Book Journey

Morning Meanderings… Dogs Life

Published on December 12, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

Friday! Wow! I am home from an early morning coffee date with a friend and have been staring at this screen for the last 15 or so minutes looking for my topic. I know I know… I could have let it pass, prepped my review for later and been done with it, but no… for whatever reason.. I wanted to write something.

So..

you get my dogs 🙂

Dog people, you will get this. Dogs are so great. They love you no matter what, dont care what you look like or what mood you are in. They are loyal to a fault. I adore them. Yesterday afternoon I took these pictures of the dogs in my home. They crack me up. They are wherever I am like guards always on duty. If I move they move. They are not disgruntled in their life goals of following me around, but instead embrace it. I think this sums up their personalities:

Sammy... my "If you jump I jump" dog. — Sammy… my “If you jump I jump” dog.

Mater my "Whatcha doin? Is it food? Are you getting food? Are you thinking about food? Will there be food? I will just follow you in case there is food," dog. — Mater my “Whatcha doin? Is it food? Are you getting food? Are you thinking about food? Will there be food? I will just follow you in case there is food,” dog.

http%3A%2F%2Fir.4sqi.net%2Fimg%2Fgeneral%2F1000x540%2F1965220_RhqS43eY60cchM4qoWphH9Kr0Po7fCpsEoE22ILIkKE — Bailey (16 years old) my “DO NOT wake me unless it is time for me to get off the bed and go and sleep on the couch. AND if you could carry me from one cozy spot to the next that would be great. Thanks,” dog.

There they are… triple trouble. Do you have pets like this? Guardians of your heart?

The Year Of Reading Dangerously by Andy Miller

Published on December 11, 2014December 11, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)1 Comment

Nearing the age of 40, Author Andy Miller has a family and has a job. His life is full and he has no time to read. Yet, for some reason he can not let go of all the great reads that he has never taken the time to experience himself. Andy decides to take on a self-inflicted project, a year of reading. A year that he will spend connecting with the books that have stood the test of time, the books that are whispered and shouted about “you must read.”

Both a memoir and a list of detailed book reviews, The Year of Reading Dangerously was funny and interesting. I imagined, going into this read, that I would find within this book a book or two that I must read myself. In the end, I am not sure if that happened, but I sure did get a funny take of Andy Miller’s thoughts on some of the books that I myself had not read.

Among the 50 titles that Andy read in that one year time were: Middlemarch by George Eliot, Post Office by Charles Bulowski, The Sea The Sea by Iris Murdoch, War and Peace Tolstoy, Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin, Anna Kerenina by Leo Tolstpy, and Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky by Patrick Hamiloton. *The entire list is at the end of his book/audio

The titles that Andy chose are for the most part heavy reads, many of which that are considered classics, and some I admit, I have never heard of.

Andy discusses his reads some in more details than others, some he struggles with and then amazingly goes back and reads again, some he doesn’t get at all and others he finds to be the greatest works of our time. At times, his comments cracked me up. Andy is totally real on his thoughts on the books and thoughts on the authors.

I listened to this on audio. Andy Miller narrates this himself and while all the books did not appeal to me or my future reading wish list, his narration is delightful and made it well worth the listen. If you have ever made a wish list of the great reads you hope to one day try, I suggest you give The Year Of Reading Dangerously a whirl… it may have you adding (or dropping) books from your own list.

Narrated by: Andy Miller
Length: 9 hrs and 1 min
Unabridged Audiobook

Release Date:12-09-1
Publisher: Audible Studios

Morning Meanderings… My Twisted Chopped Up Puzzle Pieces Life

Published on December 11, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Good morning! Another day of coffee and audio and hopefully that book I am so involved in and cleaning and dinner and…

life is weird.

Now that it is winter and I officially and magically turn into an indoor girl it puts a whole new twist on this “staying home and writing” Me. I like it, I really do, I think I am just going through a phase now that the busyness of November is over and everything slowed down going into December… I am learning how to adjust to this new life.

I am writing. YAY! I love that. I am working on something new, as well as writing for a few magazines, and doing some freelance work. It is cool, it is exciting, it is what I always wanted…

and it is scary.

I am not used to managing all my time and I need to work on keeping to a schedule as it is really easy to:

1. Start writing and/or working on articles early and go through the entire day of doing nothing but that.

2. Get up, start cleaning and listening to audio and not accomplishing much else.

3. Fill up my day with outside appointments and friends and that’s about it.

GAH.

I know these are probably actually very acceptable as long as one or the other does not take over completely (always writing and doing nothing else but digging myself into hermitville…OR always cleaning and doing projects around the house while listening to audio and accomplishing nothing OR just hanging out filling up my time and living in a blissful bubble of fantasy)

My husband is a saint. He’s happy as long as I am happy.

I need to incorporate more exercise, YES Mr. treadmill I am talking about you. You are downstairs and waiting. And I know I need to start working off a schedule again – actually scheduling myself to write or complete a project. All of this is at my finger tips, I just need to do it. 😀

Ok… so that is a bit into my life…LOL As for what I am listening to… when I am bouncing around the house I am listening to The Year Of Reading Dangerously. When I am stationary at my computer working on updating information or something that does not take a lot of mind power, I am listening to Sins Of Our Fathers. When I am in the car I am listening to Winter Street. The book I am reading in the late evenings is Brutal Youth which is so hard to explain but has my fully engaged… it is about a private Catholic school with intense bullying, hazing.. there is so much in this book but I am soooo curious to know how it will all work out!

So that’s it. I am home today – I am writing. I am doing laundry. I am tackling cleaning out a closet. I have two reviews to complete for a magazine. I will plan dinner. I will get to that book. And my day is full and I am happy. 🙂

The Bookshop Book by Jen Campbell (excellent gift idea!)

Published on December 10, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

What first attracted me to this book was the title… mention “book store, book shop, book club,” and I want to know more. Yet this book was so much more than I had anticipated and I am still gushing all over it. ~ Sheila

Many (most?) of us know book stores as to be lovely buildings filled with treasures, or a space in a large mall, or along the downtown streets of your own home town…. however…

what about a book store on a boat? Or a book lending that involves books being shared by way of donkey? A bookstore made entirely of cardboard? Or built inside an old train station?

These amazing books stores and so much more is what you will read about within this book. Highlighting book stores from all corners of the earth and including those that may very well be closer than we think, The Bookshop Book is a must have for any bibliophile.

I feel like a telemarketer as I chat up this book, but if you know me… if I gush about a book.. I have good reason too.

This book is not only filled with interesting stories of unique as well as famous book stores, it also has gorgeous pictures, author interviews and quotes, and fun facts. Here are just a few of the amazing facts that are scattered within this books pages:

In 2010 to celebrate the thirtieth birthday of their signature furniture piece,the Billy Bookcase, IKEA lined thirty of them along Bondi Beach and filled them with books, making this the world’s largest outdoor bookcase. Surfers and sunbathers were able to swap a book from the shelves with one of their own, or make a donation to buy one. All money raised went to the Australian Literary and Numeracy Foundation.

Part of the M6 toll road in the UK is made out of pulped Mills and Boon novels. A reported 2.5 million recycled books were mixed in with asphalt and tarmac to create the road surface.

In earlier times, the maiming of authors was not an uncommon practice. In the sixteenth century, critics would often cut off the nose, the ears, or the hands of authors whose books they felt were too outspoken. Following the thirty year war in the seventeenth century, Theodore Reinking wrote a book whose anti-Swedish sentiments caused such outrage in the country that he was thrown in jail and given an ultimatum: eat your words, literally, or we’ll cut off your head. Theodore was smart and decided to eat his own words. He turned the book into a paste, and drank the whole thing down.

To that last fact I say, we have come a long way baby!

Leakey's Bookshop, Inverness, UK — Leakey’s Bookshop, Inverness, UK

This is a book that will definitely have a spot in my library so I can refer to it again and again as well as share with other book lovers who visit my home.

Author Jen Campbell is also the author of “Weird Things Customers Say In Book Stores.” A book I have on my shelf and still need to read! I imagine, after this great experience I will be reading that one soon!

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Constable (October 2, 2014)

Morning Meanderings… Party Hangover

Published on December 10, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)8 Comments

Good morning! I am up and recovering from a fun filled amazing Tuesday. If you read yesterdays post you know I had a meeting regarding moving our Wine and Words event to a larger venue for 2015. It was a wonderful meeting and we are officially MOVED! My author search for the event will begin in about a month… if everyone I have in mind says “yes”, then we will be ready to announce by February.

HAZAH!

Then, last night concluded with our book clubs Christmas party and book discussion of Big Little Lies. I will write up the book discussion later, but it was a good one. We chose our read for January, Born To Be Perfect by Barbara Raghavan.

We also handed out our books from Harper Collins Book Club Girls project:

We had wonderful goodies, discussed life and books, and had a wonderful time doing it. LOVE my Book Club!!!

It was a full day of running from one thing to another and I am thrilled I accomplished everything I set out to. Today… I am a bit tired and have a lot to do so ONWARD!

Happy Wednesday all!!!

Interview With David Baldacci

Published on December 9, 2014December 9, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)15 Comments

Last week I had the privilege of being part of a group set up to be in on a conference call to Best Selling Author David Baldacci. David (I am going to call him David 😉 ) has been writing fiction since 1996 starting with his book Absolute Power. Most recently, two books have been published; The Escape (part of the John Puller series), and The Finisher, David’s first dabble into the Young Adult genre.

Our group all had an opportunity to ask David a question or two, and here are some of the key points I walked away with.

When David was asked by his Scholastic Editor Rachel Griffiths about his portrayal of strong women characters in his books, David replied,

I guess I don’t write about damsels in distress because I don’t happen to know any. I have a lot of guy friends that need a lot of help and not so much the women. I grew up with a force of nature in my mother. And I am married to a force of nature with my wife, Michelle.

For myself, I was interested in hearing about his book, The Finisher, which is a new genre for him. When David was asked about this book and the reason for writing something completely different he said,

I have always felt that as a writer if you do not stretch yourself you sort of wither on the vine. So for me, it was a challenge to get out of my comfort zone and write in a genre and in a way that I have never written about before.

As David went on and discussed the books he loved growing up and now shares with his own kids, I adored the fact that he said that the Harry Potter series was the first series they did together as a family and they listened to it on audio; David praising Jim Dale’s narration (as do I!).

Another big take away from this interview was the fact that David and his wife Michelle started a foundation called The Wish You Well Foundation. This foundation supports family literacy in the United States by fostering and promoting the development and expansion of new and existing literacy and educational programs.

The foundation has been in existence for fifteen years and receives around 5,000 applications a year for funds across the country. David says it is a lot of applications, but they go through every single one of them. They also have a book collection drive where they gather books and send them home with people in need of books. They have given out over a million books in the last four years. If interested in knowing more about that program you can check it out here.

My question was about his love of the library. I had heard that David was a library advocate and I wanted to hear more about that. David said,

As a kid I went to the library every day. I had favorite Librarian’s. They would let me check out more books than you are supposed to because they knew I would read them all and come back next week for more. Even though I never left town growing up, I seen the world through books.

In our little town where we live in Virginia we did not have a local library. So my wife and I got behind a movement and helped build a public library here in our community. Filling a place with books and walking in and seeing those ideas on a shelf is the coolest thing in the world. We are a nation that is built on that type of concept, and we are a nation of libraries. That’s something we have to keep and hold dear.

I found out that David is the chair for National Library Week 2015. (SOOOOO COOL!) He also sits on the National Book Festival Board for the Library Of Congress, and was on the state board in Virginia.

(Dang… I asked the right question! 🙂 )

There was so much more great things about this interview, and I could go on and on! David was a wonderful author to talk to, very personable and clearly someone who has a passion for books and literacy. I will link to the other participants (below) who were in on this conversation and I suggest you check out what they all are writing about this amazing interview as there was a lot of good things! 🙂

Participants

BookHounds.net

IAmAReader.com

5MinutesforMom.com

BeasBookNook.Blogspot.com

Morning Meanderings…. Feeling Pretty Darn Good

Published on December 9, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Good morning Muggles and Magical folk! Happy Tuesday to you all! I feel really good. The pain in my back is gone, I don’t feel sick any more and I have a BIG agenda today filled with good things!

This morning I have an exciting meeting for a possible (more than likely) venue change for Wine and Words 2015. This is a big stinkin’ deal as it will take our event from a Brainerd Minnesota event to a Lakes Area event. (If you are unfamiliar with Wine and Words this is the project our Friends Of The Library started 2 years ago and it has been very successful even winning best new Friends Project in Minnesota this year!) If we successfully make this connection it will be huge for us – more room to grow!

Then I am preparing a meal this afternoon for a family that has a loved one in the hospital.

Then…. *drum roll*…

Bookies Book Club has their Christmas Party tonight at 6:00 pm! We will be discussing Big Little Lies, eating goodies that we all bring, doing our annual gift exchange, and deciding what book to purchase for our library’s book in the bag program. It is going to be so much fun!!!

I think… this calls for a little Black Eyed Pea’s combined with a Flash Mob (Flash Mob – on the bucket list… we really should plan one for BEA this coming year!)

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on December 7, 2014December 7, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)49 Comments

Hey there! Welcome to It’s Monday, What Are You Reading!

I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! As part of this weekly meme I love to encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Fair warning… this meme tends to add to your reading list! 😉

December. Seriously? When did that happen? HOW did that happen? And for that matter… how is it Monday again?

Actually it felt like a long week mainly because I have not been feeling the best but I feel like I am over that hump and starting to regain my energy… and thank goodness… that sitting around while enjoyable with a book yes…. gets old fast. 😀

So what did I post this last week?

The Secret Life Of Cee Cee Wilkes

First Book Of The Year Challenge (this one is easy!)

2015 WHERE Are You Reading Challenge

The Library Challenge 2015 – spend more time with your local library! They need us book lovers!

Moving The Needle by Joe Sweeney

The Look Of Love by Sarah Jio

The Chamber Of Secrets – yes it is crazy to think we have already posted about the second book for the readalong but we have and it was GOOOOOOD!

There Are Three Challenges I am hosting for 2015…. The Library Challenge, The First Book Of The Year Challenge, and The WHERE Are You Reading Challenge. Check out the details for each here.

As for this week…

For My Ears

Kelley Quinn is the owner of Nantucket’s Winter Street Inn and the proud father of four, all of them grown and living in varying states of disarray. Patrick, the eldest, is a hedge fund manager with a guilty conscience. Kevin, a bartender, is secretly sleeping with a French housekeeper named Isabelle. Ava, a school teacher, is finally dating the perfect guy but can’t get him to commit. And Bart, the youngest and only child of Kelley’s second marriage to Mitzi, has recently shocked everyone by joining the Marines.

As Christmas approaches, Kelley is looking forward to getting the family together for some quality time at the inn. But when he walks in on Mitzi kissing Santa Claus (or the guy who’s playing Santa at the inn’s annual party), utter chaos descends. With the three older children each reeling in their own dramas and Bart unreachable in Afghanistan, it might be up to Kelley’s ex-wife, nightly news anchor Margaret Quinn, to save Christmas at the Winter Street Inn.

Before the mulled cider is gone, the delightfully dysfunctional Quinn family will survive a love triangle, an unplanned pregnancy, a federal crime, a small house fire, many shots of whiskey, and endless rounds of Christmas caroling, in this heart-warming novel about coming home for the holidays.

From the screenwriter of the Oscar-nominated House of Sand and Fog comes a fierce, elegant, page-turner about race, money, and the American Dream.

JW is a small-town banker; his specialty, teaching other bankers in towns near Indian reservations how to profit from casino deposits without exposing themselves to risk; his problem, he lost his son in a car accident a year ago, he’s depressed, his wife is leaving him, and he can’t stop gambling.

When he is caught embezzling funds to support his addiction, JW’s boss offers him a choice: he can either accept responsibility and go to prison or use his talents to sabotage a competing Native American banker named Johnny Eagle. With the clock ticking, JW moves into a trailer on the reservation within sight of his prey. But as he befriends Eagle and his son, JW finds that his plan to reclaim his freedom will be more dangerous than he ever could have imagined.

For My Eyes

We’re not talking about rooms that are just full of books. We’re talking about bookshops in barns, disused factories, converted churches and underground car parks. Bookshops on boats, on buses, and in old run-down train stations. Fold-out bookshops, undercover bookshops, this-is-the-best-place-I’ve-ever-been-to-bookshops. Meet Sarah and her Book Barge sailing across the sea to France; meet Sebastien, in Mongolia, who sells books to herders of the Altai mountains; meet the bookshop in Canada that’s invented the world’s first antiquarian book vending machine. And that’s just the beginning. From the oldest bookshop in the world, to the smallest you could imagine, The Bookshop Book examines the history of books, talks to authors about their favourite places, and looks at over three hundred weirdly wonderful bookshops across six continents (sadly, we’ve yet to build a bookshop down in the South Pole). The Bookshop Book is a love letter to bookshops all around the world. — “A good bookshop is not just about selling books from shelves, but reaching out into the world and making a difference.

Orange Beach, Alabama is a simple town filled with simple people. But like all humans on the planet, the good folks of Orange Beach have their share of problems – marriages teetering on the brink of divorce, young adults giving up on life, business people on the verge of bankruptcy, as well as the many other obstacles that life seems to dish out to the masses.

Fortunately, when things look the darkest – a mysterious man named Jones has a miraculous way of showing up. An elderly man with white hair, of indiscriminate age and race, wearing blue jeans, a white T-shirt and leather flip flops carrying a battered old suitcase, Jones is a unique soul. Communicating what he calls “a little perspective,” Jones explains that he has been given a gift of noticing things that others miss. “Your time on this earth is a gift to be used wisely,” he says. “Don’t squander your words or your thoughts. Consider even the simplest action you take, for your lives matter beyond measure…and they matter forever.”

Jones speaks to that part in everyone that is yearning to understand why things happen and what we can do about it.

So that’s me.. how about you. What are you reading this week? Add your link below

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Deciphering: Harry Potter and The Chamber Of Secrets by J K Rowling

Published on December 7, 2014December 23, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

There is a reason this series comes up time and again when book lovers are asked “what books would you consider reading again?” The Harry Potter books are timeless, and each time I experience them I walk away with something more. ~Sheila

This probably is a book that need no introduction but because I enjoy writing synopses and because I think it is fun… here we go.

It is year two and as it is summer time Harry is back home with the Dursley’s. Not a lot has changed since his acceptance into Hogwarts, Harry is still treated like dirt – the only difference is the Dursley’s do not know he is not allowed to use magic outside of school so they are a bit cautious.

When Harry does finally get back to school (and what a fun roller coaster of an event that it!) He discovers that this year too will bring along its own trials. With a new dark arts teacher that is so full of himself you want to puke, a first year who idolizes Harry to the point that he is practically Harry’s shadow, Malfoy still up to his old tricks, and now something about a hidden chamber that has been closed for fifty years….

life is anything but dull.

I have read the entire Harry Potter series once before as they came out. A few years after that I listened to the entire series on audio one after another. This is my first time however picking up each book and reading them in order within weeks of each other.

I am re-reading this time for the Harry Potter Re-Read I am hosting. I am thrilled to say that 50+ other book lovers and bloggers have signed on to do this with me. It has been fun watching the posts go up, the twitter feed (#hpreadalong), and enjoying the books with veterans of the series as well as newbies.

Chamber Of Secrets brought out many themes I had not thought about before in previous reads. For one, the child neglect that Harry goes through as the Dursleys’ lock him in his room as a punishment, not letting him out and pushing his food through a slot. I don’t think I had thought about that so closely before but this time it really sat with me that the Dursley’s really need Child Protection Services called on them STAT.

I also picked up on J K’s strong theme of friendship and what that means when you filled beloved, as well as when you feel hated. True friends are hard to come by and the friendship that Ron and Hermione show Harry is a tribute to friendships in general. With a good friend, you are not alone to fight your battles… and battles, Harry has.

As I read this second book in the series I thought about the books as a whole and realized that while Hogwarts is cool, the years – all of them really… are hard on Harry. This is the second year in a row where Harry has to handle a hard situation. From reading the series I know as most of you do, there are more hard years to come…

yet Harry, as I, can not wait to see what the next year holds… and maybe this next year…

he wont miss the train. 🙂

Chamber Of Secret fans, I created a quiz you are welcome to take. Those signed up for the readalong will win House Points for participating in the quiz, and possibly a gift card. Either way, test your knowledge of the Chamber!

The Look Of Love by Sarah Jio

Published on December 7, 2014December 7, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Jane Williams runs a flower shop, and in her day-to-day dealings she sees all sorts of customers making purchases for different reasons… celebrations, apologies, condolences, and yes – for love. On her 29th birthday Jane learns that she has a special gift of being able to see love between two people, yet oddly she can not see it for herself. She has been tasked with one year to find and record the six types of love, if she fails she will never find her own true love.

At first Jane finds this information insane, until she starts to feel her vision cloud when she is in the presence of two people who are in love. Of course the opposite is true as well and Jane can see when married friends or relationships are not about love at all.

The Look Of Love is a unique twist of a love story. I liked Jane and I enjoyed the characters that surround her in this read. I enjoyed each relationship that was introduced and seeing through Jane’s eyes if it was really love or something else – for better or for worse.

I listened to this on audio, honestly drawn into the fact that Cassandra Campbell was one of the narrators, but also Julia Whelan (she narrated Delicious which I LOVED!) as a second narrator. Both were fantastic for this book.

The Look Of Love is my first dabble into Sarah Jio’s work but it will not be my last. I hear this supernatural twist included int his book is a different take for her and I am curious about her other books.