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JennW in SoCal

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Everything posted by JennW in SoCal

  1. @mumto2 I've adapted a Pacific Rim Quilt company stocking pattern using tropical florals in honor of all the holidays spent in Hawaii with family. My runner only has 6 stockings, too. I used the machine to appliqué after sticking the stockings on with good ol' "wonder under". I'm just echo quilting the top half, will use the machine to make the bottom half look more like bricks. Your wall hanging pattern is adorable!!!
  2. I notice that nobody has jumped in to discuss Kristin Lavransdatter.? I abandoned it somewhere in the second book, fully intending to pick it back up, but haven't been too motivated to finish. It was her stupid, insipid and feckless husband that made me put it down, though Kristin didn't inspire me much, either. I'm in need of audio fluff to amuse me while I hand quilt a Christmas wall hanging, so am listening to the new Brandon Sanderson YA, Skyward. It's just fine, nothing special, but good escapist sci-fi. Speaking of sci-fi, we recently rewatched Last Jedi and I liked it much less than I did in the theater. I liked Luke Skywalker and finish to his story arc, and Laura Dern's character. And while I'm a huge fan of Kelly Marie Tran because she grew up in my church and sang in the choir with my ds, I thought her story line was the weakest of the movie. The family consensus is the Hans Solo movie isn't even worth a rewatch! The new Star Wars land at Disneyland opens up in May or June next year. I'm hoping there will be special preview days for family of cast members, otherwise I won't go near the place for another year or so due to the crowds! I enjoyed both North and South and Cranford, though it's been a few years since I read them and I now have the tv adaptations mixed in my mind with the books. My guess is that most of us hopeless romantics here at WTM love North and South because they live happily ever after and because of Richard Armitage in the tv version.
  3. I LOVE my Sew EZ table. It folds up if I need to put it away or take it to a quilting retreat, but I use it as my regular sewing table. The machine drops in, it doesn't take up that much room and I can use other table tops for cutting or laying out. http://www.seweziusa.com/sewezi-portable-table.html
  4. I need a break before the 2nd book, but I'm sure I'll read it and the third. And it was not me who recommended Leviathan Wakes, but am glad to have it put on my radar?
  5. @Robin M How is the smoke in your area? We had some smoke at the beginning of the week, but then the strong Santa Ana winds picked up and cleared it all out. There were a handful of small fires that were immediately knocked out by our local firefighters, AND the power company cut power to communities in the mountains and canyons where downed lines can be a hazard, so all in all I feel like we dodged a bullet. In case you all missed it, someone on the chat board posted a link to a homeschool store that is accepting donations for homeschool families who lost everything in the Camp fire up north. https://www.abrighterchild.com/ @Angelaboord I loved reading the update on Abby! Our own LadyFlorida (Kathy) has a new grandbaby with DS who is facing heart surgery shortly. I know the Abby update will be of extra interest to and comfort for her. I finished The Three Body Problem last night, then went searching on line to try to understand the science of the last bit of the book. And I think it broke my brain because of quantum, as Terry Pratchett would say in the Discworld books. @Violet Crown -- did your husband like it? I read an interview with the author and translator about how the order of story was changed a bit in translation because it was felt Western readers really needed an education in the Cultural Revolution, and I learned that the author was raised by his grandparents in a small village during that time as his parents were sent to work in dangerous coal mines as part of their "re-education". I know Mumto2 liked the first book but not so much the second book. Did you notice the 2nd book has a different translator?
  6. Angela!! It is so good to see you here! I'm don't actively use Goodreads, but have seen you there and had wondered how you are. How's the baby (no doubt a toddler now?) And soooo exciting that you are writing!! Good for you! I look forward to hearing more about it as you prepare to publish.
  7. I suddenly find I have a giant stack of sci-fi and fantasy, mostly thanks to a friend who keeps putting books in my hands. The one I picked first from the stack is the most recent she handed to me, The Three Body Problem by Liu CiXin. I see on Goodreads that Mumto2 has read it and liked it. I'm about 6 chapters in and enjoying it so far, but I haven't gotten to the juicy, truly sci-fi stuff yet. I'm just jazzed that contemporary literature from China is being translated. Brandon Sanderson was terrific at his bookstore appearance the other night. We didn't stay to have our book signed as we would have been there til at least midnight, but bless him, Sanderson always stays to sign every book and will pose for pictures, too and answer a quick question. He talked about the writing process, specifically about failure, and how even seasoned writers like him utterly fail sometimes. Books just won't gel, and even a professional writer and a writing instructor can't always figure out what is wrong. Such a great speaker, and seemingly nice, down to earth guy. He answered questions, did a reading from an early failed version of The Way of Kings. So fun to have my ds around to geek out at events like this!
  8. We are far south of the Ventura/Malibu fires, and so far the smoke hasn't done a u-turn over the ocean to blow back in on us, which sometimes happens. But the news out of both Butte and Ventura is just heartbreaking. The students at Pepperdine University had to shelter in place last night while firefighters fought (successfully) to protect the campus. Dangerous fire weather (Santa Ana winds and low humidity) is in the forecast here Sunday - Tuesday, so we are staying vigilant.
  9. Where's the fainting emoji when you need it? Jack Kirby is The Man when it comes to Golden and Silver Age super hero comics, and there is even a museum devoted to his art and legacy. I got to attend his 80th birthday party back at Comic-Con back in 1985 or 86. My dh reveres him, but then again, superhero comic books are life here...
  10. There's a new YA book coming out tomorrow, so I assume he's giving a short talk, perhaps doing a reading then signing a heck of a lot of books!
  11. Not a single trick or treater came to our house again this year. Yet we had (and still have) a bag of candy just in case. I made sure to find a bag that included Almond Joys! Several years ago I trained my music students to bring me all the Almond Joys out of their trick or treat bags -- and they did! What a great group of kids, all of whom are in college now. No reading finished here last week. Still listening to City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett and haven't finished Exit West yet. I have a couple of non-fiction books in progress, too. Ds and I are heading to a local bookstore to see Brandon Sanderson this week. I doubt we'll stand in line for an autograph as we have ticket #155! I think we'd be in line til midnight!
  12. I was very briefly in the great state of Texas last weekend, specifically in San Antonio. I got to meet up with Heather, better known to long time BaW readers as Butter! It is always a pleasure to meet with members of our homeschool/book loving community. I finished City of Stairs, the fantasy/mystery novel by Robert Jackson Bennett, and I really, really enjoyed it. Very clever world building, great characters, a good mystery all tidily wrapped up in this stand alone story. There are 2 more novels set in that world, but I wouldn't call it a trilogy. I waited about 48 hours before starting the second book in the series, City of Blades, and so far it is just as engrossing, though perhaps not as surprising as the first one was. The flight to San Antonio, complete with a short layover, was almost long enough for me to read an entire mystery. I finished The Draining Lake one afternoon in the hotel room. It is one of the Inspector Erlendur series set in Iceland. Much of the novel is set in post war East Germany, and it was quite gripping. The perfect airplane read. I'm about half way through Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid. It is one of those books that you don't want to say "I'm enjoying it" as the story is so very stark, but oh! The writing is lovely!
  13. I forgot to write about another delightful and fascinating book that I read recently. The memoir Famous Father Girl by Jamie Bernstein, daughter of Leonard Bernstein, is really good. Never boring, no bashing of parents -- no curtains pulled back to reveal some horror. It is a loving tribute of growing up in loving family, of what it is to be in the shadow of a famous or successful parent. I should have jotted down her comment about not practicing piano -- something about it being SO hard to put in the tedious and menial work when you are surrounded by great, accomplished musicians who have already mastered their instruments and music. (I'm assuming you all know who Leonard Bernstein is, but a few people have given me blank looks when I talk about the book.)
  14. LOL, Texas Mom. I also listened to Rebecca and bailed when I realized just how many hours of her angst I had to endure. I read the synopsis and called it done. AND, I too devoured Gone With the Wind in my teens -- just loved the book and the movie, but now can't see what I loved about them. I've listened to the Goblin Emperor 3 times since January -- I think I kind of like it! My 23yo ds also liked it, and I know Kareni enjoyed it as well. I could totally see buying a book with the title "Because I come from a crazy family" after a few margaritas!! Dh and I used to spend time in the bookstores before going home when the kids were little and we had a sitter. We'd look at our watches, consider that the little dears might not be asleep yet, and head to Borders.
  15. Happy Monday everyone! I am struggling to pick up Kristin Lavansdatter again. I finished the first section of The Wife, put it aside, and just am not ready to go back. Part of it is having a stupid head cold that required comfort reads, mainly re-reads. The one new book I'm working on is something that my fellow fantasy readers may enjoy. City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett has one of the most interesting settings I've come across in fantasy in some time. At its heart it is a murder mystery, but it is set in a country where the local culture and gods were wiped out by a conquering and occupying force...and the gods are making a come back. The characters are interesting and there are none of the eye-rolling magic tropes all too common in fantasy these days. My 23yo ds is also currently listening to it and agrees that the setting alone is very compelling. There are a few clunky chapters necessary for exposition, but overall is quite good. Otherwise I've been listening to favorite audible books during those nights of insomnia that I get with colds, books like Pratchett's Going Postal, or the recent stand alone fantasy Goblin Emperor. And large chunks of Bill Bryson's Short History of Nearly Everything. About We Have Always Lived in the Castle. I read in the last two years and liked it well enough. It is evocative, a bit gothic, and I like how the story unfolded. But it isn't a favorite, and I wonder if it is one of those books beloved by people who read it first at a younger age. One book that is always listed as a dearly loved favorite is Rebecca, but I HATED it! Abandoned it with disgust. I'm convinced you have to have read it as a teen to love it. It is sooo predictable, and the characters are just caricatures. But I know some of you dearly, dearly love it, so forgive me for my harsh critique of it! .
  16. I put Kristin Lavransdatter aside this week after getting through that first part of The Wife. I'm not feeling very motivated to pick it back up. Erland is indeed a putz! Instead I power-listened to Lethal White, the 4th Cormoran Strike book by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling). It is.... hard to rate. For the most part it really is a fun, thumping good read. The woman can tell a good story. But, I want a mystery and not a romance novel, and the whole relationship between the protagonist, Cormoran, and his partner, Robin, is extremely annoying. So annoying that a few times I put the book down (well, it was an audio book, so ear-buds and iPhone) and walked away. I think the series would be SO much better without Robin who just isn't a very well fleshed out character, just an insecure female whose identity and self worth is defined by the men around her. And I would rant on more, but I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who haven't yet read it. Up next is the memoir, Famous Father Girl by Leornard Bernstein's daughter, Jamie Bernstein. A musician friend and frequent carpool and pit orchestra buddy lent it to me.
  17. I recently finished, and was utterly blown away by, The Mere Wife by Maria Dahvana Headley. It is nominally a retelling or reimagining of Beowulf set in an exclusive, gated community, and it is, yet it is so much more. It is poetic, surreal, full of adventure, love and horror. It begs the question of exactly who is a monster and who the hero. It is also about the PTSD suffered by our returning vets. And it is all of that without ever being bluntly political or preachy. It really is one of the most extraordinary books I've read in quite a long time. Best of all, the author signed my copy at comic-con last summer, with the signature and dedication done in a bold, flamboyant hand. Also extraordinary was that first section of The Wife in Kristin Lavransdatter. I guess I'm ahead! On the one hand, I still wanted to slap her and Erlend, but it is worth sticking through that section. We can discuss next week.... I'm about 12 or so chapters into Lethal White, the newest Cormoran Strike mystery.
  18. Just a quick check in. I'm already a few chapters into The Wife part of Kristin Lavransdatter and I have a few other titles going as well. Will try to post more later in the week, but thought I should at least say hello. BTW, where is Amy these days? I haven't "seen" her in ages.
  19. There are 2 miniature golf courses on the WDW property as well as a couple of water parks. The buses and monorails and boats are all free to ride, and you can explore the different hotels, check out the different themes in each of them, eat a meal there. I enjoyed the boat between Downtown Disney and the Port Orleans hotels. Animal Kingdom Lodge is a great place to just hang out and watch the animals. Get a book (or by now there must be an app) to find all the hidden Mickeys. You can stand in the lines but not ride the ride -- the line for that crazy Yeti/Himalayan roller coaster at Animal Kingdom is especially clever with some great hidden Mickeys and a story about an expedition that runs into the Yeti. If you pay attention, the Imagineers actually do try to set the stage and tell a story about the ride in the queue line. The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom is also really cool -- my youngest ds and I spent an hour or more trying to find all the animals carved into the tree, and to find the hidden Mickey there. Chat with cast members. Many of the WDW employees (called cast members) are college kids from around the states and around the world who are spending 6 months to a year working at the park. Look at their badge -- it will say where they are from. It is called the "College Program" -- my oldest did it for a year. Sit and people watch. That is pretty darn fascinating! It can also be entertaining to watch the cast members park and organize all those strollers outside of popular rides.
  20. Mothersweets -- I too was annoyed with that part of the story. It was a clumsy way of creating some tension, of keeping readers worried til the end about Jimmy's fate. About Kristin Lavransdatter. It isn't just young Kristin being a silly, compulsive 16yo that is annoying, it is the men in the book, too. I find Erlend very unlikable, and am dismayed that he is the love of her life. But the following section at the end of The Wreath is really good, it is back to being compulsively readable. Perhaps I'll come to like Erlend, or perhaps he will prove me Lavrans to be right about his character! I really enjoyed Anthony Horowitz's newest mystery, The Word is Murder. It is the beginning of a series in which he himself is a character in the story, and it works. It is a clever, fun read. I also finished a beautifully written novel, The Garden of Evening Mists by the Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng. It jumps around in time from the WWII Japanese occupation to a more current time, but never in a confusing manner. The focus of the story is a Japanese garden, its creator and his relationship to the Chinese/Malasian woman, a survivor of a WWII slave labor camp, who winds up inheriting the garden. The prose is luscious, the descriptions of life under Japanese occupation jarring but not gratuitous. I loved it.
  21. I'm the president of my local quilt guild and have a few comments, which will hopefully be encouraging. Just because there are lots of things to volunteer for doesn't mean that every member actually volunteers. Hah! Far from it! As with most volunteer organizations there are a handful of dedicated souls who do most of the heavy lifting, and others just help as they can. Most simply help out by making or finishing the binding for the quilts we donate to charities or by bringing snacks one month out of the year. The most important thing we get from our members is the money from their dues and the money they spend to buy a block of the month, or by shopping at our store of donated fabric. It costs quite a bit to bring in speakers, and in some cases to pay for meeting space and to pay insurance. All this to say is that if you join but can't volunteer at this stage of your life, you are NOT dead weight! You'd still be a valuable member. I have never found age to be a barrier in friendship. My quilting friends are 8-20+ years older than I am, yet we enjoy getting together to sew, to catch a movie or quilt show. We trade books. Walk our dogs together. Shoot, after reading this thread I shudder to think that you all would consider ME, an empty nester in her late 50s, an older person!
  22. I was served an egg in an egg cup once...I was horrified to crack the shell and find the uncooked yolk inside. I was expecting a hard boiled egg! Don't know why a runny yolk in a fried egg is ok but in the boiled egg it's yuck. I'm finding Kristin Lavransdatter a binge worthy listen. It is the more recent translation, and I find the prose so beautiful, and the story so engrossing that I quickly forget that the narrator's voice is rather bland. It really gets going by the end of the section we started with, and I'm now several chapters ahead! I'm also reading The Garden of Evening Mists by the Malaysian author Tan Twan Eng. It is beautiful, evocative writing, though can get a little intense when the characters start reliving some of the atrocities of the Japanese occupation during WWII. I read the 5th Sebastian St Cyr book from start to finish last week while hanging out at the courthouse for jury duty. I didn't get called to a courtroom and was excused by 3:30 so I'm done for another year or so. And, I also read the newest Shetland mystery, which the author says will be the last. I didn't want any spoilers so download it the day it came out and read it that night. No spoilers from me -- it was another good mystery.
  23. Thank you, Robin, for the links on Sigrid Unset. What a fascinating woman. I'm ready to start Kristin Lavransdatter now, and will alternate between an audio and print version. Not much reading to report from last week. I'm listening to a nonfiction science book, Storm in a Teacup, which is the physics of everyday life. It is quite good, but not the sort of book I can listen to for hours on end.
  24. I love this movie, love the quirky and whimsical humor. My dh, who has a great sense of humor, simply doesn't get the charm of it. I have yet to read the book, though, and probably won't. I did, however, listen to Carey Elwes' memoir on the making of the movie, As You Wish, Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride. It is definitely a "must read" for fans of the movie, in spite of all the gushing Hollywood hyperbole: "The MOST talented. The MOST beautiful. The BEST actor of his generation".
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