Tag: hail-mary

It’s Monday, What Are You Reading and other Randomness

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

Hey all – Happy Monday! It was a nice weekend with friends and family… my class reunion, campfire, and yes – a little reading too. The It’s Monday What Are You Reading is hosted by Book Date.

Last Tuesday, our Book Club, the Bookies, met on a gorgeous evening by the lake to discuss Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It was a great discussion, and we had some great themed food!
Every October, we read a classic, and this year’s pick is The House of Seven Gables by Nathanial Hawthorne. Fun fact: In October of 2022, my friends, Cindy, Sara, Heidi, and I took a trip to Boston and, among other things, toured the House of Seven Gables in  Salem, Massachusetts. At the gift shop on the property, I picked up my copy of the book. (More on this when I read and write my review.)


I flew through Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt ( review will be up this week) and then, looking for my next audio to listen to while taking the dogs for a walk, I tried Charlie Sheen’s Memoir, The Book Of Sheen, and that lasted all of five minutes. What I was hoping for was to hear a telling of the movies he was in, having fond memories of first seeing Platoon, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off ( small but funny role), Major League, Wall Street, Hot Shots, and of course, Two and A Half Men…
And, to be fair, maybe the book would have gotten there; however, the first five minutes that I would describe as crude were enough for me to decide that this probably wasn’t what I wanted to listen to.

If you do read/listen to this one, I’d love to hear what you thought 🙂
SO… That said, I moved on to What Lies In The Woods by Kate Alice Marshall, and so far am enjoying this.

In other random things… yesterday afternoon I cleaned up the last of my summer squash from my deck garden… I found a recipe for Roasted Zucchini with Feta and Dill Soup (cha-ching!!!) SO SO Good!

Here’s the gist of it:
Slice up 4 medium-sized summer squash (I had one giant one as well as 3 smaller, so I think I was over this amount, but I made a bigger pot)
Rough chop one yellow onion
4-8 peeled Garlic Cloves (I went 8, I LOVE Garlic! #notavampire)
I put all of this in a large bowl and tossed it with salt and pepper, olive oil, and then put it on a large cookie sheet to roast in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

When this was done, I added this in portions to my blender with Vegetable Broth – blending until smooth and then adding it to a large stove pot until I made it through all of it. The recipe called for 4 cups of Vegetable Broth, I used 6 because I believe I had more Squash than it called for 🙂

Once all this is in the pot, heat to a low simmer. Once simmering, add in one cup of Crumbled Feta, 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice, and 1/2 cup of Plain Greek Yogurt or Whole Cream (I went with the cream because that is what I had at home).

Stir gently and let it continue to cook for 5 minutes at that same simmer, then add 2 tablespoons of fresh Dill or 1 tablespoon of dried Dill.
You can leave it like that, but I added in some cut-up rotisserie chicken for some added protein.

It was soooooo good! This made a big batch and we have plenty left over, in fact – thinking about it now, that may be lunch today! I will definitely make it again.

So that’s it! Tonight I am going to the Downton Abbey movie with friends… the week will be another full one – between work and wedding tastings I want to pack up the last of my garden for the year, maybe mow the lawn one more time before the mower is put away for the season, and listen to audio while doing so 🙂

Have a great week!

~Sheila

Bookies Bookclub – Hail Mary Review

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)2 Comments

On September 9th, our Bookies Book Club met at a lovely location to discuss our book selection, “Hail Mary” by Andy Weir.

This was a different selection for us, as, other than a few of us having read The Martian (also by Andy Weir), sci-fi would not typically be considered a go-to genre.
What came out of this discussion was what I had hoped for -while yes, the scientific formulas could be skip-worthy for those who read the book, and a little “spacing out” (pun intended) for those of us who went the audio route when the formulas were discussed, we came out of this discussion with an average rating of 4 out of 5 overall.. Some of us a higher and a few lower out of the 15 os us in attendance.
It was a fun evening of talking about Ryland, our protagonist, and his encounter with Rocky, our space buddy, and all the happenings before, after, and in between.

As always, we love to pull things from the book to enhance our discussion/experience. A great spread of a tasty fruit pizza, lasagna, dried pineapple (space worthy!), salad, and more – we also had a few things pulled from the pages of the book:

Day 1 Meal 1 package ( the space meals Ryland had each day) – Squeeze Yogurt Packets
Breakfast Burritos – Ryland’s last earth meal
Me Burgers – (LOL) – spoiler alert for those who have not read the book, so I will leave this one be
Space Suckers – cuz. Why not?

If discussing this book with a group, here are some questions that we enjoyed:

1) Stratt had a hard role to play – did you agree with how she did things? Did she have a choice?
2) Ryland’s career as a teacher serves him well. What are some of the skills he was able to bring to the mission due to his past?
3) The book is Sci-fi, but also more. What other genres could this be labeled as?
4) What lessons do Ryland and Rocky’s friendship teach us
5) With the back and forths in the book, present time, and memories of the past as Ryland pieces together how he got to where he is – did that flow well? Was it a good way to write this book?
6) There is a lot of HUMOR in the book and great quotes – are there any that made you laugh out loud, and if so, which ones?
7) Why did they name the ship Hail Mary?
8) Did the book grab you right away, or did it take a while?
9) What did you think of Ryland’s final choice? What would you have done?
10) Would you recommend this book to a friend?
11) If you enjoyed this book and have not read The Martian, would you do so now?
12) The Movie is coming in March 2026 – is this something you would go to?

My review: Hail Mary
My review: The Martian
My review: Artemis


Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

Second time through this one and still – so so good and laugh out loud worthy ~Sheila

When Ryland Grace awakens, he has no idea where he is and, for that matter, who he is. All he knows is that he has been asleep for a long, long time.

As memories begin to return, he realizes he is on a spaceship, millions of miles from Earth… and in the company of two corpses – his flight mates that did not fare as well as he did.

Memories of earth and what got him here, as well as investigating the vessel that has been his home for 4 years, the fuzzy thoughts just out of reach start to clear… he is on a mission to find the answers to save earth from certain destruction… but he wasn’t meant to do it alone… and he is alone.

Or is he?



Holy all things giddy – I am so thrilled to have a chance to talk about this amazing book (in my case, audio). When this was selected last month as our Bookies Book Club read for September, I was looking forward to a review of this one that I had listened to years ago. While I remember I enjoyed it – I had forgotten how much.

The audio – the narration – the loads of funny moments and snarky comments…. absolutely a joy. Instead of feeling this was a do-over, it felt new… so much I had forgotten.

“Knock-knock-knock
No, that’s not creepy at all. Being in a spaceship twelve light-years from home and having someone knock on the door is totally normal.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

“I pull the sheet off the bed and wrap it around my torso a couple of times. I pull one corner over my shoulder from behind my back and tie it to another from the front. Instant toga.

“Self-ambulation detected,” says the computer. “What’s your name?”
“I am Emperor Comatose. Kneel before me.”
“Incorrect.”
― Andy Weir, Project Hail Mary

You don’t need to be a fan of science fiction to enjoy this one – you bet there are scientific terms, but if I say science can be fun, believe me. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much listening to a book.

Hail Mary is set to be a movie coming March 2026. Ryan Gosling is playing Ryland, and I think that is a perfect choice. I will definitely be going to see this. Our Book Club is reviewing this tonight, and I will have another post of the fun food (I have some ideas!) and the discussion as well as their overall rating – stay tuned. 🙂

I recommend Hail Mary for everyone – an absolute delight, and if you are an audio person, I highly recommend that. AMAZE!!!!

Rated: 5 out of 5 – I was going to rate a little lower, but dang… I really enjoyed this
Read Author Before: Yes (The Martian – also a 5 out ot 5)
Read Author Again: I would! Bring it on, space boy!
Who Should Read This: Honestly, everyone… It’s refreshingly different, it’s fun and ummmm Ryan Gosling 😉