It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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:

Nancy at Amusing Reviews


(**By the way I was nosing around Nancy’s blog earlier when I was working on this link and find her posts delightful!  Her Amusing Mother blog had me laughing…)

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

**Updates have been made to the Reading Cafe Grab shelves!

What a week of pretty much nothing on the book front.  I am putting up a pathetic goose egg for the week.

Yup.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada. Nothing.  ZIP.

I don’t think that has happened since I have been doing this meme 92 weeks ago (yup… that’s an accurate count)… it’s not that I have not been reading it’s that there has been no time to write posts.  Let me do a brief recap of my week this past 7 days:

Last Sunday – came home exhausted after the MS 150 bike ride and my accident that took me and my bike out of the tour

Monday:  Worked until 2 pm… ran errands, doctor visit, and then to help with registration for our Summer Kids Camp at church from 4:30 – 7:30 pm

Tuesday – worked until 3 pm, ran to grab a couple of things after work, 5:30 back to do registration again, stayed until 7 pm, ran late to my book club and then home at 9 pm to pack for Chicago.

*Note:  Remember I am doing all of this in an arm cast and pain meds. 

Wednesday:  Girls (Cindy, Sara, and Heidi) meet at my house at 7 am where we leave for our Chicago road trip.  Drive all day (I sleep a lot of it) and arrive in Milwaukee Wisconsin at 9 pm.  We find a hotel, eat dinner at 10:30 pm and then to hotel to bed by midnight.

Thursday:  Drive the hour and a half more to Chicago and spend the day on the Navy Pier, walking, touring, boat ride…  find hotel at 9 pm for the night, again eat dinner about 10:00 pm and back to hotel – exhausted.  (post and pics here)


Friday: up and back to Navy Pier where we leave the car for the day and take the Double Decker Tour bus which is a lot of fun to all the sites and stops.  Spend entire day touring Chicago – eat lunch at Gino’s pizza and get back to car about 7 pm, drive back to hotel by 8:30 pm… too tired to do anything, we all pass out by 10:00 pm.  (post and pics and FOOD here)


Saturday:  Up and drive to Wisconsin Dells…. a little shopping along the way, we make it to the Dells around 6 pm.  Find hotel and walk the strip from 7 – 10 pm taking in the shops and sights.  Grab dinner on the way back to hotel, get to sleep around midnight.

Sunday – Up and packed, out of hotel by 9:00 am, hit the cheese store and Dunkin’ Donuts on the way out of town.  Drive back to Brainerd Minnesota and get here around 5:20 pm. Spend time with hubby for Fathers Day!

I read most of Forever by Maggie Stiefvater in the car today and plan to finish it yet tonight. 

So…. uhhh…. yeah.  Honestly – I found no time to post.  Shoot, I still have audio posts to do from audio week.  (Yes, that was not two weeks ago)…  😯

BUT – I think things will settle down again now.  My traveling is over for the next couple of months.  I will see the doctor tomorrow to see if I can go to a smaller cast.  With my arm all banged up, I have suspended my kick boxing account and will not be doing Group Power at the YMCA anytime soon….  I am going to resort to tread mill, elliptical and rollerblading for a while and hopefully soon my bike which is currently being loved on at the bike repair shop. 

All that said…. here is what I would like to do this week:

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave–“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”–wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form. It is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

Yes.  This was my book club read for June.  Yes…. book club met last week.  I was behind.  With New York and the accident…. I could not find a copy, then it came into the library in audio the day of our review.  I picked it up, but have not finished it yet.  It is only 4 CD’s and I am through one….

The three Beauchamp women–Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid–live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret–they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there’s Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache.

For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret. Soon Ingrid and Joanna confront similar dilemmas, and the Beauchamp women realize they can no longer conceal their true selves. They unearth their wands from the attic, dust off their broomsticks, and begin casting spells on the townspeople. It all seems like a bit of good-natured, innocent magic, but then mysterious, violent attacks begin to plague the town. When a young girl disappears over the Fourth of July weekend, they realize it’s time to uncover who and what dark forces are working against them.

Yup…. this was on my list last week.  Did not even touch it.  Try try again this week 😛

With buoyant humor and incisive, cunning prose, Rahul Mehta sets off into uncharted literary territory. The characters in Quarantine—openly gay Indian-American men, while struggling to maintain relationships with their families and cultural traditions. Grappling with the issues that concern all gay men—social acceptance, the right to pursue happiness, and the heavy toll of listening to their hearts and bodies—they confront an elder generation’s attachment to old-country ways. Estranged from their cultural in-group and still set apart from larger society, the young men in these lyrical, provocative, emotionally wrenching, yet frequently funny stories find themselves quarantined.


Rosalind is not your typical princess she and her pet dragon, Sparkler, are very rude. “What’s the big deal with manners anyway?” the princess asks. “Why do we always have to say please and thank you? And who cares how we use a napkin?”

Appalled by this behavior, the queen banishes the impolite pair from her castle until they find Good Manners. Percival, the wizard, sends them on their quest with the help of a magic fork, facing several challenges along the way. Not until the final test do Rosalind and Sparkler discover the real secret behind Good Manners.

Manners are more than mere rules of etiquette good manners make others feel at ease and are the foundation of compassion and gratitude. It is a never-ending quest for parents and teachers to instill in our children the importance of good manners.

I met this author at BEA last month.  She was struggling to find bloggers who reviewed children’s books.  I do not do many, mainly because I do not have them (the books or the children), but I do love a good children’s read.  I do have a few now in my possession that I hope to start reviewing on a more regular basis. 

I think that is enough for this week.  I know many of you told me to rest and heal last week and honestly it was probably my busiest week of the year next to my week at BEA in New York.  I can honestly tell you I feel the exhaustion and plan to take it easier this week.  I have a meeting Wednesday evening and a gathering where I am supposed to be kayaking on Thursday but we shall see…. 😀 

Anyway – I hope to get around to see most if not all of you through your Monday post so please add your link below to where it says “click here”.  It’s now your turn to share It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading?  😛

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

Morning Meanderings…. Day Two and a Taste Of Chicago!

Good morning!

Another long and fun day in Chicago yesterday.  We spent most of the day on the Chicago Trolley which was well worth the money.  For $35 you can use this for three days to hop on and off and see the sights.  There is also coupons in the booklet that comes with it so for sure we picked up our free candy bar at the Hershey store, popcorn, and most importantly priority seating Gino’s Pizza!  We were in line – with a 20 minute wait and then walaa!  With our Trolley passes we were seated right away.

We had to have the “pizza” experience in Chicago and this is where we were told to have it. 

Gino's Pizza
Calimari, motzerella, and spinach sticks
Bottom: Sara, Heidi, and Cindy - (my version of the Beatles picture) leaving Gino's

Needless to say after our Gino’s lunch we did not have supper.  Wow.  That’s a lot of pizza.  😛  Beth Fish Reads hosts a weekend cooking meme on weekends and while I am not cooking, I am enjoying good food.  😀

We continued our tour seeing movie sights, famous buildings, Harpo Studios, Hard Rock Hotel, the Face Fountain (SO COOL!)

and finally – The Bean…

We have "been" to the bean!

We came back to the hotel tired and happy.  Today we are doing one more swing through Chicago and then we are heading back towards home so the drive is not so long tomorrow.  We are thinking of a mall spot in Wisconsin, something about a Fonzie statue, staying over night and then back to Brainerd Minnesota tomorrow. 

Morning Meanderings…. live from CHICAGO! (and this is not a life blog)

Mornin’!

First of all let me say…. this is not a life blog. 

Although….

it does seem like it recently….

😯

Hmmm…..

Ok… lately I will admit it may be one. 

“Where are the book reviews Sheila?”

I am reading…. I just have been flying through the days from morning to night lately and quite literally have had no time to write reviews.  I plan on it, every day… then… I just do not get in to the house on time.

Currently I am in Chicago with my “life sisters”, Heidi, Sara, and Cindy.  What is a life sister?  Sisters I chose.  Girls who are as close to me as sisters. 

Oh… and the dork meter is set on high today so let’s have a little music shall we…

Heidi I met 20 years ago at Wal-Mart.  We were Customer Service Managers together.  Cindy came to work at Wal-Mart 16 years ago, and Sara I hired in the Housewares Department 13 years ago.  We are a motley crue, but we try to do something once a month, many times just dinner to keep in touch. 

Ok… back to Chicago.  Yesterday was highly busy – we drove into Chicago at 9 am and spent the entire day (and evening) on the Navy Pier.  We were on a Pirate ship, went to the top of the Sears Building, took the water taxi, seen the Buckingham Fountain…. had my first Chicago hot dog….

Cindy, Heidi, me, on top of the Sears building - 1,353 feet in the air..... :shock:
Cindy, Heidi, me, on top of the Sears building - 1,353 feet in the air...
Me and Sara - messing around... (yes that is a bit of road rash still on my face)

We pulled into out hotel at 9 pm and then, after we were settled in.. went out to dinner.  Back at midnight… 

And now we are off again.

I guess temporarily this is a life blog.  Books are coming… they are … I promise.  I have things to say 😛

Morning Meanderings… Michigan WI. to Chicago Today!

Good morning!  This morning I am in a hotel in Michigan WI. This is where we landed after out 10 hours in the car yesterday between stopping and checking out small towns and shops and driving to our destination.

I slept A LOT.

I told my friends I felt like a baby in the car seat… the car starts moving, I fall asleep.  😛

Our morning had started out with a stop in Clearwater Minnesota for breakfast…

Ok… we didn’t actually eat that but what a picture right? 

We traveled all day – I read (unfortunately)  little.  We stopped at a few cool shops to check out local fare… and its funny how small towns have these giant “photo-op” spots such as….

I want a pic with this dude on the way back!

 

There was also a giant chicken, a mouse house, turtle, mermaid, the Mousehouse, etc…

I  think these large statues… tourist attractions are hilarious!  Do you have any where you live?  In Brainerd all we have is Paul Bunyan… 😛

(Hopefully back later today with a review…)

Morning Meanderings… Book Club, Friends, and on my way to Chicago

Mmmm….

Good morning.  I am having peanut butter toast and COFFEE this morning.  Peanut butter toast because I can not take the meds without food (learned that the hard way).

I am having a love hate relationship with the pain killers.  I love them because when I take them I no longer feel the ache of my shoulder, arm, wrist, fingers and leg…. hate them…. because I don’t like to take anything. 

Last night I had book club.  I had book club which I love.  I have book club which I love AND I did not have the book read.  GAH.  😛  The book is The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.  I just picked it up from the library yesterday.  It is a short read a couple of hours to read – 4 hours on audio.  What was interesting about this review is that it is a true story, an actual lecture of a dying man.  Not our usual genre and that is what excites me.  I love to see us branch out as a group.  The discussion was amazing and tearful.  I can not wait to get it read so I can review it and share with you this incredible group of women.

One of the girls in our group brought her mom which was so much fun!  I love that others want to join us!  We also picked out t-shirts last night for our group which I am excited about.  They will be in next month so I will get group pics then.  I love that this group is growing in so many ways!

As for friends… I sit here this morning fully packed and other than packing up LAPTOP, I am ready to go.  My friends Cindy, Heidi, and Sara are meeting here at 7 am where we will load up and road trip to Chicago.  No reason other than we planned a road trip last fall and now… here it is.  I thought about cancelling with my arm all wrapped and my body beaten… but Al (hubby) and I decided i should still go.  It will be good to go on a relaxing trip.  This time of year his schedule is busy and he is gone from morning until night anyway.  So…. here I am… ready for new adventures (although thinking June 2011 has been enough of an adventure already…LOL)

I have soooo many reviews to write and two interviews and I plan to do so as soon as I can.  I hate being behind but each night when I sit down to do it…. I get sleepy and decide it will have to wait. 

Anyhoo… the girls said that as long as I am not on LAPTOP all the time… he can come with – so yay!!!  (I will try not to abuse my rights… ;))

Have an awesome Wednesday…. I will be on all week to update you on the who, what, and where…. 😀

Morning Meanderings and Random Ramblings of an injured book junkie

Good morning.  At some point I will post a couple positive bike pics…. maybe yet this morning… I don’t really know what I am doing now.  The scars are starting to dry up which means…. itchy.  Itch all night and nothing I can do..

This morning I am anxiously anticipating the weird shower of not getting the cast wet – yet not taking so much time that I am late to work. 

Worse than the shower is the shaving….. one handed shaving…. frightening!

The road rash under my nose has now dried into a crispy ugly half mustache scab which I can feel every time I talk. 

Tomorrow morning I leave for 5 days to Chicago and I am looking forward to…. and dreading the “being on the go” at the same time.  (more on this tomorrow)

I want to read but seem to always be tired.

Tonight is book club  – and I am helping out with VBS registration… hoping I will be able to both somewhat successfully.

I have reviews to write, and an audio interview yet that was planned to go up Saturday…. but yeah, instead I dove into the pavement…. always the life of the party….LOL

Ok so lets talk about my dog Elmo for a minute as this makes me smile (yes, even with the crispy mustache)…   Elmo is 15 years old and a shih-tsu (after all these years I shill can not spell it and do not have time to look it up… so know this about me… sometimes… words elude me.)  😛

Anyway – in Elmo’s old age… he has taken to sleeping with his tongue hanging out – which does nothing for my heart as I keep thinking perhaps he has passed…  ANYWAY he is also afraid of the camera (I think he thinks it will steal his soul), so I can never catch a picture of him with the tongue thing… its like he knows I am coming…. 

YET the other day, there he was…. sleeping in the bed… tongue out.  I grabbed the camera and got him!  (Of course immediately after he got up surprised and left the room… (possibly soulless)

Elmo..... his morning look

LOL…. 

Here are my current statistics:

Biking:  172 miles

Rollerblading:  18 miles

Broken bones:  1

One more random pics and then I have to go:

Hospital pic that just hit Facebook.... got to love my team!

Got to go!  Hopefully a review will be up later…. hopefully.  My one fingered typing takes a wee bit longer to get across what I am trying to say.  😀

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

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:

Lori at Dollycas’s Thoughts

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

**Updates have been made to the Reading Cafe Grab shelves!

If you read the post I put up last night you will understand why this one is later than usual.  A bike ride for charity turned into an emergency room visit that was both painful (broken finger, dislocation of another one…) and encouraging (everyone was so nice – the staff of Sandstone Minnesota Hospital were kind and sweet to a very banged up version of me,

Anyway…. I really am ready to talk books.  😀

Last week was audio book week and it was so much fun.  I still have  a couple posts I had planned for that week that did not get posted yet, BUT here is what did get posted and audio book fan or not – I think you may find them interesting:

My Journey With Audio Books and a giveaway to go with it!

Rococo by Adriana Trigiani (oh wow!!!  This is an audio review and I laughed my way through it!)

Jerusalem Maiden by Talia Carner (oooh awesome book tour review)

One Good Dog by Susan Wilson (audio review and ssssoooooo good!)

The Blogiversary!  (Yes!!!  What a week right?)  This event was so much fun and thank you all who visited, if you want to read a fun post and see great and imaginative comments – check this out.  Totally laugh worthy.  😛

The Hobbit By J R R Tolkien ( an audio review from both myself and Heather from Age 30+ A Lifetime of Books)

A bike, an ambulance, a great team, a cast and a really bad “pull my finger” joke

That was the week.  A pretty active one with a sad anniversary, a good anniversary, an event, and an injury.  Really…. I don’t need a repeat of this week anytime soon. 

Moving forward here is what I have happening:

From her humble roots growing up in Pennsylvania to her days doing amateur improv in Chicago to her early sketches on Saturday Night Live, Fey gives us a fascinating glimpse behind the curtain of modern comedy with equal doses of wit, candor, and self-deprecation.  The chaos of Fey’s life is best detailed when she’s dividing her efforts equally between rehearsing her Sarah Palin impression, trying to get Oprah to appear on 30 Rock, and planning her daughter’s Peter Pan-themed birthday.  Juggling way too many things in her life and laughing her way through them.

Oh I am enjoying this audio.  With only the occasional – ok you went too far – Tina is hilarious, quick witted, and really reminds me a little of myself (except again… for the went to far moments)  😀

 

 

With the plague running rampant in London in 1797, Mary’s parents and sister are soon counted among the dead. Left alone and penniless, the eight-year-old is taken in by a gang of orphans and learns survival skills. However, when their leader is killed, Mary decides to try her luck elsewhere. She strips the dead body, cuts her hair, renames herself Jack Faber, and is soon employed as a ship’s boy on the HMS Dolphin. When the vessel sees its first skirmish with a pirate ship, her bravery saves her friend Jaimy and earns her the nickname “Bloody Jack.” Told by Mary/Jack in an uneven dialect that sometimes doesn’t ring true, the story weaves details of life aboard the Dolphin. Readers see how she changes her disguise based on her own physical changes and handles the “call of nature,” her first experiences with maturation, and the dangers to boys from unscrupulous crew members. The protagonist’s vocabulary, her appearance and demeanor, and her desire to be one of the boys and do everything they do without complaint complete the deception. This story also shows a welcome slant to this genre with an honorable, albeit strict Captain, and ship’s mates who are willing and able teachers.

I have heard so much about these audio books and while I think Nise started it ;), audio book week brought it up again so I finally broke down and have the first in this series. 

 

 

The three Beauchamp women–Joanna and her daughters Freya and Ingrid–live in North Hampton, out on the tip of Long Island. Their beautiful, mist-shrouded town seems almost stuck in time, and all three women lead seemingly quiet, uneventful existences. But they are harboring a mighty secret–they are powerful witches banned from using their magic. Joanna can resurrect people from the dead and heal the most serious of injuries. Ingrid, her bookish daughter, has the ability to predict the future and weave knots that can solve anything from infertility to infidelity. And finally, there’s Freya, the wild child, who has a charm or a potion that can cure most any heartache.

For centuries, all three women have been forced to suppress their abilities. But then Freya, who is about to get married to the wealthy and mysterious Bran Gardiner, finds that her increasingly complicated romantic life makes it more difficult than ever to hide her secret. Soon Ingrid and Joanna confront similar dilemmas, and the Beauchamp women realize they can no longer conceal their true selves. They unearth their wands from the attic, dust off their broomsticks, and begin casting spells on the townspeople. It all seems like a bit of good-natured, innocent magic, but then mysterious, violent attacks begin to plague the town. When a young girl disappears over the Fourth of July weekend, they realize it’s time to uncover who and what dark forces are working against them.

Out of the BEA box comes this gorgeous cover mysterious read….

 

 

I am still finishing up Forever, and hoping to clean up a couple of others as well this week so that is what I am putting on the table.  I leave for Chicago on Wednesday with three friends for a bit of a road trip we have been talking about doing for years and now… here we go.  😀  Seriously, I think life will slow down a bit once this weekend is over.

So time for you to share what you are reading!  Add your own Monday What Are You Reading post below in the linky space where it says “click here”

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

So a bike, an ambulance, a great team, a cast and a really bad “pull my finger” joke…

So…. I have been M.I.A. since Saturday morning…. let me fill you in (and bear with me as I type with one hand).  I was on the MS 150 bike ride this weekend in the cities.  We drove Friday night to White Bear Lake, left our cars and then went to Duluth Minnesota.  The ride is Duluth to Hinkley 75 miles) and then Hinkley to White bear Lake (75 miles).

On Saturday morning I got up and was on the road with my team and 4,000+ other riders for this great cause.  The idea was wonderful, good weather, lots of stops every 10 – 15 miles, awesome company.

We were making awesome time and it was coming up on noon and I was about 4 miles from the finish for the day.  I was following a group of guys that were averaging over 18 MPH and I was hanging with them.  About that time another group was passing us on the left and I glanced up to make sure they were all past, when I looked back I was right on the guy in

shoes have clips that lock into pedals for more pedal power

front of me’s tire.  It was too late to do anything… my shoes lock into my pedals and as I tried to swerve I hit and went flying…not a whole lot I remember except my arm went up to protect my head, and next thing I know I am being lifted off the road by the team that was in front of me and carried to the grass.

They helped clean me up, my face was bleeding pretty bad, a lot of cuts and my pinky would not uncurl.  An ambulance was called and came to get me right on the trail.  I then went to Sandstone emergency room where they ran a few x-rays… cleaned me up and came up with a broken pinky, a dislocated finger and wrist. 

I asked how do you fix a broken pinky and the doctor said that he would pull it.  “That gives a whole new meaning to pull my finger,” I said.  He either did not get it, or did not want too… 😛

Part of my team came to the hospital to pick me up and while I waited for the doctor the nurse let them in with me.  They were awesome and cheered me up.  😀

Now thats what I call support!

Belinda.... cracking me up

After my ex-ray and confirmed break, the doctor did actually pull my finger to put it back in place and turns out… that is not funny at all. 

I was put in a cast to keep my fingers and wrist straight.  I have a cut very close to my eye and a small lump on my head.  All in all, I was very lucky.

I did not go home.  I spent day two of the ride going around with the wife of one of our riders and cheering the team in from the pit stops. 

So that is where I have been this weekend.  Monday What Are You Reading is coming up in the morning.  It is just too  late tonight due to this happening.  I am tired.

MOrning Meanderings… 5 Minutes to Go!

Good morning.  It is super early here in Duluth this morning.  4:20 a.m. to be exact.  I am the first one up in my room as I hate waiting to get ready to go somewhere so I got up early, got ready…. and am now in the lobby.  I need to go wake my roommates pretty quick here and at 5 a.m. we all will be shuffling our tired bodies to the starting line up for the MS 150 bike ride.

A friend of mine, also named Sheila, has a dad who had MS.  This is my second year participating in bike rides for MS, my first time doing this big one.  It will be two days, 75 miles a day…. late afternoons are filled with food and fun.  (I believe my late afternoon may include  a nap.) 😛

Current temp in Duluth, MN:  46 degrees.

yay.  *sarcasm*

Anyhoo – I am out, have a great day….  pictures soon

The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien (a double audio review)

J R R Tolkien is one of those authors who fascinates me.  I am amazed when authors can create a whole other world out of their imaginations and the more believable it is…. the more it blows me away.  (J K Rowling does the same thing to me…. I am just in awe…)

I actually had a creative writing class in High School that was all about Tolkien.  We watched the animated version of the movie, wrote reports, discussed Tolkien and I for one was in my kind of world.  😀  Tolkien soon became an author I was just fascinated with, and love the thought of he, CS Lewis and other authors meeting and discussing their books in a pub called The Rabbit Room.  (For this reason I have named my own Library the Rabbit Room as it is marked over the doors to enter it.)


The Inklings was an Oxford writers’ group which included C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and Hugo Dyson. From late 1933, they met on Thursday evenings at Lewis’s college rooms at Magdalen, where they would read and discuss various material, including their unfinished manuscripts.[4] These meetings were accompanied with more informal lunchtime gatherings at various Oxford pubs which coalesced into a regular meeting held on Mondays or Tuesday lunchtimes at the Eagle and Child, in a private lounge at the back of the pub known as the ‘Rabbit Room’.

~Wikepedia


Recently when I made the decision I wanted to listen to this on audio, Heather at 30+ A Lifetime Of Books had made a similar decision at around the same time.  We decided we would post our reviews at the same time and ask each other our thoughts about the audio.  We both had the same narrator (gah… I feel awful, I returned my copy to the library and can not remember who the narrator was but I bet Heather knows!  :razz:)

Here is what Heather asked me and my responses:

1.  Was the audio what you expected it to be?  Did it surprise you in any way?   You know, I read this in High School Uhh…. *cough cough* that was quite a few years ago, and honestly many of the details of the story I had forgotten.  When I started listening I was pleasantly surprised to find myself sitting outside the hobbit hole with Bilbo and as our narrator read on I was engulfed with memories of the book from all those years ago.

2.  What did you think of the narration?  I just checked my library reserve and it looks like the narrator was John Robert Reuel.  I think he did a wonderful job.  This is not an easy book to narrate as there are many voices and even quite a bit of singing (more on that later)

3.  This was originally written as a children’s book – do you think the book would appeal most to children?  Teens?  Adults?  I gave this question quite a bit of thought.  I think children can and will still appreciate this book as they will enjoy the imagery the story put sin your mind…. hobbits, dragons, wizards – whats not to love?  I also think adults can appreciate this one for the history of the story – love of a classic read, and secondly many of us grew up with these stories floating around in the background of our lives… this was our generations paranormal before paranormal was cool…. 🙂

Sadly though, I am not so sure this book/audio would bring in much interest from todays YA crowd.  While an amazing work of literature by my standards, I don’t think it had the elements that the YA readers are looking for – romance, dystopia, paranormal…  if I am wrong on this let me know… I would love to be wrong on this point.  🙂

4.  Did you have a favorite part?  Least favorite part?  I have to admit when Gollum entered the narration I was excited.  Usually one to feel for the under dog, I always have had a soft spot for Gollum/Smeagal…. when the voice came through my car speakers I got chills of excitement… obviously I did not like who Smeagal had become (the rings fault!) but I think in better circumstances, perhaps in  another life…. Gollum could have been a lot like Dobby (HarryPotter books)

Least favorite was all the singing.  I get that it is part of the story, but I have never been one for poetry so even reading song after song in the book I remember got old fast.  On audio… it was just as disturbing to the point that I had to make sure my windows were up when driving through town as I really did not anyone hearing Hobbit songs coming out of my vehicle 😛

I already confessed this to Heather when we chatted at BEA this year, but at one point the songs (song after song after song) became so much while driving that I grabbed a piece of scratch paper and wrote out my own words to a song that came to mind.  I will share it with you on a separate page as I do not want to take away from my thoughts on this audio and review with my crazy thinking.  For inquiring minds you can find the song here:

Play Me Some Hobbit Music

Ok…. moving on… I enjoyed this refresher course in The Hobbit as it reminded me of the story I read so long ago.  I am excited about the movie, which is really what inspired me to want to listen to the audio, and I am glad I did.  Here is a link for those of you who are curious to know more about the movie.  While Orlando Bloom was missing from the latest Pirates Of The Caribbean movie, he has been confirmed for The Hobbit.


Stop over to Heathers at 30+ A Lifetime of Books and see her review today of The Hbbbit and how she answered my questions.  

And for giggles as I am in a very Middle earth mood, I found a Hobbit Name Generator.  For the record… In Middle Earth I would be known as Ruby Hardbottle.  😉

I rented this audio from my local library