It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Welcome to It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!

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 telling me how many you visited.  **You do not have to have a blog to participate! You receive one entry for every 10 comments, just come back here and tell me how many in the comment area.

Since I was out of town last weekend I never got the previous winner posted so this is the two week ago winner and this past weeks winner using random.org (because that is how I roll!)

 

Last weeks winner: Martha E!!!

It was a fairly decent week this past week.  I had no construction in the house except for early in the week, and now we are on hold waiting for a wood order to come in that has me hoping (Fingers crossed!) that it will be early this week so I can finish my book room before the family gathering on this coming Saturday. 

The things I posted here on Book Journey this past week were:

 

 

The Snow Child By Eowyn Ivey - audio review

 

What DO You Do With All Those Books?  (Early shots of the book room partially finished and discussion over the books…)

 

This One Is Mine by Maria Semple - Bookies Book Club read for Sept and probably the snakiest review I have written in a long long time

The Meryl Streep Movie Club is born this coming Thursday at my house – and on the blog!  Stop in and check it out and maybe chat along

AND it is the last week to sign up to participate in the Banned Book Week Party here!

 

As for this week, any moment now I am going to realize that I did invite over many many relatives for next Saturday and I do need to prep my home, the garage and figure out what I am going to cook.  When that happens, I suspect I will be moving like a mad woman and that will requite either 80′s music (do not judge!) and/or audio books

SO….  for this week… my plan is:

 

As I am participating in this wonderful idea – my priority book is 47 for this week:

 

The intense, personal slave narrative of 14-year-old Forty-seven becomes allegorical when a mysterious runaway slave shows up at the Corinthian Plantation. Tall John, who believes there are no masters and no slaves, and who carries a yellow carpet bag of magical healing potions and futuristic devices, is both an inspiration and an enigma. He claims he has crossed galaxies and centuries and arrived by Sun Ship on Earth in 1832 to find the one chosen to continue the fight against the evil Calash. The brutal white overseer and the cruel slave owner are disguised Calash who must be defeated. Tall John inserts himself into Forty-seven’s daily life and gradually cedes to him immortality and the power, confidence, and courage to confront the Calash to break the chains of slavery. With confidence, determination, and craft, Tall John becomes Forty-seven’s alter ego, challenging him and inspiring him to see beyond slavery and fight for freedom.

 

 

And in preparation for Banned Book Week I will be listening to:

Does Jerry Renault dare to disturb the universe? You wouldn’t think that his refusal to sell chocolates during his school’s fundraiser would create such a stir, but it does; it’s as if the whole school comes apart at the seams. To some, Jerry is a hero, but to others, he becomes a scapegoat–a target for their pent-up hatred. And Jerry? He’s just trying to stand up for what he believes, but perhaps there is no way for him to escape becoming a pawn in this game of control; students are pitted against other students, fighting for honor–or are they fighting for their lives?

 

 

 

 

What is most notable about this funny, touching, memorable first novel from Stephen Chbosky is the resounding accuracy with which the author captures the voice of a boy teetering on the brink of adulthood. Charlie is a freshman. And while’s he’s not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. He’s a wallflower–shy and introspective, and intelligent beyond his years, if not very savvy in the social arts. We learn about Charlie through the letters he writes to someone of undisclosed name, age, and gender, a stylistic technique that adds to the heart-wrenching earnestness saturating this teen’s story. Charlie encounters the same struggles that many kids face in high school–how to make friends, the intensity of a crush, family tensions, a first relationship, exploring sexuality, experimenting with drugs–but he must also deal with his best friend’s recent suicide. Charlie’s letters take on the intimate feel of a journal as he shares his day-to-day thoughts and feelings:

 

I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they’re here. If they like their jobs. Or us. And I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It’s like looking at all the students and wondering who’s had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report due on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why.With the help of a teacher who recognizes his wisdom and intuition, and his two friends, seniors Samantha and Patrick, Charlie mostly manages to avoid the depression he feels creeping up like kudzu. When it all becomes too much, after a shocking realization about his beloved late Aunt Helen, Charlie retreats from reality for awhile. But he makes it back in due time, ready to face his sophomore year and all that it may bring. Charlie, sincerely searching for that feeling of “being infinite,” is a kindred spirit to the generation that’s been slapped with the label X.

 

 

 

Oh and lets not forget that next weekend is also the Bloggiesta which I am going to squeeze in around the family thing because Bloggiesta is really that AMAZING and sleep is truly… overrated.   

It should be a pretty great week.  I want to know about yours!  Are you participating in Bloggiesta?  Banned Book Week?  And what are you reading?  Be sure to use the hashtag #IMWAYR if tweeting on “The Twitter” 

AND be sure to link up your What Are You Reading post below! 

 

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and those of you who read mainly children’s through YA reads – please ALSO link your post here:

Meryl Streep Movie Club – Online (and off)

I have been meaning to post about this for a while now and life and shiny things apparently got in the way… BUT I am posting now and maybe a few of you would like to join along ans we gather speed (and people) as we go.

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to read The Meryl Streep Movie Club book by Mia March and I really enjoyed it.  Actually, I was surprised and interested in the many movies Meryl has been in and found out that in fact, I had seen very few of them – most of them in the last ten years, and then mainly her comedy ones.  In fact, as I started to look into this more, I discovered that Meryl has been in over 50 movies in her career… and she is still going.

Then I won a chance to host a Hope Springs party ay my house (starring, you guessed it, Meryl Streep).  The party was a lot of fun and as I sat and chatted with my friends over a glass of wine (or two) and delicious hor duerves, this idea began to form…

what if we watched all her movies – one month at a time. 

SO….  some of the wonderful Bookies Book Club (YAY!) and some of my friends (YEAH!) will be gathering ay my home on 4th Thursdays to watch whatever movie we have randomly drawn of Meryl Streep’s.  A asked that each person bring a little movie snacky item and we hang out and watch a movie.

This first movie, randomly chosen is going to be The Deer Hunter.  We watch it this Thursday and if any of you wish to join in online that would be super cool!  We will discuss on the Friday following the movie night here at Book Journey – and we can also use the hashtag #MSMC on Twitter on Thursday and on Friday.

Oue random pick for September 27th is….

The Deer Hunter

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Ok, so this late in sharing this news I will just say if you are interested feel free to rent the movie or watch it on line and hope to see you at the Movie Club!

Morning Meanderings! SUNDAY and MUD SNOBS!

 

Good morning!  I totally skipped out on posting yesterday.  Friday I had a three hour bike ride and then came home and hubby wanted to go out to eat and by the time I was home from that I was exhausted. 

Saturday morning I was up at 5:45 to get ready and meet at my friend Amy’s with Paula and Courtney so we could drive the two hours to Brooklyn Part and take part in the 5K Mud Factor… which was….

a bust.

After participating in the AWESOME Muckruckus in August which was from start to finish mud mud and more mud, sticky mud, watery mud, thick mud, stinky mud, you name it – it was mud…. this was pretty much not what we thought it would be.

The Mud Factor took place in a corn maze which for the first three miles of the 3.2 run was just dirt trails and the occasional obstacle.  Some of the obstacles were small piles of dirt to go over… some were where they had dug a little hole for you to either jump in or over, but mud free.  There was some of the cool rope climbing and tough girl stuff like that – but not enough to make this a win.  At the very end there was a small slide down a hill into a little mud… very little, and at the very end you crawled through some thick mud under plastic ropes. 

All in all we agreed it was too much money ($70 to register, $10 for a t shirt, $10 for parking and $5 for them to hold your bag of clothes to change into in a place that was watched).  The Mud Ruckus was $100 registration but it was for MS and it included parking, a t shirt, your bag keeping, and food at the end. 

Anyhoo – live and learn and it was still a good time hanging out with friends.

Pics were taken on a disposable camera which I have not turned in yet so watch for them to show up later this week. 

 

BOOKS.

A few books did come in the door this week, as my reading has slowed so has my review requesting. 

The bottom three are review books, the top is an audio version of The Knife of Never Letting Go which I purchased.

This morning I have church and later tonight I have a get together.  I hope to work on the book room a bit this afternoon and if it warms up perhaps cleaning out the garage for next weekends family get together.. I think it will be an audio day.

What are you doing today?