Year 2, week 15: Lisette's List

This week's book:
Lisette's List
By Susan Vreeland

I did something that I had never done before recently and I love it. I have a about a billion and two quilting and napkins to make before Christmas and I was not looking forward to having to rewatch something on Netflix or a movie I have seen a whole bunch of times. I'm not currently obsessed with some show and listening to music while using the sewing machine isn't very stimulating. I was kind of in a rut and then I realized that I could totally listen to a book on tape (by which I mean CD, I'm not that old fashioned) while I was quilting. The second I thought of the idea I packed up my little girl and drove to the local library and looked at their selection. Sadly, the book on CD selection wasn't much, but I found a book I need to read for book club sometime next year. It so nice to be doing two things at the same time that I love.

The audiobook book I picked up was Lisette's List and I'm going to be honest with you here, I just couldn't get into the book. I don't know if it was the person doing the reading; she was a Broadway actress and was doing all of these different accents and it was super over acted. The author did an amazing job painting a picture of words of all the scenery and plot but it was a little over done for my taste. The story is of a young newlywed from Paris who moves to the country with her new husband to care for his ailing grandfather. The grandfather has a collection of artwork that has been done by famous painter that he has known. The main character loves art and spends the rest of the book trying to find the paintings after the Nazis threatened to take them and her husband hides them. When her husband is away fighting in the war our heroine learns to take care of herself and become a very strong-willed, confident woman with an amazing art collection.

I think the book was a little over done for my taste, maybe a little too flowery. The book also had a storyline with a police officer that crosses the line, sexually assaulting the main character over and over again and no one in the book seems to think it's wrong, even for the late 1940’s early 1950’s. Maybe I am naive but I had a real problem with that part. As a whole I would say if you love French culture or art, this book is a must, and it might be a long read.

Year 2, week 14: Thanksgiving napkins

This week's quilting project:
Thanksgiving Napkins

This week's blog post isn't a book; it's a a set of eighteen Thanksgiving napkins and a table runner for my ridiculous brother-in-law. Why I say he is ridiculous is that he married my big sister (whom of course I love to death) and the fact that his favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Admittingly, he is a chef so the huge meal is his time to shine, but what a D&D, Game of Thrones dork.

With Thanksgiving coming up, I have been thinking about what I am thankful for. I have not been impressed by 2018, it's been heartbreaking in so many ways that I didn't even know it could break. But let's be honest I have so much to be thankful for. I have had the opportunity to stay at home for the majority of the time I have been a mom. I am able to do that because I have a husband that works so hard everyday for our family. I have two insane children that are my everything, even though they are gradually giving me more and more gray hair. We have a family that would do anything for me, if I actually ask for the help. I have a warm home and never worry about how I will feed my children or where we are going to stay. I have even been able to take in one of my best friends when he was down on his luck. As much as I would love to have 2019 start as soon as possible, I have to remember that the losses that I have felt this year were times that I had something so wonderful to be thankful for that I lost or feared had messed up.

Thank you everyone who loves me through and through. Thank you everyone who is in my life. Thank you.

Year 2, week 13: The Last Days of Night

This week's book:
The Last Days of Night
By Gram Moore

This week's book was a book group book. This historical fiction book is the last book for our group this year. I'm going to be honest here and say I was not really looking forward to reading it. I mean a lot of the books from this last year of group have just not been my cup of tea. All of these books have been different and very informative, but many of them have been very hard hitting topics that aren't always so easy to to get into. I mean give a girl a break.

The book from this week is about the current war between Edison and Westinghouse, with a little Tesla thrown in for good measure. The topic did not sound fun to me. Two men fighting over who created the light bulb and Edison suing Westinghouse for ripping off his original light bulb. The story is about the lawsuit and the lawyer that Westinghouse hiried. The plot wasn't grabbing me until about half way through the book. I still wouldn't say that I loved the book, but it was very informative.

My husband and I watch the Big Bang Theory, which is a television show about four highly intelligent men and the women in their lives. I knew the names of the inventors in the novel before I started the book because they are discussed on the show, but I will now be able to enjoy the show even more now that I have read the book. In fact every time Tesla’s relationship with Agnes came up in the book it made me think of Penny and Sheldon's relationship on The Big Bang Theory.

I had seen a trailer in the movie theater at time point for a film called The Current War starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison. The film looks like it is about the race for who is going to be the inventor of the light bulb and electrical king. I'm not entirely sure they will face the lawsuit, more likely they will just focus on each of the men trying to best each other. The film was set to be released in 2017, but the project is one of Harvey Weinstein's last works before all of the allegations came to the forefront, so the film has been shelved until Weinstein isn't such poison to everything.

So to wrap up, I would definitely recommend the book if you enjoy historical fiction or if you want to get a jump on the film that will eventually come out.

Year 2, week 12: Patriotic Quilt

Patriotic Prayer Quilt (featuring my daughter)

Since this week we had a general election I thought it would be a great time to finish my patriotic Prayer quilt for church. The quilt turned out looking a little more childish than I meant it to be, but oh well. I was super hyped that I just used left over fabric that I had from fourth of July napkins I had made earlier this year. I just love to use scraps of fabric instead of having to buy new fabric.

The election fell on the sixth anniversary of my mother passing away and I was also a little nervous/shell shocked from the 2016 election. So my hubby and best friend sat down Tuesday and watched the results. Turns out my predictions (that both of my male viewers didn't think would happen) were right. There are so many newly elected officials that are a first of their kind, and I am so flipping excited. I think my mom would have been excited. She made a point to vote before she passed away. Two official people came to her hospital to get her vote for the 2012 general election. The pollers were even able to go around and have a few other oncology patients vote as well. It's odd because I didn't get to vote that year because I didn't want to leave my mother's side and drive the two hours away to vote those last few weeks/days.

Year 2 week 11: The Chalk Man

This week's book:
The Chalk Man
By C.J. Tudor

This week's book was for a book group that I am not a member of. Two lovely ladies I am in a meal swap with were discussing that one of the next books that they were going to discuss was The Chalk Man. When I heard the plot, I went home and ordered the book online.

The way the book was sold to me concept-wise was kind of like IT mixed with a little bit of Stranger Things. The book tells the story of a group of misfits who draw these stickmen to tell each other secret messages. One kid might be telling the other kids they should meet at the reservoir or playground, or such things. However, the chalk men begin showing up one day, with no one admitting to drawing them, and a dead body is found with the stick men leading the way.

I thought there would be supernatural things happening in this story, but there aren't. The story goes back and forth (another tie to IT if you ask me) with the main character telling what happened in each time period. The problem that I had was with the novel was that I need at least one character to like (or a villain so bad you love to hate them) to enjoy a book or show or something, but I couldn't related to any of the characters and it kind of fell flat. I was hoping for a scary book for Halloween but was left with a bit of a lame murder mystery, with an ending that leaves the reader being like “what did I just read?” Can't say I would recommend it.