So here is the setting. It is 2088. Missionary Abigail Caldwell leaves from New Guinea to help fellow villagers, who have come down with a mysterious disease. While the villagers can not be saved, Abigail, the sole survivor travels to America where she discovers that Christianity has died out. As she investigates the death of her grandfather who was the co-inventor of a silicon brain replacement, she discovers a message he left for her tasking her to bring the Christian Faith back to America.
I know, right?
A little bit more sci-fi to this book then I would normally read, and trying to keep up with the thought of the invention of brain transplants to keep the human race living forever – was a bit mind-boggling. And that is with my original brain I was born with. The point of course was to eliminate death all together, but at what cost?
While parts of the books were a bit too sci-fi for me, I was able to complete the book. David Gregory writes a fast paced novel that even the parts that made me go “huh?” were soon surpassed by a feeling of “oh yeah!”. The book filled that craving I have of a good mystery, suspense book that keeps me guessing. While sci-fi is certainly not on my genres to read list, I was still able to move beyond all the technical futuristic (admitting I had to skim some of these pages) and coming out the other side finding this an interesting read.
Is it just me…. or are my morning posts later than usual this week? LOL. I feel like I am sleeping more. I woke up at 5 am when hubby got up (I believe he is insane) to meet up with his friend Kevin and go to an auction today. I thought I’d sleep another hour, hour and a half… but no. Opened my eyes again at 7:45 am. And I napped yesterday.
This is all just so embarrassing.
Anyway – I didn’t wake up to share with you my sleeping habits (although reading the above paragraph I see I did just that). What I really want to share is that this coming Wednesday is my official one year Blogoversary. (insert SQUEEEEE here). Now – if you look back you will see I had posts prior to June 9th 2009, and before that I have posts going into 2008 on another blog –
BUT…
to me my Blogoversary is the day that I officially discovered the book blogging world (prior to that date I thought I was journaling what I read for me). I remember the day, June 9th because someone commented on my blog.
I know right? Super scary. A comment! I shudder to think of it…
Here’s what you need to know about that. I didn’t get comments unless you were a friend of mine or a family member. A comment outside my tiny world was unheard of. But there was one. And it kind of freaked me out. How did this person find me? If I click on their name will it take me to some site that will cause me to instantly want to delete the comment?
So I clicked on it. And…. they were a book blogger. What I saw was reviews and giveaways (wow, giveaways?) and I thought – amazing, there are two of us in the world who do this! (Yes, you can laugh…. I really had no idea)
And then on their blog they had a sidebar badge that said I am a member on Ning Book Blogs. Well… what is that? Click. Ahhhhhhhh….. and my world grew 10,000 sizes that day.
So anyway, you get the point why that day, June 9th, is the day I wish to celebrate. And it is sneaking up on me fast. Last year I did have a Blogoversary Party using the date I started my original blog. Check out that post as that is how I plan on doing this years as well. I will go forward using this June 9th date only so please make a note to stop in on Wednesday for the one day giveaways and invite your friends to come too, it is going to be a blast!
Today I am off to help a friend shop for a new bike and then hopefully meeting my friend Heidi to do some rollerblading and book talking. Two things we love. I have a review coming up later and I am still trying to figure out how to most efficiently do my mailbox post with the BEA books (all have arrived but one box). Catching up…. catching up… 😀
GAH! Got to run – the mailman just arrived with my final BEA box!!!!!
This is one of those books I am almost ashamed to say that has sat on my shelf for years. I bought it right away as the buzz began on what a wonderful book it was, and then…. there it sat. And actually there it still sits because I have yet to read the book. Recently I had been at my library and seen it in audio format and with my recent travels by car, decided this was one way I could finally be a part of what is known as The Kite Runner.
The following is my thoughts…
Sheila
As the narration began (read by the author) I am brought into Afghanistan in the early 1970’s. Amir is the son of a wealthy father, his mother having died during his birthing. Amir always feels as thought he has to prove himself to his father and spends most of his childhood seeking for that forgiveness he feels he needs for his mother’s death.
And then we have Hassan, the son of Amir’s fathers servant. The boys are inseparable, from morning to night they hang together, best friends, flying kites, running kites, and Amir reads to Hassan, who can not read but loves to hear Amir’s stories.
The Kite Runner, is their story.
I am sure this book has been reviewed thousands of times through the years, and yet here I am – writing a review and hoping I can bring something new to the table. Or if not new, perhaps a memory to those who have read this book… and remember, because seriously, how could one ever forget? So many words rush to my fingertips as I type this review. I have actually struggled writing this as I feel there is no way I can do this audio, this story, justice, and at the same time I know I have to try.
The words are powerful. I learned about kite running, something I had not known about but found fascinating. The story at times takes my breath away. Author Khaled Hosseini is the perfect narrator not only because this is his story, but his voice, being born in Afghanistan himself, breathed life into the characters that I feel touched me even more than if I would have read the book.
Well written, highly emotional, at times I am driving with tears running down my face. And as those of you who have read or listened to this book know, there is a moment where an anger builds in me so strongly, that I am still not sure even after, if I have completely forgiven the act. (See spoiler button below if you want to talk about this more).
Even if you have read the book, I am highly recommending that you go through it again on the audio. Even if you don’t do audio – do this one. Put it in your cars cd player or the cd player in your home while you go about house tasks. You wont regret it, because when an audio is done well like this one, it is a whole new way to do books.
I am passionate about this book. Easily one of the best books I have had the pleasure of experiencing in 2010. Read it. Listen to it. But don’t let this one pass you by.
“For you, a thousand time’s over”.
~ Hassan says to Amir
Brief Kite Runner Movie Review:
I purchased the movie over a year ago knowing I would not watch it until after I had experienced the book. A few days ago I sat down and watched a movie that a few in my book club said they could never watch because of the books content. I knew I had to see the movie, knowing it would be hard. It was. And I wept openly again just as I had done before because I experienced it again – that heart breaking, heart wrenching moment that defines this book. I watched it with my 20-year-old son Justin, who had not read the book, but not feels that he must.
My Book Journey has been updated here to include Kite Runner
Good Morning! (*yawning, stretching, reaching for coffee cup….*)
I need to announce the May winners today. May was another great month of fun comments and I so enjoy them all. There were 997 comments (not counting my own). You can read the details to my monthly giveaway in the sticky post that is always at the top of this blog.
you each get to pick out of the Prize Box and email me at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com with your address and I will send you your pick! 🙂
AND…
The Top commenter who will be emailed a $20 gift card for May 2010 was:
(and it was very close this month…)
Library Pat!
Congratulations everyone! The June comment contest has already begun! You can find details here.
I am feeling pretty well today. I went to bed earlier than usual and slept until 7:30. The day is a dreary one as I look out my window. It is cooler and it is suppose to rain. I don’t work today so I will be continuing my quest to get caught up on reviews. Catching my Group Power Class later today and pretty much not doing anything really exciting but loving it all the same. Its date night tonight and I think it is Al’s pick (we switch every other Friday). If it was my pick we would be heading to the movies. Not sure which one, but seems like it has been forever since I saw a movie in the theater.
Later – I have a review going up that I have been so excited to write. AND, later, I have contest winners.
Here is the setting. This is a true story of a friendship of eleven girls who grew up in Ames, Iowa. Even though some of the women moved to other states as they grew up, they still maintained the friendships. This book is about the ties that bind and friendships that hold true.
I do like a book on friendships. I always have. And I eagerly dove into this read to learn more. Here is a little of their story:
Meet Karla, Kelly, Marilyn, Jane, Jenny, Karen, Cathy, Angela, Sally, Diana and Sheila. Thay are The Girls From Ames.
This book is written differently then I had expected. Jeffrey Zaslow writes in a reporter type style where he speaks of the girls, their lives, and even occasionally throws in some facts about friendships and the benefits. At times the book is funny, and at other times it made me sad. I was surprised to read that these girls were not necessarily liked back in their school years and were referred to as cliquey and stuck up, the popular girls.
While the book is filled with many facts on the friendships, I was more interested in the friendships themselves. Having a strong group of friends in my life and knowing how important they are to me, causes me to be fascinated with books that contain such topics. These girls had and have a friendship that I found admirable.
With 11 women in the book it is at times hard to keep track of who is who and I referred to the pictures of the ladies in the front of the book many times to get my bearings.
Overall, while It wasn’t the book I thought it would be, I did enjoy the book.
Where to go for Coffee when in Ames, Iowa? Cafe Diem is where you would find me!
320 Pages
Cover Story: Very appealing. The color of the book is eye catching and I like the photo of the girls on the front.
My Book Journey is updated here
Thank you to TLC book tours for a chance to review this book
So here’s my story…. I won Sarah’s contest for the BEA Convention. At that point I had not read Sarah’s book but it was on my radar to be read. On my way to the airport I stopped at the Mother Ship (Barnes and Noble) to pick up her book. And this is the story…
Sheila
The Opposite Of Me is about two fraternal twin sisters, Lindsey and Alex. Lindsey has always been known as the smart one and at twenty-one holds down a coveted job at an advertising agency and is well on her way to promotion. Alex, is used to turning heads wherever she goes. A true beauty, she is prepping to walk down the aisle with the perfectly gorgeous man.
And then… suddenly everything changes. I can’t go into details but I can say I really enjoyed this book. The relationship between the sisters is a wonderful setting for this book. We as readers are following Lindsey through the book and we are really following what it is like to be the sister to Alex the beauty. There is a point early on in the book where Lindsey has a child hood memory of a stranger seeing the twin girls and commenting on Alex’s beauty and how sad it is that Lindsey did not have her sisters looks. This is a scar within Lindsey that stays with her long into adult hood.
For many reasons, the book spoke to me and I flew through the pages enjoying the well-developed characters and story line. I finished the final pages while sitting in Central Park in New York.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
So…. on to some other good stuff! I met Sarah Pekkanen at BEA in New York where she picked up me and Kathy (Bermuda Onion) for a tour of Simon and Schuster. The tour was so fantastic. We were escorted past security up into the editor’s office where we sat and heard about the publishing process. On the back shelf was a pile of papers that were to become books soon. Sarah’s next book was in that pile (lower left side) labeled as “Sarah Pekkanen – no name”. SQUEEE!
Books to be.... how fascinating!
We were each given a bag of books that was super exciting! They are being shipped but off the top of my head I remember there is a Jennifer Weiner book or two in the bag as well as about 6 others.
Then we walked through to peek at some of the offices and a wall that had all the book covers from every book they have published. For someone like me who loves book covers…. I wanted to touch them all! They were gorgeous! (did I mention I wanted to touch them?)
Look at all those gorgeous covers!
After the tour we went back to the Javits Center and Sarah joined us at the Book Blogger Reception. She also gave us signed copies of her book and enough for my roommates and – enough to do a give away for two signed copies! The giveaway will be announced soon, the books are being shipped to me with my other BEA stash and I want to have them in hand before I post the giveaway.
My final thoughts on the book is that Sarah Pekkanen is an author to keep an eye on. She has two more books coming up and I will be watching for them and will keep you informed as well!
For a New York glossary of coffee terms check here
377 pages
Cover Story: Its good – the two girls facing away from the cover is a good way to show they are the same yet different. You can not see their faces and it leads into the book well.
I purchased my copy of this book at Barnes and Noble
Que the Rocky Theme. Can you hear it? If not, mosey on down to the bottom of this post and hit play on the video so you can have the music to go along with the theme of this post.
I’ll wait…………………………………………………………………………..
Picture it… I have been working hard to get caught up on the reviews for the books that I have finished and wait for me in a pile. I read and read and add them to a pile. “Review me! Review me!” their little voices cry, but I have procrastinated and busied myself with other things…. and the pile grew and grew….
And now… I am Review Conqueror Girl (picture blue tights, a red cape, and a large coffee cup). I am able to review tall piles of books in a single swipe of my keyboard! Ok…. maybe not a single swipe of the keyboard, but you get the picture. I am moving forward.
Today I will be posting my review of The Opposite of Me as well as my wonderful meeting with author Sarah Pekkanen. I will also be posting my review for The Girls From Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow.
Have an awesome and productive day – I hit the gym tread mill this morning and this afternoon I am rollerblading with my friend Wendy!
This is one of the highlights of the BEA week (and there were so many wonderful things to BEA that this comment is not to be taken lightly). The time with Adriana Trigiani on Wednesday May was….. magical.
Let me back up a bit and let you know how this all came to be.
In February a contest was being held through TLC Book Tours. To be a part of it I was asked as well as many other bloggers to review the first two books in Adriana’s Valentine series – Very Valentine and Brava Valentine. Having read her before and enjoyed her first in Viola in Reel Life , a review I gushed about, I said yes. We were to read and review both books by a certain date and then be entered into a chance to have tea with Adriana while in New York for BEA.
I was one of 6 bloggers that won this chance to have tea with Adriana and I was (and still am) so excited!!!! Adriana (pronounced A-dree-on-uh Tree-johnny) was a blast. She picked us up at the Javits in a limo.
Yes. A limo.
Woo Hoo!!! 😀
We went to a wonderful place called Alice’s teacup where our group was escorted upstairs to a beautifully made table with a set of Adriana’s books wrapped in ribbon and with a card as our place setting. The tea was fantastic and we were introduced to three yummy flavors from a chocolate strawberry tea that was smooth and silky to one that had milk and honey that was creamy and delicious.
Over finger sandwiches and melt in your mouth scones ( I think we agreed the pumpkin was to die for!), as well as a variety of other treats, Adriana chatted with us about the upcoming books to movies (SQUEE!!!) and who is planned to play what role. So exciting!!!
We had so much fun with Adriana – she is down to earth, extremely funny and real. I enjoyed my time with her and the other book bloggers. I am excited to read more of her books and have been recommended many times to read her Big Stone Gap Series, which I plan to do this summer.
Whew! I am up and active, just took me a bit longer to put together what I wanted to this morning then I thought it would. That’s me eternal optimist….LOL 😀
This morning, with the help of Coffee Cup (x3), I attempted to put together a slide show of my New York pics. Yesterday afternoon I posted my BEA recap (check it if you haven’t – it was fun!), but I couldn’t put all my pictures in that post so here is the slide version.
Later I am posting the Tea with Adriana event so don’t miss that – I know my post wont do it justice, but I am going to try.
Have a super day – it is gorgeous here in central Minnesota. I rollerbladed 8 miles yesterday with me friend Wendy (I missed that while I was gone!) and hope to get in some biking later this afternoon.
Ok…. so it is not really on a stick. I just said that. In Minnesota our joke about our State Fair each year is that you can get just about anything on a stick. And it is true. You can even get a deep-fried candy bar – on a stick. I do not kid. And BEA dipped in chocolate would be wonderful… but I digress…
BEA was an event that will stay with me forever. My first time to New York. My first encounter with anything bookish that is so big and soooooo amazing. I will try to give it justice in this post and hopefully not leave out anything.
Sunday May 23
I arrived in New York in the morning with Reagan from Miss Remmers Reviews. We taxied to our hotel and were able to turn in our luggage but not check in yet. SO – we did what those in New York do….. we walked. We walked down to Time Square (just a few blocks from our hotel) and down to Central Park which was gorgeous! We walked into the park… and around within the park and upon stepping out of the park we promptly took a right turn instead of a left and walked 30 blocks out of our way. After catching our error – we turned around and walked the 30+ blocks back and then rewarded ourselves with a yummy lunch before finding our way back to the hotel.
Sunday evening Esme (Chocolates and Croissants) rolled into New York and we all went out to eat together and made our introductions.
Central Park
Monday May 24
We spend the morning and early afternoon checking out New York. Around 3 pm we head to Strand Book Store, home to 18 miles of books. We then stop for frozen Yogurt on our way to the Jefferson Library for the Teen Author Carnival – 30 authors and 3 different categories and panels. This was a lot of fun to listen to the authors and purchase books.
Frozen Yogurt StopAuthor panel Me and - do you know who this is? 😉Amy (My Friend Amy) me, and Natasha (Maw Books)
After the event, we stopped at Olive Garden on the way back to our hotel. Since my readers told me I could not go to chain restaurants while in New York we decided that we could cover it up by changing its name….. so we called it Evilo Dengar (Olive Garden in code).
After dinner we asked the hostess how to hail a cab. I asked if we were to stand out in front of it and she laughed and said only if I wanted to be ran over. She came outside with us and taught us how to wave down a cab. That was really funny. The cab driver told us that even though she told us to wave that was touristy and we were to hold our hand out straight as that is how the professionals do it. (Already we are learning so much!)
Reagan hails a cab
Tuesday May 25
Up early we went to the Javits Center to sit in on a discussion on the Value Of A Book and panel. Afterward we had seen on Twitter that the Class of 2010 Debut authors were going to be at the Javits Center in the lounge. Reagan, Esme, and I went to see what that was about and I am so glad we did. We were the only ones to show up so we had these authors all to ourselves. They gave us t shirts and swag and we talked to them for over an hour. It was a blast!
Me and the class of 2010Signed Book!!!
After this, Esme decided to go explore and Reagan and I decided to go read in Central Park. We went back to our hotel and changed, grabbed our books and off we went. It was a beautiful day and I finished The Opposite Of Me while in the park.
Me, Reagan, Esme
Me reading in the parkReagan reading in Central Park
From there we went back to the hotel, cleaned up and started our walk to the Class of 2010 Author Event. This was a blast! It was many of the same authors we had met this morning, and more. After they shared about their books, we had a chance to buy books and have them signed.
After the signing, we met some other Bloggers and a group of 12 of us went out to dinner. (How super cool is that?) It was so much fun to get to meet a few of the people who’s blogs I read as well as a few that were new to me but I will be sure to check out!
Wednesday May 26
Up at 5 am to go the Javits for the tickets for author signings. Reagan and I went to this, for me mainly just to experience this early excitement. We did well and the line was still short when we got there. (Our hotel was 5 blocks from the Javits so it was within walking distance and the weather was perfect).
Early bird gets the ticket...
After that craziness I grabbed a cup of coffee and hung out in the lounge and waited for the doors to the event floor to open. When they did – seriously look out. I think I was drove by a heard of people to a booth where they slapped a book in my hand and I had to fight my way out of the crowd. (Note to self….next year, stand back until the crowd clears).
It’s hard to explain what this was like – other than to say it is a book lovers paradise. Publishing Houses and authors galore, I tossed my agenda to the wayside and decided just to experience BEA. I met with the Publishers that send me books, talked about upcoming releases, made new connections and picked up books along the way. I mailed one box home before 2 pm when I was to meet with Author, Adriana Trigiani.
I sam not going to go into a lot about the authors tea that I enjoyed with 5 other fabulous bloggers as that is my Wednesday post (stay tuned tomorrow for that one!). I will however let you know it was FABULOUS… and let you have one teaser photo:
Adriana and I
After the tea we went back to the Javits where I walked around tired and happy until Reagan was ready to walk back to our hotel. We quickly changed and were off to the Book Blogger Get Together sponsored by Harper Collins – and it was amazing!!!
Alison (Alison's Book Marks) and I
**Note: I am not giving you all the pics I have – there are too many, I am just giving samples here and plan to do a slideshow yet this week of all my pics.
After this fun meet up I went to dinner with Reagan, Heather (Age 30+ a Lifetime Of Books), and Barbara from Reading Group Choices. We had a blast chatting and chatting and what I thought would be an early night, was not…. and I had a blast.
Thursday, May 27
Reagan had left at 4 am to catch her plane back to Minneapolis as she had a wedding she was in. Late night on Wednesday so did not push myself to get up super early. We got to the convention center around 9 am. Again we separated and off I went to see all the booths I did not the day before. A second box of books was building downstairs in the UPS center with my name on it.
At 2 pm I met Sarah Pekkanen (woo hoo!) when she picked up Kathy (Bermuda Onion) and I for a tour of Simon and Schuster Publishing. This was a great experience and I am not going to go into great details as this is my Thursday post along with the review of Sarah;s book, Opposite Of Me. However, I will share a sneak peek picture:
Books to be printed (Sarah's next book is on this wall - lower left corner!)
After the tour we went back to the Center for the Book Blogger Reception from 4 – 6 pm. This was also a lot of fun, more bloggers to meet and the exchanging of business cards was happening left and right. There were also many authors in this reception and I had a wonderful time mingling with them as well. At the end of this event my roomies and I had an invite to dinner with a couple authors and publishers. I also met my two new roomies at this event – Care from Care’s OnLine Book Club and Kim from Sophisticated Dorkiness. They were so much fun!
Me, Sarah Pekkanen, and Heather (30+ A Lifetime of Books)
Friday, May 28
The Book Blogger Convention was today and this was so cool. They had a wonderful breakfast set up for us and there was a bit of social time before the convention started.
Pre Convention breakfast
The convention itself was informative and fun. I wrote a lot of notes and appreciated hearing the different panel speakers share topic discussions such as social justice, marketing, Bloggers and Authors, Integrity and Ethics, and more. This was a great wrap up to the week.
That evening we were invited to join a group of 22 bloggers for dinner and we had excellent food and company!
My yummy dinnerKim, me, and Carrie (The Roomies)Amy, Nicole, Kim, and CarrieFriday night dinner with Bloggers
I can’t describe what this entire event was like. It was bigger and better than I had imagined. The Book Bloggers are an incredible group of people and I enjoyed my time with each of them.
Saturday, May 29
When I booked my trip to New York I had agreed to stay one day extra to do a show with Esme (Chocolates and Croissants). I wish I had a picture of the two of us but I do not. We went to lunch with Carrie and Kim in the late morning before they left. We then went and saw the King Tut exhibit which was really interesting.
After a nap (me) and shopping (Esme) we went out to eat at a wonderful restaurant called Yum Yum. It was Thai food and it was… well… yum yum. Then we went to the show Mama Mia which was a perfect ending to an amazing week.
King Tut ExhibitMama Mia - highly recommended!
Thank you to everyone I met during this time in New York. I had so much fun and will probably be floating around my home town for the next several weeks. (Maybe months) 😀
Book Journey 