BOOK REPORT & QUILTING......

House Arrest - K. A. Holt

Synopsis

Timothy is on probation. It's a strange word—something that happens to other kids, to delinquents, not to kids like him. And yet, he is under house arrest for the next year. He must check in weekly with a probation officer and a therapist, and keep a journal for an entire year. And mostly, he has to stay out of trouble. But when he must take drastic measures to help his struggling family, staying out of trouble proves more difficult than Timothy ever thought it would be. By turns touching and funny, and always original, House Arrest is a middlegrade novel in verse about one boy's path to redemption as he navigates life with a sick brother, a grieving mother, and one tough probation officer.
(Amazon.com)

This is another book rated Junior Fiction at my library.  I read a lot of their Jr. Fiction books...they have lots of really good books.  This one is written like a diary/journal.  Timothy is on probation and part of his house arrest...is he has to write in a journal everyday.....for a year.  It was slow going doing this, but Timothy finally got the hang of it.  It's full of moments that make you smile, and others make you want to scream or cry.  I really enjoyed reading this book.  *****

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges.....

Monthly Key Word Challenge(House)

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When I'm not reading, I'm working on a quilt or embroidery.  At this time I'm working on my niece's quilt.  She wanted a Stitch (as in Lilo and Stitch) Quilt.  I'm hoping to get this done before her birthday in August.  I have 2 more rows to put on, then the border.  Then put it all together and tie it.

BOOK REPORT......

Green River, Running Red - Ann Rule

Synopsis
In her most personal and provocative book to date, the #1 bestselling master of true crime presents "her long-awaited definitive narrative of the brutal and senseless crimes that haunted the Seattle area for decades" (Publishers Weekly). This is the extraordinary true story of the most prolific serial killer the nation had ever seen -- a case involving more than forty-nine female victims, two decades of intense investigative work...and one unrelenting killer who not only attended Ann Rule's book signings but lived less than a mile away from her home.(Amazon.com)


I read "The Stranger Beside Me" a few years ago and really enjoyed it.  I also tried reading Green River, Running Red a few years ago, but couldn't finish it.  So I took another crack at it.  I'm glad I did....really great book.  With all the info you could possibly want to know about the senseless crimes of this person.  Ann Rule kept notes and other information for 20 years, just in case she ever got to write the book.  And she did an excellent job of writing this book.  If you enjoy reading true crime books, this is the one to read.  *****

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges....

Color Coded Challenge(Green)

BOOK REPORT.....

No One is too Small to Make a Difference - Greta Thunberg

Synopsis
In August 2018 a fifteen-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, decided not to go to school one day in order to protest the climate crisis. Her actions sparked a global movement, inspiring millions of students to go on strike for our planet, forcing governments to listen, and earning her a Nobel Peace Prize nomination.

No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference brings you Greta in her own words, for the first time. Collecting her speeches that have made history across the globe, from the United Nations to Capitol Hill and mass street protests, her book is a rallying cry for why we must all wake up and fight to protect the living planet, no matter how powerless we feel. Our future depends upon it.(Amazon.com)

This little girl is very inspiring.  Her speeches in the tiny book make you listen.  It will also give you lots of encouragement to do something about the climate crisis.  Because if we don't do it...who will.  It seems no one wants to help.  *****

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges...

Gaia Reading Challenge

BOOK REPORT.....

My Side of the Mountain - Jean Craighead George

Synopsis
Terribly unhappy in his family's crowded New York City apartment, Sam Gribley runs away to the solitude-and danger-of the mountains, where he finds a side of himself he never knew.(Amazon.com)

This book is labeled Junior Fiction at my library.  Don't let that fool you, it was a really good book, with lots of nature, animals and learning how to survive.  Sam heads to the Gribley farm, which is not a farm anymore, but a wilderness.  Sam is looking for somewhere to live in the wilderness.  He hunts and hunts and finally settles on a Chestnut Tree with a hollow at the bottom.  Sam burns and cuts out his tree to make it bigger.  Then Sam is off to find food.  What he finds is really interesting.  Really liked this book...*****

This book is for one of my reading challenges...

Gaia Reading Challenge

BOOK REPORT.......

The Yellow Feather Mystery - Franklin W. Dixon

Synopsis:

The famous young detectives Frank and Joe Hardy are caught up in a dangerous web of intrigue when they agree to help Greg Woodson search for his grandfather’s missing will. When Henry Kurt, the temporary headmaster of Woodson Academy, insists that he is to inherit the property from Greg’s grandfather, the case becomes even trickier. Frank and Joe must risk their lives several times before they solve the mystery of Yellow Feather and trap a sinister criminal who will stop at nothing--even murder--to satisfy his greed for money.(Amazon.com)


This book is classified as Junior Fiction at my library.  But this is a really good book that held my attention.  Well written and full of mystery and mayhem.  The Hardy boys are on the case for a friend and run into all kinds of obstacles trying to figure out who the Yellow Feather is.  *****

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges....

Color Coded Reading Challenge

BOOK REPORT.......

Girl in Translation - Jean Kwok

Synopis
When Kimberly Chang and her mother emigrate from Hong Kong to Brooklyn squalor, she quickly begins a secret double life: exceptional schoolgirl during the day, Chinatown sweatshop worker in the evenings. Disguising the more difficult truths of her life—like the staggering degree of her poverty, the weight of her family's future resting on her shoulders, or her secret love for a factory boy who shares none of her talent or ambition—Kimberly learns to constantly translate not just her language but herself back and forth between the worlds she straddles.(Amazon.com)


This is my book clubs choice to read for February.   I read the book, it was readable, but I didn't really enjoy this book much.  Don't know why, but it just didn't keep me reading.  I kept putting it down and picking it up.  Which is frustrating to me anyway.  Maybe I wasn't in the mood to read this particular book.  Who knows....anyway it's readable.  ***

BOOK REPORT.......

The Hidden Life of Trees - Peter Wohlleben

Synopsis
Are trees social beings? In this international bestseller, forester and author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that, yes, the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, and even warn each other of impending dangers. Wohlleben also shares his deep love of woods and forests, explaining the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in his woodland.(Amazon.com)

I have been wanting to read more fiction books.  I found the perfect reading challenge for this...Gum Trees and Galaxies is hosting this reading challenge.  Gaia Reading Challenge is about reading books about the climate/nature.  So I checked out my library and made my list of books.  This book was highly recommended.

I never knew anything about threes, except they are there.  Did you know that trees have an electrical network in their roots?  That trees nourish stumps with food?  If you want to know more about trees I highly recommend this book. *****

SCRAPS......

Cynthia over at Quilting is more fun than Housework is the host of Oh, Scraps!  Got scraps of fabric laying around?  Putting a scrap quilt together?  Head over and check out all the scrappy stuff going on at Cynthia's place.

I have lots of scraps, I use them to make crazy quilts.  But you always have small pieces you can't use.  So I've been saving my little scraps.  I don't like to throw any fabric away when I could possibly use it somewhere else.  Got an idea for all those tiny scraps one night.  I cut them into shapes and put them on a 4 1/2" piece of muslin.

Last week I found a crazy quilt block that needed some more work done on it.  This is the one that needed some more work.

 This is what it looks like after I finished it.

Have a scrappy day!

BOOK REPORT......

Cooked by Michael Pollan

In Cooked, Pollan discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements—fire, water, air, and earth—to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. (Amazon.com)

MY THOUGHTS:
This is the 2nd book from Michael Pollan that I've read.  It was a very informative book.  I learned some really interesting things about cooking that I didn't know.  I never put the fire, water, air and earth together with cooking.  But it's so true if you think about it.  Everything you do to cook is in these 4 elements.  *****

This book is for 1 of my reading challenges...

 Gaia Reading Challenge

SHAPE QUILT.....

Do you have lots of scrap fabric?  I do....lots of it.  Most of the pieces I can use somewhere on a quilt I'm working on.  But you also get lots of little scraps you can't use.  I hate throwing those away.  So, I am making a Scrap Shape Quilt. 

I cut those little pieces of fabric and make a shape.  They are all put onto a 4 1/2" piece of muslin. 

I have pretty good stack right now.  Yes, it will take lots more to finish this quilt.....but I don't have to throw away perfectly good fabric now.

CRAZY QUILT....

I've been working on a 8 1/2 " Crazy Quilt.  As usual I have several projects going at the same time.  I have so many ideas for quilts.....I just start them when I think of them....and work on all of them some time or another.  The Crazy Quilt I'm working on has 19 blocks done and one in the process.
I have a big box of scraps I'm using for this project.  Here are 3 of the blocks I've finished....

I'm linking up with Cynthyia over at Quilting is More Fun than Housework.  Hop over and check out what everyone is working on.

I decided to join the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  The color this time is Orange.  I happen to be working on a Crazy Quilt block with orange in it.  Still have some more work to do, but the basics are done.  Hop over and check out what everyone is working on that is Orange.

WHILE BLOG HOPPING......

I found this place that is having a reading challenge about Nature/Environment.  Sounded like an interesting book to read.  So I've went looking for books at my local library and found several that will work.  Where is this place at???

Sharon over at Gum Trees and Galaxies is the host. 

The reading challenge is called Gaia Challenge.....

read one or more books that have a nature, climate or environment theme of some sort. To really get back to nature read at least one book a month on this theme. You don’t have to blog to participate, you can set up a Gaia reading challenge shelf on goodreads and link to it.

I've put this challenge in my Reading Challenge Tab at the top of my blog.  

BOOK REPORT.....

The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg

Meet Doris, a 96-year-old woman living alone in her Stockholm apartment. She has few visitors, but her weekly Skype calls with Jenny—her American grandniece, and her only relative—give her great joy and remind her of her own youth.
When Doris was a girl, she was given an address book by her father, and ever since she has carefully documented everyone she met and loved throughout the years. Looking through the little book now, Doris sees the many crossed-out names of people long gone and is struck by the urge to put pen to paper. In writing down the stories of her colorful past—working as a maid in Sweden, modelling in Paris during the 30s, fleeing to Manhattan at the dawn of the Second World War—can she help Jenny, haunted by a difficult childhood, unlock the secrets of their family and finally look to the future? And whatever became of Allan, the love of Doris’s life?
A charming novel that prompts reflection on the stories we all should carry to the next generation, and the surprises in life that can await even the oldest among us, The Red Address Book introduces Sofia Lundberg as a wise—and irresistible—storyteller. Amazon.com

Loved reading this book, really interesting the stories you get from and address book.  I give this book *****

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges:

Monthly Key Word.....Red
Color Coded Challenge.....Red

STITCHING.......

Today is Slow Sunday Stitching taking place over at Kathy's Quilts....head over and check out what everyone is stitching on today.

As for me, I'm working on a quilt for my niece, Zoey.  I asked her what she wanted and she said she wanted Stitch on her quilt.  I found one I liked and proceeded to start working on it.  As of today I have 4  rows done.  It's for a twin bed, so I think 7 rows will work.

There is going to be a light green border on the quilt.  I'm planning on embroidering music notes on it. 

The cell phones I've put on the quilt is a history lesson for Zoey.  The little talk bubbles have Slang Words from the 1960's....so she will have to track them down on the internet.  She knows some of them....
The blocks are 10 1/2" blocks with a 2" border between each block and row.   Stitch and the cell phones are all done with fabric from my scrap box.

Hope everyone has an awesome day stitching...and have a great.....

BOOK REPORT.......

This was my January Book Club's choice.  I tried reading this book, but it just didn't grab my interest.  So I stopped after the 5th chapter.

Olive Kitteridge - Elizabeth Strout

I give this book **

BOOK REPORT.....

The Water Castle - Megan Frazer Blakemore

Synopsis (Amazon.com)
Ephraim Appledore-Smith is an ordinary boy, and up until his father's stroke he lived an ordinary life. But all that changes when his family moves to the Water Castle-their ancestral home in the small town of Crystal Springs. Mallory Green's family has always been the caretakers of the Water Castle-and the guardians of its secrets. She has been raised to protect the legendary Fountain of Youth, hidden on the estate grounds. But ever since her mom left, she's stopped believing in magic.Will Wylie's family has been at war with the Applegates for generations, all because of the Water Castle's powerful secrets. But Will has rejected legend and magic, putting all his faith in science. When Ephraim learns of the Fountain, he's sure finding it can cure his dad. With Mallory and Will's help, the trio embarks on a mission that brings them deep into their families' shared history, through every secret room in the Water Castle, and on a quest that will blur the lines of magic and science, creativity and discovery, leaving readers left to wonder: Do you believe in the unbelievable?


This book is listed as Junior Fiction at my Library....but don't let that fool you into thinking it's just for kids.  Really good book, held my attention very well.  And if the unbelievable could be called Faith....I believe! 5 *****

This book is for 2 of my reading challenges
Monthly Key Word Challenge.....(Water)
Color Coded Challenge....(Blue)

EMBROIDERY HOOPS......

Do your embroider....what kind of hoops do you prefer?  I myself like the wooden hoops, they seem to hold the fabric tighter. 

I've tried the plastic hoops, but didn't really like them that much.  They don't seem to tighten up as much as the wooden hoops.

I do lots of embroidery, I'm working on a Crazy Quilt....here are a couple of blocks I've done.

I'm linking up with Tamar for Little Things Thursday.  Head over to Tamar's place and check out all the folks sharing their posts.

HOLIDAYS.....

The holidays are over...the Christmas Tree is down...had my Cabbage Rolls for New Years.

The twins have been out of school for almost 2 weeds....they go back to school Jan. 6...then maybe things can get back to normal.

I was so bored with playing games on my computer, I picked up my grand daughters library book...It's Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People by Dav Pilkey.  I've wanted to read this series of books, but have never done it.  I must say I was pretty surprised...I really liked this book!  This is book 8, so I've got to go back to the beginning.

The teachers are nice, the cafeteria serves delicious food, and the school principal, Mr. Krupp, thinks George and Harold are hilarious. Something is very, very wrong -- and it gets even wronger when the boys' pet pterodactyl, Crackers, and Sulu the Bionic Hamster are captured by George and Harold's evil-twin look-alikes. Now George and Harold must face their greatest foes yet: THEMSELVES! Can they handle this mess on their own, or will they need Captain Underpants to swoop in and save the day?

I give this book......

*****

CHRISTMAS......

Hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season.

SLOW SUNDAY STITCHING....

Kathy over at Kathy's Quilts is the host for....Slow Sunday Stitching...

Want to see what everyone is working on.....head over to Kathy's place to check it all out.

As for me...I'm working on a Crazy Quilt...I'm doing this on 8 1/2  X  8 1/2 inch muslin squares.  I'm making these blocks from my scrap box...that's what I've named this quilt...My Scrap Box Quilt.  I've got 16 done so far....so have a lot of work to do...I'll just show a few I've gotten done.  Want to see a larger picture....just click on the picture.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 5