One week out today until I leave for Honduras and I am pretty not prepped for anything. Yet. I think today I will start packing, getting my passport ready, call in for malaria medicine and Ambien…
And on this end, I am also prepping some great posts and guests for this blog… that has actually been fun and I am excited about what has been coming in so far.
I plan to continue my Morning Meanderings during the time I am gone (OCt 31 – NOv 7)…as long as I have internet, but the meanderings will be more about what I am doing while I am away and probably what I am reading. I even already have planned which books are going with me!
How about you? When you travel or vacation do you take books to read? Is it a certain type of book that goes with you?
Yes! I am back! I missed the last two weeks due to crazy schedules and as I have blog hopped this week I was excited to see others who do this meme kept on going! YEAH! Love that!
So for those of you just tuning in… here is what we do (and you can too!) As quoted from my original post:
Ok… I admit it. I am a comment junkie. I love – love ♥ LOVE ♥ to read blogs, the discussions on books, author interviews, bookshelves, great bookish stories and adventures….
but along with loving to comment comes the ever dreaded endless… (dun dun dun dun…scary music)
word verification.
I know it is a necessity… I get that. You leave a comment, chances are you going to be word verified. Yet being a comment junkie… it slows me down. So to make this a bit more enjoyable… I came up with a plan.
I love word games (not as much as commenting). To entertain myself and maybe some of you… I decided to share with you a little thing I do while I type in the verification. I play Balderdash in my head. Yup. As I am typing in the word, I think if it was a real word… what would it mean. Some come easy. Others…. I really have to stretch the imagination.
The definition of Balderdash: An oft used strategy to elect your own fake definition in an attempt to give it credibility in the minds of your fellow players. …
And here is my list for this week:
CLOOBDINE: A social network originated in Peru. People gather around their computers and “virtual dine” together… sharing what they are eating and using abbreviations for food related events. IE. “B” for burp. “EM” for excuse me.
LAGAZES: A new drug just becoming FDA approved to assist people who suffer from chronic lagging. These people are always a bit behind and have no motivation or desire to catch up.
CARCHIC: Finally a word for her! She is that girl that can do just about anything from her car – apply makeup, eat breakfast, style her hair, talk on her phone and make all her appointments for the day, mix no bake cookies for the school bake sale, and is packing two changes of clothes for emergency events (such as a sporty outfit to cheer the kids on and a dress up outfit for emergency meetings) All of this while looking smoking hot.
KIJACK: The unfortunate new theft ring for off shore criminals. The act of stealing kyaks. People who are victims on kijacking are usually knocked out of the kyak and left to swim to shore where if their cell phone survived the water bath, they call for help.
Feel free to play along at home, here or on your own blog. You can even take the little picture meme I made if you like and use it. Link your words here in a comment and I will add you to this post so other readers may go and check out your list as well! 🙂
We have a huge project at work today and we were all going in early to get a jump start on it. Yet here I am with Coffee Cup, still in PJ’s trying to get through emails this morning before I go in.
So what can I share today? Well… I think I had some interesting spam overnight. New stuff that actually were comments that almost made sense… but didn’t make sense you know what I mean? I had a few of them that were actual sentences but they didn’t fit the post and that is how I caught them. They were:
“So chickens have nothing to do with financial downturn”. (On my Featured Book Club post of the Bookies)
My thoughts: “Uhhhh….. no. I dont think chickens effect finances either way. Have an egg. relax”.
“I can remember being bored stiff until it was my turn to get behind the camera” (On my guest post of Sold)
My Thoughts: “Maybe you wouldnt be so bored if you had a hobby – or a pet. Maybe a chicken”.
I don’t really get spam. I mean, does it actually work? All of mine go into a spam folder that I have to approve so they never actually touch my blog and they never make enough sense to fool me into thinking they are actually comments…. although these two above did have me looking at my posts and going “huh?”
Thanks to Valerie with Hachette Book Group I am thrilled to be able to offer up tp 5 copies of Life After Genius for giveaway!
Theodore Mead Fegley has always been the smartest person he knows. By age 12, he was in high school, and by 15 he was attending a top-ranking university. And now, at the tender age of 18, he’s on the verge of proving the Riemann Hypothesis, a mathematical equation that has mystified academics for almost 150 years. But only days before graduation, Mead suddenly packs his bags and flees home to rural Illinois. What has caused him to flee remains a mystery to all but Mead and a classmate whose quest for success has turned into a dangerous obession.
At home, Mead finds little solace. His past ghosts haunt him; his parents don’t understand the agony his genius has caused him, nor his desire to be a normal kid, and his dreams seem crushed forever. He embarks on a new life’s journey — learning the family business of selling furniture and embalming the dead–that disappoints and surprises all who knew him as “the young Fegley genius.”
Equal parts academic thriller and poignant coming-of-age story, LIFE AFTER GENIUS follows the remarkable journey of a young man who must discover that the heart may know what the head hasn’t yet learned.
1) Leave a comment here with what your dream job is
*Additional Entries*
2) second entry if you blog, tweet or Facebook about this giveaway. let me know on a separate comment here
3) third entry if you comment on any non giveaway post and let me know here on a separate comment
Thats it! I have up to 5 books to give away – I will give one away per 10 comments – 50 comments will let me give all 5 away! Giveaway will end on November 22. USA and Canada entrants only please.
Yup! I am so excited. I am able to bring this feature back as I had a couple more people come forward who wanted to share about their Book Clubs. Thank you! Thank you! I love hearing about all the different clubs out there and how they do their book meetings!
This morning I introduce to you Sondra and her book club The Pillars!
The Pillars
Hi Sondra! I am super excited to have you at One Persons Journey Through a World of Books today! Is there a link that will take us to your book club?
I love the layout of that page! I wish I could do something like that for our book club. How long has your group been meeting?
Sondra: Since November 2008
How often do you meet?
Sondra: Quarterly
Quarterly? Now I am really interested to know about that! When you do meet, do you have someone who leads the discussion?
Sondra: Each quarter we have a different person as the hostess and they lead the discussions.
Where do you meet?
Sondra: The hostess of the quarter decides on the location. We usually travel to different locations and make the meeting a weekend retreat centered around the book.
Ok! There it is. I am joining your group! How fun! Now I understand why you meet quarterly! A whole event around the book. That sounds so amazing! How many of you are in this book group?
Sondra: 15 Women
What is the age group represented in your book club?
Sondra: 23 to 60
Do you have any certain genres you read?
The Pillars in New Orleans
Sondra: We read a combination of genres.
That’s what we do too… books all over the board! How do you choose what you will read?
Sondra: Members bring book ideas to the meetings and we vote after reviewing a summary of the books.
I probably don’t even have to ask this next questions as your group sounds fantastic! How do you keep things fun?
Sondra: We center our meetings around the book. Eat the foods mentioned in the book, travel to the places in the book,
and play jeopardy (with prizes!) to challenge the readers about the book.
Ahhhh! You travel to places in the book! I bet that makes choosing your next read even more incredible. Does your group meet for anything else other than your book meetings?
Sondra: We meet quarterly for community service events.
Do you have a funny or “book club meeting gone bad” story to share?
Sondra: Yes, we had a boring history book that most of the members had a very hard time reading prior to the meeting. None of the members let on that they hadn’t completed the book until discussion time came around and they were not able to answer the questions.
Sondra, What advice would you give to other book clubs?
Sondra: Have fun and be open to all genres!
Sondra, thank you so much for sharing about your amazing book club today! I appreciate you opening this group up to us to read about! Yo sound like a wonderful group and I bet you have traveled to some amazing places!
*** Readers – the first Picture of The Pillars was taken at a cabin in Burnett, TX, where they held their initial book discussion. They spent the weekend getting to know each other. They planned activities around the book selection of the quarter and discussed the future of the book club.
The second picture was taken at their meeting in New Orleans, LA during their book discussion weekend for “Cane River“. They visited all the sites listed in the book that we could find starting in Natchitoches, LA, home of the Cane River Plantation, down to New Orleans, LA..
If you are part of a book club (on line or off) I would love to chat with you and feature you in this Wednesday spot. If you are interested, please email me at journey through books @ gmail.com
I am sure I have given my take on the Kindle in the past. In fact. I know I have. I like a book…. I like the feel, the shape, and the smell. I like to see them all pretty and colorful on book shelves. I scoffed at poor Jodi in my book club who had went to a Kindle. I would go down arguing pro books on this issue in a pile of beautiful hardcovers… but I would go down fighting.
Yup. That’s my take.
Then in my email…. comes the nook. What is this? It is slim…. it actually kind of of looking…. if you go for sleek, easy to pull out in a moments notice, information at your fingertips day or night…
Its like the hot looking bad boy…
of books.
While I LOVE LOVE LOVE my reading room, while I always know I will favor a “book book” over an e book….
I have to admit I am having visions of boarding planes without lugging 5 or 6 heavy books along. Visions of being stuck in traffic and able to take this little baby out of my purse and read a bit without people freaking out because I am that crazy girl behind the wheel of a car reading a book… again. I am also having visions of blow drying my hair without having to prop my book open with the squeeze bottle of hair product to hold my place….
Oh…. I think I may be crushing on the nook.
What are your thoughts on this topic? To e read or not e read…. that is the question?
How fun! Thanks to Hachette, I am able now to give five sets of these wonderful books away! I have just drawn my winners using random.org and our winners are:
(ahem…. bring on the drum roll please)
WORDLILLY
DIANE
DIANA
JACKIE LESTER
AMY STEELE
CONGRATULATIONS!!!! ENJOY THE BOOKS – WINNERS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED BY EMAIL
A girl and a tree… which one really has the deeper roots? Which one really is the stronger? ~ Sheila
Synopsis
A moving coming-of-age story set in the 1900’s, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn follows the lives of 11-year-old Francie Nolan, her younger brother Neely, and their parents, Irish immigrants who have settled in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Johnny Nolan is as loving and fanciful as they come, but he is also often drunk and out of work, unable to find his place in the land of opportunity. His wife Katie scrubs floors to put food on the table and clothes on her childrens’ backs, instilling in them the values of being practical and planning ahead.
When Johnny dies, leaving Katie pregnant, Francie, smart, pensive and hoping for something better, cannot believe that life can carry on as before. But with her own determination, and that of her mother behind her, Francie is able to move toward the future of her dreams, completing her education and heading oft to college, always carrying the beloved Brooklyn of her childhood in her heart.
My Thoughts:
A tree grows in Brooklyn was a pleasant read for a classic. By saying that I mean that some of the classics we have read in the past have just been hard reads – hard to understand and hard to get into. This books writing was smooth and I could follow the story easily. The book is centered around Francie and her family in the back drop of World War One. Told from the perspective of Francie, I quickly was engrossed in the absolute and utter level of poverty they were.
Food is a big theme in this book and while they had very little, Francie’s mom Katie could work wonders with it. There is always stale bread and crushed pies, and bone marrow to spread on bread as a treat after the bone has been used in soups. Meat was a rare treat. This book reminded me a bit of The Book Thief as far as the poverty and making the best of what they have.
I enjoyed the theme of the book, yet found it for the most part non eventful. The book goes page by page through Francie’s life, what she sees in her parents (her dad drinks too much and her mom works hard cleaning homes to make ends meet). You see Francie is school and you learn her love for books and for learning. The book carries you through Francie’s life and through this I see comparable to the tree that grows outside their home… the tree seems to represent Francie – strong and yet with struggles, continuing to grow.
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn was published in 1943. The book sold 300,000 copies in the first six weeks after it was published. How amazing is that! I find it astonishing that I have never read this book before. This as well as most of the other greats were never required reading in our local schools.
This was our book club read for October. Each October we pick a Classic and this was the pick for 2009. We gathered at my home and we potlucked around the theme of the book. I made minestrone and strata, which is an egg bake with sautéed onion and mushroom and peppers. It was actually pretty good and it was fun to cook for the group. Some of the other book club members brought bread pudding, and desserts. We even had Klondike Bars in honor of the Klondike dance that takes place in the book.
We found Katie’s sister Sissy the most colorful character by far. She was truly a woman who was 100% true to who she was and even today you have to find those people who do not wear masks, refreshing. We discussed how Betty wrote this book to show people what Brooklyn was like in that day.
We also discussed the pride that people had then. Although they were all levels of poor, they would not be the one to raise their hand when pie was offered in class. Friends and neighbors were more – well friends and neighbors. You helped one another get through and that is not always the case today.
Overall this book rating by the Bookies came up as an above average read and that would be our highest rating we have had yet on a classic.
I just now drew (using random.org) a winner for the wonderful giveaway from Cami , author of The Sister Pact (which I really enjoyed!) This winner will receive an autographed copy of the book from the author.
And…. our winner is….
Congratulations! Remember to sign up for more giveaways happening here under the Giveaway Tab
One week out today until I leave for Honduras and I am pretty not prepped for anything. Yet. I think today I will start packing, getting my passport ready, call in for malaria medicine and Ambien…
Book Journey 