Staci shares her review of The Homecoming Of Samuel Lake

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

 

Hello Fellow Readers! My name is Staci and I blog at Life in the Thumb. I can’t remember a time that I didn’t have a book in my hand. I’ve been reading since the age of five. I’ve had a few run-ins with the library police during my childhood because I wanted to keep the books so bad, I would hide them from my mother and tear out all of the library pockets!! I’m the Library Lady ( little ironic, huh?) at my local middle school and love my job! I’ve been blogging about books for a little over three years.

 

Staci reading a racy scene between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth

 

I came to know Sheila through reading her comments on other blogs and really liked what she would write. I was interested enough to check out her blog and I’ve been a pretty loyal reader ever since. I also love to participate in her meme, It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?

 

 

 

Sheila asked me to choose a topic to discuss and I decided to talk about one of my favorite reads this year which is The Homecoming of Samuel Lake. It’s been a long time since a book has affected me quite like this one did. In fact, the last time I cried, laughed, and was heartsick was when I read Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and The Secret Life of Bees. I was immediately sucked into this story and wrapped up in the lives of the characters. I couldn’t put this book down for one minute and I sat outside for the entire day until I finished this story. This is a book that I think would translate well to the big screen. I would love to see the main protagonist, Swan, brought to life. She may have been young but she was a firecracker. If you’re looking for a book that will take you on a rollercoaster of emotions, then I highly recommend that you find a copy of this stellar read and treat yourself!!!

 

 

Note from Sheila:  Staci and I share a love for dogs and a common heartbreak this year as well.  Staci writes some amazing reviews and I think I have now added The Homecoming Of Samuel Lake to my TBR.

Morning Meanderings… Day One Honduras

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)11 Comments

Good morning from La Esperanza Honduras.  It was a long travel day from the 2:30 am start to the 6:00 pm landing in our hotel.  As tired as I was, it was great to see Terry and Colleen again ( our guides and friends). 

A Honduras fave! Iced mocha... about $1.10 in American money

I am currently in my hotel room trying to decide if my laptop is right at 5:55 am, or if my phone is right at 6:55 am.  My room is nice and I am surrounded by the sounds of Honduras…. dogs barking, fireworks going off, trucks moving.  Lets just say I am thankful for Ambien.  

Just in case it is almost 7 am I have to get a movie on it and get ready to go.  We are meeting downstairs at 8 for breakfast and then doing a little exploring.  At 3 pm we will go to the church we are working with and be there for a few hours.

I will catch up as I can and lan to be back later with the Monday What Are You Reading.

On the plane, I finally finished Monsters Of Men.  🙂

Esme Shares her Favorite Books Of The Year

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)6 Comments

Hi, I am Esme from Chocolate and Croissants.  My blog is a little about books, a little about my kitties and a little about food.  I am a huge collector of cookbooks.  What are my favorite genres;  I love memoirs, especially food memoirs, followed by historical novels and biographies.  I am always up for a good novel.  Sitting in bed reading cookbooks is always fun. 

Esme's kitties

Sheila and I have known each other for two years now.  I still remember when she reached out to me and asked if she could use one of my posts on her blog.  I was quite honored that she would want to borrow one of my posts.  From there we left comments on each other’s blog and then shared a room in NYC at BEA in 2010.  My friends thought I was a little crazy to share a hotel room with someone I had never met.  I knew it would be great fun.

So Sheila has asked me to blog about my favourite book this year.  That is such a hard one.  What makes a book your favourite?  That is like asking me what my favorite pastry is.  I like them all for different reasons.
I am going to give you three favorites from this year.  They are all favorites for different reasons.  The one book I did not want to end was The Soldier’s Wife .  Set in Guernsey during WW11 I loved the story.  My favorite food memoir was Mama’s Homesick Pie.   The author followed her dreams studying cooking at the Cordon Bleu in France.  The book was so much more than her story as a chef.  It was about her family and the love for each other.  Author Adriana Trigiani wrote a beautiful tribute in Don’t Sing at the Table  to her grandmothers.  Don’t Sing at the Table tells the story of Viola and Lucia, two Italian immigrants.  This book is about these wonderful women and the lessons they passed on to their granddaughter.  
Please stop by for a cup of tea and tell me what your favourite book this year is.
* note from Sheila:  Esme is always tempting me with delectable recipes on her blog….  of the three books she mentions here I have read two… but sounds like I need to dig into Mama’s Homesick Pie as well!

Morning Meanderings…. And We Are Off!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)2 Comments

Brief entry…. no coffee (yet!) it is 3:00 am and no one (NO ONE) should have to get up at this hour.  First of all…. its really dark.  Second of all… did I sleep?  Really?

😛

Anyhoo…. we grab a shuttle to the airport in 30 minutes and I am typing on borrowed time.  I will check in when I can… but hang out anyway as the bloggers who will be gracing these pages over the week… are AWESOME!

Laurel Gushes About Her Favorite Books Of The Year

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)5 Comments

Sheila asked me to share some thoughts today, in her absence, and when she extended the invitation and suggested a couple of topics, I thought back to my first encounter with Sheila in her online persona.  Not only do I enjoy her blog, but I soon learned that she was always ready to extend a helping hand with all the technological stuff I had yet to learn.

It was in the early summer of 2009, and I was still very new to the idea (or the gravitational pull) of the blogging community.  An author friend suggested the Book Blogs.ning site, along with a few others, as a way to connect with like-minded individuals, and Sheila was one of the first to comment on a post I wrote.  She suggested doing an author profile on me.

Always happy to talk about books, including those I’ve written, I agreed.  That was only the beginning, though, because Sheila’s interview opened up a whole network of bloggers in this great community.  As I started exploring other blogs, beginning with Sheila’s own, I realized how much fun blogging could be, and that a viral kind of energy emanated from each blog.  Blogging was contagious and I was soon addicted.

Some of you may know that I have a lot of blogs.  They’ve ranged from two when I first met Sheila, and at one point, I had twenty.  Now I have ten:  two on Blogger and eight on Word Press.  An Interior Journey and Curl up and Read are my two most popular WP book blogs, while Rainy Days and Mondays is my Blogger site with the most followers.  Creative Moments is my “author” site, for my works and for writing challenges.

I’ve always loved reading, but my love of books has grown since I began blogging, and I have reviewed everything I’ve read since I started.  Even before I was blogging much, I reviewed my books on Amazon.  I have nearly 600 reviews on that site at this time.  I have tracked the books I’ve read on Curl up and Read for the past two years, for which I’m grateful.  As a result, I can look back over what I’ve read and recommend some favorites.

This year has been full of great books that I’ve enjoyed, and having to choose one favorite is challenging.   A handful of favorites include books like Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, TheWeird Sisters, These Things Hidden, Northwest Corner, Violets of March, and Never Knowing.  But two recent reads stand out for me: The Leftovers, by Tom Perrotta and The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.

These books are very different from one another, and what sets each of them apart is the uniqueness of the characters and plots and the writer’s ability to connect with the reader.

Since I most recently read The Language of Flowers, I will talk about what grabbed my attention about this book.  My review can be found here.

As a retired social worker, the story of Victoria Jones resonated with me.  Shunted from foster home to foster home, never expecting anything good to happen to her as each experience chipped away at her self-esteem, she was not prepared for the love and warmth she would find in the foster home of Elizabeth.  Just ten years old, she was more than ready for some kind of permanency, but nothing in her life up until then had given her a reason to believe in such a dream.  For whatever reason, Elizabeth seemed to offer the promise of family and hope.  She also helped Victoria learn how to communicate through the meanings of the flowers she grew, and the two of them connected over these lessons.  But both Elizabeth and Victoria had suffered damages in life, and something would rip apart these connections by year’s end.

Curious about what happens to Victoria next, and wondering what would ultimately unfold for her, kept me turning those pages.  I loved how the story showed us Victoria on the verge of adulthood, while still sharing snippets from that pivotal tenth year.

While I think of myself as an eclectic reader, I would have to say I’m most drawn to books that show ordinary people struggling with issues of loss, trauma, and family dysfunction.  Probably the appeal for me has a lot to do with the kind of work I did for more than three decades.  Or maybe I’m just a sucker for the drama of these stories.

Whatever the reason, I do pick up these kinds of books over and over.  And I think the appeal of The Language of Flowers has captivated many other readers as well.

What books are your favorites?  What are you hoping to find for your shelves next year?

* Note from Sheila:  Laurel and I did start blogging the same year, I think I have a 2 or 3 months under my belt more than her but it was in that same season.  Laurel has been a long time commenter and if she does not pop in each day… I wonder where she is!  😛  She is a blogger extraordinaire and a blast to chat with!  The two books she pictures here are two I have yet to read but want to!!!

Heading to Honduras November 4 – 11

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)2 Comments

Hi readers!  As of the afternoon of November 4, I will be on my way to Honduras.  I will pop in with Morning Meanderings as I am able (internet-wise) but I also have guest bloggers here each day around 11:40 am central time chatting up books and movies with you.  Please stop in and see what they have to say about the best of the best this year.  😀

See you all soon!

Sheila

Morning Meanderings: While I Am Away

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Good morning.  This morning… I have been up since five.  Probably a little insane for the first day of my travels but that is what happened… I woke up when Al got up, he told me good-bye, and then there I was.

AWAKE.

😯

Then my friend text me at 5:30 and I responded which surprised her so she called and we talked until 7:40 am.  😛

So I sit here now with COFFEE CUP and ASUS (laptop) looking at my 1/4 packed suitcase on the couch.  My traveling towards Honduras starts today  and I have barely begun to pack.  No worries though, I have my list and it will probably take me about 15 minutes to get organized and packed.  I am only gone a week and need probably 4 changes of regular clothes and one nice outfit. 

My carry on however has in it the books I will be reading for the INSPY awards, Snookie (my Nook), my IPOD, and snacks.  Really… the carry on is more important.  😀

My plan is as follows:

 

3:00 pm today – meet up with the two guys I am riding to the Cities with – Jay and Eric. 

6:00 pm today – check into our hotel and meet up for dinner.

4:00 am Saturday – be at the airport and meet up with Al and Julie.

5:30 am – board the plane to Atlanta Georgia and meet up with the rest of our team flying from Florida:  Mark, Boris, and Dima.

10:00 am – fly from Georgia to Tegucigalpa Honduras

12:10 land and head to La Esperanza (about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive)

Stay is La Esperanza from Saturday to Wednesday afternoon helping in that area.

Wednesday afternoon – back to Tegucigalpa (main city of Honduras) stay overnight at the mission house

Thursday morning – head the opposite direction and stop and see where we have worked before:  AFE (the dump and the kids who live in it), Manuelito (street kids), circle around do a little shopping, have dinner then back to the mission house for our overnight.

Friday – pack, airport by 11:00 – fly at 1:00, back in Minneapolis around 10:10 pm, drive home.

 

So what is happening here at Book Journey while I am away?  Awesome things.  I will check in when I can in the mornings to tell you what is happening and add pics as I can.  My afternoon posts are going to some wonderful book blogger friends who will be here to talk books and maybe even movies with you – so please pop in and show them some love.  They are all awesome to do this!  And honestly, I have not even peaked at what their posts are yet so it will be fun to see what they are chatting about. 

Oh one more thing – Monday What Are You Reading will be here will go one as usual going up on Sunday evening…. (at least I am prepping it and scheduling it to go live then…. I BELIEVE it will work)  😛

One Perfect Day by Lauraine Snelling

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

It is almost Christmas.  The snow is falling deeply and beautifully outside.  Families all over are making plans, buying gifts, decorating trees and homes that smell of gingerbread.  The anticipation clings in the air as it seems the world has taken a united breath and held it… wondering, excitedly, what is next.

Nora Peterson once again feels like she is standing on her last nerve.  She digs the Christmas decorations out of storage wondering when her husband will be home from his latest business trip to participate in what should be a family event.  It looks like once again it will be her and her  17 year old twin children, Christi and Charlie who understand the importance of this tradition.   After all, it is almost Christmas and soon both Christie and Charlie will be off making their own lives.

During this same time, a stranger to the Peterson’s, Jenna Montgomery is trying to stay upbeat  as she makes homemade waffles and plasters a smile on her face for her daughter Heather.  Heather is twenty years old and has suffered almost all her life from a heart defect.  She has been on the donor waiting list for what feels like forever, and time is running out.  As Jenna looks across the room at her daughter, she wonders if this will be their last Christmas together…

At Nora’s home…. A doorbell rings that will change the dynamics of her life forever.   At Jenna’s home, the long anticipated phone call comes…

Will one family’s tragedy become another families answer to prayer? 

In parallel, alternating chapters, One Perfect Day follows the lives of these two women as their story unfolds.  When tragedy strikes the Peterson’s home, the family is left to make a hard decision about organ donation.  The story centers much around this decision being made in the core of intense grief, a decision that can very well save others lives.

Nora’s story is one of battling grief and loss, as well as struggling with the depression that can follow such tragic events.  As she questions everything, her family and her best friend try hard to wrap her in love.  How does one go on after something like this happens?   How does one get up in the morning?  Breath?  Forgive?  Heal?

Jenna’s story follows the miracle side of her daughters new heart.  Sure there are opportunities for heart rejection, but now that this big weight is lifted off their lives and the impending thoughts of “their last Christmas together” seems to disappear and as each day shows improvement and healing… it makes room for something else in Jenna’s life.  Something there was no room for in the fear of losing her daughter….

There is hope. 

The two families never meet and I think that is a brilliant choice by author Lauraine Snelling.  It would have been easy to pull them together in the end and let them see what they have done for each other… both healing in their own sense of the word.  The fact that this is not the case, adds a sense of imbalance as you wonder whether their paths will cross and the result is a good read, without the all too neat ribbon and bow packaging in the end.

I have to admit, I do not read many Christmas related stories due to the overall neatness that seems to be within the pages of such reads.  The overall sugary perfect effect leaves me with nothing to ponder on.  This was not the case in One Perfect Day.  This book left me not only with thoughts on families coping with tragedies the best they know how, but also on the importance of organ donation.

This book is a recommended read this winter as you curl up in a comfy chair and a hot cup of cocoa.  A small, quick read that packs a lot of punch within its pages.

Enjoy!

Lauraine Snelling is a Christian Fiction author who with this book, I have now read for the first time.  She has a wonderful way with character development.  Her story weaves and twists between the two families as smoothly as though she were figure skating. 

 

Amazon Rating

Good Reads

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading map has been updated to include One Perfect Day

I purchased this book at Book World in Brainerd

Morning Meanderings… SO Much To Do….

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

 

Good morning! 

Here it is Thursday already.  I leave for the cities tomorrow afternoon to catch my plane Saturday morning for Tegucigalpa Honduras…. and while I felt prepared all week…

suddenly I feel behind.

I am looking around my home thinking I really should straighten that up, or I should make time to clean this or that…. and now my head is going you need to return library books, you need to go to the bank, you need to….

GAH.

I think I am having a little pre trip anxiety.  I think I have hit that wall where suddenly my “have to’s” such as work today, feels like it is interfering with my time to plan the trip.  This of course is not true… it will take me about 30 minutes to pack… I do have a few things to pick up at Wal-Mart but can certainly do that tonight or tomorrow with plenty of time to spare.  🙂 

Anyways… none of this is really interesting in the least and other than reporting that I am still (STILL) reading Monsters Of Men… nothing happening here on the book front. 

Have an awesome day!

Snow Flower And The Secret Fan Movie Review and Giveaways!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

It is present day Shanghai and Nina and Sophia are struggling to maintain their childhood friendship among the demands of career, relationships, and family.  Drawing from the lessons of the past, Nina and Sophia learn to understand their ancestral connections to Lily and Snowflower… their laotong, and the ways of 19th century China.

Like nu shu secrets within the creases of a fan…. both story lines mesh to tell one… of hope, love, and friendship.

Laotong or LaoTong (in English: old sames; written: 老同 in Mandarin) is a type of relationship within Chinese culture, which was practised in Hunan, that bonded two girls together for eternity as kindred sisters.

There were two cultural practises in Hunan in past centuries that acknowledged women’s social bonds. One was Laotong, the other was Laotang.

Chinese women commonly refer to each other as “Sisters.” This is a recognition of the importance of women’s supportive relationships, which helped them endure hardship over their lives. Preparation for marriage might involve a Laotang relationship between several young women; the sisterhood would be dissolved upon marriage. After marriage, new sisterhoods could be formed later between married or widowed women.[1]

For Chinese women, the Laotong or “Old-Sames” relationship was the most precious friendship bond. This was a more rare and formal relationship between women. A woman could only have one Laotong, and the bond was for life.

As told on wikepedia

Yesterday I reviewed the audio version of Snowflower and The Secret Fan.  This was quite the coincidence when I was offered to review the movie which released this week on DVD and Blue-Ray.  I of course, said yes to this review as I missed out on this one in the theater.

At first the movie concerned me when I heard the main characters were not the lily and Snowflower I had expected….  but have patience, soon you will see that it is just being told from a second story line that I really grew to enjoy.  Going back and forth between the modern Nina and Sophia and then to the history of Lily and Snowflower was an interesting way to present the story. 

While I appreciated the audio greatly and highly advise you read or listen to the book first, I would recommend the movie as well as a compliment to the other.  Beautifully detailed it brought tears to my eyes more than once.  I was at once very impressed. 

Along with the review of the book, I was asked to have a Laotong night with friends….  you don’t have to twist my arm to hang with friends!  A road trip was planned to our cabin with my cousin’s wife Rhonda, and two other wonderful friends, Belinda and Sheila.  It was a lot of fun as none of them had been to the cabin before.

Me, Rhonda, and Sheila at Tettegouche State Park
Belinda and Sheila

We spent the day exploring the north shore shops and had lunch at the Blue Fin Bay Grill.  We went back to the cabin where we made fajitas and chatted and laughed and wore mud masks and watched movies.  It was just what my heart needed… time with friends… time to laugh and time to share. 

Ok... they will probably have my head for posting this... but part of our Laontong night was face masks.... it was so fun!

If you read Book Journey on a regular basis you probably know that I enjoy many adventures with friends and work to make that time happen to renew and restore.  I know that it is not always easy to do when you have time commitments, family, and small children but let me tell you that your friendships are important and time with friends… makes you a better you. 

Here are a few ways you can plan time with friends:

A phone call when time is short….catch up!

A coffee date at a favorite coffee shop

Take in a movie – even a matinée

Send a card or small gift in the mail to those you can not see do to distance

Road trip… always talking about that shopping trip or sight seeing?  Make it happen!  3 of my friends and I finally made that happen after years of talking about it in June.

A gym date – double duty!  🙂

Giveaway

I was sent three copies of the book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan to share with the girls who did the Laotong night with me.  They took two of the copies… and I still have one left for one of you!  I also have been offered a DVD or Blue Ray give away of the movie!

To enter for these giveaways (I will choose two winners, one book, one movie) leave a comment here telling me either of a fun night/ weekend you have done with friends – OR one you are planning to do. 

For an extra entry, subscribe to Book Journey by signing up on the right hand side bar and let me know in a separate comment.  If you are already a subscriber, let me know that in a separate comment for the extra entry.

USA and Canada only please… I will announce the winner Friday in my morning post.