Dewey Read-A-Thon Mini Challenge: Book Club Recommendations

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)150 Comments

Hey there all you read-a-thoners…. how YOU doing?  😛

Had a little Joey from friends flash back…


This challenge is now completed – the winner using random.org is Shel from The Hungry Readers!  Congratulations Shel!  😀  Please email me at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com with your book choice from Amazon up to a $15 value.

Ok…. on to the Mini Challenge!  It’s no secret I LOVE talking books and honestly – not all books are “chat worthy”.  I have been in my book club for 10 years now and the book reviews I enjoyed the most and remember the most are the ones that really brought out great discussion.  My challenge for you today – if you choose to accept it, is to share with me in the comments a book you would recommend as being very chat or discussion worthy.  You do not have to be part of a book club to do this challenge, I am just looking for a book title with author that you would recommend as being a great thought-provoking and/or discussion worthy book.

***For a bonus entry – add in a menu that would go along with the book discussion – (my book club loves to theme food around the books we review).

That’s it!  I plan to eventually make a post of all the book club recommendations that show up on this post and link back to you as suggesting that book (if you have a blog).  Yes, it is ok to put down a book that someone else recommends, I am looking for a list of different reads but certainly will count your entry even if someone else already suggested it.

When this mini challenge ends I will choose one winner using random.org to choose a book I can purchase from Amazon.com that is $15.00 or less and I will send that book to you.


Oh – and get up and stretch your arms and grab a fresh cup of coffee, a bottle of water or a granola bar…. stay strong and keep on reading!!! 😛

Dewey Read A Thon: Reading For Charity

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)15 Comments

Spring is finally here in Minnesota and I can not be more THRILLED!  Today I took my bike out for the first time in 2011!  I am a big bike rider and do quite a few rides throughout the season for fun or for charity.  The one I want to talk to you about today is one that holds a special place in my heart.

Camp Benedict is a yearly camp for those affected and/or infected by AIDS.  My friend Connie who works hard to make this camp happen each year is a 30 year AIDS survivor.  Connie was infected by AIDS in 1981 when she received an emergency blood transfusion for a hysterectomy.   Connie is an amazing women who works with many others to make this camp a success each year providing support and education to those who have been touched by the AIDS virus.

On April 9th 2011 is the April Read-A-Thon.  As timing would have it, it is also the day that Connie is having her silent auction at the Brainerd Arboretum from 1- 4 pm to raise money for this years camp.  I am going to help support this cause from home by reading for the camp.

I plan to personally contribute $1 for every ten minutes I read or every ten minutes I listen to audio.  You can help support me in this cause if you wish by pledging in the comments a per page or in audio per minute) contribution or by using this link to make a one time pledge for the bike ride I will participate in this fall that all the money I raise goes directly to the camp.  The read a thon is for a 24 hour period on April 9th 2011.

Last years team picture (Fall 2010)

Morning Meanderings… Kick Boxing Day 2 (OW!) A Read-A-Thon and Book Love

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

Good morning.

Yes it is still morning, but yes… I am late.  First of all… my fingers hurt.  Well.. I think maybe it is my arms hurt all the way to my wrists and therefore it is effecting my fingers.  😛  Kickboxing Day 2 did not come out as pain free as day one.  I think I over achieved, over confidently thought that since day 1 was pretty much pain free why not jump back in to the ring?  Well… I definitely felt weaker last night, seemed that my arms tired more quickly and I watched the clock…. a lot.  Is it over yet? I was supposed to do to the 5:00 pm class tonight with my friend Christy but I am pretty sure I will be canceling out and waiting to start again on Monday.

The Dewey Read-A-Thon is tomorrow – SSSQQQQUUUEEEEE!!!  This is so much fun and I hope you are planning to participate….don’t worry if you cant do the full 24 hours (oh I tried once… at 2 am it was not pretty… :razz:)  If you can take any amount of time at all to read and join in the fun you should go sign up!  😀  And they have fun mini challenges throughout the day to break up the reading time and I love that!  I have the 2 pm (central time) challenge right here and make a note to come check it out because you are not going to want to miss this one!  😀  I have a couple must do’s tomorrow – one being going to my friends silent auction so I will listen to audio while traveling there… keeping in the readathon theme…


And as for book love…. ahhhh… I just am craving book time.  I am going to sit down here in a few minutes and wrap up Little Princes.  Yeah, that was on my agenda for yesterday but the day was crazy busy and after kick boxing and dinner I fell asleep on the couch at 9 pm.  Boy that is embarrassing.  😛


Today I am doing group power at noon, dropping off items for the auction, going to the library, prepping my post for tomorrow, and reading.  Yes – I am hitting the pause button on life and getting in a little reading time….. warming up for tomorrow 😀

Morning Meanderings…. A BEA Scholarship Opportunity and Kick Boxing

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)28 Comments

Good Morning.

Things I need to share this morning before I take the dogs (Elmo and Bailey) to get their haircuts while I am at work….

First – exciting news for those who would LOVE to go to BEA but find costs to be a big factor in attending.  Lenore at Presenting Lenore is having a book blogger convention scholarship giveaway – hurry, you must sign up by April 13!  I met Lenore last year when we both were on the Adrianna Trigianni Tea experience and she is so sweet and fun – AND she recently received a book deal which is so ssssqqqquuuuueeeee worthy I can not even put into words 😛

I received a BEA scholarship last year when I entered a contest held by author Sarah Pekkanen (author of Opposite of Me and Skipping A Beat) and therefore I can tell you that you never know who may win!  😀  (BEA recap on a stick)

 

And on to kick boxing…. I took my first ever kickboxing class last night at the Warrior Alliance. My friend Christy has been going and I was interested…. but let me tell you – this is not your Wii boxing….. nope.

I walked into the room which is all workout mats and surrounded by cage like walls and touch looking girls wearing boxing gloves….  Oh wow, I thought – this is so real.


AWESOME!

I had a BLAST and am going to try to attend tonight as well.  It’s not a bad deal -$40 a month and you can go up to 5 times a week.  I really enjoyed it and I know I got a good work out.  Surprisingly, other than a little bit in my shoulders, I do not hurt today and was able to leap (yes leap!) out of bed without feeling like I was hit by a truck.  😛  Always – ALWAYS a good thing.

Ok… time is ticking and I need to move.  Hopefully tonight I will have some time to visit a few blogs and finish Little Princes and start Hate List.  😀

Morning Meanderings… I am missing books that require the SPOILER PAGE

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

 

Good morning people of Wednesday.  I come to you in peace.  😛

I was reading my friend and fellow Bookie, Angie’s review of ROOM yesterday evening over at By Book Or By Crook.  I always enjoy seeing thoughts on books that I have read and enjoyed.  I left her a comment about the controversial discussion I found by using the spoiler button link in my review.  Then I thought… wow… it has been a long time since I have read a book that required use of the Spoiler Button.

What is the Spoiler Button?

 

Today this link takes you to the list of books I have used the Spoiler Button on

It is a link I would use if I read an extremely awesome book that I wanted to discuss deeper with others who have read it as well.  The button would link to a separate page where we could really discuss the book in great detail without fear of spoiling the book for those who had not read it.

I started wondering what books would be ones that I could use the Spoiler Button again and thought I would engage you in this…. I think perhaps when I read Hate List, that might be one…. or the Mortal Instrument Series (City Of Bones…)

What else would you recommend as books that stir up the discussion… books that you would enjoy a safe place to discuss openly about?

 

This morning I am sipping coffee and hurrying off to work.  I want to leave you with this memory of Gilmore Girls that pops in my head every time I go to bed without washing my face first…

 

Mmmmmm Hmmmmm…. let this be a lesson to me.  🙂

Have a super day!!!

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