It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)88 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:

Sabrina from Thinking Out Loud

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!

Last week is kind of a blur as from Sunday evening on I was traveling to New York from the Book Expo (BEA). running around BEA, and then the Book Blogger Convention, and then dragged a very tired version of me back home yesterday afternoon.  All this next week I will share with you posts on authors and bloggers I met, two author events, Publishing events, and the Book Blogger Convention with highlights.  I hope you will tune in for some of these posts as I am a huge fan of BEA and if I can generate enough excitement for you to consider going as well…. I will have succeeded.  😀

With my running around New York this past week while I am on the verge of ending two audio and a couple of books, I have very little to show reading wise for the week.  Here is what I did post:

BEA – Update 1 and a story about overtaking the Info Booth + dinner with Beth Hoffman (TRUE STORY (razz))

Small Update from New York (and a picture with Harlan Coben – SSQQUUUEEE!!!)

BEA update 2

What Do You Look For In A Book Review?

Stop over and see my interview with the Minneapolis Examiner by the wonderful Linda White

 

 

So as you can see uhhhh…. not a whole lot of reading going on.  This week however I am hopeful to do a  little catching up with some great reading.  Here is the plan:

 

 

In the waning days of the Ottoman Empire, a young Orthodox Jewish woman in the holy city of Jerusalem is expected to marry and produce many sons to help hasten the Messiah’s arrival. While the feisty Esther Kaminsky understands her obligations, her artistic talent inspires her to secretly explore worlds outside her religion, to dream of studying in Paris—and to believe that God has a special destiny for her. When tragedy strikes her family, Esther views it as a warning from an angry God and suppresses her desires in order to become an obedient “Jerusalem maiden.”

But when a surprising opportunity forces itself on to her preordained path, Esther finds her beliefs clashing dangerously with the passions she has staved off her entire life—forcing her to confront the most difficult question of all: To whom must she be true?

This little gem is for a book tour on Wednesday… I met author Talia Carner at the Harper Collins Book Blogger Reception and look forward to reading her book. 

 

 

 

D.D.’s former partner and one-time lover, Det. Bobby Dodge, of the Massachusetts State Police, asks her to look into what appears to be a clear-cut homicide case. The evidence suggests that Tessa Leoni, a state trooper colleague of Bobby’s, shot and killed her abusive husband, Brian Darby, who may have kidnapped her six-year-old daughter, Sophie. But Tessa won’t talk about her bruises, her husband, or what might have happened to her child. D.D. examines every detail about the family, while Tessa uses her skills to manipulate the investigation. From Tessa’s point of view, we learn about her and Brian’s courtship, his affection for Sophie, and how the marriage began to disintegrate.

I know.. thats a pretty bad synopsis that I pulled from Amazon.  In my own opinion, I adore Lisa Gardner and look forward to this suspense novel on audio.

 

 

 

And finally… drum roll please….

In Maggie Stiefvater’s SHIVER, Grace and Sam found each other. In LINGER, they fought to be together. Now, in FOREVER, the stakes are even higher than before. Wolves are being hunted. Lives are being threatened. And love is harder and harder to hold on to as death comes closing in.

Uhhhh thats right… super SSSQQQUUUEEEE!!!  Look what I picked up at BEA!!!  I can not wait to read this.  AND (and this is important!) I have an extra copy that I will be giving away on June 9th (mark your calendar!) for my Blogiversary!

 

 

That is the reading plan for the week.  As I said above I have a few I am finishing up so I am hoping to have a bit review week as well as the BEA posts.

Now….. I want to know what you are reading!  Add your What Are Your Reading post to the linky below (where it says click here!)  I can not wait to come and visit you!  😀

 

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What Do You Look For In A Book Review?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

As a lover of all things BOOKISH, I love love LOVE to read book reviews by book bloggers.  Many of the books I read I have discovered by reading a review on a blog about said book.  I appreciate a warm and honest review, and like to know how that book made the reviewer feel…. be it emotionally charged, angry, sad, happy, ready to do battle – whatever… books and emotions to me go hand in hand and I like to know how the reader feels when immersed in a book.

While the above is what I enjoy, I absolutely am turned off by reviews that tell me the book from start to end – the beginning, the big plot line, the solution and the ending… really, why do I need to read the book now?    I do not care if the review is long (although there is clearly such a thing as too long..) as long as it is interesting, or short, as long as it gives me a feel for the book.  I enjoy knowing a bit about the author, a bit about the history of the book, and really like the reviews that go the bit extra with perhaps a definition of something in the book along with a picture of that said word and its meaning. 

As a reviewer, I want to write a good honest review that will cause my readers to know if this book is a good fit for them.  For those of us that do review, we know this is not always as easy as gushing out “I loved it” as much as I love those reviews, there are also the ones that we have to say….. hmmmm…. not so much loving it here. 

This may or may not apply to the post here... I just thought this was funny. It reminds me that we want... what we want.

Here is my question(s) today:

1.  As a reader, what do you like to see in a review of a book you may be interested in?  What do you not like to see in a review?

2.  As a reviewer (for those of us who are), what do you like to be sure are in your own reviews you write? 

Morning Meanderings…There’s No Place Like Home

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)34 Comments

Good Morning!  😀

I am here at my kitchen table…. safely back in Brainerd Minnesota with a hot cut of TEA,

WHA?

Yes… tea.  I have had a sore throat for the last couple of days.  No reason why…. I don’t recall any yelling while I was in New York… however I did talk a lot.  😉  Another reason for the tea is… uh… the DeChantal home seems to be out of coffee.  I know, perish the thought but there it is.  A trip to the grocery store today is in the planning. 

After an amazing week in New York with Reagan (Miss Remmers Reviews), chatting it up with authors, publishers, bloggers, and occasionally… the perfect stranger, there comes a time when all good things must end.  Thoroughly exhausted we caught our plane on Saturday morning at 5:45 am and between the two flights we were back in Minnesota by 10:00 am.  I then drove home and between traffic and a lunch stop landed on my door step a little after 1:00 p.m.  and promptly took a nap until 4:30 pm.  SO TIRED.

Through out this past week I gave a couple hints as to things I was doing and people I was seeing.  I plan to write posts this week of the events in more detail and I hope you enjoy them as I would love for you to feel like you were there.  I did get a little reading done, not much but on the plane I made a dent so I do have 2 reviews to write and hopefully a couple more very soon after.

Here are a few of the highlights of the week:

*  Dinner with Beth Hoffman, author of Cee Cee Honeycutt)

*  Seeing the Harry Potter Exhibit

*  Catching up with Sandra Brannan, author of In The Belly of Jonah (there are hints of this becoming a movie!)

* The walking tour of Greenwich Village and lunch after with author Adriana Trigiani

* Meeting Harlan Coben (oh…. he is my favorite mystery author!) 

* Chatting it up with Sarah Pekkanen (author of Skipping A Beat)

* Meeting a couple of my fall tour authors…)

Going to the Broadway showing of Mary Poppins (I believe I will write my first play review!)

Anyway – I could go on and on between the awesome bloggers who I chat with here and ,meeting them in person to the food experiences (yup – there will be pictures)…

I will share it all with you!  😀  There are a couple of books coming out that were super exciting to get early – and that will be shared with you here as well as a copy may be showing up at my Blogiversary Party on June 9, so make a note to be here for that!

New York New York from the top of the Empire State Building at 8:45 p.m.

Anyway…. I need to get ready here.  It is wonderful to be home and cant wait to catch up with all of you!  😀

BEA (Book Expo) Update 2

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)12 Comments

GAH.  Sorry I had gone quiet this week.  I have been so tired at night and then we get up and go so early that I just look at the blog and go… “nah.”

I have a few minutes here now though and just left the Book Blogger Convention and apparently… have some stored up bloggy type energy stored up in my fingers I was unaware of.  So let’s catch up shall we?  😀

So…. my last post left off at the Beth Hoffman Dinner Tuesday night…

  1. First ever subway ride.  I am now an honorary New Yorker.

  2. Dinner was so awesome.  We went to dinner at Mercers Kitchen in Soho.  So wonderful.  There were 8 of us bloggers I think, I will list them all and their blogs next week when I write more detailed posts about the events.  Beth Hoffman…. as real in person as she is in her books and on the social networks.

  3. Back in hotel room 1t 11:30 pm.  SO TIRED!

  4. Wednesday…. up at 5 am.  To Javitz by 6:15 am… picked up Rick Riordin tickets for a signed event.

  5. At Javitz until about 3 pm.  Reagan and I are SHOT.  So tired books have lost all meaning (and that is TIRED!)

  6. We go back to our hotel room and crash for about an hour. 

  7. Up and get ready for the Harper Collins Blogger Reception

  8. Reception is a blast… we taxi over, get a chance to connect with many authors and fellow bloggers.  I meet two of the authors I am doing book tours with this fall!  (More on this in post next week)

  9. Go to dinner with a group of bloggers organized by Heather from Age 30+ a Lifetime of Books to a place called Bice.  I had a fettuccine with shrimp…. YUM!

  10. back in hotel by 11:00 pm…. shot again.  😀

  11. Thursday – sleep in a bit day!!!  Up at 7:30 am…. YEAH!!!  Get ready and to Javitz by 8:45 am after stopping at Dunkin Donuts for COFFEE and breakfast. 

  12. Spend morning at Javitz center chatting up with publishing companies and getting a few books along the way. 

  13. 10:15 am meet outside to taxi to the Adrianna Trigiani event with other bloggers (detailed post on this next week).  Taxi to Greenwich Village where we go on the wonderful Adriana Tour of the Village!

  14. Meet up with Adriana at The Standard Grill for lunch.  

  15. Back to Javitz at 3:45 pm.

  16. Back to hotel and get ready for Atria party at Simon and Schuster

  17. Taxi to Atria and meet up with publishers and authors and more bloggers.  (More details on this next week)

  18. Reagan and I go to Empire State Building  – all the way up!  😀

  19. Back in room by 10 pm.  Chill a bit then sleep.

  20. Up at 6:00 to prep for Book Blogger Convention

  21. At convention by 7:05 pm for breakfast

  22. Convention officially starts at 9 a.m. to 4:30 pm.  (details details – next week :D)

Now – currently I am sitting at my hotel room with Reagan (Miss Remmers Reviews) and Cass (Bonjour, Cass! A Book Lovers Blog) preparing to go to a Broadway play… Mary Poppins! 

 

I will break down these events soon in more detail, I just wanted to touch base and let you know I do still exist and I am returning home very early tomorrow morning… 😀

 

Morning Meanderings… Small Update From New York

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Good Morning!  😀

Hoping everyone is well….I am having a BLAST!

I do not have a lot of time… we are leaving in about a half hour for the Javitz, last day of the Book Expo part of this trip.  Tomorrow is the book blogger convention.  We have until 10:30 today before we grab a taxi and go meet up with Adriana Trigiani for our tour of Greenwich Village and lunch.  How crazy is that?

The weather has been beautiful!  Our first day here it rained (Monday) and we had heard that was pretty much the norm so far this year but Tuesday and Wednesday have been gorgeous and today is supposed to be in the mid 70’s.

Highlights have been:

  • Meeting Harlan Coben (I really enjoy his books)
  • Going to the Harry Potter Exhibit – and sorted by the sorting hat!!!!!!  (SQQQQUUUUEEEE!!!!!!! Oh and I am….. GRYFINDOR!!!!)
  • chatting it up with blogger friends – old and new!

Tonight we have a couple of blogger/Publisher events that we hope (HOPE!) to spend time at both.  It will be another busy day but we did not have a super early one this morning which helps so much. 

On another completely random (but fun!) note… Linda White from the Minneapolis Books Examiner wrote up an article about my blogging path.  She would love it (and I would too :D) if you would pop over and comment on this article. 

Me and Harlan Coben!

Update From The Expo (Book Expo America – BEA)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)36 Comments

Hey all!  😀

I fully intended to write a post Tuesday morning before I left for BEA.  BELIEVE me I had plenty to say (gosh… do I ever not have something to say?  :razz:)  BUT – here is why you have not heard from me until now:

Fast pass recap:

  1. Sunday evening I met Reagan (Miss Remmers Reviews) in Minneapolis at our hotel for the night.
  2. Ordered pizza at 9:30 pm because we were hungry…. hour and a half later we get what can only be described as “pizza from days gone by”.  Didn’t matter…. HUNGRY!
  3. We talked WAY TOO LONG and were up until almost 1:00 a.m.
  4. We got up at 3:00 a.m. on Monday morning to catch the 4:00 a.m. shuttle for our 5:45 am flight to New York
  5. Uhhh…. can you say tired?  😉
  6. Arrived in New York around 11:10 a.m.
  7. Booked to our hotel and dropped off our luggage by noon
  8. Ran (it’s true… we did) to the Simon Schuster event that started at 11:00 am that we were invited to.  About a mile away.
  9. Sent to the 14th floor… not there… sent to the 4th floor not there… sent to the 11th floor – not there….. could not find the group.  😯
  10. Being tired we decided to start walking our way to the next event – the YA Teen Carnival.  Destination 3 miles.
  11. Stopped half way in to grab a quick-lunch and get out of the rain that suddenly came crashing down….. pouring.  Really.  POURING.
  12. Went back out and continued our walk to the event… struggled finding the right road.
  13. 5 miles later, found it.  We high-fived and danced around the entryway.  (Not really…. but we could have…. and we SHOULD have.  😛
  14. Event is awesome – many YA authors (more on this on a later post) stayed until 6:30 pm.
  15. Took a taxi back to our hotel (I know right?  A TAXI!  :razz:)
  16. Walked to Subway and grabbed subs to eat in our hotel room – we were super SUPER tired.  (Oh.. we were SO tired).
  17. Bed at 10 pm
  18. Alarm set for 5 am…. woo hoo… here we go!!!
  19. 6:15 am left for the Javits Center – BEA here we come!
  20. Get our badges and go check things out….

Ok… this part is fun and full story worthy, so I have broken in to this timeline of awesomeness and need to share.  Reagan and I are leaning up against the tall table at the Javitz.  I was reading the Daily BEA magazine they put out when a lady walks up to us and asks us where to register.  It is then that we realize we are standing in front of the Information table.  We laugh, help the lady and continue to hang out.  Moments later another question.

The sign above us says :BEA info booth


I tell Reagan we should get behind the counter and sit in the chairs (I am a bad influence sometimes…. :razz:)  No one is there and so we do.  Pretty soon we have people steadily coming and asking questions:

Where do I pick up my badge?

Where is the children’s author breakfast?

What time does the main arena open?

Where is the Starbucks?

Can I go to the authors breakfast without my badge?

Where is the Blog World entrance?

Can I get a map?

Where is the line to get in?

The only one we couldn’t answer is “where is the silent auction”, which later we found when we walking around again.  😛

We seriously had a blast and actually helped a lot of people while we sat and it really passed the time as we had an hour and a half to kill.  When the dude who was scheduled to run the booth showed up, we graciously stepped aside, he asked us what people were asking about and we helped him get his start.

Dang…. that was fun.  😛

Ok… back to list…

20.  Hung out at expo from 6:30 – 4…. chatting with authors and publishers, getting books.  Highlight book of the day:  Forever by Maggie Stiefvater.  Yup.  It’s true… in my hot little hand.  😀

21.  Back to hotel room at 4 where within 20 seconds from hitting the door, Reagan and I both have our feet up… ow ow ow ow!!!

22.  I gather my reserve energy get cleaned up and ready to write this post and go out to dinner with some awesome bloggers AND Beth Hoffman, author of Cee Cee Honeycutt.  (post on this event later)

Me and Beth Hoffman (uhhh.... SSSQQQQUUUUEEEEE!!!)O


😛

23.  back to the hotel at 11:30 pm.  Wrote this post and went to bed at 12:14 a.m.  (Alarm set for 5:00 am so we can get in line for Rick Riordin tickets…. and maybe…. maybe run the info booth.  😆

More soon… just wanted you to know where I have been and what I have been doing.  Today was gorgeous in New York!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)55 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:

Meg at Bookish Affair

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!

As many of you know, I am heading to the cities tonight (Sunday) and am on my way to New York (BEA!) in the morning (Monday).  I will keep this pretty short and sweet this week as honestly… I can not imagine I will get a lot of reading done other than my audio in the car to and from the cities and my NOOK on the plane 😀

Last week looked a lot like this (well… actually… it looked EXACTLY like this.)  😛


Who Do You Write Your Book reviews For?  (A question to book bloggers…)

Word Shakers On line Book Club is going again!  Join in this read a long!


The Last Time I Saw You By Elizabeth Berg – Word Shaker Review discussion

Their Eyes Were Watching God – book and movie review – both are not to miss!


Crooked Letter Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin – TLC Tour read


The Brainerd Police Blotter – is every town this embarrassing?…LOL

Mmmmm…. fairly active week.  I still have books I wish I had read but for some reason life fills in much of my spare time with other “to do’s” where I am really beginning to wonder…is it spare time at all?  😛

So…. for this week…. here is my small plan of attack:


Lena Haloway is content in her safe, government-managed society. She feels (mostly) relaxed about the future in which her husband and career will be decided, and looks forward to turning 18, when she’ll be cured of deliria, a.k.a. love. She tries not to think about her mother’s suicide (her last words to Lena were a forbidden “I love you”) or the supposed “Invalid” community made up of the uncured just beyond her Portland, Maine, border. There’s no real point—she believes her government knows how to best protect its people, and should do so at any cost. But 95 days before her cure, Lena meets Alex, a confident and mysterious young man who makes her heart flutter and her skin turn red-hot. As their romance blossoms, Lena begins to doubt the intentions of those in power, and fears that her world will turn gray should she submit to the procedure.

I really appreciated Lauren Oliver’s first book, Before I Fall.  Even after I finished reading it… I still kept thinking back to it which only deepened my appreciation.  I have been meaning to read this one for a while and hope that this Nook version will finally get me moving on this one 😀




On a rainy spring day in Seattle, young software tycoon Micah Taylor receives a cryptic, twenty-five-year-old letter from a great uncle he never knew. It claims a home awaits him on the Oregon coast that will turn his world inside out. Suspecting a prank, Micah arrives at Cannon Beach to discover a stunning brand new nine-thousand square foot house. And after meeting Sarah Sabin at a nearby ice cream shop, he has two reasons to visit the beach every weekend. When bizarre things start happening in the rooms of the home, Micah suspects they have some connection to his enigmatic new friend, Rick, the town mechanic. But Rick will only say the house is spiritual. This unnerves Micah because his faith slipped away like the tide years ago, and he wants to keep it that way. But as he slowly discovers, the home isn’t just spiritual, it’s a physical manifestation of his soul, which God uses to heal Micah’s darkest wounds and lead him into an astonishing new destiny.

Ok… so I have wanted to read this one for awhile now and just now had it downloaded to my NOOK.  I am really hopeful about it as I just seen a review say it was like Ted Dekker’s HOUSE – which I hate to use the word hate…. but…. yeah.  SO we shall see 😀


Even on their wedding day, John and Irene sensed that they were about to make a mistake. Years later, divorced, dating other people, and living in different parts of the country, they seem to have nothing in common—nothing except the most important person in each of their lives: Sadie, their spirited eighteen-year-old  daughter. Feeling smothered by Irene and distanced from John, Sadie is growing more and more attached to her new boyfriend, Ron.
When tragedy strikes, Irene and John come together to support the daughter they love so dearly. What takes longer is to remember how they really feel about each other.

Out of the four books I was considering for the New York trip I had agreed to take only one and a couple of days ago I put the vote on you the readers…. this is the one that won that vote with a close following on City of Bones (maybe that one will have to be my next road trip read 😀

I am finishing up Zoo Keepers Wife on my way to the cities today, and One Good Dog is on my IPOD which will also be tagging along.  😀


I am sure that is more than enough to keep my busy 😀  It’s time for me to finish this up and get my last second packing done… by the time this post goes live on Sunday I will hopefully be in the cities tucked safely away in my hotel for the night preparing for tomorrow mornings flight.  😀 

I will be on as I can to check in on you and what you are reading – and I will be on throughout the week updating you on what is happening in New York and with BEA (Book Expo America). 

Be sure to link your What Are You Reading post here so I as well as others can pop in and see what you are reading.  Literary minds want to know.  😛

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Who Do You Write Your Book Reviews For?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)39 Comments

I remember when I first started book reviewing, just about two years ago.  Shortly after that day, just as I was getting into my groove, someone on another blog mentioned that really book bloggers write their reviews for other book bloggers. 

At the time I heartily disagreed.  In fact I was a little put off about the statement – it sounded so self-serving and made me visualize a circle of people reviewing books, posting about books, and then reading books they seen that other book bloggers reviewed and then reading those books… starting the circle over again. 

No, I thought.  I write about books for the masses… for the book lovers everywhere that want an honest opinion on a book. 

*Pause here for dramatic effect.*

I write reviews for anyone looking on-line for thoughts about a particular book or a particular genre….


Ok… ok.  Now… here I am thinking these last few days is that still true?  What I set out to do (books for the masses, honest reviews, book talk genre talk for everyone….) is it still true that I am writing for everyone, and not just chatting it up with other book reviewers?

Honestly, most of you who comment here are book reviewers as well.  And honestly – I have grown to really love that because we truly are an incredible community of people and together we have a voice that can make a difference – and has made a difference.  I like knowing my frequent  commenters, even if it is virtually.  I know from reading your own blogs the type of books you enjoy, injuries, sicknesses, trips, exciting news, and sometimes hardships too.  I like being able to comment something to the effect that is more personal like, “glad to see you made it back from _______________”.  or , “I know you will love this book as it reminded me a lot of the other book you read and loved.”  And of course with the addition of BEA where I actually was able to meet many of you – well that just is too awesome for words.  😀

I have noticed that my original “for the masses” *let masses echo in your head* plan of attack, is not always accurate when I write posts like this, or about BEA (do the masses care that I am going?), or about meme’s (although I honestly wish none book bloggers would partake too as I honestly do really want to know what everyone is reading.  :razz:)


I turn this question back to you….

  1. as a book reviewer/blogger, who do you write your posts for?

  1. Do you have a targeted audience in mind?

If you are not a book reviewer/blogger… do posts that seem to only be written for other book reviewers bug you, or (hopefully) make you feel part of the circle of books lovers?

Morning Meanderings…. New York (BEA) Eve…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

Good morning.  Dreary and dark this morning in Central Minnesota as I sit at my kitchen table COFFEE CUP in hand.  I have about 9 hours before I head to the cities. 

I know most of you know that I am going to New York for BEA this week…. second year attending and UBER excited.  See my crazy schedule here 😛

I am half packed,still need to pick up some shipping tape (for books coming home), an IPOD car adapter (so I can listen to my books on it during drive time), and a NOOK charger as for the life of me I can not find it (I have a vague recollection about this in the back of my memory that it is a cord that I already have but I need to do something to it to make it work in the NOOK.)  Of course this also tells you how little I have used this reader.  😳

Looking at the weather now for New York… it looks like rain at least the early part of the week….  maybe I should add umbrella to my list of things to bring (would you believe I have never owned one? )  I may need to change that today. 

Really though that is it …. I have posts yet for today and plan to blog all through the BEA experience, and I am a little concerned about traveling with LAPTOP as this is the same one that died a while back, came back to life, died again…. and then suddenly just started working again.  I am really hoping the trip isn’t too much for him because I don’t think I would make it a week without my laptop… 😛

Stop by and check out the What Are You Reading post later tonight, it will be light of course, but I will be going NOOK, not book, for the first time ever.  😯

**Oh and I am still taking votes on which real book to take with me (I am only taking ONE).  Currently the Berg book is ahead, I will announce on the post tonight which one won the vote.

Have an awesome Sunday!

Word Shakers On Line Book Club Invites You To Our Next Group Read

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)5 Comments


Word Shakers is an on-line book club hosted here at Book Journey.  When a group read is announced, anyone who wishes to join in (book bloggers and readers of any type) are encouraged to fill out the form (below) and join the group.  At a given date a survey will be sent to those participating with questions about the book.  On a later date, a group post will go up at the Book Journey site as well as a place for participants to link their reviews as well.  (*Participants who do not book blog are encourages to put their thoughts on the book on the survey when it is sent as well as in the comments once the review is posted. 

Our current read being offered is:

Lisa Shannon had a good life – a successful business, a fiancé, a home, and security. Then one day in 2005, an episode of Oprah changed her life. The show focused on women in the Congo, a place known as the worst place on earth to be a woman.

The subject of a recent New York Times column by Nicholas Kristof, Shannon details how she left her comfortable life in Portland, Ore., to aid women in the Democratic Republic of Congo suffering abuse and death in what has been termed “Africa’s First World War.” Running a successful business with her fiancée (who would leave her), Shannon is still “hungry for something all [her] own” and after seeing a show on Oprah about Congolese women, she establishes the Run for Congo Women to raise money to help those suffering. From meeting Congolese women she’s sponsored to learning that 90% of the women in one village have been raped, Shannon is exposed to a world remote from her own affluent life. Her painful firsthand accounts of the violence inflicted upon Congolese women by Hutu militants will most interest readers, but the book lacks a detailed overview of the political circumstances surrounding this long war. Shannon provides a much-needed view of how one inspired American can act with hope, drive, and courage to aid women in a part of the world too often overlooked.

How to participate:

  1. Fill out the form below
  2. read the book or listen to audio before June 22 (questions regarding the book will be emailed to you at this time)
  3. Respond to the questions and submit our answers
  4. Reviews will go live on the blogs on June 30th
  5. Grad the Word Shaker widget from this post and feel free to put it on your blog and on your review.
  6. Have fun and thanks for participating! 😀