Tag: sheila-dechantal

Kissing The Sky by Lisa Patton (Bookies Book Club Pick)

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)2 Comments

Groovy. ~ Sheila

It’s 1969, and Suzannah is home from college but counting the days to fall when she can return to school. Her childhood home has vivid memories of her strict father not allowing music in the home and forcing her brother to enlist in the Vietnam War to make him a man.

Not much has changed in her home. Having not heard from her brother in two months, Suzannah fears the worst for him, and hates her father for making him go to war.

But things take a turn when her once best friend shows up. Livy is adventurous, free-spirited, and beautiful. Everything that Suzannah is not. When Livy invites Suzannah to come with her to attend a three-day concert upstate New York, Suzannah is hesitant, knowing her father woudl never approve – but the anger she holds for her brother being forced into the war gives her the fight she needs to say yes, and she leaves with Livy with not a word to her parents as to where she is going.

Woodstock is way outside Suzannah’s comfort zone, but her love for music, the overall friendliness of starngers, the insane amount of people gathered together soon melts away Suzannah’s reserved nature. Meeting a cute boy, struggling with Livy’s self-centered nature – all leads to a long overdue growth and memories that will last a lifetime.

We chose this book for Book Club (the above photos are of the foods we had) – The semi truck represents the flatbed of granola that was brought to Woodstock to help feed the masses when the food ran out, as does the brown rice and vegetables. The candy cigarettes, Skittles, and tic tacs- well, you know what they represent, and that was just fun 🙂

For myself, I adored this book. The storyline goes from the present time; Suzannah is a Grandma at the 50th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, attending with her teenage granddaughter.

Told by Suzannah to her granddaughter, the book goes from the present time to Suzannah’s memories. Well put together.

I learned a lot about Woodstock and of course, wanted to deep dive into learning more after having read this book. What an incredible event.

Bookies Book Club (for the most part) also gave this book high ratings, with an average of 4.5 out of 5. We had a great discussion about the music and even had a little sing-along to Blowin’ in the Wind by Bob Dylan thanks to one of our talented Book Club members.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Rated: 5 out of 5 (me) 4.5 out of 5 Bookies
Read Author Before: no
Read Author Again: Yes!
Where Read: Audio – home, traveling…


Bookclub Worthy: YES Please! This is a great book for a book club – so many opportunities to dress the occasion ( some of us did), food such as the granola, the hot dogs, no-name cola, drugs (candy!), Brown Rice with Veggies…
There is so much to unpack with this book – talking about the music – do you know someone who attended – would you have attended – musicians making their debut, the storyline, Suzannah’s character as well as Livy’s.


A Good Family by Matt Goldman

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)3 Comments

Does anyone else just crave a good read? Found it. ~Sheila

Katie Kuhlmann’has it all. She lives in a wonderful Country Club neighborhood with close friends close by, a text away from taking a walk, grabbing a coffee, or even going skiing. She has a great job working as a food scientist for General Mills. She has two great kids who are fun and good-natured. And a hard-working husband she adores.
Or…
She did.

Her husband Jack has become… distracted. And honestly – weird. He disappears to the basement to work on spreadsheets for his business and disappears from the kids entirely, and they can’t find him. Talking to him doesn’t work; he claims job stress and then disappears again – literally.

It’s the most bizarre thing.

Things just get stranger when Adam “Bagman” Ross, a guy both Katie and Jack knew from college, shows up on their doorsteps, hoping to be able to stay. Jack is quick to say yes while Katie is unnerved by soemone who they had not kept in touch with now living close to their children.

Things continue to unravel for the Kuhlmanns as Katie works to keep up appearances with her neighborhood friends and not let on that she suspects Jack is lying to her, and creating a wall between them that Katie does not have the energy – or honestly, the want- to tear down.

I’m going to be honest here. Picking up a BOOK this time of year is unusual for me. Not that I don’t try – but a book usually is carried from one location to the other…. outdoors to the patio, indoors to the recliner, to the nightstand… and rarely gets opened.
I mean well…

This time of year I am mostly audio-something I can listen to while I garden, mow the lawn, bake bread, cook, clean….

BUT… something happened here. I bought this book at the recent Words By The Water Event in Brainerd, MN, where Matt Goldman was one of the authors speaking. We have had him before, and he is delightful, and it was fun to hang out with him after the event with the other authors and catch up a bit. I had read Matt before with my book club years ago, but the book was more traditional thriller than this more psychological one.

This book – called to me, sitting in a pile of other unread books… I just wanted to pick it up… and when I did… I didn’t want to put it down.


Matt’s characters jumped off the page. Katie was someone I wanted to hang out with…. and the friends circles of who really was a friend and who really was not – as well as where the $%#$&*! did Jack keep disappearing to, kept me turning the pages.

I dug in over this past weekend and stayed up until midnight last night to finish. Whatever magic beans were in this book – it worked.

And now… another of his books is calling to me…. stay tuned

Rated: 4 out of 5
Read Author Before: yes
Read Author Again: Yes!
Where Read: Home


Bookclub Worthy: yes – it’s twisty enough to bring up good conversation.

Leveling up for Bookclub – Food in the book includes hot chocolate, pizza, going out for drinks (Mistletoe Manhattan anyone?), and of course Katie works for General Mills…. Breakfast for Book Club? 😛

Have fun!

Mother’s Day Morning Meanderings….

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)5 Comments

Happy Mother’s Day!

For those of you who have followed this site for a long, long time, you may remember Morning Meanderings… the posts where I just shared my life – not just books.

I miss that.

I miss that place to put my voice… put my thoughts.

So here goes.

Mother’s Day is a mixed bag of nuts for me. One amazing son on earth. Once amazing son in Heaven since 2015. This. Changes. This Day.

Throughout the years, many people have said how strong I am. And I never felt strong. If you have been through something like this, you know what I mean. You do what you have to do. You get up. You function… You have good days, and you have days when you are a little sad, sometimes even a little mad.

As cringy as saying this is – life does go on.

It’s just…. different.

For whatever reason, this morning…. I feel strong. I feel that no one will ever understand my personalized concoction of grief. My mom is gone (car accident). My dad and sister are gone (house fire). My son – you know…. and it’s A LOT. Let’s be honest.

We all have stuff.

Last night, I worked as a Wedding Coordinator, and I worked HARD. 12 hours of non-stop setting up a room, setting up the outdoor Ceremony Space, setting the place cards, checking dietary information, MOVING MOVING MOVING. On top of my already full week at my Real Job 🙂

It’s what gets me through…. Busy.

And now here we are today. And the sun is shining… and I’m drinking my coffee out of my Harry Potter cup (far right in picture) because I choose my cup of the day – by mood ( I am a sentimental beast – always have been). And the Harry Potter cup is from my son, Brad.

Today….
I am self-caring.
Sheila Style.

I’m going to mow the lawn. That may not sound like self-care, but it is. I LOVE to mow the lawn. I made sure my dorky 80s style headphones are charged up so I can listen to my book, which is the 4th in a series ( more on that soon), and I should finish that today.

And … I’m going to sit on the deck in the sun and read. I have a few ideas here…

Brad and Kylie will pop over this afternoon, we will grill tonight, and I am going to pick up a nice bottle of wine.

That’s my plan.

It’s not often I just hang. There’s always a project… there’s always something I should fix, clean, update, DO.

And…

Not today.

Today I am just going to BE. Allow myself to feel the feels with the sun on my face and quiet, persistent memories in my heart. And that’s ok.

I hope to write more Meanderings…. so much to share .. so much I want to have a record of on this crazy space that has been my shared space since 2009.

Have an amazing day.

~Sheila

House of Glass By Sarah Pekkanen

Published on by Sheila (Book Journey)2 Comments

“Sharp and shattering” ~ Sheila

When a young Nanny plunged to her death from a 3rd floor window of the Barklay home where she worked… speculation abounded.
Was it an accident?
Was it suicide?
Or was she pushed?
All three are probable – but which is true?

Nine-year-old Rose Barklay was in the garden with her grandmother when they heard the sound of breaking glass. Traumatized by what she saw, already dealing with the stress of her parents’ pending divorce and custody battle, Rose has stopped speaking.

Stella Hudson is a Best Interest Attorney, hired to serve as counsel in determining which parent, Rose, will be best suited to live with. Having her own childhood trauma makes Stella particularly good at her job, as she knows how important these decisions are.

But Stella is in for a particularly tough time surrounding the circumstances of the nanny’s unsolved case, and once she passes through the security gate of Ian and Beth Barklay’s historical DC home, she realizes that this family is even more troubled than she anticipated. The entire home does not have one piece of glass in it – not the windows, not the dishes, not the picture frames… nothing. Stemming from Beth’s own trauma of the incident, rendering her with Nelophobia.

As Stella digs in, she is discovering secrets that the Barclay family is desperate to hide, leaving what happened to the nanny wide open on possibilities – was it the Nanny’s boyfriend, who was bitter about a possible breakup? Or was it the father? The mother? The Grandmother? Or even Rose herself?
Is the person she is there to protect – the one who should be protected from?

Sarah and I, Book Expo in New York, 2011

So here is why I LOVE Sarah Pekkanen. WAY back in 2010 – I entered a drawing she was hosting and WON my trip to New York City ot the Book Expo that year. She paid my flight, and my hotel – AND we toured Simon and Schuster together. (IF you are a long-time reader of mine, you know this is where I SQUUUUUEEE)

Moving forward, Sarah was one of the authors who said yes to the first year we hosted Wine and Words – the author event in Central Minnesota. She has been here twice now and was also a sweet advocate during the loss of my son in 2015.

Back in 2010, Sarah was writing a different style of book, more contemporary fiction. The Opposite of Me was my first read of hers. Then I read Skipping a Beat and These Girls. (All of which grace my library shelves to this day) AND – I can go on and on – enter Sarah’s name in the search bar here, and you will find all of my reviews.

What is cool is that in more recent years she has become more of the psychological thriller type of writer, and it is soooo fun to say I knew her when…. 🙂


House of Glass was crazy good. There is so much going on – and as you dig in, you find that everyone has a secret ….everyone has a motive that could make them the cause of the Nanny’s fall. And while all this is going on – you are also learning Stella’s back story and her own unresolved trauma…. enough so that you wonder if perhaps Stella will show up in a future Pekkanen book….

Inquiring minds want to know!

Overall – a good creepy thriller… I had no idea who did it – there were so many ways this could have gone and any one of them would have been legit.

Rated: 4 out of 5
Read Author Before: Yes
Read Author Again: You Bet
Where Read: Georgia – on our way home from Florida by RV

Bookclub Worthy: Yes! There is a lot of detective work we can flesh out – almost building your own crime scene board…. the “Who did it and the motives” A whole glass-free meeting would be fun as well… pulling food items such as Pizza and Nachos ( comfort foods during meetings between Stella and Rose) – also Tea, Wine

She Left Us by Callista Arden

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“Thirteen Reasons Why vibes”… in a good way. ~ Sheila

Thirteen years after Grace’s sister disappears from their family home, a car is found in a nearby ravine with what looks to be Zoe’s remains, showing that she died shortly after she left.

As Detectives Calder and Morales connect with the family, they find some disturbing information. While Zoe left the home all those years ago, a police report of a missing person was never filed, and the family never made any attempt to locate her – in fact, by the looks of the family home, they erased her. Her room has been remodeled, her personal items gone.

Zoe’s parents are distraught by the news of their oldest daughter, but describe an unruly child who came and went as she pleased, sneaking out at all hours, drugs and alcohol… in their mind, Zoe had left long before she left.

But Zoe’s younger sister, Grace, remembers a kinder, gentler version of her sister – and when a tape shows us that Zoe has left a message for Grace, Zoe tells the story of what happened and why she left.

Is what Zoe is sharing true? Zoe always had a knack for telling a great story… and was Zoey’s accident just that? Or was it suicide… or…

Was it murder?

My daughter-in-law put this one on my radar, and I tossed it in with the tote of books I brought to Florida. While Florida has been in a bit of a CHILL this week, outdoor time has been minimal, and reading has been a welcome thing.

This book gave me vibes of 13 Reasons Why (have you read this? It’s so good – better than the tv series). Briefly, Thirteen Reasons Why is about a girl who commits suicide but has mailed a set of 13 tapes to her classmate Clay, about why she did it. As the book goes on, you see what led to Hannah’s decision.)

What She Left Us takes from 13 Reasons Why is the tape left behind that tells Zoe’s side of what brought her to the decision to leave, unfolding a tale of neglect, verbal abuse, feelings of unworthiness, but again – is it true? As this is Zoe’s story.

Engaging read. As I dug into the characters, the book mostly focused on Grace’s reactions to what she is hearing and what she can remember of their childhood, and a rewrite of her own history.

While there are a few loose ends that I tend to pick at, overall a good, fast read that you will not want to put down.

Rated: 3 out of 5
Read Author Before: No
Read Author Again: I would

Themes: death, sex (minimal and not descriptive), mental abuse

Book Club Worthy – Mmmm hmmm. I can see this as a good and possibly deep discussion on mental abuse, what we thought happened early on, and what actually happened. What could have easily changed the narrative?

These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

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“I could handle a few more Storms”…. ” ~ Sheila

Alice Storm has spent five years apart from her family and the Storm family’s wealth. Removing herself from a toxic situation was probably the best decision she ever made, making (and paying) her own way.

Yet, when the call comes in from her mother about her billionaire father’s untimely passing, Alice finds herself returning to Storm Island, spending time with the siblings she has spoken to since she left, and finding herself once again entangled in one of her father’s manipulating games in an all-or-nothing family task for the inheritance that she never wanted.

Nothing, when it comes to the name Storm, is easy.

I read this one as we traveled to Florida earlier this week. As usual, I stockpiled a tote of books to bring along – many titles I have had for a while but had not had the opportunity to read.

It’s amazing the reading you can complete when traveling by RV for 3 1/2 days…

This was an enjoyable book. I liked Alice, and I liked her integrity. Toss in a mixed bag of family –

Greta – the oldest sister who has always felt it was her duty to hold everything together (to a fault), her mother’s right hand, and always seeking approval.

Sam – the only son. He should have been the leader and the next in line to take over as the CEO of Storm INC, but Sam is a spoiled rich adult who never put in the time to be his father’s successor and now struggles with secrets of his own and a wife and two kids expecting him to step up.

Emily – the youngest of the Storms, who is free-spirited and lives by her own rules, also does not break away from the family safety net.

And Elizabeth Storm, the mother of the four siblings, is icy and cold, never showing emotions.

Together, this reuniting of a broken, messed-up family forced into an inheritance game left in the father’s will, where they all have tasks to accomplish in one week, and if anyone fails, they all fail…

For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even the sideline romance between Alice and Jack Dean, her father’s second-in-command.


My only gripe- the ending was … weird. I was left with questions that IMO would lead to another book, but a search online says nope… this is a stand-alone.

Still check it out for yourself.

Rated: 4 out of 5
Read Author Before: I don’t think so
Read Author Again: probably

Themes: Inheritance, Black sheep, romance

Book Club Worthy – Yes. The siblings and their vast differences, and all with a secret of their own makes for good discussion. Even Elizabeth, the icy mom, is worth diagnosing if she becomes under the family’s name, and of course, this controlling, now passed away father that literally holds the purse strings to most of their desires – is it worth losing who you are, who you want to be for a large financial prize?

The First Witch Of Boston by Andrea Catalano

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I love historical fiction – and what an opportunity to get to know a bit about Margaret Jones. ~ Sheila

It’s 1646, and Thomas and Margaret Jones have left their life in London to escape suspicion of Margaret’s vast knowledge of herbal remedies. Moving to Boston, Thomas finds plenty of work with his skills of carpentry, and Margaret, in no time, is the one to call if you are having a baby or need a remedy for what is ailing you. She is whip smart on creating the perfect combination of herbs.

But soon, Margaret’s fiery personality and sharp tongue once again catch up with them, leading to townfolk using the word “cunning” when describing her, and men telling Thomas that he needed to control his wife. In this Puritan community, words and actions that seem to heal beyond what one would call normal processes lead to rumblings of witchcraft… words that you do not want in any way associated with you, as witchcraft means death.

When an upper-class young widow sets her eyes on Thomas, it’s all too easy to add her voice to the rumblings, adding fuel to a fire that, try as Margaret may, she can not put out.

I received this book through our Bookish Secret Santa Exchange. Loving historical fiction – and fascinated by the trials, this was a great pick! I dug into this as the first book I read while we traveled by RV to Florida these past few days.

Absolutely engaging, the historical fiction telling of Thomas and Margaret is one not to miss if this is a genre you enjoy. While in all historical fiction, the author is taking liberties to fill in the unknown, this book is inspired by actual diary entries and court records of Margaret, being the first woman to be executed for witchcraft in Boston.

I enjoyed the read immensely, still dumbfounded that women with skill could be accused and killed under the label of witch, and all of those innocent lives taken, Margaret being one of the early ones.

A few of my friends and I went to Salem in October of 2022 and toured where women were kept and learned more of this time in our history.

Rated: 4.5 out of 5
Read Author Before: No
Read Author Again: I would

Themes: Witchcraft, Rape

Book Club Worthy – Absolutely. This would be a great discussion book – to review this time in our history, topics to dig deeper into surrounding the history of the witch trials, what traits a woman had to be accused, etc…

Family Of Liars by E Lockhart

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“Money – isn’t everything. ~ Sheila

**While this is a prequel to We Were Liars, it is important to read that book first, as this one contains information that would ruin the absolutely devastating beauty of the first book.

Carrie Sinclair, the oldest of the four Sinclair sisters, is haunted by her past. The wealthy and privileged family she is a part of’s lies and secrets did not start with the sisters’ teenage children… but long before Cadence, Johnny, Miren, and Gat were born.

As Carrie looks back at her own teenage years on Beechwood Island, playing the same games that their children played, and living by those same raised bar Singlair standards… secrets come to light of addiction, a boy, betrayal, and mistakes.

They…. have always been liars.

Recently, finding the We Were Liars mini series on Amazon Prime Video, I had a renewed interest in this book that I read over 11 years ago. I had seriously forgotten how good this book was! Of course, coming fresh off the video series, I didn’t need to read the book again, but I was thrilled to find out that a prequel had also been written.

I jumped on that bandwagon quickly, and here we are.

Family of Liars continues from where We Were Liars ends, but is not future writing – but writing of the past. Told from the point of view of Carrie, the oldest of the Sinclair sisters, she is recounting the tragic secrets of her own past with the family on Beechwood Island. We go back to the 80’s when Carrie, Penny, and Bess were around the same age as their children were in We Were Liars.

What I appreciate about this book is that you are getting more to the story, and it really explains a lot about these – dare I say uptight sisters that are trying to live up to the high standards of being a Sinclair… but also… wanting to be teens doing all the crazy things that teens do. Privilege comes with a price.

Secrets are revealed in this book, and while not as good as the first book (honestly, few sequels/prequels are), it does what most prequels do – give you a little more to the story and allow you to hang out a little longer in a fictional world with characters you have enjoyed.

Rated: 3 out of 5
Read Author Before: Yes
Read Author Again: Yes

Themes: secrets, betrayal, loss, murder

Book Club Worthy – If your book club has read the first book, absolutely! What a fun way to revisit. I don’t think my own book club has ever read a book that had a sequel/prequel that we also read together, but that seems like it would be a cool thing to do. So much to discuss in a continuing story, at the same time being able to revisit themes from the first book and how they tie together.

People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry

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Just great snarky fun unfolding in a unique, engaging style ~ Sheila

When Poppy and Alex meet during a shared car ride home from college, they have nothing in common. Poppy is a free spirit, adventurous and daring – loving to push the narrative a little farther than perhaps she should… and Alex is most content to stay at home with a book, keeping his circle of influence small and comfortable.

Somehow, this odd match works, and they become the best of friends, taking an annual one-week vacation together where Poppy’s wild child persona pushes Alex to be a little more out of his shell, which they fondly refer to as “Vacation Alex“. This fun tradition continues with the friends for 10 years until a disastrous trip to Croatia creates a rift between the two of them, and they both agree that this will be their last trip together.

Two years later, Poppy is in a rut and can’t stop thinking of her once-best friend. She reaches out to Alex, convincing him to take one last trip together to see if they can bring back the magic they once had together, mixing the intoxicating combination of Poppy’s spirit with Alex’s need for stability.

What could possibly go wrong?

Full disclosure.. I have kind of been stocking people’s first book of the year selections and cherry – picking the ones I would like to give a try. This one looked fun, so in I went.

I love the layout of this read… it’s common in books today to have a present-time narrative as well as a narrative of the past… what’s unique ( and fun!) about People We Meet On Vacation, Is that this back and forth narrative takes us through Poppy and Alex’s past vacations – starting with the ride from college when they met, to their annual tradition sharing with us their bond together, leading up to the fateful trip that reveals to us the readers, what went down… all the while alternating with present time in their current trip.

It works.

I loved Vacation, Alex. The way Poppy draws out this playful alternative person, where they play act with strangers, pretend to be married with a hilarious back story of how they met to get perks at hotels and restaurants, and let go of all the inhibitions that you can when you are in a place that no one knows you, and most likely you will never see them again.

Highly enjoyable read. I didn’t know until I had started this book that it was also going to be a Netflix movie. Double Score!!!! My timing was kind of perfect, as the movie released on January 9th, and I finished the book on this day as well, and treated myself to a follow-up with the movie last night.
The actors playing the roles of Poppy and Alex were perfect. They capture Poppy’s snarky, fun personality and her sense of adventure, as well as Alex’s more laid-back personality.

Highly recommend the book – and the movie.
It’s the perfect time of year to enjoy both.

Rated: 4.5 out of 5
Read Author Before: Yes
Read Author Again: Yes

Themes: friendship, romance, nothing triggering

Book Club Worthy – Yes. Discussion can be centered around friendships, if men and women can just be close friends or best friends, and if anyone has (or had) this kind of relationship with the opposite sex… also, vacation is a fun topic, and if you do act differently when not around people you know – do we let go of inhibitions?
Of course – vacation food pairings… the options are endless!

Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (First Book of 2026!)

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What an absolutely beautiful book that will stay with me forever~ Sheila

When a mysterious older gentleman moves to Golden, Georgia, little is known about him other than that he goes by the name Theo.
When in a coffee shop one morning, where 92 framed sketches of various residents are on display, Theo comes up with the idea to purchase each of these portraits and gift them to their “rightful owners” – the person in the frame. And what a wide variety of people! An accountant, a custodian, a landlord, a bookstore owner, a street musician, a one armed mixolist, a young girl, and a homeless woman, just to name a few.
As Theo sets out on his mission, each sketched person is invited to meet. All Theo asks in return is that they sit with him and tell him about themselves… stories are told, long-lasting hurts are shared, treasured memories revealed, and in the process, lives are changed.

This is my planned first book of 2026. Only recently did this book draw my attention – and in an even shorter time, when a friend posted about this book on social media, the deal was sealed. Not only did I need to read this, but the timing, the beginning of a New Year, seemed to be perfect.

Having just finished this book yesterday afternoon, I am fresh from the words and all the feels. As I think about this today, I honestly don’t know if I can name another recent book that I have read that left me feeling this emotional, inspired, and with chills.

What a perfect book to start the year with. Beautifully and thoughtfully written. May we all take each day as a gift and a chance to quietly make a difference in a positive way. May we all long for Heaven the way that Theo does – and may we be the type of people that bring a little bit of Heaven to earth.

Absolutely read this book.

Rated: 5 out of 5
Read Author Before: No
Read Author Again: Maybe – this feels so good I kind of don’t want to touch it 🙂

Themes: Faith, Hope, Spiritualness, Selflessness, Kindness

Book Club Worthy – YES, and if I have anything to say about it – it absolutely will be. There is so, so much that would make for great discussion here.