Shoulder Bags and Shootings by Dorothy Howell

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

If Haley Randolph was taking a survey on her life right now she would most definitely check the box marked FABULOUS!  What was not to love?  She had just spent the time of her life in Europe with her all too wonderful boyfriend Ty Cameron, who just happens to own the Department store where Haley works.  And as if life just wasn’t delicious enough, Ty’s grandmother Ada has handed the keys of her Mercedes to drive….

the icing on the cake would be to get her well manicured hands on one of the seasons “must have” hand bags!

All things come crashing in around Haley when she finds the body of her nemesis, Tiffany Markham in the trunk of the all too beautiful Mercedes, and to rain a little more on Hailey’s parade, due to a recent encounter with Tiffany, Hailey tops the suspect list.  Her only choice is to try to find Tiffany’s killer before death becomes her fashion faux pas!

When I first heard of this book and the description I immediately thought of Stephanie Plum from the Janet Evanovich books.  There was a time, many years ago where I admit, Stephanie and I made the rounds as I started with One For The Money and made my way all the way through book twelve of the series before I let this series go.  In many ways, Haley reminded me of Stephanie and that over the top ditsyness  sometimes is a little too sweet for my tooth.

However- the book also reminded me of a quick cozy mystery which occasionally…. goofiness and all…. I do crave.  (Darn sweet tooth!)  While I did laugh at the sheer goofy happenings at times in the book, I think I would have enjoyed it more in the summer on the deck with my sun glasses on and a very large iced tea close at hand.

I discovered as I was reading that this book is actually #3 in the Haley Randolph mysteries, but never fear – I did not feel I needed the previous two books to follow what was happening.


Amazon Rating

Book Journey has updated the 2010 Reading Map to include Shoulder Bags and Shootings

When in Los Angeles you should whip on over to Down Beat Cafe where the coffee is as good as the music!

Cover Story:  It’s cute and eye-catching.  It reminds me of cotton candy.

I received this book for review from FSB Associates

Morning Meanderings… Blowing Up This Weeks Reading List

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)33 Comments

Good morning!

Oh?  You are curious about the bomb?

I have decided to blow up my reading list this week and do a re – read of a book I really can’t believe I did not consider for this week.  In honor of this week’s release of the final Harry Potter movie, I have decided to set aside the previously planned reading by a few days to celebrate one of my all time favorite series….

Hopefully Chance (Kinship Partner) and I will be attending the modnight showing on Thursday night … errrr…. the wee hours of Friday morning.  This is kind of a tradition with us except this time it will be a school day for him and a work day for me on Friday at 8 a.m. so we still are in the planning phases 🙂


Are you reading any of the Harry Potter series this week?  Are you planning to see the movie?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)104 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:

Liz of Roving Reads

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

*I have been a little late getting out the last few weeks winners and am doing that today.

I had a pretty sweet week here – my first ever Zumba class (which was hilarious but fun!), continued sessions for my book, a lovely low-key low commitment weekend where I was able to chill out and do a little research as well as veg out and watch several movies on Netflix:  The Cure, The Band Played On, When In Rome, and New In Town.  I know right?  What a total lazy head!  AND yes, I did get some reading in too and feel pretty good about all I managed to accomplish – even the chilling part.  😀

So…. What Did I Read This Week?

Peanut Butter Balls cookie recipe from our Girls Weekend

Snicker Surprise Cookie Recipe from our Girls Weekend

The Boticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato (our Bookies Book Club read for November)

Glass Ornament Decorating **Bonus post**

Cake Boss by Buddy Valastro

Silence by Shusaku Endu (review coming this week)

Shoulder Bags and Shootings by Dorothy Howell (review coming this week)

Hide! by Jeff Foxworthy (review coming this week)

By Fire By Water by Mitchell James Kaplan (review coming this week)

The Last Queen by C W Gortner (review coming soon)

Don’t Sing At The Table by Adriana Trigiani (review coming soon)

I did get some reading done this week but did not get many reviews done.  I hope to catch up on some of that this week.

As for this week – I hope to read:


A Darcy Christmas has three shorter stories within the pages for fans of Austen!  I am excited to read this one!

Christmas Present
by Amanda Grange

A Darcy Christmas
by Sharon Lathan

Mr. Darcy’s Christmas Carol
by Carolyn Eberhart

 

Cydney Sanders thought she knew God’s plan for her life. She’d marry, have kids, and then snap her body back into shape by doing Tae Bo. But she’s celebrating her fortieth birthday as the maid of honor at her little sister’s wedding…and still single. Now her life is suddenly complicated by the best man. He’s the opposite of what she wants in a husband…and yet, he keeps defying her expectations. Starting with a lavendar rose–symbolizing enchantment–each rose he sends her reflects his growing love for her.

Cydney’s best friend Dana appears to have the perfect marriage–until she discovers her husband’s affair and her world goes into a tailspin. Then there is Phyllis–who is out of hope and out of prayers after asking God for six long years to help her husband find faith. When she runs into an old friend who is the Christian man she longs for, she’s faced with an overwhelming choice.

 

A mosaic of stories that follow the intertwined lives of three girls coming of age. Two young girls from Jewish and Christian families and their elderly widow next door try to find happiness in a seemingly cruel world. In spite of their different cultural and economic backgrounds, Rebecka, Helen, and Adelle all share the delicate and self-conscious journey to womanhood. All three search for love and meaning in a variety of places a charismatic church, a Depression-era orphanage, a moonlit Savannah park, an orthodox Jewish boarding school and end up finding lasting strength in the power of their friendships.

That is my plan as well as a couple I need to finish up on…. And now I want to know what you are planning on reading this week and what was the awesome and not so awesome reads of this past week!  My trigger finger is itching to get to see what you have been reading.  Add your What Are You Reading post to the linky below :D


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Morning Meanderings… waking up to snow and another recipe

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)47 Comments

Good morning!

Yesterday afternoon I received a text message from college son.  He said that he had awoke in Mankato to about 6 inches of snow and wanted to know what was happening here in Brainerd.  I was happy to say that at that time, it was little flurry flakes and nothing accumulating.

I spoke too soon.

Throughout the day it continued to snow and now by morning… well see for yourself.

Picture taken from my front window this morning

I know it is bound to happen but I really am not a fan of snow.

Anyway – moving on….

My friend Cindy is very creative in decorating and in cooking.  At our last girls weekend her cookie recipe was a delicious and deadly combination of chocolate and peanut butter – and they are pretty to look at too.  Here is her recipe.


Peanut Butter Balls

cooking at the cabin

1 bag of powdered sugar

1 can sweetened condensed milk

finishing touches... Cindy putting on chocolate, Heidi drizzling the white

1/2 cup butter – melted

1 cup peanut butter

Blend and put into refrigerator for 20 minutes

Take out and roll into balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper

Return to refrigerator for another 20 – 30 minutes

Melt 6 squares of chocolate almond bark in a small bowl and add 3 Tablespoons pie shortening to make it thinner

Take the peanut butter balls out of the refrigerator and dip them into the chocolate mix covering the entire ball

Place back on wax paper and continue until done.

Melt two squares white almond bark and drizzle this with a spoon over the top of the peanut butter balls.

Return them to refrigerator for an hour.  This will firm them and they are ready to serve or to freeze for later use.

Certainly delicious and pretty too!

Have a wonderful Sunday everyone!  My day is pretty free so I am looking forward to catching up on a few more things around here.  🙂

Cake Boss by Buddy Valastro

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Buddy Valastro is a fourth generation baker.  Born in New Jersey into a traditional Italian family, Buddy showed incredible talent as a baker and decorator.

Star of the hit TLC reality show Cake Boss, today Buddy Valastro is a household name that upon hearing it brings visions of masterpiece cakes that are gorgeous to look at as they are a sensation tot he taste buds.  Buddy’s often asked to demonstrate, compete, and teach his craft around the country.  In his 10,000 sq foot state of the art facility, Buddy and his staff turn out thousands of wedding cakes, specialty cakes, and pastries weekly. His award-winning designs have been featured numerous times in different bridal and baking magazines. Carlo’s Bakery has also been featured in books, newspapers, such as, The New York Times, and television; most namely The Food Network.  He and his cakes have also been featured on The Today’s Show, Good Morning America, The View, and HBO’s hit series, The Sopranos.

By uniting time-honored quality with modern innovative techniques, Carlo’s Bakery is rated among the best.  Their distinct old world taste is hard to come by.  This is what sets Buddy apart from other sugar artists.  Buddy hopes to one day pass on his passion and knowledge to fifth generation members of the Valastro family and continue the Carlo’s Bakery legacy.

A must see in Hoboken, New Jersey

Cake Boss is more than a gorgeous book with mouth-watering recipes.  Cake Boss is a memoir of the Valastro family, Buddy’s remarkable father who played such a positive role in where Buddy is today… and within the first few pages of this book you will know that this is a book about family.  From Danny Dragone, who helps out wherever he is needed, Stephanie who was the first woman to work in back with the bakers (no small feat), Joey the brother-in-law who is not only married to Buddy’s sister, but is also one of the top bakers, the counter is run by Buddy’s sisters. Little Frankie who’s been in the bakery business since he could walk, and Sal who has been with the bakery since 1960.  This is truly a family business.

And that is just the beginning, as I turned the pages I found myself immersed in what family means to Buddy.  As I found myself reading the history of the “Cake Boss” I became immersed in the strong sense of history.   I enjoyed reading about the first cakes Buddy was allowed to make, to his growing talent as a baker… to his first wedding cake where he really began to flourish.

(Who knew reading about the history of a bakery and a family could be so interesting?)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  While I have heard of the show Cake Boss, I admit I have never watched it.  I can assure you I am going to start now.  This book jump started my heart for a family I did not know, and reading this book makes me want to know more.


Fun Facts:

1. How many pounds of flour are used in a week:    Over 3000
2. What is the most used ingredient in the bakery?    A special type of flour called soft as silk

3. How many cannolis are made in one week? Close to 6000 a week
4. How many employees work at Carlos’ Bake Shop?    35
5. How long does it take to make the average wedding cake? At least three hours
6. What is the most popular item in the bakery?   lobster tails
7. What is the most popular cake flavor?    French cream
8. What is the most unusual item sold at the bakery?  Sfogliatelle -a flaky pastry filled with orange-flavored ricotta

9. When should a bride book her appointment to discuss her wedding cake?  Six months before the big day
10. Most frequently asked question of Buddy:   “Can you make my birthday cake?”


While I did not have time before I wrote this review, I will be making the Biscotti from the recipe section of this book for gifts for co-workers and friends this Christmas.  When I make the recipe I will be sure to post about it and link you back to this book.

I think Cake Boss would make a wonderful gift book to that person you know who loves to bake.

Buddy is on tour, check out the dates and locations!

Amazon Rating

Book Journey has updated the 2010 Reading map to include Cake Boss

When in New Jersey, the obvious “must see” stop would be Carlo’s Bakery

Cover Story:  Fantastic!  It says it all!

I received this book for review from Free Press Publishing

Simon and Schuster

Morning Meanderings… Decking The Halls? Here is how to do it!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)30 Comments

Good morning!  I feel… refreshed.

I just took my pups to the groomer for their trim.  They are pretty shaggy looking and they will come out looking like they each lost about 5 pounds of hair.  My timing is not the best as the weather is getting a bit cooler now, however by the time we get into the real heart of a Minnesota winter they will be putting the coat back on and all will be fine to get to them their next cut in late February.

I have been promising all week that I was going to share the recipes and the crafts from my girls weekend last weekend and in my hustle and bustle of life I have managed to give you one recipe so far.  GAH!

Today I will share with you the craft that I brought to the cabin for us to do, painting Christmas ornaments.  Here we go!

 

Christmas ball ornament painting

 

 

You will need:

An assortment of glass ornaments like pictured above.  The craft stores have some fun shapes – squares, tear drop, egg-shaped, heart-shaped, coin shaped, etc….  mix it up – it is fun

A variety of colors in craft paint  (Delta ceramcoat works well,or any acrylic craft paint) **If the paint is too thick add a little water to the paint bottle and shake it well.

Pretty ribbon for the ornament to hang

assortment of items (optional) to hot glue on to the ornament such as:  craft pine, craft berries, sequins…

There are the ornaments my friends and I made last weekend

To do this project, choose the colors you would like in your ornament… drip them down the side inside the glass ornament, not too heavy on the paint – you can always add more.

Some people like to slowly turn their ornament to let the paint run together to create the design – I take a napkin over the opening of the ornament and shake it to cover all the spaces inside with paint.  If you have a spot that is still unpainted, set ornament down with that side as the bottom and the paint will eventually run to it – or I gently pat that part of the ornament until the paint fills in.

If there is excess paint inside your ornament we usually have a large ornament that we tip the excess paint into to create a “community ornament” which winds up with a mix of everyone’s excess paint – and usually turns out quite pretty.

You should let the ornaments dry out with their lid off for a day or so.  (It still works if you do not have that kind of time to finish them)

Choose your ribbon and if you wish choose decorations for the outside of your ornaments as well.

These are fun and fairly easy to make, plus you can customize them for friends and family by using their colors of their home in the ornament, or decorating with their homes theme:  woodsy, antique, modern, etc….

Here is one use I came up with for the ones I made

Ideas beyond the tree….

A few ideas we came up with besides putting these ornaments on the tree are

Put the ribbons at different lengths and hang them on the curtain rod in a window

make a large ornament and hang it off a hook

make a glass bowl centerpiece and fill it with the ornaments

Hang them from a stair railing

Have you made these?  What ideas or tips can you share?

😀

 

 

Morning Meanderings…. Top Of The Morning To You (Zumba style) :)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good morning!  Coffee Cup and I are sitting here a little sore when I move but feeling good.  😀  I completed yesterdays office painting job and I am very happy with the results.  My goal was to get in early and have it done before the rest of the staff started coming in and I was in their way.  Mission accomplished, by 9 am when a few started trickling in I was cleaning brushes.

 

The Finished look of my office

 

 

I had my first Zumba class yesterday afternoon and I brought 3 friends with me.  We were all newbies and I assured them that if we could not do the steps – laughter burns calories too.  I think I did some of both.  The steps were easy once you got the hang of them but the fast paces music occasionally made it so by the time you got the step… the instructor had moved on to a different step.    I loved it though and laughed a lot!

Here is a sample video I found on You Tube of Zumba:


I am so glad it is Friday today and other than the pups getting haircuts tomorrow morning and Zumba class 2 , I have a day to read and maybe do a bit of writing which currently sounds very appealing to me.  My house is all clean from Tuesdays book club so I am really in a good spot to just melt into a chair and enjoy some time.

Any big weekend plans?

Morning Meanderings and a favorite cookie recipe

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

Good morning!  I am off super early this morning – 4 am to be exact.  I know I know…. I am a bit insane but I am moving around my office and as long as I am switching things around and I am getting new shelves installed on Saturday…… so to keep this run on sentence running…..

I am painting my room.  😀

AND I am going in so early so I can get the majority of it done before the office traffic starts to come in around 8 am and then I am in everyone’s way.

And you thought there was no method to my madness…. 😀

I am leaving you this morning with one of the promised recipes from my girls craft and baking weekend.  A few years back my friend Cindy and I went to a community education cookie class where we paid $25 to work with a group and each make a cookie recipe that made 12 dozen cookies.  There were 12 of us in the class and we each received a dozen of each of the cookies as well as the recipes to do them ourselves.  My favorite that I could not keep my hands off of was the Snicker Surprise cookie.

This was the cookie I shared with my friends this past weekend, and now I will share it with you.

 

Snicker Surprise Cookie

 

2 sticks softened butter
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag SNICKERS Miniatures
1 cup milk chocolate chips (melted)

Combine the butter, peanut butter, and sugars using a mixer on a medium to low-speed until light and fluffy.

Slowly add eggs and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Then mix in flour, salt and baking soda.

Unwrap all the SNICKERS .

Divide dough into 1 tablespoon pieces and flatten. Place a SNICKERS  in the center of each piece of dough. Form the dough into a ball around each SNICKERS .

Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 12-15 minutes.

Let cookies cool on baking rack or wax paper.

Melt  milk chocolate and drizzle over cookies.

The first time I made these cookies I could hardly keep my hands off them – the gooey melted snickers inside this peanut buttery cookie is the perfect combination.

Do you have a favorite cookie recipe?

The Boticelli Secret by Marina Fiorato

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

In the heart of Medici Florence, part-time model and full-time prostitute Luciana Vetra stumbles across a deadly secret when she is asked to pose for the central figure of Flora in Sandro Botticelli’s famous Primavera. When Luciana is turned away without being paid for her posing for the picture, she steals a smaller scroll of the painting in compensation, only to find that within the picture holds a secret.  The secret is so deadly that her friends are being killed all around her as she is forced to run for her life, and finds help in the one man who has never exploited her, Guido Della Torre, a novice at the Monastary of Santa Crose.

I do like a good mystery, and in that way,the Botticelli Secret did not disappoint. I found it to have a very Dan Brown feel to it, much the same as I found in his books The Davinchi Code and also in Angels and Demons. However the main characters Luciana and Guido (a prostitute and a monk) are not Sophie and Robert Langdon.  I mean – Luciana has quite a reputation for herself and Guido is a man of the cloth….

however – in that sense the book works, and is mainly why I kept reading.

Where I struggled is that the first 250 or so pages, when Luciana is still quite rough around the edges, the language is foul, some of the acts that the reader is allowed to “witness” is stomach turning, and there is a point where I had to skim in hopes of the books tone changing as Luciana spends more time with Guido.

It does.

The painting features six female figures and two male, along with a blindfolded putto, in an orange grove. To the right of the painting, a flower-crowned female figure in a floral-patterned dress is scattering flowers, collected in the folds of her gown. Her nearest companion, a woman in diaphanous white, is being seized by a winged male from above. His cheeks are puffed, his expression intent, and his unnatural complexion separates him from the rest of the figures. The trees around him blow in the direction of his entry, as does the skirt of the woman he is seizing. The drapery of her companion blows in the other direction. Clustered on the left, a group of three females also in diaphanous white join hands in a dance, while a red-draped youth with a sword and a helmet near them raises a wooden rod towards some wispy gray clouds. Two of the women wear prominent necklaces. The flying cherub has an arrow nocked to loose, directed towards the dancing girls. Central and somewhat isolated from the other figures stands a red-draped woman in blue. Like the flower-gatherer, she returns the viewers gaze. The trees behind her form a broken arch to draw the eye. The pastoral scenery is elaborate. Botticelli (2002) indicates there are 500 identified plant species depicted in the painting, with about 190 different flowers.

The second half of the book shows that Luciana’s heart is softening and I was able to relax more into the details of the read and beauty of the details as they travel around trying to solve the clues that are given within this amazing (and real) painting.  I enjoyed the clues and the solving of them and liked the second half of the read a lot more than the first half.

Overall, if you can hang in there, the book is filled with colorful details of the cities they travel fifteenth century Renaissance Italy.

Bookies (Book Club review)

The Bookies found the book centered around the painting to be quite interesting.  Of the 13 of us at the review, only one of us had ever heard of the painting before.  In that sense, the book gave us a little bit of culture that we were not quite expecting, but enjoyed.

Most of us found the beginning of the book and Luciana’s character to be quite crude and the language and acts in that part were probably the worst we have encountered as a group in all the years we have been meeting (since Aug. 2001).  However, only 4 of the Bookies at the review truly disliked the book.  The rest found that if you could get through the first part, and realize that the author is creating a very vivid picture of who Luciana was, it makes the ending all the more sweeter.

On an overall scale of 1 – 5, five being the best, The Botticelli Secret rated a 4 average with the Bookies.

 

Amazon Rating

Book Journey has updated the 2010 Reading map to include The Boticelli Secret

When in Florence, there are a variety of excellent coffee shops to fit your tastes.

Cover story:  I think that it fits the story well.

I purchased my copy of this book from Amazon.com

Morning Meanderings… Botticelli Moments

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

Good morning!  Coffee Cup and I are basking in the early morning light (or lack there of) and still basking in the events of last nights book club.

I don’t think I have said it yet in November…

I love my book club.  😎

Last night we reviewed what I would consider a long-awaited review on a large read – and a potentially controversial book.  To be honest, I struggled with it too.  Yet the Bookies come through and I don’t know why they surprise me, but they do – in good ways.

I am not going to talk about the book yet because the review is coming up later today.  So instead now I am giving you the pictures from our Italian potluck, themes after the book, as well as the pictures of our baby shower we had at book club for one of our members.

 

Italian themed potluck for book club

 

I know, I know… I should have grabbed pictures before everyone dived into the food.  We had a penne, chicken, and sausage pasta, a tossed green Italian salad, Tiramisu, french bread, homemade mozzarella, cake, and more.

 

 

The Bookies, after the book review and on to the baby shower!

 

 

Today is another crazy Wednesday for me.  I have another event planning for tonight – this one however is smaller than last weeks.  So work this morning until mid afternoon, gym, then back to work for security training followed by Leadership Training (which is the event I am referring to).

Tomorrow is the first Zumba class and I am soooo looking forward to that.

Have a super fab day everyone 😀