Book Journey

Good morning!

As days tend to go, yesterday was a FULL one.  I woke up at 5:30 am and set a little Rocky Theme in my head while I prepped to go to the annual Spring Library Sale.   It has become this fun and ridiculous thing for me and a few friends to arrive SUPER early like we are waiting outside for tickets to an amazing concert. 

Except this year – I did it alone.  People had to work, plus a few of them that would normally sit by my side drinking coffee and laughing in the early morning light were also part of the crew that was getting together at midnight to see the opening night of Hunger Games, myself included.  But I could not choose one or the other of the great events.  Stubborn me… wanted to do both.

After arriving at 6:30 am and setting up my lawn chair, blanket, cell phone, and book… I promptly popped on to Facebook to let people know I was at the library 2 1/2 hours before it opened and to feel free to drive by, point, and laugh.  😀

By 6:45 am… a police car slowly drove by the library parking lot…. hesitated, then pulled in.  I think, he may have thought I was loitering, or some hopped up on I don’t know…. adrenaline (?) book junky ready to vandalize… either way, I stood up and plastered a smile on my face as he got out of the car.

“So what is going on here this morning?”

I explained the sale, my tradition, the craziness of me and my awesome friends… errrr… minus the companions this morning.  His face broke into a smile, “I think,” he said, “My wife comes to this every year too – but at a later time.”

Other than that – the other highlight was Mark (*waves!) friend/ employer/Pastor, called me at 6:50 am after seeing my Facebook status and offered to bring me coffee.  Of course, I accepted, 😀 

By 7:30, person #2 arrived (later I would find out his name is Tom), and slowly they trickled into the line on a lightly rainy morning at the Brainerd Library. 

I think… I enjoy the pre- sale comradery often even more than the sale itself.  😀

ANd then… at 9 am the doors opened and I was in.

They said they had record amount of books this spring.  At 50 cents a book – I left spending $29.00.  😯

I think… I may be a book hoarder. 

HIghlights of the sale:

There were a few specialty books for $1.00 I could not resist.  This lovely copy of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane caught my eye.  To the right, someone had donated some lovely old copies of Fairy tales and A Tale Of Two Cities dating back into the early 1900’s.  The covers were gorgeous!

I will post the books this afternoon so be sure to stop back as in tradition of my library sale postings.. there is a little fun in it for both of us!  😀

At noon yesterday I had lunch with three amazing friends, after work I came home and tried to rest but it did not happen, at 10 pm I went to the movie theater and waited in line for two hours (it was a line waiting day!) for Hunger Games…. which was amazing – and more on that later.  😀

I also need to announce the winners of the Finn book from a couple of days ago!  Using random.org, congratulations to:

Justin (#4)

Laurel  (#2)

Congrats to you both!  Please email me your address to journeythroughbooks@gmail.com and I will pass the information on to have this book sent to you right away!

I need to get ready for work, I have dinner with friends here this afternoon and then I think I may just crash for a bit.  😀

Good morning.  😀

Happy Wednesday and all that.  I don’t know if I am excited about Wednesday because we are now officially half way through the week or if I have a little anxiety as each day brings me closer to next week which is FULL FULL FULL and I don’t like my weeks that full….

HOWEVER.. there is some great things happening yet this week that I do not want to miss so I think I should just chill… and enjoy.

For instance… tomorrow morning is the Spring Library sale which means… I will be there über early because that is just fun.  They open the doors at 9, I plan to be there around 6 am.  😀  Then I work, and I have a lunch date with friends, then back to work and then home and a nap…. because…. midnight is the showing of Hunger Games and yes, myself and a few crazy friends will be there.  Yes, because it is fun.

AND then… Friday opens up the movie Being Flynn, based off the Memoir by Nick Flynn, and I am giving away 2 copies of Nick Flynn’s book!   For my readers in the Twin Cities area, please note that the film will be showing at the Uptown Lagoon Theater in Minneapolis.

Ok… about the book.  Ummm… yeah, how about that title?  Did not see that coming.. but here is what it is about (and that I do like!)

Flynn’s wayward father, a self-styled writer and ex-con, describes his life on Boston’s streets as “another bullshit night in Suck City”: he hangs out in ATM lobbies, stuffs his coat with newspaper and is often “still drunk from the night before.” This biting memoir describes the years poet Flynn (Some Ether; Blind Huber) spent, in his late 20s, working at one of the city’s homeless shelters, where his path crisscrossed with his down-and-out father’s. In examining their troublesome relationship, Flynn admits to feeling lost, as he turned to alcohol and came close to being on the other side of the shelter admissions booth himself. Punchy language and short chapters make what could otherwise be excessively painful more palatable (e.g., “Fact: In 1839 Dostoyevsky witnessed a mob of peasants attacking his father…. they poured vodka down his throat until he died. Fact: I can watch my father pouring vodka down his own throat any day of the week. My role is to play the son, though I often feel like a mob of peasants”).

 The movie…

Being Flynn is the new dramatic feature from Academy Award-nominated writer/director Paul Weitz (About a Boy). Adapted from Nick Flynn’s 2004 memoir Another Bulls—t Night in Suck City, the movie explores bonds both unbreakable and fragile between parent and child.

Nick Flynn (portrayed in the film by Paul Dano of Little Miss Sunshine and There Will Be Blood) is a young writer seeking to define himself. He misses his late mother, Jody (four-time Academy Award nominee Julianne Moore), and her loving nature. But his father, Jonathan, is not even a memory, as Nick has not seen the man in 18 years.

Jonathan Flynn (two-time Academy Award winner Robert De Niro) has long defined himself as a great writer, “a master storyteller.” After abandoning his wife and child, Jonathan scrapes through life on his own terms, and ends up serving time in prison for cashing forged checks. After prison, he drives a cab for a number of years, but with his drinking and eccentricities now accelerating, he loses his job. Despite the occasional grandiose letter to his son, he has remained absent from Nick’s life.

Suddenly facing eviction from his apartment, Jonathan impulsively reaches out to Nick and the two come face-to-face. The older man is eloquent and formidable; overwhelmed, Nick nonetheless prepares to integrate his father into his own life. But, as quickly as he materialized, Jonathan flits away again.

Moving on, Nick takes a job at a homeless shelter, where he learns from Captain (Wes Studi) and Joy (Lili Taylor) how to relate to the guests who arrive night after night. Seeing the homeless – some permanently, some temporarily so – and hearing their stories, Nick finds purpose in his own life and work. He also sustains a romance with a co-worker, Denise (Olivia Thirlby). Then one night, Jonathan arrives, seeking a bed, and Nick’s senses of self and compassion falter. To give the two of them a shot at a real future, Nick will have to decide whom to seek redemption for first.

Evocatively told, ruefully funny, and moving in its depiction of the ties that bind, Being Flynn tells a story that reveals universal truths.

SO in recap, two copies of this book are being given away here and I will announce the winners here (using random.org) on Friday morning, in honor of the movie release. 

How to enter?  Leave me a comment here giving the book a different title from reading the synopsis… 😀

Have a great day!