Hasta La Vista Lola! by Misa Ramirez – GIVEAWAY

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)63 Comments

When Lola comes home to her parents’ house to find a horde of relatives mourning her death, no one is more surprised than she is. The news had reported that one Lola Cruz, PI was found murdered in an alley, causing great alarm in the Cruz family. Before Lola can say “boo,” a cop comes to the house. It turns out the dead woman had a driver’s license with Lola’s information. Between avoiding an unsavory ex-boyfriend, sorting out mixed signals from the very interested but not yet committed Jack Callaghan, and filling in as a waitress at her parents’ Mexican restaurant, Lola tries to find out who the woman was and why she stole her identity. Was the woman hiding from someone who meant her harm, or is there someone out there who wants Lola dead?

This follow-up to Ramirez’s debut novel, Living the Vida Lola, is a red-hot, fun-filled mystery. Lola, a black belt in kung fu who loves to salsa dance, makes for a sexy, unique, and vivacious detective.


I read this book in late 2009 and loved the wonderful, full of life character that is Lola.  Starting out by walking in on her own wake.  Yes – her own wake!  And the craziness does not stop there… page by page you fall in love with this fun loving family and everything they bring along with them.

I really picked up on a Janet Evanovich “Stephanie Plum” type vibe in this book so if you are a fan of the great Evanovich series, I believe you will be rolling with laughter at this one as well.

My Amazon Rating


So… enough already… how can you enter to win this book?

Lola is a modern American woman of the Latina Heritage.  She is smart and fun and if you were the winner of this book let me know the setting of where you would “virtually” be reading this book and what delicious beverage is in your hand?  (IE… perhaps you are on the deck of a cruise ship drinking the best frosty raspberry iced tea you have ever had the pleasure of tasting…)  This question must be answered to be entered in this giveaway.

For all that work on the first entry all there bonus entries?  (optional)

Of course!  Subscribe to this blog – upper right sidebar, and receive two extra entries – let me know in a separate comment here

For another entry – blog or tweet about this giveaway and let me know in a separate comment here

That’s it!  USA and Canada entries only please.  This giveaway will end on April 19th.

Have fun!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)110 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:

ATHS

Woo hoo ATHS!  Please pick something out of the gift box and email me at journeythroughbooks@gmail.com with your choice!

Here is what I accomplished last week:

Women In Leadership Month – Meet Anne Frank

The Bride Collector by Ted Dekker (review) spooky and good!

Balancing Acts by Zoe Fishman (review)

April Challenge – my challenge addition for April… check it out!  🙂

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani (Review)  – Love Trigiani!!!

12 x 12 Reading Challenge for April (I am hosting this month and actually forgot!  Yipes!)

The Fiddler’s Gun by A.S. Peterson (review)  *Fantastic book!

Worst Case (audio) by James Patterson -3 to giveaway!

And whats brewing this week?

I am finishing up Titanic 2012 and I really want to finish the Michael Sullivan series (I am almost done with the 2nd book)that I have been working on the last three+ weeks.  That is my goal for the week….

AND…. If all goes brilliantly well and somehow I get through these books…. my goal going into the weekend (with the Readathon on Saturday)… I am cruising right into these books:

With the Readathon this Saturday I am really excited to see what you are all planning to read if you are participating.    Be sure to use the Mr. McKLinky below to link your post.

Powered by MckLinky

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

Worst Case by James Patterson (Audio Giveaway)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Thank you Hachette – I am in the mood for a giveaway and Hachette has allowed me to have three of these audios to do so!

Best case: Survival
The son of one of New York’s wealthiest families is snatched off the street and held hostage. His parents can’t save him, because this kidnapper isn’t demanding money. Instead, he quizzes his prisoner on the price others pay for his life of luxury. In this exam, wrong answers are fatal.

Worst case: Death
Detective Michael Bennett leads the investigation. With ten kids of his own, he can’t begin to understand what could lead someone to target anyone’s children. As another student disappears, another powerful family uses their leverage and connections to turn up the heat on the mayor, the press—anyone who will listen—to stop this killer. Their reach extends all the way to the FBI, which sends its top Abduction Specialist, Agent Emily Parker. Bennett’s life—and love life—suddenly get even more complicated.

This case: Detective Michael Bennett is on it
Before Bennett has a chance to protest the FBI’s intrusion on his case, the mastermind changes his routine. His plan leads up to the most devastating demonstration yet—one that could bring cataclysmic ruin to every inch of New York City. From the shocking first page to the last exhilarating scene, Worst Case is a nonstop thriller from “America’s #1 storyteller” (Forbes).


I am currently listening to this audio in my car and really enjoying it!

How To Enter

Leave a comment here answering this question:  If James Patterson came toy our house for dinner, what are you serving? (1 entry and you must answer question for other entries to count)

Bonus Entries

For an additional 2 entries – be a subscriber to this blog (upper right sidebar) – new or old and let me know in a separate comment

For another entry – blog or tweet about this giveaway and let me know in a separate comment here


There you go!  A possibility of 4 entries.  Giveaway will be on until April 20th.  USA and Canada only entries.


In My Mailbox

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)42 Comments

Another week – another mailbox! Thank you Kristi from the Story Siren for hosting this fun meme that helps me to keep track of what came in my home and when. I use this weekly recap to capture anything bookish that has come into my home…. by mailbox, by purchases, by Library, gift…. whatever. 🙂


 Here is what has entered my home this week:

When nurse Hanne Abrahamsen impulsively shields Steffen Petersen from a nosy Gestapo agent, she’s convinced the Lutheran pastor is involved in the Danish Underground. Nothing could be further from the truth. But truth is hard to come by in the fall of 1943, when Copenhagen is placed under Martial Law and Denmark’s Jews—including Hanne—suddenly face deportation to the Nazi prison camp at Terezin, Czechoslovakia. Days darken and danger mounts. Steffen’s faith deepens as he takes greater risks to protect Hanne. But are either of them willing to pay the ultimate price for their love?

Mason has never known his father, but longs to. All he has of him is a DVD of a man whose face is never seen, reading a children’s book. One day, on a whim, he plays the DVD for a group of comatose teens at the nursing home where his mother works. One of them, a beautiful girl, responds. Mason learns she is part of an experiment intended to render teenagers into autotrophs—genetically engineered, self-sustaining life-forms who don’t need food or water to survive. And before he knows it, Mason is on the run with the girl, and wanted, dead or alive, by the mysterious mastermind of this horrible plan, who is simply called the Gardener.

Will Mason be forced to destroy the thing he’s longed for most?

A chance encounter with a stranger in an airplane sends Elyse Bearden into an emotional tailspin. Suddenly, Elyse is willing to risk everything: her safe but stale marriage, her seemingly perfect life in an affluent Southern suburb, and her position in the church. As Elyse embarks on a risky affair, her longtime friend Kelly and the other women in their book club begin to question their own decisions about love, sex, marriage, and freedom. In the end it will take an extraordinary leap of faith for Elyse to find–and follow–her own path to happiness.

Luke Davis finds himself the “prize” in an outrageous competition for his hand. Is this any way to find a wife?

PuRcHaSeS

Henry York never dreamed his time in Kansas would open a door to adventure—much less a hundred doors. But a visit to his aunt and uncle’s farm took an amazing turn when cupboard doors, hidden behind Henry’s bedroom wall, revealed themselves to be portals to other worlds. Now, with his time at the farm drawing to a close, Henry makes a bold decision—he must go through the cupboards to find the truth about where he’s from and who his parents are. Following that trail will take him from one world to another, and ultimately into direct conflict with the evil of Endor.

When Henry York found 99 cupboards hidden behind his bedroom wall, he never dreamed they were doors to entirely new worlds! Unfortunately, Henry’s discovery freed an ancient, undying witch, whose hunger for power would destroy every world connected to the cupboards–and every person whom Henry loves. Henry must seek out the legendary Chestnut King for help. Everything has a price, however, and the Chestnut King’s desire may be as dangerous as the witch herself.

N. D. Wilson concludes a remarkable, worlds-spanning journey that began with one boy and one hundred avenues to adventure.


Three years ago, Sophie Mercer discovered that she was a witch. It’s gotten her into a few scrapes. Her non-gifted mother has been as supportive as possible, consulting Sophie’s estranged father-an elusive European warlock-only when necessary. But when Sophie attracts too much human attention for a prom-night spell gone horribly wrong, it’s her dad who decides her punishment: exile to Hex Hall, an isolated reform school for wayward Prodigium, a.k.a. witches, faeries, and shapeshifters.

By the end of her first day among fellow freak-teens, Sophie has quite a scorecard: three powerful enemies who look like supermodels, a futile crush on a gorgeous warlock, a creepy tagalong ghost, and a new roommate who happens to be the most hated person and only vampire on campus. Worse, Sophie soon learns that a mysterious predator has been attacking students, and her only friend is the number-one suspect.

As a series of blood-curdling mysteries starts to converge, Sophie prepares for the biggest threat of all: an ancient secret society determined to destroy all Prodigium, especially her.


LiBrArY

Inside little blue envelope 1 are $1,000 and instructions to buy a plane ticket.

In envelope 2 are directions to a specific London flat.

The note in envelope 3 tells Ginny: Find a starving artist.

Because of envelope 4, Ginny and a playwright/thief/ bloke–about–town called Keith go to Scotland together, with somewhat disastrous–though utterly romantic–results. But will she ever see him again?

Everything about Ginny will change this summer, and it’s all because of the 13 little blue envelopes.

That’s my Mailbox!  I am excited to see what came in yours!  🙂

Oh, and join me on Monday for It’s Monday, What Are You Reading?  We have so much fun !!!

The Fiddlers Gun by A.S. Peterson

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments


America is on the brink of war with England, and Fin Button is about to come undone. She’s had it with the dull life of the orphanage, and she’s ready to marry Peter and get away from rules, chores, and a life looked after by the ever-watchful Sister Hilde. But an unexpected friendship forms between Fin and the fiddle-playing cook, Bartimaeus, which sets her on a course for revolution.

With Bart’s beloved fiddle and haunting blunderbuss as her only possessions, Fin discovers her first taste of freedom as a sailor aboard the Rattlesnake. She’s hiding some dark secrets, but there are bigger problems for the crew—they are on the run from the Royal Navy, and whispers of mutiny are turning the captain into a tyrant.

When Fin finally returns home, will she find Peter still waiting, or will she find that she’s lost everything she once held dear?


I have been a long time fan of The Rabbit Room.  I love everything it stands for, and the people who frequent it with delightful posts and quirky down to earth comments…. it is a luxury for me to lurk there… occasionally coming out of the shadows to post a comment on something I feel passionate about.

Who knew that passionate comment would be about a book…. a book called The Fiddler’s Gun?  Certainly not me.

When I initially read about The Fiddler’s Gun in a little post at The Rabbit Room something about the book called to me.  The title…. holds mystery.  What could the Fiddler’s Gun be?  Who is the Fiddler?

So my adventure began.  I entered totally unprepared for what I would find within the pages of this book.  If I should have brought a weapon (and in hindsight perhaps I should have) after all, was I not entering into a war?

And with that – I leaped into the book and met an unlikely lady, Fin, who was more tom boy than girl…. more so just one of the guys and liked it that way at the orphanage she called home.  Usually clad in dirty clothes with a dirty face and hair – I instantly took a liking to her… she reminded me of the tomboy I was growing up.  “Go Team Fin!”

Phineas Button is her full name and she is the 13th female born in a family where her father really really wanted a boy.  This is how we find Fin within a few pages of this read at the orphanage.  You can imagine what a chip this girl carries on her shoulders.

Along with Fin, entered her sidekick in all things prankish, Peter, a beloved friend and confidant Bartimaeus who hold secrets that reach beyond the pages of this book, and a couple of Nun Sisters who try as they may could not mold Fin into who they felt she should be.   And within this motley crew of character…. a story blooms…

I don’t want to give too much away so I am just going to tell you there is a lot of action, fantastic and well developed characters, pirates, and…. oops… I have said to much 😉

Written is an adventurous way, this book wove its way into my heart with a little bit of laughter along the way, and in the end, even a few tears.  I look forward with eager anticipation to the conclusion of this story and answering the questions I am so eager for answers to, in The Fiddler’s Green.

You can purchase your copy of this book here at The Rabbit Room

The Fiddler’s Gun is available to book clubs with some special bonuses. There’s a study guide for download on the website, each book club gets bookmarks specially printed with the name of the club, as well as free digital copies of the companion book The Fiddler’s Gun: Letters which is a compilation of letters, log entries, and other interesting items telling of further adventures of Fin and her crew during the storyline of the main book, there is also a special link where book club members can purchase the book for $4 off the cover price, or to save on shipping, clubs can order in bulk.


MY AMAZON RATING

I received my copy for review from the author

12 x 12 Reading Challenge

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)26 Comments

Oh, bad challenge host….bad!!!  I totally forgot this was my month to host this challenge so I am two days late getting this post up and I apologize…..  thank you to klibrary on twitter who gently reminded this spacey blogger…. :O

The idea behind this 12 by 12 Reading Challenge came from two bloggers, Pizza’s Book Discussion in 2009 and FOMA’s National Just Read More Novel’s Month 2010. There will be twelve book bloggers, each hosting their own Just Read More Novel’s Month throughout 2010.

Participants can join in one, two, or all twelve of these separate reading challenges. Each month starts a brand new reading challenge. And the goal? To simply read more novels. Each of us will follow the guidelines set for January’s NaJuReMoNoMo.

The rules are whatever you want to make of them, but here are the guidelines the creator of NaJuReMoNoMo goes by:

1. Must Be A Novel. Works of fiction only, please. Memoirs, non-fiction, how-to books, and Garfield collections don’t count.

2. Memoirs Aren’t Novels. No matter how made up the story, anything ostensibly true isn’t a novel. Also known as The James Frey Rule.

3. Start and Finish in February.

4. Re-reading Doesn’t Count. Try something new. Read something by your favorite author or try an entirely new author or tackle that novel you have always wanted to read.

5. Have Fun. Nobody is grading you or paying you or judging you. Read what you like and like what you read.


Some of you had questions about the rules/guidelines. The rules are whatever you want to make of them.

If you can’t participate in this one, maybe you can in the one or more of the months ahead. Below is a list of book blogs and the month each will be host to.

J. Kaye’s Book Blog hosted February.
Alaine – Queen of Happy Endings hosted March.
One Person’s Journey Through a World of Books is hosting April.
Page Turners is hosting May.
Misfit Salon is hosting June.
Good Books & Wine is hosting July.
Bookworming in the 21st Century is hosting August.
Bibliofreak is hosting September.
Book Crazy is hosting October.
Teens Read & Write is hosting November.
My Life in not so many Words is hosting December.

For book bloggers who would like to participate, create a post for your challenge. Feel free to use the button or make your own. Please link back to this post using McKLinky so that others can find their way here.

For non-bloggers, keep a list of novels you read in April and post that list during the wrap-up post at the end of the month.

Powered by MckLinky

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

Morning Meanderings and March Recap (winners)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments


Good morning all.  Super gloomy weather wise here today.  I was planning to hit the gym this morning but looking out the window zapped me of all energy.  That ever happen to you?

So instead…  I have a review of The Fiddlers Gun to write today and hopefully have some time to get deep into a couple other books if not finish one.  I think I will hang around the house most of the day catching up on laundry, and a few other tasks that need to be done.

I thought that I would use todays meandering to also recap last month and the winners for March.  So here we go:

Last month I had 15,894 visitors.  A record month here!

There were 1,145 comments here – not counting my comments (of course) or giveaway post comments

Top posts for the month of March were:

  1. The It’s Monday What Are You Reading Posts

  2. Oh Snap!  Guess What I got?

  3. What’s In A Name?

  4. SPOILER ALERT PAGE:  Lightning Thief Book vs. Lightning Thief movie

The 4 random winners from the march drawing are:

#96  Stephanie N

#791 L Hartness

# 804 Bermuda Onion

#860 Esme

These four winners get to choose an item out of the Gift Box! Email me your choice along with your address (USA/Canada only please) and I will get your gift in the mail to you!  🙂

And the top commenter for March 2010, and winner of the $20 Amazon Gift Card is:

Wordlily !!!

Congratulations everyone!

Along with our usual $20 gift card to top commenter and random winners – be sure to take a look at the April Challenge!

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)25 Comments

Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia. Very Valentine is the first novel in a trilogy and is sure to be the new favorite of Trigiani’s millions of fans around the world.

In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family’s old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin.

While juggling a budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother to learn new techniques and seek one-of-a-kind materials for building a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. There, in Tuscany, Naples, and on the Isle of Capri, a family secret is revealed as Valentine discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life and the family business upside down in ways she never expected. Very Valentine is a sumptuous treat, a journey of dreams fulfilled, a celebration of love and loss filled with Trigiani’s trademark heart and humor.


I first met author Adiana Trigiani within the pages of Viola In Reel Life.  I was reading the at book last fall in a group discussion and fell in love with her writing style.  When the offer came along to review Very Valentine, I was sold as soon as I seen the word Trigiani.

First off I have to say shoe lovers, this is a book for you!   Can you imagine making custom wedding shoes?  I would love to just tour a place like that!  And what is not to love about a large Italian family?  Just reading this I am filled with the visions of homes filled with laughter and love, and spicy scents of food always cooking.  Coming form a very small family – this scene in my head becomes very “Norman Rockwellesque”.

I mentioned food and I love a book filled with food.  These are the type of books I like for book club because we can then potluck around the food items.  Very Valentine not only fills my ead with delicious thoughts…. but also provides the recipes in the back of the book!  Right there made my decision to recommend this read for our next Book Club Meeting.

Truly an enjoyable read with wonderful characters.  Adriana has a gift with her writing and reading about her makes me think she would be just a wonderful full of life person who I would enjoy hanging out with.  These are my people.  🙂


Adriana was raised in a small coal mining town in southwest Virginia in a big Italian family. She chose her hometown for the setting and title of her debut novel, the critically acclaimed and bestselling Big Stone Gap, followed by the sequels Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon, and the fall 2006 release Home to Big Stone Gap. Lucia, Lucia, The Queen of the Big Time, Rococo and Very Valentine were all instant New York Times bestsellers. Adriana’s novels have been translated and sold in over 30 countries around the world.

Adriana also teamed up with her family in 2005 to pen Cooking With My Sisters, which was co-authored by her sister Mary, with contributions from their sisters and mom; the cookbook-memoir features recipes and stories dating back a hundred years from both sides of their Italian-American family.

Reading Group Guide

I received my review copy from TLC Book Tours



April Challenge

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)9 Comments

When I thought of how to do this challenge I really liked the concept of giving up something I enjoy for one month, and putting that money aside to help someone else.  However, when it came time for me to write my post… I struggled.  Not on the cause to give to – the charities and causes I believe in are numerous and I was not at lack of ideas for that part.  I struggled on the what to give up.

I enjoy coffee, but I make it at home and hardly ever go into a coffee shop.  I am not a big pop drinker, and I am not a smoker.  I thought about giving up book purchases for a month, but wasn’t sure how to monitor that.  I don’t buy a lot of shoes.

I do however – cave in for snacks, baked chips, candy, McDonalds Hot Fudge Sundaes…..     so that is what I am giving up for a month.  Whenever I crave a snacky item…. instead of giving in, the money instead will go into a jar for the cause.  I am afraid I may scare myself with how much I may spend in a month on snacky items.

My cause for the month is going to be Wild And Free.   Wild and Free is a non-profit organization, is dedicated to the education of the public regarding wildlife and their habitat, and relieving the pain and suffering of wild animals. Professional and humane care is provided in efforts to preserve our local wildlife.  We are a non-profit organization, supported entirely by grants and donations and the many hours donated by a talented group of volunteers. Wild and Free receives no federal or state funding for any portion of our program. We provide food, shelter, medical and surgical care to orphaned or injured wildlife under permits from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

This otter was captured by a cat and was injured

I have always had a soft spot in my heart for suffering and animals are no exception.   We have used Wild and Free personally twice.  One time about 4 years ago we were on our way to a football banquet for our son in a snow storm and on the highway by our driveway was a pigeon that would not fly.  I shooed him off the road so he did not get hit by a car and we went on our way.  That night when we came home he was on our back deck hiding in the leaves that had gathered under our outdoor grill.  I put on big gloves, caught him, put him in a large box in our entryway for the night and in the morning took him to Wild And Free.  They do not charge for their services, but appreciate donations.  They fixed his broken wing, and brought him back to our house when he was healed to be released.  It was an amazing experience.

This baby owls nest was blown out of a tree and he was injured.

Orphaned baby deer
Orphaned baby kesrels - all from the same nest

Orphaned baby foxes

I hope you will consider joining me in this challenge.  Click here for more details.

Morning Meanderings…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

Did anyone else pick up on the fact that is was April Fools Day yesterday?  I knew it was April 1st, but much like St Patricks Day I didnt really consider the holiday.

Never fear…. Brett who works in the office with me did not forget.  In fact, I am pretty sure he was looking forward to April 1st.  Take a look here at the office I walked into yesterday morning:

Foiled again!  Well… not again, really first time.  🙂

So this morning I am off to the gym, have a couple meetings, possibly a bike ride if the weather looks good and then hopefully home with book in later afternoon. Later today I will post my April Challenge – what I will be doing this month.  If you haven’t looked at this challenge yet, I hope you do and I hope you consider joining me.

Tomorrow I help sort the Mini Challenge Hosts for the Readathon on April 10th.  If you are out of the loop on this, jump in the loop!  Here is the link to the readathon info, and here is the link to sign up to be a Mini Challenge Host.

Any big Easter Weekend plans?