It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on June 28, 2010June 28, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)101 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:

Lydia Presley

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 think this past week went fairly well. There were a few nights that I didnt get on the computer at all but instead used that time to read. Looking over the past week I am pretty excited about all I accomplished:

Review: Dovey Coe by Francis O’Roark Dowell (a quick read that captured me from beginning to end)

Review: Dreaming of Dior by Charlotte Smith (I LOVED this book!)

Choose The Next Book I read and Win it for yourself (yup – this is still on until Wednesday!)

Review: Chosen: House Of Night audio by PC Cast (a case where the narrator made the story so wonderful…. but the story line short for me)

Author Chat with Sarah Pekkanen (author of Opposite of Me) – SQUEEEEEE!!!!

Opposite of me signed giveaway of two books (SQUEEEEEEE again!!!) 😀

Review: Suite Scarlet by Maureen Johnson audio (Cute audio – 1st Maureen Johnson experience)

Audio Books: Can You Hear Me Now? In celebration of Audio Book Week I lay out what I think is what audios so awesome and why you should too 🙂

So yeah…. looking over this past week…. I did kick a little literary booty. 😀

So let me see if I can pull off a Venti (that’s really big in coffee talk) week again this week. Here is what I am planning to complete:

I am sailing through this audio of Step On A Crack the first book in the Michael Bennett series (although I have already read the other two that follow….)

Long overdue from its stay on the TBR shelf, I am flying through this read.

A treat for me out of the BEA stash – can’t wait! Cant wait!!!

The “mystery” book that you my readers have asked me to read out of the choose my next book post. This book will be the one taking me into the weekend!

And finally, I have it on good faith that I am going to have an author chat here with an author I am so excited to spend a little time with as I recently finished the book and have so much to talk about!

Enough about me! I am prepared to stop in and see what you are reading this week and plan on adding to my TBR list through my travels through your posts! Please link here by clicking below where it says Click here. That way we can all stop in and see what everyone is reading this Monday! 😀

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Dovey Coe by Frances O’Roark Dowell

Published on June 27, 2010June 30, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

I saw a review for this book at Natasha’s blog, Maw Books. Her review and her gushing over the book, Dovey, and the author, caused me to quickly reserve this at my library….

~Sheila

Dovey Coe us 12 years old and is wise beyond her years. She spends much of her time doing things with her brother Amos, who is deaf, but certainly not dumb.

And Dovey Coe is not liking Parnell Caraway hanging around her very pretty, older sister Caroline. He isn’t good for Caroline, she senses that, and she sees how Parnell weasels his way into her families good graces, and it looks like he may even be making his way into Caroline’s heart as well. As angry as all of this makes Dovey…. she still swears she did not kill him.

I didn’t give away anything here that you can’t read on the back cover. It’s true…. Parnell does wind up dead. And it is also true that Dovey is there when it happens. What this fast paced story is about is centered around this plot as told by Dovey Coe.

Dovey speaks in a distinct twang that I found really added to the story. While her family doesn’t have much, they make do with what they have and are not lacking for anything. Parnell Caraway however comes from the flip of this scenario…. he is one of only a couple of kids in town who actually have seen and owned a dollar bill. He has a car and nice clothes. Parnell is used to getting what he wants, and what he wants is Caroline Coe.

It weren’t a pretty picture out there on the porch. Oh the stars was shining, and the crickets was playing their little tune, and the breeze washed the good smell of honeysuckle across the evening. But the pleasure of all that was ruined by the sight of Parnell Caraway’s arm around my sisters shoulder.

I really enjoyed this read. I couldn’t help but love Dovey’s character, this strong, intelligent, little girl. I have not read this author before, but I am certainly interested in seeing what else she has to offer.

My Amazon Rating is here

Book Journey Map has been updated to include Dovey Coe

If you are going to hike the Appalachian Mountains, then you will need to stop for coffee here

181 pages

Simon and Schuster

Cover Story: I like it, it helps me picture Dovey as when you hear her voice in the book, I tend to forget she is only twelve.

I picked up this book on loan from my public library.

Morning Meanderings…

Published on June 27, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Good Morning!

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty good day. I read a bit and did a little house cleaning. After dinner I went up town to visit my friend Barb who was in town for a few days. I graduated with Barb and she now lives out-of-state. We try to get together when she is back in Minnesota. It was fun catching up with her.

Then when I came home Al and I watched the movie Serious Moonlight with Meg Ryan and Tim Hutton. I enjoy both actors and the movie was good but the end made me wonder what just happened. I wont go into detail so as not to ruin it for anyone who has not seen it, but I actually Googled it to see if my hunch was right. It was.

Today I am hoping to go rollerblading or biking with my friend Wendy but not really sure if that is going to happen. The weather looks uncertain and last night it stormed a bit so I imagine the trail is covered with sticks and debris. Its early yet – I guess I will see what the day brings.

Barb and I

Happy Sunday everyone!

Dreaming of Dior by Charlotte Smith

Published on June 26, 2010June 27, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)47 Comments

Imagine with me for a minute…. you have a Grandmother who owns a priceless vintage clothing collection and she has just passed it on to you. Suddenly boxes are arriving on your doorstep every day like Christmas and you are opening up treasured gorgeous dresses from different periods, 1790 – 1995… dresses that will make you drool. And then imagine among the Dior and Chanel, there is a book – a book that tells the story of each dress…. and the book itself is almost a bigger treasure.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Now – you don’t have to imagine. What I just described – is this book. THIS BOOK. Author Charlotte Smith did inherit these dresses and the book, and this book is the stories that Charlotte discovered about the dresses. In this beautiful hard cover and oddly heavy book (which seems appropriate for what is between the covers) are pictures of dresses and with each picture…

is a story…

For the record, I am not a girly girl. I prefer jeans and t shirts, to dresses and skirts. I would rather be a part of a floor hockey team then go to a fancy dance…. but….

occasionally…

I can’t say that some of the dresses did not make me picture what it would be like to own such a beautiful piece. I poured over the pages and like a teenager does with a fashion magazine, I went through and picked out a few of my favorites.

I loved the stories behind the dresses. The parties, the heads that turned, the ones that got the guy – and kept him. Some of the dresses have been to ballrooms and danced with people who’s names you will recognize; others made their way to weddings, and travels…. and you wish that you could have gone with the dress.

This book is a keeper. A treasure that I will take off the shelf time and again.

~Sheila

Book Journey’s map has been updated to include Dreaming of Dior

Cover Story: Very eye catching and has a quality about it that you not only feel, but you can see before you ever pick the book up

I received this book from Simon and Schuster

Morning Meanderings…

Published on June 26, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)42 Comments

Mmmmmmmm…. Saturday. This is my favorite day of the week. Saturdays rarely come with attachments, unless I put them there. An attachment free Saturday = BLISS. And that’s what I have today.

I have plenty to do – and plenty I may do… but nothing I have to do. Does that make sense? I can work on cleaning the house, go into the office and work on the Monday project, sweep my deck, take a bike ride….

But for now… I am gathering up Coffee Cup and Lap Top and I am actually going to go and sit and read and blog in the Reading Room. I have not sat in the reading room and relaxed for a long time. But this morning is overcast and humid, and that is what I am going to do.

Boxes from BEA are still sitting in the reading room…. maybe today is the day to unpack them and put them away.

I have a review to write on a book I finished last night and from there… eh, who knows?

Have a wonderful day/weekend. I will be out blog visiting today and I will be around today and tomorrow with no real big plans. LOVE it.

Choose The Next Book I Read And Win This Book For Yourself!

Published on June 25, 2010June 25, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)93 Comments

This is the third time I have run this giveaway and the first two were quite successful. These books are from our spring library sale. They are all gently used, lovely books that if I didn’t have a little push from my reading friends…. they would sit in the box I brought them home in for a long, long time.

This is where you come in. Leave me a comment here letting me know which book you would love to have for yourself. I will choose a winner using Random.Org next Wednesday. Then that book will rise to the top of my TBR and as soon as I can fit it in, I will read it and then pass it on my winner.

It’s fun and easy – and a win – win!

I have cleaned up the pictures from last time and these three pictures consist of the current books to choose from:

There they are! Have fun choosing and good luck!

Morning Meanderings…

Published on June 25, 2010June 25, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)34 Comments

I woke up to a thunderstorm. I heard the low rumble that shook me out of a pleasant sleep and listened as the first drops tapped the roof, slip down the windows, and covered my world.

It actually seems to be appropriate today as I am planning to be in the office tying up loose ends and finishing projects for the Annual Meeting on Monday. It is the beautiful warm and sunny days of late that make me wish I was outside.

So now I sit typing up this post, sitting my Coffee and glancing at the darkness outside that has covered Brainerd Minnesota. It is really a perfect day for a good mystery style read.

Tonight is date night…. my pick. And I have no idea. If Al gets home early enough maybe we can do a movie. As far as where to eat…. I will have to think about that.

One last thing, my son Justin wrote a post for The Heart Is Not A Size blog about his experience with poverty in Honduras. I would be forever grateful if you could pop over and read sometime today and leave him a comment. (It would make his day!)

Any big weekend plans for anyone?

Chosen: House Of Night by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast (Audio)

Published on June 24, 2010June 27, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

Zoey Redbird really has her hand’s full. As a fledgling vampyre, living at the House Of Night, a school for teens like herself, she couldn’t be more stretched. Her Grandmother is doting, her mother is not understanding this “choice” Zoey has made, her boyfriend …well seriously, that’s a whole other issue, and her best friend is dead. Or is she?

This audio was a genre stretch for me. Yes I like YA reads, but I have not dabbled too much in the paranormal. I find that if I am going to tackle a difficult story or a genre I may or may not like, audio can help pave the way. When I picked this one out at audible.com, I did not realize I was stepping into the middle of a series, book 3 of 7, to be exact.

*sigh* Rookie error…. always, always, check the books (especially YA, to make sure you are starting with book one)

Honestly, I didn’t think I would really enjoy this audio but I wanted to give it a try. I liked the voice of narrator Edwina Wren right from the start. Edwina really captures an amazing voice for Zoey. Youthful, bored, overwhelmed…. I can hear it. Edwina handles the other characters in this audio with a smooth ease, changing from one voice to the other, in a distinct manner and I immediately knew who was speaking.

I have to admit, I seem to have a preference for male narrators, especially when there is many voice changes. Women narrators tend to struggle with the male voice parts and it comes off as sounding fake or forced. Edwina handles the voice changes so smoothly I didn’t even think about the male voices.

And as I listened to this audio that I was not going to like… I started to really like it. I liked Zoey, even when she irritated me with her boyfriend issues. I laughed as she struggled with what she sarcastically called “Birthmas”, the combination gifts she seemed to always receive because her birthday was so close to Christmas. She could almost guarantee that gifts for her birthday would b wrapped in festive reds and greens and a snowman – well that was just a bonus.

There were parts that I didn’t enjoy – for one, too much talk of blood for my liking. Secondly, too much “sexual action,”, with more than one boyfriend, Zoey does have some issues she really needs to work out. I can see where the appeal to YA’s would be; I am just not sure where I stand in the midst of a well read, mostly appealing audio.

So here is a dilemma for me… I landed almost in the middle of this 7 book series. They are in order: Marked, Betrayed, Chosen, Untamed, Hunted, Tempted, and Burned. (Here is a link) Do I back track? Do I move forward from here? Or can I just walk away from the series leaving Zoey to the next phase, the next battle… without me?

Book Journey’s map has been updated to include Chosen

When in Tulsa, your coffee stop of choice is Nordaggio’s which is known for amazing coffee and gelato

Cover Story: I like it a lot. It holds a mystery and is applicable to the story itself

I purchased this audio from audible.com

Morning Meanderings…

Published on June 24, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

I am in a bit of a crunch week. Actually a crunch double week. At work, we have our annual meeting coming up on Monday evening. This week has been dedicated to prepping the annual report, entering survey results for about 400 responses, agenda prep, and trying to keep up on the basics as well. Going into next week we are planning our annual potluck picnic that this year will take place on July 4th. This has resulted in meetings the past 3 weeks planning the food prep, and more. Gah. This too will pass.

So… to lighten the office mood I created a little stress reliever yesterday:

I told everyone who works in the office that it was fair game to whoever needed it. I just sat it out on the counter and left it. 😀

Today work – blade – and tonight read. Hope your day is super!

Author Chat with Sarah Pekkanen (author of Opposite Of Me)

Published on June 23, 2010June 23, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)32 Comments

It’s not really anything new for me to say I am super excited to sit and chat with an author of a book I have adored, but this particular author is always going to hold a special place in my heart for the incredible experience I had with her. Sarah was the author who had the BEA Giveaway for the trip to New York in May, which I was beyond excited (and it still kind of takes my breath away to think of it) to win. *Squeee*

Sarah was a delight to meet in New York and spent time with her at Simon and Schuster, and also at the Book Blogger Reception. I am honored and delighted to have her here today, so with no further ado, please welcome Sarah Pekkanen.

Sarah, before we get to chatting – how do you take your coffee?

Sarah: With lots of cream and sugar – like a dessert!

You know I have been on cloud nine since I had the wonderful opportunity to meet and hang out with you a bit in New York during BEA. Could you please share with me a little bit about the idea behind the BEA contest you had?

Sarah: Absolutely! I came up with the idea because before my book came out, I learned how difficult it was for debut novels to get noticed. People aren’t reading so much anymore, I kept hearing. Then I began reading book blogs, and I realized how much bloggers are doing to support the publishing industry. They’re getting folks excited about books again. As more and more newspapers fold and authors lose the chance to have their books reviewed in print, bloggers are stepping into the breach, reviewing books, chatting them up, and generally keeping all of us authors afloat! My novel got such a warm welcome from book bloggers, who reviewed it and let me hold giveaways on their sites, that I wanted to say thank you in some small way.

I was planning on attending BEA/BCC and when Trish Collins of heylady.net told me the organizers of BBC were collecting prizes for a raffle, I came up with the idea of paying for one blogger’s trip to the convention. I mentioned it to my editor, and asked if I could bring the winner blogger along with another raffle winner to Atria Books for a tour, and she loved the idea. Trust me, publishers are just as appreciative of book bloggers as we authors are!

Sarah, what would you consider to be one of your all time favorite books and why?

Sarah: Oh, just one? So hard to pick! I’d have to say In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner. It’s funny, poignant, captivating… and it’s the kind of book I want to write.

Which of course brings me to your book, The Opposite Of Me. I really enjoyed the read and I seen Kathy (Bermuda Onion) really did as well. How did the idea of this book come to be and was it the original idea or was it tweaked along the way?

Sarah: Originally I had four sisters woven through my plot, but during the writing process, my original idea was reshaped and refined. I’d say the basic structure of my original idea remained intact, but during the rewriting process, lots of smaller changes popped up.

In The Opposite of Me we have two fraternal twins, Alex and Lindsey. When developing these characters, is there one you favored more over the other? Do these characters represent anyone – or pieces of anyone, in your life?

Sarah: I think I felt a bit more sympathy for Lindsey, because she feels like the underdog. Although there are bits and pieces of people I know in the characters – maybe a gesture or a funny line of dialogue – they are truly fictional.

Sarah, I too had a heart for Lindsey, you wrote her well. I told you that I had cried at the acknowledgment in the back of your book. I thought it was so touching. Would you share a little bit about how that was to write?

Sarah: The acknowledgments were surprisingly easy – I just wrote what was in my heart. Seeing a book published is a bit like having a baby born – you just feel so emotional and teary and happy, all at once. And thank you for those kind words!

So Sarah, I am just dying to know – what is coming out next? I know there is a book, I seen it pre published. What will this one be about?

Sarah: Skipping a Beat, my second book is the story of high school sweethearts named Michael and Julia who flee their small, poor hometown in West Virginia and move to Washington, D.C. Now in their mid-thirties, they’re living a rarified life in their multi-million dollar home. But then one day, Michael collapses in his office. For four minutes and eight seconds – until he is revived with a portable defibrillator – he is clinically dead. And when he wakes up, he’s a totally different man. My main character, Julia, has three weeks to decide if she wants to stay with her husband or leave him.

Ooh! That sounds wonderful! When can we expect to see this book on the shelves?

Sarah: It’s already up on amazon.com with a publication date of Feb. 22 – which seems so soon!

What is happening now in your life?

Sarah: I have a contract for another book which is due May 1, so as soon as I wrap up a few smaller projects, I’ll be diving into that manuscript. I’m really looking forward to immersing myself in a new plot.

Sarah, please share with me and my readers one little known fact about yourself. It’s kind of tradition around here.

Sarah: I was rejected as a contestant on Wheel of Fortune! It’s so unfair, because I’m actually really good at solving puzzles. Sometimes I can even do it with no letters showing. Come to think of it, maybe that’s why I was rejected?

Thank you Sarah so much for your time! I really enjoyed chatting with you and will be watching for your upcoming book!

Sarah: It was a pleasure, Sheila, and I hope to see you again soon! I’d love it if any readers would like to friend me on Facebook or visit my website at www.sarahpekkanen.com, where I hold giveaways every month for a new book.