One of my biggest accomplishments from this past weekend was that I have finally finished piecing the top of the quilt. This has been about 6 months in the making and honestly one of the biggest creative endeavors I’ve ever undertaken. And if I needed any reassurance that this was a big deal I got that when calling a quilt shop for some pricing. I explained that I had just finished piecing a king size quilt and… before I could finish the woman on the other end said, “Let’s just take a minute and celebrate that fact…Yay! You finished!” Ha! So great, I laughed and had a little celebration with the woman on the other end of the phone…oh man, she gets it. Anyway, now I have to quickly sew a backing together (which will be cake comparatively) and then find someone willing to quilt it for me for a small coughcoughHUGEcoughcough fee. Once this baby is done our little bedroom makeover should be pretty much complete. Even though this solution was neither quick or inexpensive I’m so glad I did it. The thrill of completing a project–big or small–never gets old.
*****
Also, I’ve been craving books lately. It’s funny to me when I hear moms who feel guilty for sneaking off to read while their kids run willy-nilly. I feel that way if I’m sitting in front of the computer for too long, but never when I read! In my opinion reading is always a good thing. Right now I’m finishing Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet (which I’m feeling only so-so about–it’s good, but I’m not completely engrossed) and I’ve got Mr. Pettigrew’s Last Stand and Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie on the nightstand waiting to be read. Probably my favorite book I’ve read recently was Edenbrooke by Julianne Donaldson, a Jane Austen style romance…and oh my! Did it ever deliver! I highly recommend.
I loved Edenbrpok too. I recently watched the BBC Series North and South (and loved it…. move over Mr. Darcy, here comes John Thornton). Apparently the book is even better….. Congrats on the quilt. It looks gorgeous.
Yes I loved that movie too…soooooo good. (I watched the movie instead of reading the book for book club once. It was high school all over again.)
Have you tried Divergent, Insurgent, and now Allegiant ? by Veronica Roth Great triology – I think if you liked hunger games, you would like these. Post apocalyptic, young teens. The movie comes out in march 2014.
See I liked the first Hungar games but was pretty disappointed with the second and third…but maybe I'll give it a try. I mean if it's going to be a movie… 🙂
I absolutely love the Flavia de Luce series(Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie) by Alan Bradley. At times I just laughed out loud while reading them. I hope you like them. I'm not much help because I'm also between books so perhaps I'll check back to see others' recommendations.
good to know! Thanks!
Julianne Donaldson just published another novel, Blackmoore. It also has rave reviews. I plan on buying it soon!
Yes! Just checked on Amazon…will have to put that on my list too.
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Loved both of these books and went on to read all of Flynn's book after finishing Gone Girl.
So I actually put The Fault in Our Stars on hold and I'm like 115 in line…super popular right now. Must be good!
Here are two recommendations for you… The Shoemaker's Wife and The Persian Pickle Club. I think you will like and be engrossed by both.
Thanks!
All 6 of Jane Austen's books are on my list of favorites. Persuasion is my personal favorite.
I must admit with a tad of guilt to never having completed a Jane Austen novel.
Perhaps Persuasion will be the one I break that streak with.
This is historical fiction, but I recommend The Red Tent. I also loved Mr. Pettigrew's Last Stand. Take that on next since you have it waiting for you.
Yes I've often been referred to The Red Tent…just need to do it.
My recommendations are Lorna Doone- which I think is the most under-rated classic out there. It is soo great!! It has adventure and romance and it's FUNNY! I wrote down a ton of quotes while I was reading it.
Also, I reallly realllly recommend a book called 'Precious Bane' by Mary Webb. I don't know if it can really be classified as a classic, but it reads like one, only better. Go look up the reviews on Goodreads- there's almost only 5-star ratings. It's amazing.
And my other favorite that I have discovered within the last two years is 'These Is My Words.' I bought a copy and had it sent to my sister so that she could read it and then pass it along to my other sisters and sisters-in-law and mom and we ALL loved it. And we don't all have the same taste, so you know it's really good–plus it's based on a real woman's life.
Great recommendations–never heard of them, so I'll definitely check them out. Well the first two, I also LOVED These is My Words…always one I recommend to others.
I second The Red Tent and Gone Girl. On my list to read is And the Mountains Echoed (by Khaled Hosseini author of The Kite Runner)… it's on my wish list!!
2 Red Tents and 2 Gone Girls…done and done.
Congratulations on the quilt! That is a big accomplishment. I have been wanting to make a couple of quilts but it is SO hard to make the time.
I recommend reading Wonder. It's actually a young adult novel but it's really good. Easy read and you will be able to relate to it. I loaned it to a friend and she is now reading it to her 5th grade students.
Thank you! Yes, it IS hard to make the time. I had to think of it in mini-projects…then take a break for a while, then come back to it.
Thanks for the recommendation.
For fiction, anything by Alexander McCall Smith, but especially 44 Scotland Street. And for nonfiction, I've really been loving E.B. White's essays lately. Or Erik Larsen is always good.
I recently finished The Count of Monte Cristo (UNABRIDGED! only read the unabridged!) and I absolutely LOVED it! I'm not much of a reader so it was a HUGE feat for me and I seriously couldn't stop thinking about it forever. Another favorite is The Forbidden Garden… it resonated with the genealogy side of me in a really fun way! BUT you must read "Yearning for the LIving God" by Enzio Bushe. YOU MUST MUST MUST. I command you. LOVE your quilt so much. Can't wait to see it in action… in your finished room, that is…
A Girl Named Zippy is a memoir by Haven Kimmel. I loved it. I also love The Book Thief, which is fiction but the characters seem so real. Another favorite is The Color of Water, also nonfiction. Okay, one more…The Wednesday Wars reads like a "clean" Catcher in the Rye.
The Book Thief! I'm so glad you mentioned that! It was one of the best books I've ever read!
"Daring Greatly" by Brenee Brown (of the Ted Talks on Vulnerability). It's the most important book I've read all year.
Have you read Alan Brennert or Kate Morton? Actually, you would probably love Alan Brennert since you have a connection to Hawaii. Good luck! Your quilt looks gorgeous, BTW…
Jill
I recently got over an obsession with the Scarlet Pimpernel. There are something like 15 book in the series besides the original Scarlet Pimpernel. I love how funny they are as well as the "how does he do it" parts. I also really liked how the real historical events are woven into the stories.
I love reading lists like this. Looks like we've read a lot of the same books! The book I've loved the most recently is John Adams by David McCullough. It's quite a beast but I learned so much about him and found it really interesting.
I also recommend The Big Year to everyone. It's so fun. The author (Mark Obmascik) also wrote Halfway to Heaven about climbing Colorado's peaks which is really fun, too.
I enjoy NF mountaineering books- amazing stories!
if you like historical fiction then you should read "Pope Joan" by Donna Woolfolk Cross. One of my favorites!
In the non-fiction category, "Founding Mothers" by Cokie Roberts. You'll never look at Benjamin Franklin the same way again.
Catching up with you here–although it was more fun to do in person. I'm reading "The Power of Habit" right now, and it's super interesting, so far. I think you'd dig it. If you haven't read "Nothing to Envy", you should. It's about North Korea and you will think it is a novel because you can't believe that it is real. Clayton Christensen's book "How Will You Measure Your Life" is so so good.
As far as novels if you haven't read Wonder, it should go on your list, too.
I didn't love love Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet… and the ending didn't do it any favors.
For a classic, you should read Jane Eyre, if you haven't already. I recently finished it, and adored it. Now I can understand why it's been made into a movie so many times.
I love when bloggers ask this question since I get so many new ideas for books (also, Count of Monte Cristo and Scarlet Pimpernel are great if you haven't all ready read them)! Have you read the Wheel of Time series? The first three or four and the the last three were riveting, the middle ones you really have to slog through. I don't know if you can get your hands on copies of James Herriot's stuff but I love his "All Things Wise and Wonderful" series. "Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World" was a fascinating look at how how our modern world came to be. Lately I've been into reading things by Brandon Sanderson, Brandon Mull, and Orson Scott Card. I'd recommend "The Way of Kings" by Sanderson, although you might need to push through the first few chapters since the world he portrays is so different then our own. Have you read Shannon Hale's books? The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman was such an interesting twist from what we normally think about graveyards. If you're a fan of Castle on TV the Nikki Heat book "Heat Rises" was spot on and made me want to read the rest. I could go on… 🙂
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller. It is non-fiction.
It is a book that you read and feel.
It's the best