Quilts and Books

Hard to believe, but the 2012 Brenda Novak Auction for the Cure of Diabetes is right around the corner, little more than 2 months away. Since my Teen has this disease, I've been contributing a quilted project for several years now. This year, I'm offering something a little different that I hope will appeal to authors, but perhaps readers might like this, too. I am offering to make a "book cover wall hanging"--that is I will design and make a wall hanging that includes the images of up to 4 book covers. High-resolution files, submitted by the winning bidder, will be printed onto fabric and sewn into a quilt that will probably measure around 24" x 18", depending on how many book covers are used. To illustrate what I'm thinking of, I made up a prototype for Brenda as a thank you for all she's done to make the auction happen. I chose to work with Brenda's latest series and started with these three book covers: I need to pause a momen...

Back in the early 2000's, when I began lurking at the old AAR  boards, I heard talk of this book. And according to Amazon, I apparently broke down and purchased a copy for myself via Marketplace in 2004 for a "mere" $4.75. Today a used print copy goes for about $25. I don't know why I waited so long to read it. I'd keep seeing references to how good it is, especially from KristieJ who has been nagging our TBR hostess to read it forever. I think I was saving it for a day when I knew I needed to read a really good book. But when I saw that this month's theme was "Recommended Read" it was clear that this was the book I had to read. I was really, really stupid to wait 8 years to read this. Frankly, I should just end this review with that statement. I am writing this Tuesday evening. Earlier today I saw on Twitter that at least 2 other TBR participants are reviewing this for today as well. And they'll probably do a better job at it than me. B...

5. Trouble at the Wedding / Laura Lee Guhrke . An impoverished Earl of dubious character is about to marry a wealthy American heiress from the backwaters of Mississippi. Her uncle hires an impoverished Duke, also of dubious character, to put a stop to the wedding. And thus begins this Edwardian-set historical that explores the British aristocracy's need for American money at the turn of the 20th century. Christian, the Duke and our hero, was married before and is determined to never marry again. Annabel is a smart and determined young woman who has a very business-like, practical approach to marriage. She wants to find a place in society specifically so her younger sister will never have to experience the social ostracism that Annabel experienced as a teen. Besides the setting, the best part of this book for me was Annabel who knew exactly what she was doing and why she was doing it. She understood how to use and make money and it was refreshing to see Christian come to her for ad...