Morning Meanderings…. Book Happenings And Cravings (even at camp)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Good morning from Camp (day 4).  I feel pretty good (even though I have not ventured out of my room yet for coffee…) 😛 

Yesterday we had a morning Yoga session and worked with the exercise ball – that was fun!  Yesterday afternoon we went on a  pontoon ride, so while I am here writing…. it’s not all work and no play!  😀

Today is our last full day at camp and while I have really enjoyed being here and meeting everyone and learning SO MUCH, it will be nice to get home tomorrow afternoon and get back into a normal routine like catching up on my blog reading!  😀

Speaking of reading – I am doing some of that too.  I have been reading In The Sea There Are Crocodiles in the afternoon, and at night I have been reading Escape by Barbara Delinsky. Both are pretty decent reads. 

and even being away – I am still reading emails and still coveting books that are coming to my attention…currently I have two that are drawing my interest. 

In a Balkan country mending from years of conflict, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives on a mission of mercy at an orphanage by the sea. By the time she and her lifelong friend Zóra begin to inoculate the children there, she feels age-old superstitions and secrets gathering everywhere around her. Secrets her outwardly cheerful hosts have chosen not to tell her. Secrets involving the strange family digging for something in the surrounding vineyards. Secrets hidden in the landscape itself.

But Natalia is also confronting a private, hurtful mystery of her own: the inexplicable circumstances surrounding her beloved grandfather’s recent death. After telling her grandmother that he was on his way to meet Natalia, he instead set off for a ramshackle settlement none of their family had ever heard of and died there alone. A famed physician, her grandfather must have known that he was too ill to travel. Why he left home becomes a riddle Natalia is compelled to unravel.

Grief struck and searching for clues to her grandfather’s final state of mind, she turns to the stories he told her when she was a child.

and suddenly this series has my eye….  and looks like I have some catching up to do…

As a world-ending war surges around them, Todd and Viola face monstrous decisions. The indigenous Spackle, thinking and acting as one, have mobilized to avenge their murdered people. Ruthless human leaders prepare to defend their factions at all costs, even as a convoy of new settlers approaches. And as the ceaseless Noise lays all thoughts bare, the projected will of the few threatens to overwhelm the desperate desire of the many. The consequences of each action, each word, are unspeakably vast: To follow a tyrant or a terrorist? To save the life of the one you love most, or thousands of strangers? To believe in redemption, or assume it is lost? Becoming adults amid the turmoil, Todd and Viola question all they have known, racing through horror and outrage toward a shocking finale.

 

 

 

 

 

This second book is not out until mid September but there are two books in front of it – the first of which, The Knife Of Never Letting Go, I think I have.  I will check that out when I get home.

Have a great day everyone – time for me to get up and be social…. and yeah…. I really need my coffee.  😛

 

The Help by Kathryn Stockett (audio review)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

 

The Help

 

In the early 1960’s, Jackson Mississippi was a community of white women who ran charity events, and ran their help.  The “help” were their African-American maids  who cooked and cleaned and raised the white children so the white women of Jackson could play bridge, have coat drives, and complain about their heavy word load.

Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, a young woman fresh out of college comes home to Jackson to live with her mom who is sick and her father.  Skeeter attends the bridge meetings and hangs with what is considered Jackson’s elite, especially Hilly, leader of the pack – and the coalition for every home in Jackson to have a separate bathroom installed for “the help” as after all as Hilly would say, “they carry different diseases than us, and we must protect our children!”

Skeeter, is appalled by the way the black women are treated and decided to write a book giving the maids (Help’s) perspective on how they feel they are treated, from raising the kids (who will later become their boss), to wages, and what they think is unfair. 

Needless to say – none of the black women jump at the chance to speak first.

Enter the wonderful Abilene, she cooks, she cleans, she has raised many a white child… and finally she has something to say.  As Skeeter and Abilene have secret meetings at Abilene’s home were Abiline talks ad Skeeter writes, eventually the feisty and hilarious Minnie joins in with her stories.

The result is an incredible story about faith, trust, and blowing up a small town.  😛

Skeeter.... making a few changes....

 

I am believing that if you have not read the book or seen the movie – you at least have heard about the phenomenon that is “The Help”.   Currently at the movie theaters (I have seen it twice!) I would suggest you run – don’t walk, to get your ticket!

I read this book in late 2009 and wanted the refresher of the audio with the movie coming out.   I had heard some buzzing about the fact that the movie was different from the book and from my foggy recollection I was thinking of very few differences but of course, this recent listen of the audio has now refreshed my memory…. HOWEVER – both…. are awesome… yes there are some differences, but I still feel it held true to the main story.  

If you enjoy good audio – you must listen to The Help… (yes, Laurel…. maybe even you 😉  ).  The narrators are fantastic!  The woman who reads the part of Minnie… also plays her in the movie!  Seriously great stuff!  I can not rave this one up enough!

The Help is so good that I do not care how you get it in (book, audio, movie) – but you must!!! 

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading map has been updated to include The Help

I purchased this audio from audible.com

Morning Meanderings… Highest Paid Authors

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)42 Comments

Good morning!  I am on day three at camp.  I can not believe it has been three days already.  Yesterday I sat in on a really good talk about medications, I really took away a lot of notes on that.  Today we have a morning class on Yoga and relaxation techniques and this afternoon, I am going with a group by pontoon to the Dairy Queen.  😛 The weather has been beautiful!  I plan to write a full fledged recap on Saturday – with pictures.

This morning this funny little video was in my e mail:


I recently read this article about top paid authors and was a little surprised at where some of them fell.

 

The newly released Forbes list of the world’s highest-paid authors may include the usual suspects, but their wages can still be as shocking as a cleverly conceived plot twist. James Patterson topped this year’s list, earning $84 million between May 2010 and April 2011, up from $70 million the year before. Stephenie Meyer banked $21 million, half of her $41 million the previous year. J.K. Rowling made “only” $5 million, but the launch of Pottermore will likely alter that situation dramatically. The top earning authors were:

  1. James Patterson ($84 million)
  2. Danielle Steel ($35 million)
  3. Stephen King ($28 million)
  4. Janet Evanovich ($22 million)
  5. Stephenie Meyer ($21 million)
  6. Rick Riordan ($21 million)
  7. Dean Koontz ($19 million)
  8. John Grisham ($18 million)
  9. Jeff Kinney ($17 million)
  10. Nicholas Sparks ($16 million)
  11. Ken Follett ($14 million)
  12. Suzanne Collins ($10 million)
  13. J.K. Rowling ($5 million)

Do any of these surprise you?  I guess I would have thought J K Rowling would be higher up on this list.  And… I have to admit, I have never heard of Jeff Kinney who falls in the place of #9.

Any surprises for you on this list?

Any of your favorite authors here?

After by Amy Efaw (audio review and giveaway)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)38 Comments

How could this happen?  Who would do such a thing?  These are the questions that surround the new-born baby that was found tied in a trash bag in the dumpster. 

This certainly could not be Devon Davenport, a straight A student, exceptional athlete, and girl with a plan.  Yet, when the police find Devon she is bleeding heavily, and when rushed to the emergency room it is confirmed that she has just given birth.  Soon Devon finds her self thrown into a Juvenal criminal facility and being charged with attempted murder.  As police and lawyers talk to her, tell her she must tell the truth… Devon has to admit that she doesn’t remember what happened.

Is Devon in fact dealing with such trauma that she truly can not recall what happened… or is this just a brilliant ploy to get off the hook…

I listened to this audio because I had heard raves about the book.  The subject matter interested me…. a baby left in a dumpster…. a teen so distraught, she does not even realize for most of the book that the baby is hers.

I know many people loved this book, but I have to say I was not one of them.  As well written as this book was, it didn’t hold true for me.  I could not believe that a girl like Devin, described as a straight “A” student, obviously intelligent, and strong-minded – had no idea she was pregnant.  I know that the power of the mind can be strong, but the physical changes to her body…

And if that is worth arguing about by those who loved the book, and feel that it is possible to put yourself into such a state of denial…. then I will add this…

The fact that Devin refers to the baby throughout the whole book as “it”….. drove me nuts! 

Maybe it was the audio version but Devin just was not engaged in what she had done, even as she began to remember she still did not seem to connect that the baby was a human life…. I don’t know… I am still a little frustrated about it.

I enjoyed the part with Devin in the correctional institute.  I liked the correspondence between the girls, this is where the book excels.  Amy Efaw really captures the things that the girls are dealing with and how they defend themselves from society.  Its sad, really.

I think that in the end, no matter what Devin’s circumstances (I wont even go into my thoughts about the mother) were a major concern and the audio made me angry more than anything.  The ending is all a little too neat…. and as the final words were said… I was left with a feeling of “huh?”

If you would like to give this audio a try – leave a comment here letting me know… I will have a drawing later this week … and offer it up to someone.

 

The 2011 Where Are You Reading Map has been updated to include After

I purchased this audio from Amazon

Morning Meanderings…. I Need Your Help

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good Morning!

I am at camp this week…. up early for a bike ride to start my morning before every one else gets up.  😀  I figure I can get in a little exercise this  week so brought my bike. 

Here is where I need your help.  I  have made the long list in the 2011 BBAW Awards in the following niche categories:

Best Audiobook Blog

Best Eclectic Book Blog

SSSSQQQUUUEEEEE!!!!  Really, thank you, that is exciting 😀
Now I can only move forward in one category.  I do LOVE LOVE LOVE audio and promote it to no end here…. but know a few other blogs that are super audio blogs too…. even more so than my own.  I know I am an eclectic blog and love to read diverse styles of books.   So the questions lies with…. which one do I go forward with? 
Please let me know your thoughts and they will be taken into consideration.  Just when I think I have chosen…. my head goes the other way….  😛
Thank you in advance for your help.
As for camp day one…. awesome.  I really thought it might be a bit scary, but really….. everyone is soooooo nice.  Already I have laughed and cried several times…. 
Also – on another note….. it is not too late to sign up for a Blogger interview swap for BBAW week.  Trust me, this is a lot of fun.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)94 Comments

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  D  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:

Puss Reboots


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

In case you wonder why I offer a book giveaway for those who visit others who do this meme, it is because I LOVE community.  Book Blogging is all about sharing our love for books with one another.  By visiting some of the other participants – you never know where you may find that next awesome read – or a blog that becomes one that you want to read more often.  :D

Welcome to the 101st It’s Monday What Are You Reading post!  Last week we celebrated the big 100 with a couple bonus giveaways…. here are the winners from that:

The $20 Amazon gift card goes to….

#16:  Bluestocking

and the comment  with someone you were introduced to through this meme goes to:

Joy’s Book Blog

(winners were chosen using Random.org)

Well another awesome week but really – not a lot of action here.  This is what I posted over the last week:

Small Town Sinners by Melissa Walker

Pictures from this weekend bike ride in Itasca State Park

Born Round by Frank Bruni (audio review)  **With giveaway!!!

Pretty pathetic week… I was reading, just not big chunks.  Of course now, I have three reviews to write and two more about finished.  That said – here is what I am treating myself to this week:  (Click on the cover to see descriptions)


*I have listened to this entire series by Patterson on audio and love these books – this story line of Michael Bennett (cop) and his 10 (yup 10!) adopted children …. seriously – check these audio out!

* It pained me to read a book with the word “winter” in its title this time of year…. but I heard good things about this and the audio was on sale at Amazon.

As for books….I am still (still still still…. ) catching up on books from the past couple of weeks so I am going to stick with that.  This week I am at a Camp for people with AIDS.  If you are curious about what in the world is Sheila doing at an AIDS camp…. check out the story here. I will be at camp from Monday morning through Friday morning.  I am taking along my IPOD with books on it, my NOOK, a book or two, and of course Laptop so I will be in communication all week and I will keep you updated. 

Right now though I am so excited to see what you are reading!  Connect to this meme by adding your It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading? where it says click here.  Have an awesome week!!! 😀

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Born Round by Frank Bruni

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)36 Comments

Frank Bruni was ALWAYS hungry.  He was born that way.  His mother cooked amazing meals and loved having people  over to enjoy them.  If food was eaten in full of one of something left, Franks mom felt as though she had not made enough.

Bottom line was Frank enjoyed eating.  he had an epic appetite that later would serve him well as a restaurant critic for the New York Times.  Totally in love with his job, Frank had to learn how to deal with his long time love hate relationship with food.  What followed was yo yo dieting, and dealing with a painful lifelong addiction to food.

Frank Bruni

I had heard this audio was pretty good…. and as a self-confessed foody (oh yes… I do love food!) I though it would be an interesting listen.  The draw to this audio for me was that I found it interesting that someone like Frank who battled his weight all of his life – would take on a job as a food critic for The New York Times. 

Frank, who reads this audio himself, tells an honest portrayal of diet pill abuse, over eating and then working out like a mad man…. going from one extreme ( a hiking adventure that is pretty extreme causing him to lose extreme weight) to another ( refusing dessert at a restaurant but them stopping on the way home for not only a piece of his favorite dessert – but the whole dessert!).

At times I felt the audio was getting long with tale after tale of food event, job, weight battles…. and just about then – frank would come in with a little “comic relief” and share about how many times when critiquing food he would mix up his alias names he used for reservations… or his denial about his pants being tight (certainly it was the cut of the pant… obviously the company has changed that…. or the old shrinkage in the dryer story…)

In the end – the book was satisfying – neither leaving me hungry, or full.  I enjoyed learning a little about Frank Bruni.

This review is part of the Weekend Cooking meme at Beth Fish Reads

Interested in this audio?  Leave a comment here telling me what your favorite food to go out for is, and I will have a drawing next week and choose one of the comments using random.org as the winner and I will mail you this audio. 

 

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading map has been updated to include Born Round

I purchased this audio from Amazon

Morning Meaderings… MISSING IN ACTION

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

Good morning!  😀

Yes I still exist!

I had two days this past week where I was actually too busy to post a Morning Meandering.  I LOVE to do the Morning Meanderings, so believe me it was painful to walk out the door without so much as opening Laptop… but it had to be done. 

Yesterday I left the house at 4:30 am to drive to Itasca State Park for the Tour De Pines.  A hilly little ride if you ask some of my friends who went along with me for the first time.  It’s a beautiful ride that spends the first hour actually riding through the park. 

I did not need that much time to get there for start at 7:30 am, but last year my friend Wendy and I got lost and did not get there until 9 so I was not taking any chances.  The other 6 friends I was riding with were camping in the park so they were already in the area. 

Turns… out I was the first one to the ride, getting there about 6:40 am… 😛  The ride crew laughed that I drove in from Brainerd and beat my friends to the ride who were staying maybe a mile away from the start up.  😀

At the first pit stop we had an opportunity to walk down a trail and see the largest Red Pine of the park.  Unfortunately it looks like the top had been hit bu lighting but still…. it was pretty big.  😀

Me, Rhonda, and the tree
My bike in the park.... I LOVE my bike
Pit stop in the park
Even back where I was taking this pictire of Rhonda and Mike, I could almost here Rhonda cussing me out about this hill ;)
Even back where I was taking this picture of Rhonda and Mike, I could almost hear Rhonda cussing me out about this hill 😉

So that is where I was yesterday.  We did the 50 mile route instead of the 75 as we had a little wind to deal with.  I came back home around 5 pm pretty tired and was in bed by 9:00. 

I am late for Alyce’s Saturday snapshot, but knew I had to post these yet this week because starting tomorrow I am at camp for the week working on Connie’s story and I should have some beautiful pics of camp.  (I will explain camp in the Monday What Are You reading post that will go up tonight.)

If you noticed a drought in book reviews here lately – you are right… there was one.  I seemed to be finishing nothing.  😛  Well… the drought is over.  I have three audio reviews to write, by the end of the day a fourth and two book reviews – possibly a third.  I just knew everything would finish at once 😀

Have a super day…. I have a crazy busy morning making sure the staff and leadership of where I work are ready for the staff retreat that they leave on tomorrow.  I would normally be going with them, but The Camp Benedict board of directors invited me to attend their camp before this one was on the books…. so I am not attending my Leadership one.  Later I think hubby and I are going for a motorcycle ride with friends, I may squeeze in a bike ride and I still need to finish mowing the lawn. 

2011 Bike Miles:  435

Morning Meanderings: The Horrible Awful ;)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

Good morning!  😀  Looks like it will be a nice day here today and I am thrilled as it is my day off and I get to actually enjoy it a bit!  😀

I have a BIG week coming up – a 75 mile bike ride tomorrow in Itasca Minnesota and then come Monday I am at a camp through Friday morning which I am excited about – more on that on Sunday!  Today thought, I am going to go work out this morning, come home and do a little house cleaning, a little reading and later shopping for camp. Maybe take a bike ride…

Why did I call this post The Horrible Awful?  Well… if you have read or seen The Help, you know why… 😛  I just think that is so funny and went to the movie a second time yesterday afternoon with 4 friends.  Yes, worthy of seeing twice and if you have not read this book I urge you to do so. 

As for how I did on week one of My Fitness Pal…. the results are below.  How about that?  4 pounds!  😀  This next week I think may be a bit harder as at camp all the meals are provided but I am going to try to take in much of my own and keep my eating on track.  I am also taking my bike so I can hopefully get out and ride a bit too. 

Have an awesome day!  😀


Created by MyFitnessPal – Free Calorie Counter

Morning Meanderings… Fall Reading (right around the corner!)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good morning!  😀 

I hate to even mention Fall (I think last year in a post I referred to it as the “F” word 😯 ) but even I have to admit there is one good thing about fall….

life slows down a bit.

Spring is the fresh air, open the windows season and wait impatiently for the signs of summer…. my absolute FAVORITE time of year…. sunny days, bike rides, grilling, camp fires, beaches… by early September I am happy, and usually exhausted. 

As fall enters and the nights become chilly… I turn back to the books.  I love to curl up in a blanket with a hot cup of tea and a good read.  Speaking of good reads… here are a few coming this fall that I have caught my attention:

THE DOVEKEEPERS
By Alice Hoffman

On sale October 4 
There’s no magic here; in The Dovekeepers, Hoffman takes readers to the year 70 CE to dramatize a historical event: the storming of the fortress of Masada where 900 Jews took a stand against the Romans. She tells the story from the perspectives of three very different women. We’re thinking that this may be the novel that fans of The Red Tent have been waiting for.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

On sale September 13

This imaginative debut, set in a magical circus, follows two rival magicians who select champions to represent them in a deadly competition.

 

 

 The Taker by Alma Katsu
On sale September6

On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her . . . despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. And as she begins to tell her story, a story of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke finds himself utterly captivated.
That’s just a sample…. there are more, but falls not here yet.  😀  Any fall releases you are excited about?
Personal note – tonight 6 of my friends are going to The Help with me.  Yes I went last week… but this movie is really REALLY good.