Morning Meanderings… BBAW – Time For A Giveaway

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)71 Comments

Oh I am so excited it is BBAW (Book Blogger Appreciation Week).  I look forward to this each year as a time to celebrate those of us who blog about our love for books.  I have to tell you, three years ago, I did not know Book Bloggers existed.  When I blindly stumbled into this world… I have never looked back.  My life changed that day for the better.

I wish I could put into words how much I enjoy my time chatting books with all of you.  Each of you who stop in and visit, I enjoy your comments so much.  As we carry on conversations and for those who have blogs that I read too, I get to know a bit of you and that is pretty cool. 

This week I hope to celebrate with all of you our love for books.  So this morning I am giving away one of the books I have been hanging on to for a while for just such an occasion….

a new (still in the gift wrap) copy of The Night Circus!!!  SSQQUUUEEE!!!

I have not read this one yet but from the hype I have heard this is one not to miss!  I hope to read my copy  yet this week and I am excited to be able to share it with one of you!

To enter, please leave a comment on this post about what you enjoy most about book blogs.  Also note – you can receive a second (and possibly a third) by commenting on my Blog swap interview also posted today.  **Giveaway is open as well to international.  😀

**This is a one day giveaway…. tomorrow morning I will announce the winner.  😀

BBAW – Day One: COMMUNITY

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)40 Comments

 

Today’s Topic
Community
While the awards are a fun part of BBAW, they can never accurately represent the depth and breadth of diversity in the book blogging community. Today you are encouraged to highlight a couple of bloggers that have made book blogging a unique experience for you. They can be your mentors, a blogger that encouraged you to try a different kind of book, opened your eyes to a new issue, made you laugh when you needed it, or left the first comment you ever got on your blog. Stay positive and give back to the people who make the community work for you!

 

This is a hard post for me to write as there are so many book bloggers out there I love to read, have picked up more than a book or two from their passionate reviews, or just hover around their blog because they are witty and fun to read.

I tried to narrow it down to a few bloggers who really have meant something to me over the last year and I came up with this:

A post on book bloggers who I appreciate would not be complete without me mentioning that crazy spirited teacher friend of mine, Reagan from Miss Remmers Reviews.  If it wasn’t for Reagan, I probably would not have gone to BEA.  If I had not gone to BEA, I would have missed a huge part of what I love most about book blogging – the community.  Mental *high five* to you my friend!  (The short version of this story is I wanted to go to BEA in 2010 but was nervous about not knowing anyone.  I knew Reagan from her blog only but she was also from Minnesota and we started chatting about the possibilities… now she has been my BEA roommate the past two years).

 

Amanda from Ramblings (previously from The Zen Leaf).  I think I first found Amanda over her love for all things Harry Potter.  It was so nice to find someone who was as big a Potter geek as myself!  😛  When I started reading Amanda’s blog I really appreciated and enjoyed her reviews.  Amanda made some changes this year and now has a new blog, it is not necessarily a book bog – but she talks books and that makes her a book blogger to me.  😀 

 

Alison from Alison’s Book Marks was someone I connected with at BEA in 2010. I enjoyed talking to her and really started following her blog when I returned home.  Amanda writes some incredible review and reads some pretty awesome books that have come to me through her recommendation. 

 

And this post would not be complete without adding Alyce from At Home With Books.   Alyce is just a sweet down to earth blogger who writes not only about books, but life, and happenings, and I just love that.  When you read Alyce’s blog you feel like you have just been invited into her home for a cup of coffee and a little conversation.

That’s my list for this year – there are so many wonderful hard-working book bloggers out there and I adore you all.  My sidebar list of blogs I follow (which needs a few more added to it) – that group I pretty much visit every time they write a post. 

 

Happy BBAW everyone!  Be sure to watch tomorrow morning for my first exciting giveaway!!!!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)76 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:

Anne – My Head Is Full Of Books


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

Yes, things look a bit different over here this week… I have been itching for some blog look changes and last night stayed up way later than I should working out a color scheme that I really like and learning how to put a texture background in.  😀

And yes… I did do a few other things this past week too such as:

Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath (an awesome book for finding your natural strengths and how to utilize them at home, at work, and in life)

 

I need a Christmas/holiday read for a magazine review I am doing in October.  Suggestions needed!  😀


The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (OH WOW!  Best book I have read in a while!!!)

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood (Audio Review)

 

I am planning a fun week for Banned Book Week which comes up the last week of September.  I am looking for Book Bloggers to join me with Banned Book Posts and a fun giveaway.  See here for details.

 

***A BIG note – as many of you know, this meme was short listed for Best Book Blog Meme (which is so exciting!), but what you may not know is that there was a glitch in the voting form and all votes were lost as of 9/9/11 and a new form has been submitted and all voted must be recast.  I would love it if you would take moment and cast a vote for which Book Blog Meme you enjoy the most, there are some wonderful choices on the form.  Click here to vote.

 

 

I would have liked to have read more this week but seems like my days got away from me… Wed, Thurs, Fri, and Sat I wound up with evening plans that left me tired and unfocused when I got home. 

That said…here is what is on the “plan” this week:

 

Click on picture for synopsis

An unconventional girl in India… whats not interesting about this beginning to a trilogy?  Next up for me on audio!

Click on picture for book synopsis

Yes yes yes… I am back with Patterson in apparently another murder story in New York.  I know, I know.. but I can not help it.  The man does great audio!

Reading for our Faith ‘N Fiction group and already behind on this one!

Honestly… I am still working on The Ask and The Answer by Patrick Ness, and if I get done with that I want to move on and finish up the series with Monsters Of Men. 

In other upcoming news…. this week kicks off BBAW (Book Blogger Appreciation Week) and I plan to participate full heartedly!  Let me just say now to all of you that I love our book community – if you are bloggers or not, I enjoy reading your comments, chatting books, and just sharing in this together.  Thank you each and every one of you for reading my rambles and spending time with me.  YOU are what makes Book Blogging special to me.

Leave your link to your own Monday What Are You Reading and I will be by with coffee and scones to see what you are reading this week.  😀

See you on the blogesphere!  😀

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Morning Meanderings… Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)48 Comments

Good morning!  😀

No!  Dont run away!  It’s me!  😛

I have been itching to do some revamping of the site for a while now.  It was tradition to do blog updates and face lifts during the Bloggiesta but with no Bloggiesta this year – I had to suck it up and make the changes on my own. 

Working with CSS always makes me a bit nervous, but the very first time I messed with it, Natasha from Maw Books walked me through it step by step on Twitter.  Now I am a bit braver, and this time even learned how to add a textured pattern to the background.  (Note it did take me about three hours of messing around and tweaking but alas… I am happy with the results.)

Dont worry I am not one to continuously change my blog look… when other book bloggers do that often I get confused and unsure if I am on their blog, usually scrolling to the top to make sure whose blog I am on!  😛  Although… the occasional coat of paint gives a whole new look don’t you think?

My next task is to put some time into the sidebars… the books on them are outdated and I have had a few ideas I have wanted to implement for a while now but just have not done it. 

And of course, today is 9-11.  Ten years…. hard to believe isn’t it?  Ten years ago I was working at Wal-Mart when I heard about the first plane… I remember wondering if I should go to the school and pick up my kids… it was a time where you really felt you should be with your family.  I did stay at work, as we were encouraged to do so… but do you recall how quiet the skies were when they stopped all flights?  ANd I recall how odd it was to hear that first plane in the air days after the tragedy.

Where were you ten years ago when you first heard?

Looking for Blogger Posts For Banned Book Week Project

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

Banned Book Week is a week I look forward to every year.  If you are not familiar with this week, there was a time I was not either… but chances are – you have read a banned book.  Here is a little taste of books that are on the list:

To Kill A Mockingbird

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret

The Bible

Twilight

Hunger Games

The Color Purple

Farenheight 451

The Handmaid’s Tale

Blubber

The Lorax (yes, Dr. Suess)

All Harry Potter Books…

Last year I read and reviewed only banned books during the Banned Book week and it was a lot of fun and informative too! 

This year, now that I am a seasoned banned book reader 😉 , I want to do more.  I will be hosting some giveaways here and am asking for book bloggers to assist me, by either a) reading and reviewing a banned book during this week, and/or b) sharing your thoughts on a banned book you have already read.  I need a minimum of seven participants – one for each day of Banned Books Week.

If you are interested, please fill out the form below and I will be in contact with you.  This is going to be a lot of fun.

**Note update to this post on 9/20/11:  I have filled the seven (turned out to be eight) blogger daily posts for the contest, however I would love to still have additional Banned Book related posts – such as book reviews, Banned Book Discussions, and giveaways.  I have updated the form to show this.  I would love to have YOU on the Banned Wagon.  😛

😀

You can find our more about Banned Book Week and the history behind it by visiting The American Library Association site.

Morning Meanderings… The Magical Powers Of Friends

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good morning and happy Saturday!  Another gorgeous day here in Minnesota… we have had low 80’s the past few days and looks like the weekend will stay true to that as well so as you can imagine…  I am smiling over here.  😀

A couple of evenings ago I went to my friend Cindy’s house in Motley with Sara and Heidi.  We had this in the planning for a while, she has a beautiful piece of property and is always doing new and creative things with her yard so it is fun to go and get ideas. 

Of course the day came for this to happen and it was all up in the air.  I had a crazy day at work, we were all trying to coordinate car pooling (it’s about a 25 minute drive), what time we could all leave…  suddenly it seemed like just “one more thing on the agenda”.

I told my hubby before I left that I wouldn’t be late, that I would rather just stay home but we had planned this so I was going.  I had laundry I should be working on, the yard needed mowing, and honestly… I was just tired. 😯

I pick up Heidi and Sara and we chat our way to Motley… catching up on each others lives since our last get together and as we near Cindy’s I can almost feel the stress melt away.

Cindy's home

We sit around a fire and talk and laugh.  We eat amazing food (thanks for grilling Jeff!) and we pick apples from her trees, tour her latest creative decorating in her home, eat some more, and stay until it is so dark we are just shadow people sitting around a fire…

Our fire at Cindy's

BUT  we are all smiling.

As we drive back to Brainerd, we actually had this discussion in the car about life being busy and we have to remember while it can be one more thing on the agenda…. its a good thing.  A really good thing. 

My dinner!

Friends.  Food.  Life. 

All good.

Beautiful grapevine growing over the bench

The moral of my story this morning (as I sit with COFFEE CUP at the kitchen table and count my blessings for having great friends) is that all of us need to make time for this kind of stuff.  Hanging out with friends, and just being…. not doing.  All that other life stuff…. can wait.

Have a super awesome day.  I am running around today picking up the last-minute things I need for tomorrows annual tailgate party.  We are having a fundraiser for a memorial for Fallen Minnesota Firemen and tieing that in with the memory of 9-11.

 

(Pictures are linked to Alyce’s Saturday Snapshot… which is a great weekly meme of the pictures of our lives…)

The Knitting Circle by Ann Hood

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

 

Knit one…

Mary Baxter lives in Providence, R.I..  After losing her five-year old daughter, Stella to meningitis, Mary struggles even getting out of bed.  Her marriage to her husband Dylan seems to be crumbling  as Mary’s depression makes it impossible to be there for him, let alone even smile.  Her job as a writer for a local newspaper has become unbearable and she has bitter memories of her child hood and even adult life connects to her own mother who always has seemed distant and aloof and currently resides in Mexico. 

 

Purl two…

At her mother’s urging, Mary joins a knitting circle and meets Alice who invites her to a weekly evening gathering of knitters which at first seems frightening to Mary, but then figures, what does she have to lose?  Instead of loss…. Mary gains insight into the women, and occasionally a few men, who make up the knitting circle…

Knit Two, Purl Two…

Harriet, Scarlett, Lulu, Beth, and Ellen all slowly knit their way into Mary’s life.  As Mary learns how to make scarves and hats, and even socks… she also learns that every one has hurts and her own life becomes entwined – with theirs…

 

Sometimes a book or audio can come to your attention at just the right time.  (Yes even in reading – timing does count!  😀 )  I had recently borrowed two audio from our local library that I thought were going to be fantastic, and turned out to not hold me at all.  Going to the cabin last weekend, a 3 1/2 hour drive… I needed audio that would sustain me, so I grabbed this one and another one I had just received as well for back up.

The Knitting Circle appealed to me right from the start for several reasons.

The cover… soft and inviting, I want to go hang out there

Perhaps my inability to knit and my fascination with those who do was an attraction

But mostly… the books draw for me was the cultivating of women’s’ friendships, a topic that always draws me in.  I think having a house full of boys really drew that out of me… knowing that I needed “girl time” to hang out with my girlfriends and talk about life and dreams and yes, even hurts. 

 

I enjoyed the flow of this story it was very paced, never hurried, and somehow that fit into the theme of a books knitted around friendships.  The message within the book for me (and I think for our author too, who had also lost a daughter), was the power of friendship.  It’s easy to get drawn into thinking we are the only ones dealing with certain pain and tragedy and when we open our eyes and our hearts find that there is a whole world of hurting out there, and together – we are stronger.

 

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

 

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Knitting Circle

I received this audio from Kathy (Bermuda Onion)

Thank you Kathy!  😀

Morning Meanderings… Crawling To The Laptop

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

Good morning.  This morning, Coffee Cup  and I are basking in a little morning “lounge time”.  I did not realize what a crazy pace I was keeping this week until last night when after coming home from my friends camp fire, I promptly fell asleep in the recliner while reading blogs. 

I have had a busy week at work and a big event this Sunday that I have been working on – a 9-11 Tailgate Event and donation for Fallen Minnesota Firemen.  There is a lot of detail work that I am trying to make sure I have taken care of…

we have ordered a large inflatable slide and bounce house for kids, a cotton candy machine, I have food coming from Famous Dave’s and about 40 tailgate vehicles…  today I need to go and meet with the guy who is bringing the road closure signs, and do a little last-minute preparation. 

Anyway, doing this on top of my other duties, Wednesday meeting, and last nights hang out in Motley MN has suddenly wiped me out.  😛

I may just remain in the recliner for a little while longer this morning….  😀

I hope going into your weekend is amazing….. I have a little bit of commitment each day but for the most part… I think I will be home working on a few projects and prepping for next Tuesdays book club meeting here over the book The Postmistress.

 

Oh… and completely random as that is the way I roll… found this Harry Potter clip…. yeah, still can’t let go.

 

The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (or… I Heart Patrick Ness!)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)37 Comments

Todd Hewitt’s life for as long as he remembers has been in the New World.  When his parents came to the New World , then renamed Prentiss Town, a virus wiped out all the females, caused all animals to be able to talk, and all mens thoughts come right out of there in the open for all to see and hear.  This constant mind chatter is known as The Noise and Todd has never known silence, as his own Noise is always with him.  Nothing is private in Prentiss Town.

Todd, on the verge of becoming thirteen, is the only boy left in the town.  When you turn thirteen, you are said to become a man, and Todd will be the last one in this community to become a man.  He’s not even sure what that means… but he is about twenty days from finding out. 

Then, while out in the woods with his dog, Manchee, Todd discovers something… a skip in the Noise.  Yes, there actually is a silence and now knowing of this, Todd discovers quickly that his own thoughts betray him and soon the whole town knows what he has discovered and his life is in danger.

But why?

“Your Noise Reveals You Todd Hewitt!!!

Now Todd and Manchee are on the run, following the river  and having no idea what is out beyond, but having no choice but to run from the towns people who will not let this last boy go….

“If one of us falls… we all fall.”

 

 

This is a book that shows a great example why it is not smart to judge a book by its cover.  Sure, I heard of this book when it was first released in the fall of 2008 the cover did not appeal to me and I passed on it.

Passed on it.  (This could be the story I tell grandchildren some day…. Yup, I passed on one of the best books I ever read”)  You can imagine their big eyes… and the shame… oh the shame…

The Knife Of Never Letting Go came back on my radar when I seen the awards being won by the third book in this series, Monsters Of Men.  I was instantly drawn in, not connecting Monsters Of Men to this book at all until I dived in further…

here is where the shame begins…

Upon writing a post about my desire to follow this series, the comments started coming in about how amazing The Knife Of Never Letting Go was and how I had better have all three books at once as each is left with an incredible cliff hanger that you will not want to wait to move on from…. so on sheer push and book peer pressures (oh you know who you are :razz:) … I ordered all three books at once….

then sat waiting for them to arrive, hoping I had not made a mistake….

really… sci fi, not my thing.

When I started Knife Of Never Letting Go and in short time I was reading conversations with a talking dog, I thought, “hoo boy… I am not sure if I will get into this,” and then…

I did.

Big time.

I always enjoy when a story line goes outside the cookie cutter shapes that many books follow today.  A leap so to speak, of breaking the mold.  Patrick Ness did just that.  I would not call this book so much sci Fi as adventure dystopia.  At, may I add, it’s finest.

Within pages I was totally following this new character Todd, and had no problem at all with the talking dog Manchee… in fact, Manchee really (REALLY REALLY) grew on me.  Fast paced, as I like my books, soon I was running with Todd and Manchee, discovering the Silence, and feeling the dangers that lay ahead… and behind.

I found this book to be unique, fascinating, and ranks for me higher than Hunger Games (which is soooo rave worthy!).  I  can’t quite put my finger on what it is that I loved about this book so much, other than the characters feel real, flesh and blood real, dark and spooky real, painfully real.  Even the writing (and those of you who have read this before me know what I mean)… pages of Noise, impacted me as brilliant.  Font size…. touched me also.  Pages of words… let loose feelings of emotion. 

 

My recommendations if you are going to dip into this series –

1.  Set aside some time to READ… really I did not want to put the book down.

2.  Make sure you have book two close at hand – the end of this one will leave you wanting to dive right into the next (The Ask And The Asking)

 

A good 20 tear read… (kleenex also a must) I can not recommend this book enough.  You do not want to be on the outside looking in on this one. 

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include The Knife Of Never Letting Go

Purchased from Amazon.com

 

Morning Meanderings… Feels Like Fall

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

Good morning.

One of my favorite things to do in the morning is stand on my back deck with a hot cup of coffee.  I love the feel of the heat of the day coming in.. first cool, but you can feel it in the air…. a warmness of things to come.

I am saddened this morning to admit that it feels like my hazy days of summer are a distant memory for 2011.

This mornings trip outside to the deck, coffee cup in hand… was a brief one.  The air is crisp, the fog rolling over the lawn adds an unwelcome dampness to my skin that did not give me a “yay fall!” feeling all over.

Honestly…

I am not ready.

Reading in mittens? UGH

I know some of you have had a HOT HOT summer, Ryan, Laurel, Amanda, to name a few.  We had a couple weeks of that, but not enough.  I am sooooo not ready for what feels like it will be an early winter.

 

Tonight a group of my friends are meeting at Cindy’s house for our annual campfire.  We will be grilling burgers, probably eating some unhealthy sweets, and catching up.  I look forward to the “friend time” and the warmth of the fire.

This afternoon, stop back in and check out my review of The Knife Of Never Letting Go.  The book easily moved to one of the top reads for me this year…. I am excited to share my thoughts about it with you.  😀