I as I sat up form bed this morning and looked out my window I see the light covering of snow that has salted its way across our yard.
First word of the day, “Ugh.”
For a Minnesota girl you would think this would be my thing. It’s not. It’s cold. It’s wet. It’s sloppy. And it can really suck to drive in it too. The game plan is someday we are not here for this part of Minnesota. We hope to start leaving in November for warmer territory, and returning in mid March in time for warm up. We have friends in the area that do this and stay in Florida. We also have family in Florida….
Hmmmm…..
So is everyone getting the emails now for book sales at the big name stores? Just this morning I received these two:
Christianbooks.com : Has a huge selection of 80% off items. I checked it out. There are some great buys! A whole selection of items under $2.
Randy Alcorn’s Deception is $1.99 (if you have not read Alcorn you are missing out! Fantastic author!
Gift items too – cd’s for 99 cents…
Also Barnes and Noble has a 25% coupon off of one book if you use your Mastercard on your order.
Amazon is having Black Friday Deals Week going on now. I seen a few things of interest there as well!
So thats what I have to share this morning. I have a day in the office than off to the store to get all the things that I have procrastinated on for tomorrow. I am purchasing two copies of Hunger Games for my boys and I will be baking out of the book healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day for tomorrows review.
Have you discovered any great book sales?
Do you have any reading plans for the upcoming 4 day weekend?
As strong and as steady with her words as Kitness is with an arrow, Suzanne Collins once again has created a win. ~ Sheila
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.
In My Opinion:
Suzanne Collins does not disappoint with this sequel to Hunger Games. Coming in strong, starting where the first book ended, I felt like I had never left the story – I had never lowered that level of excitement…. of fear for what was next for Katniss and Peeta. When the unthinkable happens I cant think that there is any way out… how could there be?
I am really pleased how clean Suzanne Collins has kept both of these books. There is plenty of teenage “opportunity” for her to take the books a different direction and she doesn’t. I actually find that refreshing.
My one regret is that when I started Hunger Games, I did not know until I was into the book that it was actually one of three, Catching Fire being the middle book and the third not due out to fall of 2010. If I would have known that I probably would have waited (or at least tried!) so I could have read them all together. Now I have created a longing in me to know what happens next….MUST READS!
Murder and networking… Jess and Leah are characters you will want to know more about… ~ Sheila
Bright yellow cables against a blue shirt? Carl never would have approved of that color combination. Why was his face so white? His eyes should be closed, not open. Why hadn’t one of the security guards seen this and reported it to the police? The lights were off, the cameras were useless in the dark.
Of course, the cables wrapped around Carl’s neck explained why the server wasn’t working. Loss of carrier.
Jess Wirth lives a dreary life. He spends most of his time crammed inside a cubicle, toiling as a network engineer and stewing over the details of his ugly divorce. But when he finds his co-worker dead in the basement of their office, Jess’s life takes a surprising—and unpleasant—turn.
The police quickly declare the death a suicide, but Jess isn’t so sure. Not long after he begins digging into the victim’s work, another co-worker turns up dead, convincing him once and for all that something sinister is brewing behind the cubicle walls.
His investigation leads him to a mysterious woman name Leah, who pushes him to entrust her with the information he’s collected about his dead colleagues. Wary of Leah’s motives yet inexorably drawn to her, Jess keeps her at arm’s length…until an attempt is made on both their lives. Realizing they are close on the trail of a dangerous criminal, the pair race to expose a data theft ring before they become the killer’s next victims.
In My Opinion:
Loss of Carrier was a stretch for me. Not necessarily in a bad way. A technical style of book that actually fed that recent hunger I have had to read a suspense/ mystery. The book goes into great detail about the workings of technical things such as computers. It is explained well, but a bit TMI at times. I enjoyed the story line and where Russ White was taking me as the reader so I plugged on (no pun intended…). I appreciated how the book is not overly Christian with an overwhelming message, but instead author Russ White has woven together a story that reflects Christians in what feels to be a natural light.
Russ White writes tech as that is what he knows well. There are three more books planned for this series. This would be an author I would like to keep an eye on and see how this story develops as well as his writing.
Russ White is an internationally recognized inter network engineer. He has co-authored eight books in the field of network design and routing protocols and is a regular speaker at international networking conferences.
In addition to working on several expert and senior-level network engineering certifications, he is a certified firearms instructor.
Russ, his wife, and their two children live in the Raleigh area of North Carolina, where they enjoy spending time on Jordan Lake and attending Colonial Baptist Church. Loss of Carrier is his first novel.
I am in the dining area trying to fill the emptiness in my stomach with all the great foods placed before me. Soups and chicken in orange sauce, breads that melt in your mouth, desserts you cant say no to….
I look across the table at Peeta and then to my right where Katniss sits, both of them eating their fill. Peeta’s love for Katniss seems to reflect off of him. It is so transparent. Katniss I cant read. She is so closed off.
The ache in the pit of my stomach draws me back and I take in the entire room and feel the shiver go up my spine. I am back in The Hunger Games.
Coffee Cup and I have only moments before we need to get to the office. I was up late reading…. I put the finishing touches on a review I have coming up in a couple hours and I had to (had to!) continue on with Catching Fire. I am a total addict.
Today should be a pretty smooth day. Nothing really on the agenda other than the office, perhaps a little work out if my friend Heidi gives me a call and a roast in the crock pot so dinner is planned and in process. I havent decided yet if I am going to go pick up those last minute things I need for Thanksgiving yet today…. or hit that tomorrow. We will see how this afternoon goes.
Today I leave you with a recipe for Pumpkin Soup. I think this will be on our menu for Thursday:
Ingredients
4 tablespoons butter
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves chopped
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 quart chicken broth
2 (29 ounce) cans pumpkin puree
1 pint half and half
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
Directions
Melt butter. Add onion, garlic, cumin, thyme, salt & pepper & saute till onions are soft.Add broth, reduce heat to medium-low & simmer till onions are tender (10 – 12 minutes). Add pumpkin. Puree in pot with hand blender.Add half & half & sugar if desired.Garnish with sour cream and/or parsley, if desired.
If you follow this blog you are probably aware of my recent gushing review of Jantsen’s Gift by Pam Cope. The book left me at times with laughter, other times with tears. Once I finished the book, I decided to try to email Pam Cope to see if she would be willing to answer a few questions for an interview that she could email me back the answers and I could post here. Instead, she emailed me back and asked if she could call me and we could talk about the book on the phone.
Uhhh….. YEAH!
So we set up a day and time last week when she was going to give me a call and she did. We had a fantastic conversation and chatted like old friends for about an hour! I think she interviewed me as much as I did her! She kept asking about the work we have done in Honduras… and we even discussed my book club which by the picture on my sidebar here she had determined had to be quite the group! I agreed, they are! 🙂
So with no further babbling and gushing by me…. please enjoy the following conversation I had with author, Pam Cope.
Pam, I am so excited that you have taken the time out of your busy schedule to chat here with me. As you share in the book, this is about a total change of lifestyle for you. Share with me a bit what creating the book, Jantsen’s Gift was like.
Pam: Aimee was a great help with the book, she took so much of it having written other books before. I really learned a lot from her. On some of your travels Aimee and I were not together so we just kept journals of all that we were doing and seeing. At one point I had seven journals that I turned over to Aimee… unedited logs that she was able to pick through.
Has this book been everything you had hoped it would be?
Pam: It is hard being a first time author. You really work hard to get your name out there. I am so thankful tot he bloggers who have reviewed my book and talked about it. These promotions have been so helpful! It is fun to see the reviews coming through on sites like Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It takes a lot of time, but this is what I do to get the word out.
What was the last trip you were on?
Pam: All of us went to Ghana, west Africa in August. This to us is family time. We have a family camp sort of setting. We go to see an orphanage we have partnered with there. This orphanage has 21 kids that have been taken off of the lake. I will be going in back in January and March of 2010.
Pam, that is so amazing. When I think about all those kids. Well, you and I have already talked about this… I tear up. It rips me up inside to think about those kids. In your book, I keep going back to when you describe the boy you had to leave behind on the lake. That one statement haunts me. I know he is one of many. What is that like Pam, saying yes to one, but leaving another?
Pam: It is so hard. You have to remind yourself that you can only save so many. You keep moving forward. You keep being positive and doing what you can. There are 7,000 kids on the lake right now.
How are the two children you did adopt, Van and Tatum?
Pam: They are wonderful. They have adjusted well. We have had Van since he was 16 months old and Tatum since she was 2 1/2. They are both in fifth grade right now. They are so much fun to be around.
If there another book in the planning?
Pam: We have talked about it. Right now it is just a vision but I feel there is another book. I am thinking it may be a book about people who are empowered to live out their dreams – like advocates for something, people who get to do what they really love to do. I think it would be short stories about these people. Something to the effect of what is that moment when we are launched into our passion… that dream that causes you to dig deeper.
Pam that sounds amazing! Please keep me informed about that vision! Before I close here I was wondering if there is anything you want to say about the Touch A Life Foundation.
Pam: Of course! We are currently very excited about a building project. There are so many needs always. I hope everyone will take a moment to check out the Touch a Life Foundation website. Every donation, helps a child.
Johannes, who was rescued off Lake Volta by Touch A Life in August 2009.
Pam thank you so much for talking with me and sharing more about your book Jantsen’s Gift and what you do to help children in extreme impoverish conditions. Your book really spoke to me and I believe it will do the same for others as well.
I love this idea that Bibliophile By The Sea is hosting and I think it will fit nicely into the other challenges I have signed up for 2010. Yes, you can combine challenges – meaning that if you are signed up for a Suspense Mystery Challenge for 2010 and 5 of those books are off your personal book shelves, those books can be used for both challenges. I have shelves full of books i have purchased and found at Library sales. Books that are wonderful, but sit waiting patiently on me. This will intentionally give me purpose to pull some of these treasures off the shelf throughout the year.
Here is the info:
So with 2010 just around the corner, we are encouraged to lesson the weight on our bookshelves, by reading books from our shelves, and then passing the books on to someone else: a friend, relative, the library, used book store, swap them, just as long as the book leaves our homes once it has been read.
My personal goal is going to be the minimum of 20. I will try to read the book and set it free if I can…. I really hang on to a lot of my books, especially the ones I love.
Does this sound like something you’d like to do as well? If so, head over to Bibliophile By The Sea and get the instructions to sign up from there! 🙂
This is the weekly meme hosted by J Kayes Blog. I love this because it gives me a chance to walk to the shelves and choose what is up for this week. I am more successful than not when I plan my reading this way. 🙂 So here is what is on my reading plan for this week:
Yes! I am currently reading Catching Fire and will be done very soon with it. After finishing Hunger Games over the weekend there really was no choice, I had to pick this one up next.
Loss Of Carrier is on tour this week and I am almost done with this one as well.
Tirissa and The Necklace of Nulidor is on tour for tomorrow. This one I have completed.
Thanksgiving at The Inn in is my Thursday read. I figured this was the perfect week to be reading this book!
Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day is hopefully going to be on the Thanksgiving menu here at the DeChantal’s. I want to review it and bake out of it for Thursday.
Morning all. Coffee Cup I will be rolling out of here early today. Normally Mondays have more time to hang out as my office days are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday – but this week being Thanksgiving, I am going to go to the office today until about 2:30.
Yesterday Chance and I went to New Moon and I really enjoyed it! I am just going to put my thoughts here as doing a separate post on it when I have so many exciting reviews yet to catch up on seems a little much. So – first off I read all the Twilight series in January of this year. Here is the review of New Moon. (Take note I was not book blogging then I was more book journaling so no one was reading these reviews and they are not as “polished” should I say as they are now. Actually reading that post now, I am kind of proud of it. I had enjoyed the books and looking at my words, besides maybe adding a bit about the author, I dont think I would have changed it much from what I said.
As far as the movie goes, I really liked it. I think the only thing I would say about it is that it moved so quickly through some of the scenes (and I know it needed to) yet in the book the motorcycle building and practicing and riding is longer, it shows the relationship developing stronger with Jacob and of course in a movie, there just isnt time so one ride … and move on basically. Also, the return of Edward seems to come together faster, easier than it did in the book as well. I remember reading the book and longing for Edwards return and Stephanie Meyer had really written this book well to keep us at bay with not getting what we wanted. Like I said in my review, this book is a necessity to build Jake.s character up in us and in Bella. Edward has to be out of the picture for this to happen.
Here are the other reviews of the series: Twilight, Eclipse, Breaking Dawn. * Note – these reviews are fun to read because I am so open with how I feel about the books. For instance, in my review of Eclipse, I say I want to bite Bella for being so wishy washy washy. I want to bite her on the neck. Fair warning. 😉
So – that’s about it. It was a good afternoon! It was fun to hang out with Chance and talk books!
Currently I am flying through Catching Fire and have reviews I really need to get written. Yet today you will see the What Are You Reading Monday post and this afternoon I am thinking I am going to write up my interview I had with Pam Cope last week, author of the book Jantsens Gift. This was a remarkable conversation and I cant wait to share it with all of you.
Have an incredible day! Stop in, say hi, let me know about your weekend… the coffee is always on! 🙂
Breathtaking action! I was transported into a world that may have once been mine… and I found myself anticipating what would happen next! ~ Sheila
Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, “The Hunger Games.” The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When her sister is chosen by lottery, Katniss steps up to go in her place.
In My Opinion:
I just finished Hunger games minutes ago and I feel like I have just been let in to a secret club. Seriously. I have read reviews on Hunger Games for months now and wondering what all the hype was. I entered a few contests to win it, and did not. I did however win a copy of Catching Fire and I knew I had to read Hunger Games first so I bought it last weekend and started it yesterday.
This is a book that by cover alone I would never have picked up. The title? Nope. Reading what it was about? Still a no, I couldn’t imagine myself reading on a topic of young kids fighting to the death. Even after I picked the book up and opened up to the first page I still am having doubt. What if I am that one person that just cant get into this book? And then I started reading…. and in no time, I love Katniss and her strength and her love for her family. I love Prim in all her youthfulness and sweetness… still mostly untouched by all the harshness of all this world that I have just entered. I could hardly put it down. You know the type. The book that you can hardly stop to eat dinner for. It traveled with me everywhere the past 48 hours. In any spare moments I had, I read.
I don’t know what I can say other than I loved this book! It is so well written that I have a list of people who I feel must read it. I have to tell my book club about it. I am not sure who to pass this book on to next because the selfish book lover in me is thinking, what if they damage it? What if I don’t get it back? I seriously am treating this book like a piece of gold I just discovered…. a book of much worth.
What am I reading next? As I type, I have Catching Fire sitting next to me. It has to be next. I have to know what happens next.
I purchased my copy of this book from Barnes & Noble, St. Cloud, MN
I as I sat up form bed this morning and looked out my window I see the light covering of snow that has salted its way across our yard. 
Book Journey 