Time for another Bout of Books....

And more time to get caught up on some reading! I have participated in Bout of Books before, sometimes I am successful and other times I am not. We shall see on this one. The event runs from Monday May 8th to Sunday May 14th.

I am not sure how many books I will get read or what my complete list is so far. Here are a few that I know will be included, and not in any order;

The Seekers by Wanda Brunstetter
The Healing Quilt by Wanda Brunstetter
A Cousin's Prayer by Wanda Brunstetter
Merry Market Murder by Paige Shelton
Murder, Handcrafted by Isabella Alan
The Long Stitch Good Night by Amanda Lee
Her Secret by Shelley Shepard Grey
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan
A Little Folly by Jude Morgan
The Poet by Michael Connelly
The Outsiders by SE Hinton - reread
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - previously started
Othello by Shakespeare
The House of Mirth Edith Wharton
The Awakening by Kate Chopin
The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain
Poor Folk and other stories by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Letters of the Rozmberk Sisters
Love Letters of Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

I don't plan on being able to read all of these, but several of them are quite short so I hope to be able to completed at least 3-5 or more books. Several of these are part of my Classics Club list. Will you be participating in the Bout of Books?

Minding Molly Book Review

I received this book from Bethany House for free for my honest review. I have previously never read any books by Leslie Gould. The book Minding Molly is actually the third book in the Courtships of Lancaster County series, the book can be read as a stand along novel, although I guess some of the characters from the previous books are in this one as well. We find that Molly Zook is a young Amish woman has her whole life planned out, but lately it hasn't been going the way she wants. After the death of her father, she is trying to save the family farm, looking after her sick mother and be responsible for her sister as well. However, not all of the family members have the same views on whither or not to save the farm. Those that want to save the farm think it should be done in different ways, such as Molly's mother believing the only way would be if her daughter married Mervin Mosier the next door Amish man. Everyone deals with grief in their own way, and that brings about additional issues. An out of state Amish man named Leon is currently working with Molly's friend Hannah's family, are things as they appear though? With this many people involved feelings start to get in the way as to who has feelings for each other, misunderstandings ensue, and some who believed former loves were lost may in fact not be. Is new love to be found? Does Hannah like Leon, Leon like Hannah, Mervin like Hannah or Molly, etc. Will the farm be saved?  Will Molly's mother get well? Will Leon stay in Lancaster? Who is Leon's love? Overall I liked this book, it showed a wide variety of emotions for several different issues such as death, love, sibling relationships, and that we all react to things in our own way. If you are looking for a light read, or a somewhat complex book with quite a bit of action I highly recommend. I am going to read the rest of the books in this series. I rank this book 4 out of 5.

Retreat....

I had a fantastic time at the retreat, it will definately be on the list for next year. I was not able to accomplish as many of my own projects I wanted to do, but was able to get a lot of the monthly block exchanges done. I hope to complete more of them tomorrow at a monthly quilting bee.  I was able to challenge myself and learned a few techniques that I had never done before. I will either make another video or post pics later.

I have yet to decide about the book giveaway, but will try to make a decision soon. Speaking of books, I recently borrowed the book The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club by Wanda Brunstetter from the local library. It is really interesting so far and I am only on the third chapter. Basically, it is about a amish woman that put a ad in the local paper to teach quilting. The characters who will be her students range from a young women, to a couple, and even a male biker.

I still have Tinkerbell to finish for my niece before my deadline that I made of Wednesday.

As it is now the month of May, I need to start my project for 12for2012. It is a cute wall hanging, that will end up being a gift for one of my grandmothers.