Coffee and Fate by R.J. Erbacher

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

Val is your average run of the mill college student.  She has a roommate Jean and friends she enjoys  hanging out with…

Bud is an elderly man…. having raised his own kids, and now enjoying now only their kids, but also their kids-kids, his life is full.

Yet both Val and Bud hold a secret.

Val has a power within her that can push and pull people and has saved lives….  Bud has visions of future events that he can see not only the event itself, but also how the future changes due to these events….

Together they can make a difference.


I am not really sure what I thought I was going to be reading when I chose this book for review.   I can assure you it turned out to be nothing like I could have imagined.    The characters of Val and Bud are both likable and I liked the ideas of these hidden powers (think Hero’s)….

As I started getting into the heart of the book there was something about the Val/Bud relationship that just didn’t sit right with me.  I do not want to give away too much but I have to say there is a point in this book that bordered on creepy, uncomfortable…. and well… awkward.

Honestly, it came to a point where I almost stopped reading.

What kept me going?  If you can make it through the “Oh Gah!  Did that just happen?”.… and take a deep breath and move on…. there is a storyline deeper within the surface story that is actually amazing.

I can’t say that I ever fully recovered from the one part of the book… but I can say that in the end it wraps up incredibly with a powerful happening that left me in tears that only come when I have just experienced something incredible.  I can certainly say that I hope there is a sequel as I would love to know what happens next.

Amazon Rating

Cover Story:  I like it….At first glance of course it is the coffee cup that draws me in but then if you look closely at the smoke it is a skull…..   leaves you thinking, “what is up with that?”

I received this book for review from the author

Morning Meanderings… What To Do With A Saturday…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

Good morning!

I love days when you can get up grab a cup of coffee and your laptop and go back to bed.  Saturday is my favorite day of the week!  AND – here it is… in all its glory it is spread out before me like a port-hole….. so many choices of which direction to go….

I can be low-key Sheila and hang out for the morning tapping away at my key board and prepping guest posts for later this next week…

I can be reader Sheila who keeps the coffee coming and completes the two books on her nightstand.

I can be “Housekeeping!” Sheila and start organizing the house for the dog sitter….

I can be pro active Sheila and get ready for my day, hit the gym for group power, and then off to the store to find Al lightweight pants for the Honduras trip, and then home to start packing…

I can be coffee Sheila (ok who am I kidding, when am I not Coffee Sheila) and take my friend Wendy up on her offer to get together at Starbucks today to chat….

I think I will be a mix of all of the above starting with the laptop in bed and writing a couple posts.  😀  Did I mention I love days like this?

Bookish news…. I finished and reviewed Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt yesterday and have been basking in the after read.   I will be chatting with author Beth Hoffman soon here and I am so excited for that!

I am planning to stop by Pat Bluth’s book signing today at Bethany Book Store between 11-2.  Pat wrote From Pain to Peace, which I read last year and I told her I was planning to stop by.

I have 4 new audio books on my IPOD for the trip and I am excited about that.  Two are books we have been reading as a group anyway:  When Helping Hurts by Brian Fikkert, and The Hole In The Gospel by Brian Stearns, Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.

Of course…. that’s not including the books I have yet to pick out – however I do not plan to overdo it like I have done in the past and am planning on three tops – THREE.

What is happening  this weekend for you?

Any movies you are seeing or recommending?

Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman (audio review)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

“Momma always told me, being in the North isn’t living…. its absolute hell.”

Cecelia Rose Honeycutt

 

Cecelia (Cee Cee) Honeycutt is twelve years old but feels she has had to be an adult almost her entire life.  Her father (and we use the term loosely) is never around.  he travels for his job and the brief times he is home he is always mad and shouting at Cee Cee’s mother Camille.

Camille, a long time ago, was a Southern beauty queen.  And this is where many of Camille’s problems lie…  in a non satisfying marriage, Camille has reverted in her mind to the beauty queen days.  Many times dressing in formal gowns and a tiara as she dances and waves in her yard or goes up town shopping.  Some days she has trouble remembering exactly where she is and tends to go on shopping sprees that involve buying boxes and boxes of shoes or dresses.

In the middle, of course in Cee Cee….. trying to help her mother but at the same time resenting her not being a mom that she can be proud of…. one that will let her be the child instead of the adult….

And then one day all of this changes, with the incident with the ice cream truck…..

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

TMI?

Not really….. I have shared nothing here that you can not learn from reading the back of the book cover.  And what I have said, really is only the beginning of a charming story about a young girl finding her way and her place in life.

Wow.  Yes, in a word wow.  Beth Hoffman presents a story line filled with such fun and realistic characters that I wanted to don a large sun hat and come knocking on the door!  And what characters you will meet along the way!  Cee Cee may think that her life is one to be pitied but as circumstances open new doors for her and she begins to find a new direction – one that she could never have dreamed!

In this endearing book (as told from the point of view of Cee Cee) Cee Cee will place memories in her life book that she will hold close to her heart forever…

and in the end, I will too.

** This audio book is read by Jenna Lamia, who’s youthful voice made Cee Cee come to life.  I absolutely adored the reading and had to jump on-line to find out what other books Jenna has narrated.  She was perfect for the role – and the voices of the characters jumped out of the speakers and I felt as though I was in the room with them…. picking weeds out of the garden, spying on the crazy neighbor and drinking cold lemonade on the porch.

AMAZON Rating

I purchased my copy of this audio from audible.com

Morning Meandering….Turkey Coma…..

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Good morning!  Hopefully you all had wonderful Thanksgivings and are now having a wonderful Friday!  I figure we all fall into one of these categories for today:

  1. Crazed shopped who got up at 3 am and proceeded to stretch and do squats and lunges before they charged out the door to get in on all the great deals…. leaping aisle after aisle in a single bound….
  2. Disgruntled worker….. HAD to get up to be to work to smile at the crazed shoppers (all awhile a little concerned  for your own safely (and rightfully so if you are standing in front of the “it” item display).
  3. 4 Day Weekend person, cheerfully rolling out of bed at a non-insane hour and staying in sleep pants for most of the morning while you have a bowl of cereal, an egg and a side of turkey while you watch movies.
  4. Normal work person who has to work but not at a retail store (WOO HOO!) and goes to work with a slight turkey induced hang over and can not seem to shake the “I just want to curl up with a book and read” vision….

I am number 4…… (LOL… Isn’t that a book title?)


Yup… I work today, in the office…. but I think it will be a nice quiet day.  And yes, I looked it up…. turkey does make you sleepy… which explains why yesterday after a delicious dinner and a game of QUELF (which was HILARIOUS!!!) we all watched Prince Of Persia and I promptly fell asleep in the chair. (now I wipe the sleep from my eyes and move towards a new day….

The way we do Thanksgiving is we have the BIG dinner at 1:00 PM.  I go all out, there was only 4 of us but I totally overdo it every year…. turkey, stuffing,. sweet potatoes, corn souffle, dinner rolls, pickles, cottage cheese, broccoli salad, shrimp, chips, dips, crackers, cheese, cranberries, 3 kinds of pie….

EGADS!

Then it is a free for the rest of the day.  Once I clean up after the BIG dinner…. yo are on your own.  If you are hungry, make a plate…..  there is no supper because we have grazed all day long.  😀

We ended our day with the 6:30 PM showing of The Deathly Hallows.  Chance and I had already seen it, but College son Justin had not yet so we went again.  I like to do that anyways when it is a long anticipated movie so I can see it more clearly and pick up on more details.

Weekend plan?  I have so much to do…. we leave next Wednesday for Honduras.  I have to pack, prep the house for the dog sitter, shop, pick up prescriptions, see my dentist, tan (so I do not burn), and prepare the guest posts – which I think are actually a lot of fun and can’t wait for you to see them 😀

How about you?  What are your plans for the weekend?

The GaMeS BiBLe by Leigh Anderson

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

I am a game lover.  A BIG one.  I have an entire double wide closet devoted to games in our family room.  I am a game addict.  If you remember last year about this time I had the awesome (AWESOME!) opportunity to review BLURT as well as a really interesting book called Timeless Toys.  I was totally engrossed in both!

The Game Closet

SO…. knowing this about me…. you can just imagine the SSSQQQQQUUUUEEEEEEE”ing” going on over here when I received this gorgeous book in the mail for review!  Seriously, you may have heard me and thought that sound was a cat or a siren but no… alas… it was me.  😀

I love game nights and when we gather with friends to get our “game on”.  I am more than thrilled to take part!  What I loved about this book is that it gave me ideas for ice breakers for any gathering, as well as pages and pages of ideas for games anywhere from card games, word games, holiday games….. oh the games!

It seems like my family plays more games around the holidays.  When we gather together we undoubtedly have to pull out a game.  This Thanksgiving, as this is when I am posting this review, I am pulling out the “Grateful Guessing” game out of the book (page 194).  For this game you give each guest three small pieces of paper and a pen ( I am putting them at the dinner place settings).  Each person is to put one thing they are grateful for on each of the three papers.  All papers are collected and placed in a bowl.  Take turns pulling out a piece of paper and reading it.  It is up to the guests to guess who wrote it.  The object is you can be as sneaky or as real as you want – but if you wish to stump the group, come up with a funny off the wall thing to be grateful for….  “I am so thankful for what I thought was my appendix rupturing turned out to be gas….” …. well… uh…… really – who could have written that?

There are so many great ideas with well written easy to follow instructions.  I can see many of these being tweaked to be used for event planning, family outings, meeting ice breakers, and more.

Overall I give this book my highest rating!  I will use this over and over again.

Amazon Rating

I received this book off of Shelf Awareness

Morning Meanderings…. Chilly Weather Cancels Turkey Bowl

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Good Morning everyone on this Thanksgiving Morning.  I was up and out of bed at 7 a.m. (insert Rocky theme here)

turkey bowl at the Franklin football field.  He layers up… and then I make him layer up again (it is 1 degree below zero this morning.)  double layered I put on my snow boots hop into the pre-warmed Durango and drive to the football field.

We are greeted by Lynfield (organizer and mastermind behind this odd tradition of snow football) who informs us that the turkey bowl has been canceled due to the cold weather.

“DOH!”

No worries…. we live about 3 miles from the field so its not like we traveled for hours to the event.

So back home we go…. as my hubby plows out the driveway I do my Thanksgiving dinner check list (I have to do this as I am notorious for remembering a dinner item I forgot to put on the table about half way through the meal….) .

Today I am making one of my favorite salads, its quick, easy and delicious.

Broccoli/Cauliflower Salad

chop up equal bite size pieces of cauliflower and broccoli

cut in half both red and green seedless grapes

cook up and cut in little pieces several slices of turkey bacon (optional)

Put all in large salad bowl

add light miracle whip and sugar to taste (I use Splenda)

Mix well – refrigerate until ready to eat


Today, be thankful for the people who make up your life….they are part of your life book, leaving their mark on your heart in so many different ways.  They may be with you for a lifetime… or for a season… but they are all part of your story.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  May your day be filled with heart joy!

 

 

 

Morning Meanderings… a post of plenty….

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Good morning!  So many things going on in my head right now so bear with me please ….  😀

First, thank you to Stacy at Novel Source who featured me on her Sunday Serenade.  So sweet!

Then, my friend Lori at Dollycas’s Thoughts has started a fun challenge that involves us once a month reading something fun just for ourselves.  I do that anyway so why not join the fun?

Finally, as we embark on Thanksgiving eve, I found this yummy sounding recipe from Margot at Joyfully Retired for Corn Souffle.  I have never made it but it sounds super yummy to me so this morning as I completed my Thanksgiving shopping I purchased everything I need to make this.

So that is what I have this morning and yes you read the above correctly.  I was up and at the grocery store at 7 a.m. this morning to beat the after work rush.  With grocery list in hand and the help of Chance we whipped through the aisles grabbing the items off the list, then I took him to school and me to work.

Mission accomplished.

I have no travel plans for the Thanksgiving weekend and I am so grateful for that.  Tomorrow will be relaxing and food and movies (I think College son wants to go see Harry Potter so we will be going again!) and board games!  My kind of day!

For those of you who are traveling, safe travels and a wonderful Thanksgiving to all of you!

Don’t Sing At The Table … Life Lessons From My Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

 

I knew within the first few paragraphs that “ooh, this is going to be good!”

Sheila

Yolanda Trigiana (Viola) stood at five-five, but seemed much taller as she was short-waisted and long-legged.  In her youth she loved to wear wide-brimmed hats adorned feathers and/or berries which only added to the appearance of her being taller than she was.  She had a spirit though, a spirit that was larger than herself and carried her well all the days of her life.  She lived life to the fullest, was always prepared for any occasion with a sack lunch or a ready meal….  she worked hard and left her mark wherever she went.

Lucia Spado (Lucy) was born in Italy in 1894.  She was the eldest of eight children and much like Viola, she was a wonderful leader and homemaker.  Lucy was a natural at so many things… she could cook, bake, and sew.  She would barter with these skills and use cooking to repay things like a mending of a fence.  Lucy lived in a time when nothing was thrown away and you found a use for every scrap of food and every piece of cloth.

This is the start to a wonderful story of author Adriana Trigiani’s grandmother’s.  Within the pages of this book you will learn so much more about these two remarkable women and the wonderful memories and traditions they handed to the next generation.

♥         ♥         ♥        ♥

As I read this wonderful book, this tribute to Adriana’s grandmothers I could not help but think of my own.  My Great Grandmother Lasher was a strong woman who raised my mother.  She was born in the late 1901 and was a farmer’s wife.  She never drove a car.  She would always tell me stories about my grandfather (who died before I was born) and how he owned a bar in Minnesota.  She would say that even though he owned the bar, he never touched a drink in his life.  (To this my mom would wink at me so I never knew if this was the truth…)

My other grandmother, my dads mom, was the opposite of my Grandma Lasher.  Grandma Ruth was small boned and spry.   She would help me play pranks on my parents.  One of my last memories of her is when we visited her 6th floor apartment to take her out to lunch.  Grandma Ruth and I raced down the steps trying to beat the elevator down to the main floor that held my mother.

In both these stories I look back with bitter-sweet memories.  Both of these women knew how to knit, crochet, and quilt.  Skills I have never learned but wished I had at their knee.  I look back now seeing all the history that passed away with them.  I wish I would have asked them more questions about themselves, about their lives growing up…. I wish I would have sat patiently when they tried to teach me their ways…

but I was too young and I did not think they had anything they could tell me that I needed to know.

I read this book and think about what a throw away society we are today.  It is cheaper to throw away a broken toaster than to have it fixed.  I think of all the scraps of material I have tossed through the years left overs from projects and I now think of all the things my grandmothers would have found uses for.  I could have learned a lot from these women, I think we all could have.

Adriana Trigiana writes a wonderful memoir here that pulled at my heart all the way through.  What a beautiful tribute!  I highly recommend this read.

Amazon Rating

Thank you to Harper Collin Publishers for the opportunity to review this wonderful book!

Morning Meanderings… my life is anything but dull….

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good morning!  Can you believe we are two days away from Thanksgiving?  My head is just buzzing with this information.  I am so behind… I swear I lay awake at night and make lists of what I need to do before Thanksgiving:

  • shop for my cooking needs
  • plan out a few afternoon movies

Thankfully we do not go anywhere so I do not need to travel or super clean the house or anything like that…. *whew*  It will just be my College Son, Chance, Al and I.  I am actually looking forward to the low-key day.

Then – my next list in my head involves that I leave the country next Wednesday:

  • pick up prescriptions (malaria, Ambien)
  • pack
  • do not forget passports
  • choose books to go with (gah! There may be a blog post in that one!)
  • make dentist appointment (I have a tooth that has been bothering me and I do not want it to be a problem in a third world country…. uhhh…. no, no I do not!
  • put together my guest posts for while I am away
  • meet with house/dog sitter
  • put away the massive pile of books on the table (just because I should)
  • start tanning – and soon…. if I do not do this I will burn…

Anyway, that’s off the top of my head this morning….

So… this past weekend, Saturday actually, my friends that usually do Zumba Class with me all had things going on and I had made up my mind that since Saturdays are usually my one day I week that I have no commitments unless they are self-inflicted, that I was going to chill out a bit in the morning before I started running around doing errands.  AT 9:45 a.m. I was still sitting in my sleep plants with COFFEE CUP in hand thinking this is really the life when I received a text message from Heidi:

“We returned from the cities at 2:00 am this morning.  Just woke up.  I am going to Zumba.”

I looked at that message and thought for sure I had read it wrong…  she must have missed the word “not”, she must have meant I am NOT going to Zumba.  I text her back inquiring about the certain typo….

Nope.  Not a typo.  She was going and class started in 20 minutes.

GAH!

I called her and said I had not even showered yet.  She said just come as you are……

I looked down at my Scooby Doo sleep pants and thought…

uhhhh…. no…..

I don’t think I have showered so quickly in my life but I did it, skipped washing my hair just threw a bandanna on and out the door I went.  We both made it and I am glad I did.  Honest;y, I think we are getting better at the moves and we sure do have fun as I laugh the entire time we are there.  To me it is a bit amazing to think that I met Heidi 19 years ago when we were both Department Managers at Wal-Mart and now here we are learning Latin dancing together.

Ok… I am off… I have to shower, drive Chance to school and get myself to work in 30 minutes.

I bet I can do it.  😉

Harry Potter and The Dealthly Hallows … a movie adventure

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)33 Comments

Finally!  Yesterday afternoon Chance and I ventured 23 miles past out local movie theater (with our noses in the air) as we made our way to a newer and rumored more “cushy” theater.  We stopped at a Dairy Queen brazier in the area and stocked up on burgers and fries which I promptly placed in my purse.

Yes…. yes I did.

All of this for what you may ask?

The much awaited showing of Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows of course!

We arrived early and were thrilled to walk into a theater that had large comfortable chairs and plenty of room.  I literally “SSSQQQQQUUUEEEEEDDDD” when the opening to the movie came on the screen (seriously – ask Chance… I did.)  I grabbed my mushroom swiss out of my purse and got comfortable.

I loved it.

LOVED IT!!!

I know sometimes it is hard for such a long anticipated movie to live up to the hype but I was not disappointed.   True to the book each scene was like a chapter… coming to life!  Hold on to your seats… if you are like me, The Deathly Hallows will send you back in time and suddenly I was remembering the first books, and my kids reactions – and the excitement to see them reading and talking excitedly about a book….

I really have a lot of memories entwined within these books!

There are several moments in the movie I would love to chat about but I do not want to spoil anything

Halloween Costume 2011?

for anyone who has not seen this yet.  Let me just say I have always enjoyed watching Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix.  She is so incredible in this role.  (She may be my next Halloween costume!)

I remember this was the book that was such a leap for me.  I loved the characters and I loved the setting of Hogwarts… when circumstances pulled Harry, Hermione, and Ron away from the school… I wasn’t sure where they were headed or what this meant for the storyline, but I was in.  All in.  J K Rowling did not disappoint me them and the movie did not disappoint me now.  In all honesty, it was an emotional experience to see this characters on the big screen working towards finishing up a much beloved series.

In a word:  Bitter sweet.

I would highly recommend you see it.  In fact, I will see it again when my son is in town this weekend.

Uhhhhh….   “SSSSQQQUUUUUEEEEEEE!!!!”