Book Journey

Weekend Cooking: Pumpkin Butter

Published on October 10, 2014October 10, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)21 Comments

Recently I had felt nostalgic for making apple butter. We have many apple trees in our yard and usually each fall I post pictures on Facebook for people to come and get them and they come in droves to get buckets of apples. I used to make apple butter with my mom and she had learned from my great-grandmother. I have all of grandmothers original tools she used to do this. This year, after a big storm took out most of the apples – I decided I was going to make the butter again…

but this post is not about that. 😉

WHILE looking on-line for a refresher course on how to make the apple butter… I came across Pumpkin Butter. I mean seriously could that sound more delicious of more Fall? I did make the apple butter….and it is fantastic…

and then I bought a pumpkin…

Here is what you need:

One Pumpkin (you can use pumpkin puree from the store but I wanted to go completely from scratch)

sugar

ginger

cinnamon

nutmeg

Tools:

Crock Pot

A food mill (I use my grandma’s)

Take your pumpkin and cut up into chucks with the hard outside shell taken off.

Place in a large pot covered in water and cook on high until the pumpkin is soft. I used my Grandmothers food mill to puree it went in to the crock pot but I bet you could use a potato masher as well.

Once your pumpkin is in the crock pot I added the spices to taste. I have no exact measurements as it depends on your pumpkin size. I added cinnamon, and about a half cup of sugar, nutmeg and ginger. With crock pot on low, let it cook 8 to 10 hours, or to desired thickness. Add more spice if needed according to your taste as it cooks.

Pour into jars or gift containers.

The Butters... left: pumpkin butter, right: Apple Butter — The Butters… left: pumpkin butter, right: Apple Butter

***Note: Pumpkin Butter is not recommended to hot water seal your jars. The acids in the pumpkin do not allow for safe sealing (I know right? This was news to me too!) You can keep it safely in your refrigerator up to three weeks, or you can freeze it and take it out as you need it.

Final thoughts: I loved the taste and texture. While the canning note was a surprise (I did not know you could not seal it until I had made it) I put in refrigerator and gave away to friends over the next few days. When I do it again – and I will, I will put the jars back in the box they came in and freeze. If you leave an inch head room in the jar for expansion as it freezes, the jars are ok to freeze in.

Pumpkin butter is delicious on toast, but it is also good in yogurt, and on pancakes.

I will be linking this one up to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads. Go and see what others are cooking this weekend 🙂

What am I listening to while cooking this weekend? Ocean Beach by Wendy Wax... a fun womens literature style listen. 🙂

Morning Meanderings… Far Out Statistics

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

Good morning! And yes…. I did just say “far out” in the title of this post. It seemed appropriate.

If you kept up with me this week you know I was in Mankato the past couple of days for the Minnesota Library Annual Conference. There were sessions aimed towards Librarians and staff, and also Friends Of The Library (fundraising ideas, grant writing, 501c3 uses, membership building, etc…) it was a lot of fun and I came home with a few ideas. More on that tomorrow 🙂

Today I wanted to share with you the funny phenomenon of Gone Girl. Those of you who have read me for some time are probably familiar with my spoiler page. This is an additional page I write on books that I want to talk about in more detail because they totally blew me away, or made me angry, or… whatever. I do not use the spoiler page often. If you look at my link (also found in the tabs under my header) you will see the books I have used it on. Occasionally, when a book becomes a movie or there is some hype surrounding the book, I will notice an increase on hits on a particular spoiler post.

But not like Gone Girl.

If you are familiar with the book Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, then you probably know the movie released on the 3rd of this month. In September, the views of my spoiler page for Gone Girl started climbing… not just by 100’s… but by thousands of view a day. It was odd. In face here is what my top post views looked like on October 3rd:

Title		Views
SPOILER PAGE For Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn		20,476
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn		2,606
Home page / Archives		247
This Is Where I Leave You….Book VS. Movie		43
Morning Meanderings… Much Ado About September		35
Spoiler Page for Me Before You by Jojo Moyes		25
Requiem by Lauren Oliver – SPOILER Page		25
For Book Clubs Only		15
Lightning Thief Book Vs. Lightning Thief Movie by Rick Riordan		14
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins – Spoiler Page		12

Search Engine Terms

These are terms people used to find your site.

2014-10-03

Search	Views
gone girl spoiler	338
gone girl ending	194
gone girl book	122
gone girl synopsis	99
gone girl ending spoiler	85
gone girl spoiler ending	76
how does gone girl end	62
gone girl book ending	52
gone girl spoilers	48
gone girl plot	46
gone girl book ending spoiler	41
gone girl ending explained	37
what happens at the end of gone girl	28
what happens in gone girl	27
gone girl summary	24
ending of gone girl	22
gone girl synopsis spoiler	21
gone girl summary spoiler	20
how does the book gone girl end	18
gone girl plot spoiler	18
spoiler gone girl	15
synopsis of gone girl	14
gone girl book spoiler	14

What are your thoughts on this? Is it just that people are looking to reach out to others that have read the book? Are they looking for confirmation on their feelings regarding the story line?

Three Wishes by Liane Moriarty

Published on October 9, 2014October 9, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)13 Comments

I have an author crush on Liane Moriarty. Her protagonists are strong three-dimensional women who are funny, witty, and I usually want to be their friend. ~Sheila

Lyn, Cat, and Gemma are thirty-three year old triplets. Alone, each is stunning, together, they turn heads constantly. While they are a force to be reckoned with, each carries her own burden…

Lyn views life as a check list as she marks things off her to do list day by day

Cat is dealing with painful facts about her marriage

Gemma is finally considering staying in a relationship longer than 6 months.

When all else seems to be falling apart…they can always count on each other.

Of course I chose this read because it is Moriarty. Yes, Moriarty of The Husband’s Secret, Big, Little Lies, and What Alice Forgot. That Moriarty.

Three Wishes is an older title for Moriarty and I felt the difference in her character development. While the three sisters were witty and funny and all that I enjoy about her books, the story line left me drifting a bit and honestly I can not even tell you what the big plot moment was.

While the book is fine, I think I am so used to the power packed punch reads that Moriarty has been cranking out the past couple of years that I set the bar too high on this one and to me…

it was left wanting.

Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 11 hours and 31 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Audible.com Release Date: August 18, 2014
Book Release Date: May 24, 2005

Morning Meanderings… Live From Mankato!

Published on October 9, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)2 Comments

Good morning! No coffee yet but I can see a Starbucks down the block so that will be my stop on my way back to the Minnesota Library Association Annual Conference. It will be a whirlwind day of sessions, I speak at the 11:15 session about Friends Of The Library Projects and then lunch and another session and …

well… I will save the details for Saturday Snapshot. 😉

Here is my hotel table this morning.

I started Delancey last night and it sucked me right in. Molly’s writing is very good and I hope to read her other books as well. This is the true telling of how her and her husband started a restaurant, Delancey’s. BUT it is more than about the restaurant… it is about the people who surround them, the recipes they survived on, and their marriage.

I am going to go get ready – pack up my car… see what the breakfast area has and then head over to find parking which as I found out last night is not easy. It is either tow zone areas if you park there or it is two-hour parking. I obviously need a better space. 🙂

Have a super day all!

A Good Marriage by Stephen King

Published on October 8, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

Just when I think I can not be surprised… I read A Good Marriage by Stephen King. A chiller that will go right through to the bones. ~ Sheila

While Darcy’s husband Bob is away on a business trip, Darcy comes across a well hidden box under a work table in their garage. When she opens the box she is stunned by what she finds and believes that there must be some sort of mistake. Bob,her husband and father to their now adult children has never been nothing but kind and loving… but this… this finding opens up a Pandora’s box on Darcy’s entire life. Now Darcy needs to make some pretty heavy decisions before Bob gets home.

I have not read a King book in years. In fact, the last King book I read was 11-22-63, which if you have read, you know that while it is an excellent read, it does not really feel like a King book. When I was offered this book on audio for review and seen that creepy cool cover *pause here so you can look at it again*….

I though this would be a great time to spend with King. And it was. I have to say this book was darker than I had anticipated. It is hard to find a book that can spook you without gore, and A Good Marriage succeeded in giving me chills, but not grossing me out.

A Good Marriage is twisted good. A review I had read on this recently on another blog (I apologize for not remembering where I read it) said this would be a good audio for someone new to audio as it is only 3 cds (3 hours) long. I would agree with that statement. It is not a huge commitment and wow… you will find yourself having trouble not finishing it right away so you know.

“Oh my Lord! What is going to happen!?”

My only personal grumble is the narration of Jessica Hecht bothered me when she was reading Darcy’s part. I found Darcy to sound too frail and too soft for what I guessing her age to be around 50. In Darcy and Jessica’s defense, I like strong female character so this may just be something that grated on me. 😉

Creepy good.

**Important note – I am seeing on-line that this read has been released in a different King book called: Full Dark No Stars. This has caused some dispute to those who had read Full Dark No Stars (which has three short stories by King in it) and did not realize that A Good Marriage was one of these stories which they had already read.

Listening Length: 3 hours and 33 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Audible.com Release Date: September 30, 2014

Morning Meanderings… Off To The Minnesota Library Association Conference

Published on October 8, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)11 Comments

Good morning! I am sitting here in my pj’s having coffee and… honestly…

procrastinating.

I should leave the house in the next hour and I have not packed, showered, or planned my “what will I wear” outfit for tomorrow. If you know me, you can imagine I will leave on time and it will go something like this:

Refill cup of coffee (actually I just did that!)

Take a phone call (ok… that was not on the schedule!)

Turn on audio book and jump in shower – hair is short now so whole process should be 15 minutes.

Try on outfits as I pack.

Berate myself for not doing this part earlier in the week

Take ANOTHER phone call (also not planned – it was the March Of Dimes, I have been turned in to go to “jail” for their fundraiser)… again. 😉

Put books, notebook, clothes, make up, phone charger, all in suitcase. Oh yeah and shoes. Shoes are great.

Love on dogs.

Leave house for bank and then the library to pick up supplies for my talk….

Officially leave town by 10:30 am.

Listen to a great audio as it is a 3 and a half hour drive one way.

I will be in touch, laptop is going with 🙂

Cemetary John by Robert Zorn

Published on October 7, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)Leave a comment

On March 1st, 1932, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh, was kidnapped from his home in New Jersey. Left behind on the window sill was an envelope which contained a ransom note for $50,000 for Charles Augustus Lindbergh Jr.’s safe return. Charles and his wife Anne were devastated.

Two months later, the remains of the infant would be found and confirmed to be the young Lindbergh. He was not quite two years old.

While a man Bruno Richard Hauptmann was tried and found guilty for the crime and in April of 1936 he was electrocuted for the crime, all the while stating he was innocent, right to the very end. The crime still remains to this day unsolved as evidence shows there is no way that Hauptmann could have acted alone… in fact some say he was not involved at all…

In Little Falls Minnesota there is a Charles Lindbergh Museum and State Park, about 30 miles from my home. With his Minnesota connections you think I would be on top of this subject and the controversial story around the kidnapping of his son, but sadly until now, I was pretty much unenlightened.

Cemetery John gives great insight to Charles Lindbergh life. You learn all about his famous flight, his meeting and eventual marriage to his wife Anne, and of course all about the Lindbergh household, the family friends, and baby Charles.

The story is well written and interesting. I always knew there was controversy around the kidnapping, but until the reading of this book, I was not sure of the details surrounding this controversy. This is the type of book that makes me want to know more.

Recommended for fans of historical reads.

Audible Audio Edition
Listening Length: 10 hours and 20 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Unabridged
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Audible.com Release Date: July 30, 2012
Audie Award Nominee, Nonfiction, 2013

SPUN by Catherine McKenzie

Published on October 6, 2014October 6, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)4 Comments

Amber Sheppard, made famous for her role as The Girl Next Door, has been sober for two years now since her stint in rehab. You would never know it though by the gossip magazines. Every paparazzi picture of her wearing sun glasses means “hung over”, every shot of her looking too thin is “drug use”. If that is not enough, she is still trying to avoid her other addiction as well, the hot movie star Connor Parks, who has tried to win Amber back since she quit him like her other unhealthy addictions.

Yet now, a text from Conner brings Amber to him… as one if often drawn to things that are not good for us… and the decisions she makes during this crucial time, will change her life forever.

I have enjoyed Catherine McKenzie’s writing and believe I have now read everything she has published. When I read SPIN in 2012 I enjoyed it. It was a different type of read for me with a new subject line… rehab.

Now Catherine McKenzie has written SPUN, a follow-up to the people who graced the rehab two years prior. What I found interesting, was the main protagonist in SPIN was Kate, a tabloid reporter with a party-too-much-and-too-hard-problem, and Amber was someone she met in rehab. It was interesting to see Amber’s story take the lead in SPUN, and Kate is now a secondary character.

It was fun to revisit these characters. SPUN is written as a novella, 140 pages and worth your time. Do you need to have read SPIN to enjoy SPUN? No, but I would recommend SPIN as well as it is a fun read that leads right into SPUN.

Paperback: 140 pages
Publisher: Catherine McKenzie (May 16, 2014)
Language: English

Fun Fact: Catherine McKenzie was one of our authors for Wine and Words 2014. She was an awesome addition to our event and a lot of fun to talk to:

A few of our wine and words authors having fun at the photo booth! Left: Catherine McKenzie, Barbara Claypole White, Lorna Landvik, and Randy Susan Meyers

Some of the Friends group and the authors - far left - Catherine McKenzie — Some of the Friends group and the authors – 3rd from left – Catherine McKenzie

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Published on October 5, 2014October 5, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 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! 😉

October! Enough said! Seriously though… October? Here is what I posted this past week:

Hatching Twitter by Nick Bolton

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

The Best Of Me Film Release Giveaway!

Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman

This Is Where I Leave You Book VS. Movie

My Next Read Winner!

Hidden by Catherine McKenzie

This week is going to be bookish! Tomorrow we are having our first ever friends of the library recap and retreat. On Wednesday and Thursday I will be at the Minnesota Library Association meeting and then home on Friday. It is going to be fun! Here is what I have planned for the week:

For My Ears

When unlikely friends Madeline, Avery, and Nicole arrive in Miami’s South Beach neighborhood, they’re hoping for a do-over. Literally. They’ve been hired to bring a historic house back to its former glory on a new television show called Do Over. If they can just get this show off the ground, Nikki could fix her finances, Avery could restart her career, and Maddie would have a shot at keeping her family together.

The women quickly realize that having their work broadcast is one thing, but having their personal lives play out on TV is another. Soon they’re struggling to hold themselves, and the project, together. With a decades-old mystery—and hurricane season—looming, the women are forced to figure out just how they’ll weather life’s storms . . .

It was just another ordinary day at McKinley High–until a massive explosion devastated the school. When loner David Thorpe tried to help his English teacher to safety, the teacher convulsed and died right in front of him. And that was just the beginning.

A year later, McKinley has descended into chaos. All the students are infected with a virus that makes them deadly to adults. The school is under military quarantine. The teachers are gone. Violent gangs have formed based on high school social cliques. Without a gang, you’re as good as dead. And David has no gang. It’s just him and his little brother, Will, against the whole school.

For my Eyes

Tender at the Bone is the story of a life determined, enhanced, and defined in equal measure by unforgettable people, the love of tales well told, and a passion for food. In other words, the stuff of the best literature. The journey begins with Reichl’s mother, the notorious food-poisoner known for-evermore as the Queen of Mold, and moves on to the fabled Mrs. Peavey, onetime Baltimore socialite millionaress, who, for a brief but poignant moment, was retained as the Reichls’ maid. Then we are introduced to Monsieur du Croix, the gourmand, who so understood and yet was awed by this prodigious child at his dinner table that when he introduced Ruth to the soufflé, he could only exclaim, “What a pleasure to watch a child eat her first soufflé!” Then, fast-forward to the politically correct table set in Berkeley in the 1970s, and the food revolution that Ruth watched and participated in as organic became the norm. But this sampling doesn’t do this character-rich book justice. After all, this is just a taste.

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HIDDEN by Catherine McKenzie

Published on October 5, 2014October 5, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)11 Comments

Jeff Manning just fired a man who at one time, was the man who hired him. Life… is odd Jeff contemplated as he walked home from work, and while closing his eyes to relax from the tension of the day, he is hit by a car and killed.

Shortly after, Claire, Jeff’s wife melts to the floor as the police deliver the news. His son, Seth runs to his room crying… their family home now broken with grief.

At a meeting at Jeff’s office, the news is somberly delivered of Jeff’s accident and another woman screams “No!” in disbelief as the truth sinks in. Tish, who met Jeff at a company party, has to now decide how to best move forward drawing as little attention to herself as possible. She goes to Jeff’s funeral as the company representative.

Told in the alternating voices of Jeff, Claire, and Tish, HIDDEN reveals what was …. what is… and what will be.

So…. funny thing. I had just finished reading SPUN by this author and in the back of that books was the first chapter of this one, HIDDEN. I read that chapter and was engaged enough to go and grab HIDDEN that has been unread on my shelf and not only start it; but finish it in one reading. If you have ever wondered if those little chapters at the end of a book about another book by the same author work, the answer is apparently a clear and resounding YES.

HIDDEN is an intriguing read. You are quickly hit with the plot and the rest of the book is explaining how things came to be in flashes back for all three – Jeff, Claire, and Tish. Chapters will be in present time and then a comment or a happening will lead to a chapter that takes you back so you can fully understand how things came to be. It is actually an interesting way to write, especially since one of the narrators, who we never get a real chance to know in present time, is dead.

My only struggle with this read was that sometimes I did not know right away who the narrator of a chapter was. I would have to skim ahead on the page to get to the “Oh, this is Jeff speaking”, or “Oh this is Claire.” In the end, the story is not all wrapped up with all things tidy. As I finished the book I was a little bummed about this, yet as it begin to sink in, I started to appreciate the ending more knowing that all things in life do not have the opportunity to be neatly categorized, labeled and put into a cute box.

HIDDEN is a book that will make you think about relationships and what truly can never 100% be known.