Bloggiesta Finish Line!!!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)11 Comments

“Whew!”  What a great weekend and what a great challenge!  I finished!  I feel a little giddy as I look at blogiestaall that I accomplished during this 48 hour challenge and I an THRILLED with the results!   (Link to the original post)

Here are a few highlights:

  • Totally restyled my entire blog layout
  • Visited many of the other bloggers who were involved in this challenge as well to see their blogs and layouts, how they review, style, etc…. I learned so much!
  • Read all of the Blogging Tips page on Book Blogs and picked up many great ideas – some that I have already applied, some I hope to.
  • Completed all the Mini Challenges!!!  (What an awesome addition to the challenge!)
  • Created several new pages to my blog and learned how to add pages within the pages (very very cool!)
  • Completed my first two Guest Blogger reviews and LOVE the result!
  • Cleaned up my dining room table work space by drafting posts for all the books I am reviewing so I am able to just pop in my review when the book is read.  All the links, hosts, pictures, etc are done!
  • I completed a couple random draft posts to publish whenever
  • I sent interview questions to two different authors I know and hope to have their information back soon so I can get the authors interview page looking super fine!
  • My son took a few pictures of me “in book review” mode for my blog to update the outdated ones.
  • I read a ton of info on blogging thanks to the advice of many of the mini challenge sites, and learned a lot
  • My blog score from the one challenge was 71… I changed some things and did the review again and it went to 77!
  • My side bar has been cleaned up and I am still looking at other things to do by watching what some of the great bloggers out there are doing and what looks good.
  • I went to an authors event Friday evening and purchased her book and sent a letter this weekend to her thanking her and giving her my blog info.  I also sent out 10 other letters to area authors.
  • Caught up on reviews I had not posted yet.
  • I created a business card that I really really like and will use when in book related events.
  • I think I left at least 20 comments on different sites and I am continuing to do “visitations” yet this afternoon
  • Total hours invested in the challenge:  a little over 18 hours
  • *** Update as of 1:01 am on June 22….. I have linked on and left a comment on all the Bloggiesta participants that have logged in as having posted their final Bloggiesta words…. (with the exception of one that would not load even after three attempts…)

Final results:  A great looking blog (I think so anyway), new relationships started with other book bloggers, a better understanding of widgets (although I am still trying to grasp how delicious and mebo work…).

Thoughts for the next Bloggiesta… well I thought this was pretty great.  I don’t really know what I would improve on.  The mini challenges were really fun and I would definitely do that again and wouldn’t mind being considered as one of the host spots for a mini challenge.

I just keep opening up my blog and looking at it!  Pretty cheesy of me…. but I am just loving it!  Thank you again to everyone involved!  Standing ovation and a mental high five to each of you.

Today I am going to try to stop in throughout the day at all Bloggiesta participants blogs to see how they did and what they changed on their blogs.  I really learn a lot just by getting off my own page and going out and visiting!  🙂

Here are some challenge pictures:  Enjoy!

P.S.  as for the book shelf that was on my challenge to do list…. uhhhhh… yeah….. it is still in the box, laying in the library…. guess that will wait for a rainy day…. 😉


Size 2 For Life by Ashley Marriott and Marc L Paulsen, MD

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)3 Comments

size 2Size 2 For Life:

Product Description
We didn’t start life as a size 8, 12, 16 or more. So how did we get here? Well, the simple truth is we ate, and we ate, and we ate! So how do we turn things around and get back to the way we deserve? Size 2 for Life shows us how. Presented in clear and easily understood language this amazingly simple new diet and fitness program can make and keep almost any woman a size 2. Included are simple tests to gauge ones current status, a complete diet and exercise program as well as the 21-Day, 2 for Life, quick-start plan for rapid results. Renowned fitness expert, Ashley Marriott and Stanford trained, Dr. Marc Paulsen are on a mission to get people fit and look the way they truly can.

I am always reading something on nutrition or exercise.  It’s just the way I am wired.  I work hard to keep my weight down, but I am human and I struggle like most people to come up with a happy medium.

1.  Eat a well balanced diet.

2.  Exercise

3.  Avoid late night eating.

While this is the backbone of all diet/fitness books, our authors take it a step further and actually give you the tools you need to  break the habits of over eating and poor choice eating.

I did enjoy some of the encouragement given throughout the book, such as how to handle the relative or friend that says, “Oh come on, look at you!  You can have a piece of cake!” There are also pages of charts that show you for your age and height where you should be at physically.

The book takes you through a 21 day menu plan as well as exercise ideas.  I do like that it encourages you to take it slow… this is not a quick fix, this is a life time change of how you look at food and how you do life.

I would say a good read.  There are several articles that are well written for anyone who is serious about making a change.


BLOGGIESTA!!!!!!

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)4 Comments

blogiestaOk…. so I joined a challenge for this weekend called BLOGGIESTA.  Thanks to Maw Books Blog, she is hosting a clean up, add some fun stuff, get ‘er done weekend challenge that started this morning.  Basically – between 8 am this morning…. and 8 am this Sunday,a group of many book bloggers are taking time to do the little tasks that we tend to put off.

So here is my list of to do’s for the challenge and I will cross them off as I complete them, and Sunday afternoon I will post my overall thought of the challenge and what I hopefully will be able to accomplish.  I am actually a little excited as this is my first group challenge!

So here’s the to do list:

  • Write the reviews I still need to write for the books I have completed
  • Write back up post ideas
  • Add new pages to my blog for a user friendly feel (I added the Guest Blogger page, and a Children’s review page and have a plan to add a couple more later tonight!
  • Write Guest Posts
  • Interview an author friend (or two) for a new Authors interview area
  • Put out some invites for Guest Bloggers
  • Make a business card
  • Create the draft posts for all my To Be Read Pile with the links to the hosts, book synapsus, and picture, so all I have to do when it is read is write the actual review
  • Assemble and set up the book shelf I bought a month ago to hold all of the To Be Read pile so it will come off my dining room table
  • Add fun new pictures to my new blog pages
  • Add a favicon or a gravitar of both to my blog
  • Find out what a favicon and gravitar are (already had a gravitar!)
  • Edit my about me page
  • Add a review policy
  • Research area book events to add a possible page on this info to blog
  • Read the Blogging Tips area
  • Clean up side bar
  • Mail out letters to local authors with a business card included
  • email Sarah (author) interview questions for new Author Interview page

Mini-challenges!

There are mini-challenges!  Twelve hosts have generously offered to host mini-challenges.  Each mini-challenge is geared to help you improve your blog, so they are well worth checking out.

All the challenges will be up for the duration of the Bloggiesta, so you have the entire 48 hours to peruse and complete them.  You don’t have to do them all, but for each one that you do complete with a comment on their post, your name will be entered for a giveaway.

Freebie Friday: Jordan’s Crossing by Randall Arthur

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)26 Comments

jordans crossingThis is my first Friday giveaway.  I have a new extra copy of this book Jordan’s Crossing, and as I start this post… I keep thinking…. pick a different book, pick a different book.  Why?  Randall Arthur’s writing was one I had discovered several years ago.  He has three books out – I read all three one after another and have missed him ever since.  Randall has an amazing way of taking a great christian fiction mystery, roping you in and not letting go to the very end.  Well written and a great message – he is an author that keeps it extrememly real. I was a bit afraid that if anything happened to my treasured copy… what would I do without a spare???  (Is that a bookaholic comment or what?)

Jordan’s Crossing:

When pastor Jordan Rau accepted a position with a European missions agency, his decision was based on money, not on an opportunity to serve God. However, shortly after his family’s arrival in Germany, Jordan’s priorities dramatically change – his young son, Chase, has been murdered. Abandoning his faith in God, Jordan becomes obsessed with finding Chase’s killers and delivering justice. He sets out on a course of action that will destroy not only the murderers, but his own family as well – and only a miracle can stop him.

This contest will run from today until next Friday afternoon, June 26.  Here is how to enter:

1.  Leave a comment here for one entry

2.  Follow me on Twitter for 2 bonus entries (link is on the right side bar) I am new to the Twitter family and need some pals).

3.  Earn a bonus entry when you comment by sharing the title of the best book you have read so far in 2009 and why.

Remember, please US entries only.  No PO boxes.  I will email the winner next Friday and you will have through Monday to get back to me with your mailing address.  I will post the winners here.

Even if you have never read christian fiction before I highly recommend the genre.  There are a lot of great books out there!

Thanks and good luck to all… let the games begin!

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!  USING RANDOM.ORG THE WINNING NUMBER BELINGED TO…..  (DRUM ROLL…)

SHARON WALLING!!!!!!!

Congratulations Sharon!!!!   I am emailing you now… please respond within 48 hours with your address so I may ship you this book!  🙂

From Pain to Peace by Pat Bluth

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)3 Comments

Pain to PeaceAt 5 pm tonight in Nisswa I am going to see a presentation on this book, From Pain to Peace by Pat Bluth.

Anger will eat away at your soul. It can turn to deep depression and can be emotionally debilitating. Bitterness and unforgiveness are emotional suicides that inflict constant pain and steal joy. When you reach this depth of despair—when life seems like it will never be good again—how do you go on? How do you overcome a rage that burns like a volcano?

Pat Bluth was that volcano. After the death of her teenage daughter by a drunk driver, Pat Bluth wanted revenge when he was let off with a mere slap on the wrist. From Pain to Peace is her compelling story, tracing her journey from rage to forgiveness and healing.

From Pain to Peace is for everyone who has known pain or experienced loss. It will be welcomed by anyone who is looking for an example to follow, a proven path to find spiritual healing. It is a story of tragedy, but it is also a story of great joy. Pat discovered a joy and an intimacy with God she never knew possible. She came to experience his love and peace beyond measure.

“God is good. All the time.” Believe this? Read From Pain to Peace and see how true this statement really is!

PAT BLUTH holds a Master’s Degree in Community Counseling and is a certified Chemical Dependency Counselor. She has served as a Christian family therapist, facilitated hospice grief groups, and is a frequent speaker for Mother’s Against Drunk Driving, and other groups. Pat helped start her local MADD chapter. Her message of hope and healing has been an inspiration to thousands. She lives in Brainerd, Minnesota, with her husband, Gary.

I went to school with her daughter Tammy, and  I was there as well, after the football game, at Hasse’s, where the accident happened.

I am thankful I can make time to hear Pat tonight speak on her book and hear her story.Review of this book will be up soon.


Book Giveaway! Leave a comment to register for The Night Gardener

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)37 Comments

night gardener

WINNERS OF THIS GIVEAWAY!!!

Using Random.org…. the winners of the 5 books are:

  • Susanne

  • Amy

You have been emailed and I have asked that you email back your address by Monday July 6.  Thanks and congratulations to our lucky winners!


The Night Gardener by George Palecanos:  Pelecanos (Drama City) delivers a dignified, character-driven epic that succeeds as both literary novel and page-turner. In 1985, the body of a 14-year-old girl turns up in a Washington, D.C., park, the latest in a series of murders by a killer the media dub “The Night Gardener.” T.C. Cook, the aging detective on the case, works with a quiet, almost monomaniacal, focus. Also involved are two young uniformed cops, Gus Ramone, who’s diligent, conscientious and unimpressed by heroics, and Dan “Doc” Holiday, an adrenaline junkie who’s decidedly less straight.

Fast forward 20 years. Detective Ramone, now married with kids of his own, investigates the murder of one of his teenage son’s friends. The homicide closely resembles the earlier unsolved Night Gardener murders. Holiday, now an alcoholic chauffeur and bodyguard, follows the case on his own and tracks down Cook, long retired but still obsessed with the original murders. While the three work together toward a suspenseful ending, Pelecanos emphasizes the fallacy of “solving” a murder and explores the ripple effects of violent crime on society.

Five copies of this book are being offered in this contest thanks to Valerie Russi and Hachette House Book Group.

**To sign up to win:

1.  Leave a comment  for one chance to win

2.  For a second chance to win, make a comment on another of my book reviews.

3.  For a third entry, follow we on Twitter (Twitter link to the right)

Winners will be announced June 30th.  You will have 48 hours from the time I email you to respond with your address.  Those who do not respond will have another name drawn instead.  Winners must be in the USA and Hachette Book Group can not mail to po boxes.

Good luck everyone!  This is an incredible read you don’t want to miss out on!


Audio Giveaway! Cementary Dance by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Thanks to Anna and Hachette Book Group, I am able to offer three copies of this audio book, Cemetery Dance.


cemetary dancePendergast-the world’s most enigmatic FBI Special Agent-returns to New York Cityto investigate a murderous cult. William Smithback, a New York Times reporter, and his wife Nora Kelly, a Museumof Natural History archaeologist, are brutally attacked in their apartment onManhattan’s Upper West Side. Eyewitnesses claim, and the security camera confirms, that the assailant was their strange, sinister neighbor-a man who, by all reports, was already dead and buried weeks earlier. While Captain Laura Hayward leads the official investigation, Pendergast and Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta undertake their own private-and decidedly unorthodox-quest for the truth. Their serpentine journey takes them to an enclave of Manhattan they never imagined could exist: a secretive, reclusive cult of Obeah and vodou which no outsiders have ever survived.

To enter this contest you need to:

1 entry to win: leave a comment here on this blog with your name and email to be reached at.

2 entries to win: tell me who your favorite author is and why

3 entries to win: post a link to this contest (on your own blog, facebook, twitter…) and tell me where you have linked

4 entries : if you post a comment on another of my reviews

Winners will be emailed on June 15th.  You will 48 hours to respond with address for the book to be sent to.  If you have not responded in that time, another winner will be drawn.  USA addresses only.  Thank you and good luck!


We have our winners!!!!  Congratulations to Sandy (Mrs. Mommy), Jason, and Wendy Wallach!  I have sent you all emails to send me your addresses so the books can be shipped to you!  😉

Audio Book Giveaways!!! The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

Thanks to Anna with Hatchette Book Group – I have 3 copies of The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly (audio book) to give away.

  • scarecrowForced out of the Los Angeles Times amid the latest budget cuts, newspaperman Jack McEvoy decides to go out with a bang, using his final days at the paper to write the definitive murder story of his career.
    He focuses on Alonzo Winslow, a 16-year-old drug dealer in jail after confessing to a brutal murder. But as he delves into the story, Jack realizes that Winslow’s so-called confession is bogus. The kid might actually be innocent.
    Jack is soon running with his biggest story since The Poet made his career years ago. He is tracking a killer who operates completely below police radar–and with perfect knowledge of any move against him. Including Jack’s.

    “Narrator Peter Giles delivers the crisp and compelling copy with a deadpan tone and a pace that advances like Patton through Italy. Scenes involving the stalking of McEvoy and Walling raise hairs at the back of the listener’s neck. Great characters and a satisfying ending cement Connelly’s place as one of the best crime novelists working today.”- AudioFile (Starred Review)

To enter this contest you need to:

1 entry to win: leave a comment here on this blog with your name and email to be reached at.

2 entries to win: tell me who your favorite author is and why

3 entries to win: post a link to this contest (on your own blog, facebook, twitter…) and tell me where you have linked

4 entries if you post a comment on another of my reviews

Winners will be emailed on June 15th.  You will 48 hours to respond with address for the book to be sent to.  If you have not responded in that time, another winner will be drawn.  USA addresses only.  Thank you and good luck!


Announcing our winners!  Congratulations to BevE, Stephanie, and Brenda!!!  Please email your shipping information so your audio books can be sent your way!

  • The Link
  • The Link
  • By Colin Tudge
  • For more than a century, scientists have raced to unravel the human family tree and have grappled with its complications. Now, with an astonishing new discovery, everything we thought we knew about primate origins could change. Lying inside a high-security vault, deep within the heart of one of the world’s leading natural history museums, is the scientific find of a lifetime – a perfectly fossilized early primate, older than the previously most famous primate fossil, Lucy, by forty-four million years.A secret until now, the fossil – “Ida” to the researchers who have painstakingly verified her provenance – is the most complete primate fossil ever found. Forty-seven million years old, Ida rewrites what we’ve assumed about the earliest primate origins. Her completeness is unparalleled – so much of what we understand about evolution comes from partial fossils and even single bones, but Ida’s fossilization offers much more than that, from a haunting “skin shadow” to her stomach contents. And, remarkably, knowledge of her discovery and existence almost never saw the light of day.With exclusive access to the first scientists to study her, the award-winning science writer Colin Tudge tells the history of Ida and her place in the world. A magnificent, cutting-edge scientific detective story followed her discovery, and The Link offers a wide-ranging investigation into Ida and our earliest origins. At the same time, it opens a stunningly evocative window into our past and changes what we know about primate evolution and, ultimately, our own.AVAILABLE IN AUDIO AS A DIGITAL DOWNLOAD ONLY
  • The Vixen Diaries
  • The Vixen Diaries
  • By Karrine Steffans
  • This titillating expose, read by the author who has seen it all, chronicles the personal and professional adventures of this tabloid-laden socialite, dispelling some rumors, while confirming others. Diaries unveils the heavily shrouded Hollywood backrooms and its coveted secrets. Offering her ardent fans answers to burning questions and presenting lessons learned, this audiobook will surely not disappoint.Karrine Steffans continues to dish out juicy gossip and the much sought after details of her star studded lifestyle and the celebrity men that helped her get where she needed to be.Karrine draws you in to get an up-close and personal look at the Hollywood life of fast money, drugs, and sex; all the things that make for a great movie. She discusses her interactions with people after the release of Confessions of a Video Vixen and how she copes with it all.

Dragon House by John Shors

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)6 Comments

Dragon HouseI just received in the mail the new John Shors book, Dragon House,  to review before the September 2009 release date.  Having worked with street kids in Honduras, I am excited to see what John has to offer in this read.


Dragon House tells the tale of Iris and Noah—two Americans who, as a way of healing their own painful pasts, open a center to house and educate Vietnamese street children. In the slums of a city that has known little but war for generations, Iris and Noah befriend children who dream of nothing more than of going to school, having a home, and being loved. Learning from the poorest of the poor, the most silent of the unheard, Iris and Noah find themselves reborn. Resounding with powerful themes of suffering, sacrifice, friendship, and love, Dragon House brings together East and West, war and peace, and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit.Best read 2009

Every once in a while a book comes along that is written so well that the words wrap around you a nd carry you through page by page.  This is such a book.

Dragon House is a fiction book themed around Vietnam street children.  Having worked with street kids in Honduras since 2004, I was amazed to see the likeness between these two areas of the world.  John Shors captures the street children’ life in his words, words that at times hit so close to home that I could see and smell what he was describing. I was able to get a real sense of Vietnam and feel the hope that comes with a place that works towards a world without children living on the street.

Well written, a real page turner.  I will definitely be looking for more books from this author.  Dragon House will be available to purchase in September of 2009:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

**Here is a link to more information about Dragon House and the homeless children John is trying to support.  Please check it out, this is an amazing thing that he is doing.   Click here

Book Blogs

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)Leave a comment

Ok…. so I just have to share whats been happening in my world.  Earlier this week I stumbled onto a link that took me to a site called Book Blogs.  “DANGER – Will Robinson!”  Finding this site was like a kid with a sweet tooth stumbling into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory.

This is a book lovers – no, book bloggers dream!  There are book reviews, book discussions, book giveaways (and lots of them), authors offering their books to be read before release and all in groups by genre so you can pick through what interests you and avoid what does not.Part of the DeChantal Library

Within a few days I have linked into conversations with authors, have a couple sending me their book for reading and reviewing before date release, and entered contests to win books of interest.  In return – I  review the book on my blog.

Reading some of these other book blogs will really improve how I review a book in the future.  There is even a discussion on how to do a good review without giving away too much of the book yet coming through strong.

I started a group tonight for Minnesota Book Bloggers to connect and share what they are reading off of the Book Blog site.  I am hopeful that over the next few months here my reviews will become a real source for people to research a book they may want to read.  I am very excited to see how these different books and authors will expand my reading.

I wonder how much sleep I really do need a night….