Book Journey

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Published on October 18, 2011October 18, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)61 Comments

Step right up and don’t push… you will all get a chance to enter. The Night Circus is a mysterious Circus that opens only at night. It comes with no warning, and leaves the same way… but if you are lucky enough to catch it you are in for the time of your life. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves.

While attendees rave about the never-ending tents filled with amazing sights to see, what they do not see is the underlining workings of the circus. Celia, who has been raised with the circus since a child is running the Night Circus as a competition that even she does not quite understand… her opponent… could be anyone, friend or foe… she is unsure…. all Celia does know is that she must continue to work bigger and better in this mysterious game as she will soon find out – the stakes are quite high.

(push play above for a little review theme music)

The Night Circus first came to my attention at BEA this past May during a dinner with bloggers and publishers. The conversation at my end of the table was centered around a book, this book, that I had never heard of. “…as big as Harry Potter,” fell on my ears and that was enough of a sell for me. After all, have I not spent hours and hours of reading and looking for a book, a series, that has touched my life as much as Harry Potter and come up empty?

I searched the Book Expo the next day but the word was out… and all advanced copies of Night Circus were gone. I left with a promise from the publisher that they would send me a copy and yes, a couple of weeks after the expo, a lovely black and white striped circus wrapped book arrived in my mailbox. I did not remove the wrapping for the next several months… savoring the anticipation.

I started the book in print… while reading heard about Jim Dale narrating the audio version (Jim Dale also narrated the Harry Potter books) and purchased the audio version from audible.com to finish out the book.

First off know this… Celia is not the main character. Nor are the twins that are talked about frequently throughout the story – Widget and Poppet. No. The main character is indeed the circus itself. If ever life was breathed into a place, an object… this is it. The circus lives and breathes just as much as I do as I write this review.

The beauty of this book that I think could align it with the Potter books is the immense detail… carousels do not only go round and round… but beyond. Tea pots come to a boil on cue and tea is poured free hand from them. Celia wears a dress that changes color to compliment whatever the person she is talking to is wearing…a particular visual I loved were the trees that have poems running down the trunks.

At times story lines may appear unrelated…. but just wait as this is the real magic of the novel…. when it does come together there is a bit of magic to it all for the reader… I referred to it as a party for my mind.

While the book at first may appear to be all cotton candy and caramel apples…. you will quickly discover it is indeed a tightrope walk of event after event… each carefully placed to make the circus function as it does and one misstep…

could bring it all down.

Did it touch me as much as the Harry Potter books? No… but I have a lot of history with Harry. I have heard the buzz that the Movie rights have been purchased and that does excite me as I believe this read would make a visual feast. I will certainly be in line early to get my ticket.

Leslie from Under My Apple Tree has two copies of this book to give away!

Amazon Rating

Good Reads Review

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Night Circus

I received my print copy from the publisher

I purchased my audio copy from audible

Morning Meanderings… What To My Wondering Eyes Does Appear?

Published on October 18, 2011October 18, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)26 Comments

Good morning COFFEE people! 😛 Ok, ok, none coffee people too but really I figured only coffee people are up at the crack of dawn like we are all hopped up on caffeine….

(maybe…. that’s just me…)

On Thursday morning of this past week I was tearing through my home looking for my copy of Patrick Ness’ Monsters Of Men book to take to the cabin with me. This search was to no avail and left me imaging all sorts of fates for the lost book:

1. I had it on the table during our recent book club book sale and someone snatched it up for $1.00

2. I used it for a prop to put my camera on during banned book week

3. I had it is my car and somehow it fell out

4. Last week Joey from the magazine article was over for a picture of the library and when I was straightening up, I placed the book in with the others (in this case…. forever lost…. ha ha)

5. Clearly someone broke into my home and stole it

So yesterday afternoon when I came home from work I wanted to read a bit but did not want to start the book club book… no I wanted my Monsters Of Men. I did another search and then in the library I looked up where I keep all of my have read and am keeping book sets and there it was!

AHHHHHH!!!!

Crazy that I found it where it really should have been all along. 😛

This is not the first book I have lost…. last year I lost ROOM in mid-read which was awful. Does this ever happen to you? (I am secretly hoping it does so I am not alone in my bookish insanity….) 😀

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on October 16, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)103 Comments

Hello and welcome to another fun addition of 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.

Last weeks winner:

Kristin from Always With A Book!

WOO HOO!!!! Please choose an item out of the Reading Cafe Grab Shelves and email me your choice with your mailing address as well! journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

I don’t know why I thought this past week was going to be a lighter one as I was so so WRONG. Last Monday I had a busy day working and cleaning, Tuesday was book club Wednesday was a long long day as I stayed late at work to get finished up with projects and went right from work to a volunteer position with students and arrived home around 8:30 pm EXHAUSTED. Thursday got up at 5 am – packed, fueled car, bought groceries, went to the post office, the re-store, the library and left town at 10″30 am for the cabin arriving back home from a crafting girls weekend at 9 pm on Saturday, Sunday morning church, prepped for a baby shower, helped with the shower, ran to pick up hoggie buns for dinner at our small groups home, went to the group and came back home at 8:00 pm to watch Amazing Race and write this post.

That said – here is what I managed for this past week:

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray (audio review)

Click on the pic for the Bookies Book Club Classic Month dress up and Pride and Prejudice review

Click on the pic to see what we did girls weekend

That is it. That was my week. Just this afternoon I finished Night Circus and will review in the next day, and I can not seem to find my copy of Monsters Of Men… so frustrating! 😯

I plan to work on this week:

Rather than a devastatingly beautiful femme fatale, Cleopatra, according to Schiff, was a shrewd power broker who knew how to use her manifold gifts—wealth, power, and intelligence—to negotiate advantageous political deals and military alliances. Though long on facts and short on myth, this stellar biography is still a page-turner; in fact, because this portrait is grounded so thoroughly in historical context, it is even more extraordinary than the more fanciful legend. Cleopatra emerges as a groundbreaking female leader, relying on her wits, determination, and political acumen rather than sex appeal to astutely wield her power in order to get the job done.

*My book club chose this book for our November read. I will be in Honduras during our next review so I want to get a head start on this one so I can leave my thoughts with them. 😀

The witches of Bethel, New Hampshire are decidedly of the sinister variety—albeit more likely to sell real estate and wear stylish leather skirts than fly around on brooms and don pointy hats. Beneath the town’s charming rural surface of gingerbread Victorians, maple sugar houses, and fiery foliage lurks a conspiracy of evil reminiscent of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown.” How evil? Suffice it to say that when somebody drops by to welcome newcomers to the neighborhood with a plate of vegan brownies, they should think twice before taking the first bite.

*I am in the mood for a spooky read and this one entered today!

Lily at 80 reflects on her life, beginning with her daughter days in 19th-century rural China. Foot-binding was practiced by all but the poorest families, and the graphic descriptions of it are not for the fainthearted. Yet women had nu shu, their own secret language. At the instigation of a matchmaker, Lily and Snow Flower, a girl from a larger town and supposedly from a well-connected, wealthy family, become laotong, bound together for life. Even after Lily learns that Snow Flower is not from a better family, even when Lily marries above her and Snow Flower beneath her, they remain close, exchanging nu shu written on a fan. When war comes, Lily is separated from her husband and children. She survives the winter helped by Snow Flower’s husband, a lowly butcher, until she is reunited with her family. As the years pass, the women’s relationship changes; Lily grows more powerful in her community, bitter, and harder, until at last she breaks her bond with Snow Flower. They are not reunited until Lily tries to make the dying Snow Flower’s last days comfortable.

*I have never read See’s writing but have heard great things… I was excited to find this one on sale on Amazon!

In the spring of 1865, the bloody saga of America’s Civil War finally comes to an end after a series of increasingly harrowing battles. President Abraham Lincoln’s generous terms for Robert E. Lee’s surrender are devised to fulfill Lincoln’s dream of healing a divided nation, with the former Confederates allowed to reintegrate into American society. But one man and his band of murderous accomplices, perhaps reaching into the highest ranks of the U.S. government, are not appeased.In the midst of the patriotic celebrations in Washington D.C., John Wilkes Booth—charismatic ladies’ man and impenitent racist—murders Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theatre. A furious manhunt ensues and Booth immediately becomes the country’s most wanted fugitive. Lafayette C. Baker, a smart but shifty New York detective and former Union spy, unravels the string of clues leading to Booth, while federal forces track his accomplices. The thrilling chase ends in a fiery shootout and a series of court-ordered executions—including that of the first woman ever executed by the U.S. government, Mary Surratt.

*I have always been fascinated with Abraham Lincoln, but have not really read a lot about him. I am excited to try this audio.

And of course if I could only find Monsters Of Men….

That’s my week…. all three of my audio should be turning over this week that’s why I have the line up for new audio. I am now excited to see what you are reading! Please add your What Are You Reading Link to the linky below where it says click here:

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I Am Home!!!

Published on October 16, 2011October 16, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)32 Comments

I arrived back home from our girls craft weekend last night about 9:00 pm. I already have ran to Church this morning, have a baby shower I am helping with at 2:00 pm and a dinner commitment at 5 pm…. but had to pop in with an update 😀

We really had a good time over the last couple of days hanging out, laughing, and crafting. We actually crafted from noon on Friday until 10 pm at night – only stopping because we all agreed to shut down the activity and go watch a movie together. Of course we were back at it Saturday morning…

So much fun! I have never used a Cri-cut before but of course now… I want one. Thankfully Sara’s mom had about 30 of the Cri-cut cartridges so we were able tobe really creative – here is some of what we came up with in the end:

A tile I made for the cabin and 4 coasters

That was the weekend! Great time with the girls and were planning on doing it again in January after the craziness of the holidays. 😀

Reading was minimal – we were up talking until 2:30 in the morning on Friday night (Saturday morning really) … however I have finished Night Circus and hope to have that review up today. 😀

Morning Meanderings: Unplugged

Published on October 13, 2011October 13, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)15 Comments

Good morning! 😀

I am drinking tea this morning as I don’t want to make a whole pot of coffee. No, I am not sick. 😛

I am heading to the cabin in a few hours here for a girls crafting weekend – MUCH NEEDED GET AWAY!

The past two weeks have been crazy busy, a lot of multi tasking day and night and this has been my “eye on the reward”. 😀

It will be me, Amy, Sara, and Cindy and we are doing words on tiles which excites me to no end! (I never seem to run out of words. We will be staying in having chili tomorrow night and fajitas on Saturday. We are probably heading back this way late Saturday evening.

For the most part I will be unplugged… no internet service at the cabin and since this is an “in house” event – I suspect I would be frowned upon if I were to sneak out in the morning to my usual coffee shop haunt to write posts. 😯

In my once organized world I would have had posts up and reviews, but I am caught up on reviews unless Don’t Blink on audio finishes up today while I run errands this morning and then I do not think I will have time to write it.

I was up at 5 am, packed, prepped a package that must (MUST!) go int the mail today, searching for my copy of Monsters and Men for the trip, next I am grocery shopping, post office, and I would like to make one more stop at the re-store for tiles – which my friends think is hilarious as I have a stock pile of tile… but, you know when they run out miles away from a store… I am going to up sell them 😀

Any weekend plans for you?

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (A Bookies Review)

Published on October 12, 2011October 12, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)33 Comments

Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have a houseful. Five children, all girls… well, women really, living in a home in Georgia England during the Regency period.

Of the five, Jane is the oldest and the beautiful one, Elizabeth is the fast tongued smart one, Mary is bookish, Kitty is immature and Lydia… oh Lydia is the wild one.

Mr. Bennett is a pretty well put together man especially considering how over the top his wife, Mrs. Bennett can be. Set firmly on doing all she can to help her daughters marry and marry well, Mrs. Bennett will stop short of nothing… even to the length of sending Jane by horse to visit Mr. Darcy during a rain storm in hopes that she would become ill and have to stay at his home until she is better.

Her plan… works to that extent… but not all is she had hoped. 😉

Elizabeth is the one who comes to Jane’s rescue, appalled at her own mothers behavior she nurses Jane back to health,avoiding as much as she can the man who annoys her so much, Mr. Darcy himself.

What follows is a story that is described as a comedy of sorts, of sisters and men in their lives, and really… Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy.

This is my first time reading Pride and Prejudice. My book club started a tradition many years ago that every October we would read a classic. Back then, I was not thrilled by the idea, now… I love it. This gives us all a chance to experience one of the greats… we do not always like them, but they have always been pretty fun to review.

My personal thoughts on the read were I really enjoyed it. While some in the group struggled with the language, I enjoyed figuring it out as I went. The words are different than we use them, and it was fun to see words used differently in sentences and while they were a mouthful to read.. they made sense.

As much as the Bookies loved Mr. Darcy, I was odd man out on this one. I realized he changes throughout the book… but his snottiness (hoo yeah I said it!)in the beginning especially towards Elizabeth rubbed me wrong and I still wasn’t over it at the close of the read. I know this is supposed to be one of the great love stories… and I agree it was a good read, I just didn’t really like Darcy. Yes I know I am in the minority… but remember I do not read romance reads. 😀

I did however really enjoy the book and am so happy to now be able to say I have read Pride and Prejudice! The Bookies had a good discussion over the book, the era, The Bennett’s, fun with the language, and overall it rated a 3.5 rating out of 5.

We did dress up as we like to do for our Classic read – hats were requested, but you could go further with the look if you wanted to.

I wanted to. 😀

Here are a few pics of our evening:

A little candid pencil shot while we were setting up for the pictures

Kaydi wore her grandmothers wedding dress!

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Pride and Prejudice

I purchased my copy of Pride and Prejudice at Barnes and Noble

Morning Meanderings… A Lot Of Pride… A Little Prejudice

Published on October 12, 2011October 12, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

Good morning! 😀

I thought my week was going to be a bit more mellow. I was wrong… but in a good way. 😀 Monday was insane and Tuesday… well Tuesday was Book Club. 😀

If you are a regular reader of Book Journey, you certainly have heard me brag up the Bookies… well… fair warning… I am about to do it again. 😛

What is not to love about a book club that goes the extra mile? Puts a little “oomf” into the reviews with background information, printouts, and yeah… the occasional dress up too.

Last night we reviewed our October Classic pick: Pride and Prejudice. To spice the review up we encouraged everyone to wear hats, and for those who wanted to go the extra mile – dress the Regency period. Two of the gals that for sure were going to dress up with me wound up having to play in a kick ball tournament Tuesday night and unable to attend. I thought for sure I would be the only one who was really getting into the book….

Oh yea of little faith Sheila….

I walked into our restaurant we were meeting at and there were the Bookies, most in hats, and a few that dressed the full era. Ahhh…. I lobe my book club.

Here is a sample of whats to come… more pics will be up later today with my review and the Bookies review of Pride and Prejudice. (Next month we are reading Cleopatra… hmmm…… )

A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Published on October 11, 2011October 11, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)23 Comments

On Gemma Doyle’s 16th birthday, after having an argument with her mother about leaving India and going to a school in London, Gemma takes off alone in an angry huff. Suddenly she can not move her feet and a weird sensation covers her as she has a vision of her mother dying. When she returns from her walk, she discovers that her mother is indeed… dead.

Two months later Gemma is enrolled in a London boarding school for girls. She is still dealing with the strange visions and feeling grief and guilt over her mother. As time goes on, Gemma learns to not only control the visions, but also discovers a realm where she has powers and where she rediscovers her mother who directs her through what apparently is some sort of hereditary magic.

As Gemma makes friends (Felicity, Ann, and Pippa) at the school, she lets them in on her new found powers and together the girls explore the realm, not realizing the dangers that lurk within, or the clues given in Gemma’s visions.

Segue: You know how you may pick a dessert from a dessert tray thinking it is one thing, but upon biting into it you discover it is something else entirely, and even better than expected? Well, that’s how I felt about this audio.

At first synopsis, I thought for sure this was an historical fiction read. Which… it was. But, it is also is adventure, mystery, paranormal, a dab of horror, a splash or romance, and dare I say I think I may have experienced just a pinch of steam punk?

A Great and Terrible Beauty is narrated by Josephine Bailey and I would say that in the places that I felt a little lost in what was happening in this stuffed full of genre book, it was Josephine’s clear and incredible voice control that held me captive.

While the start of this novel read is kicking and full of action that made me say “Wha?”, the middle seamed to be filled with just a lot of … stuff. Filling really – about the school, about Gemma…. it just lost the power that it had in the beginning, and maybe it was just too strong an entrance to possibly hold that level of excitement… I dont know…

My favorite part of the book was the friendship of the four girls. As in most books that center around a friendship, the girls have diverse personalities, and I like that. I did enjoy how they came together as quite an unlikely quartette, and well… you will see if you check this one out.

While I did mention the middle fizzle, if you hang on the ending takes you souring again into the “WHOA!” zone and actually had me smiling form the effects of just good writing. Definitely worth a go (and the occasional “whoa!”)

If you do decide to venture into this one on audio be sure to listen to the authors notes at the end. Libba Bray has a pretty funny message about how this book came to be and details of how she came to this story.

Amazon Rating

Goodreads review

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include A Great and Terrible Beauty

I borrowed this audio from our local library

Morning Meanderings… The Question Is… Did I Do It?

Published on October 11, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)25 Comments

Good morning! 😛

Mmm…. COFFEE CUP and I are enjoying a quiet start to the day. Crazy how dark it is now at 7:06 am… gah… I am not looking forward to the coming season.

My original plan this morning was to get up early and hit the gym… I have decided the only time I can guarantee is free time for me (non scheduled) is the hours between 5 and 7 a.m. Well, yesterday I went to Group Power with my friend Wendy for the first time in months – pretty much pre-injury in June. Lets just say it is not a good sign when you start hurting DURING class…. 😯

So yeah… today I hurt… but it is a good hurt. AND I will hit the gym tomorrow morning.

If you were reading my meanderings at the end of last week I was sharing that my book club was reading Pride and Prejudice for our annual Classic Read in October. As of Friday… I had not opened the book, but being optimistic… I had a plan to get it done before B- Day (Book Day) which is uhhh… errrr…..

today.

The plan was a simple math one: 375 pages. I had three days – Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That’s 125 pages a day. Doable? Yes. If I could dedicate 3 hours each day to reading it would be an average of 41.6 pages an hour. I would even have time to grab a cup of coffee! 😛 Really it was only 1.4 pages a minute. See…. doable. 😀

So…. did I do it?

Ummmm….

not yet.

As it seems to go with us readers, life happened and I think I actually spent more time listening to audio this weekend while I cooked and cleaned than I did reading.

Will I be done by our 6:30 meeting tonight? I think so… or I will be close. I am over 100 pages short right now, but should have an hour to an hour and a half to read before I go tonight. I will just have to skip the coffee… 😀

Do you have any book deadlines to share? Funny moments where you are trying to squeeze more reading into your day?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on October 9, 2011October 9, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)80 Comments

Hello and welcome to another fun addition of 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!

Last weeks winner:

Chris and Nerfreader

WOO HOO!!!! Please choose an item out of the Reading Cafe Grab Shelves and email me your choice with your mailing address as well! journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

So my week was crazy and you are probably thinking, “Wow Sheila what else is new?” Well… lots of things but more on that later this week. 😛

This past week around bonus craziness I did get a few things done…

In The Woods by Tana French (audio review – my first Tana French and I have a complaint…)

Robin Hood by David Coe (audio review)

Reclaiming Lily by Patti Lacy ( a book tour review)

Weekend cooking with Pride and Prejudice

They Are Creepy And They Are Spooky – what are you reading for Halloween month?

Considering my week… that’s not too bad. I have two more audio close to being done, and Night Circus (on audio) should be done late this week as well I think.

I am finishing up Pride and Prejudice for book club on Tuesday and Monsters of Men from last week is on the hit list after that. 😀

I have a girls weekend this weekend so I will not get a lot of reading done – but in the event I get some time this week to add a little more I hope to read:

Is nothing sacred? The last thing Carmela Bertrand and her friend Ava expected to bear witness to in St. Tristan’s Church was a crime. But now a beloved member of their scrapbooking circle lies lifeless next to a smashed statue of St. Sebastien-and a mysterious hooded figure has absconded with an antique crucifix.

As Carmela and Ava are drawn deeper into New Orleans’ French Quarter in search of the missing crucifix, they may need the help of more than a few patron saints. Because this is one killer they don’t want to cross…

In a dusty corner of a basement in a rambling Victorian house in northern New Hampshire, a door has long been sealed shut with 39 six-inch-long carriage bolts.

The home’s new owners are Chip and Emily Linton and their twin ten-year-old daughters. Together they hope to rebuild their lives there after Chip, an airline pilot, has to ditch his 70-seat regional jet in Lake Champlain after double engine failure. Unlike the Miracle on the Hudson, however, most of the passengers aboard Flight 1611 die on impact or drown. The body count? Thirty-nine – a coincidence not lost on Chip when he discovers the number of bolts in that basement door. Meanwhile, Emily finds herself wondering about the women in this sparsely populated White Mountain village – self-proclaimed herbalists – and their interest in her fifth-grade daughters. Are the women mad? Or is it her husband, in the wake of the tragedy, whose grip on sanity has become desperately tenuous?

I am super excited to have received the Water For Elephants movie for a pre screening prior to the DVD release on November 1. I have not seen the movie yet so am watching it tonight. Review will go live the end of October.

I hope to get around to see what you are reading this week! Be sure to add your link to your own What Are You Reading post below where it says click here:

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