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!!!!”

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)68 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 (using Random.Org) was:

Laurel!!!

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

Lots of reading completed this week as I could squeeze it in but really need to catch u on my reviews this week and my goal is to a book review a day.

Here is this week in review


Life Sentences by Laura Lippman (audio review)  Not my favorite Lippman but I have not given up!

Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl (book review) LOVED this book about a food critic!

Book Blogger LOVE and a Pistachio Thumbprint cookie recipe


I have read none of what I said I would last week, because Tuesday I thought about it and decided it was INSANE to be reading all these other books on the week the theaters release Deathly Hallows .  SO…. I tossed my book list out and instead I have been re-reading The Deathly Hallows.  (Seen the movie Sunday afternoon – review coming up later on Monday!)

This Weeks Reading Plan

I leave for Honduras in 9 days so I am going to try to keep my plan real….

 

I met author Selene Castrovilla in New York in May and I am so excited to read her book!

Just a few months ago Jesse was junior class president, a star baseball player, the newspaper editor, and the crush of every girl at Midland Prep in Manhattan. Now he is fighting a rare cancer with only a 4 percent survival rate. When Samantha, his best friend and next-door neighbor for the last 15 years, turns her compassion for Jesse into a relationship, the teens fight the unknown with their growing love. Sam’s wavering voice, at times mature beyond her years and other times still needing her mother’s comfort, gives readers insight into both Jesse’s burden of dying and her own story of being the one left behind.


 

I met author Rhonda Hayes at BEA in New York in May as well, and can’t wait to read this delightful looking read!

Fifth-grader Abbie Adams is a witch in a family of witches. When her father, who is trying to find a cure for Witch Flu, brings home a kitten, she realizes that there is something strange about it. It turns out that the cat is Thomas Edison. Her parents do everything they can to make him comfortable while they try to find the right spells to break the curse and get him safely back to his own era before history is changed forever. Abbie is a likable character, and readers should relate to her. She loves her little brother (even when she has to clean up his magical messes), is nervous about her first school play, and wishes she didn’t have to keep secrets from her non witch friend.


 

Oh!  You have no idea how excited I was to get this one in my mailbox for review!  Seriously I have been drooling over this when I seen it on other blogs!

A volunteer for a French relief organization, Elsa Murphy, a young nurse, has left her tragic life behind in Boston in the hopes of finding a purpose by providing aid and medical care in Afghanistan. Living without running water and on rationed kerosene, the one comfort from home Elsa allows herself is lipstick, which helps her retain her identity behind the veil she wears. Elsa’s work engenders two relationships that will change her life: a friendship with Parween, a young, strong-willed Afghani widow whose hatred of the Taliban is born out of unimaginable loss, and a romance with Mike, a handsome, brave U.S. soldier with flashing blue eyes. Though the Taliban have largely been driven out by the soldiers, Elsa learns they are still very much a presence.

 

I think with the Thanksgiving weekend this list is pretty doable…. we do not have a lot going on during the holiday.  College son will be home on Thursday for the day but has to go back to Mankato to work the weekend.  Chance will be staying with us but he is super easy, so I anticipate a weekend of movies and board games… and of course a few books to!  😀

 

Now for my favorite part…. checking out what you are reading!  Last week I found five books by reading all your posts and four of those five are currently in my home thanks to my library!  Please add your link to your post below where it says “click here”.

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

Life Sentences by Laura Lippman (audio review)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

Writer Cassandra Fallows achieved critical and commercial success with an account of her Baltimore childhood growing up in the 1960s and a follow-up dealing with her adult marriages and affairs. The merely modest success of her debut novel leads her back to nonfiction and the possibility of a book about grade school classmate Calliope Jenkins. Accused of murdering her infant son, Jenkins spent seven years in prison steadfastly declining to answer any questions about the disappearance and presumed death of her son. Fallows (white) tries to reconnect with three former classmate friends (black) to compare memories of Jenkins and research her story. In the process, she discovers the gulf (partially racial) that separates her memories of events from theirs. Fallows’s pursuit of Jenkins’s story becomes a rich, complex journey from self-deception to self-discovery.


What really captures my attention in Lippman’s books is that most of them are based on true stories. This particular one is in reference to the disappearance of a Baltimore woman’s son. The woman chose not to make a statement and in doing so spent seven years in jail for contempt of court.

I of course enjoyed the storyline of the main character Cassandra as she was an author.  Bookish characters always fascinate me and automatically seem to have an “in” with me.   I liked the idea that Cassandra wanted to write about a childhood friend acquaintance and was doing research to find out about Callie’s reason for going to jail rather than answer questions about her son.

What ensues seems to me like a long drawn out maze of happenings as Cassandra visits old friends and finds out that if they even know she is a writer, they are so not impressed. Somewhere along all of this I lost touch with the book and waited anxiously to see where it was all going and when would it get there.  In the end, I just didn’t like Cassandra very much.

I have read and enjoyed Laura Lippman before and know that many things could have contributed to my eventual lack of interest in this one, including the fact that I listened to it in my car on audio.  While I am a huge advocate for audio, I am well aware that at times audio is not the way to go as you can miss key points in a story that if reading, I would have back tracked through the pages to figure out what I missed.

I have heard wonderful things about Laura’s book, ‘What The Dead Know’ so I believe that will be my next Lippman adventure!

Amazon Rating

 

Book Journey’s 2010 reading map has been updated to include Life Sentences

Cover Story:  Hmmmm….. I guess I am not fond of it and do not see where it captures the heart of the story

I borrowed this audio from my local library