Giveaway – Page 7 – Book Journey

Banned Book Week Day 2 Posts And Giveaways!

Published on October 1, 2012October 1, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Good morning! I normally do not post on Mondays but instead let the Monday meme ride, but it is banned book week so if you are looking for Monday, What Are You Reading, link up here to that.

However – if you are those book readers who enjoy bad horrible filthy books… this is where you want to be. 😀

LOL…. just kidding… but if you have followed the Banned Books lists and reviews then you know… there are some WONDERFUL and AMAZING books that have been banned and challenged through the years and honestly? I just think it is really fun to celebrate them!

Today I have a whole other group of Banned Book reviews and giveaways and I am hoping you will take time to show them some comment love and check out what they have to say! 😀 Remember, I am running a giveaway package this week and all comments on all the banned book posts that I have shared with you during this week will be entered.

Here are todays posts:

Liesel from Musings On Fantasia has a post up called: Three Reasons Why Banning Is Not The Answer and a sweet giveaway!

Tracy from Pen and Paper (she cracks me up!) has a post up of Dr. Suess’s Green Eggs and Ham – see I told you the bans would surprise you!

Sarah from Sawcats Book Blog shares her thoughts on the book 1984 (one I have yet to read!) and a great giveaway!

Charity from The Bookworm Fairy continues her banned book series with Catching Fire and if you have not seen the awesome package she is giving away you really need to check it out!

Shannon from Giraffe Days is talking about The Color Purple (amazing book if you have not read it yet!) and another great giveaway!

Rachel at Resistance Is Futile has a post about The Headless Cupid (new to me) and it looks interesting!

Stacy from A Novel Source is posting about The Dead Zone (perfect for Halloween!!!) and she is also having a giveaway!

Shelly Rae at Book’d Out is sharing her thoughts on The Perks Of Being A Wallflower ( a book I will be reviewing this week too!)

So that is today’s list! I have several reviews ready, not sure which way I am going today yet but know… there will be something banned going on here 😀

In recap – all of yesterdays posts and giveaways from Banned Book Day 1 are still going all week so please stop by and check them out as well!

Do you see any books on this list today that surprise you?

Banned Book Week Kick Off! Seven Days of Books, Reviews, and MANY Giveaways!

Published on September 30, 2012October 1, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

It’s here! It’s finally here! Today officially kicks off Banned Book Week

and I am going to ask you to bookmark my blog this week and keep on stopping by because many awesome book bloggers have signed up to celebrate these books with me! They (as well as myself) will be doing this by posting about banned and challenged books, as well as many will be having a giveaway. Each morning I will list which blogs on participating on that day and I hope you will stop by their blogs and show them some comment love. 😀

I will be putting together a banned book package that will be given away to one of the commenters on these posts – that means that I will be counting all the posts that I link this week as well as my own banned book posts and entering those who comment in a drawing for the package. The more posts you comment on, the more times you will be in the drawing. The package will include several banned books as well as a gift card. Winner will be announced at the end of the banned book event, next Sunday morning here.

So let’s get this party started right?

Elida at My First, My Last, My Everything is posting about Bridehead Revisited and she giving away a copy of the book!

Shelena at Writer Quirk is talking about Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan and she has not one, but TWO prize packages she is giving away!

Kelly at The Well-Read Redhead is chatting up One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and offering up a giveaway copy as well.

Bex at An Armchair By The Sea is talking about banned books and offering a giveaway for a choice of a Banned Book!

Charity at The Bookworm Fairy is reviewing The Hunger Games Today as well as offering up a copy of the book giveaway!

Elisha Of Rainy Day Reviews is discussing The Adventured Of Huckleberry Finn.

Pam at Unconventional Librarian is posting about To Kill A Mockingbird and hosting a giveaway for that book as well.

Jennifer Of The Bookie Nook is talking about SPEAK today (love that one!) and giving away a copy of it as well.

Laura at Owl Tell You About It is reviewing The Perks Of Being A Wallflower and offering up a giveaway copy as well (SQQQUUUEEEE! I don’t have that one in book format!)

I am also participating in The Banned Book Hop – lots and lots more of banned book giveaways 😀

and I will be posting my review of Prep later today with a giveaway 😀

Some of these books I have read, some are new to me and I want to read them! If you already own any of the books listed above, enter anyway because you can always give these great books to another reader. 😀

Are you reading any banned/challenged books this week?

Bloggiesta Mini Challenge: Bring the Hits: Building a blog audience

Published on September 28, 2012September 30, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)42 Comments

Happy Bloggiesta!!! (If you have not connected yet with Bloggiesta hurry over to the starting line now!) This is going to be fun! I hope everyone is ready to do some fun bloggish “to do’s” this weekend! I know I am.

My name is Sheila and I created this little world you are seeing here called Book Journey. I started blogging in June of 2009 with a book review and no idea what I was doing. For my Bloggiesta mini challenge I am going to give some tips I have learned along the way to help build an audience to your posts.

1. So you have written what you believe to be an awesome post. You hit publish and you excitedly await for people to visit and comment and join in your thoughts. Everyone loves comments. They are, as my friend Amanda said once, the bread and butter of a book blogger. So knowing this, instead of waiting for people to find us, we should also be going out and finding them. Set yourself goals – maybe visit 5 or 10 new blogs a day that you have not checked out before. I find many new blogs to check out on the sidebars of the blogs I enjoy reading. Visit. Leave a real comment that would make that blogger want to see who you are and what you are about. You may be surprised how many of those bloggers will come and see what you are blogging about right back.

In the early days of my book blogging, I visited and visited and visited… by doing this people knew I was out there, and many of my readers today have come from those early days. Once you have them as regular readers, you tend to pick up some of their readers as well.

2. So….. now you have people visiting, what are you showing them? When the visitors come to your blog, you want to have your best post us front – after all, this is company! 😀 By saying the best post, I mean write posts that are informative or fun, whatever you are writing about. Think about a first timer to your blog, is what you have written here going to cause them to follow you, or come back and visit again? When I write a review that has a lot of passion for a book I really enjoyed or something crazy in my life, I want people to read it – laugh with me, share their thoughts with me – even be frustrated with me.

3. Blog layout. Take a moment and look at your blog with an objective eye. Does it have curb appeal? Are the colors easy for visitors to read. Is it easy to find where to comment? Is the sidebar(s) if you have them, neat and current?

The Mini Challenge

My Challenge for you , if you choose to accept it, is to go and visit 10 blogs today that are either new to you or you have not visited in a while. Leave a good comment that contributes to the post. Come back here and let me know in the comments that you did this and if you discovered a cool blog that you enjoyed and will probably check out again, let me know that as well. You can enter this mini challenge once each day of Bloggiesta – in other words, you can visit 10 blogs or more each day of Bloggiesta and let me know each time here and I will enter you for each f the three days you participate. Yes, up to three entries per person. After Bloggiesta I will draw a winner using random.org for a $10 gift card to Amazon that will be emailed to you. If the comments reach over 75, I will add a second winner of a $10 gift card.

Throughout this weekend by doing the mini challenges you will find all sorts of awesome tips from some amazing bloggers! Your blog can come out the other side of this weekend all shiny and new and tweaked to awesomeness! Have fun!

The Bel Canto Party Is Here!!! Come One, Come All!!!

Published on September 15, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Welcome! Welcome! Come on in, the door is open wide and you are invited to come in. May I take your coat? The champagne is to the left and waiters are about with tasty hor duerves. Be sure to head into the main lounge before too long as the party is about to begin.

I am very excited about chatting up Bel Canto with all of you. If you read it for the read a long (YAY!) or you read it some time ago, you are welcome to join in the fun and conversation that is happening here today.

Bel Canto comes from a term meaning “beautiful singing” and is an opera term. Bel Canto has won many awards including The Orange Prize for fiction, Faulkner Award and Amazons Best Books Of The Year Award in 2001.

Here are some questions to ponder for the discussion…

1. What makes Bel Canto Work? What is it about this book that draws you in and makes you imagine what if… and what would you do.

2. If Ann Patchett’s book feasible – could this really ever happen. Why or why not?

3. What do you think is the authors motive for writing this story?

4. What does Roxanne Cross bring to the book? Why is her character so central?

5. Was anyone to blame for what happened when the party was taken over and everyone became hostages? What precautions were missing?

6. Did you like the way the story was told, a narration of someone looking back and telling of past events. Would it have been better told from a present perspective – why or why not?

7. Would you recommend Bel Canto to others? Why or why not.

Feel free to respond to any or all of the above questions and add your own thoughts and questions as well. A linky has been set up for those who have also reviewed the book so please add your review to the link provided. Those who link their reviews of this book will receive an entry for a couple of Bel Canto party giveaways – relevant comments on this post that add to the discussion will receive one entry per relevant comment. I will announce winner on Tuesday morning.

The giveaways for this post are as follows:

**Prima Bel Canto Fabric Flowers (set of 6)**

**A new copy of Ann Patchett’s book RUN**

Link your reviews here:

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Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

BBAW: ANd so… the time has come…

Published on September 14, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)23 Comments

Wow did that week go by fast or what? I am sitting here with COFFEE CUP looking at the books I was giving away this week – I still have one more – and well… wow. This is it.

Todays questions was what did we get out of the week. This was the first week, yesterday actually – where I was able to actually just sit down and enjoy blogs and blogging. Usually I am squeezing in a few minutes here, half a post there, drafting when I can..but yesterday I had my first lay low day in a long time and I took full advantage of hanging out with Laptop and pounding out a couple posts and a lot of visits, and you know what?

It felt good.

Today will be a bit the same. The crew is finally coming today to start my book shelves and I am going to take laptop and the dogs downstairs and do a little reading and writing and stay out of the construction. (Unless I sneak up to get a picture or two….)

Have a great rest of BBAW everyone. Be sure to check out the BBAW site and see the giveaways and the posts – and maybe meet a new blogger or two along the way. 😀

My last giveaway is Night Road by Kristin Hannah. I have two copies of this book. I have not read it yet but have heard good things. Leave me a comment today sharing with me what you enjoy most about book blogs. 😀 I will choose a winner and announce tomorrow winner along with my other giveaways going on this blog this week.

Happy Friday! 😀

Seconds Away by Harlan Coben ( and BBAW Giveaway!)

Published on September 13, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)19 Comments

Mickey Bolitar is not sure how trouble finds him… but it most certainly does. Now, a school friend of his has been shot and the police are not too appreciative of Mickey’s interest in the case. After all, Mickey is just a teenager with not much else to do but go to school and hang out with his friends, Ema (pronounced E (long E) ma) and Spoon.

As Mickey gets closer and closer to the truth, the truth is making its way closer and closer to him…

and it wants to shut him up.

Why did I want to listen to this audio? I always tell people when I was in High School and a few years beyond my “go to” author was Stephen King. In my twenties I started to find King to be a bit too high on the creep factor so I made my way to Dean Koontz who I found to be a little lighter than King and a bit more sense of humor (plus I love the end of Koontz books where he explains more about the book and the idea behind it). Then Koontz came out with a few that were more like King and I discovered Harlan Coben. Coben is lighter than Koontz, has a quick wit that I love and I have not found a book of his yet that I have not enjoyed. I am also finding it brilliant how he slid into YA reads by creating a nephew for his star series character, Myron Bolitar.

First of, I did not realize this was a second in a series and knowing that now, it explains a bit of what I found missing : 1. how did Mickey come to be living with his uncle? 2. What happened to Mickey’s dad?

That said, other than those two things I picked up on in the beginning the story flowed wonderfully. Mickey is a great character that I think will be a great lead in to young adults who enjoy mysteries, as well as connecting to his older character Myron who can keep these same readers moving right from Mickey to Myron (nicely played Harlan Coben, Nicely played!) And I enjoyed this book too so I will definitely continue on as well as get my hands on that first book, Shelter to catch up completely.

The narrator of this audio was Nick Podehl and I am nowhere near a narrator snob (YET) but as I was listening to this one I swore I knew that voice. Once home I checked it out and sure enough, Nick has narrated some of John Green’s books and I see he also narrates the Chaos Walking series of Patrick Ness which makes me want to pick up that first book again but this time in audio because I hear they are WONDERFUL.
This book will be released September 18th, normally I do not review before a book is released but I did not notice I was ahead of the game until I was writing this post – so note that it will be available soon! 😀

I have a new copy of this audio in my home that I would like to put up for giveaway in honor of BBAW this week. Please leave a comment here letting me know if you have read Harlan Coben before and if so which book(s). This winner will be announced Saturday morning.

BBAW: Pimp That Book

Published on September 13, 2012September 13, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Good morning. Yesterday totally got away from me… I started writing a poem for yesterdays BBAW post and then I had to go to work… it was a big day – annual meeting day and I am in charge of special events so between working, texting my son in Florida who has gull bladder surgery yesterday, and then finally coming home last night at 9 pm from work… I was exhausted and was hardly on-line at all.. let alone write a post.

However – here we are on Thursday the sun is shining and due to my busy work hours this past week, I have a bonus day off – today! SO… you are getting me chatting for BBAW and let me warn you… I know how to pimp a book. 😛

I have two books that came to mind right away… both are YA, and there was a time (and there still might be) where I was going to write a post called “I am Patrick Ness’ Baby Mama.” Ok, ok… totally not true and probably border line inappropriate, but you have to admit… that post title would catch your attention. 😛 My point is – have you read his Chaos Walking Series? If not… you must! They are The Knife Of Never Letting Go, The Ask and The Answer, and Monsters Of Men and yes all three are available and yes, you do want them all at once because when one ends you will be all like “HOLY COW!!!!! WHA???????” and you will want to jump into the next book right away. 😀

(Oh and look how nice of me to link those titles to my reviews….. ahhhh. Sheila. So thoughtful. LOL 😆 )

When I first was drawn to the books Monsters Of Men had just hit the shelves. People told me I needed to have all three at once so I ordered all three at once.

Then… I worried about that.

I thought that was a bit extreme, what if I am into book one and I am thinking “ugh” and not I have a beautiful “ugh” set? Well, no worries there, awesome awesome awesome series that I have pimped out to all my friends – told them not to get scared about the talking dog in the early pages…. its different, but you will find out it works. 😀

Ok…I, am not finished.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green led to perhaps my only 2012 (so far) book melt down where I loved that book so much I have been pushing John Green like crack – and I guess, devouring his books in much the same manner. (No, no-no, I am not a crack user, I just play one on this blog. :razz:)

So there is my input on today’s topic.

In other news, I wrote a post on Community on the BBAW site. It sums up my past three years on book blogging and how it is the community of awesome book bloggers that keeps me going. 😀

Be sure to check out my BBAW giveaways if you have not already. I have this one going, and a giveaway for Gods Of Gotham as well as another one coming up in my review later today. 😀

I have a nice fairly lazy day planned of reading blogs, writing a review and reading. I have a birthday dinner tonight and will be making cupcakes later but for the next few hours… I think I will be right here in this chair. 😀

Morning Meanderings… Late Start to BBAW, but a start :)

Published on September 11, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)16 Comments

Good morning. Mondays are always hard for me to post anything beyond the Monday What Are You Reading meme because I really want that one to hold for the day… however there are occasional exceptions. 😀

My plan was that when I came home yesterday afternoon I was going to write-up my Appreciation post. Instead… I was at the library from 11- 2 building the Banned Book Week display, then I had a few errands to run, picked up my dog from the groomers, started making my dessert for book club that is tonight, whipped up a quick dinner for Al and went to a Friends Of The Library meeting.

I never did get that post done.

This morning, I thought I would touch on it as my post this afternoon will be my interview swap with a new (and impressive!) book blogger to me, Benji from The Non Reluctant Reader (who in turn, is interviewing me and already has the post up!

So Appreciation. It is always so hard to narrow down the blogs and bloggers I really appreciate. For one, there are so many bloggers I love – they crack me up…. (Jill at Fizzy Thoughts, Trish from Love, Laughter, and a touch of Insanity, Jenners from Life With Books,… and those I like to read their thoughts on books ( and inevitably buy books off their recommendations) : Kathy from Bermuda Onion, Alison from Alison’s BookMarks, Ryan from Wordsmithonia, Laurel from many book blogs :D, Reagan from Miss Remmers Review, Alyce from AT Home With Books…

Of course, inevitably I will be driving into work today and do the hand to the forehead thing and realize someone else I surely should have added to this list and how did I forget and *sigh* Know that you are ALL LOVE and ALL APPRECIATED.

Truly – If you stop by Book Journey and read my nonsense, comment on my reviews, share in my work out woe’s, give advice, play along in the read-a-longs, meme’s, challenges…. I adore you and I thank you – because without you stopping in and making me smile when I open up my laptop and I see your comment…. I dont know if I would do this. Seriously, the readers, make the experience.

Thank you again – and Happy BBAW to everyone. To celebrate – here is my giveaway for today:

I have not read it yet… I know I need too, but I have two copies so one lucky winner will walk away with this baby this week (winner announced on Friday morning. To enter, leave me a comment here telling me either of a blog/blogger you really enjoy OR what you love about either being a book blogger or a book blog reader. 😀

Also – don’t forget I have the all week giveaway going on as well. Click here to see how to win an Amazon Gift Card just be popping in all week-long and chatting with me about…. mmmm…. books and bloggers! 😀

Book Blogger Appreciation Week: Sept 10 – 14

Published on September 9, 2012September 15, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)40 Comments

Welcome To Book Blogger Appreciation Week! As part of this exciting week I will be offering a $15 gift card to Amazon to one lucky commenter this week. To enter just comment on any post I write this week starting with the Monday What Are You Reading (and yes, including this post too) all the way through Fridays posts. You will receive one entry per comment so if you comment on seven posts, you will have seven entries (note, the comment does need to be an actual comment that contributes to the discussion – not a one word “sweet” or “awesome”). 😀

Also continue to watch for other giveaways throughout the week – you will know when I post them but here is a sample of what I will be giving away throughout this week, just watch for the posts:

The Infinity Ring by James Dashner (with giveaway!!!)

Published on August 30, 2012August 30, 2012 by Sheila (Book Journey)18 Comments

Dak Smyth leads a pretty boring, he actually prefers to spend most of his time in the past, digging through history books and spouting out facts much to his parents embarrassment and his classmates delight to ridicule him. His best friend Sera Frosts however gets him… in fact, if someone to ask Dak, he would tell you that she is an even bigger nerd than he is.

When Sera finds the final piece to Dak’s parents secret attempt at creating a time machine called the Infinity Ring, Daks life gets a whole lot more interesting. After all, how much cooler is it to go back and experience history first hand then read about it hundreds of years later? When Dak and Sera go back in time with Dak’s parents things go terribly wrong… for one thing, when they return Dak and Sera are alone, somehow Dak’s parents are lost in time. And when Dak and Sera are taken away by people who want and need what the Infinity Ring can do… things go from bad to worse.

Now Dak and Sera, and a Historian named Riq are on a mission to go back in time and not only fix what is called a “break” in time, but hopefully find Dak’s parents along the way. First stop… Spain, 1492…. and a meeting with Christopher Columbus!

Why did I want to read this book? I met James Dashner in New York this past June and thought he was hilarious. I enjoyed his quick whit and while I have two of his books on my shelves, I have yet to read them. When he showed us a sample of what was coming up with Infinity Ring and the on line game that goes with it.. I ( a recovering gamer myself…) was sold.

Infinity Ring is a middle grade style read. In the beginning it gave me memories of Narnia, kids traveling to another world, in this case, another time. Yet Infinity Ring is going to speak to todays young teens. The book is fun and moves quickly and holds your attention. Within the book the main characters (all in their teens) solve word and picture puzzles to know what they are supposed to do. I found this highly engaging as I love puzzles and wanted to figure out the clues right along with them!

While the 8-14 year old will enjoy this book, parents can be thrilled that they are getting in a little history as well. Dashner as sprinkled this story with historical facts about the places they visit. When the book is done, the front flap of the book has a secret panel that the reader is to open only after they have finished the book. I can not tell you what is behind the flap… I can tell you that it is super cool. 😀

And finally, I think what is also going to excite the readers is the online game that goes with the book(s) where you can go and work the puzzles out yourself and solve the breaks, just like the characters do in the book!

Not only did I really enjoy the multi dimensions of the book, I love the fact that this will be a series of books that will be written by different authors and continue the story. The book was fairly short but I think that is a good length for the age of the reader and it will leave them wanting more.

Recommended! Can’t wait to read more of Dashner!

**Note I received an ARC of this book while in New York and I am offering that book up for giveaway at this time. Leave a comment here letting me know if you were to go back in time, where would you like to go and why? What historical event would you like to witness? I will choose a winner on Tuesday, Sept. 4