Quilts and Books

In the wake of Halestorm (#HaleNo), lots of book bloggers are taking a break from normal reviewing for several days. I doubt I would have blogged books this week anyhow, but to show some solidarity here's a quilty post that had been brewing. One search phrase that frequently sends folks to this blog is "paint chip challenge" because I had participated in one back in 2010. You can read more about that with the  series of posts here . It was such a fun thing to do that when I became president of my guild this year, I decided to issue a similar challenge to guild members. I passed out close to 100 paint chips at our September and October meetings. They were in sealed envelopes, so no one knew what color they would receive. The rules are as follows: Use the color family represented by your paint chip as closely as you can manage. Use a minimum of 3 (three) tone-on-tone and/or solid colored fabrics. Use ONE multi-colored fabric or  ONE neutral fabric (black, white, gr...

The best part of my online life over that last 10 years has been that corner of the book world -- including both readers and authors -- where people talk openly and freely about the books they've read. Whether the reaction was love, hate, or something in between, those reactions are probably directly responsible for 99% of the books I've read (or added to the TBR pile) in that time span. Whether I've been introduced to a specific title or a specific author, I've derived countless hours of enjoyment devouring one book after another. Look, I mostly lurk on the internet. I don't engage very often. In the almost 4 years I've had a Twitter account I've amassed a whopping total of 1,697 tweets. I blog here, what? -- maybe twice or three times per month. It's not in my nature to put myself out there. I'd rather read or sew. Still, I've managed to make some wonderful connections and discover where to go for the next great book to read. I'm so grate...

In an effort to show up here a little more often, I'm going to change how I talk about what I read. For the time being, no more "Phyl's Phaves." Maybe some random blathering will be equally useful and less taxing to write. When I left off my Summer Reads post, I was getting ready to listen to Sarah MacLean's  2014 RITA winner, No Good Duke Goes Unpunished . I tried, and quit about 4 chapters in. As much as I wish I could say her books appeal to me, they do not. I can see why they appeal to other readers, and I'm happy that her writing peers awarded her a RITA, but I am not the reader for her. Are they too anachronistic? I don't know. Maybe. But then please tell me... Why am I so enamored of Grace Burrowes and Kristen Ashley ? Burrowes is often accused of historical inaccuracy and Ashley writes a kind of contemporary fantasy that I find very appealing while I simultaneously go, No! That's just nuts! I introduced a friend of mine to Ashley...