Yesterday later afternoon I started to feel that tingle that goes through your body and up the back of my neck. I started to feel chilled and my arms felt weak…
yup. Apparently I am sick. 😦
I do not get sick often but when I do it tends to knock me on my butt. Thankfully I am running a fever and have chills but no throwing up or the other horrible things at this time. I did however decide it was better to stay home this morning than do church and run the errands I had planned afterwards. Things will have to wait.
On a happier note – I did receive a few exciting books in the mail this week:
FOXCATCHER by Mark Schultz (I am so interested in reading this!)
4 books I am excited about!
SO today I think will be bed rest and reading or audio if my eyes are tired. I have some things to prep yet for tomorrows open house at the Library – nothing crazy but if I am there or not it is stuff that needs to be ready.
It is three years after the Event, the year now known as AE3. Meritropolis is a walled city of over 50,000 inhabitants. Each inhabitant has a score on their arm, a test result they are given yearly based on their intelligence and ability to physically contribute. Low scores are ushered outside the gates of Meritropolis where they are left to die with the elements and the odd creatures that now own the wilderness.
Charley, at a young age watched helplessly as his brother was sent outside the gates. Parent-less, Charlie was at a loss to do anything but watch, but now that Charley is 17, and holding one of the highest scores of Metropolis, he s a force to be reckoned with and has never forgot what happened to his brother.
As Charley gains knowledge and strength to take on the system he would be naive to believe that he is not being watched… and groomed…
Meritropolis was an interesting read. A dystopian world setting (which I love) with a mix of Maze Runner and a small taste of Harry Potter too. There is a character in the book who reminds me of a stronger but still nice, Hagrid.
I enjoyed the protagonist Charley and his desire to change his present world for the better. The supporting characters are a good mix of the possible love interest, tough but pretty girl, the jealous boy, as well as the weaker but lovable best friend. And that is just the group Charlie hangs out with…
Meritropolis is fast paced and engaging. I found myself wanting to know more about Charlie’s brother and of course if there is any surviving beyond the gates. This book brings you to a cliff hanger end leaving you wanting to know…
what will happen next?
I would recommend this read to Middle Grade – young YA Dystopian Readers, it is not as violent as Hunger Games
Who or what was your inspiration to write about post-apocalyptic, dystopian sci-fi?
J.O.: I’ve read a lot in this genre, so I would say it’s a mix of a lot of different things. I really just wanted to explore this question of, “What gives a person worth?” Is it their usefulness to society? Is it because someone loves them? Is it because of how they look? Is it because of their health or ability? As a Christian, I believe that all people have worth, because they are made in the image of God. I wanted to explore some different takes on this question. I think that the post-apocalyptic/dystopian/sci-fi genre was the best vehicle to tackle some of those deep philosophical questions in a fun and interesting way.
Why do you write? Is it for fun, or because you have something you need to say in your writing?
J.O.: Some writers are loath to say their writing has a message, because maybe they think doing so diminishes their art (not true, in my opinion), but I think that everyone has a message in their writing, even if they aren’t as consciously focused on it—and that’s a good thing. My message is in my epigraph: “Because everyone matters – Psalm 139”.
I wanted a short one word title that was a clever—or at least semi-clever—play on two different words. I like “Meritropolis” because it combines “Merit” and “Metropolis,” two words that are great for describing a city where each resident’s worth is measured by a score given to them.
In Meritropolis how were the animal combinations decided upon? For example, I know you chose to write about a bion (bull-lion), as well as many other freaks of nature. So what I want to know is how did you decided which animals to meld together and why.
I have a big list of animal combinations that I came up with before I began writing the book, and I tried to work in as many as I could. Sometimes the only criteria was that I liked the way the name sounded. Look for many more in the following books!
Can you tells us about your characters and who/what inspired them?
I am a big believer in John Truby’s approach to building a “character web”, because this deepens the relationships between characters and helps to make each of the characters more complex. Absent building a good character web, it can be all too easy to fall into the not-very-true-to-real-life good-person/bad-person false dichotomy where your protagonist devolves into this I-can-do-no-wrong character and your antagonist is just pure evil. I was very much aiming to show the imperfections and brokenness in each of the characters. My thinking as a Christian influences this to some degree, given that the Bible teaches that we are all essentially the same; we are all sinners—only God is perfect.
Do you have a favorite genre that you like to read?
I read pretty much everything! Fiction, non-fiction, you name it! I am of the opinion that, as an author, I can learn something from almost every kind of writing. Sometimes, it most definitely is a matter of learning what not to do—but, on the whole, I love to read a wide variety of writing styles, genres, etc.
Are there any books that have inspired your own writing?
I read A LOT so there are many different things that have shaped my writing over the years, but I wouldn’t say there was any particular book, or books, that I was consciously looking to for inspiration while writing Meritropolis. Looking back though I can definitely see different threads of influence in almost everything I have read over the years that contribute toward making Meritropolis what it is: the strong protagonist of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series, the philosophical bent of C.S. Lewis’ fiction, the dystopian setting of Hugh Howey’s WOOL series, and many more.
Are there any authors that have emerged in the last three years that have caught your interest?
Hugh Howey is an author that I really like that has caught my attention lately. I would highly recommend his WOOL series!
Don’t forget!
Meritropolis is marked down from its regular price of $5.99, but only for a limited time. Feed your Kindle by picking up a discounted copy for just 99 cents, but make sure you do it before December 1st!
Good morning! Post Thanksgiving and 2 days. I suppose some of you are still entertaining family or out-of-town yourself for the weekend. I am at home, Justin left for the cities yesterday afternoon and all has been put away. Life is back to normal.
Today for Saturday Snapshot I wanted to post what has been happening at our library lately. Last Sunday we went in and decorated for the holidays:
On Wednesday I went in and changed out the window to Christmas or Winter reading:
Today I am going in to make the book tree for our open house. The Open House is Monday. This is an annual event where we invite in the public for refreshments and to see the decorations for the library. We will have Friends Of The Library information set up, cookies and punch, as well as a drawing for Christmas turkeys.
It should be a good time. 🙂
Does your library have a Friends Group? Are you a part of it? It is a lot of fun and connects you to other book lovers.
Good morning! How ya all doing? Any turkey hangovers out there? Shopping hangovers?
I am good, I did not eat a lot of turkey and for the first time since I can remember we decided to vote “NO” on the going out and battling the crowds for a few reasons:
1. It is Minnesota and it is COLD
2. We were not in the mindset to deal with pushy people and long lines
3. There was really nothing any of thought we had to have.
I am so glad we did not go. The looking through the sale ads and planning our attack takes so much time out of our just hanging together. It is usually Justin and I who are crazy enough to go, leaving Brad who goes home and Al who watches a little tv and then goes to bed.
This year, we hung out, played board games, watched movies, and stayed warm.
The one game we played that I LOVE is Book Lovers Scrabble.
My friend Gail found me this little treasure and it is a lot of fun. It is basically Scrabble but you can earn bonus points for literary words (you know like “novel, writing, book) and you can earn extra points for using words in a book title and even an author’s name as long as you can recite the full title of the book you are referring to or the author’s name.
Another fun part of this game are the cards called Plot Twists. Each player has three at all time and they can be played one per turn. As you can see they are super fun and game changing. I had one that said that all players must put their current titles in the middle and we all re-pick from those. My son had one that said you could ask the other players if they had a letter you needed (such as an “A”) and if we had it we had to give it to them.
In the end… Justin won.
Justin (far right) looks like he is too good for us “losers”… Brad (far left) was about 100 points behind him and I was more than that. He smoked us! 🙂
After board games we watched, Blended, 22 Jump Street, Maleficent, and just because I like to throw a little educational movie into our holidays (ask Justin – one year we watched The Boy In The Striped Pajamas for Easter); we watched And The Band Played On.
Today, Justin and I will be making Pumpkin Rolls before he needs to head back home to St. Paul. Al and Brad are working. Once the house is quiet today I will be back into a good read. It is starting to snow and I have no where I need to go. A perfect plan.
As for now… my home is quiet. Al is already gone… Justin is still sleeping. COFFEE CUP and I are at the kitchen table, plotting and planning what this weekend will look like. 🙂
What do the next few days look like for you? Are they crazy busy? Or nice and mellow?
Good morning! Anyone else up at a crazy hour prepping food? I really did not have a lot to do. The turkey will go in about 30 minutes from now to be ready around noon and the rest of it I staged…. black olives by their bowl, stuffing by the pan, beans by the crock pot… pies in the garage staying nice and cool.
Today my two sons will come over and we will spend the day munching on good food, playing board games and watching movies. Our day usually goes something like a nice big dinner at noonish with all the fixings… then Al and Brad will usually find the football game on or some sport and Justin and I will play board games (we are the household gamers), occasionally the other two will join in. At some point we will all wind up in the family room watching movies… Al will fall asleep in the recliner. I make a second turkey for the boys to share and they each get half as well as pie and whatever else they wish to take. Into the evening Brad will go home as he works early tomorrow. Al will go to bed around 8 pm. Justin and I will gather snacks and settle in for movies… some how we usually wind up watching at least one Harry Potter movie. I will start to pass out on the couch but will not want t let Justin know I am tired so I fake that I am keeping up with the movie. It doesn’t fool him. Eventually I will give up and go to bed.
In the past years we have done the crazy Thursday evening and even Friday shopping but I have decided not to do that this year. There is nothing I need and going out in the cold and battling long lines and pushy people just does not appeal to me this year. 🙂
On Friday – I think we will make pumpkin rolls in the morning and maybe take in a movie in the afternoon.
It’s an easy holiday with the four of us and I love our crazy simple traditions.
I am thankful for way more than I can ever mention but I will try…. I am thankful for my husband Al, a hardworking guy who amazes me with all he accomplishes. I am thankful for Brad being back in Brainerd for over a year now that he is out of the Navy and working for our company. It is awesome having him close by. I am thankful for Justin and his willingness to be just as crazy as I am. Now that he has graduated from College I am excited to see what he does next. I am thankful for my friends and my family… 2014 has not been the year I had hoped it would be and I am still figuring it out but I feel loved and supported. I am thankful for God’s blessing in my life. I am thankful for my health and the ability to do the crazy things I choose to do. I am thankful for our home, our business, our employees. I am thankful for Sammy and Bailey and Mater… crazy dogs that keep me hopping. I am thankful for connections I have made on line and in person through this strange little corner of the web called Book Journey… writing here for the past 5 years has blessed me in ways I would have never imagined!
Update: As Angie (first comment below) mentioned – I forgot our book club…lol. I knew I would forget important stuff! Bookies now on its 14th year is a huge part of me. This group of girls have become great friends and through our book discussions we have talked about so many things that honestly – a lot of people never talk about. I am so thankful for each and every one of them.
Also – my experience this year working with the bees has been really cool. I have learned so much and love that I know these crazy things about bees now!
I hope wherever you are and if you celebrate Thanksgiving you have a wonderful day! Stay safe… stay warm!
You probably know stand up comedian for his most famous bit… “Hot Pocket!”. Jim, is an eaty. Not a foodie… an eaty. He believes he has a personal relationship with food. Fast foods from McDonalds, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Subway, you name – Jim has probably ate it. Kale? Is not a food… bacon? Is like crack. Eating bacon also is like being murdered by your lover. Yes, Jim loves food…. and in food, a love story… you will get plenty of that.
I absolutely loved Jim Gaffigan’s Food A Love Story. He is honest with his food addiction. He claims he is planning his next meal while eating. The only time he is not eating is when he is sleeping. I enjoyed Jim’s book Dad Is Fat, and I enjoyed Food. I laughed many times while listening to this audio book.
If you are looking for a great listen, I highly recommend Food A Love Story. Jim Gaffigan is an excellent speaker and his narration is spot on.
Good morning! I am still feeling a little ragged around the edges but working in the office today and have already accomplished some good things so feeling good about that. (Apparently… a lot of good in that sentence).
Yesterday I received an email from AudioFile magazine chatting up their best of the year audio books – NOW WAIT! Before you non audio book listeners click off this post – please note that a good audio book… may also very well be a pretty darn good book. 🙂
For those of us who are audio book listeners – well yay right? I am always looking for suggestions for that next great listen and usually pick my audio through someones raving about it.
So, this morning I wanted to mention this link so people could click on it and see what is considered to be the great listens of 2014.
So go ahead and click on the pic. Do you see any audiobooks (or books!) that you have enjoyed or this year? Are there audio books you would have added to this group?
I really enjoyed the Storied Life Of A.J. Fikrey. I also found Not My Father’s Son to be a rich and engaging non fiction listen by Alan Cummings. I was all in for We Were Liars and impressed with The Young World. I want to listen to to The Impossible Knife Of Letting Go (love Laurie Halse-Anderson’s writing!), Station Eleven, Mr. Mercedes, The Innovators, and Life Drawing.
Today, I am going to make a quick trip into town and then come back to the comforts of my home. I am watching a movie this afternoon for research I am working on and then back to writing. Tomorrow things start to pick up steam as we head into the Thanksgiving holiday but for today – I think I will enjoy one more day of quiet…. this introvert can not seem to get enough and I am re-energizing by staying at home. 🙂
In 1992, the body of Chris McCandless was found in an abandoned bus in Alaska. The book, Into The Wild (which I reviewed here) tells the true story of Chris’s restless life. After graduating from high school he left in his car,giving away the $25,000 dollars he had in his savings for college never to be seen or heard from his family again. Into The Wild shares what Chris’s life was like after his disappearance, pieced together through a journal he kept. Into The Wild, as I mentioned, portrays Chris as someone who does not want no submit to the ways of the world; yet marches to his own drum.
Now, 18 years later, in The Wild Truth, Chris’ sister comes forth with more to the story. With a forward from the Into The Wild author Jon Krakauer shares that Carine had showed him letters from Chris that back up some of his reasons for leaving, reasons that Carine asked Jon not to share in the original book and he honored this request.
The Wild Truth shares more to the story. At the time of Chris’ birth, his father Walt was having an affair with Chris’s mother Billie who worked for Walt, while still married and having children with his own wife as well. There were times that both women were pregnant at the same time. While Walt would have been happy to keep things as they were, seeing and having children with both women, eventually, his wife Marcia divorced him and moved away. Walt and Billie had a second child, Carine.
Walt and Billie’s marriage was unhealthy. They fought constantly and Walt was both physically and verbally abusive. Chris and Carine were often called into the room to choose a parent which was a losing situation. When Chris was in high school his father once hit him as hard as he could in the spine of his back.
In Carine’s account in her book, Chris’ departure was sad as she loved her brother but not surprising.
One of the final pictures Chis had taken of himself while living in the bus in Alaska days before he died.
I have always been fascinated with the Chris McCandless story. When I reviewed the book, I followed it up with the movie – both of which I would recommend. In The Wild Truth, Carine paints a much different household picture as I mention above.
While the first part of the book is about their parents Walt and Billie; the affair, the fighting, the half siblings… it later goes into a mix of poor relationship choices that Carine makes throughout her younger years including two failed marriages.
I am glad I listened to this book, I did enjoy knowing more of the Chris McCandless story and Carine’s narration of her own book was excellent. I do however find myself torn on how I feel about the book. The information on Chris I liked and getting to know him more through his younger sister was nice. Yet her own personal relationships and some of the books content left me questioning where I land on this.
I am glad I listened to it. I understand after all these years she wanted the full truth to be known. I just am left in limbo.
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! 😉
I am HOME! Yes! For the first time in three weeks I am sitting at home in the comfort of my recliner and typing up this post. PURE BLISS. I cant even tell you. I am still pretty wiped out but have a nice low key week now with the boys coming over on Thursday for Thanksgiving and that is my highlight.
With a plunging reputation and enrollment rate, Saint Michael’s has become a crumbling dumping ground for expelled delinquents and a haven for the stridently religious when incoming freshman Peter Davidek signs up. On his first day, tensions are clearly on the rise as a picked-upon upperclassmen finally snaps, unleashing a violent attack on both the students who tormented him for so long, and the corrupt, petty faculty that let it happen. But within this desperate place, Peter befriends fellow freshmen Noah Stein, a volatile classmate whose face bears the scars of a hard-fighting past, and the beautiful but lonely Lorelei Paskal —so eager to become popular, she makes only enemies.
To even stand a chance at surviving their freshmen year, the trio must join forces as they navigate a bullying culture dominated by administrators like the once popular Ms. Bromine, their embittered guidance counselor, and Father Mercedes, the parish priest who plans to scapegoat the students as he makes off with church finances. A coming-of-age tale reversed, Brutal Youth follows these students as they discover that instead of growing older and wiser, going bad may be the only way to survive.
For My Ears
With her fiery red hair, new-girl outsider status, and tendency to be a total klutz, Autumn Falls definitely isn’t flying below the radar at Aventura High. Luckily, she makes some genuine friends who take her under their wing. But she also manages to get on the wrong side of the school’s queen bee, and then finds out the guy she’s started to like, funny and sweet Sean, hangs with the mean crowd. Now her rep and her potential love life are at stake.
When Autumn vents her feelings in a journal that belonged to her late father, suddenly her wildest wishes start coming true. Is it coincidence? Or can writing in the journal solve all her problems? And if the journal doesn’t work that way, is there a bigger purpose for it—and for her?
In 1977, pregnant Genevieve Russell disappeared. Twenty years later, her remains are discovered and Timothy Gleason is charged with murder. But there is no sign of the unborn child. CeeCee Wilkes knows how Genevieve Russell died, because she was there. And she also knows what happened to the missing infant, because two decades ago she made the devastating choice to raise the baby as her own. Now Timothy Gleason is facing the death penalty, and she has another choice to make: tell the truth, and destroy her family, or let an innocent man die in order to protect a lifetime of lies….
I suspect there will be more but I cant make up my mind now so there it is. 🙂 What are you reading this coming week? Please add your link to It’s Monday What Are You Reading where it says click here below:
Powered by Linky Tools
Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…
For those of you who read mainly children and middle grade books, please also feel free to add your link here:
Synopsis: Mia Hall is a gifted cellist. She is quite possibly on her way to Julliard and is making hard decision with her boyfriend Adam who plays in a successful band. Stay or go seem to be the decisions that Mia struggles with. She has wonderful loving parents and a little brother she adores… there is so much to stay for. Then one snow day her family takes a drive and is in a terrible accident that leaves Mia in a coma. Mia has an out of body experience as she sees herself in the hospital. As everything crumbles around her Mia and only Mia can make the decision if she should stay or if she should go.
The Book
I reviewed this book on my birthday in 2011. Side note.. my reviews are kind of funny then… for myself I rated the book an average read. It was good and I liked it but it was not over the top WOW. We reviewed this as a group for my book club and we actually had a wonderful discussion over it, which I talk about in the review.
The Movie
I recently watched the movie of If I Stay that came out this year. I did not think it would be “theater worthy” so I waited for it to come out for rental. I have to admit I was surprised with how much I enjoyed the movie. Mia played by Chloe Grace Moretz was wonderful. I teared up several times during the scenes where she experiencing the pain of seeing what is happening around her. Adam, played by Jamie Blackley was also exceptional. Maybe I was just in the right mood for this kind of movie but whatever it was it really touched my heart.
Knowing that time and distance from the reading of the book may have to do with my decision her today I am going to have to say the winner of this Book vs Movie is…
Movie.
See it… read it… but if you are going to choose one or the other I think the movie came off as more powerful and emotional. Dang… it was GOOD.
Book Journey 