Morning Meanderings: BLOGGIESTA STYLE!

Published on January 21, 2011January 22, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)36 Comments

Good morning! 25 below zero this morning in Brainerd Minnesota …. a perfect day to BLOGGIESTA!!!!

This morning kicks off the 4th Bloggiesta weekend and I have participated every time Natasha at Maw Books has hosted this. I have said this before but I feel it is worth repeating… Bloggiesta is probably why I am still blogging today and loving it so much.

Here is the short version of that story:

When I first started book blogging on June 9th, 2009, my blog looked nothing like what it does today. I knew how to basically put up a post. That’s it. I knew nothing about changing the background color of my blog, linking, copyright,drafting new posts for the future, RSS… basically – if it had to do with blogging, I probably didn’t know it. 😀

The first Bloggiesta (my post here)was 10 days after I became a blogger and I embraced it fully. I wanted to know how to do the things I had seen on the other blogs. I literally spent every free hour I had that weekend working on my blog, doing the mini challenges and learning as much as I could. I came out of that weekend a better blogger and I know that has to do with everyone who participated in Bloggiesta and really helped me with all my questions.

Every Bloggiesta since I have participated and I have learned something new. If you have not already signed up to participate – pop on over to Natasha’s and learn more about this. You will not regret it.

My goals going into this challenge will be posted here and I will cross them off as I achieve them. I am sure I will add to this list as I think of more:

Clean up my sidebars – I have some thoughts on this – just have not taken to time to do it

Participate in all the mini challenges

Go through and update my blog tags

prep posts to books I have started or plan to be reading soon with book cover, basic synopsis and notes to make things quicker when I do write the review

Clean up posts I need to write for book completed

Prep 3 – 5 “rainy day” posts for the days I literally…. got nothing.

Visit all participants – I love seeing the other blogs!

Possible color tweak… it is kind of a Bloggiesta tradition that my blog background changes but I am not sure about that yet. Changed my mind…. I like it the way it is.

On a side note, I was just thinking how I met Natasha at BEA this past May, She was with Amy from My Friend Amy’s and it was great to meet them both because of what I see them do throughout the year to contribute to my favorite part of all of this: The Book Blogging Community. Both of these bloggers invest a ton of time into events like this Bloggiesta, and Amy hosts the BBAW (Book Blogger Appreciation Award).

Amy (My Friend Amy), me, and Natasha (Maw Books) BEA in May 2010

I will still be doing my regular reviews this weekend as well, I will just start each morning updating you on what is happening with the Bloggiesta! 😀

Ready? Set? Bloggiesta!!!!

What’s Your Reading Story?

Published on January 20, 2011January 20, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)66 Comments

I often think back to my childhood and where my love of books came from. I didn’t have a parent who I recall sitting and reading with me night after night, nor in later years did either of my parents read books. Yet, I had found a love of reading at a young age.

In 2nd grade I won the “Bookworm” award. It was a bookworm magnet that I displayed proudly in my locker. It was true… I was the librarians best customer.. devouring books as fast as I could check them out. Everywhere I went I had a book in my hand.

Little has changed…

As I think back on my history of reading, I think part of my start was I was an only child for the first seven years of my life. Both my parents worked full-time jobs and those characters became my friends… maybe even for a while, my siblings. I could have adventuress with Nancy Drew… solve the mysteries alongside the Hardy Boys… and eventually move on to anything written by Judy Blume.

As I grew, my reading habits hardly wavered… in high school it was all Danielle Steel (how I wished we had more YA then!) and by the time I had kids I had moved into mysteries and enjoyed Dean Koontz, John Grisham, and Harlan Coben.

In 2001… I started the Bookies book club to increase my reading pallet, and increase it was exactly what it did. I read authors I had never heard of…. genres I had never tried before…

and…

the more I read…

the more I wanted to.

I know throughout certain times of my life, during certain hardships… books were my escape. I know myself well enough to know that occasionally – that still can be true. Yet for the most part… I am just a reader. A person who truly enjoys a good story.

♥What is your story?♥

Did you come from a family of readers? Do you have memories of being read to as a child? Or did you find your way into the pages by some other way?

Morning Meanderings…

Published on January 20, 2011January 20, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)27 Comments

Good Morning! Thursday already? And even scarier…. it is the 20th of January…..

where did the first month of 2011 go???

I am up early today so I can get into work and get started before I have to leave for a quick 8:30 appointment and I want to get to that and get back as quickly as possible.

Seems like I am always juggling time.

Tonight I am going to go out and chat with my cousins and I am pretty excited about that! I have 4 female cousins that all live in the area, all pretty close to my age and we just never get together. I think that is like most families right? We all have our own “stuff” going on and we just don’t take the time.

I ran into (not literally) my cousin Cheryl at Ski Gull last Saturday and this was her suggestion. She said it was a lot of work when we try to put on the big family gatherings and what if we tried something smaller – like a monthly connection with just us girls? I liked the idea and she text me yesterday to say it is a go for tonight!

I am pretty excited mainly because I really appreciate family and we do really not get a lot of time together. I hope to catch up with all of them – a couple I have not really seen in over a year.

Quick bookish news – and please do not harm me for sharing this link…. BOOKCLOSEOUTS.COM sends out a sale email a few times a year and the January one arrived yesterday. This link is for books that are no more that $3.00. I purchased from them for the first time almost a year ago… I bought around 15 books off a sale like this – some of the titles fairly new, and I received a box of books for an amazing price and they were in excellent condition – no stickers or anything.

On that note… got to fly and start my day!

Morning Meanderings… kidliocandesto

Published on January 19, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)36 Comments

Good Morning!

My Snookie (NOOK) tales continue…. (trust me … when I am learning how to use anything electronic it is always interesting!) . Last night I wanted to download the first of my two books I received from Netgalley. I finished up all my things around the house and finally (FINALLY!) in the evening I was able to sit down and but the books on my NOOK.

However…

Apparently I did not know how. I downloaded one and it was on my computer but I had no idea how to get it to my NOOK. I went on Twitter for advice and this is something I LOVE about book bloggers… to my rescue came 4 incredible people who twittered me through the steps to get it done. Ending with a link that took me step by step through the Netgalley to Nook process.

They were even supportive when they told me I had to plug my NOOK into the computer to complete the download. I could not recall getting a cord for that so I ran around the house looking for the NOOK box to see if there was a cord in it. All it came with was one that plugged into the wall…. no Nook to computer cord. I looked around the house for a half hour for the Nook box.. found it… no cord. Then I started looking at my other cords to see if I had one that fit…. nope. Frustrated I went back to Twitter and said I must not have received the cord with mine.

The response:

whatsheread

@bookjourney The cord you use to plug it in the wall comes apart to become a cord to computer connection. via TweetDeck in reply to bookjourney

Oh good grief.

I rushed up stairs and sure enough the plug-in word came apart to reveal the cord I needed.

Mission accomplished. 😀

Oh and if you are wondering why I named the post “kidliocandesto” here is my short version of what happened at the YMCA while I was on the tread mill with my friend Heidi.

Me: …”And then I encountered Netgalley and I was really excited to sign up”.

Heidi: “So that allows you to receive books to read and review through your NOOK”?

Me: “Yes! Oh and when I clicked on the catalog and seen all the books they were offering I was like a kid in a candy store!”

Heidi: “You were what?”

Me: “I was like a kid in a candy store.”

Heidi: “Oh, I heard kidliocandesto.”

Me: “LOL, that is awesome…. that is how I am going to refer to this saying from now on!”

What things in your life make you feel like kidliocandedto?

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Published on January 18, 2011January 18, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)25 Comments

High School Senior Regina Afton is part of the “in” crowd. Along side her BFF Anna, no one can stop her. The students hate them for being so popular, but they fear them more and that is just the way Regina prefers it. No one is off-limits to her click and they will destroy anyone in their paths and Regina is all too happy to do it as long as it keeps Anna on her side. Regina knows there is nothing that can bring her down.

Until…. one day…

something does.

At a party one night Anna’s boyfriend moves in on Regina. When Regina confides in someone about a potential rape, she is sold out for a chance for the other girl to replace her in the popularity circle. What follows is a series of events that spiral Regina from the top of the heap to the lowest position in the school, practically overnight. As Regina struggles for a foothold, she sees how her treatment of others has left her with no allies, except possibly the one boy she had helped destroy.

I have so many thoughts about this book.

I seen a review of this late last summer and thought it sounded interesting then. More recently I found it on a list for a Cybils award and knew that I had to read it.

Some Girls Are is a book of all the things I love and hate about some of the YA I read. Let’s start with hate.

I hate (I know that’s a strong word – and really dislike is probably more appropriate here) when the books center around parties and drinking and drugs…. and there is plenty of all of the above in Some Girls Are. I am not prudish, I just think of the audience the books are for and when I see High School characters doing these things like it is just a part of their 15 – 18-year-old existence, it bothers me.

In particular there is a line in the book when Regina’s mom tells her that if she continues to skip school, she will no longer be allowed to see her friends, go out with her boyfriend, or go to parties. Go to parties?

AND (I am fired up now!) In several instances in the book it seems like these parties go late. I mean LATE. While they are always wise to have a designated driver – the level of drinking in this book makes me wonder – do these kids not have curfews? Do their parents not care if their teenager stumbles into the house at 3 am smelling like a brewery or higher than a kite?

Ok.

Now that I said my piece with that. Let me tell you what I love about the book.

I love the relationships that author Courtney Summers creates within this book. I honestly felt Regina’s pain when she is betrayed and ostracized from her friends. For those of us who have been through high school, we should all be able to remember what it feels like when a secret is told… when a friend, is no longer the friend you thought he/she was. In this, Courtney Summers excels with the accurate descriptions of the high emotion of youth.

In all YA I read, I try to find the deeper lesson and it is told well here. As Regina’s story unfolds, she learns who her true friends are, and in the process of healing – she finds herself too.

And holy smokes, can someone say “Mean Girls?” The level of evilness that happens within this book is no less than the movie that holds that name. FYI: There is a girl in the movie – also named Regina….

Overall, this is a book I did appreciate. I enjoyed the writing style, it became hard to put down as I began to wonder what would be Regina’s breaking point…. who was going to come out on top… and would there (could there?) be a reconciliation between the once friends.

I look forward to reading Courtney Summers again.

Amazon Rating

The 2011 Reading map has been updated to include Some Girls Are

*Actually, I could not find a location for Some Girls Are so I Googled The High School they mention in the book and turns out – there is one in Maine…. so Maine it is. If anyone knows where the book is set at, please let me know. 😀

I borrowed this book from my local library

Check out Coutney’s blog here

Morning Meanderings… Note To Self…

Published on January 18, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

Good morning.

This morning came pretty early. Do you ever have days like that? I felt like I just went to bed.

I did stay up way too late…. after the midnight hour… I was still online. I was possessed….

Note to self:

Self,

When you get all excited about joining something errr….. let’s say like NETGALLEY, do not make said decision at 11:30 pm and think anything good is going to come out of said decision. Since when has having the opportunity to look at books being offered for review (PAGES AND PAGES of delicious looking tempting reads) ever been something I can whip through?

The truth?

I can’t.

I have to look at each book. What is is about? What genre?

With the addition on SNOOKIE (my NOOK) into the family this Christmas it has since sat close to my reading chair with a couple of books on it I purchased off Amazon but other than that… that is really all I have done with it. I wanted it mainly for road trips and travel…

I had forgotten about NETGALLEY.

Yesterday when i seen many book lovers reading and enjoying books from NetGalley I decided to check it out and…

it looks amazing.

So pages and pages of books were looked at, a few requests made… well into the morning hours.

Timing…. is everything. 😀

So Self,

Plan better next time…. a Sunday afternoon would be a perfect time to browse books.

I am just saying…

Sheila

Ok then… that was a bit awkward.

I am off to work…. running out the door quite literally with COFFEE Cup in hand.

I will leave you with this “Question On The Blog” that came in this morning:

Sheila, how far do you get in your audio listening per day if you are listening to three different audio?

Answer:

Great questions Patricia! The one in my IPOD I listen to while I get up and prep for my day – so while I am in the bedroom bathroom are it is on – about 30 minutes a day average.

The one in the kitchen I will switch on while I make the coffee in the morning and prep all my things to leave for work – ten minutes maybe, but I will listen tot hat one again when I come home, clean up around house and make dinner – so probably another 30 minutes.

The final one is in my car and that is what I listen to as I go to work and back, run any errands…
that one gets about 20 minutes a day.

Have a great morning everyone! This afternoon I am posting my thoughts on Cybils Award winner: Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on January 16, 2011January 16, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)102 Comments

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

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. You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Last weeks winner:

Aleluialu from Bookend Crossing

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

My past week started out kind of slow… I had several books/audio at the point of being done… but nothing done. Then midway through the week the dam broke and everything started finishing up one after another. Here is what my week looked like:

Could I Please Get A Huck Finn Lite? (My thoughts on the changes that are being made to the Mark Twain books)

Audio Suggestions (A master list of what you think the best audio books around are)

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (The Bookies book club January read and review)

365 Thank You’s by John Kralik (an inspirational book that put me on the path of a personal challenge)

We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg (My first Berg… and not my last….. oh wow.)

I signed up for a Polar Bear Plunge in March… in Minnesota…. in a tiara and prom dress. TRUE story

Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich (A visit back to a series I used to never miss)

It’s not too late to join the WHERE Are You Reading Challenge

The Nineteenth Element is still up for a signed copy giveaway!

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers – review up on Tuesday

◊

As for this week I have some good things happening I am pretty excited about!

Yes… another Berg. My second. The first went so smoothly and left me admiring this author enough to reserve four more of her audio (all of which are now on my kitchen table). This one currently resides in my car cd player.

Last Monday I was at a loss of what to listen to on my IPOD so I asked you what you would recommend. Between the Monday post and the Audio Suggestion post I ran on Tuesday, the suggestions flew in. This was one of them and having started it yesterday I have to say I truly love this story so far being told by the dog, Enzo. I am finding it funny and sad all rolled into one.

My friend Angie from the Bookies book club suggested this one and I know a recommendation from Angie has to be good. This one is just starting in my Kitchen CD player. It sounds fascinating! (click on the picture and read for yourself!)

The Butterfly Garden is the book I am starting today. I discovered it at Wal-Mart and after reading the back about the author being raised falsely as the child of a man on America’s Most Wanted, I knew I had to know more.

And finally this book was recommended by my friend Wendy when we were at Barnes and Noble last week. I know many of you have read this book. I have not. But… I will.

I have a few I hope to finish up from past weeks, in the event I finish up the reading I have listed here. And one more thing… if you are not aware, or in case you forgot, this weekend is the BLOGGIESTA and it is not too late to sign up. I have participated each time and always come out learning something new or updating a blog project that I have put off. Stop by to check it out, it is not too late to sign up.

SO now my favorite part of the week! What are you reading? Please link your own What Are You Reading post below. I cant wait to stop in and see what you are reading! Please add your post to where it says “click here” below:

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

Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

Published on January 16, 2011January 16, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

Things are pretty much the same in Trenton New Jersey for Stephanie Plum. She is still a bail bondsman at her cousin Vinnie’s place. She is still hanging around with Lulu, the over sized woman in the undersized clothes, and she is still attracted to two men – Morelli the cop, and Ranger the dark and mysterious bounty hunter who runs Rangeman Inc. And of course, cars in her care tend to blow up.

In Finger Lickin’ Fifteen Lulu is witness to a beheading and subsequently becomes the murderer’s targeted witness. As Stephanie does what she can to protect her friend Lulu, even letting her take over her own apartment therefore forcing her to stay at Ranger’s (is it forced? Even Stephanie is unsure…).

When Lulu decides the best way to catch the killers is by drawing them out in the open at a barbecue Competition that the victim was supposed to be promoting – things get spicy and sticky. Lulu with the help of Stephanie’s Granda Muzur decide to try their hand at making a winning barbecue sauce that proves to be more than anyone could have anticipated.

many years ago I discovered Janet Evanovich with One For The Money. The story was funny, quirky and for the most part I liked the characters. I proceeded to follow this series, anxiously awaiting the next book along with a few members of my book club. We devoured these books all the way up to Twelve Sharp. At that point, the story line took a turn for the worse (in my opinion) and at that point I stopped reading the series.

Recently while I was in my local library I found this audio on the shelves and I had a twinge of the things I remember liking about the series. Errr….. mainly Morelli and Ranger.

Ok… Ok…..

Ranger.

I scooped up this audio and brought it home.

The verdict?

The Stephanie Plum books could be compared to a soap opera. You could miss a few years of episodes (in this case books) and see a new one and fall right back in where you left off. Stephanie is as I remember her. Lulu and Grandma Muzur too. Her parents? The same. Her office? The same. Even the two leading men have not changed nor has their relationship with Stephanie.

While I did enjoy a few chuckles throughout this audio, and a few scowls as well as sometimes the language annoys me…. I did not get the felling I was missing much by letting this series go. This book was much like all the others just a different crime to solve.

It was a nice series to revisit, I enjoyed catching up… but now I am ready to move on.

Amazon rating

The 2011 WHERE Are You Reading Map has been updated to include Finger Lickin’ Fifteen

This is an audio borrowed from my local library

Morning Meanderings… Polar Bear Plunge In Prom Dresses and Tiaras… ok

Published on January 16, 2011January 16, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)43 Comments

Good Morning!

Happy Sunday ya all! 😀

Coming in pretty late this morning but I made it.

I had a busy morning and was not organized enough to get a post out before I took off. Home now though with a new book (SSSSQQQUUUEEEE!!!) which I will reveal tonight when I post the It’s Monday! What Are You reading post.

Yes I went snow tubing yesterday and yes it was cold but it was fun too. There were 21 of us…. one injury that involved a trip to the emergency room, I was not the victim, but I was the driver to the hospital. Turned out to be not too bad, a sprang ankle.

Came home and covered myself in blankets and a good book and then promptly fell asleep. What is it about being out in the cold and wind that wipes a person out?

In other exciting news… this morning I signed on with some friends to do the March 12th Polar Bear Plunge for The Special Olympics. I have always wanted to try the plunge and I guess this is my chance to do so. The group I am doing this with has an additional stipulation…. our team will wear prom dresses and tiaras.

Well…. ok then. 😀

I am all about the memories and living life to the fullest so here we go…..

(And I thought I was cold yesterday)

So today I am off to read for the afternoon while washing clothes and doing a little book room straightening for breaks.

What are you doing this Sunday?

We Are All Welcome Here By Elizabeth Berg

Published on January 15, 2011January 15, 2011 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

Paige Dunn is a stunning looking woman. Everyone is always commenting on her beauty and her gentle soul. She once even took care of Elvis Presley’s mother when she was a student nurse.

The really amazing thing however about Paige is that thirteen years ago while pregnant with her daughter she contacted polio and is paralyzed from the neck down. Her husband, realizing that she was never going to get better, abandoned her and their baby girl, Diana. Now at the age of thirteen, Diana lives with her mom on welfare and they rely on their African-American daytime nurse Peacie, and although they tell social services they have night help too, they can not afford it so Diana takes care of her mom at night.

As Diana becomes a young woman she becomes more and more unsettled about how she can now do the things other girls her age do. She is unable to have sleepovers, or run and play all day in the summer. She carries a huge responsibility with her mother and struggles with how poor they are. When Peacie’s boyfriend Larue is badly beaten after trying to help African-Americans be able to vote, Diana starts to learn a lot about compassion, as well as race and class in the 1960’s.

What amazed me the most is what a strong and well written character Paige Dunn is. She is confined to a wheelchair, has no use of anything from below the neck, yet she can command a household as thought she functioned like any other woman. Where most women would drown in self-pity or be eaten up by anger, Paige had made up her mind to live life to the fullest and that is what she did.

I loved the relationship between Paige and her daughter Diana. While Diana grumbled about how much she had to do to help, these two characters were so well written and in tune to one another it was enough to bring tears to my eyes. Even when Paige is angry with her daughter (there is a particularity fantastic scene where they have a long mother daughter talk well into the night and the early morning hours that made me really appreciate this writing. Not every author could pull off such a scene and make it feel believable.

In the end, I found there were times I felt for Paige, and there were times I felt for Diana. What Elizabeth Berg ends up with is a story that will go right to your core, fill you with compassion, and finally…. make you look at the outside world in a whole new way.

I think I have just become a fan of Elizabeth Berg’s and have already checked out 4 more of her writings.