Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (Audio and Movie Review)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

Janie Crawford is a beautiful free-spirited Southern Black girl in the 1930’s.  With her parents long dead, Janie is raised be her grandmother.  At sixteen she is seen kissing the neighbor boy, Johnny Taylor.  Her grandmother, in fear that Janie will wind up being treated like a mule for some man, she arranges for her to be married to Logan Killicks, a man in his 60’s who is looking for a wife to help him take care of his farm.

Janie wants more from life so when opportunity comes literally knocking at her door she runs away with a man she just met and becomes Mrs. Joe Starks.  She soon finds out that to Joe she is a trophy wife and therefore must act as such.  Soon Janie feels trapped again.

And so the story goes on – when something happens to Joe, Janie again finds herself a free woman, but not with finances to back her up.  When a drifter who goes by the name of Tea Cake comes to town Janie finds herself attracted to this mysterious man.  The two eventually become man and wife and their life together really is what makes this book.

Here is yet another read I would probably not have picked up.  When I found it on the sale list at audible.com I thought this may be a good time to try this one and I am so glad I did.   If you have not experienced this book on audio then you are truly missing out.  The rich southern voice of narrator Ruby Dee was a treat to listen too.  Ruby mastered the voices from deep male, to the young voice of Janie.

The book impressed me.  It is a deep love story that I wasn’t anticipating, and maybe that made me appreciate it all the more.  Janie and Tea Cake make some of the modern-day literary couples look dull in comparison.  And all that is from the book…

just wait until you add the movie.

I had timed my finishing of the book with the arrival of the movie from Netflix.  I wasn’t sure what I thought I would find in this movie…but it wasn’t this.  Halli Berry is the perfect person to play Janie.  She is a beautiful woman, just as Janie was described and she was the image of the free-spirited girl that I had read about. 

If I thought the love story was touching in the book… on the screen, seeing the great love between Tea Cake and Janie was heart wrenching – and this from a person who does not read romance!  I was so touched by the their story again… even as fresh as it was in my mind from just hours before ending the book…

I highly recommend both.  Definitely do not miss out on this great novel and movie.

My 2011 WHERE Are You Reading map has been updated to include Their Eyes Were Watching God


I purchased the audio from audible.com

The movie was rented from Netflix

Morning Meanderings…. Books For Breakfast

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)36 Comments

Good morning!  😀

This past Monday on the Monday What Are You reading Meme, Sarah from Puss Reboots mentioned she was having coffee and Manga in the morning.  I don’t know why , but that sounded as good as my morning oatmeal…. maybe even better.

Never one to back down from a personal challenge, I thought maybe this is about the time that I should try Manga.  I have never read it…. honestly… I was not even 100% sure what it was.  😯

So… Tuesday afternoon I made my way to my local library and back to the graphic novel section.  I stood in front of these books feeling incredibly out of place.  Honestly… I was not even sure what I was looking for.  I picked up random titles and thumbed through them…. a couple teenagers passed by me slowly but I continued to pretend I knew what I was doing. 

Were all graphic novels manga? 

Then I seen on a couple books where it actually said Manga! I picked them up and flipped through them…. they looked much like the other graphic novels except I found out a lot about Manga really fast in the front of one of the books:

1.  Manga is (are?) Japanese books written in an almost cartoon or graphic style format.

2.  Manga reads right to left, the opposite of the way that we all learned to read..

First of all, most manga is read from RIGHT TO LEFT, not left to right. Speech bubbles, words and sound effects are also read from right to left.

3.  You start at the back of the book and read forward.

Wow…. a literary workout.

SO…. in honor of my Manga attempt, I am having Manga for breakfast this morning.  COFFEE CUP is at hand and a dose of Manga to start my day…

I will let you know soon how I felt about Manga.  Will it become a breakfast staple?  An occasional treat?  Or will I find it not to my liking? 


Have you read any Manga?  If so, what was it and did you like it? 

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter by Tom Franklin

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)50 Comments

It’s Mississippi in the late 1970s, Larry Ott and Silas “32” Jones were boyhood pals. Their worlds were as different as night and day: Larry, the child of lower-middle-class white parents, and Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother. Yet for a few months the boys stepped outside of their circumstances and shared a special bond. But then tragedy struck: Larry took a girl on a date to a drive-in movie, and she was never heard from again. She was never found and Larry never confessed, but all eyes rested on him as the culprit. The incident shook the county—and perhaps Silas most of all. His friendship with Larry was broken, and then Silas left town. More than twenty years have passed. Larry, a mechanic, lives a solitary existence, never able to rise above the whispers of suspicion. Silas has returned as a constable. He and Larry have no reason to cross paths until another girl disappears and Larry is blamed again. And now the two men who once called each other friend are forced to confront the past they’ve buried and ignored for decades.


I grew up in Minnesota where the Mississippi River flows.  I remember spelling Mississippi in grade school,

“M – I – Crooked letter – Crooked Letter – I – Crooked Letter – Crooked Letter – I – P – P – I.

It’s just the way we rolled back then.  😀

Crooked Letter Crooked Letter was everything I had anticipated it to be.  It was a mystery… but not an over the top creep me out mystery, but a good solid mystery surrounding a small town… a missing girl… and a quiet book-worm of a man who the town has their eye on as he seems a bit… odd. 

Let me say that not every author call pull off a smooth read that pops  from the present to the past, but Tom Franklin does so beautifully.  It was a pleasure to read this in so many ways – not only the story itself, but really there is something to say for a book written well and Tom Franklin hit home with this one. 

I love fully developed characters and books that make it hard for me to put down and that is what I found here.  If you are looking for a wonderfully written mystery this year, I would highly suggest you grab a copy of Crooked Letter Crooked Letter.

Morning Meanderings… Does Every Town Have An On Line Police Blotter?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)33 Comments

Good morning.  😛

Sun is shining!

Coffee is GOOD.

Here are a few things to know about me. 

I was born and raised in Brainerd Minnesota.

It’s a nice place to live.

I can’t stand the movie Fargo.


If you are unfamiliar with the movie Fargo…. know that they refer to Brainerd Minnesota A LOT.  And they give us that accent in the movie clip above and make us look pretty simple-minded. 

I have never to my knowledge said, “oh Yeaaahhhh”.

I have never said “You betcha.”

Ok… Ok…

I may have said “You Betcha”, but only in jest….

However…. when I seen yesterdays Police Blotter (which they post daily and can make for some fine entertainment….) I had to wonder a little about my home town:  (Yes the following are actual calls to the Brainerd Police Department).

1.  8:40 pm on Saturday:  A call was received regarding a large fire in the area of Whipple Beach on the 1000 block of Oakwood Drive.  An officer advised the called that it was the sunset.

2.  Police received a report that someone struck a residence on Pleasant Avenue with a toilet plunger and damaged the door bell.

Yup.  You betcha.  (Again – I am saying it in jest).

Perhaps I should move….

I am curious, does every town post the police calls for all to see?  I mean, yeah they can be entertaining….. but curious about that. 

Have an awesome day! 

Morning Meanderings… Occasionally… this happens

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)57 Comments

Good morning.  *stretch.  Yawn*

Ok…let’s try that again.

Good morning.  😀

Check this out:
Updated: 6:59 AM CDT on May 17, 2011

clear

67° | 38°

clear

67° | 43°

partlycloudy

70° | 49°

I know right?  SUN.  And SUN.  And SUN.  Did I mention SUN?  Sorry it seems like it has been forever since we have had sunny days and I am grinning ear to ear. 

I listen to three audio books at once.  I have one going in my bathroom bedroom (Their Eyes Are Watching God…. currently they are running from the floods…), one in my kitchen (The Zookeeper’s Wife (a man just parachuted out of the sky…), and one in my car (Change Of Altitude (Margaret is with a small group of friends hiking up a dangerous mountain)…

I don’t know how they all stay straight in my head – but they do and I listen to all three at least a little bit each day.  When I get up I flip the one on in the bathroom and while I get read y for my day I get in a good 20+ minutes… then when I am in the kitchen making COFFEE, cleaning up or working on dinner, that audio can get in around 20-30 minutes a day… the one in my car is on whenever I am driving alone which is most of the time so about 10-30 minutes car time a day as well.

And like I said – that works for me and I look forward to each story line….

Until…

Yesterday I am coming home from work listening to Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve.  I have commented that there was A LOT of pre story before it seemed like it was ever going to get into the heart of the story and then as I pulled into the grocery store parking lot… it happened.  I could tell the book was getting to the point  and I reluctantly shut my car off ran and picked up the things I needed and hurried back to my car…. driving home my ears were glued to what was happening….  once home…

I sat in the car in my garage, listening to the audio.

After 20 minutes of that …. I decided I looked ridiculous and popped the audio out of the car, went into the house… plucked out The Zoo Keepers Wife from the kitchen CD player and put in Change Of Altitude to listen to while I prepped my salad for the potluck I attended last night. 

Change of Altitude… trumped Zoo Keepers Daughter.

It happens. 

Certainly those of you who read more than one book at once can relate…. if one takes off in the story line, it gets more attention at least for a time while you dive in. 

Yes… I will go back to Zookeepers Daughter, in fact this morning I had.  Change of Altitude followed me from the house to the potluck and home again and while the story line still is holding my captive… I am back to listening to the three again in harmony…

😛

Hope your day is super fab! I work… I hope to play a bit on my bike… I will probably start on the front lawn again tonight as yup…. with all the rain I could mow again.  😀

I put the question to you…. do you read multiple books at the same time (different genres…) and or audio – or a mix of both?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)110 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:

Joanne’s best

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!


Here is what I was doing this past week:

“Potato Marley” (When good vegetables… go bad)

Cloaked by Alex Flinn ( a modern fairy tale…)

ROOM by Emma Donoghue – revisted by my book club The Bookies (with fun food to go with the review!)

The Island Of Lost Girls by Jennifer McMahon (mmm hmmmm… same author as I read last week….)

The Painted Veil – Movie VS. Book (You will never guess who wins!  :razz:)

Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky (I liked it… and I didn’t…)


How Do You Choose What To Read Next?  (The question that haunts me…..)  😛


As for this next week… I am going to take it easy as there are a few books I would love to clean up on this week before I leave on Sunday for BEA.


The true story of how the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands. When Germany invaded Poland, Stuka bombers devastated Warsaw, and the city’s zoo along with it. With most of their animals dead, zookeepers Antonina and Jan Żabiński began smuggling Jews into empty cages. Another dozen “guests” hid inside the Żabińskis’ villa, emerging after dark for dinner, socializing, and, during rare moments of calm, piano concerts. Jan, active in the Polish resistance, kept ammunition buried in the elephant enclosure and stashed explosives in the animal hospital. Meanwhile, Antonina kept her unusual household afloat, caring for both its human and its animal inhabitants —otters, a badger, hyena pups, lynxes— and keeping alive an atmosphere of play and innocence even as Europe crumbled around her.

I know…. I said I was tired of war stories… and I am… but somehow I keep finding my way back to them.  My friend Heidi recommended this one a while ago and when I recently found it at my library on audio I thought I would give it a try. 

Margaret and Patrick have been married just a few months when they set off on what they hope will be a great adventure-a year living in Kenya. Margaret quickly realizes there is a great deal she doesn’t know about the complex mores of her new home, and about her own husband.

A British couple invites the newlyweds to join on a climbing expedition to Mount Kenya, and they eagerly agree. But during their harrowing ascent, a horrific accident occurs. In the aftermath of the tragedy, Margaret struggles to understand what happened on the mountain and how these events have transformed her and her marriage, perhaps forever.

This one has been on my shelf for far too long… I have started it and it does seem to take forever to get to the heart of the story but it seems to be picking up a bit now…


A Canticle for Leibowitz opens with the accidental excavation of a holy artifact: a creased, brittle memo scrawled by the hand of the blessed Saint Leibowitz, that reads: “Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels–bring home for Emma.” To the Brothers of Saint Leibowitz, this sacred shopping list penned by an obscure, 20th-century engineer is a symbol of hope from the distant past, from before the Simplification, the fiery atomic holocaust that plunged the earth into darkness and ignorance. As 1984 cautioned against Stalinism, so 1959’s A Canticle for Leibowitz warns of the threat and implications of nuclear annihilation. Following a cloister of monks in their Utah abbey over some six or seven hundred years, the funny but bleak Canticle tackles the sociological and religious implications of the cyclical rise and fall of civilization, questioning whether humanity can hope for more than repeating its own history.

This is our Faith N Fiction group read and I am just getting into it… it’s different from what I would choose for myself to read but think it will make for good discussion.


Adam March is a married father and successful businessman poised to become a CEO—that is, until the day his troubled past catches up with him. Soon Adam has lost his job, his family, and his house and is living in a lonely apartment working off his community-service sentence in a local men’s shelter. Adam’s story alternates with that of Chance, a former fighting pit bull who has escaped, lived on the streets, and is now back at the animal shelter. When circumstances require Adam to adopt and care for Chance, he comes to realize the joy and comfort of animal companionship.

Ok… this is the audio that is going on after I finish Their Eyes Were Watching God which should be yet this week.  When I chose this, I wanted something lighter after I looked at what I am currently putting my brain through from the looks of the books above.  I hope and pray that this dog does not die at the end…. Hey, it was either this or Bossy Pants by Tina Fey.


That’s my week – it is mostly audio as that I can listen to while doing other things (like packing!) I hope to get around to all of you this week and see what you are reading so please be sure to link up your Monday What Are You Reading here below where it says “click here”.  And yes, there will be a post next week as well… I am not leaving for the cities until Sunday evening and will be available throughout the plane rides to catch up on what you are all reading 😀

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How Do You Choose What To Read Next?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)81 Comments

Out of the TBR’s (To Be Read) in your home…. what is the method to your madness?  (Well… maybe your is not madness… but oofta (yes I said oofta – and yes I put parentheses inside parentheses) mine sure is).

I am curious as to how you choose that next read –

Are you:

AIO – All In Order – as they come in they are read – check off the list go the next… check check check (If so YOU are SO ORGANIZED!  WOW!)

TBR and LL – Library Loot – a bit of the TBR mixed in for variety

ATSL – As The Spirit Leads (and honestly this is my personal favorite… I read what I want to read when I want to read it, with  the exception of Book Tours)

I have heard some of you talk about your systems of organization when it comes to the TBR and seriously that impresses me… I wish I could stick to that but I tend to read as I am called to a book (at least as much as possible, unless it is a tour book or a book club read with a commitment date)


For those of you who are book reviewers, do you think we easily over commit ourselves to read books offered to us as books are so much our passion it is hard to say no? 

How much is too much?

Thank you in advance for your insight.  Every Sunday I go through this…. choosing what I plan to read for the It’s Monday, What Are You Reading meme.  I take into account book tours and audio choices and then try to mix in one that I have no commitment to other than the fact I want to read it.  I am curious how you choose your books.  😀

Morning Meanderings… Countdown to BEA

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

Good Morning!  Happy Sunday!

The sun is out and shining bright.  I am so thrilled to not see clouds or rain and the rest of the week is looking the same!  Finally!  😀

We are now 8 days out from BEA (Book Expo America).  It’s funny, Reagan and I signed up to go in December… 5 months ago, so now that it is here it is like…. Oh yeah!

I have much to do between now and next Sunday afternoon when I leave to meet Reagan in Minneapolis and then fly out early Monday morning.  I do not even know yet what the weather has been like in New York.  Last year it was warm and I wore Capri’s and nice shirts, or light weight pants…  I do hope that part is the same.  😀

Later this week I will post a list of some of the commitments I have while I am there.  Gah…. commitments sounds awful.  Commitments are things that I have to do, when honestly – these are things I want to do.  Can’t wait to do!  One of the best things about going to BEA – besides the super cool books, is the people you meet and the plans you make. 

I need to organize where I am and when for my sake as I want to do everything I have been invited to and not miss out on anything as well…  so much to do yet!  😛

On a different… more home in Minnesota note, hubby and I had a wonderful dinner with friends last night at their home.  Andy and Laura invited us and three other couples over to their home last night for conversation and a wonderful tortellini dinner.  As we sat around the table laughing and sharing I had to wonder why we don’t do things like this more often.  It was just fun to be together.  I hope to correct that this year and do a little more hanging out this summer and fall with couples and do dinner parties… it sounds so…

grown up.  😛

Have an awesome Sunday – I absolutely will be on my bike today!  😀

Not My Daughter by Barbara Delinsky

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments

Susan, Kate, and Sunny has been best friends for years.  It is fun that their three daughters (Lilly, Mary Kate, and Jess), all the same age, are also best friends.  Lilly, Mary Kate, and Jess are popular, college bound Seniors, from good families. 

They are also all three….

pregnant.

The girls had made a pact – a pregnancy pact.  All feeling ready for motherhood they decide to do what it takes to get pregnant and have their babies all grow up together. 

Susan, Lilly’s mother is also principle of the school.  As word gets out the pressures are heavy on Susan to make good decisions for all involved as the Super Attendant worries about copy cats, and the schools reputation.  The girls do not fit the type of student that would do something like this, blowing statistics of what teens to watch for such behavior in.  It doesn’t help that Susan herself was seventeen when she became pregnant with Lilly, and Susan’s own mother and father had pushed her away, leaving her quite literally alone.

As the three mothers put their heads together on how to move forward – most of the attention stays on Susan.  Being in a small town in Maine makes this sort of scandal very news worthy, and after an editorial in the local paper, the news vans are knocking on Susan’s door.  Lilly had no idea that the decision she made with her friends to become pregnant would snowball into the attacks on her own mother.

All three women, Susan, Kate, and Sunny must come to grips with where they failed as mothers, how the dreams they had for their daughters are disappearing, and scathing small town judgment.


I had high hopes for this read.  The synopsis, was interesting.  How do mothers handle daughters who would make such an outrageous pack?  The fact that Susan was also principal of the school was also interesting… how do you make a fair and smart assessment of what is happening when it involves your own daughter? 

On the pro – I liked the characters.  Susan is a strong intelligent woman.  She had raised Lilly on her own, made a career for herself and a home.  Lilly is sweet and likable, strong personality and supportive of her mom and her dad, who does remain in the picture as a supportive parent and friend to Susan. 

The story line rocks…

BUT

On the con – I wanted to kick Lilly in the pants.  Lilly had clearly not thought out the big picture here and still believed that she would have her baby just before graduation, take the summer to “play mom” and be in college yet in the fall.   She is shocked when her mom is not thrilled for her.  She refers to the baby as “our baby” referring to her mom and herself and maybe I am being harsh – but Susan accepts that immediately, where I am thinking… ummmm…. you made the decision to get pregnant, this was not “our” decision, it was yours. 

I found Susan way to easy on Lilly and there is no lesson here.  I am not saying you don’t stand by your children no matter what, of course you do, but you also talk to them about consequences…

All three girls were extremely immature in such a decision for three girls that were suppose to be on their way and intelligent.  They were doing this on their own with no intentions of telling the “dads” that they were going to be dads, as they really planned on doing this on their own.  This just did not ring true for me.

Gah.  I don’t know…. maybe I am reading too much into this. In the end it is a book about friendship through thick and thin, healing and family ties that bind.  I did like the ending very much.


I  have enjoyed Barbara Delinsky’s writing in the past and I am sure I will enjoy it again in the future.  It is so hard to know what to say about this book as I did keep reading – wanting to know how it was all going to end.

My 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Not My Daughter

I borrowed this audio from my local library

Morning Meanderings… Snapshot Sat. and Books I Am CRAVING

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)37 Comments

Good morning and Happy Saturday!  Cloudy and dreary here in Central Minnesota today… I am a little bummed as I was hoping to get on my bike today and put in some miles.  Instead I think I will be visiting the library, maybe start planning my “what to bring” for next Sunday when I leave for BEA (SSQQUUEEEE!!!)

Every Saturday Alyce from At Home With Books puts up a meme called Snapshot Saturday.  It’s a time when we can post a picture we have taken (or a friend or someone we know). Maplewood Minnesota:

Part of our MS Team completing the smaller MS ride - 30 to 60 miles. In June we will do a 150 mile ride with the entire team.

That’s me – far right.  Last Saturday was gorgeous in the cities and by mile two I took off the jacket as it was too warm already.  I can use a lot more days like that.  😀

As for the book cravings… I have a little collection from around the blogs over the past couple of weeks. 

East Of Eden by John Steinbeck (Found at Lydia’s The Lost Entwife) *Yes, an older title but one I have yet to read.

Primitive by Mark Nykanen (found at Sherrie’s Just Books)

The Midwife’s Confession by Diane Chamberlain (Found at Jennifer from Rundpinne)

The Bitter End by Jennifer Brown (Found at Nancy from A Musing Reviews)

Just blogging about these books this morning makes me excited to get my hands on them.  How about you, any books you found out there lately that just make you want to drop everything and READ?  😛