What do you like to read?

As an adult it has often been so hard to fit reading into my life between other hobbies.  I sometimes go through days and days when all I want to do is read.  Then I'll get back to quilting and won't read again for months.

Enter audio books - the perfect solution! I LOVE listening to books while I sew.  To me it is the best of both worlds.  (Between the two they also keep me up WAY later at night than I should be up!)  I'm always looking for new authors. 

I've decided to share what I've been reading this past year or so, and am hoping for lots and lots of comments with suggestions of new books and authors.  Here are the books I've loved the most so far.

Together, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child write some of the best scientific thrillers ever written IMHO.  I adore the character of Aloysius Pendergast especially, and there are now 12 books in the series.  They each write books by themselves which I enjoyed immensely.

Just recently I've discovered the "Sigma Force" series by James Rollins.  Yesterday I finished the 9th and last of the series.  I'm eager to try his individual adventures next.

I'm late coming to this series, but now, like the rest of the world, I'm eagerly awaiting the next one.

The last book in Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time series has finally been published, so I listened to all the others in order before listening to this one.

I reread every book in every book in the the "Word and the Void" and "Shannara" series written by Terry Brooks because I wanted to read them in chronological order.  I have all the books published so far in the new series, "The Dark Legacy of Shannara", but haven't yet read any of them.  Soon!

I also reread (by listening) to the entire "Pern" series by Anne McCaffery and her son.  Another series I wanted to read in chronological order.  Now I'm ready to read the newest of the books.

As a young married woman with small children I loved to read historical romances and Gothic novels.  I've not read any of those for many, many years.  Now I love scientific thrillers, mysteries, fantasy, and current novels (when I'm not reading any of the others).

Please share your favorite books with me!  I'm looking for lots of new authors to read.

Checking in for a moment . . . .

Time seems to be whizzing by faster and faster. I now have only 6 more working days left! I've done very little sewing lately. I meant to sew all weekend - instead I pretty much sat and read Christmas stories from old Regency anthologies.

For those of you not familiar with Regencies - the first Regency novels were those written by Jane Austen, who lived through the Regency period herself. (This was the time when the Prince Regent - affectionately called "Prinny" - ruled England because his father was unfit to rule - the early 1800's. This is the time of the wars with France and Napoleon.) A more modern Regency author was Georgette Heyer, who wrote in the early to mid 20th century. Regencies are romances known for their wit, and always feature characters from the cream of British society - dukes, earls, etc. - as well as the "landed gentry". They are sweet romances your daughters could read - no sex at all - just sweet stories and make you cry, smile, and feel all warm inside. I have many Christmas anthologies, and often reread them this time of year.

I do want to show you my last project - an apron for my daughter-in- law for her birthday. Doesn't she look great! By now it's probably been initiated with flour, etc. from Chelsea's Christmas baking.

Holiday preparations

Seems like I'm so behind this year. It threw me having a baby shower int he middle of the holiday season in that I lost a weekend I usually have for getting ready. With Fred's help yesterday we finally got our tree up and decorated. Hopefully the shopping will be finished this week. Christmas is such a very special time - filled with love and family gatherings as we celebrate the birth of Christ. This is the last Christmas season that I'll be working - I'm so looking forward to lots of time for holiday baking etc. in the coming years.

Blogging - both writing and reading - has just fallen by the wayside in the need for something to give. Other than making an apron for our daughter-in-law for her birthday I've been doing no sewing to speak of. I have been doing some reading in spare moments but that's it. Here are the last two books I read.

The Handmaid's Tale - "In the world of the near future, who will control women's bodies? Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are only valued if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the days before, when she lived and made love with her husband Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now...."

A very different book, quite disturbing. It certainly made me think.

Broken for You - A buoyant debut novel about two women in self-imposed exile whose worlds are transformed when their paths intersect, and a glorious homage to the beauty of broken things. An absolutely beautiful book full of wonderfully interesting characters. I fell in love with this book. A wonderful read.

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Gratitudes:

1. Tiny snowflakes falling off and on throughout the day

2. A family birthday celebration

3. Favorite Christmas carols sung as I remember from my childhood

4. Watching "Miracle on 34th Street" with family

5. Friends, new and old

Checking in . . .

Sorry for the lack of posts. There isn't a whole lot to tell when I'm not allowed to do much!

I have done a bunch of reading ever since I hurt my arm, as I'm not restricted from turning pages. I finished reading all the way through the Tony Hillerman "Jim Chee" and "Joe Leaphorn" mystery novels. If you like mysteries and have never read Hillerman I suggest you run right out to the store or library and find one or two. The main characters are two Navajo tribal policemen. Many of the stories weave Navajo folklore and religion throughout the plot - a fascinating view into a culture and society that most of us know little or nothing about. Hillerman is not a Navajo, but has received awards from the Navajo nation for his portrayals in his novels.

Once I finished those books I started the J.P Beaumont mystery novels by J.A. Jance. I've read the first three so far - what a huge contrast to the Hillerman books! J.P. Beaumont is a police detective in Seattle, and it's been a lot of fun following the action through many familiar places, as I lived in Seattle the first 22 years of my life.

I've also done a small amount of stitching. The doctor said I could start very gradually after I'd totally rested my shoulder for a week or so. Good thing, since I'm heading out to a quilt retreat in a little over an hour! I'm going to be sewing the binding and label on the Fireworks quilt - I finished the hand quilting just before I was put back on "restriction". After that I'll have the following choices - hand quilting on another quilt that I started quilting on between 5-10 years ago and never went back to it, embroidering some dish towels, hand piecing some UFO blocks, or working on various appliqué blocks for my mid-nineteenth century album quilt. As this retreat has been scheduled for months and months, I whined enough to the doctor so she'd give me permission to stitch this weekend - as long as I stopped and rested if I felt pain. It's going to be so good to stitch again!

I did a bit of machine work yesterday while I was puttering around packing - I put the borders on the third string quilt. I like how this turned out, but I'm going to go back to the square diagonal blocks for the next string quilt because I like it better. This one is a perfect size for a Hotel Hope quilt. As soon as I get the go ahead I must get back to machine quilting. I have four Hotel Hope quilts that need quilting, binding, and labeling before the December guild meeting. That's when we are presenting the quilts to the representative from Hotel Hope.

Our excitement at having a new grandson her for Christmas was short lived. The kids got a message yesterday telling them that the holidays would delay the paperwork so they won't be able to go to Guatemala for Joseph until January. When in January we don't know - and we don't know whether there will be extra problems due to the Guatemalan government adoption of the Hague adoption treaty. We are all praying very hard that there won't be complications, and that we can have our little guy here early in January.

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Gratitudes:
1. Quilt retreats
2. Starbucks Christmas blend has returned.
3. Books to read
4. The gentle mist in the air today
5. Breakfast with a friend

Coming up for air

As it turns out I did a considerable amount of sewing after all this weekend. I had just finished the fourteenth chapter of Harry Potter when the phone rang. It was my daughter calling to tell us Rick had loaded the last book onto his Ipod so he could listen more easily when driving, and they wondered whether Fred would like to come get the CD's so he could start the book also. I asked him, and was surprised when he said no. So I told her I'd come get them for myself so I could sew while I listened. So I've been in the sewing room listening to Harry Potter and Fred's been upstairs reading. I finished the book shortly before 2:00 this afternoon. I finally made myself go to bed at 1:45 this morning, recognizing that there was no way I could finish it in one setting. I won't say a word about the book as I know many of you won't have had a chance to even start it yet.

I decided I didn't feel like doing applique while listening - instead I was in the mood for more mindless sewing. I meant to get out either the 2" squares or the string blocks. Much to my surprise I went back to the crumb bin where there were still many smaller starts of mile-a-minute blocks. Apparently I'd not had enough of them after all, and am even more obsessed than I previously thought. I've been making more Crumb Chaos blocks - this time using up every last piece that was more than a single crumb. I've no idea how many blocks I'm in the process of making - they seem to go on forever. I've reached the stage where at least half of them need only one more round before they are finished. I'm happy to say I've now emptied one bin of strips. I'm looking forward to finishing these - I think I am well and truly sick of them by now. When I'm done I should have enough for at least a couple Hotel Hope quilts in addition to the quilt for our bed.

Tomorrow is my only day of work this week - Tuesday I start a week's vacation. I'll be moving most of the things out of my sewing room on Tuesday in preparation for my new furniture. I can hardly wait!

Counting the minutes

No - not until retirement. :-)

Until I can head to Barnes and Noble to pick up the newest Harry Potter. When I get home there will be nothing else for me except for reading until I get to the end of the book. I promise I won't give anything away when I'm done!