The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd

 

The Indigo Girl

by

Natasha Boyd

The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd is a book I really enjoyed about a young teenaged girl who lives in the early 1700s in South Carolina.   She is running her father's plantations while he is fighting the Spanish for the English crown and decides they need a new cash crop.  She chooses to pursue growing and producing indigo even though others say it can be done.  After several false starts she is successful. A true historical figure in South Carolina's history  is really brought to life in this historical novel.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow the  links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.  

Dating Fabrics: A Color Guide 1800-1960 by Eileen Jahnke Trestain

Dating Fabrics

A Color Guide

1800-1960

by

Eileen Jahnke Trestain

Seven weeks ago, when I arrived home to begin my recovery from open heart surgery I found a package had arrived from a friend.  She had enclosed a couple of books.  One was Dating Fabrics: A Color Guide 1800 - 1960 by Eileen Jahnke Trestain.   It is a little over 200 pages and many of those pages are pictures of fabric swatches that represent examples of the various time periods. The author makes it clear how inventions such as the cotton gin and the domestic sewing machine provide earmarks for dating.  And current events, such as the death of Queen Victoria's husband, which loosely coincided with the rise of the number of civil war widows in the United States, influenced the color palates of a generation.   The development of science in relation to making fabric die is one factor to keep in mind when dating fabric.  Since I have had several old family quilts come in to my possession in recent years this is a subject that interests me.  Eileen Trestain has organized this book well and it will be a great reference book for me to utilize.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow the links for more information and enjoy the video that follows.  

Empire Falls by Charlie Russo

 

Empire Falls

by

Richard Russo

Empire Falls by Richard Russo is a novel that is not terribly long and I checked it out on my kindle app from the library.  The fact that I had to renew it says a lot for how much I felt lukewarm about it while reading it.  I will say it got better at the end.  The chapters that lead up to the school shooting and the chapter where the shooting occurred did hold my interest.  In fact the second half of the book was good.  I understand the first half of the book was spent developing characters.   But somehow it just came off gossipy to me.  I am glad I hung in there though because over all it is a good book.  It is the story of several individuals that live in a small town in Maine where industry has left and very little is left as far as opportunities for those that remain.  There are people who lie, people who have affairs, and people who are just discouraged.  The people in the town are trapped in their lives and they all want things to somehow change for them.  It isn't really my genre.  But over all it is a good book.  It was a best seller and they made a movie out of it.  Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow the link to more information and enjoy the video that follows.  

Living The Life Of A Fabric-aholic by Sandy Gervais

 

Living The Life

Of A

Fabric-aholic

by

SANDY GERVAIS

This book is a little short story that is colorfully illustrated and meant to cheer up and poke fun at over spending on fabric.  Some quilters get carried away with their fabric purchases. It is easy to accumulate quite a bit and not realize what all you have.   A couple days after I got home from Cleveland Clinic a package arrived in the mail.  My brother and sister in law had sent it.  Included was a darling hand made pillow case in which the fabric had frogs wearing scrub suits and a Sandy Gervais's book, Living The Life Of A Fabric-aholic.  It took me less than thirty minutes to read the book and was good for several chuckles.  It is a thoughtful gift book to give to your quilter friends.  Please click on the book title and author's name above to follow the links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.  The video is a bit long but is an interview of the author explaining how she develops her fabric lines.  

Circle of Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini

 

Circle of Quilters

by

Jennifer Chiaverini

When I arrived home from Cleveland Clinic following my open heart mitral valve surgery last week, a package was waiting on me.  A good friend since childhood had sent me a couple of books to read during my convalescence.  One of the books she sent was a novel named Circle of Quilters from a series by Jennifer Chiaverini called the Elm Creek quilts.  While it is a different genre than I normally read, I found it a very refreshing story.  Elm Creek Quilts is a fictional quilt retreat center outside of Pittsburgh where people come and stay and take classes.  Staying several days they gather and chat while they sew.  Ideas are exchanged and it is a popular spot for quilters.  In this particular novel of the series the quilt retreat is losing two staff members and the board is interviewing for their replacement.  The stories of five of the applicants are included in the book with each of the five sections concluding with their interview.  The last chapter reveals who was selected and why.  It was a fun read and a quick read.  I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun book. Please click on the author's name and book title above and enjoy the video that follows.  The video is about another book in the Elm Creek Quilts series but talks some about Chiaverini's writing in general.  

The Stolen Lady by Laura Morelli

 

The Stolen Lady

by

Laura Morelli

I finished reading The Stolen Lady by Laura Morelli late on the 14 of this month in a VRBO in downtown Cleveland, Ohio.  It is now ten days later and I feel well enough to write the book review.  Open heart mitral valve surgery is accompanied by a substantial recovery period.  I am just beginning my convalescence after my 5/15 surgery. The Stolen Lady has three story lines, all of which are good reads.  One of the story lines is the story of Leonardo De Vinci during the time that he was painting Lisa.  I did not realize he was so unreliable.  He ended up leaving the painting to the king of France to hang in the royal bath house upon his death.  Lisa's husband, who hired Leonardo to paint her, never got to own the painting.  Another of the story lines followed the woman who was Lisa's personal maid. It was rooted in the political history of Florence during that time frame and some of the core religious beliefs related to those political powers.  Also included are the details of Lisa's depression which was rooted in her loss of two infants.  Although she did have other children who grew to adulthood, Lisa blamed the rich way her family lived for the loss of the two children which she lost.  Leonardo De Vinci worked hard to draw Lisa out of sadness and did manage to capture her eventual smile.  The third story line of the book takes place during WWII and follows the story of an archivist who works at the Louvre.  She travels with the Mona Lisa and other works of art throughout the war to hide the art in various places of the free zone.  Eventually she ends up working with the resistance.  I enjoyed this novel and highly recommend it.  Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow links to more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.  

Company of Liars by Karen Maitland

 

Company of Liars

by 

Karen Maitland

This novel sucked me in immediately and kept me reading.  After checking it out on my kindle less than two weeks ago, I stayed up late last night finishing it.  It is the story of nine people who are living  during the time of the plague in mid 1300s England.  They are traveling toward the north to leave the cities and coastal towns where the plague began, hoping to arrive in more rural towns with the cold weather which normally kills disease.  Although strangers,  nine travelers band together to make their journey safer and help each other along the way.  Each of the nine people have a secret from their past.  As their trip continues their secrets become known and they begin to be killed off one by one.  I found the beliefs and superstitions described in the novel about disease during medieval times very interesting.  Click  HERE  for  further content from the author's historical research.  Click on the book title and author's name above  for more information.  And enjoy the video that follows.  I highly recommend this book.  I will definitely read more of Karen Maitland's work.