Book Journey

BBAW – Quickie Giveaway!!!

Published on September 17, 2009September 17, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)11 Comments

Its time again for a quickie giveaway in honor of BBAW….

First correct answer to this question can pick out of the Gift Box!

In the Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene, what is the name of Nancy’s boyfriend?

(*Please remember these giveaways are open to US entrants only and can not be delivered to PO box numbers) ** Note that the comment giveaway at the end of BBAW where you can win an Amazon gift card is open worldwide – so while the individual giveaways are USA only – the overall comment giveaway is worldwide!

North or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson with a Double Giveaway!

Published on September 17, 2009October 10, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)32 Comments

I found myself entangled in the pages of a Narnia like world… captured by the adventure that can only come from a well written read… ~ Sheila

This giveaway is now closed

Janner, Tink, and Leeli Igiby thought they were normal children with normal lives and a normal past. But now they know they’re really the Lost Jewels of Anniera, heirs to a legendary kingdom across the sea, and suddenly everyone wants to kill them.

Their escape brings readers to the very brink of Fingap Falls, over the Stony Mountains, and across the Ice Prairies, while villains galore try to stop the Igibys permanently. Fearsome toothy cows and horned hounds return, along with new dangers: a mad man running a fork factory, a den of rockroaches, and majestic talking sea dragons.

Andrew Peterson’s lovable characters create what FantasyBookCritic.com says made Book One “one of the best fantasy novels in a very long time,” and Book Two contains even more thrills, exploring “themes universal in nature, ranging from the classic good versus evil, to the importance of family, and burdens of responsibility.”

Author Bio:

Andrew Peterson is the author of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness and The Ballad of Matthew’s Begats . He’s also the critically-acclaimed singer-songwriter and recording artist of ten albums, including Resurrection Letters II. He and his wife, Jamie, live with their two sons and one daughter in The Warren near Nashville, Tennessee. Visit Andrew’s websites: www.andrew-peterson.com and www.rabbitroom.com.

My Thoughts: It took me a ways into the book to finally capture the flow of this read. I wonder if part of that is due to the fact that I had not read book one – On The Edge Of The Dark Of Darkness. I did not even know this was a sequal until after I had begun reading….

Once the book grabbed hold of me – I flew through the pages picking up elements that I loved about Narnia. This book is well written with elements that could keep me guessing. I have to admit this was not as easy a read as I found the Narnia books to be. I struggled in points keeping track of all the action and what and the where… I think young 8 – 13 year olds may enjoy this very much…. I get the impression it would really be their thing.

On this particular book I goofed and wound up on two different blog tours with it. Due to this I have two books to giveaway. (Remember Christmas is coming – this would make a wonderful gift!)

TO Enter:

Leave a comment of what you would do with a copy of this book

receive a addition entry by blogging or tweeting this giveaway

Follow this blog and receive a third entry!

Regular Giveaway Policy applies

** Giveaway ends on October 5

Thank you to both Kelly and Staci for offering me a chance to review this book.

I received my review copies from Kelly Blewett, Publicist
KBK Public Relations and Staci Carmichael
Publicity Assistant
WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House

BBAW – Quickie Giveaway!!!

Published on September 17, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Its time again for a quickie giveaway in honor of BBAW….

First correct answer to this question can pick out of the Gift Box!

Which book begins, “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again”?

Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble

Published on September 17, 2009January 19, 2010 by Sheila (Book Journey)26 Comments

Since when did YA reads hit my radar? Since books like this – with a hint of mystery, fantasy, and the adrenaline of youth all rolled into one…

~ Sheila

—Dreaming Anastasia by Joy Preble—

What would you do if your nightmare turned out to be more than

just a dream—and the only way to stop it was to believe the impossible?

Anastasia Romanov knows she should be dead; she watched her family fall in a hail of gunfire. Instead, something, or someone, saved her. Trapped and scared in a magical hut with a witch who may be friend or foe, she begins to come to grips with the truth about her situation: that some fates are WORSE than death.

In her dreams, sixteen year old Anne Michaelson is somewhere else. She is someone else. The dreams feel as real as her waking life and they terrify her. This is not good for her social life! Aside from that, Anne thinks her life is pretty ordinary – until she runs into handsome, mysterious, and (okay) annoying Ethan on her way to chemistry class. Now Anne has powers she doesn’t understand, a history-altering mission she doesn’t want, and a growing attraction to a blue-eyed stranger that seems to be stalking her! And when Ethan realizes that Anne is the girl he’s been searching for, things start to get a little surreal! Despite her skepticism and reluctance, Anne quickly realizes that you don’t need to be imprisoned to be trapped! Stir in the doomed Duchess Anastasia, who is not quite as dead as the history books say, and the Baba Yaga, a legendary witch from Russian folklore, and you’ve got Dreaming Anastasia by debut novelist Joy Preble.

Joy Preble’s experience with Russian legends developed through her crazy maternal grandmother, who had been one of TWENTY children! The story goes that her grandmother’s family didn’t even notice when she ran off to America at sixteen, married badly, raised four children on her own and was the least grandmotherly of grandmothers a girl could ever hope for (despite her amusing and insane tales of the Bolsheviks and tsars). No warm and fuzzies there, only admonitions for Joy to eat her vegetables so she would be strong enough to survive the impending pogroms!

My Thoughts: This book was a wonderful mix for me – not only as a YA read – but to me it dabbled in so much more. There is history to this book with Baba Yaga and Anastasia Romanov. There is the taste of fantasy and the essence of mystery…. basically it had a lot of my favorite genre’s all roled up into one neat little binding.

I have to say I loved the story line based around Baba Yaga (I love folklore!)

Baba Yaga is a witch-like character in Slavic folklore. She flies around on a giant mortar, kidnaps (and presumably eats) small children,and lives in a house which stands on chicken feet. In most Slavic folk tales, she is portrayed as an antagonist; however, some characters in other mythological folk stories have been known to seek her out for her wisdom, and she has been known on occasion to offer guidance to lost souls, although this is seen as rare.

Strong characters, I found I really enjoyed the connections between Ethan and Anne. Tess was great comic relief and reminded me a lot of my own best friend when I was that age….

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I started it last weekend during the big 150 mile bike ride and read it during breaks and at night. For me this was a book I could not, and didn’t want to, put down.

This book was sent to me from Sourcebooks

I would rate this a PG13 rating for some language and sexual content

My Amazon Review

Morning Meanderings…

Published on September 17, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)6 Comments

Coffee Cup and I are on the road again… it is already time to take Chance to school and I am feeling behind before my day has even started.

What is with that? 🙂

Anyway – today I have wandered over to Author Joy Preble’s blog called Joy’s Novel Idea. This author by the way… ROCKS! She is the author of Dreaming Anastasia and this is the book review that I am putting up today! (I see on her site she has me set for yesterday and I thought I was today…. I am sure that is my error.)

Reading her post this morning about Rocking The House at Barnes and Noble (see? I told you she rocks) was incredible. I was excited for her and for this book…. so read the article…. and in an hour or so come back and see what I have to say about Joy and her book, Dreaming Anastasia.

Me and My Reading Habits…

Published on September 17, 2009September 17, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

Here is the question : Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

I really hate to write in my books. I love to keep them in wonderful condition and cringe when I find ink or highlighter marks in books. I am a post it note Queen – and use them for all keeping track of discussion topics for book club, notes for reviews, etc…

Oddly, the one exception to this rule is I write in my Bible. I like to capture words in sermons that I find meaningful to the scripture. I used to keep a separate notebook for these notes but found it much more likely that I wuld put it to use if it was actually in the Bible. I love to now open up my Bible after years of doing this and see notes that I made on scriptures.

BBAW – Appreciation Comes From Sourcebooks

Published on September 17, 2009September 26, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

This giveaway is now closed – congratulations Alexa!

I came home this evening to find this email sent from Paul Samuelson of Sourcebooks:

Dear Blogger,

Pardon the group email, but I just heard some fantastic news and since it is Book Blogger Appreciation Week, I wanted to share. I am happy to report that Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse, by debut middle grade novelist Kaleb Nation, has debuted on the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association bestsellers list in the #10 spot for Children’s Interest!

For those of you unfamiliar with the list, this indie group is one of the largest in the country, and includes stores such as BookPeople & Blue Willow (TX), Tattered Cover (CO), Changing Hands(AZ) and King’s English (UT), among many others. These are some of the biggest and best indies in the country.

What does this have to do with your blog? Because the focus of publicity efforts for this title have been primarily online—it is YOU we have to thank for this phenomenal success. For a 20 year old first time author to debut on this list, before he has even begun his cross-country tour, can only mean that word-of-mouth generated by all of you in the book blogging community (and masters of the twitterverse) has had a significant impact on the sales of this book.

As you all know, there are many types of book bloggers—teen fan blogs, vlogs, kidlitosphere blogs, homeschool blogs, mommy blogs and the established book blogs we all know and love—and it has been remarkable to bear witness to how so many different types of readers have all come together to discuss and review Bran Hambric in an ever-growing online reading community.

A sincere “thank you” from Sourcebooks for helping us bring a little bit of magic, fantasy and adventure into the lives of readers everywhere. We’d like to show our appreciation by offering autographed posters of Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse (cover art by Brandon Dorman!) to use as a giveaway.

Sincerely,

Paul Samuelson

Sourcebooks, Publicity

There it is! I for one would love an autographed poster for my reading room to remind me of this wonderful moment of how Book Bloggers were able to assist in bringing a wonderful book to the attention of the public in a short amount of time.

Thanks to Paul and Sourcebook, I would like to offer you a chance to win an autographed poster of Bran Hambric as well.

This one will be easy! Leave a comment here of what you would do with the poster if you won. That’s it. Open to USA only – no PO box numbers please.

This giveaway will close late afternoon on Sunday September 20th.

Happy BBAW!!!!

See my review of Bran Hambric here

Girl, Naw! by Lacrica A. Angelle

Published on September 16, 2009September 16, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

The prologue cut to the heart of the book. I was shocked it started out this way… and at the same time knew from the very beginning I had to know the rest of this story. ~ Sheila

About the Book

Antoinette Walker has seen the good, the bad, and the ugly. Those that know and respect her think she has it all, a wonderful husband, children that thrive in school, and a counseling practice that is growing by leaps and bounds. When hidden things from her past begin to surface, they threaten to destroy everything Antoinette loves. Only God can give her the strength to continue to counsel other women, as she struggles with her own issues of forgiveness. Will her faith be strong enough to help her stand in the midst of opposition?

About the Author

LaCricia A`ngelle is a licensed Evangelist, writer, and the President and CEO of His Pen Publishing LLC. A native of Chicago, LaCricia currently resides in Tennessee with her four children. Girl, Naw! is her first novel.

Her writing career began when she was a child writing songs, and short stories. LaCricia has always had a God given gift of putting words together.

As a Christian Fiction author, LaCricia not only writes for entertainment, but she also writes for ministry. Her goal in every piece of written work is to draw someone closer to Christ. The characters face real situations. LaCricia writes so that anyone can read her work and get something out of it, whether they are young or old. When you read a LaCricia A`ngelle original prepare to laugh, cry, pray, and stop to say “hmmm.”

LaCricia is an active member of Damascus Road Authors working along side authors Maurice M. Gray, Dr. Linda F. Beed, and Wanda B. Campbell.

My Thoughts:

I am not really sure what I was expecting when I opened the book, but what I read in the prologue took my breath away. I am a very visual person and I could feel Antoinettes Walker’s pain from the very first paragraph and knew at that point – I had to read this book. I had to know where it goes from here.

A book on forgiveness and who really is hurt by forgiveness. I was really impressed that this was a debut book by this author. Well written and covering the issue of betrayal and forgiveness when the last thing you want to do is put your heart on the line again…. Lacricia reminds us through her characters that there is always a place we can turn to for support and guidance when the paths we travel are dark and unknown.

I actually surprised myself with how much I enjoyed reading this book. Lacricia is an author that I will watch for new writing from.

I received my review copy from TyWebb Productions

I would rate this as a clean PG book that deals with some tough life issues

RADIO SCHEDULE

September 14 – Black Authors Network (8-10 pm EST)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/Black-Author-Network

September 15 -The Sharvette Mitchell Show (6:15 pm EST)
http://www.BlogTalkRadio.com/Mitchell-Productions

September 17 – Chocolate Pages Show (4 pm EST)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/chocolatepages

September 17 – WordThirst Literary Online Radio Show (8 pm EST)
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ashea-goldson

Morning Meanderings….

Published on September 16, 2009September 16, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Good Morning Fellow Book Bloggers and Book Lovers! I am on day two of Chance staying with us for awhile and that is fun having a 14 year old hanging out with us but puts a little twist on my day to day life.

For instance I now drive him to school every morning by 8 am so I am in the office earlier than usual… but makes my morning meandering time… a bit tight. AND it is BBAW so I want to be involved in as much as possible in what is happening and meeting new bloggers and seeing many new blogs. (If you are new here – thanks for stopping – I love company and the coffee is always on.)

While I had to leave Coffee Cup at home this morning (a moment of silence please for Coffee Cup)………………………………………………

I did stop in at my local Holiday Gas Station for my favorite to go coffee. This morning the nice gentleman that works there told me, “Have I ever told you that I appreciate how much you look like a girl?”

Not enough coffee in me yet to even guess on what that meant.…. LOL A polite thank you I think was in order and that I did… and then was on my way….

ANYWAY…. I have two blog tours I am posting today and a third tomorrow. All three are pretty exciting so I hope you will stop back and see them as they come up. There are still lots of giveaways going on the next three days as well as a few bonus ones! I also will be posting yet this afternoon the BBAW question or two to about our book habits that I thought was due today and now see it was yesterday…. well… mine will be up today. 🙂

Thanks for hanging with me on an interesting and fun filled week!

I will get around to all the blogs who have stopped by here and left me some cheer! 🙂 Yup – that rhymes.

The TBR Pile (otherwise known as “No, I don’t have an addiction at all”

Published on September 15, 2009September 15, 2009 by Sheila (Book Journey)51 Comments

Chance, our Kinship Partner (14 years old) has come to stay with us for awhile. Having him at my house during BBAW is a blast! He is having as much fun with these posts as I am. So when I told him I was going to take all of my TRB off the book shelf and stack them on the floor as tall as I could without them falling, he agreed to take the picture. What a trooper.

So here it is. Some are reviews, some are for tours, many are my personal purchases that I have yet to get to. Either way you look at it – I have plenty to read and it just makes me delighted!

Oh… and yes, my hair is a bit twanky…. must have been from the excitement of stacking all the books up!