Book Journey

in a dark, dark wood by ruth ware

Published on February 7, 2016February 7, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Lenora ( goes by Nora) is a crime fiction writer. She has found that as the years go on she is quite content to stick to the comforts of home surrounded by all that she loves , typing out stories and meeting deadlines for her publisher. When an invitation arrives from an old friend to join in a pre-marriage celebration at a secluded home in the woods, Nora is hesitant yet feels the pull to perhaps reconnect. Many invites went out but in the end it is six people who make the celebration weekend.

48 hours later Nora wakes up in the hospital with no recollection of how she got there or what had happened. All she knows is that she has a sickening feeling that someone she knows is dead and with a police officer outside her hospital room she has a feeling that whatever happened… somehow she is involved.

Here Author Ruth Ware, explains the book:

With a title like that how could I refuse? In A Dark, Dark Wood drew me in by its synopsis, despite the comparison to Girl On The Train (not a fan). I liked the idea of old friends gathering together and a mystery to be solved…. felt a little like an 80’s thriller!

The book is a fast read/listen but a good one. Nothing felt dragged out, the book moved at a nice pace throughout the story with just enough of a dangle of the mystery throughout the story line to keep you guessing. In the end my guess of the “who did it” was wrong…. and I like it that way.

I listened to this one on audio, Imogen Church narrated and while she is a new narrator to me, I found that I liked how she mastered her way through the multitude of dialogue between the six characters.

Recommended on audio, but I think this one will read well too.

Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 9 hours and 34 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Audible.com Release Date: August 4, 2015
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Gallery/Scout Press; Later printing edition (August 4, 2015)

Morning Meanderings…. A Little Weekend Cooking of Peanut Butter French Toast

Published on February 7, 2016February 7, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Sunday morning.

YES.

I have a low key day planned…. a few reviews to write, a little audio to listen to , and possibly a little painting in the house. If all goes well, I will not have to leave the house at all today.

I do like that soooooo much.

Al and I are not big breakfast eaters but a friend recently told me about a way to make french toast with peanut butter. Al loves all things peanut butter, so this morning I thought I would give it a try. Seemed like a good Weekend Cooking thing to do.

Peanut Butter French Toast

keeping it simple, use whatever your favorite french toast recipe is…. I like to put vanilla, cinnamon, and powdered sugar in my mix

Mix up your french toast batter

Take your bread of choice and put a layer of smooth peanut butter on it.

Add another slice of bread to the top like a peanut butter sandwich

Dip the sandwich in your french toast batter and let both sides get soaked in batter

Place sandwich in a heated fry pan with a little melted butter

cook 2 to 3 minutes until bottom side is done (golden brown) then flip over an repeat on other side.

Serve immediately with maple syrup.

Verdict: It was good, I am not as big of a peanut butter fan as m husband. If I were to do it again I may consider adding sliced banana in the sandwich.

What is your favorite version of French Toast?

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

Published on February 6, 2016April 20, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

Mindy Kaling is on the search for fulfillment in here adult life. She is looking for love, friendships, and trying to be the first person in the world to lose weight without changing any habits. She discusses how to be glamorous for any occasion, dealing with anxiety and more in her life as a star.

Confession… I have never watched Mindy Kaling’s show. I chose this audio mainly because I like autobiographies. I enjoy hearing back ground stories to people’s fame.

Most of the time.

Occasionally I find one that is not really a fit. This would be one of those times.

While Mindy may be a funny actress, I found her to be unnecessarily crude which is something I am never a fan of. This one is entirely on me, I gave it a shot. I am sure fans of Mindy Kaling would find this to be a good listen.

What I can say is Mindy Kaling narrates this book herself, which I almost always find I am drawn to in memoirs. Mindy has an exception narrating voice and comes across clearly with great emotion, wit, and voice expressions. Her narration I felt was spot on… after all who better to tell her story?

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Why Not Me, and Mindy’s narrating performance has been nominated for an Audio Award.

Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 4 hours and 57 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Random House Audio
Audible.com Release Date: September 15, 2015

WILDALONE by Krassi Zourkova

Published on February 5, 2016February 4, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)4 Comments

Thea Slavin from Bulgaria is about to enter Princeton. Although she has an incredible talent for music, she has an alternative motive for attending. Years earlier her sister Elza had also attended Princeton and was mysteriously killed and her body disappeared. While Thea’s parents fear for her safety they trust their daughter to make good decisions.

Should they?

While Thea finds herself alone in an atmosphere she is unfamiliar with she meets two brothers, Rhyas and Jake, who both find they are drawn to her. (Picture the way Edward was drawn to Bella in Twilight). While Thea finds she too has an attraction to the brothers, one of them holds the answers to what happened all of those years ago and Thea is walking a very dangerous path.

WILDALONE had many of the elements that I enjoy in a good paranormal read. Thea was a likable protagonist and the Bulgarian background was a nice change. While this is a paranormal title, it took quite a while to get there. In fact for the majority of the book you really don’t know what the paranormal part is. I kept waiting to find out what it was, knowing what it must have to do with… but not sure. There was also a couple of small parts in the book that did not flow right…a character would be with someone and then suddenly wasn’t. I actually went back pages to see if I had missed something.

That said, I did enjoy WILDALONE. There is much to like about the book and the things I mentioned above were not deal breakers. As this is a first in a trilogy, I do believe I would continue to see where this story goes.

Series: Wildalone Sagas (Book 1)
Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (October 13, 2015)
Language: English

Morning Meanderings…. EVERYONE Needs A Little Bob Marley In Their Life

Published on February 5, 2016February 5, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)3 Comments

Good Morning! 2nd cup of COFFEE today and have a coffee date coming up here shortly. MMMMM…. friends and coffee. My mom would be proud :).

My Bob Marley encounters are few put impactful.

A few years ago at the Book Expo in New York I went to a signing of a book by Bob Marley’s son, Ky-Mani. I had the book dedicated to my son, Justin.

I really felt that would be my last connection with Bob…

Then we went to Cancun a few weeks ago. At the all-inclusive resort we stayed at they had a drink called the Bob Marley. The drink was named for it’s coloring, it striped in the glass green, yellow, red. For me it was a bit strong, but for the ladies I went on this trip with, they really liked it and every day by the pool when the waitress went by it was the requested beverage.

Once we came back home, I wanted to get each of the ladies I went with a little something as a thank you for a trip that had every potential of being very hard on me, but actually turned out ok due to the company we were with. I wanted to go with something that I had learned about each of them and for two of the ladies *cough Wendy and Julie cough* I wanted that item to be Bob Marley related.

Originally I was thinking a bobblehead doll…. but wow. On line these babies go for around $75 each! So I started exploring and discovered great sayings that Marley had said throughout his life that had been made into vinyl to put on your wall. I have been to each of these ladies homes so I know the layout and thought they may think this is cool. If not, it is still a fun connection to the trip.

What I did not expect is that while looking around, I would find one for me. I love words. I love words on the wall. If I could go all words and a few pictures I would. My house should read like a story of my life. As I look around at books, and pictures, and memories…. I guess it does. It still did not stop my from picking out one for myself and yesterday I put it on my wall to see what it would look like and to be able to tell the girls how to put theirs up if they choose to.

Love

it.

Guess I have a little Bob Marley memory as well. 🙂

Today is a coffee date and a lunch date. A trip to the store and later reading of the book club book pick for next weeks discussion. Sounds like a pretty fair kick off to the weekend.

I will leave you with this – not sure if it “THE” recipe, but here is a Bob Marley drink recipe. This drink may cause you to synchronize swim in the pool, dance a little in your lounger, and talk to people you do not know. Proceed with caution. 😉

1 oz. Creme de Menthe, green

•1/2 oz. Liqueur, banana

•1/2 oz. Rum, overproof/151 proof

•1 oz. Grenadine

Mixing Instructions

The true Bob Marley is grenadine at the bottom, creme de menthe in the middle, and 151 plus creme de bananna, so it makes the red, green and yellow of the Jamaican flag

Girl Through Glass by Sari Wilson

Published on February 4, 2016February 4, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

11-year-old Mira Able leads a hard life in Brooklyn. Her father is absent, her mother may as well be. She takes her frustrations out in ballet class where this fueled anger works in her favor. When her skills get the attention and praise from an older gentleman Maurice, who frequents the ballet, Mira blossoms under the attention and his desire to improve her future as a ballerina. Soon Mira is doing everything Maurice asks of her despite the warnings she receives.

Years later, Mira now goes by the name of Kate, a young woman still battling the demons of her past. Kate is up for review in her teaching job for sleeping with a student. Kate starts to question decisions she has made in her life and feels the answers lie in her past, in that early world of ballet.

Does anyone remember the short-lived tv show Bunheads? A fun show about a group of ballet students? Yeah?

Well this is nothing like that.

Girl Through Glass has a delicious darkness to it. It is well written, beautifully actually at times, but this is not a lighthearted story. Told in alternating chapters, as the reader we are slowly let into the what happened then…. that lead to the happenings now. The journey unravels as the two stories work their towards one another.

As I often do when books are told in alternating perspectives… I find myself leaning to one story line over the other. In this case it was young Mira’s story that drew me in the most wanting me to know what happens to this young girl and how our life decisions play out into our futures.

I found this book to be unique in its telling, definitely a book that will give you plenty to think about.

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Harper (January 26, 2016)
Language: English

I found my way into this world of ballet thanks to TLC Book Tours

What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross

Published on February 2, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

All Lucy Wakefield has ever wanted was to have a child to call her own. When her marriage dissolves she sees this dream slipping farther and farther away. When shopping at a store Lucy finds a baby girl lest in a cart while her mother is a short distance away. Without even realizing what she is doing Lucy takes the baby and leaves the store.

Lucy wants to believe she will give the child back, but as her love for this child grows, she justifies her actions with the fact that the girl was left unattended. She ignores the TV news with the pretty and devastated young mother pleading for her babies return and fabricated a story to her boss about having to leave the state to work through an adoption of a baby girl that she names Mia.

And so it goes. Now over two decades later, the truth begins to come out. As Lucy scrambles as to what to tell her daughter about what happened, she knows that time is running out.

Helen Klein Ross writes about every parents nightmare. When I read this synopsis I wanted to know more. What Was Mine is a devastating story that feels as thought it could have been ripped form the headlines. It is one of those stories where you get to hear both sides with watching Mia grow up with Lucy and Lcy’s love for her, and at the same time watching Mia’s real mother trying to hold it together all the while believing that her daughter is alive and out there somewhere.

I enjoyed this fast pace read on audio. There is a winning cast of narrators: Julia Whelan, Cassandra Campbell, Amanda Carlin, Rebekkah Ross , and Jonathan Todd Ross (Narrator). Normally I do like multiple narrators because it gives me the feeling of a “production” or “show”, but this was not the case. The narrators complimented each other well and I did not even notice the change as I do in some multiple narrator books.

The book is not without it’s bumps in the road. There are things that if you really think about them become a little hard to believe. You need to read this one as one of those books that you don’t think too hard about. Just enjoy the wild and scary ride. And yes I think it is worth it.

Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 8 hours and 44 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Audible.com Release Date: January 5, 2016

Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books (January 5, 2016)

Morning Meanderings…. The End Of January 2016

Published on January 31, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Sunday and the last day of January 2016. While filling the outdoor wood stove this morning (yes, some of us in Minnesota do that 😉 ) I found myself really thinking about this past year. It is just crazy to think that in two more months it will be a year…

It doesn’t feel like that can be true.

I have struggled daily. Lately, this last month… I am searching for a way to assemble some sort of life… goals…. a way of going on – NOT moving on, but going on. This time of my life has been the absolute hardest of anything I have ever experienced. I am glad at least that I am starting to want to get started with something again and have been slowly working on reconnecting with my contracts and the outside world.

Bitter sweet to see me using an agenda again. It is one of the geeky things I have always loved to do and I quit last April and didn’t touch my agenda for the rest of the year. I love to write things down and see what I have completed and what I have planned. It took a while to bring this back.

New books in the house (because apparently I am rambling today….)

Look at these fun titles. Makes me want to read RIGHT NOW.

The Life We Bury is our book club pick for February. Minnesota author.

Odysseus Abroad came in from Vintage Books a division of Random House

The Immortals looks fun and is going to be a part of an upcoming giveaway!

The Good Liar has a tasty title doesn’t it? Harper sent this one.

The total Package…. ahh Stephanie Plum, we have a love-like relationship but I still cant resist seeing what this is about 🙂 TLC Blog tour

The EX I picked up at the library yesterday while changing out the window. Love the title…. sounds good 🙂

The RAMBLERS has a fun synopsis that has me curious. TLC blog tour.

So that’s all I am going to chat about today. I have a full day of prepping for two Library related meetings tomorrow. One in St Paul, and one in my home town. It will truly be a Library Day 🙂

Saturday Snapshot…. Foods Of Cancun

Published on January 30, 2016January 30, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

The weekend is here! Yet… I don’t feel in my usual relaxed weekend mode. After I write this post I am going to go and change the window out at the library, then list some printers we no longer use on Craig’s List, work on securing authors for Wine and Words, and start to prep our Friends Annual meeting agenda that is Monday evening. Hopefully later this afternoon Al and I will meet up with our son Brad to eat and catch up.

Speaking of food…

One of the great things about vacation is of course, all the delicious food and no cooking it! We recently returned from Cancun, a trip we took to Moon Palace, an all inclusive resort with friends. I am normally a big picture taker, but not so much this time so relying on those that were with us to come up with great pics – however… I did grab some food pics. You know that crazy person that is in a restaurant and whips out their camera to take a picture of their food? Say hi next time, that is me. 😉

Above: By the pools there were several places you could grab a quick bite to eat. They had everything from chicken wings to burgers…. salads to cookies…. nachos to hot dogs on the grill. And yes, they had pizza. We had the pizza a couple of times during the week we were there. They made it in front of you and cooked it in this cool brick oven. The pizzas cooked in about two minutes.

Below: One of the days a few of our group went into Cancun to see the shops. They had beautiful items for sale but I am not a big fan of the hustling and the pushiness of the vendors. Still, it was nice to say that I did go into Cancun. Before we headed back to the resort we grabbed a bite in a Mexican restaurant in the area. The food was tasty!

Below: My husband Al, and a couple of the other guys, Ray and Jim, went fishing one morning. They caught quite a few fish in the few hours they were out including this big Mahi Mahi which the chefs at the resort cooked for us that evening for our dinner. It was a great experience for the guys and it was fun to taste the fresh fish they caught.

PicMonkey Collage3

I am adding this post to the Saturday Snapshot meme and Weekend Cooking.

Morning Meanderings…. The Beauty Of Connections

Published on January 29, 2016 by Sheila (Book Journey)9 Comments

Friday!

What a first week back in Minnesota! I had big plans of what I was going to accomplish this week and for the most part none of it happened. My life went in a totally different direction and I pretty much became a “Girl Who Lunches” this week.

For whatever reason, I had a lot of connections this week. Calls and messages to have coffee or lunch. On Wednesday I had two coffee dates and a lunch date. I am not complaining, I like my friends and I like seeing them. When hanging out with one group this week one of the ladies said, “You just know so many people within the different things that you do.”

That made me think.

My son Justin was a connector. If there is such a thing (and if not I am making it a thing right now), Justin brought people together. His work friends met his life friends, his hang out friends met his college friends, and so on. The nice thing about this connecting is that these people (kids really) now have each other in his absence and they will say again and again how it was Justin who brought them together. I am so glad they have that kind of connecting support.

This week I spent some time thinking of myself as a connector. For whatever reason I decided to make a chart this morning of the different relationships we probably all have within our lives in something like this:

Some of the titles may change, but you probably have a similar grouping if you wrote them down. Mine are defined as:

Book Friends: People I relate to through books. My book club, authors, publishers, well… YOU.

Adventure Friends: The friends I can call up to do a 5k, mud run, stomp the grapes dressed as Lucille Ball…. they know who they are. 😉

Work Out Friends: The friends that will take walks with me, ride bike, meet me at the gym

School Friends: The people I still connect with from my school days either on Facebook, email, and occasionally in Real face to face life.

Church Friends: Friends I have made through church.

Movie Friends: That awesome list of people I can text to go to a movie with.

Family Friends: Family members who are friends to me as well… they fall into several f thee categories.

Friends You Volunteer With: I may have met these friends through volunteering somewhere.

Library Friends: Friends I have made through my love for the library.

Coffee Friends: You know who you are… we catch up over a great cup of Joe….or two…. or three

Group Friends: Friends I have made through a group I hang out with. These are people I usually meet up with when we are doing a group thing.

On-Line Friends: People I have met through this blog and through other on line things I participate in. While some may argue that is not a friendship, I beg to differ. Quite a few of you who I have “met” through this website, I have also met in real life. I do consider you friends. A few I have not met in RL have sent me cards and encouragement this year. I consider you friends.

Friends Of Friends: People I met through your friends. I may not go and do something without the mutual friend, but some day I might.

Phone Friends: I think we all have them. They are friends, they re people we know in RL… but for whatever reason can never get together and basically keep up through phone calls and texts.

Work Friends: The people I met through a job and enjoy.

Lunch Friends: These friends I mainly hang out with over a lunch date to catch up.

Common interest friends: Friends I made through taking a class or doing a study.

Business friends: People I have met through our business or my Freelance business who could fall into one of these other categories.

I should have a point to this. I think I do. When I look at these groupings I can see where a friend may have started in one but is now also in one or more of these groups. For instance our book club started through a job I used to work at. Since Bookies started that way, the initial start up group was work friends, and some that are still in the book club so the work friends also become book friends. Business friends would be like the people we went to Australia with last year who, because of that trip, we also took this trip to Mexico this year and they also fall into Lunch Friends, where we meet and catch up.

Anyway… I am constantly in awe of connections and how they work into our lives. This weeks connections led me to two potential job opportunities through my freelance. That was a bonus to my meet ups this week. So while I did have other plans for my week, these meet ups really worked out well in the direction I was planning on going this week anyway which was to start working on lining up a few freelance jobs.

It’s funny how things can work out.