Pondering Moment: How Do You Read So Many Books?

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)71 Comments

Not sure if this will become an occasional meme or not but there are a few questions that I get asked time and time again and this is one of them.


How Do I Read So Many Books?


Well, I am not a speed reader.  If anything I am a thorough reader.  By that I mean if I am reading along and suddenly something happens in the book that makes me go, “Wait a minute… I thought….”  I will actually back track through the book to make sure I am fully understanding.

The only way I can read what I do is that I feel I have an unusual life.  What do I mean?  Well, there are many things that take the place of reading time for others that I don’t have – such as:

  • We had our kids young.  Most of my friends still have kids at home.  We do not.  Our boys are 19 and 22.  The 19 year old goes to college 3 hours away and the 22 year old is in the Navy.
  • My work schedule is flexible.  We own our own business and I help out with payroll and invoices, but I can do that anytime, at midnight if I want to.  Other than that, we have office personal to handle the day to day stuff.  I work at our church office as the Office Manager 3 days a week from 9 – 2, Tues, Wed, Thurs.  I have long weekends.
  • My husband – works a lot!  He loves it!  He is out of the house by 5 am and back home usually around 6 – 8 pm.  He eats dinner, watches a little tv and is usually in bed by 9 pm.

All of these things factor into my reading time.  I prefer to read over watch tv so from the time Al goes to bed, until I do (about 1 am) I usually read.  If its a really good book… I have stayed up later!  🙂  I sometimes have a little reading time in the afternoon after work.  Weekends, if Al is working, I am usually reading once I have house work done.  If we travel to our cabin, he drives, I read for the 3 1/2 hour road trip…. if I drive, we listen to audio books.

There is an audio going in my vehicle at almost all times.  I prefer the story to music.  Sometimes, like the one I am listening to now, is getting so good – I will have to bring it in the house and listen to it while I prepare dinner.   Wherever I go, I have a book.  There is always a book in my car and/or in my purse.  Trains, long stop lights, waiting at appointments…. I am never bored.  When I work out on the tread mill or elliptical, I am reading.

I don’t read every day – but almost.  It is my absolute favorite pastime.  With winter here – I do not have the bike events like I do Spring thru Fall so I have even more time.

How about you – when and where do you read?

Do you have certain times of day or rituals to your reading schedule?

Do you read several books at once or do you have one going at a time?

In My Mailbox

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)26 Comments

Ahhh… it is that time of the week where I get to review what bookish items have come into my home.  This weekly meme is hosted by Kristi from the  Story Siren (who by the way celebrated two years of blogging this week!)

Ok… I cant wait so lets look shall we?

Shaunti Feldham is an incredible author.  Her book For Women Only was incredibly inspiring to me.   I was so excited to see that she has this new book available!!


I have drooled over this book since I first seen it and now here it is – in my home!  Par-tay in da house!   I have never read Nelson DeMille so this is going to be a real treat!


Dear John by Nicholas Sparks promises to be a great read.  I received this in audio last week and now to have it in book form too….. AWESOME!


This is a January blog tour that I am a little pumped to look into.   As busy and stressed out as I have been lately, this book may be just the pick me I need to get me back on track in the new year.


I read Pamela Samuelson for the first time earlier this year and loved her style.  Now I have a chance to join forces with her again in her new book, Buying Time.  Oh yeah – that’s a book mark over to the right…… uh huh.


Woo Hoo!  Now here’s a book that I opened up the pack age to today and was super excited!  Author of the Ya Ya Sisterhood (which of course I loved!)


And check this out!  I won not one, not two, but three giveaways for December at J Kaye’s blog!  Not only did that super rock – but they area all audio too which has become my favorite car pastime.  Thank you J Kaye!

There it is – My Mailbox.  What did you get in yours?  Be sure to stop over at Story Siren’s Blog and link your post! 😉

Morning Meanderings…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

So here is the result of my super woman attempts this week to be all that I can be and get up early and work out with my friend Jenifer at 6:00 am daily:   A for effort……  D- for over all results

I had no idea how much that would throw off my schedule.  Or maybe it is just the wrong time of year but I really ended up feeling I was being pulled like taffy in 20 different directions.  I had to stop and review my week since last Friday:

  • Friday – worked out, worked, Builders Christmas Party

  • Saturday – oil change, picked up Chance, met Justin in St Cloud for a day of hanging out (hour from home) Justin  is now home from college until mid January

  • Sunday – All day all Brad, then drove Brad in a snow storm to Fargo ( 2 1/2 hours away) to get him to where he needed to be to catch his plane on Monday for boot camp.  Drove back (another 2 1/2 hours) in snow storm home about 11:30 pm.

  • Monday – one of our trucks break down so I have to drive to St Cloud to bring back the driver of the truck (another road trip).  Dinner that evening with friends where we giggled and talked a lot and I didnt get back home until after 9 pm

  • Tuesday- Up to start the workouts with Jennifer and meet her at 6:30 am only to find out I should have been there at 6.  Worked in office all day, home work, dinner, shot.

  • Wednesday – up to do the 6 am thing, in office by 8 (pretty impressive!) working on large project that has to be done this week, stay late, get home, son wants to hang out and do a movie, so I scrap my evening plan (because we do anything for our kids!) and go to a movie with him then come home and hang out with him until I drop – but want him to drop first.

  • Thursday – 6 am workout…. in office by 8 am (yay – but a tired yay!) huge project includes a mail merge, 1200 names…. not going well, needs to hit the mail on Friday and I wind up staying in office until 5 pm.  Rush then to get pizza for my hubby as I have not planned dinner, up until almost midnight.

I tell you all this because I have to share with you the result of my super woman attempt.  I was in the office yesterday early (as stated) and being the first one in the office I made the coffee, did a little straightening, etc.  Around noon, I realized I had been so busy I had skipped my morning oatmeal which is a a daily ritual for me.  I go back in the office kitchen and proceed to put the oatmeal in a coffee filter.  Yup.  I did not pull out a bowl…. but put it in the coffee filter.

Unbelievable!  I am so thankful I caught it and didn’t run it through the coffee pot too!

So today – I skipped the morning work out.  I slept until 6:45 am and leisurely got up and got my coffee and now at 7:40 am… I am still here, relaxing.  I wont give up on the morning workouts, I just think I will switch them up to every other day.  Today I work in the office to continue prepping the mailing.  Fridays a re normally my day off but it didn’t work out that way this week.  Tonight we have our company Christmas Party.  Another busy day.

Any crazy stories you would like to share so the oatmeal incident doesn’t seem so “call the men with the straight jackets“?

Giveaway: I, ALex Cross by James Patterson (audio)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)65 Comments

Thank you to Hachette Audio Book Group for letting me have three of these audio books for giveaway!

Am I on a Patterson kick or what?  🙂

You can’t run

Detective Alex Cross is pulled out of a family celebration and given the awful news that a beloved relative has been found brutally murdered. Alex vows to hunt down the killer, and soon learns that she was mixed up in one of Washington’s wildest scenes. And she was not this killer’s only victim.

You can’t hide

The hunt for the murderer leads Alex and his girlfriend, Detective Brianna Stone, to a place where every fantasy is possible, if you have the credentials to get in. Alex and Bree are soon facing down some very important, very protected, very dangerous people in levels of society where only one thing is certain—they will do anything to keep their secrets safe.

Alex Cross is your only hope to stay alive

As Alex closes in on the killer, he discovers evidence that points to the unimaginable—a revelation that could rock the entire world. With the unstoppable action, unforeseeable twists, and edge-of-your-seat suspense that only a James Patterson thriller delivers, I, Alex Cross is the master of suspense at his sharpest and best.


I have 3 of these to give away – here is how you can enter!

For one entry: Leave a comment here letting me know your favorite genre

(*you must answer the question to be entered!)

Extra Entries?  Sure!

For an additional entry tweet or blog about this giveaway and leave me a link here on a separate comment

Be a follower of this blog and let me know here (for another entry) or subscribe to this blog and let me know here on a separate comment and have two extra entries (doing both would be three extra entries)

That’s it – giveaway will end January 19.  USA and Canada entrants only.

Giveaway: The Murder Of King Tut by James Patterson (audio)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)70 Comments

Thank you to Hachette Audio Book Group for letting me have three of these audio books for giveaway!

Synopsis

A secret buried for centuries

Thrust onto Egypt’s most powerful throne at the age of nine, King Tut’s reign was fiercely debated from the outset. Behind the palace’s veil of prosperity, bitter rivalries and jealousy flourished among the Boy King’s most trusted advisors, and after only nine years, King Tut suddenly perished, his name purged from Egyptian history. To this day, his death remains shrouded in controversy.

The keys to an unsolved mystery

Enchanted by the ruler’s tragic story and hoping to unlock the answers to the 3,000 year-old mystery, Howard Carter made it his life’s mission to uncover the pharaoh’s hidden tomb. He began his search in 1907, but encountered countless setbacks and dead-ends before he finally, uncovered the long-lost crypt.

The clues point to murder

Now, in The Murder of King Tut, James Patterson and Martin Dugard dig through stacks of evidence–X-rays, Carter’s files, forensic clues, and stories told through the ages–to arrive at their own account of King Tut’s life and death. The result is an exhilarating true crime tale of intrigue, passion, and betrayal that casts fresh light on the oldest mystery of all.


I have 3 of these to give away – here is how you can enter!

For one entry: Leave a comment here letting me know your favorite genre

(*you must answer the question to be entered!)

Extra Entries?  Sure!

For an additional entry tweet or blog about this giveaway and leave me a link here on a separate comment

Be a follower of this blog and let me know here (for another entry) or subscribe to this blog and let me know here on a separate comment and have two extra entries (doing both would be three extra entries)

That’s it – giveaway will end January 17.  USA and Canada entrants only.

A Blue and Gray Christmas by Joan Medlicott

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments


When a rusty old tin box is unearthed at the Covington Homestead, longtime housemates Grace, Amelia, and Hannah discover that it contains letters and diaries written by two Civil War soldiers, one Union and one Confederate.

The friends are captivated by the drama revealed. The soldiers were found dying on a nearby battlefi eld by an old woman. She nursed them back to health, hiding them from bounty hunters seeking deserters. At the end of the war the men chose to stay in Covington, caring for their rescuer as she grew frail. But while their lives were rich, they still felt homesick and guilty for never contacting the families they’d left behind.

Christmas is coming, and the letters inspire Amelia with a generous impulse. What if she and her friends were to find the two soldiers’ descendants and invite them to Covington to meet? What better holiday gift could there be than the truth about these two heroic men and their dramatic shared fate? With little time left, the ladies spring into action to track down the men’s families in Connecticut and the Carolinas, and to make preparations in Covington for their most memorable, most historic Christmas yet.


A sweet read for this time of year.  Joan Medlicott warmed my heart with her story of the amazing women that set out to make an amazing Christmas for perfect strangers.  I really felt that this book captured within its pages the meaning of Christmas – of giving from the heart. The letters were touching and I easily placed myself along side Grace, Amelia, and Hannah as they were read, imagining the two soldiers of 1864 scraping out these words.

I really enjoyed the three women’s characters as they were colorful and likable.  All this inside a darling little hard cover book that is really a gift in itself!


Joan Medlicott was born and raised on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. She lives with her husband in the mountains of North Carolina.


I received my review copy from Sarah Reidy and Pocket Books/Simon & Schuster

Morning Meanderings…

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)25 Comments

If you read yesterdays meandering post you know that I had an early workout with a friend yesterday.  What you do now know…. is that i was wrong, and I was not meeting her at 6:30 at all…

I was late.

Turns out we were suppose to meet at 6 am, and I totally goofed it.  :0

So today – I did meet her at the designated time of 6 am.  That was harder yet to be ready and motivated but I did it and it is amazing how it sets my day off better.  For one, after the work out I was able to go get groceries for the white chili I want to make tonight for dinner instead of scrambling to do so after work.  Secondly – I arrive not only on time to the office – but early!  By the time everyone else gets in today I will well be on my way!

I thought this called for a little music as I am finally getting (just a bit) into the spirit of Christmas.  This is my absolute favorite Christmas show…. makes me cry every time.

Here’s an awesome version of this song:

I will have a review up this afternoon and another giveaway or two tonight!  have a great day everyone!


Primal by Mark Batterson

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)9 Comments

We have a tendency to complicate Christianity. Jesus simplified it with one commandment: Love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. In Primal Mark Batterson explores the four elements of Great Commandment Christianity: compassion, wonder, curiosity and power. Along the way, he calls Christians to be a part of God’s reformation, starting in their own lives.

“Is there a place in your past where you met God and God met you?” asks Batterson. “A place where your heart broke for the things that break the heart of God? In that moment, God birthed something supernatural in your spirit. You knew you’d never be the same again. My prayer is that this book would take you back to that burning bush—and reignite a primal faith.” Batterson says that that moment may have been during a sermon, on a mission trip or at an altar, but regardless of the time or place, a return to a primal faith is essential to all believers.

According to Batterson that primal faith will lead Christians to a new reformation, an overhaul of the way they love God. “Reformations are born out of primal truths rediscovered, reimagined and radically reapplied to our lives,” he says. And the importance of rediscovering the need to love God with all that we are can’t be measured. Primal will help readers live in light of what matters most and discover what it means to love God, becoming great at the Great Commandment.

“Is there a place in your past where you met God and God met you? A place where your heart broke for the things that break the heart of God?

I have enjoyed Mark Batterson’s writing in his past books and this book was icing on the cake.  Well written, thought provoking as is the norm for Batterson, who this time around is aiming to take us to new places intellectually and spiritually so that we may discover new ways of loving God.  Mark Batterson’s words flow off the paper and cause me to think outside the box.

In ways that I like to refer to as “teachable moments”, Mark Batterson uses a style of writing where he shares personal life stories that he turns right back to God.  Primal is all about getting back to the basics that the Bible has given us within the great commandment:   loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. 

Obviously as a book lover – I enjoy great writing and Mark Batterson does not lack in that department!  I for one cant wait to see what Mark Patterson comes up with next!

Want to make a difference?  Make Primal the first book you read in 2010 and start your New Year off with a new kind of resolution.


About The Author

Mark Batterson is the author of Wild Goose Chase and In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. He serves as lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington, D.C. One church with nine services in five locations, NCC is focused on reaching emerging generations. Mark has two Masters degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago. He and his wife, Lora, live on Capitol Hill with their three children. www.markbatterson.com

I received my review copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks (audio)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)62 Comments

I am thrilled to be able to offer this wonderful book on audio thanks to Hachette Book Group!

An angry rebel, John dropped out of school and enlisted in the Army, not knowing what else to do with his life–until he meets the girl of his dreams, Savannah. Their mutual attraction quickly grows into the kind of love that leaves Savannah waiting for John to finish his tour of duty, and John wanting to settle down with the woman who captured his heart. But 9/11 changes everything. John feels it is his duty to re-enlist. And sadly, the long separation finds Savannah falling in love with someone else. “Dear John,” the letter read…and with those two words, a heart was broken and two lives were changed forever. Returning home, John must come to grips with the fact that Savannah, now married, is still his true love–and face the hardest decision of his life.

See the movie trailer here

Official Movie site here

I have 3 of these to give away – here is how you can enter!

For one entry: Leave a comment here with a favorite Nicholas Sparks book that you have enjoyed.  Never read Sparks?  Then let me know here is you are planning to see this movie that will be out in February 2010

Extra Entries?  Sure!

For an additional entry tweet or blog about this giveaway and leave me a link here on a separate comment

Be a follower of this blog and let me know here (for another entry) or subscribe to this blog and let me know here on a separate comment and have two extra entries (doing both would be three extra entries)

That’s it – giveaway will end January 15.  USA and Canada entrants only.

The Ghost, The Eggheads, and Babe Ruth’s Piano by Larry Sweitzer

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments


It’s the summer of 2004 and Freddie Holtzman can’t wait to get to Camp Mason, a summer camp for eggheads or rather, gifted teens. He hopes to reconnect with Ginny Haig, a girl he met at camp last year. Freddie’s old friends, Logan and Monty, are there along with some new faces. He tries to win Ginny’s affection, but every time he tries to talk to her, he says-and does-nerdy things.

At Camp Mason, a science fair pits the eggheads against one another for the top prize of a five thousand dollar scholarship. But, when the projects go missing, friendships are put to the test, relationships get put on hold, and everyone’s a suspect. To make matters worse, the camp is haunted by young Billy Mason who died there decades ago. The boys are determined to solve the mystery of the ghost and the missing science projects.

Freddie’s quest to win the scholarship—add the girl of his dreams—are constantly in jeopardy. There are complications at every turn: the ghost, a creepy caretaker, Freddie’s high school nemesis, a cantankerous camp manager, and a saboteur all threaten his chance to win the prize and Ginny’s heart.


For a book with an extremely unusual title (that gave me flashbacks of A Curios Incident Of The Dog In The Night) I found the whole read fascinating!  I felt like a kid again buried eye balls deep in Hardy Boy and Nancy Drew Mysteries.  Larry Sweitzer’s book was a great reminder of books of my past.  The setting of a camp is an excellent fit  for a book that revolves around the importance of friendships.

Many different elements make up this book that would be wonderful for the 7 – 10 age group.  I liked the fact that Freddie was extremely smart but also a jock.  This really brought together two groups that are usually quite separate the jocks and the…. well the eggheads.  I liked that about this book as it shows that you don’t have to be one or the other. Once I  started the book I did not put it down until on that last page our main character Freddie…. oh – that’s right, I can’t tell you!  Guess you will just have to read it for yourself!  😉

ABOUT THE AUTHOR…Larry Sweitzer is a writer, musician, and avid baseball fan. He was born and raised in western Maryland and now lives in Virginia with his wife and two daughters. The Ghost, the Eggheads, and Babe Ruth’s Piano is his first novel. Visit him at www.larrysweitzer.com.

My Amazon Review

I received my copy fro review from Pump Up Your Book Promotion