Giveaway! Julie and Julia by Julie Powell

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)40 Comments

Now this one looks like fun!  Thank you to Anna Balasi and Hachette Book Group for the opportunity to review this Julia ad Juliebook as well as offer 5 copies for giveaway!

Julie & Julia, the bestselling memoir that’s “irresistible….A kind of Bridget Jones meets The French Chef” (Philadelphia Inquirer), is now a major motion picture. Julie Powell, nearing thirty and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, resolves to reclaim her life by cooking in the span of a single year, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child’s legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her unexpected reward: not just a newfound respect for calves’ livers and aspic, but a new life-lived with gusto. The film version is written and directed by Nora Ephron and stars Amy Adams as Julie and Meryl Streep as Julia.

1. Post here with a comment of what the worst job you ever had was.

2. For a second chance to win, please post this contest to your blog and post a link to it for me to see.

3. For a third chance to win post this contest on twitter or to your blog with a comment back here to the link

Contest will run through July 15th. The winners are chosen by using random.com. I will post the 5 winners here as well as email you for your mailing information. The books will come from the publisher. Please US entries only and no po boxes.

Thanks as always for stopping by! :)


Giveaway: The Imposter’s Daughter by Laurie Sandell

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Imposters daughterThank you to Anna Balasi and Hachette Book Group for a review copy of this book and 5 to give away!

Laurie Sandell grew up in awe (and sometimes in terror) of her larger-than-life father, who told jaw-dropping tales of a privileged childhood in Buenos Aires, academic triumphs, heroism during Vietnam, friendships with Kissinger and the Pope. As a young woman, Laurie unconsciously mirrors her dad, trying on several outsized personalities . Later, she lucks into the perfect job–interviewing celebrities for a top women’s magazine. Growing up with her extraordinary father has given Laurie a knack for relating to the stars. But while researching an article on her dad’s life, she makes an astonishing discovery: he’s not the man he says he is–not even close. Now, Laurie begins to puzzle together three decades of lies and the splintered person that resulted from them–herself.

This book is not yet released and is not available in stores until July 29.   Author Laurie Sandell is a contributing editor at Glamour, where she writes cover stories, features, and personal essays. She has also written for Esquire, GQ, New York and In Style, among others. In her twenties, she spent four years traveling around the world, having unsavory experiences she later justified as “material.”

To enter to win one of these books:

1. Post here with a comment of what your dad was like when you were growing up.

2. For a second chance to win, please post this contest to your blog and post a link to it for me to see.

3. For a third chance to win post this contest on twitter or to your blog with a comment back here to the link

Contest will run through July 15 th. The winners are chosen by using random.com. I will post the 5 winners here as well as email you for your mailing information. The books will come from the publisher. Please US entries only and no po boxes.

Thanks as always for stopping by! :)

Freebie Friday: Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

**  WE  HAVE  A  WINNER!!!  **

Congratulations to Barbara Davis from The Serenity Gate

Using Random.org, the number of her post was drawn for this book.

Thank you as always to everyone and stay tuned for the next Freebie Friday … there is one always going on!

Late posting on this giveaway…. I had a C R A Z Y busy day and well, the day just got away from me.  I water foram excited though, at even this evening hour to come through with a great Freebie Friday.  I have a NEW copy of Water For Elephants that needs to find its way into a book lovers hands.  This could be your lucky day!

We recently read this book for my book club and when it was chosen I had forgotten I had already had it waiting patiently on my book shelf to be read for some time.  I went out to our local book store and bought a new copy, and didnt even notice until this last week that the new copy was sitting on my desk and I had read the one I had all along for the book review.  “Sigh”…. true confessions of a Book Addict….

HOWEVER…. my error is your gain!  This book is an incredible read, just check out my review of Water For Elephants and you will see what a delightful book it is!

Anyway – here is how to earn yourself chances to win this beautiful book:

1.  Comment here with your favorite read about an animal.

2.  Earn a bonus chance to win by posting a comment on any of my other book reviews (up to 2 extra points for 2 comments on different posts)

3.  Post a link to this on Twitter and/or post this giveaway on your blog and then come back and let me know the link to this giveaway.

There you have it – up to 4 chances per person!   This giveaway is over at midnight on July 3.  US addresses only and no PO boxes.  I will post the winning name here and email the winner for mailing info.

Thanks as always for coming by!  Good luck!

Audio Book Giveaway: How Successful People Think by John C Maxwell

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

Thank you to Anna Balasi and Hachette Audio Books for allowing me to review this audio book as well as to offer chances for a giveaway of this to three lucky winners!

The perfect, compact listen for today’s fast-paced world, How Successful People Think (derived from Maxwell’s previous book, Thinking for a Change) will teach listeners the 11 secrets successful people know. Arranged in an easy-to-follow format, America’s leadership expert, John C. Maxwell, will teach listeners how to expand their thinking and achieve their dreams.

Here is how to receive chances to win this audio book:

1. Post here with a comment of what you would call good advice.

2. For a second chance to win, please post this contest to your blog and post a link to it for me to see.

3. For a third chance to win, Follow me on Twitter!

Contest will run through July 13th. The winners are chosen by using random.com. I will post the 5 winners here as well as email you for your mailing information. The books will come from the publisher. Please US entries only and no po boxes.

Thanks as always for stopping by! :)

Listen to an excerpt.

Audio Book Giveaway: The Juror by George Dawes Green

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

Thank you to Anna Balsi and Hachette Audo Books for offering yet another great audio book for me to review as well as offering you a chance to win one of three that I will be giving away.  This looks incredible and I am excited for it to hit my mail box so I can start listening!



Here is how to receive chances to win one of these “The Juror” audio books:

1. Post here with the name of an author who writes great trial books… (Be sure you leave me a way to connect with you in the event you are one of the winners!)

2. For a second chance to win, please post this contest to your blog and post a link to it for me to see.

3. For a third chance to win, Follow me on Twitter!

Contest will run through July 13th. The winners are chosen by using random.com. I will post the 5 winners here as well as email you for your mailing information. The books will come from the publisher. Please US entries only and no po boxes.

Thanks as always for stopping by! 🙂

Listen to an excerpt.

Audio Book Giveaway: The Swimsuit by James Patterson

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

Thanks to Hachette Audio Books, I am able to offer 3 of this audio book for giveaway!

Syd, a breathtakingly beautiful supermodel on a photo shoot in Hawaii, disappears. Fearing the worst, her parents travel to Hawaii to investigate for themselves, never expecting the horror that awaits them.

Here is what you can do to receive  chances to win this audio book:

1.  Post here with your favorite James Patterson  book title.  If you haven’t read Patterson, share your favorite mystery/suspense author.  (Be sure you leave me a way to connect with you in the event you are one of the winners!)

2.  For a second chance to win, please post this contest to your blog and post a link to it for me to see.

3.  For a third chance to win, Follow me on Twitter!

Contest will run through July 13th.  The winners are chosen by using random.com.  I will post the 5 winners here as well as email you for your mailing information.  The books will come from the publisher.  Please US entries only and no po boxes.

Visit James Patterson’s website at www.jamespatterson.com

Giveaway: Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)26 Comments

I am delighted to not only be receiving this book from Hachette Book Group and Valerie Russo, but off seasonalso to be able to offer 5 copies of this book to lucky readers of this blog!

Acclaimed novelist Anne Rivers Siddons’s new novel is a stunning tale of love and loss.

For as long as she can remember, they were Cam and Lilly–happily married, totally in love with each other, parents of a beautiful family, and partners in life. Then, after decades of marriage, it ended as every great love story does…in loss. After Cam’s death, Lilly takes a lone road trip to her and Cam’s favorite spot on the remote coast of Maine, the place where they fell in love over and over again, where their ghosts still dance. There, she looks hard to her past–to a first love that ended in tragedy; to falling in love with Cam; to a marriage filled with exuberance, sheer life, and safety– to try to figure out her future.

It is a journey begun with tender memories and culminating in a revelation that will make Lilly re-evaluate everything she thought was true about her husband and her marriage.

Here is what you can do to receive  chances to win this book:

1.  Post here with your favorite “road trip” destination.  (Be sure you leave me a way to connect with you in the event you are one of the winners!)

2.  For a second chance to win, please post this contest to your blog and post a link to it for me to see.

3.  For a third chance to win, Follow me on Twitter!

Contest will run through July 13th.  The winners are chosen by using random.com.  I will post the 5 winners here as well as email you for your mailing information.  The books will come from the publisher.  Please US entries only and no po boxes.

Anne Rivers Siddons website

Interview with Anne Rivers Siddons

Giveaway! Amy Minute by Joyce Meyer (audio)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

any minuteThank you to Anna Balasi with Hachette Audio Books for allowing me not only to to review this audio book but offer a giveaway to three lucky winners to receive a copy of this as well sent directly from them!

Sarah Harper is driven, pursuing happiness in all the wrong places. It’s not until she faces a chance encounter with heaven and spends time with the grandmother who prayed for her every day when she was a little girl that she begins to see how her own mother’s bitterness created a hole in Sarah’s life. For the first time, Sarah sees that God created her for a special purpose. When Sarah returns to her own life, she is a woman with a mission. And the unsuspecting world around her will never be the same again.


While I anxiously await my review copy – we can still get the contest started here!  Here is how to get chances to win:

1.  comment here with your name and tell me where you listen to audio books

2.  Earn two extra chances to win if you connect this contest to your blog (send me the link when this is done)

3.  Follow me on Twitter for a bonus chance!

Contest will end on July 12.  US entries only and no PO boxes.  At the end of this contest I will announce the winners here as well as email you for your shipping information.  Good luck to all!

Listen to an excerpt.

The Necklace by cheryl jarvis

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)2 Comments

the necklace

I heard about this book through my book club and was interested right from the start when I heard what it was about:

One day in Ventura, California, Jonell McLain saw a beautiful diamond necklace in a jewelry store window and wondered: Why are personal luxuries so plentiful yet accessible to so few? What if we shared what we desired? Several weeks, dozens of phone calls, and one great leap of faith later, Jonell and twelve other women bought the necklace together–to be passed along among them all.

The dazzling treasure weaves in and out of each woman’s life, reflecting her past, defining her present, making promises for her future. Lending sparkle in surprising and unexpected ways, the necklace comes to mean something dramatically different to each of the thirteen women. With vastly dissimilar histories and lives, they transcend their individual personalities and politics to join together in an uncommon journey–and what started as a quirky social experiment becomes something far richer and deeper.

For one, I love books about strong women.   Secondly – this is a true story of 13 women who bonded a friendship over this necklace.  I like friendships….

The stories within this book – tales from a necklace…. in some cases remarkable (like the money raised for charities), yet in many other cases – confusing.  The book is written giving each chapter a story about one of the women who wore it, but I did not feel the friendship between the women I was hoping for.  There was a lot of negotiating and bickering about the necklace, who could wear, in one case saying public promotion was taboo yet two chapters later it is exactly what they are doing.  We are talking about a $34,000 piece of jewelry that I would thing most of us (certainly myself) would not even consider at $1,000.

I am not a big jewelery fan, I could never see myself even considering to be part of something so costly.  Even though I love the whole concept about sharing an item that bonds you closer together… for me, this book was never about the necklace.  It was always about wanting to read how this group bonded, yet I close the book wondering if they ever really did.

I was initially very excited to review this book.  Yet, I actually had to rewrite this review because it still has left me a bit unsettled by the way it was written.  I seek comfort in the fact that while these women have many things going on in their lives that I find hard to relate too, the necklace did bring good to those whose lives it touched.

There were parts I loved and parts I just didnt feel made for the best reading.  This book rates a below average read from me.