Book Journey

Morning Meanderings… What’s In my Carry On?

Published on January 5, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)28 Comments

Good morning! The last official Morning Meandering before I head out to catch my flight this afternoon for Australia. Crazy wild sentence there. Even I am like… WHAT?

About a week ago I sent an email to several of the bloggers who frequent this space and/or I know from years of blogging and asked them if they would possibly be able to take a little time out of their already packed schedules and write a Morning Meandering for me. The criteria was: I would love for it to be something from my archives, and maybe something on how we “met”. Or they could choose their own topic. My timing was horrible. Fresh off the busy holiday season I did not think many would say yes, and in my email I let them know that I totally understood if they were too busy and on such short notice…

and then almost all said yes.

*humbled blogger here*

So… starting tomorrow some of my blogger friends are going to take over the Morning Meanderings. You will probably know them and if you don’t, you should. They are AWESOME. They wrote some pretty interesting and informative posts and a few are quite funny. I hope you will check in on them and I hope you will visit their blogs as well.

As for what will be “read worthy” in my carry on for this trip…

I will be gone 17 days. Yup. My flight from LA to Sydney Australia is 15 hours. Yup. I will be getting on a cruise ship on the 10th – 22nd. My reading is:

Walking The Bible – Book Club Read for Harper Collins

Belong To Me – Book Club read for Harper Collins

13 Things Mentally Strong People Do

Harry Potter – Goblets Of Fire (Re-Read along… continues, no matter where I am 🙂 )

and on Kindle I have loaded:

Ticker (ooh I love that cover!)

Night School: Genesis

Lane Changes

Doctor Death

Murder At The Book Club (finishing)

The Aviators Wife (finishing)

There is more, but you get it… I am ready for reading. 🙂

In real life real-time… I am up early. I still have a list of things to do. I left too much to yesterday. Everywhere I went I ran into people I knew and that added an additional 30+ minutes to each stop. By the time I got home after lunch with my son, pedicure/manicure, picking up medication, shopping for house, shopping for trip, pants for Al, picking up dinner, picking up make up… it was 5:30 pm. Now I am doing laundry, writing out checks that need to go out, emails, notes for the house sitter, prepping posts, run up town, bank stop,call vet, and verify my cell phone for international…

yeah.

I do plan on posting reviews if I have internet and I will pop in as I can. Thanks everyone for reading Book Journey!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on January 4, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)39 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!

Happy First Monday of the New Year!!! Can you believe it? I was just thinking that I took over this meme in February 2010. That is a LOT of Mondays. 🙂

This week has been cra-zay. New Years came and went and I am preparing (still) to leave tomorrow morning for Australia. Yup. Australia. Yeah… I am freaking out too. So here is what I posted this week:

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Re-readalong post)

Confessions by James Patterson

The Trip Unveil (about where I am going)

Good Night June by Sarah Jio

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

All the readers pics that were sent in for First Book Of The Year!

Pie Girls by Lauren Clark (audio review)

The Giver Movie Review

2015… A look back and a look forward ( a personal look at my blogging year and life happenings of the past year)

Station Eleven by Emily St John... did I love it? Did I?

And… I archived all of the reviews I have written here since 2009

What a week! SO this is what I have been doing instead of packing! As for the next week, tomorrow morning I will post what I am taking with me for books but I have no idea at this point what I will be reading. I still need to download audio books to my phone… gah… how did time get away from me?

I have posts planned for while I am away so please pop in… some fellow blogger buddies have agreed to pop in with a post and I have read what they have written and it is pretty good stuff. I will post reviews as I can, not sure if I will always have internet service but we will see. *whew* I feel like I need one more day to prepare 🙂

Please add your It’s Monday! Post below where it says click here.

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For those who read mainly children and middle grade books please add your link here as well:

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Published on January 4, 2015January 4, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

On a snowy night, an actor collapses during a play. A man rushes from the audience to help him. A young girl witnesses it all. A caregiver weeps because she is so much more. A relationship is ending it just doesn’t know how. And around the world a flu is rushing through the air like pollen and the next 48 hours are the end of the world as we know it.

There are no phones. No television. No cars or buses or planes. No internet. No Facebook. No updated status. All communication to the rest of the world, if there is a rest of the world, has

stopped.

Whew. Station Eleven was the book I chose for my first book to read in 2015. I had read reviews, seen this book on the best of the year lists, and honestly could hardy wait to dive into the book.

Station Eleven is an extremely entwined dystopian novel of the world taken out by a flu virus that leaves only 1% of the population in its wake. The book focuses around the actor, his life, his wives, and the people who surrounded him. As the book goes on, you see that our main characters have all been connected to the actor in some way. The book flashes back to before the flu, and then to present time, where the years started over to One after the epidemic. It is now year Twenty. At times I do not like flash backs, but it works here. Kirsten, who was the little girl in the play, is now part of a Traveling Symphony that travels to areas where people are and the group performs Shakespeare. She is obsessed with all things about the actor who died the night before the flu outbreak, collecting whenever she can find them – magazine articles, newspaper clippings, and she has copies of the two graphic comic books that the actors first wife had created, the first one called Station Eleven.

Sound complicated? It is and it isn’t. There is much to love about this book. The threat of a world-wide flu obviously works and puts the fear factor in the novel. It is written in a unique way which I love, centered around a Traveling Symphony that merely plays for their passion for Shakespeare and music (and really… what else are you going to do in this new world?), there is also a group at an airport that have been there since their plane emergency landed there that twenty years ago. There is a group at a hotel that have taken over rooms as their homes and live as normal a life as they can. And there is a Prophet. A scary man who believes that those who survived the virus are chosen by God and he takes whatever he wants… whenever he wants… food, ammunition, women, and lives.

There is a moment towards the end… an “aha moment” that impressed me when I put a key plot together. I did not see it coming. I was impressed.

But… and I do hate but’s…

There are things I did not enjoy. After the beginning and the big flu scare… the rest of the book is fairly mellow. Any “crisis” is wrapped up too quickly and too neatly. The fear of this new world… is not much. There is also the fact that as you read you have to wonder why some of these groups did not do more… why did the group stay at the airport all that time? I get that they were scared at first to venture out, but after a few months/years wouldn’t you go out and see what is happening? And the book left me feeling there should have been more. I knew as I was reaching the final pages that there was no way this book could wrap up all the loose ends. I then thought that since this book had the same title at the first graphic novel in Kirsten’s possession that surely there must be a plan for a follow-up novel with the title of the second one…. but as of this writing, I seen no signs that the author has plans for a second book.

Hmmmm.

This review is longer than I had planned because there was much to say. I did like the book. Very much. I do think it needed more action. More scare. Yet I did devourer it as it is unique and I do love unique reads. I am glad I chose it for my first book of the year. If there is no more to this story, then it is one that leaves you with a lot to think about as far as what happened next, and maybe, that is the way the author intended it to be.

Dystopian lovers will enjoy this read and I do recommend it.

Ok, I think we need a spoiler page on this one. I want to talk about the book 🙂

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition (September 9, 2014)

2015…. a look back… and a look ahead

Published on January 4, 2015January 4, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)49 Comments

I am a little late to this party, but really felt I wanted to put in my own thoughts on the past year and what I hope is to come. I already posted about my favorite books of this past year, this post is a bit more personal.

On the blog front 2014 was one of renewal. The first part of the year I was wondering if my blogging days were over. I was reading, but not taking the time to review. When I though about writing a post or visiting other blogs I found I really didn’t have the desire or ambition. I was not ready to give up on Book Journey, but suddenly understood why some blogs and bloggers just disappear from the online world. Honestly, I was scared I was losing my mojo. Then, I went to the Book Expo in New York in May and it was like my battery was recharged. Hanging out with friends, fellow bloggers who I chat with here on line is something amazing. Something MAGICAL. Spending time with authors and publishers, and of course the books; the incredible books that I wanted to read, I wanted to talk about… I knew Book Journey was not over, not by a long shot. (*cue the Rocky theme*)

And honestly, thank goodness for that because in July my personal life changed drastically. I made the decision to leave the job that I worked at for 10 years to work more consistently on my writing. It was a big step… a scary step… and honestly it is still scary. It has been a big adjustment and family and friends have been supportive in this decision. The road has not been smooth since that decision… honestly it has been a wee bit bumpy. I am working hard to believe that in all of this God has a plan and He is directing me into something amazing. But really, I have never been a very patient person. 😉

2014… not a favorite of mine. 🙂 I am so thankful that my desire to write at Book Journey returned as the connections I have made on line here since 2009 are ones that I cherish, connections that have helped me through these changes in my life. There are so many of you I feel that I know… I know where many of you work, what states you live in, about your families, about your dreams… and not in a creepy stalker way – but in a way that we share on line. When one of you comment I love being able to think, “oh good, _____________ must be over the flu” or “______________ is back from vacation!” It is like another world out there and those of us who do this know what I mean.

So… 2015. YAY. I mean seriously, YAY. I love the idea of a fresh slate. And right now, my slate does not get much cleaner than this. When I return after our trip I have lots of plans to implement in my life, in my home, and here on Book Journey. I hope you will notice the changes… I can not wait to get started! 🙂

Last year I chose a word to represent the year. Some of you may remember the One Little Word post. My word for last year was embrace. I wanted to embrace whatever came my way, and well… I think I forgot about my word about 4 months into the year. For 2015, my word for the year is: Emerge

If you wish to choose your own word for the year, here is a great list to work from.

emerge

1. to rise or come forth from or as if from water or other liquid.

2. to come up or arise

3. to come into existence; develop

4. to rise, as from an inferior or unfortunate state or condition.

Books that came in this week:

All The bright Places by Jennifer Niven (audio book)

Left Behind -The Iphone That Saved George Washington by David Potter (audio book)

A Plague Of Bogles by Catherine Jinks (audio book)

Sired By Stone by Andrew Post

Fabrick by Andrew Post

Everything that came in this week was either Middle Grade (MG) or Young Adult (YA)

Wrapping this one up, here is to 2015! Today I have a list of things to prepare for our trip. I am anxious, but I think it is all doable. 🙂

The Giver Movie Review (Tastes Like Divergent)

Published on January 3, 2015January 1, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

Jonah lives in a society of contentment. Emotions are a thing of the past and words like love, and emotions like tears do not exist. Memories of the past do not exist.

When Jonah reaches the age of 16 he and his classmates now graduate and receive their positions in society – not like the sorting hat in Harry Potter (darn!) ( a little like what happens in Divergent except in The Giver they do not have a say as to where they will wind up). Jonah is given the rare position of the Receiver, a highly regarded position only held by one person at a time and he becomes the holder of all the memories.

When Jonah experiences for the first time feelings and emotion and memories of what the past was like with happiness and love and dancing he is confused. Why would this ever be blocked? As the Receiver, we is having the memories passed to him by (you guessed it…) The Giver.

The more Jonah sees what is missing from life the more dissatisfied he becomes with the ways things are. He learns there is a boundary that surrounds the community that keeps everyone form their memories. If Jonah can just get beyond the boundary with the memories he can release them back to everyone. Of course, the powers that be do not want that to happen and will do everything they can to make sure it doesn’t.

I read the book, The Giver, for banned book week in 2012. I enjoyed the book and I enjoyed the movie. Its a scary scenario to think of a society that represses all memories and emotions for the sale of feeling well…

nothing.

Sorry but if pain is the price to pay to also feel happiness…

then I will take the pain.

Definitely worth seeing.

Morning Meanderings… The One In Which I Get Sick

Published on January 3, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)44 Comments

So yeah.

A couple of nights ago I was folding up the blankets downstairs before I went to bed and I sniffled. As soon as I did it I felt that little twinge in my throat, a little soreness. “No!” I thought… not now.

But yes now.

Yesterday I felt it when I woke up… the light sinus pressure, headache, runny nose… I sound like a walking advertisement for some powerful drug (which by the way if you know the name of. I may need it STAT!) I took some aspirin and tried to carry on with my day, a few errands up town lunch with girlfriends, and then I was going to go shopping for the upcoming trip on Monday.

As the lunch went on with my friends I knew I was not going shopping. I was fading into the booth and I was longing for my comfy chair and blanket. So yeah… home I came and I curled up with said blanket… ate dinner with my husband and then was in bed by 9 pm.

For the record… going to bed at 9 for me leads to me up at 3:30 am, cleaning out leftovers out of the fridge so I can fill the dish washer and start it… I read a few emails… thought “this is nuts” and went back to bed until 7.

Today… still sniffly, light headache. sore throat. I am pretty sure it is sinus’s from our funky no snow in Minnesota weather that has been in the 20’s and 30’s and not the temp is dropping and we should not see above zero for a while now.

Any hoo… I ramble. My list of things to do must be worked on today. I need to go and change out the Library window from Christmas to something just wintery… I need to start packing…

and eventually this afternoon I hope to sit down and enjoy my book.

Happy Saturday everyone. 🙂

Pie Girls by Lauren Clark

Published on January 2, 2015December 31, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

Searcy Roberts grew up in small town Alabama and when she married her high school sweetheart, Alton, moved to Atlanta and enjoyed the unlimited funds that his successful career brought them, she swore she would never go back. Living the dream of having a personal shopper, a doorman to carry her bags, and expensive lunches out, you can imagine Searcy’s surprise when Alton says he wants out.

Out?

Suddenly Alton seems to be having a midlife crisis. He decides he does not want his job anymore, is cancelling credit cards, and filing for divorce. He tells Searcy that their apartment will be leased out within the month and he will help her relocate wherever she decides, within means. And then he leaves.

Searcy is shell-shocked. Her beautiful clothes! Her unlimited credit. Her husband who she does truly love!

Unsure of what her next move should be, a timely phone call from her mother asking her to come home and help out with the family business, Pie Girls, is what normally Searcy would say no to, however considering the circumstances, maybe a get away is exactly what she needs.

Pie Girls is a sweet (pun intended) chick lit read that I really enjoyed. Ceecee is an interesting protagonist with a high-class attitude that changes throughout the book as her life as she knows it crumbles before her eyes. I absolutely loved the southern twang of narrator Mary Hollis Inboden, she made the audio fun to listen to! Jobe Cerny is also on this audio as the voices for the men, an interesting fact about Jobe is that he is most known for his role as the voice of the Pillsbury Dough Boy (although there were no “Dough Boy” voices in this book 😉 )

Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 8 hours and 27 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Camellia Press
Audible.com Release Date: December 23, 2014

Morning Meanderings… 3 Days and Counting and a Few More Readers!

Published on January 2, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)46 Comments

Good morning. 3 days left before I head out of my home and on my way to Australia. Honestly I am anxious. It’s a big trip. I want nothing more right now than to hug my dogs and stay at home. It’s like leaving my kids…lol. I will be fine once we get going but for now I am no nervous about the distance, the lack of communication back here to home, the inability of being able to help if anything is needed….. (ha! There I go thinking I actually can control things again!)

On a lighter note, if you popped in here yesterday you would have seen the pictures of many of the bloggers/ book lovers that sent me a picture of them and their planned book for the first book of the New year. Throughout the morning the bottom picture changed frequently… late pics came in, I accidentally missed one.. and then by the afternoon I had a handful more that I decided I would just post them again today with all the additions.

All in all, between the pictures, and the posts, we had over 70 participants in this one day meme. I was thrilled with the turn out.

Today I have lunch with friends and then I will do a little shopping for the trip. Having that part done will be a step in the right direction. I am getting there… baby steps…. but I am getting there. 🙂 Reading my first book Station Eleven and so far really enjoying it!

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova

Published on January 1, 2015December 30, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)22 Comments

Sarah Nickerson. Married. Mother of three. Home owner. Career driven. Vice President of Human Resources at Burkley Consulting. Between the shuffling of husband, home, kids, sports, family/friends obligations, and her job of 80 hours per week, she is nothing short of…

super mom.

Sarah thrives on keeping a tight agenda and there is little room for error. On the days when she wins the rock,paper,scissors for who does not have to take the kids to school, she loves the rush of being able to go directly to work.

On one such of these days Sarah decides that her drive time is an excellent time to catch up on a few phone calls and while dialing a number – in the blink of an eye, everything goes…

white.

When Sarah awakens she is in the hospital having been in a horrible car accident that has left her with a brain injury that has erased the left side of her world. She can not feel or see her left arm or leg, and her brain acts as though they do not exist. Suddenly Sarah who prided herself on being fiercely independent now finds herself at the mercy of those around her for all her needs including flossing her own teeth.

As Sarah struggles to make herself whole again with visions of returning to her job and her life she once had, that vision begins to fade and a new vision may very well be taking its place.

Left Neglected was an amazing audio book to listen to. I was fully engaged in this story line of a woman whose life was too full… too busy… and then it all came to an end. Who hasn’t at least for a time had a schedule like that? And who hasn’t made a phone call or talked on the phone while driving? I sure have.

Lisa Genova really did her homework on this book. I had never heard of left brain neglect but it is a real thing. For Lisa to place herself in this characters world of relearning how to find her left side, how to see things on her left and how to use her left side is amazing. I can just imagine the struggles of this independent woman who has to retrain her mind just to engage in simple things like eating and walking. I can imagine her struggles as people visited her and she wanted so much to appear whole… to appear healing… to be complete.

Narration by Sarah Paulson, another new to me narrator. Sarah was a wonderful easy to listen to narrator who captured the essence of this book.

Fantastic read! I recommend Left Neglected highly.

Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 9 hours and 12 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Audible.com Release Date: January 4, 2011

Happy New Year: Reading Around The World 2015

Published on January 1, 2015January 1, 2015 by Sheila (Book Journey)78 Comments

Happy New Year everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful night and now here we are on January 1st 2015. YAY to a new year!!!

This is the second annual First Book Of The Year Meme where I have offered book lovers around the world to send in a pic of themselves with the first book they will be reading this New Year. For myself, that first book has always been a big deal… a book I have been wanting to read for a while, sometimes it is a comforting re-read… whatever.

The past few days my email has been a treasure of fellow readers sending in that first book. It is always exciting to see what everyone chooses as their first read, and it is fun to see people from all over the world join in.

Here are this years participants:

There they are! If you see me in the bottom left corner, I have been so eager to read Stations Eleven after hearing all the great reviews of it. I will be in my cozy chair today digging into this one. There are many great titles here and thank you to all the book lovers who sent in a picture! I seriously tear up when I see how many get behind this idea.

If you wrote a post to go with this First Book Of The Year Meme please link it here where it says Click Here 🙂

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Happy New Year from…

Kristin – Always With A Book

Chelsea- You Should Have Seen It In Color

Donna – Writer Side Up

Kathryn – Book Date

Nise – Under The Boardwalk

Laura – Book Snob

Ann – Ann’s Reading Corner

Laurel Rain – An Interior Journey

Sue – Book by Book

Kim – Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Katherine I Wish I Lived In A Library

Pat – Posting For Now

Mary – Bookfan

Freda – Freda’s Voice

Paige – authenticme

Elizabeth – Silver’s Reviews

Stacy – The Novel Life

Brook – Brooke Blogs

Cynthia – Binging On Books

Wendy – Beautiful Day

Martha – Reviews by Martha

Andrea

Susie – Home With Susie

Jennifer – Librarian Eats

Connie – The Prairie Mom

Sharon – Faith, Hope, and Cherrytea

Melissa – Jayne’s Books

Laura – Brainonlaura

Sheree – The Eclectic Reader

Laura – Crafty Booksheeps

Jackie – Jackie’s Bookbytes

Earl – The Chronicles Of A Childrens Book Writer

Beth – Fueled By Fiction

Emma – Words and Peace

Jackie – Jackie’s Forget Me Nots

Heather – Based On A True Story

Beth – Beth’s Book Nook

Kimberly – Costa

Marcee – A Nurse and a Book

Judy – Busy Hands are Happy Hands

Karen – bookertalk

Ann – Books on The Table

Shannon – The Most Happy Reader

Tanya – Girlxoxo

Leslie – Under My Apple Tree

Laura – The Book Junkie

Nicola – Back To Books

Marcilia – Reading In The Tardis

Kai – Fiction State Of Mind

Janet – My Shore Lines

Brona – Brona’s Books

Josh – Just A Guy Who Likes To Read

Emma – Once Upon A Littlefield

MrsK – MrskBookstogo

Shannon – Shannon’s Book Bag

Laurie – Bay State Readers Advisory

Melissa – Melissafirman

Diane

Shanny – Shanny Reads

Maddy – Symphony Of Words

Suzanne – Chicks With Books

Lory – The Emerald City

Deb – Readerbuzz

and Me 🙂