Book Benders and Stash!

This darling little project is the new Buttons and Blooms stitch for a cure from Elegant Stitch! It's created by Blackbird Designs...and includes the ready-made ditty bag, the fabbie, threads and fabric backing....AND the little wax piece! All for $30. to charity. Go see Lois while they last!

I was in such a reading, craving mode this week, I stacked up paperbacks for a reading hibernation, bought a coconut lemon sponge cake, and dug out my most luxurious and comfy pjs....changed my bed into a cushy, gorgeous Princess bed, too!! It was decadent. :P

Here are the books I read:

"The Great Man" by Kate Christensen - Winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award

A truly fabulous novel that kept me reading from 4PM to 3AM to the finish! This was a strange thing, because I really wasn't drawn in by the title of the book, nor the summaries on the cover. It said it was about an artist in NYC who had died, whose biography was being written by two men, and who left behind a wife and son, a sister, and a mistress and two daughters. Yawn.... I really bought the book because it was given the Pen/Faulkner Award, and that alone made me curious enough to buy it! I'm so glad I did!! What a wonderful and spellbinding author Christensen is! I was completely captivated from page one! Couldn't put the book down...fell madly in love with the women characters...and could have read 300 more pages after the book ended!! Treat yourself to this all-nighter book in paperback.

Next, I read "Summer Reading," by Hilma Wolitzer. Not a beachy paperback, though the title might seem like it is. This book is well written with characters of interest and depth, and a recommended booklist for you, too. The story takes place in the Hamptons mostly at the home of a seasonal, wealthy young woman who hosts her friends/acquaintances' Summer book group "The Page Turner's." The focus of the story is on the year-round leader of the group, the hostess of Page Turner's, her housemaid....how the books change their lives. One of the main premises of the book is that "novels are supposed to change the way we live," and to help us see and live more "authentic lives." It makes you think, and wonder..... A great book to start the school year out....

I've also been stashing some other goodies!!

Shepherds Bush: Sail Away Can't resist this pretty one!

Shepherds Bush: Into the Night Nothing better than SB for Halloween

Rosewood Manor: Quakers and Quilts Reminds me of an old Presidential Campaign board or grandstand. I may trade the alphabet for this year's candidate's names. Rosewood Manor: Family Reunion Not sure I'd ever do this whole piece, but I do like bits of it, especially the frame and tag ideas for pincushions and fobs.

Did I tell you I'm in Vonna's "Me, Myself and I, RR" group? So many of you are, too. It's going to be great fun this year! I'm thinking a "His eye is on the sparrow" type village for my piece with lots of birds... It's still in the cranium. :)

Hugs, Deb