Book Journey

Squeaking in here late morning but still morning.

I did not mean to play the old silent treatment here the past week +.  We just returned last night from Cancun Mexico and this morning I have been a bit slow moving with a nasty sinus head cold. So here I am with coffee cup and ….

Oh, I suppose I should back up a bit.

The Cancun trip had been on the table pretty much all of 2015.  While we had our tickets, I was wavering if I wanted to go and with everything that has happened in our lives over the past 9+ months, I did not want to be the “downer” of the group of ten that were planning to go.

I was so unsure… I was not quite 100% in even the night before the trip.  Although we had made all the arrangements with house sitters, dog sitters, mail, etc… I was still quite willing to bow out and would have been fine staying home.  Al coaxed me.. my friend Wendy coaxed me… and finally I decided it was only 7 days and two of them were travel days so really only 5 days and Justin would have wanted me to go.

I went.

I read a bit… I laid in the sun.  I walked the beach with my husband.  We ate a lot of good food, we tried a couple of new drinks.  I laughed some.  I cried some.

And in the end.  It was all ok and I am glad I went.  Of course, we all have pictures and some I will not have for a while yet and some I will post tomorrow morning.  For now… I will give you a little hint of what is to come…

Minnesota has finally hit COLD.  Currently as I sit inside with both hands around COFFEE CUP it is 19 below zero.  The coldest temps that we have had yet this year.  The kind of temp that makes Al (hubby) and I talk about moving to some place warm like Florida, at least perhaps eventually like snow birds….gone for the cold months, back for my favorites Spring – Fall.  It is not an easy topic for me because I have so many attachments to my home town.

In the book, Between The World And Me, which my book club will be reading and reviewing tomorrow evening there is a line that works into this topic…

We did not choose our fences.

In the book, Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing to his son about the ways of our world and in this line he is referring to the fences that contain us.  More pointedly he is referring to the fences of being born Africa American, however as I look around my home this morning… the home that I have lived in since my mom built it after the fire in 1980, the home I inherited after her accident in 1996, the home that sits next to the property where I had lived since I was 3 and used to play with my sister in the back yard that is now the home of our business; I believe we all have fences.  The same home that I celebrated my teenage birthdays with friends and cake, where I spent hours talking with my mom about all the things that teenage girls talk to their moms about, the home where I raised my two boys from ages 6 and 8, the home where we laughed and worked on school projects and made Harry Potter capes out of blankets and watched movies as a family and baked cookies and painted bedrooms football team colors and planted gardens and completed years of homework and celebrated school sports wins with popcorn mixed with gummy bears and m and m’s, and handed over keys to first cars and sat up into the night talking about first love and heart break, the home of laughing until it hurt, holding tight to the past, and the home that now has 2 trees planted in the back yard in memory of my son…

We all have fences.

Well.

Wow.

Where the heck did that come from?

I am going to need a second (who am I kidding) third cup of coffee.

Anyhoo.  I think fences will be an excellent discussion point for our group tomorrow.  As this book is different than anything we have ever read, I have been creating some good discussion topics.  I love books that stretch us, think our of the box – or in this case out of the fence.

What fences do you have in your life?

It is Sunday morning.   EARLY.  I am sitting here with COFFEE CUP contemplating the direction of this post.  I had a different title in mind…. something I thought of yesterday but decided I dare not use. Yet.  But it was a good one.  😉

I adore my book club.  Yes, yes, feel free to insert eye roll here.  I know I say it like ALL THE TIME.  I can’t put into words everything this group of women mean to me but you know I like to try.  After a whirlwind month of holiday dodging and extreme emotion, I did not pick up the book club book,  Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates.  Yesterday I put out a plea to my book club and one of the gals in our group delivered it to my door.

“Did you read it?”  I asked her.

“I did.” she said.

“How was it?”  I asked.

“It’s black.” was her response.

“Yes.” I said, and knew her comment was not demeaning or derogatory, just stating a fact.  It is a different style of book than we have ever read as a group before.  As I opened the book myself last evening, I understood what she was saying even more.  Between The World and me is written as letters to Ta-Nehisi to his 15-year-old son and it covers what it is like to grow up in a world that can judge you by the color of your skin.  I am proud of our book club for choosing this book and look forward to an interesting discussion this coming Tuesday.

For myself, the book so far is poetic, and metaphors, and very real.  This morning I opened up my laptop and looked up what others were saying about this book.  The reviews are mixed but interesting.  I am not done reading but it is a short book and I will be done today.  It is the kind of read where I sit with a notebook next to me to write down profound points and questions.

In other thoughts… books came in my house this week.

The History Manor and Still Well are both from Michael Phillip Cash and he always sends little treats with his books.  The candy is nice, but the little yellow highlighter is what made me smile.  I do love highlighters.

The Opposite of Everyone by Joshilyn Jackson is squeeeee worthy.  I love her writing and can not wait to dig into this one.

This Is Not The Story You Think It Is by Laura Munson caught my eye in the latest bookmark magazine.  I picked this one up at our library yesterday morning.

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell is also a library pick on CD.  I hope t start listening to that one today.

Last night, my husband and I went out for a bit with our son Brad and his friend Andy.  I was talking to Brad about book reviews and he said, “I didn’t realize you are still doing that.”

I told him I was, not at the pace I once was, but I didn’t and I don’t want to give it up.  So much has come out of this thing I have created in Book Journey.  As I look back at when I started this in 2009 I would have never dreamed that in 2016 I would still by typing away talking books, life, whatever.  I told Brad that Book Journey has been such a big part of where I am today.  This blog has brought me friendships, book connections, events like the book expo in New York, real life connections and a big one – this blog is why I was in St Paul on April 1st and 2nd with my son Justin preparing to interview Scott Eastwood.  That was the last time I seen my son and if not for that book connection….

well.  Let’s just say I am so thankful.  In the months to follow, a bench was placed at the Brainerd Library with my sons name on it.  That bench was from the connections I have made here at Book Journey.  Seriously… my heart is full.

Book Journey and I are not done yet.  I will continue to read and write, share and connect.

I love Time Hop and Facebook’s Time line.  That’s when you can look up posts and/or pictures that you posted on a certain day in past years.  For the most part, you may find something interesting once in a while….a good memory… a great pic…. but today must be a day that I do things because January 8th had a lot to say.

For starters, I made the above picture my Facebook profile pic on this day in 2013.  What is interesting is that I love(d) to change out my Facebook pic and used to do so frequently…. but my current Facebook is and has been for quite a while now, this same picture you see above.

Also, on this day 3 years ago I was appointed to the City Library Board.  In 2012, I had two conversations about books with Justin on that day.  One was regarding the book, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo… the other was about purchasing second-hand text books for college from Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

And then…. there was this:

This is a box that was sent to my book club on this day for our book club meeting that night.  The book was In The Belly Of Jonah, and the amazing author was Sandra Brannan.  What was fun (beyond the super cool BIG package) was what was inside.  Sandra and I had originally met in New York at the Book Expo.  I had since seen her a few times including a time she was speaking in Minneapolis and myself and another book club member Susan went and took her out to dinner before her speaking.  After dinner I introduced her to the delicious drink the Colorado Bulldog (which may or may not have caused us to cut it close on the speaking engagement but really…. that is another story).

So…. in the box was chocolate rocks with Sandra’s book cover on it, a 6 pack of coke, chocolate syrup, and a skull (yes skull) of good vodka.  All the making (except the milk) to make Colorado Bulldog’s.  It was awesome and since Sandra skyped with us that evening, we all had a drink together.

Now that is a good January 8 memory.  Actually… they all are. LOVE my book club.

Any good January memories for anyone?  What were you reading a year ago today?

I first experienced a Diane Chamberlain novel in the fall of 2014 and I connected with her brilliant style of writing immediately and continued to read her ever since without disappointment….  consistently delightful.  ~Sheila

Molly and Aidan are preparing to adopt a baby.  While there is the normal fear and anticipation between the couple as they hope for the best, Molly carries secrets from her past that she feels could ruin everything if they came to light.  Thus begins a journey of present time Molly, and alternating chapters of 14-year-old Molly…. and everything that happened that 14th year and led to the possible destruction of everything she holds true in present day….

It has been a while since I have listened to a Diane Chamberlain book.  In this new world I live in, I need to consider topics carefully before I go into a book, watching out for my own personal tragedies that would hit to close to home.  When I first looked at the synopsis for Pretending To Dance I was uncertain if this book would be a safe one for me, yet the subject matter and of course the fact that it is the amazing Diane Chamberlain drew me in.  I am glad I did.

There is something about Diane Chamberlain’s books.  They always carry something in them that you do not see coming, yet told in such a way that you are not necessarily looking for the “WOW”moment until it is revealed.  That is what happens in this book and I was delighted to see that Diane Chamberlain had not lost her touch, nor did I in my experience of reading her.  Author and reader are truly a match here.

I enjoyed the past story line of Young Molly and the references to Judy Blume’s book, Forever (a banned book by the way…. but most of Judy Blume’s writing – if not all, are.)  As I listened on (yes, I once again enjoyed Chamberlain’s book in audio format) I was impressed by the elements of comparison that was placed into this story line that tied close to the Blume book.  This held a different feel for me than past Chamberlain books, but one that I found fitting.

If you have not read Diane Chamberlain I would highly recommend this author.  This is my first audio book of the year and I am have a feeling it may wind up on my best of 2016 list.

• Audible Audio Edition
• Listening Length: 12 hours and 45 minutes
• Program Type: Audiobook
• Version: Unabridged
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Audible.com Release Date: October 6, 2015
• Publisher: Macmillan; Air Iri OME edition (October 8, 2015)

Other Diane Chamberlain books I have experienced:

Necessary Lies

The Secret Life Of Cee Cee Wilkes

The Midwife’s Confession

The Silent Sister

Sunday morning with COFFEE cup.  I feel….  ready to start something.

This morning I was reading Bryan’s post at Still Unfinished  about his one word for 2016 and he links others as well.  It is a beautiful post and I enjoyed visiting the others one word as well.  Check it out, I love the pictures with all of the words.  It caused me to go back and read my own choice for this year.  I believe it is the right word for me.

In other random news I need to update this blog look.  Seriously…. brown?  What was a I thinking?  The background color has to change.  And my side bar is so outdated.

And now that I am writing… I feel scattered this morning like I thought I had a good post in my head and now I am looking at this thinking “what are you trying to say?”

So that said…. I am just going to tiptoe out of here.  Have a great Sunday.  Read something wonderful.