITANIC Challenges?  I posted them here.

 

Pinterest Interest and the blog (did you know that you can use Pinterest to promote your reviews?)

 

Lessons From The Outdoors (The things we Minnesotan’s find climbing in the trees! 😯 )

 

Tea With Hezbollah by Ted Decker (this read inspired some fun cookie baking!)

 

 

Wow!  Looking back over the week, that’s the best week I have had in awhile!  I also wrote a review today for The Girl Who Was On Fire which I will post later this week. 

So what’s up for this week?

On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two-year-old Realtor, had three goals: sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive in a remote mountain cabin — which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist — is a second narrative recounting the nightmare that follows her escape: her struggle to piece her shattered life back together, the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor, and the disturbing sense that things are far from over.

Holy crud!  I thought I had read this one and realized I had not.  I started listening to it on audio yesterday and I am GLUED to it. 

 

 

 

 

 

Still reeling from the deaths of her mother and sister on the Titanic, Sibyl Allston is living a life of quiet desperation with her taciturn father and scandal-plagued brother in an elegant town house in Boston’s Back Bay. Trapped in a world over which she has no control, Sibyl flees for solace to the parlor of a table-turning medium.
But when her brother is suddenly kicked out of Harvard under mysterious circumstances and falls under the sway of a strange young woman, Sibyl turns for help to psychology professor Benton Derby, despite the unspoken tensions of their shared past. As Benton and Sibyl work together to solve a harrowing mystery, their long-simmering spark flares to life, and they realize that there may be something even more magical between them than a medium’s scrying glass.

This book hits the shelves on the tenth, and we are currently in Titanic week which is a subject that really touches me. 

 

 

 

It is 1946, and city-bred Laura McAllan is trying to raise her children on her husband’s Mississippi Delta farm—a place she finds foreign and frightening. In the midst of the family’s struggles, two young men return from the war to work the land. Jamie McAllan, Laura’s brother-in-law, is everything her husband is not—charming, handsome, and haunted by his memories of combat. Ronsel Jackson, eldest son of the black sharecroppers who live on the McAllan farm, has come home with the shine of a war hero. But no matter his bravery in defense of his country, he is still considered less than a man in the Jim Crow South. It is the unlikely friendship of these brothers-in-arms that drives this powerful novel to its inexorable conclusion.

The men and women of each family relate their versions of events and we are drawn into their lives as they become players in a tragedy on the grandest scale. As Kingsolver says of Hillary Jordan, “Her characters walked straight out of 1940s Mississippi and into the part of my brain where sympathy and anger and love reside, leaving my heart racing. They are with me still.”

I am starting this one if I have time this week, as it is a winner that needs to pass on when I am done. 

 

 

That’s it.  Plenty to read around here.  😀  I will really curious as to what you are reading this week and plan to make my rounds and see so be sure to add your Its Monday What Are You Reading link below where it says “click here” and I as well as others will be over to see what you are reading. 

I did mention a bonus didn’t I?  😀  Have you heard of the book Ready Player One?  I listened to it on audio at the end of last year and LOVED it, probably one of the best audio I have ever listened to!  Anyway, in this story there is a guy who is a multi billionaire and has no family.  When he dies, he leaves in his will clues to what he calls a hidden Easter Egg and it hidden within this game world.  The finder of this egg wins all he owns.

So… I was thinking in celebration of Easter, we would have our own hidden Easter egg here!  4 wonderful and gracious participants of this meme have offered to put an Easter Egg I have sent to them at the bottom left side of their posts.  the egg looks like this:

As you go and check out the other meme participants, if you find the posts that have the egg:

1.  Make sure you leave a comment

2.  Make a note of which blog(s) you found the egg on

If you find at least three of the four eggs, email me at journeythroughbooks@gmail by Wednesday at midnight central time.  If there is more than one winner I will use random.org to choose a winner and announce this name on Thursday morning here.  That person will win a $25 gift card to Amazon (enough to get Ready Player One if they wish, or any other book that catches their eye!)

Link up!  Lets get this party started! 

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:

March Recap

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

Another month, another recap.  In January I felt like I rocked that month would a great start to the year.  In February, I mellowed a bit but believed it was going to bounce back.  Now here I am with a toe into April already and looking back at March as I type this with a mild curiosity.

How did I do?

For March I added 10 new books/audio to the map…  however only three new states.  😯  Seem to have repeats in New York, Illinois, and Maine.  GAH!  For the first three months of the year I have in 18 of the 50 states.  6 books being outside the US.

 

 

Of those ten I wrote review for…. 7 were audio.  I know.  I can’t believe it myself… I need to sit down and READ.  I am now at 21 audio books for the year.

I made no progress on the e-books challenge.  I still have a partial one to read before I can count it.  😦

 

 

Thanks to Pandemonium, I was able to add one Dystopia read to the mix giving me three for the year, balancing me well for the 11 I hope to read in 2012.

No progress made on the 2012 Recommended Reading Challenge.  😦

 

For the year I am at 5,419 pages.  Audio equals:  7 days and 62 minutes.  I know… I know… but it is not idle listening… I clean, I cook, I work out… 😀 

I am hopeful that April will pick up steam.  I am finishing my third book for this month today, and I have finished 3 audio as well so far this month.

How is April coming together for you?  Is this a good reading month?

Morning Meanderings… Sunday Salon!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

 

Good morning and HAPPY EASTER!

I hope this Sunday morning finds you well… and happy and well you know… GOOD.

I had a pretty sweet week and even got the road bike out on the trail this week 3 times for a total of 68 miles (that makes me SO happy!)  I am hoping that maybe I will get out there again yet today and Monday and make it to 100 by Tuesday night (that would be one week since I started riding this year).  That will be a hard sell though as I have Monday night and Tuesday night commitments that will leave me only a little window of time to bike. 

One thing I did not get a lot of time to do this past week is read and that annoys me.  I almost put up a tweet that said “Really Sheila, how about you try to actually read a book?”

Seems like with the additional bike riding this week the reading fell to the way side, and the fresh air, knocked me out in the evenings.  Seriously – that’s embarrassing.  Friday night I came home around 6 pm after riding 36 miles, ate dinner, sat in the recliner to read and promptly passed out.  I woke at ten, and went to bed. What am I?  Five???  😯

I did get a few goodies in the mail this week:

Some pretty exciting reads and a movie to review, We Bought A Zoo.

 

Today we will go to church this morning, and then out to Easter brunch.  It’s just Al and I today without Justin being able to come home as he works and Brad in the Navy.  For us it will be a low key day and that is alright.  I have over 200 pages to go in our book club read, The Nineteenth Wife for our review on Tuesday. 

As for other exciting news – it looks like I have a roommate for BEA!  WOO HOO!!!!!  More on that soon, waiting on a confirmation but a hotel was found… and it looks good and just looking at it today made me all giddy inside knowing that BEA is coming and finally (FINALLY) it feels like it is coming together.  😀

Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!