another busy week

After last week and my success with a whole top, one would hope that I'm on a roll.

I'm not.

I did go to my local quilt shop, on a mission for a back for the wedding quilt.  And found something perfect for her!

I scoured the whole store looking for something with daisies because I know she loves them.  Finally, in the white fabric section I found this.  Honestly, it's not something I would pick otherwise, but I couldn't have found something better.

Now I can procrastinate a while.

And maybe get the baby quilt started?

(That did not happen this week.  One whole day off I just read and was lazy, but I needed it.  Okay, okay, I was lazy after cleaning the whole house, including dumping scrubbing and refilling all six litterboxes - yuck!)

Another one of my days off I made forward progress on the cat carrier covers.  While it doesn't look like much, adding the handle hole facing and top stitching it down to eight covers took quite a while.

Today I hope to get them all hemmed and labelled so I can dig into the next fabric.  Maybe today, maybe not.  We'll see how things go.

The big news this week was the book sale.  I had hoped to get to a point where my three tier cart of storage was empty except the top shelf before the sale.

I was four books shy of completing my goal.  (And one is a CHONK, but I read using the random number system, so who knows when that one could have been pulled.)  You can see Salem perusing my collection here as I was preparing to refill it after the sale.

What did I get?

Two bags!

The sale wasn't as large as I thought it would be since they haven't done any recently due to MAJOR (like down down to stud walls and cement floors) renovations, but my hubby overheard workers chatting that the sale the previous day had people hauling away entire boxes, sight unseen, so I know the resellers were there.  (And while I understand there is a market for that, it angers me that they are making reading HARDER.)

Clearly I found a number of treasures, but other than a few authors I know I've liked in the past (Sue Monk Kidd, John Green, Tracy Chevalier and Ivan Doig), I didn't find anything I knew I wanted to read.  That's okay.  I don't really expect to find ANYthing I'm looking for and even finding familiar authors is a win for me.

I sorted them and labelled them and made little papers to add to my random number drawing jar (it was a little cup, but Miss Chaos kept digging them out and throwing them all over the floor, which I think led to missing a few thanks to the vacuum, so I had to find something with a lid) and finally counted.

45 books!

45 new adventures and stories and worlds to explore.

And since I'm currently reading my 41st book this year, this should hold me for a few months!  (My reading has slowed down this summer due to gardening and yard work, but I also have been working a little more than I was in the winter - the farm store is obviously busier in the summer so more hours are available - so the count won't grow as fast for a few more months.)

Of course there was time with family and good food, but really I just wanted to get back home with my stash of books so I could look at them again.

And here's to hoping I didn't buy anything I've already read.  Or already own and it's waiting to be read!  (It's happened and that's why I have the nerdy app to keep track.)

As for reading this week, I've almost finished that 41st book, and if I had, I'd be sharing two books this week.  But it was not to be - it got too late last night and I put it down with about 60 pages to go.

The one book I did finish:

Set just before the turn of the last century, this is the story (told in the first person, though not an autobiography) of a woman who ruled China in the role of Regent for many years.

Starting out as a concubine to the Emperor, she bore him his only son and upon his early death, was assigned to co-rule with his actual wife until the son came of age.  Though she and the wife didn't agree on many things, and had very different styles of ruling, they managed to raise the son and turn the country over to him.

Unfortunately, his rule was short-lived.  Not only did he not want to rule, he made some questionable choices in his early teens and ended up with some sort of sexually transmitted disease that I believe is what killed him in the end - he was maybe in his 20s?

That led to finding another heir to rule and a nephew of hers was selected as the best choice and removed from her sister's care into hers (the wife of the emperor had passed away by this time) at three years old and she again ruled until he came of age.

This boy was much more compliant and eager to please, which also was not the best choice for an emperor.  She tried to raise him differently (with more love) than her son and he tried, but he also did not outlive her.

Once again, she had to choose a successor, the boy who would become China's last emperor.  Probably some of this info is known to history buffs.  Not to me!

Though the book was interesting, there was a lot of focus on the wars and battles and places (not details, just noted events) that got a bit slow and boring for me.  I did get a fair amount of her life, but I suppose knowing the context of her choices helped the story along?  I was honestly hoping for more about her life, which I did get some of when there were descriptions of her hair being done up by her personal eunuch (think maid) and walks in the gardens, but it wasn't as detailed as I'd hoped.

(I guess that's what I get for choosing historical fiction and expecting actual fiction?!)

It was pretty good, but a slower read because of all the details about the country.

And I'm surprised this one wasn't labelled as a romance because there was a man she loved (who loved her - not the emperor), though they did not act on the feelings due to the scandal it would cause.  Despite that, I've had books labelled as romances for less than this.  But I'm glad.  Because I hate that at the end of the year it looks like I read a lot of romance when in fact, I read none of what folks would consider romance - no Fabio with the flowing hair on the cover for me!

With that I'm off to get some laundry done and maybe some sewing?!

Happy quilting and gardening and reading!

Katie