Morning Meanderings – Page 35

Morning Meanderings… MONSTER Rabbit

Published on July 13, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)20 Comments

Happy Sunday! The sun is out and I get the good feeling it is going to be a beautiful day! Not a lot of the agenda today – I may try to take a bike ride this afternoon, after all we have the 50 mile ride next Sunday and I have hardly rode at all this year! EEP!

This year we have a few rabbits in the yard and I love that. In the evening from the back deck I can sit and watch two little ones play out on the edges of the property between the house and Al’s shop. I never seem to have my camera ready when I can catch them up close.

Yesterday morning I was on the phone chatting away with a friend on the deck when a LARGE rabbit lumbered (lumbered? yeah… that’s right) through the yard. I told my friend he must be about a 20 pounder… like a small dog! (Ok, I may have told her 40 pounder but you know… look at the size and double it… like fishing. 😉 )

Last night I finally caught a picture of him but he was far out and I did not get a great shot, but I will keep trying.

In bookish news, a few treasures came in this week:

The Drop by Dennis LeHane (ooh I like LeHane’s writing!)

Inamorata by Megan Chance (BEAUTIFUL cover!)

The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi (there is some buzz going around about this one!)

Great reading ahead! Currently… I just finished Hurricane Sisters (LOVED!!!!!!) and should finish today You Should Have Known; also really good. More about that tonight, when I post It’s Monday, What Are You Reading.

Morning Meanderings… Book Sale and Mediander

Published on July 11, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)14 Comments

Good morning! Friday! WOW! Its hard t think that a week ago was the 4th and here we are rushing through July!

Yesterday I helped with the first ever Children’s Book Sale at the Brainerd Public Library. Our regular sale is becoming so big and the children’s books take up a whole back wall and up the wall and under the tables. The books are so many that we can not display them properly – instead they are crammed into full boxes and people have to dig.

I spent yesterday morning assisting in setting up the sale, we have a couple of hour break in the afternoon and then back at 3:30 to prep to open the sale at 4:00.

It went well:

It pretty much looked like this and fuller from 4 – 7 pm. Today we will do it again from 9-3. It is not as crazy busy and exciting as the LARGE sale, but we are receiving lots of positive compliments on doing it this way. Parents love that they can look through the books without being trampled and we sell them for 25 cents each so how can you pass that up?

In another discussion entirely, have you heard of Mediander? It is a super cool website that you type words or topics in to and it will connect you to all sorts of info and media. It’s pretty slick. They had a big presence at the recent Book Expo in New York and I was on a panel with the Senior Editor. We chatted and I was offered to write a review (hopefully more) for them.

I wrote a review on The Three by Sarah Lotz…. so goooooood! Please check out my review on their site.

Got to run… must get ready for the children’s sale, have a grad party later this afternoon and a fun work event after that 😀

Happy Friday!

Morning Meanderings… The BOOK Exchange!

Published on July 8, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)15 Comments

Good morning!

It is the morning of our Bookies Coronation. SQUUUEEEEE!!! I bought the dress on Saturday, I wrote my speech last night, giggling and texting my friend like a school girl about “How’s it going are you done? Are you ready?” with her texting back just as excited “just finishing up, now picking out my dress”

It will be great 🙂

Last month at book club, we had our Annual Book Exchange. This practice started three years ago. Each Bookie is supposed to wrap up in plain brown paper ( we are trying to avoid people picking the *pretty packaging*) a book that they have read in the past year that was a great read. Obviously, not a Bookies Book Club pick.

Then…

We all randomly choose a book out of the pile and that will be the book we will each read and discuss in July (tonight) while we enjoy good food and conversation. It is a fun tradition:

I had missed Bookies last month as I was at camp but I still participated. I sent a book into the mix – the center picture above, Delicious by Ruth Reichl (LOVED that one!) and then the group picked a book out for me. So what did I have picked to read this past month?

I had Lethal by Sandra Brown. This was a good one for me as I have tried Sandra Brown before and could not get through it. She seems like an author I would enjoy, so this was a fun attempts again. I finished it last night…. I will review the book later but for now I would describe it as very similar to the book Labor Day…. but a heck of a lot steamier. 😉

Morning Meanderings… Looking Forward to a BOOKISH Week

Published on July 6, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)29 Comments

Good morning Happy Sunday of the 4th of July Weekend! Yesterday was a gorgeous day here in Central Minnesota… light breeze, lots of warm sun and I spent most of the day inside working on the year-end book for book club this week, and house stuff thinking that today I would go out and mow and catch the outdoor stuff. Alas, since 3:00 am it has been thunder storming making it probably an indoor day. *sigh* I should have reversed the projects. 😉

In bookish news, here is what came in the house this week:

Alex the Ant Goes to the Beach by Eric Wayne Dickey

Invisible by James Patterson and Dave Ellis (audiobook)

The Farm by Tom Rob Smith (audiobook)

Shunning Sarah by Julie Kramer (picked up at the Brown Bag author event)

Defector by Susanne Winnacker

The Meta Rise by J.V. Kade

The End Of Absence by Michael Harris

Delivering Death by Julie Kramer (picked up at the Brown Bag author event)

CALIFORNIA by Eden Lepucki

Lots of goodies!

This week I have a crazy book week.

Monday – Friends Meeting in the morning, Brown Bag Author at noon

Tuesday – Bookies Book Club annual Queen event

Thursday – set up and start of Children’s Book Sale

Friday – 2nd day of Children’s Book Sale

Around that I work, will be helping out with the bees, and possibly going to the cabin this next weekend.

Ahhh Summer.

What do you have going on this week? Any bookish events?

Morning Meanderings.. Parades In Small Towns

Published on July 5, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)31 Comments

Good morning! How did everyone survive the 4th of July? We had a fun time with friends but wow… it wiped me out. 😀

As I mentioned yesterday morning, we were going to a parade about 30 miles from here in a town called Hillman Minnesota – population 38. Apparently, I was told, they do an amazing job, and me, not the biggest fan of parades but all about adventure….

was curious. 🙂

For todays Saturday Snapshot, here are pictures from the Hillman Minnesota parade:

Hillman Minnesota, Book JOurney — On our way there we seen this little delight on the road… truly happy 4th celebrators on their way to Hillman!

Hillman Minnesota, parade, Book Journey — My friend’s daughter having a little face painting done before the parade start

The parade was about an hour-long. There was a lot of old cars, souped up trucks, of course – people running for offices – Sheriff, etc…, lots of candy for the kids, and just a good time over all.

Afterwards we went to a friend’s home for hanging out, grilling, and catching up. There were about 14 of us. Al (hubby) and I came home around 6:30 pm, I sat down with a book and promptly fell asleep by 7:30 pm. *embarrassing*

It was a great way to spend the 4th.

Please stop and see other Saturday Snapshots here.

What did you do with your 4th of July?

Happy 4th of July! Population: 38 (EEP!)

Published on July 4, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)10 Comments

Good morning! Happy 4th of July to all of us who like to celebrate this day with sitting in the sun, parades, good food, good friends, hanging on the lake – whatever you do 🙂

Today we will be heading out on the motorcycle on our way to Hillman Minnesota. According to our friends, they put on an awesome parade. I just went on-line to see if I could find a picture of Hillman and seen this:

Oh my gosh… that’s HILARIOUS! According to the 2010 census, 15 households and 12 families the city has a total of 0.55 miles.

Well… what a parade this will be! Guess I will be home within the hour… lol

Ok, just kidding, apparently neighboring towns make this the place to be… I will be in contact if this is true 🙂

Anyhoo – enjoy your day however you do the 4th! 😀 In fact, if you will, share with me what you do on the 4th… you know… I may need a new plan in the future. 😉

Morning Meanderings… Preparing To Meet The Queen!

Published on July 2, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)17 Comments

July.

I know right? As of today we are 6 days out from our annual Queen Event for book club. 6 DAYS!!!

If you are familiar with our book club “happenings” every July since… (hmmm…. I should know this) well, for many years, we dress up in formal wear and have a coronation for Bookies Queen of the year. It comes from the book Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King. (Yes,worth the read!)

2013 Bookies Queen Event, Book Journey, Sheila DeChantal — Bookies Queen Event 2013

We usually grill, talk books, eat lots of tasty foods… and have a LOT OF FUN! The competition is all in fun. And the girls really get into their speeches…

Brendas dress — Brenda’s dress last year was partially made of book. MADE OF BOOK! Genius!

and I think I mentioned delicious food…

2011 - OW! — 2011 was also the year that I had sprung my wrist and broke my finger while riding in a 150 mile bike ride. But… the event must go on…. bling included 😉

Alright… now I am getting into this… maybe I will save more for Saturday snapshot. And I must prepare my speech…. I think I have an idea…

Book club people – do you do things above and beyond the books? IE. potlucks, dinners out, movies, road trips? I would love to know 🙂

Morning Meanderings… First Half Of The Year Update and Audio Month Extention!

Published on July 1, 2014July 1, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)7 Comments

Good morning and WOW… July!

That came WAY too fast! I felt so awesome going into the new year and now I feel behind… in reality, bookish wise I am right on target and ahead of last year. Here are my stats so far for 2014:

Books read do far this year: 24 (with 3 to review yet)

Audio Books listened to this year: 33 ( with 2 left to review)

Last year at this time I was hardly reading/listening/posting anything so this is exciting to be able to spend time in the hobby area that I love!

In other news…

I missed one of the narrator interviews.

Narrator Robert Fass was one of the first of the narrators to send me his responses and somehow in the craziness we call June… I checked him off my spreadsheet as being posted and that was not accurate.

Due to this, I will be posting one more narrator chat that will go up today and will be part of the Audio Month Giveaway. It’s good stuff…. and I want to post it 🙂

Anyhoo… that’s what is up here. Working today, helping a friend out tonight… and who knows what else…

No… really… who knows? Can someone tell me?

Have a super Tuesday! What are you doing this July 1st?

Morning Meanderings… My Equivelent To A Candy Store… New Books!

Published on June 29, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Happy Sunday! Sky is looking cloud free here today and the sun is shining! YAY!!!

For the past two days I have been on the North Shore checking on our cabin, chatting with the neighbors… and reading … GLORIOUS READING. It is amazing how much time I can make for reading when I drive out of cell phone and internet range. I finally finished The Three and read two more books – Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf, and The Young World by Chris Weitz. I finished Essentialism by Greg McKeown and have two hours left on my audible audio on my phone, The Weight Of Silence also by Heather Gudenkauf. (That’s what 8 hours in the car will get me 🙂 )

Here is what came into my home this week:

Uncaged by John Sanford and Michele Cook (Random House audio)

And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard (Random House audio)

January Thaw by Jess Lourey (I purchased this one at the Brown Bag Author event last week)

Sweet Water by Christina Baker Kline ( William Morrow – Harper Collins)

Help For The Haunted by John Searles (William Morrow – Harper Collins)

Benjamin Franklin’s Bastard by Sally Cabot (William Morrow – Harper Collins)

Getting Life by Michael Morton (Simon and Schuster)

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand (Little Brown – Hachette Book Group)

It is crazy to believe that we are at the end of June already and thus, at the end of audio book month! As tomorrow is Monday and is usually dominated by It’s Monday What Are You Reading, I will more than likely put up a wrap up post tonight. All comments from the audio book posts in June will go into a drawling for a $25 gift card. I will be drawing that winner in the next few days as we start to roll out July and I have a whole other theme for that…. 😉

If you have missed any of the audio book related posts – it is not too late to put in your two cents:

Please watch this site for June audio book related posts. For every post you comment on in June that has this audio book symbol:

I will put you into a drawing for a $25 book certificate for each comment (Barnes and Noble or Amazon – your choice). Winner will be drawn in July.

Intro to Audiobook Month

The Acting Of Narration with Johnny Heller

Delicious by Ruth Reichl

A Day In The Life Of Narrating by Narrator Therese Plummer

The Beginning of Narration by Narrator Allyson Johnson

The BEST audiobooks according to the listeners

If I Can’t Have You by Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris

Top 5 audiobooks according to narrator Tavia Gilbert

Look Ma! NO hands! Audiobooks MY Way!

Things To Look For When Picking Your Next Audio by Narrator Xe Sands

Then and Always by Dani Atkins

Beyond Books by Narrator Karen White

The Other Story by Tatiana De Rosnay

The Narrating Life by Narrator Patrick Lawlor

Mrs. Hemingway by Naomi Woods

The Art Of Secrets by James Klise

The Best Part Of Narrating By Narrator Ellen Archer

That’s Narrating! By Narrator Khristine Hvam

Morning Meanderings… Get In Sync! Two Free Audiobooks a Week! Don’t Miss Out!

Published on June 27, 2014June 27, 2014 by Sheila (Book Journey)24 Comments

Mmmmmm Morning. Mmmmmmm COFFEE.

I can not believe it is almost the end of June. I just took my bike in yesterday for it’s spring tune up. What the…. I feel…. behind.

June is audio book month. Did you know? If you have been around here, you knew.

Anyhoo…

I actually feel bad that I did not mention something earlier this month… I just found out myself a couple weeks ago… but still I should have share….

Sheila! Get on with it already!

Right. Have you heard of Sync Audio? They are giving away two free YA audiobook downloads a week from May 15th – August 13th. I know… I know… we both have missed out on a lot – HOWEVER it is SUPER EASY to do because I did it. And they worked beautifully!

First…

I downloaded OverDrive® Media Console™ (available for every major desktop and mobile platform) on to my Kindle Fire. (As you see here you can also download it on your phone, your laptop…) Then from my Kindle Fire I popped over to the Sync website, logged in and downloaded the two audio books they were offering this week.

Super EASY!

Super COOL!

The audiobooks are only available for one week, but once downloaded onto your device they are yours to keep. This week I downloaded:

Give them a try – they are free and it is a great way to either try audio books or grab a few great titles for us audiobook lovers.

I am on my way to the cabin this morning. Meeting some people to look at our roof. It is a long drive – 3 1/2 hours but I am excited for a few audio book choices I will be taking with me. I shall be back late tomorrow afternoon.

In the meantime, be sure and check out the audio book posts from this month – commenters are going into a drawing for a $25 gift card:

Please watch this site for June audio book related posts like this one. For every post you comment on in June that has this audio book symbol:

I will put you into a drawing for a $25 book certificate for each comment (Barnes and Noble or Amazon – your choice). Winner will be drawn in July.