Persistence.

Well, here's the newest background. It's not the one I want but we'll go with it. I'll try to fight the font color battle when Christmas backgrounds are in season.

I am currently reading The Passage by Justin Cronin. Where has this author been all my life? His character development is amazing. I know the book is going to get all sci fi on me but I think I'm going to be so into the characters I'm not going to care. It's not a book I would have ever picked up on my own but a fellow book lover recommended it. She feels the same way about what books she reads so I trusted her advice.


Anyhow, it's a long one. I'll let you know how it goes.


The Queen Bee

A 2 fer

2 projects for the price of one picture.

Today's post includes a picture with 2 projects. First, on my recent vacation, I started and completed LHN's Rose Sampler. It's on top of the little travel bag made to match. This will be an easy piece to finish and apply to the bag. I'm just not sure if it goes on the front or the back. I think on the front. That way the cute little bead and the stitching will show. The second project in this picture is a table runner I finished last summer. It happens to be on the table and maybe not in my album. I've become a true slacker when it comes to keeping my album up to date. I really need to take some time and post pictures in there.

While on vacation, I finished this Philippa Gregory book. I liked this series about the Tudor period. Even though they're fiction, there is a lot of accurate information about King Henry's reign. Also, the details of court life are fascinating. Most of us can't imagine living with the threat of death that people lived under in those days. While the books are loooong, the stories are interesting and not smutty.... as I was advised they were. (And, NOT, why I chose to read them, I might add!)

Funny vacation story..... we visit the same location several times a year so have become familiar with other folks in the area. Initially, Buttercup and I went alone and were joined by my husband on Sunday. On our last night when returning from dinner out I spotted a neighbor that I hadn't seen yet during this visit. We'd only met briefly last spring but their kitchen window overlooks our parking spot so they see more of us then we do of them. My husband went to open our front door for our daughter prior to joining our neighbor and I as we stood chatting on the front sidewalk. My neighbor said: I thought that was you but that isn't your husband, is it? I said, that yes, indeed, it was my husband. A few minutes later she popped into her house to grab something and I heard her yell to her own husband... 'yes, it is her husband'! We are still chuckling over that. What did she think I did.... pick some guy up at the beach half way thru my vacation?! Too funny. (Even funnier if you know us!)

Hope everyone is enjoying the final stretch of summer.

I have one more vacation finish to photograph and post.

Until then, I'm off.

The Queen Bee

Summer reading

Thanks for all your kind thoughts about how much we were roasting. The heat has passed so now we can just get back to being plain old 'hot'. The A/C is off and we're managing with ceiling fans and open windows.

Despite the heat, or maybe because of it, it's been a good summer for reading. I have borrowed all my book pictures from Amazon.com.......my all time favorite online book browsing and shopping website.

Years ago, when it first came out, I read Scott Turow's 'Presumed Innocent'. I enjoy a legal thriller and he's written some good ones. When the sequel, 'Innocent', came out I thought it would be good to go back and read the first one again. I gave both books to my husband for Father's Day and read them after he was done. It had been 20 years since the first reading and nothing rang a bell until I hit page 27. It all came back, who committed the murder, why, with what, etc. So I asked my husband if I was right. I was happy to think that I could skip 400 pages and move on to the next book. After all, there are just so many books to read I didn't want to spend the time reading the same book twice if I already knew the ending. He said I was right but that I really needed to read the whole book to reacquaint myself with the characters so the next book would make sense. So, back I went. It was still a good book and I liked the way the ending is revealed. I like a good courtroom drama, which both these books contain.




So, with the first book finished I moved on to the second. I can't say I enjoyed this one, though. In the first book, the main character might be a little bit likable.... just a little bit. By the time the second book rolls around he's NOT. He's still making poor choices, acting like a fool, and, once again, in need of a good defense attorney. Given that none of the characters were anyone I wanted to keep reading about, the second book was mostly a waste of time. The big reveal, at the end, was depressing to top it all off. So, if you have the desire for a good legal thriller, read 'Presumed Innocent' and leave it at that.




Another very enjoyable book is Amy Dickinson's 'The Mighty Queens of Freeville'. Amy is the new Dear Abby of the Chicago Tribune. She's not who writes that column in our local newspaper so I didn't recognize her name. She is, however, from a little town not that far from here. I picked up the book at an independent bookstore in a town about an hour from here because it was featured on a table of local authors. The description caught my attention right away. Amy finds herself in a foreign country with a little girl and no husband. She comes back home to regroup and find a job. She ends up living and working a days drive away from her home town of Freeville. She manages to raise her daughter by herself while maintaining her ties with her family and her old home town. I loved the writing style of this book. I also loved the way Amy didn't wallow in her misfortunes or loneliness. The book wasn't about her struggles to cope, it was just about her life. Life wasn't easy for her, but it wasn't easy for Amy's mother either, so I don't think Amy thought her's was anything dramatic. I find much to admire about a women who doesn't feel the need to wallow in self pity. There was no 'poor me, life is too hard all alone with a daughter to raise' that seem to make some other authors write books and become best sellers. Quite frankly, I'm tired of reading books about how hard it is to function in today's' world, even when you have a spouse, family around to help, money to survive, and good health insurance. (Not that I'm naming any names but I've found myself reading more then one such book lately.)





And finally, I read Elizabeth Berg's newest book: The Last Time I Saw You. Elizabeth Berg has always been one of my favorite authors. I used to say she could tell a good story in just 200 pages. Her last few books haven't been all that good, though. I'm not sure if it's just the topic or the story or what. I've been unable to connect to the characters, or to find the story interesting. While I liked this last one, the characters were shallow and hard to care about. We're introduced to various people as they prepare for their 40th high school reunion. Everyone has a different story with one exception.... they all feel the need to attend their class reunion. Most feel like they left something unfinished when they left school. I think it's an old story. The story of the who fits in, who never fit in, who wishes they'd treated classmates better, who wants to show their classmates that they've succeeded, and so on. It's a pleasant read, with a happy ending, so I didn't not enjoy this book, I just like something a little meatier.



So, there it is. What I've been reading over the last couple weeks. I have a book shelf full and a book or 2 on reserve at the library so keep checking back to see if any of them are worth mentioning.

Until then,

The Queen Bee

A bookish post.

I have indeed been reading despite the total lack of blogging about it. All the above book photos are from Amazon.... where I buy most of my books. I either buy the actual book or get the Kindle version. I could write an entire post about my Kindle and my love affair with my ipad but I'll save that for another day.... plus I'm waiting for app assistance, so until that's taken care of to my satisfaction, I'm not happy with my ipad today.

Also, since writing an essay about a book is on my list of things I don't enjoy I find myself moving on to the next book and leaving my thoughts unsaid. There are a variety of book review blogs I read..... serious blogs with well thought out book reviews. I came across one recently where the writer made very simple one, two, or three word comments about a book. I'll try for somewhere in the middle. Who knows, maybe someone will see what I write and that will make them read and enjoy a book. After all, that's the idea.

First I read 'Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt' by Beth Hoffman. The cover is so pretty I don't know how anyone could pass it up. It was a good story, well written, but a little too tidy. It was all about wrapping the story up in a neat tidy bow. Cee Cee's mother suffered some sort of psychosis that led to her eventual death. Lots of questions regarding her disease were left unexplored. I want to know these things..... I want the nitty gritty why's and what's when a main character's mother is suffering from something like that.

Next, 'The Postmistress' by Sarah Blake. This was an excellent book. Told from the point of view of 3 women, 2 living in a small Cape Cod town and the 3rd a radio reporter in Paris during the start of WWII. America wasn't in the war yet but folks were becoming more and more alarmed by the reports coming from Europe. The reporter struggled with how to tell the rest of the world what was happening as she traveled around Europe, putting together stories she tried to tell while a censor sat across from her just waiting to cut her off. The women's lives converge when the reporter comes back to America and sets out to visit the town on Cape Cod. I don't want to give away the best elements of this story but I really liked it. It was interesting to see what it was like in America before we entered the war, before boys were drafted, before we knew what was happening to Jewish residents in Europe, before the horrors.

Currently I'm reading Stieg Larsson's 3rd book. 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest'. Every one of his books is very good. The main characters remain throughout all 3 books. (The first 2 were 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' and' The Girl Who Played with Fire'.) They're big, thick books with lots of intrigue and a fair amount of violence.... incase that's not your cup of tea. The minute I finished the second book I went online and prepurchased the 3rd. It arrived Friday so I started it as soon as I was done with whatever I was reading. It picked up exactly where the 2nd left off. I'll be a solid week, or longer, enjoying this book. It's not the kind of thing I can read while doing anything else so it's going to take me longer then normal.

I should have a stitching finish to post soon. We're supposed to get some big rain storms tonight. As long as they don't knock out our electricity I should be able to finish it.

Until then, I'm off.

The Queen Bee

A good book that

{Image from Amazon.com)

didn't live up to my expectations.

Not that it wasn't a good story...... It's well written, funny, sad, and whatever else you might expect from a memoir about a marriage falling apart. Rhoda Janzen grew up in an ultra conservative home. In her adult life she left that conservative lifestyle behind, became a college professor, and made a bad marriage that lead to an inevitable end.

While the news that her husband is leaving her for another man might have some shock value for us readers, it apparently wasn't such a shock for Rhoda. What is shocking is that she managed to stay married for 15 years. Rhoda speculates, and I would have to agree, that her ultra conservative upbringing is what made her stay and continually attempt to mold herself into the wife her husband demanded.

I think what I found disappointing was the Mennonite aspect. That is 100% my own fault, so I don't want it to spoil any one's choice to read and enjoy this book. But, I live in a community of Mennonites. The horse and buggy type of Mennonites. I wished I'd taken a camera with me yesterday when I was driving to church to show you just how many horses and buggies are out and about making their way to Sunday morning services at the local Mennonite church. What I was hoping for, in this book, was a little glimpse into the lives of the Mennonite homes I am surrounded by.

In Rhoda's Mennonite home, children were allowed 'supervised television'. Huh? That was my first hint that things were going to be quite different. Here, Mennonite homes don't have electricity. Also, Rhoda went to public school, wore pants, and her mother was a nurse. Here, Mennonite children go to one room school houses, wear dresses & bonnets, and are generally farmers or small business owners, not anything that would require a college education.

Rhoda does a good job of explaining that many people have preconceived ideas about Mennonites and their lifestyles. In the appendix she explains that lifestyles are varied based on congregational affiliations. So, the education I got was that my knowledge of the Mennonites was limited to the community around me, which is not a fair representation of ALL Mennonite lives.

Now, I'm off to a full morning of errands. Over the weekend I put the finishing touches on a quilt and sewed a purse. Look for pictures in the next few days. Also, Lee, over at Lake Stitcher, is going to resurrect the Stitching Bloggers Question of the month (instead of the week) so watch for that.

The Queen Bee

The right jewelry

for the job.

On Saturday my order from Keepsake Quilting arrive with this very cute Kitty Scissors Sitter pin . I'm sure everyone knows how hard it is to keep track of your cute little scissors while stitching the evening away. I can hang my cheaters as well as rest my scissors and needle on the magnetic kitties. Voila... no more lost necessities. Perfect.

I have just finished reading Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout. This book was, seriously, hard work to read. Each chapter was a short story about either Olive Kitteridge or someone else in the same town. Aside from disliking Olive for the bitter ogre that she was, I had a heck of a time figuring out when and how the chapters tied into each other. They spanned 30 or 40 years with no clear indication when each story took place. Olive cropped up in each story in one way or another sort of linking them. Sometimes I could figure the timing out by something that was mentioned, and sometimes not. I also couldn't always figure out what the point of some of the stories was. I was constantly trying to remember if a previous story had mentioned these same people or not. I really should have remembered my dislike for short stories and skipped this book. Is there anyone who did like it? I'd love to hear what it was about the book or Olive that you found enjoyable.

I think I'll find something lighter and easier to read today. The sun has dared to peak out so I don't want to hide away in my basement sewing room since the sun has been absent for so long.

So, I'm off to finish the day's cleaning and pick up something new to read.

The Queen Bee

The Help

(Photo from Amazon.com)

is what I've been reading these past few days.

I always have a book, or two, or three under way. Many aren't worth commenting on but The Help, by Kathryn Stockett is worth a few words.

The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's. The main characters are a group of young society wanna-be's who grew up in homes with domestic help. As they begin their adult lives, trying to figure out where they fit in, they do as their own mothers did and hire help. The Help, women of amazing strength and character, make up the real main characters of this story. As their lives and stories unfold, so does the Civil Rights Movement. One society deb breaks out of the pack and begins writing the stories of The Help. A daunting task that must be undertaken in secret. The women all have so much to lose if anyone finds out what they're up to. The twists and turns that follow will keep you turning the pages to find out what happens as the book, Help by Anonymous, is published.

The story moves along with each chapter taking the voice of one of the characters. I love to read a book where an author can capture the voices of the different characters as vividly as this author does. I'm betting the audio version is wonderful to listen to. (Think The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver.)

I've read a number of reviews faulting the story and pointing out flaws in the characters but, while I can see their point, I preferred to just enjoy the story and the characters and become immersed in their lives. The Help is very well written and well worth reading.

I'm off.

The Queen Bee