It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

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.  I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment.  You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Last weeks winner:

MarthaE from Reviews From Martha’s Bookshelf

Congratulations!  Please choose an item out of the PRIZE BOX (♥selections updated!♥) and email me your choice with your mailing address as well!   journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

 

I had a pretty fun week this past week and had prepped enough of my pending reviews to schedule them to go live all week-long which was nice and is always the plan… just doesn’t always work out that way.  Here is what happened at Book Journey this past week:

 

A Note From An Old Acquaintance by Bill Walker

 

Testimony by Anita Shreve (I believe my first Shreve and it will not be my last)

 

When We Were Strangers by Pamela Shoenewaldt ( a don’t miss read!)

 

Think No Evil by Jonas Beiler (the true story of the Amish School shooting)

 

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston (a unique Fantasy YA read)

 

The Art Of Mending by Elizabeth Berg (yes I am still digging Elizabeth Berg!)

 

Are you pro or con on Book Trailers, here’s my thoughts

 

Oh and note that the Literary Blog Hop is still going on through Wednesday, 30 blogs, including this one offering giveaways on great literature!  Check it out! 😀

 

I am still cleaning up a few reads and plan to keep it light this week as I have a huge week of meetings in the evening and I need to do a little book catch up.  This is the plan to work on this week:

 

I have actually finished this book because I really wanted my review to go live on release day which is this coming Tuesday.  Let me just say that this book is one of the best books I have read so far this year and I have read some pretty good books this year.  Author Sarah Pekkanen and I will also be chatting it up this week about the book, the feeling of release day and more!  😀

 

 

This is our book club read for March and time to get started on it I think…

Four slave women accompany their masters to a resort in the free state of Ohio in the mid-1850s. Lizzie actually loves Drayle, the father of her two children—a brown-skinned boy named for his father and a girl white enough to pass. Reenie is the half-sister of her owner, a cruel man who passes her along to the resort manager. Sweet is pregnant and has a relatively amiable relationship with her master, while Mawu is a wild red-haired woman bent on freedom from a cruel and violent owner. Frustrations mount as they consider their options, tempted to take advantage of the help offered by free blacks and a Quaker woman. But they are guilt-ridden about the prospect of leaving their children behind. The women rely on each other for support as they come together for three summers, catching up on their lives of woe and occasional joy. Drawing on research about the resort that eventually became the first black college, Wilberforce University, the novel explores the complexities of relationships in slavery and the abiding comfort of women’s friendships.

 

With Wondrous Strange not complete, I have moved on to a new one for my IPOD, 1st To Die by James Patterson.  I have always wanted to try this series but once a series gets into so many books I usually back away from it because I do not want to commit to what it will take to catch up.  So far this one is seeming to be pretty interesting!

 

If all goes well I would love a chance to start this book this week as well.  Hannah at Wordlily had a whole week about this author and really peaked my interest in her writing.  I checked a few of her titles out from the library and think I would like to start with this one.

 

 

So that is the plan.  I am hoping to get to our cabin this coming weekend to write which would mean audio both ways for a total of 7 hours!  I am thinking I could get a good jump on a story there!  😀

And now I am so excited to see what you are all reading!  Last week was a tough on for Mr Linky and the upgrade and due to all the time I spent trying to figure out what was happening with Linky I did not get around to all of your blogs as I had hoped too.  This week though, I worked extra hours this weekend and now have Monday off so I will have time to go and check all your posts out!

Be sure to link your post below where it says “click here”  and have a SUPER MONDAY and the rest of your week as well!

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

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.  I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment.  You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Last weeks winner:

Joy’s Book Blog

Congratulations!  Please choose an item out of the PRIZE BOX (♥selections updated!♥) and email me your choice with your mailing address as well!   journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

AND

The winner of the One Year Anniversary $20 Amazon card goes to:

Coffee And A Book Chick!

I used Random.org to choose the winner of this gift card – adding in all participants from last week as well as an additional vote for participants who left a comment

What a super week I just had – maybe not so much for my reading, every night seemed like I had something going on – something good, I had a few dinners out with friends this past week for my birthday (thus the extra gym time coming up this week…) and just overall BUSINESS that kept me from the books I had hoped to finish.  However – I did have a few things lined up from reviews I had yet to post:

Unspeakable Journey by Rinda Hahn (an amazing audio journey!)

If I Stay by Gayle Forman (Bookies book club read for February)

Berg Fest – join in this author read a long with me!

Author Chat With Rinda Hahn ( chatting it up with the author of Unspeakable Journey!)

A Tiger In The Kitchen by Cheryl Lu-Lein Tan (oh this is a treat of a book! All about Food and Family!)

Excuse me, DO I look FAT In This Book? (hah… I am not explaining this one!)

I have a few yet to post and a few ready to be finished  this week and thing (THINK) that I will be able to make progress.  😀  Perhaps…. hope is a better word.  😛

 

This is what is on my list for this week:

Late in the summer of 1877, a flock of purple-and-white hoopoes suddenly appears over the town of Constanta on the Black Sea, and Eleonora Cohen is ushered into the world by a mysterious pair of Tartar midwives who arrive just minutes before her birth. “They had read the signs, they said: a sea of horses, a conference of birds, the North Star in alignment with the moon. It was a prophecy that their last king had given on his deathwatch.” But joy is mixed with tragedy, for Eleonora’s mother dies soon after the birth.

Raised by her doting father, Yakob, a carpet merchant, and her stern, resentful stepmother, Ruxandra, Eleonora spends her early years daydreaming and doing housework—until the moment she teaches herself to read, and her father recognizes that she is an extraordinarily gifted child, a prodigy.

When Yakob sets off by boat for Stamboul on business, eight-year-old Eleonora, unable to bear the separation, stows away in one of his trunks. On the shores of the Bosporus, in the house of her father’s business partner, Moncef Bey, a new life awaits. Books, backgammon, beautiful dresses and shoes, markets swarming with color and life—the imperial capital overflows with elegance, and mystery. For in the narrow streets of Stamboul—a city at the crossroads of the world—intrigue and gossip are currency, and people are not always what they seem. Eleonora’s tutor, an American minister and educator, may be a spy. The kindly though elusive Moncef Bey has a past history of secret societies and political maneuvering. And what is to be made of the eccentric, charming Sultan Abdulhamid II himself, beleaguered by friend and foe alike as his unwieldy, multiethnic empire crumbles?

I am reading this one for a tour – AND I have two so expect a giveaway!  😀

Thirteen linked tales from Strout (Abide with Me, etc.) present a heart-wrenching, penetrating portrait of ordinary coastal Mainers living lives of quiet grief intermingled with flashes of human connection. The opening Pharmacy focuses on terse, dry junior high-school teacher Olive Kitteridge and her gregarious pharmacist husband, Henry, both of whom have survived the loss of a psychologically damaged parent, and both of whom suffer painful attractions to co-workers. Their son, Christopher, takes center stage in A Little Burst, which describes his wedding in humorous, somewhat disturbing detail, and in Security, where Olive, in her 70s, visits Christopher and his family in New York. Strout’s fiction showcases her ability to reveal through familiar details—the mother-of-the-groom’s wedding dress, a grandmother’s disapproving observations of how her grandchildren are raised—the seeds of tragedy. Themes of suicide, depression, bad communication, aging and love, run through these stories, none more vivid or touching than Incoming Tide, where Olive chats with former student Kevin Coulson as they watch waitress Patty Howe by the seashore, all three struggling with their own misgivings about life.

This is for a bonus review the end of this month with my book club for a “food review”

Since their mother’s death, six years ago, 12-year-old Sadie Kane has lived in London with her maternal grandparents while her older brother, 14-year-old Carter, has traveled the world with their father, a renowned African American Egyptologist. In London on Christmas Eve for a rare evening together, Carter and Sadie accompany their dad to the British Museum, where he blows up the Rosetta Stone in summoning an Egyptian god. Unleashed, the vengeful god overpowers and entombs him, but Sadie and Carter escape. Initially determined to rescue their father, their mission expands to include understanding their hidden magical powers as the descendants of the pharaohs and taking on the ancient forces bent on destroying mankind. The first-person narrative shifts between Carter and Sadie, giving the novel an intriguing dual perspective made more complex by their biracial heritage and the tension between the siblings, who barely know each other at the story’s beginning.

I started listening to this in the car with Chance during our St Cloud road trip this weekend.  I am really enjoying it!

Henry VIII’s challenge to the church’s power with his desire to divorce his queen and marry Anne Boleyn set off a tidal wave of religious, political and societal turmoil that reverberated throughout 16th-century Europe. Mantel boldly attempts to capture the sweeping internecine machinations of the times from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell, the lowborn man who became one of Henry’s closest advisers. Cromwell’s actual beginnings are historically ambiguous, and Mantel admirably fills in the blanks, portraying Cromwell as an oft-beaten son who fled his father’s home, fought for the French, studied law and was fluent in French, Latin and Italian. Mixing fiction with fact, Mantel captures the atmosphere of the times and brings to life the important players: Henry VIII; his wife, Katherine of Aragon; the bewitching Boleyn sisters; and the difficult Thomas More, who opposes the king.

This one I am starting as my plan to try to get through some of the chunksters in my home – I am giving myself two months to complete this.

So that I think is a big enough plan for this week!  I am ready to see what your week was like last week and what your plan is for this next one!  Be sure to click on the linky below where it says “click here”!  😀

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• Please note – Linky is going through an upgrade and the following is the message off their website.  Please either link in your comment or please stop back in the morning to add your link to the Linky if it does not work for you.  So sorry about the inconvenience.  😀

• System Upgrade about 99%DONE:

  Thanks so much for your help and patience while I moved Linky Tools to a faster and more powerful server. Issues I’m aware of and working on:

  1. I’ve gotten a couple of emails about things not showing, but they are showing on my end… this is most likely because the “Internet post office” (DNS) is still updating… it takes 24-48 hours (usually much less) for the entire Internet to update with a new address (it’s still “www.linkytools.com” but the technical address of where the site resides has changed)… anything “missing” because of DNS should clear up in the next few hours, and definitely by morning

Welcome to the One Year Anniversary Party for It’s Monday What Are You Reading!  This weekly meme was transferred to me from J Kaye, one year ago this week.  I can not believe it has been a year already!  I have been having so much fun with this meme and having the opportunity to share what we are reading.

This week will work like any other week with just a couple additions.  First – every participant who links to this meme this week with their own “Monday What Are You Reading” post will go into a drawing for a $20 gift card to Amazon.  Secondly – leave a comment on this post letting me know a)how long you have participated in this meme and/or b) a blog or blogger you now follow because you found them through this meme.  ***If you post a Monday What Are You Reading post and leave a comment with the above information you will be entered twice into the drawing.  If you do not have a blog but still follow this meme and visit other blogs bacause of it, leave a comment here with the “b” part from above and you will be entered as well.

Hopefully that is not too confusing.  😀

As for everything else – we still continue as we always have:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

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.  I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment.  You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Last weeks winner:

Laurel from Laurel Rain Snow

Congratulations!  Please choose an item out of the PRIZE BOX (♥selections updated!♥) and email me your choice with your mailing address as well!   journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

 

This past week was…. insane.  I did not have the reading time that I had hoped during the week and then this weekend it kind of broke free and I started catching up.  At this point I have reviews written for books I have read but due to last weeks schedule did not have them written or ready to post so now I have a back up of book reviews…. expect a review a day this next week:

 

Word Shakers On Line Book Club – Read A Long Chosen!

Help!  I Have Lost My Identity! (searching for assistance in my  missing Gravatar on some blogs)

This Book Is Overdue by Marilyn Johnson ( an interesting look at Librarians and what they have contributed and continue to contribute in the name of reading!)

The Secret Life Of Emily Dickinson by Jerome Charyn (review and book tour)

First Timers Cookbook by Shawn Bucher (Review)

 

As mentioned above – several books were finished this weekend and reviews written…. but in order to not overkill on posts I will wait patiently to get them out one day at a time this week.

 

So moving forward this week fills pretty good.  Tuesday is book club so I will be able to release my thoughts on our February read of  If I Stay as well as announce what we have voted to read next….  as for my reading plans:

 

When Kelley moves to New York to pursue her dreams of theatrical success, she expects that her only encounters with mythical beings will be confined to the stage, in the Avalon Grande Theatre’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. All of that changes when she meets Sonny Flannery, who introduces Kelley to a world she never knew existed. A member of Auberon’s Janus Guard, he patrols the portal (in Central Park) between the human and faerie worlds on the few dangerous nights when it opens and members of the Unseelie Court can pass into the mortal realm. He is strangely drawn to Kelley, and as he gets to know her, he begins to suspect that there is more to her history than either of them know. Through encounters with sirens, hellhounds, and kelpies, Kelley and Sonny are drawn irrevocably into a battle among the Fey. Despite the budding attraction between them, forces they can hardly understand seek to keep them apart.

I just picked this one up on audio from the audible.com first in the series sale.  I started listening to it on Saturday.

 

 

 

Since novelist Helen’s husband, Dan, died a year ago, she’s been unable to write, and though her publisher and agent aren’t worried, she is, particularly after a disastrous performance at a public speaking engagement leaves her wondering if her writing career will be another permanent loss. Meanwhile, daughter Tessa is getting impatient as Helen smothers her with awkward motherly affection. Tessa longs for distance and some independence, but Helen is unable to run her suburban Chicago home without continually calling on Tessa to perform the handyman chores that once belonged to Dan. And then Helen discovers Dan had withdrawn a huge chunk of their retirement money, and Helen’s quest to find out what happened turns into a journey of self-discovery and hard-won healing. Berg gracefully renders, in tragic and comic detail, the notions that every life—however blessed—has its share of awful loss, and that even crushed, defeated hearts can be revived.

Home Safe hit the kitchen cd player today after I finished listening to Testimony.

 

 

Widowed at 34, amateur harpist Marie “Angel” Buchan realizes at 40 that her life and dreams are slowly slipping away. A summer in Scotland turns out to offer far more than she ever imagined! Not only does the music of her harp capture the fancy of the small coastal village she visits, she is unexpectedly drawn into a love triangle involving the local curate and the local duke.

The boyhood friends have been estranged as adults because of their mutual love of another woman (now dead) some years before. History seems destined to repeat itself, with Marie in the thick of it. Her involvement in the lives of the two men, as well as in the community, leads to a range of exciting relationships and lands Marie in the center of the mystery of a long-unsolved local murder. Eventually she must make her decision: with whom will she cast the lot of her future?

Angel Harp is a bit of a chunkster so I am going to devote most of my reading week to it.

 

That’s the plan.  I can not wait to see what you are all reading this week!  Thank you for being a part of this weekly meme which really is a favorite of mine weekly!  Please add your own Monday What Are You reading post to the linky area below so we can all come and see what you are reading too!  😀

Oh and don’t forget to comment about how long you have participated in this meme and/or a blog or blogger you now follow because of this meme.  This will put you into the Anniversary drawing for the gift card!

 

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

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.  I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment.  You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Last weeks winner:

Jennifer from Rundipinne

Congratulations!  Please choose an item out of the PRIZE BOX (♥selections updated!♥) and email me your choice with your mailing address as well!   journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

I feel really good about this past week.  I dont know what really changed but I feel like I put in some good reading time in the quiet evenings after everyone was asleep.  I also had a couple books that I could hardly put donw, so that often helps too!

Here is the week in review:

Bloggiesta Finish Line (last weekend completed the first Bloggiesta of the year and I accomplished a few things)

 

Clementine Friend Of The Week by Sara Pennypacker (A sweet MG read!)

True To Form by Elizabeth Berg (ahhhh… my second read into Berg and I am working on a third!)

Christmas In January – my friends and I get together for a belated Christmas exchange!

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (A fantastic sequel to Shiver and a great middle book as I anticipate the coming of Forever!)

Table Of Contents by Judy Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp (OH WOW!!!  This book is authors thoughts and recipes and wow!!!)

The LOST Encyclopedia (yes friends – I have finally completed the LOST seasons and my reward was to read through this book I purchased weeks ago!)

 

January Recap with WHERE Are You Reading map update too!

If  I Stay by Gayle Forman – read and reviewed but review help until the Bookies Book Club meeting on February 8

 

This Book Is Overdue! by Marilyn Johnson – 3/4 of the way complete

 

Certain Women – just getting started

as well as a few others with a bookmark stuck in them….

Anyway…. the week felt GOOD and I am hoping to keep up the momentum I had in January as I just hummed along many good books and audios!  Here is what is on for this week:

Fifty-four-year-old Laura Bartone, the happily married mother of two, is looking forward to her annual family reunion in Minnesota. But her vacation plans are marred when her father is felled by a stroke, and her sister, Caroline, at the urging of a therapist, confronts Laura and her brother with disturbing information about her relationship with their mother. As she details the verbal and physical abuse she was subjected to, Laura and her brother are tempted to write Caroline’s confidences off as just another example of her histrionics. Because if what she says is true, what would that mean about their complicity in the family dynamics?

Yes… my Berg fest continues and you just watch – if this one is as awesome as I think it will be -I am having a Berg Fest….  you just wait and see!

Chris Astor is a man in his early forties who is going through the toughest stretch of his life. Not long before, Chris’ world sparkled – he was doing significant work, he had a good home, and his young daughter brought him more joy than he ever could have imagined. Now, divorce and estrangement have left him confused and all too often alone.

Becky is Chris’ fourteen-year-old daughter, a girl who overcame enormous challenges in her early years to become a vibrant, vital young woman. Her parents’ divorce has left its mark, though, most significantly in her relationship with her father. Once, they told remarkable stories together. Now, they barely speak. Emotional detachment from Chris is not Becky’s biggest concern, though.

Miea is the young queen of a fantasy land that Becky and Chris created when Becky was little – a fantasy land that has developed a life of its own. Miea knows nothing of Becky and Chris. She only knows that her beautiful kingdom – a place of remarkably varied flora, dignified and distinctive fauna, and an ecology that works in symphonic majesty – is in terrible, maybe fatal trouble.

At the most challenging junctures of their lives, Becky and Miea discover each other and Miea shares this discovery with Chris. For Becky, it is nearly inconceivable that a place she created has come into existence. For Miea, it is nearly inconceivable that a child created her land. For Chris, it is beyond inconceivable that he is again sharing something important in his daughter’s life. For all of them, it as though a world of opportunity has opened up before them.

But time is not on their side. In fact, time might be running out.

Together, they need to uncover a secret. The secret to why these worlds have joined at this moment. The secret to their purpose. The secret to the future. It is a secret that, when discovered, will redefine imagination for all of them.

I am reviewing this book for the publisher and  am curious as to what I will think of it.

Would you risk everything for someone you just met?

What if he had a secret worth killing for?

Welcome to a future where water is more precious than oil or gold…

Hundreds of millions of people have already died, and millions more will soon fall-victims of disease, hunger, and dehydration. It is a time of drought and war. The rivers have dried up, the polar caps have melted, and drinkable water is now in the hands of the powerful few. There are fines for wasting it and prison sentences for exceeding the quotas.

But Kai didn’t seem to care about any of this. He stood in the open road drinking water from a plastic cup, then spilled the remaining drops into the dirt. He didn’t go to school, and he traveled with armed guards. Kai claimed he knew a secret-something the government is keeping from us…

And then he was gone. Vanished in the middle of the night. Was he kidnapped? Did he flee? Is he alive or dead? There are no clues, only questions. And no one can guess the lengths to which they will go to keep him silent. We have to find him-and the truth-before it is too late for all of us.

This  one is for a book tour in February and I admit I started it and have been enjoying it so far.

Since novelist Helen’s husband, Dan, died a year ago, she’s been unable to write, and though her publisher and agent aren’t worried, she is, particularly after a disastrous performance at a public speaking engagement leaves her wondering if her writing career will be another permanent loss. Meanwhile, daughter Tessa is getting impatient as Helen smothers her with awkward motherly affection. Tessa longs for distance and some independence, but Helen is unable to run her suburban Chicago home without continually calling on Tessa to perform the handyman chores that once belonged to Dan. And then Helen discovers Dan had withdrawn a huge chunk of their retirement money, and Helen’s quest to find out what happened turns into a journey of self-discovery and hard-won healing.

Yes, yes… Berg alert.  I hope to be starting this audio by the mid to end of this week as I finish up Testimony.

That’s my plan!  I don’t think it is too large as two of them are audios coming in to replace the audios that are finishing up I suspect soon.  Cleaning my bedroom (bedroom audio) and working in the kitchen (kitchen audio) really moved two of my current audios forward considerably.

And with that – my report has come to an end and now it is your turn!  I am super pumped to see what you have been reading!  Please add your post to the linky area below where it says click here.  I look forward to stopping by and seeing what you have been reading!  😛

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

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.  I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment.  You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Last weeks winner:

Lori from Dollyas’s Thoughts

Congratulations!  Please choose an item out of the PRIZE BOX (selections updated!) and email me your choice with your mailing address as well!   journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

** Please note I did get behind on sending the last few weeks of books out but will get them out this week.

 

This was a pretty good week I think.  Here is what went on at Book Journey:

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers (A wonderful YA read)

What’s You Reading Story? (How did you become a reader?  Who or what were the influences in your life)

The Night Mobile by Audrey Niffenegger (A Graphic Novel with a message)

The Art Of Racing In The Rain by Garth Stein (Oh man!  You do not want to miss out on this one!)

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull ( a MG fantasy that is a wonderful 5 book series!)

 

I would also like to mention that Author Brooks J Young asked me last week is she could start a spin-off of What Are You Reading and create a Monday discussion post called What Are You WRITING?  I love the idea and would really like if you could share that information with any authors/ or attempting authors you know who would like to join in her conversation.  I made a sidebar button for this too as I will be participating.

 

A s for this week, I am excited to get started on:

 

The last normal moment that Mia, a talented cellist, can remember is being in the car with her family. Then she is standing outside her body beside their mangled Buick and her parents’ corpses, watching herself and her little brother being tended by paramedics. As she ponders her state (Am I dead? I actually have to ask myself this), Mia is whisked away to a hospital, where, her body in a coma, she reflects on the past and tries to decide whether to fight to live. Via Mia’s thoughts and flashbacks, Forman (Sisters in Sanity) expertly explores the teenager’s life, her passion for classical music and her strong relationships with her family, friends and boyfriend, Adam.

This is our Bookies Book Club read for February.

 

 

In Certain Women , terminally ill David Wheaton, a prominent and much-married American actor, obsessively recalls an unfinished play about King David, a role he coveted. L’Engle explores Christian faith, love, and the nature of God by framing the delayed-maturation story of Emma, Wheaton’s daughter, within three subplots: the Wheaton family saga, the story of King David, and the history of the play’s development. The characterizations of both Davids are compelling, but the primary interest here is the community of women that surrounds each man. L’Engle describes complex truths very simply, pointing out, for instance, that “Life hurts” and that if there’s “no agony, there’s no joy.”

This is for the Faith N Fiction Roundtable we will be discussing in February.

 

It was supposed to be a quick trip to the grocery store, but it turned into an Unspeakable Journey.

On the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Isabella is abducted in the parking lot of her local grocery store. Hasam, a sinister human trafficker, arranges for her to marry his longtime friend and Saudi Arabian prince, Latif.

Latif has everything–political prowess, success, and wealth–until he meets Isabella. She is beautiful, alluring, and all that he has dreamed of in a wife, and Isabella’s defiant refusal makes her even more desirable.

Far from home, in a land where women are oppressed, Isabella struggles with the loss of her husband and two daughters, imprisonment, and isolation. Will God rescue her from this nightmare? Will she give in to hopeless despair?

 

I have a couple of books from last week to finish up and review so that is enough for this week.  I will be skiing after work on Monday so I am not sure how quickly I will get around to visiting all your posts but I will get there!  I will start tonight and again early in the morning.

Be sure to link up below where it says click here.  I am excited to see what you are reading.

 

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

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

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.  I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment.  You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Last weeks winner:

Aleluialu from Bookend Crossing

Congratulations!  Please choose an item out of the PRIZE BOX and email me your choice with your mailing address as well!   journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

 

My past week started out kind of slow… I had several books/audio at the point of being done… but nothing done.  Then midway through the week the dam broke and everything started finishing up one after another.  Here is what my week looked like:

 

 

Could I Please Get A Huck Finn Lite? (My thoughts on the changes that are being made to the Mark Twain books)

Audio Suggestions (A master list of what you think the best audio books around are)

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton (The Bookies book club January read and review)

365 Thank You’s by John Kralik (an inspirational book that put me on the path of a personal challenge)

We Are All Welcome Here by Elizabeth Berg (My first Berg… and not my last….. oh wow.)

I signed up for a Polar Bear Plunge in March… in Minnesota…. in a tiara and prom dress.  TRUE story

Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich (A visit back to a series I used to never miss)

It’s not too late to join the WHERE Are You Reading Challenge

The Nineteenth Element is still up for a signed copy giveaway!

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers – review up on Tuesday

◊

As  for this week I have some good things happening I am pretty excited about!

Yes… another Berg.  My second.  The first went so smoothly and left me admiring this author enough to reserve four more of her audio (all of which are now on my kitchen table).  This one currently resides in my car cd player.

 

Last Monday I was at a loss of what to listen to on my IPOD so I asked you what you would recommend.  Between the Monday post and the Audio Suggestion post I ran on Tuesday, the suggestions flew in.  This was one of them and having started it yesterday I have to say I truly love this story so far being told by the dog, Enzo.   I am finding it funny and sad all rolled into one.

 

 

My friend Angie from the Bookies book club suggested this one and I know a recommendation from Angie has to be good.   This one is just starting in my Kitchen CD player.  It sounds fascinating!  (click on the picture and read for yourself!)

 

The Butterfly Garden is the book I am starting today.  I discovered it at Wal-Mart and after reading the back about the author being raised falsely as the child of a man on America’s Most Wanted, I knew I had to know more.

 

And finally this book was recommended by my friend Wendy when we were at Barnes and Noble last week.  I know many of you have read this book.  I have not.  But… I will.

 

 

I have a few I hope to finish up from past weeks, in the event I finish up the reading I have listed here.  And one more thing… if you are  not aware, or in case you forgot, this weekend is the BLOGGIESTA and it is not too late to sign up.  I have participated each time and always come out learning something new or updating a blog project that I have put off.  Stop by to check it out, it is not too late to sign up.

SO now my favorite part of the week!  What are you reading?  Please link your own What Are You Reading post below.  I cant wait to stop in and see what you are reading!  Please add your post to where it says “click here” below:

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

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.  I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment.  You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Two weeks ago winner:

Lori at Dollycas’s Thoughts

Congratulations!  Please choose an item out of the PRIZE BOX and email me your choice with your mailing address as well!   journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

Its been a good week back home and of course (of course) I did not get as much done as I always think I will.  I did ok but have been battling a head cold nasty sinus thing here for the past three days and has really made me not want to do anything much but sleep and watch 80’s movies.  (Hey – do not judge me!)  😀

So here is my week in review:

A Darcy Christmas

Bookies December meeting…. potluck and gift exchange

The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck (Bookies book review December read!)

Sawyer On Lost…. can’t get enough of his nicknames…

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery (author of The Elegance Of The Hedgehog)

Secret Book Santa!  LOVE THIS!!!

Author Chat with Beth Hoffman (yeah…. that’s right SSSQQQUUUUEEEE!!!)

Almond Peanut Butter Ritz Cookies recipe (Recipe from my friend Heidi and uhhh…. YUM!)

The Witchy Worries of Abbie Adams by Rhonda Hayter

This week I am planning to read:

Grace, 17, loves the peace and tranquility of the woods behind her home. It is here during the cold winter months that she gets to see her wolf—the one with the yellow eyes. Grace is sure that he saved her from an attack by other wolves when she was nine. Over the ensuing years he has returned each season, watching her with those haunting eyes as if longing for something to happen. When a teen is killed by wolves, a hunting party decides to retaliate. Grace races through the woods and discovers a wounded boy shivering on her back porch. One look at his yellow eyes and she knows that this is her wolf in human form. Fate has finally brought Sam and Grace together, and as their love grows and intensifies, so does the reality of what awaits them. It is only a matter of time before the winter cold changes him back into a wolf, and this time he might stay that way forever.

The wolves of Mercy Falls return in this sequel to Shiver (Scholastic, 2009), and familiar characters mingle with more recent recruits into the Minnesota werewolf pack. Sam, now cured of his werewolf affliction, is adjusting to year-round life as a human. His girlfriend, Grace, suffers from headaches and other symptoms that may be related to a childhood wolf bite. When her parents discover Sam sleeping in her bed, they ground her and threaten to keep the two apart permanently. Tremendous angst and declarations that parents just don’t understand ensue. Meanwhile Isabel, whose brother did not survive the meningitis cure that saved Sam, feels a strong connection with Cole St. Clair, one of the newest members of the pack. In his old life, Cole was the lead singer of a rock band. This volatile bad boy is a welcome foil to Sam, who is sulky this time around. The addition of Isabel and Cole as narrators dilutes the intensity of Grace and Sam’s relationship, and the spark between Isabel and Cole remains underdeveloped. The tantalizing possibility of Cole’s true identity being exposed also deserves more exploration.

I am so behind on this series that this week I have committed to it.  The third book in this series, Forever comes out in July.

So that is my plan this week… well that, and writing reviews I am behind on.   I really hope to get around to all your blogs to see what you are reading as well.  I pick up my best book recommendations through this meme!  😀

 

Please add your What Are You Reading post to the link below where it says “click here”.  See you on the blogs!  😀

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

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week.  It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

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.  I offer a weekly contest for those who visit 10 or more of the Monday Meme participants and leave a comment.  You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Two weeks ago winner:

Teddyree from Eclectic Reader

Congratulations!  Please choose an item out of the PRIZE BOX and email me your choice with your mailing address as well!   journeythroughbooks@gmail.com

I came home from Honduras early (real early) Saturday morning.  I have been having a great time catching up on blog reading and prepping a few posts for this upcoming week.  I did post a couple meanderings from Honduras while I was away:

A Couple pictures from my bedroom window

Baby cows and me

Same little boy – different year (seeing Samir)

A giveaway from Honduras

Chicken Tortilla Lasagna (recipe from Honduras)

I did finish a couple of books while I was away but have yet to write reviews for them.

This week here is what is on the agenda:

Despite his single mother’s financial hardships, 12-year-old Eddie is certain this Christmas he will receive his much-desired Huffy bike. To his dismay, what he finds under the tree is “a stupid, handmade, ugly sweater” that his mother carefully modeled after those she can’t afford at Sears (one of four places she keeps part-time jobs). Eddie tosses the sweater and insults his mother before the two go visit his grandparents at their farmhouse. On the drive home, though, Eddie’s exhausted mother falls asleep at the wheel and crashes, dying instantly. Sent to live with his grandparents, an increasingly bitter and angry Eddie lashes out at his accommodating guardians, engages in typical teenage angst and grapples with belief in God.

This is our current book club read and our meeting and Christmas party potluck is this Tuesday.

Top student Erin has her sights on one of the five slots for her AP art history class’s summer trip to Italy. Her best friend, Lindsay, just wants Megan, the class bully, to leave her alone. Stylish, outgoing Samantha is fiercely loyal to both Erin and Lindsay. Their friendship takes a turn for the paranormal when Erin receives a pink crystal ball and a set of cryptic instructions after her aunt’s death. Erin’s questions to the ball about school and boys start to come true, but not quite in the ways she hoped. Too late, she figures out that the ball’s magic is limited, but by then she’s made a mess of school and her personal relationships… Academic success remains at the forefront of Erin’s mind, but as the pink crystal ball works its magic, she grows as a student and a friend, becoming more self-reliant.

Sounds like an adventure to me!

Proust’s infamous madeleine cannot hold a candle to the lush, winsome memories of meals past that you’ll find in Muriel Barbery’s Gourmet Rhapsody. M. Pierre Arthens is France’s premier restaurant critic—so premier in fact that he’s simply called the Maître—and we meet him as he lies in bed, waiting to die. Fervently he mines years of gastronomic delights and discoveries in search of one single flavor, one that he says is “the only true thing ever accomplished.” What unfolds—in vignettes narrated by him and by a chorus of his familiars (most human, some quite comically not)—is a portrait of a man in thrall to the very ingredient that makes French cuisine so inescapably, ecstatically, seductive: It’s not cream, nor cognac, but the cook who defines those glorious tastes. “The only true work of art, in the end,” he says, “is another person’s feast.”

I picked this book up in Honduras and started it on the plane home.

Ok that’s the plan.  I am really excited to see what everyone is reading this week!  I feel like I missed my “book jonesing” last week!  😀

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