Good Bye To Sookie Stackhouse (Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)48 Comments

 

Sookie Stackhouse is a small time waitress who has a disability.  She can read minds and let me tell you that makes dating – well…. impossible.  Imagine trying to date someone when you constantly can hear what they are thinking! No real worries about that, as pretty much everyone in Sookie’s neck of the woods (oops – did I say neck?  😉 ) thinks she is weird.

Then one day who should walk into Sookie’s bar but Bill Compton… he’s tall, handsome… and a vampire.  best thing of all?  Sookie can not hear his thoughts and there is something so peaceful and appealing about that she can hardly believe it.  Thanks to synthetic blood now being available, vampires can now live (oops – did I say live?  😉 ) among the errr….. living.  Some people are ok with this coexistence, others not so much – and others still fall into a groupie sort who think that vampires are the coolest thing since sliced bread and this group is referred to as fang-bangers…. (yes, crude but there it is)  😛

Suddenly these “groupies” are turning up dead and the heat is on all vampires – good or bad.  As Sookie has taken quite a liking to Bill and he to her, she worries for his safety – and as a vampires girlfriend – her own as well.  When the deaths seem to be hitting to close for comfort, Sookie has to make decisions to protect herself and her brother who really is her only family she has still living.

 

……………………………………..

Ok.

*Deep breath*

I wanted to read this book because I have heard so much about the HBO series True Blood and of course, the books that are made around this series.  I have never seen True Blood, but thought I would try a book or two and see where I landed.  I landed.. flat.

I thought I would like the characters and the story line, but honestly… I didn’t.  Sookie was too ditsy for words and in her defense, maybe if I could have seen her in True Blood and had a better picture of what they were going for here… but as I listened to this on audio…. she just seemed ridiculously naive, and not appealing as a character at all.  Bill was not clearly described and happenings later into the book made me clearly “not a fan” no matter what his excuse.  I know many of you love this series and that is awesome – I just found it not to fit for me. 🙂

While at times witty, parts were a bit out there for my liking and when it ended – it ended with a large gap in the story that would probably take most readers to the next book to see what happens – but for me… Sookie was a fun acquaintance to meet, but we are probably not going to be life long friends.

There are many other opinions on this book out there and if you have written a review on this please let me know and I will gladly link your thoughts here.  I would also like to hear from you if you have watched the HBO series is it better than the books or are the books better than the show?  Which did you experience first?  What do you like or dislike about this series?

 

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include dead until Dark

I purchased this audio from audible.com

Morning Meanderings… Eating A Half Pound Of Fudge Is Probably Not The Best Idea On The Day I Was Starting To Eat Right…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)41 Comments

Good Morning.  😀

Oh… yeah… about this post title.

Ok… here’s my story.  😛

The Missions banquet was on March 25th and I was bidding on a few silent auction baskets for the fudge cause.  Throughout the night I wound up winning two – one with home made bread (mmmmmmm!) and another which was a basket of new tools and a pound of homemade fudge.  I really thought the basket was cool with the fudge tools.

“But Sheila, March 25th was over a week ago, how did this fudge devouring just come up?”

Great question!

Al and I had driven separate to the banquet as I was part of the set up and tear down.  At the end of the night I sent him and Chance home with both baskets.  When I came home about an hour after them the bread was on the kitchen counter… the fudge tool basket was no where to be found.


When I asked Al about this he told me that I said the tools were for him and so he left it down at our shop behind our house.  *a slight sweat broke out across my brow*  I agreed with him that the tools were for him, but I did want to try the fudge.  He said he would bring it up, and I said, “no, no… it was better this way”… out of sight… out of mind.  I did not need the fudge – I was getting ready for biking season…

and that should have been the end of the story.

Then last night Al comes in the house after work with the fudge tool basket.  I asked why it was in the house…. this basket of fudge tools, and he said that I had mentioned wanting to try the fudge.

“Oh, that’s right, there is fudge in there.”  I replied, not meeting his eyes.

We had dinner and after dinner Al opened up the fudge that was cut into nice large 1/4 pound pieces.  He took the top piece with a glass of milk.  When I looked at him he said, “What?  Is that too much fudge?”


I told him 1/4 pound piece of fudge was pretty large.  He smiled and took the fudge and milk downstairs to watch tv.

I waited of course, until he was comfy downstairs, and out of eye sight.

I made my way to the fudge and tore off a bit of one of the 1/4 pound pieces.

Oh….

HEAVEN.

(Have I mentioned that anything chocolate is pretty much like kryptonite to me?)

I took a bigger corner off the chunk and grabbed a cup of coffee…. mmmmmm even better.

Then I joined Al downstairs.

Then I came up and let the dogs out… little piece of fudge.

Then I came up and changed into my pj’s… little piece of fudge.

When Al went to bed I had another cup of coffee and yup you guessed it… BIGGER piece of fudge.

By the time I stopped…. I had eaten two of the quarter pound pieces.

Uhhh….

“oh.”

😯

This morning when Al got up for work at 5 a.m, the tool basket, some left over pizza and the rest of the fudge was by his keys with a note…

“Please take down to shop with you”

😳

So today…. April 5, enough of that… tonight I am taking a Turbo kick class followed by Zumba.  On Wednesday a friend is taking me to my first kick boxing class where I do believe… I may not be able to type on Thursday.  😛

Have an awesome awesome day – and just say NO to the fudge.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)89 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 dop 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 Chandler from Book Blog Stuff

Congratulations!  Please choose an item out of the PRIZE BOX and email me your choice with your mailing address as well!   journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

Another busy week of not as much reading as I had hoped but this weekend I seemed to break through the rut and picked up a book that I am having trouble putting down…. (stay tune this week for a passionate review of Little Princes).  Here is what was accomplished this past week in posts:


Movie Review:  Limitless (I ♥ Limitless)


In Defense Of Patterson (I roll out an unplanned discussion of my feelings about James Patterson and all he writes)


Probably the stupidest thing I have done so far in 2011….

 

What I Learned at BEA (a recap of my first time at BEA – Book Expo America last year for those who are new to attending)


March Recap and for those of you doing the WHERE Are You Reading Challenge a linky is set up for you to do an update post…. I hope you are having as much fun with this as I am 😀


Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott (I know every book we read can not be a win and this one would be one of those rare books I read that I just do not like…. my review…. leaves a few scorch marks)


You might look at this list and say “wow Sheila – you were busy this past week!” but look again… this is not book reviews… this is me… chatting… books, movies, BEA, authors…. not that that is a bad thing… I love to mix it up… but seriousness…. one book completed.  ONE.   It really is the loneliest number.

However…. clear skies ahead friends… this week… I am meeting free.  This may not seem huge, but to me it is so HUGE.  I can not remember the last time I had a week of no:  classes, book club, committees, commitments to do dinners with friends or relatives…… no seriously if I threw a rock into my week trying to hit a meeting… it would sail clean through.  😛

So that said… here is my reading goal this week after I clear up a couple from the library that must go back before I am blogging from jail….

At the end of their junior year, Valerie Leftman’s boyfriend pulls a gun in the Commons, leaving six students and a teacher dead and many others wounded. Valerie is hit by a bullet in the leg trying to stop him, just before he ends his own life. Until that point, Valerie had no idea that the “hate list” that she and Nick created would be used to target victims in a vengeful shooting spree. For her, the list of tormentors was a way to ease the pain of being bullied and an outlet against the constant fighting between her parents. Although the police investigation reveals that Valerie had nothing to do with the actual shootings, many people in her community, including her parents, have a hard time believing that she is not at fault, too. With the help of a patient and insightful therapist, Valerie bravely returns to school after the summer to face the challenges before her.

I am so interested in this book and it has been on my table since I bought it, not wanting to shelf it in fear of it being lost to the shelves for far too long!


Whether teenaged or octogenarian, Berg’s heroines brave the emotional landmines underlying domestic scenes (from holiday dinner parties to visiting family), navigate the slippery slope of constant dieting and address the process of aging. The title story features an unnamed, insouciant narrator who flees from a Weight Watchers meeting and allows herself to indulge her most fattening food cravings. In Full Count, an introspective army brat begins to decipher what she looks like to others. The wistful and nostalgic Rain features a woman reminiscing about a good friend who dropped his successful corporate life to live closer to nature.

I started this one this week and well… hmmm…. it’s a bit…. weird.  So far its about food – and a lot of it… but it carries a high Amazon rating and it is part of the Berg trek so onward…. 🙂


On September 11, 1857, more than 120 men, women and children traveling from Arkansas to California were butchered by Mormon militiamen and Paiute Indians at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah. This study of the tragedy, by three LDS historians, utilizes previously unavailable archival documents to answer the question, How could basically good people commit such a terrible atrocity? The authors find responsibility almost everywhere: in the escalating tensions between the federal government and Mormon authorities, in the 19th-century American culture of violence, in the barbarism of the emigrants and in the unchecked hunger for vengeance the Mormon militiamen felt toward Americans who had opposed their faith.

I found this title on audible.com and it will be next up on my IPOD once Sookie Stackhouse and I have said our good byes (oh that will be a fun review too…)

 

Honestly I am exhausted…. I worked the Home Show Concessions all weekend starting this past Friday, 10 hours a day.  Tonight we finished up and cleaned up around 5:30 PM (Sunday) and as much fun as it is – stick a fork in me… I am done.  That said, I am finishing up this post (Sunday evening) and closing my lap top…. instead of starting the meme visits tonight as I usually do, I will read a little and go to bed.  I took tomorrow off from work so I will have lots of time to catch up on what all of you are reading on Monday – be sure to link your post below!  😀

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Morning Meanderings… Home Show Day 3 and I Am Reading Again

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)23 Comments

Good morning I mumble with COFFEE CUP too to my lips.  Time management ya know… 😉

Today is the final day of the home show and I am ready to be done… this year really has been a long show.  I love hanging with the people and seeing everyone that attends but the 10 hours of hanging out in the concessions has caused my feet to hurt and the rest of me to silently scream “Are We Done Yet?”

Today it closes at 4 so that isn’t so bad and normally this weekend show doesn’t get this reaction out of me…. I just think I am overbooked lately and with down time lacking… I crave a day to unplug (Monday is going to be that day for me… I took the day off of work, canceled all meetings…. U N P L U G).

On a happier less whiny note, I actually was reading yesterday – a little at the show and then a couple of hours worth when I got home.  While it was not the book I planned to read – it is the book I was meant to read.  Little Princes by Conor Grennan is so far – a delight.  I love the authors experiences in Nepal, am amazed at the children that are trafficked in this country.  What an awful word.  Yes Conner’s story is one that gives my heart hope, reminds me quite a bit of my time in Honduras, and is one of those books where you look at what one person has done to make a difference and makes me personally want to do more.  Conner is a witty author whose humor I appreciate and there are so many times so far that I have agreed with what he was saying as I could picture it happening.


Ok… this wasnt suppose to be a mini review…. LOL…

I am off – have a super Sunday!  😀

Stealing Heaven by Elizabeth Scott

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)15 Comments


Danielle is occasionally known as Sydney, or Rebecca, or Helen – or whatever her mother decides her alias will be this time around.  She is eighteen and has been a sidekick to her moms stealing habits since she was a little girl.  Together they travel from town to town listening to the towns people talk, making friends but keeping low profiles until they get the information they are looking for on the wealthy and their homes, on the types of security they use – or choose not to…..

and that is when they make their move.

While Danielle’s mom hangs on local men as part of the way she unwinds, Danielle is left to herself.  She does not attend school.  She has no friends… at least not until they find their way to a beachfront town called Heaven.  While Danielle is out on the beach doing as her mother requires of her – finding out what she can about the rich and their homes… Danielle actually meets teens her own age that like her.  For the first time, she feels what it is like to have friends and even – a boyfriend… and then she finds out that these new friends… are actually who her mom and her are planning to target.


Ok…. fair warning…. this is going to be a scorcher.

I really wanted to like this book and I did like Danielle….  but unfortunately there was so much about the story I did not like….  I will not give spoilers so I am cautiously going to say that I was appalled at the life that Danielle and her  excuse of a mother lived.  Danielle is put in all sorts of situations as her mother brings men home through the years – one man and situation in particular had steam coming out of my ears and the way her mother (yes the mother again) responds to the situation made me want to throw the book across the room.

I am not saying that Danielle held no part to blame in this book but she really never had a good example to begin with.  Her dad was completely absent and her mother was fine with whatever she did.  The mom (what was her name anyway?) had so much baggage and issues that she brought down on her daughter that I wanted to grab Danielle by the shoulders and say, “You are 18!!!  Get out of this situation and get into a healthy life style!!!”  Yet, Danielle in her not fully present wishy washy way – never seems to come to realize that she does not have to live this way.

Talk about Co-dependency.

While one may argue that in the end things seem to turn around… I have to say for me it was too little, too late.

I have heard good things about Elizabeth Scott’s writing and I would try her again.

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


I borrowed this book form my local library

Morning Meanderings… I Feel…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

Good morning.

That was an awful post title…. mainly because I don’t know how I feel.

Oh… in that case I guess it is a perfect post title.  😛

I am tired from the Home Show yesterday but not physically tired.  I had plenty of sleep.  If I did not have the Home Show again today I would not still be in bed… I think maybe the word I am looking for is weary.

wea·ry

weary pronunciation

/ˈwɪəri/ Show Spelled [weer-ee] Show IPA adjective, -ri·er, -ri·est, verb, -ried, -ry·ing.

–adjective

1.  

physically or mentally exhausted by hard work, exertion, strain, etc.; fatigued; tired: weary eyes; a weary brain.
2.  

characterized by or causing fatigue: a weary journey.
3.  

impatient or dissatisfied with something (often followed by of ): weary of excuses.

4.

characterized by or causing impatience or dissatisfaction; tedious; irksome: a weary wait.
Hmmmm….. maybe…. maybe not.

Ok this will cheer me up…Alyce has this awesome meme called Saturday Snapshot where we can post a picture that we or a family member or friend has taken.   Well… Minnesota has not been delightful this past week.  It snowed.  AGAIN.  And now the past few days the weather has had a sort of funk to it…. a little drizzly, damp, cold, a few flurries here and there and that depressing white washed sky that makes me feel like we are trapped inside a white balloon.
So – that said… my picture today is of prettier days, happier times… and well… hopefully laugh worthy.  😉  These two cut outs are in Nisswa Minnesota and well…. come on…. they are just fun.  😛
 

Edward, Me, Jacob.... just hanging out last fall

Well – that’s my time… COFFEE CUP and I need to get moving.  Have a super Saturday!  Oh and don’t forget next Saturday is the Dewey Read A Thon.


March recap and WHERE I Am Reading Update

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)23 Comments

Wow…. March is here and gone…. seriously?  As awful as March weather has been in Minnesota this year, (in fact it is dreary and snowing right now…. GRRRR), it did go fast.  Thanks goodness I guess.

However – I feel my reading took a dive this month from my previous awesome reading in January and February… here is what I read in March:

LISTEN by Renee Gutteridge

Home Safe by Elizabeth Berg (audio)

The Eyes Of The Heart by Frederick Buechner

The Year Of Pleasures by Elizabeth Berg (audio)

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by JK Rowling – read by Stephen Fry (audio)

1st To Die by James Patterson

Wench by Dolan-Perkins Valdez

39 Clues by Rick Riordin (audio)

Snitch by Rene Gutteridge

Dream When You Are Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg (audio)

Jimmy by Robert Whitlow (audio)

The Postmistress by Sarah Blake

The Handmaid and The Carpenter bu Elizabeth berg (audio)

Cutting For Stone by Abraham Verghese

Dracula by Bram Stoker (audio)

Well…. I guess if I look at it like this… it doesn’t look like such a poor month, although I feel my contributions the past two weeks have been small.

As for the WHERE Are You Reading Map (which I just love love love!) here is where that is:

(this is year to date)

Georgia (2)

North Carolina

New York (2)

Minnesota (3)

Vermont (2)

California (3)

Mississippi

New Jersey

Maine (2)

Illinois (5)

Connecticut

Washington

Missouri

Massachusetts (4)

Utah

Oregon

Pennsylvania

South Dakota

Washington

Iowa

Nevada

Ohio

Two unknown (Clementine – friend Of The Week!) (Listen by Rene Gutteridge)

Saudi Arabia

Australia

Singapore

Europe

Jerusalem

Ethiopia

United Kingdom

As for my monthly Comment Winner – that goes to Hannah at Word Lily – WOO HOO Hannah!  😀  and my random comment winner goes to Cheryl Mahoney of Tales Of The Marvelous

Hannah wins the $20 Amazon gift Card and Cheryl gets to choose from my Reading Cafe for a book that I will send her.  🙂

If you would like to link up your WHERE Are You Reading Map posts for a March update I would love to come and see where you are all at on your maps.  Please connect with the linky below.


It’s April 1…. a new comment month has not officially started 😀


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Morning Meanderings… Another Big Weekend

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Good morning.

It feels so good to just be sitting here…. with COFFEE CUP…. and chatting with you.  😀

Behind the scenes…

I have a car filled with items for the home show concessions.  This is my yearly weekend contribution to our local Home Show.  The home show is a large show in the local Civic Center where businesses that deal with any kind of building projects from here to Minneapolis come and set up booths for people to visit over the next three days…. last night I was there prepping the booth, stocking it with supplies…. making sure I had everything for todays “go time”

Anything from home builders, windows, decks, lawn care, landscaping, roofing, real estate, painters, remodeling, pest control, garage doors, house doors, floors, carpet, plumbers, electricians, siding, cabinets, etc…

and my part… I run the concessions…. organize what we sell, the prices, the prep, and I do this all weekend long and have one weekend a year for the past 4 years.  The concession part of the show raises money for scholarships.

SO…. as I sit here this morning, casually sipping my COFFEE, still in my pj’s, pretending my weekend is nothing but book reading and light house work… the truth is…

in about an hour I will be in go mode…. dressed and out the door to finish this mornings set up, be sure everything is working right and start the coffee, the hot dogs, the brats….. and wait for the doors to open for the weekend.  I will then spend the next 10 hours running and keeping things filled, doing what I can to help where needed.

Relaxing with coffee in pj’s….. running stairs and making brats and hot dogs.

These two scenarios…. are so different.  😛

So in bookish thoughts… I am taking with my today Laptop (you never know – I may catch a break during the day) and Joyce Carol Oates – Black Girl White Girl which I am almost through.  My reading has suffered the past two weeks but after this weekend looks like things will slow to a slightly raised pulse rate and I can hopefully pick up more of this delicious books that surround me…

Now I am feeling optimistic… I am taking a second book with me today…. Rooftops of Tehran.

 

What I Learned At BEA (Book Expo America)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)79 Comments

It can not be too early to start talking about BEA.. certainly we are about 8 weeks out (or is it 7) and I am already counting down the days!  😀

Last year I did something that was new to me and I can not wait to share it with you!  I too a flight from Minnesota to New York to attend BEA.  Now if you are anything like me, a little introverted… but really want to experience BEA – I want to share with you how I did it, and what I learned so if you are planning to attend this year (and SSSQQQQUUUEEEEEEE for you if you are!) I am hopeful that my experience can help you plan for an exciting trip.

First off let me just say if you are at all considering doing BEA but not sure…. and what if… and….. STOP IT.  Stop it now and go – RUN I TELL YOU, and get signed up.  Seriously…. BEA is about one of the best things I ever did for myself and I will rave about it forever.  😀

So here is how it went down for me last year.

So… I was fairly new to blogging…. heard the low rumbles about something called BEA and as I watched on Twitter I learned that BEA stood for Book Expo America and it was a big huge book event in New York that many book bloggers were planning to attend.  Honestly, I had never heard of such a thing before.  An event that was all books…. major books…. oh and those people I have come to chat with frequently on-line… yeah, they would be there.  I could actually meet them in person.

*gulp*

SO right there I am interested… but nervously so…. I have flown many places before with my family…. but never alone.  This was so unlike me to decide to jump on a plane and go to New York – a place I had never been… never thought about going to…. and seriously here came the questions…

Who would I know?

Where would I stay?

How would I get places?

How expensive would this be?

Was I crazy?  😯

But I really really wanted to go…. so…. first off I connected with someone I felt safe with.  I had never met Reagan from Miss Remmer’s reviews but we had chatted through comments on our blogs and on Twitter.  I knew she was from Minnesota (SAFE!) and was a teacher (SAFE!).  Through emails we both decided we were going to do this  and do it together.

As we looked at prices we discovered that New York hotels were not cheep…. so we decided to look for roommates.  But who?  We went on Twitter…. we posted on our blogs…. and people responded…. within a few weeks we had roommates and they had all sent me their share of the hotel room which I had secured.

They were:

Care from Care’s Online Book Club

Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness

Esme from Chocolates and Croissants

All women who I had never met…. but we emailed each other… I peaked at their blog posts…. found them to be just like me… and we had a plan.


So – here is my advice:

Read up on anything you can on BEA – I read the BEA website forwards and backwards…. a group of wonderful bloggers all got together and did a post a day about BEA and their experiences and advice and I literally took notes…


the best advice I picked up from them and used was:

1.  Bring a large book bag to put your books in (seriously I can not emphasize this enough).  You will get book bags there, but if you have a large comfy bag that you can toss in a little coin purse, a bottle of water or two and fruit or a granola bar you are set! Do not plan on carrying a desperate purse – many areas of the Javits are crowded and extra baggage will be something you will regret.


2.  Dress comfy but nice…. you will be meeting authors and publishers and you are representing your blog.  It’s a hobby, but at BEA it is also like your business….Oh and wear comfy shoes – you will walk A LOT.


3.  There is food in the Javits Center but it is pricey… I ate the continental breakfast at our hotel and grabbed an extra piece of fruit/yogurt when I left… have a few snacky items to tie you over.


4.  Friends told my New York was super expensive to eat there and I was worried but honestly, I found it not to be bad… very similar to Minnesota.  Yes, I am sure you can find expensive places but even when we ate out at a couple nice places it was about 14 – $20 for a dinner, and on the low-end – we ate at an awesome Thai restaurant (what was it called Esme – Yum Yum?) it was about $12 and three courses that was DELICIOUS!  I can not wait to eat there again.


5.  Our hotel was a few blocks off from Times Square (SSSSSQQQUUUEEEE!!!!) and about 6 blocks from the Javits Center.  We walked everywhere and only used a cab a couple of times when it was dark to get back to our hotel.  we booked our hotel this year in the same area.


6.  ***DO NOT book a lot of things before you arrive.  Yes it is New York… yes there is much to see and do…. but this advice was priceless.  People asked me to book shows and events with them prior to BEA and I said no…. I am so glad I did.  Every night we were invited to have dinner with authors, with fellow bloggers, one night there was a book blogger party… all of this I would have missed had I filled my evenings with shows.  Instead, when I booked my stay, I booked it one day longer than BEA so that last day I could explore New York and do a show…. Esme from Chocolates and Croissants did this with me… we seen The King Tut Exhibit and went to Mama Mia…. it was awesome. 😀


5.  Plan your book mailings wisely.  Even though I had heard that at BEA you would be given books… I really had no idea.  None.  As soon as the doors opened that first day I was pushed with the crowd into the main area and into a table where a book was thrust into my hands.  Seriously.  I will never forget it… that book was I Am Number Four and I had never heard of it.


When my book bag became full I found Fed Ex on the main floor, boxed up the books and waited in line to mail the box to myself at home.  That first standard size box cost me around $30.  Later that day I discovered UPS downstairs which was a better set up.  There they had long tables and you could grab a box and write your name all over it and leave it down there.  Then you could make frequent trips to your box and fill it as the day went on.  When that box was full I taped it up and waited in line to mail it to me… around $40.  A bigger box, not bad but still… I could spend a lot at this rate.


Then I discovered the post office was about 8 blocks from the Javits Center.  Now this is a commitment as I hauled three book bags to the post office – however when I boxed up that large box (and I put everything in it, books, t-shirts, pins, pens, swag of all kinds) it was $18 to send the box to me media mail.  BINGO.  This is the way to go.  😀  I also noticed some wise people brought to the center pull behind suitcases that they filled and then wheeled to their hotels or post office… not a bad idea either.


7.  Absolutely invest in business cards.  I bought a box of 500 through Vista Print last year… I probably still have about 200 left but I gave out a lot of them to fellow bloggers, publishers, etc…  I paid around $19 for the cards and was very happy with them.


8.  My final advice… you can sleep when you get home.  😛 Keep your ears open, be friendly, meet people and go to where the action is.  I was tired…. but every night I had plans and that is part of the experience.

Me and two of my roomies: (R) Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness, me, and Care from Care's On Line Book Club

I found book bloggers to be exactly who I felt they were by reading their blogs.  I did not meet one person who did not seem genuine.  We all chatted like we were old friends and I loved how we could recognize each other by our blogs…. I can not even put into words what an amazing experience this was.  I knew right away I wanted to go again this year and any other year if possible…

I am attending again with Reagan (Miss Remmer’s Reviews).  The only thing we are planning differently is that this year we are just doing us two in the room.  Our hotel room was extremely small last year (I never seen anything like that)… New York values space and every building is TALL – not wide.  Same goes for the rooms.  Our beds last year to my surprise, were full size…close quarters for a room full of girls I had never met before.  🙂  And the shower/bathroom time was interesting to get us all in and out.  It was good none of us spent a lot of time in the room.  This year it costs us more, but worth the space.

If you are planning to go – please let me know, I would love to meet you in person! I will be taking my laptop and I will be on Twitter throughout the event (#bookjourney).

Morning Meanderings… When You (I) Do Stupid Things

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)33 Comments

Good morning.  😀

I want to share something really really crazy I did the last few days and hopefully you can follow along with the craziness of this story…. it is kind of like a mystery so watch for the clues that I missed.  😉

Last Friday I rented How Do You Know from Red Box.  Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd…. what’s not to love?

Well Friday was the Missions Banquet which I had been working on setting up for several days and after the banquet a very (VERY) tired version of me came home around 10 pm.  Now, no matter how tired I am I can never come home and go right to bed… I actually need to wind down by either reading a bit or staring at the TV set.  This night, was the latter… I grabbed my Redbox movie, went to the DVD player, opened it… closed it… sat down in the recliner.

The DVD player was empty.

I went and looked in the Redbox case and sure enough… I was so tired I never put the movie in… but there was something else.  There were two DVD’s in the Redbox case.  Holy cats… someone had returned their Redbox movies and put two in the same case.  The second movie was The Ugly Truth.


I watched my movie… well sort of… I fell asleep in the middle and watched it again the next day, and then I watched The Ugly Truth too.  When I went to return the Redbox movie I called the 800 number and told them I had found two movies in the same case and what should I do.  They told me if I wanted to help out the person who did this and get that movie checked in for them – I could purchase an empty case through the Redbox and then put the movie in it and return it.  They gave me a credit code so I could purchase the empty case to do this.

I went into the store and returned the movie I had rented, then purchased a case and tried to return the second one.  It wouldn’t go in the machine.  Every time I did it a message came on the screen that the barcode had to be facing out… it was.  I tried about 6 times and then frustrated, felt this is what must have happened to the other renter and why they put two in the case.  There was no one around to help me so I took the movie with me, planning to call Redbox again and let them know I could not return the movie.  By now I am a bit frustrated that I tried to do something good to help out the other renter and still could not return the movie.

Then – this morning as I readied myself for work I went downstairs to grab a movie that Chance and I had rented from the video store and a Netflix DVD paper that was sitting by the DVD player, good I thought, I will get this in the mail too…. I looked at the title on the paper case, it said….

The Ugly Truth.

No way….

So in case you did not catch that…. the whole time (THE WHOLE TIME) the “extra” DVD I thought was in the Redbox case was one I had rented from Netflix.  I believe what happened is Friday when I was so tired instead of putting my Redbox movie in the DVD player, I pulled The Ugly Truth out of the player and put it in the Redbox case on top of the one I rented.  Then when I opened the case… I apparently surprised myself with the two DVD’s and did not recognize the one being my Netflix rental at all.

How hilarious that I tried to return it to Redbox and was unable too…. thank goodness I could not find anyone to help me as if I could have turned it in to someone to handle for me I would have – and then I would have had to find it again to get it to Netflix…. can you even imagine the mess I would have had?  😛