Friday, May 14, 2010

Got Books?

I guess by now you're expecting me to have my First Quilt Ever finished. Well, it's not. I haven't even practiced my squiggles again. A bit of trepidation-induced procrastination? You bet! My official excuse is that I'm not used to my new schedule at work yet. Yep, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

My partner in quilting, Care, actually GAVE her quilt away! She had 376 entries to win it! Did you enter? I can assure you, I am not going to be giving mine away! But I am going to finish it! I'll be back at the machine this weekend, practicing, and hopefully giving the real thing a try.

In the meantime, a long overdue book post! --cue applause--





Wow, the first book on my list is the one I was reading when I did the 24 Hour Read-a-Thon. That didn't exactly go as planned, but I am happy to report that the project I chose to sponsor through donorschoose.org, was fully funded way ahead of its deadline! Yay!

Music in the Hills by D. E. Stevenson: The sequel to Vittoria Cottage. Charming book. Love those Stevensons!

Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously by Adrienne Martini: Martini is awesome. Read this book--it's funny. Check out her blog for more witty goodness.

The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley: I loved the first Flavia de Luce mystery, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this. Sadly, I thought it lacked the effervescence of the first book. --frowny face--

Every Demon has His Day by Cara Lockwood: Vampire and demon books aren't my usual fare, but I liked another Lockwood book so much, I thought I'd give this a try. Nope, even Cara couldn't make the supernatural appealing to me.

The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith: AMS can do no wrong as far as I'm concerned (well, except for that Sunday Philosophy series which goes right over my head).

The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton: Started strong, became interminable.

Pearl of China by Anchee Min: I heard an interview with Min on NPR and it was fascinating. The book, not as much. The story kind of lost me, but I do want to visit the Pearl Buck House now that I've learned more about her. (When I do, I'll try to take pictures to share. Field trip!)

The Girl She Used to Be by David Cristofano: After a couple of disappointing reads, I really enjoyed this. It's about a woman who has lived almost her whole life in the witness protection program. Now THAT'S a premise I've never come across before! I think Cristofano does a great job of writing in a woman's voice.

One Amazing Thing by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni: Very cool book! Reminded me of Bel Canto crossed with Q & A. Check out the author's blog for Indian recipes, too.

Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas: LOVE Sandra Dallas. Must remember to seek out some of her older titles.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson: When I started this book, I was thrilled because it reminded me so much of my beloved D.E. Stevensons, and I thoroughly enjoyed about 70% of it. But then I hit a wall and ended up slogging through the last 30%. Too bad.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

ok, everyone! you need to help my "dp" get going with her practice quilting! right now she is calling me a "slave driver" and "mean" because I am pushing her to practice! "practice? you're talking about practice" quoth alan iverson...it's a sports reference...sorry! so, come on, cheer susan on...encourage her to practice so she can finish her "first quilt...ever"!
thanks for listeing/reading,

gerry...susan's other half...

Sherry from Alabama said...

I always enjoy your book reviews, and I try to find the ones you give a thumbs-up to in my library. Please keep the reviews coming, and keep on quilting!

Sherry @ A Happy Valentine

Misty said...

I always have to prepare myself to do free motion quilting and it can take days or weeks. Not practicing but actually mentally readying myself because it makes me nervous and a bit stressed out. But it goes much more smoothly than I expect it to!

Care said...

Do it! Do it!! Do it!!!

Come on, dive right in! By the looks of your very first practice piece, you don't even need to practice!

Jump in!! Do it!! :o) :o)

By this time Monday you could be curled up under your quilt, reading a book!