Book Journey

Morning Meanderings… Getting My 20’s On… Gatsby Style

Published on February 5, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)23 Comments

Good morning! Thursday already! I am not even sure how that happened… I went through most of yesterday thinking it was Tuesday. No idea where I lost a day.

I have been back and forth on an event in Roseville Minnesota coming up this Saturday. It is a Gatsby event for their library sponsored by their friends group. I sooooo want to do an event like this in Brainerd in 2016. Months ago I said I would attend but then coming back from our long trip, I suddenly just wanted to stay home. (I kind of still do).

Yet… as the event draws closer… I became inspired. Yesterday morning I looked at what I had in my closet of dresses and found one or two that will work… then I went to our local party store and found a wig.. yes a wig… that will also work.

I think I want to go.

It sucks that it is 2 hours away… but with a little luck, next year it wont be. 🙂

So that’s what I am up too.

Remember my word for this year is “emerge”… and I need to emerge out of this house. lol

Today I have a freelance project to start moving on, a mailing for the library, work out session, and the start of the flyer for the bike ride in July for Camp Benedict. I do not lack for things to do. 😉

My Father’s Wives by Mike Greenberg

Published on February 4, 2015February 3, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Jonathon Sweetwater has a pretty wonderful life. He has a good paying job, a beautiful wife, and two children he adores. When he comes home early from work one afternoon… things suddenly look as thought they could change in ways that Jonathon never anticipated or wanted.

Now, Jonathon is holding on to a secret that is ripping him apart. As he questions how his life has gone wrong, he is brought back to the memory of his father who left when he was 9 years old and proceeded to marry again 5 more times. His father now having passed away, Jonathon knows he does not want to follow down the same path his father went when it came to women. Jonathon decides that maybe now is the time to search out each of these past wives and find out more about the man who was his father, a man he hardly knew, and maybe at the same time answer questions about himself.

I first read author Mike Greenberg in his book, All You Could Ask For. I have to say, for being a radio host for ESPN and ABC, the man can get in touch with great protagonists, both male and female.

In My Father’s Wives, I enjoyed the flow of this book about a man searching for answers to help him with his own life and his own marriage. Clearly left with issues from his father’s departure from his life at such a young age, it was an interesting take to search out each of the wives. Once again, I am impressed on how well Mike Greenberg can write female characters. Right along this story line is also Jonathan keeping up with an unusual boss, his desire to be with his family, and working out the proper steps to take in his marriage that may or may not be in jeopardy.

I really enjoyed this read. It moved well from page to page and I had no trouble finishing this read in one sitting. I was thoroughly engaged in what would happen and how it would all work out. Mike Greenberg is an author I keep an eye on. A quick and enjoyable read.

Hardcover: 240 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (January 20, 2015)

Thank you to TLC book tours for giving me the opportunity to read and review another excellent book by Mike Greenberg

Morning Meanderings… Heigh Ho Heigh Ho It’s Off To Work I Go

Published on February 4, 2015February 4, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)11 Comments

Good morning! Getting back in routine here. Thank goodness! I love getting up in the morning with a purpose and heading into my office. I have a few writing projects going on and more coming.

Today I write, I have a lunch date, work out, and a project to work on this afternoon. I have been trying to read in the evenings instead of TV which works out well. It is a good agenda.

Listening to today:

Reading today:

Have a great Wednesday!

Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins (not the review you are expecting)

Published on February 3, 2015February 3, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)73 Comments

Rachel takes the same train every morning. While on the train she spends the time watching out the windows; the places, the people, making up stories of their lives. Often she sees a couple sitting on their deck having breakfast. Their life together looks wonderful and Rachel imagines that they live this glorious existence, she even gives then names; Jess and Jason.

Then one morning on the train Rachel sees something shocking. It is there for a moment and then the train moves on. Suddenly everything is moving too fast. Rachel feels The following days unravel into a mess as though Rachel’s life is a ball of yarn that someone threw on the floor.

Rachel has to say something. But to who? And with her reputation… who would listen?

I honestly read The Girl On The Train because I seen it EVERYWHERE. When people are talking about the next great read, you certainly do not want to be the one who passed it up, so I listened to it on audio.

I found the book to take a while to get into. Rachel is not what I would call a likable protagonist. She is heavily flawed and her constant excuses for her behavior honestly weighed on me. I know this is going to put me in the minority on this one, but I know I would have enjoyed this more if Rachel would have had it more together. I did not want to spend my time slogging through her issues every step of the way. I have heard this book compared to Gone Girl and I did not see it. I am pretty sure I have a post coming up about why that is. 🙂

Overall, Rachel’s issues aside, the book takes off and keeps you guessing. The narrators Clare Corbett (Narrator), Louise Brealey (Narrator), India Fisher (Narrator) were wonderful. I do like twists and turns and the ending was not one I had seen coming.

I believe my issues with this book are because I like strong protagonists. I do understand that some would argue that it is Rachel’s flaws that add to the book. I do not agree. This opinion on this one is all me. Do not let it discourage you from reading a book that I think will do well overall.

Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 10 hours and 59 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Audible.com Release Date: January 13, 2015

Morning Meanderings… A Day Of Library Friends

Published on February 3, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)15 Comments

Good morning! Wow. *yawn* *stretch*

What a day.

Yesterday I went to my first Minnesota Library Association of Friends meeting in St Paul Minnesota. That involved me being ready and out of the house by 7 am and at the meeting shiny and ready to go by 10 am.

The Association supports the friends groups of Minnesota. By being a part of this board I am ale to have a voice in how we support our friends groups. I really am excited to be a part of it.

Then….

2:10 pm and I am out the door and heading for home. In the house by 4:30 pm, time to organize my notes, heat my sandwiches and out the door again for our Annual Friends Meeting. I was very excited with the turn out. We had a wonderful year. Our Spring book sale was a record-breaking sale. This year we plan on it being another awesome sale. We are actually for the first time ever moving the sale off site into a building a friend of mine owns for more space. I am super excited about the sale!

We will have our first children’s sale this year, our third Wine and Words… so much going on! 🙂

I feel energized and have much to do today to update our website, continue my author search for Wine and Words, and work on a few things for Camp Benedict too.

Yesterday I finished up two audio books (with the drive time), Girl On The Train and Afterworlds.

and as long as I am rambling here, three books that I am planning to read have release dates today. Keep an eye out for:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on February 1, 2015February 1, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)68 Comments

Hello! Welcome to It’s Monday What Are You Reading? The meme that we use to share what we read this past week and what our plans are for the upcoming week. It’s a great way to see what others are reading and add to your own To Be Read list. 😀 You never know where that next great read may come from!

It’s hard to believe I have only been home a little over a week. When I think of it that way I guess I have accomplished a bit since my return. Considering I have been tired and the last couple of days not feeling so awesome, I did ok. 🙂

Here is what I posted this past week:

Off The Beaten Page by Terri Peterson Smith (books and traveling – oh my!!)

In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson

Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King

Witches Of Echo Park by Amber Nelson

Anything That Moves by Dana Goodyear (talk about EXTREME eating!)

A little food recap of what we ate on vacation (DO NOT view if you are hungry 😉 )

Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire by JK Rowling (finally! I have finished the 4th book for the readalong!)

This may look like a bit, but this would also be reviews I could not post while I was away. I did not get much reading done this past week so I do not have much to add from last weeks plan however this is what is new:

For My Ears

In 1844, Missouri belle Julia Dent met dazzling horseman Lieutenant Ulysses S Grant. Four years passed before their parents permitted them to wed, and the groom’s abolitionist family refused to attend the ceremony.

Since childhood, Julia owned as a slave another Julia, known as Jule. Jule guarded her mistress’s closely held twin secrets: She had perilously poor vision but was gifted with prophetic sight. So it was that Jule became Julia’s eyes to the world.

And what a world it was, marked by gathering clouds of war. The Grants vowed never to be separated, but as Ulysses rose through the ranks—becoming general in chief of the Union Army—so did the stakes of their pact. During the war, Julia would travel, often in the company of Jule and the four Grant children, facing unreliable transportation and certain danger to be at her husband’s side.

Yet Julia and Jule saw two different wars. While Julia spoke out for women—Union and Confederate—she continued to hold Jule as a slave behind Union lines. Upon the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Jule claimed her freedom and rose to prominence as a businesswoman in her own right, taking the honorary title Madame. The two women’s paths continued to cross throughout the Grants’ White House years in Washington, DC, and later in New York City, the site of Grant’s Tomb.

Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost. And then she sees something shocking. It’s only a minute until the train moves on, but it’s enough. Now everything’s changed. Unable to keep it to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and becomes inextricably entwined in what happens next, as well as in the lives of everyone involved. Has she done more harm than good?

I have not started either of the books i mentioned last week so will not add any more books this week. 🙂

Now what are you reading? Please add your link to your own “Its Monday What Are You Reading” below where it says click here. Oh and talk about us on twitter using hashtag: IMWAYR

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Harry Potter and The Goblet Of Fire by J K Rowling

Published on February 1, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)9 Comments

Year 4: A brief recap in my words: Harry is able to go with the Weasley’s before school starts to see International Quidditch Cup being played (think Super bowl but with brooms and a snitch). This is a big deal and getting away from the Dursley’s early is icing on the cake!

Yet that is not all the surprises in store for this year! Once at school, Harry as well as his classmates learn that Hogwarts will be hosting a very special event – the Triwizard Tournament; an event that had been cancelled for many years due to the champions chosen being killed form the intense competitions. Now, feeling that the Magical world has knocked the kinks out of the tournament, they have brought it back and two schools will be coming to complete with Hogwarts.

When the goblet of fire is placed in the great hall, students 17 years old or older are welcome to put their name in the cup for a chance to be chosen as their schools competitor. The cup then will choose the name for each school of who will compete.

Exciting stuff!!!

Yet when the time comes and the names are popped out of the cup… a 4th name comes out as well. A second champion for Hogwarts…

you guessed it.

Harry Potter.

Not only is Harry underage, but Hogwarts already has put forth a champion, Cedric Diggory. When the judges discuss they can not figure out how Harry’s name was placed in the cup but the cup has spoken and the rules are the rules. Harry must compete.

With his own school turning against him thinking somehow Harry forced his name into the cup to suck up attention, Harry knows better. He does not want to compete…. and his hear, as well as the fear of his friends is that someone placed his name in the cup… someone who wants to see Harry killed.

Book 4 into the readalong took me a ~~little~~ lot longer than I had anticipated. Having a very busy January my hardcover copy of this book traveled with me to Australia and to New Zealand with very little of it being read. Basically it was a good four pound carry on in my luggage.

I also found at first that this 4th installment took a while to get going. I am not sure why that was as there was a lot happening in the book. Finally once I made it to the Triwizard Tournament I was fully engaged, excited to see what was going to happen next!

As I read this book, I started to get the feeling that I have not read this one since the first time when the series originally came out. Some of the books I has read through before, the first one for sure, and the last book I read through in 3 days, turned around and read it again a second time right away to let it sink in more. Never have I done that with any other book.

The theme that stood out to me in this book was friendship. Hermione stayed by Harry’s side through the competition and even Ron let his jealousy get in the way. There was also a friendship between Harry and Cedric that I thought was especially nice. They helped each other out throughout the competition.

In the end, this is the first book in the series where there is a significant loss. I think J K handled this so well. The year ends with a tribute instead of the usual celebration and it is well done. I am excited now to watch the movie which I have seen many times, but not with the book fresh in my mind. I picked up differences from book to movie while I read and now I want to confirm them. 🙂

Spoiler Note…. for those of you who cried over Cedric, feel better knowing that he left Hogwarts, and became a hot vampire. All was not lost for Cedric, who now goes by Edward. 😉

** Watch for giveaways to pop up soon! I have some catching up to do with the readalong giveaways!

Morning Meanderings…. A Few Books And Things To Accomplish

Published on February 1, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

It is cold here this morning in Central Minnesota. I am here with COFFEE Cup and blanket and thinking about my crazy day.

Tomorrow I have my first big meeting for the Minnesota Association Of Library Friends at 10 am in ST Paul. I will need to leave here by 7 am to give myself a nice cushion on arriving in plenty of time to feel comfortable. That goes until 2 pm and THEN we have our Annual Friends meeting here in town at 6:00 pm. Neither of these meetings am I ready for. 😯

I have papers to print out for the St Paul Meeting and stuff I should probably look over that just came by email yesterday. For our meeting I still need to make the agenda, a new 2015 Friends Roster and prep what I am going to bring to the potluck. I have not felt that well the past couple of days so that is assisting in the procrastination.

Ok… lets talk about books for a moment:

Jack and Louisa ACT 1 by Andrew Bolger and Kate Wetherhead

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

My Sunshine Away by M O Walsh

Fun mix!

Tonight we have a Super Bowl party to go to and I am hopeful I am feeling well by then. I really want to go and I need to bring something. I have an idea of what I plan to bring, just need to get in gear and pick up the ingredients.

The good thing about the library association meeting is that with it being two + hours away I will finally have some real audio listening time. Something I have not had for a month!

Morning Meanderings…. Oh The FOOD!

Published on January 31, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)42 Comments

As you probably know (from all the gushing over here, on Facebook, etc…) my husband and I along with friends went on a 17 day trip to Australia and New Zealand earlier this month. We spent three days in Sydney before we boarded our Cruise ship for the rest of our journey.

This post is for Weekend Cooking and for Saturday Snapshot and it is all about FOOD. Food is really part of the experience and my rule for traveling is that we can never eat at a place that I could eat at around where I live. I love new food experiences!

Disclaimer: Not all food pictured is mine (thank goodness!) I took pictures of the food that my hubby as well as our friends were eating too.

While in Sydney, we stopped at a little pub for lunch. I ordered a burger that was to come with “hot chips” and I was very curious about these chips. Turns out, chips are french fries. Now I am not a huge fan of thicker french fries, I like the crispy fresh thinner ones with that salty yum flavor. These were DELICIOUS. I became a big fan fast of the hot chips of Australia and New Zealand.

We were in Sydney 3 days and at one stop enjoyed a Japanese Cuisine meal. The four of us girls were really excited about this, however the two guys, Ray and Al were not… thinking it was going to be like a china buffet. The boys were converted quickly. The food was incredible and Al (my hubby) said he would stop anytime that he sees Japanese noodles.

At our hotel was a very nice restaurant and the above picture if from their display window. We never had a chance to eat there, we were too busy out exploring.

I wish I had taken better notes, but I did not. While in Sydney we took an all day trip to go and see some of the sights. We stopped at a quaint little town where we had a change to grab a bite to eat. We walked into this corner cafe that displayed the above window. I chose a delicious sandwich pictured below:

On to the cruise….

If you have ever taken a cruise, you know there is a lot of food. There was a buffet area that was open all the time. A pizza place, hamburger and hotdog spot, your main dining area, a steak house, Italian restaurant, and a Sushi restaurant. The food, other than the steakhouse, Italian, and Sushi, were all included in your cruise cost so knock yourself out. 🙂 The above picture is my dinner on the first night we ate in our dining room. This is a chicken Alfredo in a Parmesan shell. I know right? I dont even want to think about that calories in that mouth watering, buttery yummy concoction.

Al and I ate in the steak house twice. Once with our whole group, and then once just the two of us, a gift from our Travel Agent. The steak house menu gave you choices of appetizers, soups and salads, your main dish with choice of sides and of course dessert. Everything came with dessert. Below is one of the appetizers I had, a crab cake with shrimp on top. This was also the night I had the creme brulee. I was so full!

On one of last excursions we went to Christchurch in New Zealand. We had heard that they had amazing fish and chips (there’s that chips word again!). We stopped at three different fish and chips places and all three were closed or out of business. By mid afternoon we were pretty hungry and finally found a nice looking pub style restaurant. (I love these pubs you can find some of the best food there!)

I ordered a chicken sandwich which I was sold on because it came with avocado. I also ordered for all of us, the nacho’s as us girls had been craving nachos but unable to find them anywhere in Australia or New Zealand. Wendy ordered for us to all try the potato wedges.

My sandwich was good, but the nacho’s and potato wedges were excellent. Each had a tasty chili sauce that I would love to try to duplicate. The portions were HUGE, but all 6 of us were able to get our fill of these delicious treats.

I of course have to talk about the deserts on the cruise ship. They were always beautiful and you just had to try them… no matter how full you already were. Below are pictures of some of the deserts we experienced on the cruise. Again – note, these are not all mine 🙂

If I were to mention any favorite of the entire trip it would have to be the Japanese Noodles we had in Sydney, the chicken Alfredo in the Parmesan bowl, and the nachos at the pub in Christchurch.

This is why I have been on my treadmill almost every day since we have returned. Ha! 🙂

Do you have a favorite that you see here?

Anything That Moves by Dana Goodyear

Published on January 30, 2015January 31, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

We live is a crazy exciting and sometimes strange world. In today’s day and age we find adventurists of all sorts… extreme sports, people pushing themselves to lengths they never had before, and yes – extreme eaters as well.

There is a movement of adventure eaters – the more unusual the ingredients, the more rare (even illegal), the better. In Anything That Moves they eat live octopus, shark fin, blood coffee, foie gras, pig snout, raw goat milk…

Health benefits to eating raw and unprocessed? The history of the food we eat? It’s all here.

I am the person who watched Survivor or Fear Factor and when it comes to the gross food challenges (unhatched birds, grub worms, bugs, etc…) I immediately announce to the TV screen and to my husband that I am out. As I watch the people gag on the TV I wonder why they even try to eat it when they know they can not win this one. For the record, Al calls that he is out on all height challenges.

At points in this book I am appalled. At other times fascinated. Not being an extreme eater myself, I am not entirely sure if I am impressed or disgusted with extreme eating… I think both. Dana Goodrow handles this book with facts. She takes the reader into restaurants like Nose to Tail where they literally eat everything in between. A party called the Weed Party where the host puts marijuana in all the dishes to his fully aware guests. Stinkbugs with a slice of apple. Extreme? Indeed. At least to me.

I enjoyed this book learning about foods that I am pretty sure I would not consider eating. I liked learning about some of the traditions in other countries. Anything That Movies is written with humor. As a foodie I am glad I read it. I now know facts that will disgust my friends.