Fiber Fool

I have been super lax in keeping you up to date on my reading. Seeing as I’ve hit a bit of stumbling block in the knitting department at the moment it seemed a great time to catch up on that topic. It has been much of the same around here - cozies. I figure it better to be reading than to not be reading and for whatever reason, anything other than cozies or the occasional romance seems to equate to slogging through. There is also a book meme at the bottom of the post.

• Aunt Dimity and The Duke (Book 2), Aunt Dimity’s Good Deed (Book 3), and Aunt Dimity Digs In (Book 4) by Nancy Atherton - I love this series and it is taking most everything in me to hold back so I don’t run out of these books too soon. Next up is a Christmas one so I think I’ll try hold out on that until I get back from my MN trip. I think I’d like to own these books - these are the first cozies I’ve felt that way about. But, I see myself pulling them from the shelf to read when stuck at home sick or snowed in. Book two is a little disconnected from book one, but was as enjoyable and serves as set-up for the books that follow.
• Candy Apple Red by Nancy Bush - This was recommended to me by Wanda I believe. It was a fun read. I just started the next book in this series, Electric Blue.
• Dark Tort and Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson - These are the two most recent in the Goldy Bear series. Much of the same, but still enjoyable.
• Crime Brulee by Nancy Fairbanks - This book as a new to me foodie cozie I stumbled upon at the library. It has a nice twist in that the female sleuth is a middle-aged woman whose children have moved into adulthood and she has stumbled upon a career as a food critic/writer. I enjoyed this book and will definitely be checking out the other books in the series, though at this point it isn’t one of my top picks. But, my favs so far I’m rapidly catching up on.
• The Case of the Roasted Onion by Claudia Bishop - This is the first in a new series from the author of the Hemlock Falls Mysteries (many of which I cannot get through my library). I was expecting a foodie mystery but it was a veterinary mystery centered on racing horses. While it wasn’t what I expected it was quite enjoyable. I did have a few nit picks on details that I’m curious to see if they get addressed or fixed in the books that follow.
• Blood Country by Mary Logue - This was an impulse purchase from Anthology back in June. It appears as though it was part of a mail-order book club. It was set mostly in a small Wisconsin town on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin, with some action also taking place in the Twin Cities. A former Minneapolis detective finds herself widowed and moves her and her young daughter to a small, rural town to hide from the dangers of her former job, only she finds out one can only hide for so long. This was a much better read than I had been expecting. There were also some other authors and titles listed in the back of this book that I’m going to seek out.
• Witches’ Bane by Susan Wittig Albert - The second installment of the sleuthing adventures of semi-retired lawyer, current herb shop owner, China Bayles. I not only enjoyed the mystery element of this book, but China also went through some great character growth as well, an element you don’t often see in cozies. I’m looking forward to continue with this series, though my library and it’s partners seem to be a bit spotty in what is on the shelves so that may slow me down even further.
• How Nancy Drew Saved My Life by Lauren Baratz-Logsted - This one took me forever to read. I think it’s been on my ipod all summer long and I only just finished it. Part of that was due to the narrator of the Audible.com version not making it through my pillow speaker in a clear fashion. Though if the book had been terribly compelling I’m sure I would have found excuses to listen on my laptop, the stereo, or with headphones. That said, last few hours just flew. I think it was just a real slow starter.

Continuing along the theme of books, I was tagged by Athena Dreams a while back. But it always takes me a while to get around to responding to these things.

1. Hardcover or paperback, and why?
I’m not opposed to paperbacks and prefer them for travel reading, though if it is a book I think I’ll re-read over the years I would usually prefer hardcover. Though real long books I don’t care for in hardcover as I don’t find them comfortable to read if they get too heavy.

2. If I were to own a book shop, I would call it…
Literature and Libations ??? No idea, I’ve never really given it a thought. Though I do love coffee/tea shops combined with the books. It just seems such a natural combination.

3. My favorite quote from a book (mention the title) is…
I’m not one to recall quotes from books or movies, sadly.

4. The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be…
I haven’t thought about this in a long time. Certainly not since I started to meet some published authors and have had the honor of coffee or dinner with some of them. I know at various points in my life I have wished to meet LM Montgomery and Laura Ingalls Wilder, or Toni Morrison, or Jane Austen. I’m not sure who I’d choose today.

5. If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be…
If I could bring unlimited yarn/fiber/needles/spindle/wheel it would have to be The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns. If that were not the case (which I suspect quite likely for a deserted island trip) I’d have to say one of the collections of Willa Cather books probably.

6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that…
Would allow a book to be open at the perfect angle for me to read and knit at the same time. It would also be able to turn the pages by a voice command so I wouldn’t have to pause in my knitting. Or, one that could hold the book above my head at the right angle so that I could read while lying on my therapy balls or the heating pad. Again, it being able to turn the page on a voice command would be highly desirable.

7. The smell of an old book reminds me of…
Wonderful times pouring through the shelves of some of my favorite used bookstores.

8. If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title), it would be…
As a child I always wanted to be Mary in The Secret Garden. There is just something I love about the idea of having my own secret place like that. Currently I’d love to be Lori Shepherd in the Aunt Dimity series. She gets to spend a lot of time in a small cottage in England, she gets to communicate with ghost and solve mysteries, all while learning to be a good cook and having a quite lovely (yet realistic) relationship with her family. Keep in mind I’ve only read the first three books of the series so far. I reserve the right to change my mind :-)

9. The most overestimated book of all times is…
I think I’d have to go along with the many who had named DaVinci Code. It was an interesting concept, but not very skillfully executed.

10. I hate it when a book…
Either leaves you hanging with way too many questions unanswered, or they tie up it up way too neatly and leave no questions for you to answer yourself. Yes, I’m a demanding reader (sometimes anyway)!

Since I think most everyone has probably already participated in this meme, I will just leave it with those that want to participate, tell us about the books in your lives!