Squares 18 & 19: Books

At long last, I finally completed my "books" squares.  As you may recall from this post, I tried to do this square several times and had to keep ripping it out, in total frustration.  Last night I went back to it, and pushed through to finish.  I can't say that I love it, but I'm glad that it's done.

I love books, love to read, and I always have.  I was the kid who was constantly lugging around 10 pound Stephen King hardback books with me everywhere I went.  I'm happy to say that my oldest daughter is a voracious reader (and we're crossing our fingers that our youngest will be, too). 

I've read a lot of books this summer, but here are a few of my favorites, if you're looking for a good read:

The Passage, by Justin Cronin: Huge book (I swear it weighs 20 pounds).  Basically, an end-of-the-world vampire book written by a literary author.  So, exactly my cup of tea.  Read it in 2 days -- still thinking about it.  It's scary, compelling, thrilling.  Highly recommend!!

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, by  Katherine Howe: Salem witch trials meet modern day Harvard historian.  Not a perfect book, but it captured my imagination and had a touch of magic that I enjoyed.  Great summer read.

61 Hours, by Lee Child: the latest in the Jack Reacher thriller series.  Couldn't put it down -- love all of the books in this series.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, by Steig Larsson: I was probably the last person on the planet to read this book.  Took me awhile to get into it, but then I was hooked.  I'm looking forward to reading the sequel.

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley: wonderful classic mystery, set in England in the 1950's, but with a twist: the heroine/sleuth is a young girl who loves chemistry and is obsessed with poisons.  I loved this, and the sequel is on my bedside table!

And if that's not enough, a few more of my all-time favorites:
The Forgotten Garden, by Kate Morton
The Stand, by Stephen King (unabridged, of course)
The Thirteenth Tale, by Diane Setterfield
Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell (we read this last year for my bookclub, and I have to tell you, we were all just astonished by this novel -- amazing in so many ways!  Even if you've seen the movie a million times, like I had, I urge you to go get this book.  You'll be glad you did!)

Well, that's just a little taste of my bookshelf!  Hope you're having fun stitching and that you've read some lovely books lately!

Square 14: Patience

Patience is a real blessing.  To be frank -- it's not something that I have in abundance.  I am rarely a patient person, though I strive to be more patient.  I could be much more patient with my kids, other drivers, the world at large....   But that is not why this square is about patience.  It's about patience because it was not supposed to be the next square.  This was:

It's supposed to be a square about books.  I stitched it and ripped it out twice last night; it's giving me fits!  Books are a really big deal to me, and I want to get this square right.  Finally, I gave up and moved on.  I took out some of my favorite tatting and stitched it onto another square -- and poof, a pretty square.  Not a technically difficult one, but one that sorta restored my sanity (and kept me from flinging my super-cute Cath Kidston sewing basket across the room in frustration). 

So, here's to patience!  And may I have the patience to return to the "books" square soon.  :)