Holiday Books and Movies, Winter Fun (Quilting)

Last year, I didn't do much holiday reading, but this year I made a list and have been checking it frequently and really enjoying the change of pace.

The Christmas Guest, by Peter Swanson - this turned out to be a pretty good murder mystery by the author of Eight Perfect Murders, which I really enjoyed a few years ago. GoodReads describes the book thusly:

An American art student in London is invited to join a classmate for the holidays at Starvewood Hall, her family's Cotswold manor house. But behind the holly and pine boughs, secrets are about to unravel, revealing this seemingly charming English village's grim history.

As with Eight Perfect Murders, this is a very clever story--not your typical whodunit and so twisted it defied belief, but I went along for the ride. It wasn't until the very end that the title morphed for me--very short story-esque

Speaking of short stories, I'm also reading a collection by Maeve Binchy (This Year It Will Be Different), which is perfect--each story is bite-sized and interesting, some more edgy than others, but the schmaltz is not thick and gooey. I'm about halfway through and reading one story a day. Kind of like an Advent calendar.

Open to other suggestions--I am not much into the Hallmark romance stories (I abandoned Christmas in London before I threw it across the room) but love things like Rosamunde Pilcher's Winter Solstice and Fanny Flagg's Redbird Christmas.

In other news...

I have also been indulging in some holiday movies. So far, we have logged re-watches of The Santa Clause, Elf, and Home Alone 1 and 2. All just fantastic. While You Were Sleeping is on the list, and I am considering finally watching Die Hard!

We also went to see Gladiator II, which was really good! I checked the historical accuracy meter, and it did reasonably well.  They filmed (well CGI'd) something that has fired my imagination for years. Namely, filling the Colosseum with water and then having ships (well, the crews) battle each other. Of course, in this universe, there were sharks added--I thought sharks needed salt water to survive, but what do I know? Anyway, it was great fun. Made me sad that I have never seen the original Gladiator. Must fix that. Now I want to rewatch the HBO Rome series.

And I saw Wicked. A bit long, and it was only part 1 of the stage version, but great fun and now the songs are stuck in my head.

I am super excited to see The Return, about Odysseus finally making it back to Ithaca after the Trojan War and finding the place in an uproar.

Quilting

It was 11 years in the making, but I finally finished my king-sized quilt. Actually, my husband (Jeff) and I pieced it 11 years ago, and then started quilting it. It is not easy to quilt that big a quilt--very heavy and cumbersome. We did basic quilting--stitch in the ditch, and there were lots and lots of ditches. We got about half done, and then it sat unfinished for about 5 years when I got the bug to finish it. I finished the quilting, but then it sat for another 5 years until last month when I finally bought the binding material and sat down and finished it. 

Jeff made the beautiful chest at the end of the quilt shortly after we finished piecing the quilt, using leftover blocks to decorate the top of the chest. 

Undaunted by my track record on the king quilt, I am embarking on another quilting project. This time I will be making a throw quilt, just 61" by 76", or 15 12-inch blocks arranged in a 3x5 layout. I am making blocks from the Underground Railroad Sampler, which is a very cool book that provides some historical context and speculation about each of the blocks featured. I have the reproduction-era fabric (4 cream backgrounds, 3 reds, 3 greens, 3 blues and a black) and have been practicing some of the trickier blocks with leftover scrap material from the finished king quilt.

Best wishes for a happy and safe holiday season filled with good books, good movies, good projects, and good times.

Thirteen Moons - Charles Frazier

I am a fan of Charles Frazier, having read Cold Mountain decades ago when it was first published, and then Varina just a few years ago. Thirteen Moons has been on my TBR shelf for quite a while, and I finally was able to find time to read it along with the GroupReads group True Book Talk for November.

I really hate to write synopses, so I'll just lift the one from GoodReads so you get the idea: 

At the age of twelve, an orphan named Will Cooper is given a horse, a key, and a map and is sent on a journey through the uncharted wilderness of the Cherokee Nation. Will is a bound boy, obliged to run a remote Indian trading post. As he fulfills his lonesome duty, Will finds a father in Bear, a Cherokee chief, and is adopted by him and his people, developing relationships that ultimately forge Will’s character. All the while, his love of Claire, the enigmatic and captivating charge of volatile and powerful Featherstone, will forever rule Will’s heart. In a voice filled with both humor and yearning, Will tells of a lifelong search for home, the hunger for fortune and adventure, the rebuilding of a trampled culture, and above all an enduring pursuit of passion.

The novel was first published in 2006, and it spans most of the 19th century. Will loathes Andrew Jackson, who was president when he was a boy, rubs elbows with Davy Crockett, whom he admires, travels a bit in the Appalachian Mountains with John C Calhoun, sort of fights in the Civil War, and succumbs to the railroad.

Will is a great protagonist in that he has many excellent traits--courage, tenacity, loyalty--and numerous flaws and inconsistencies that make him human and believable, vulnerable and maddening.

I enjoyed reading about his life with the Native Americans and how they accepted him as a leader despite being white. I loved reading about the geography and topography, the flora and the fauna of the southern mountains while they were still Wilderness. Like any book about the Cherokees, or really any of the Native American tribes, it was heartbreaking and shame-provoking to read of their treatment by the invaders.

The writing is incredible. First-person narrative that wavers between raw and poetic. Frazier is not a prolific author, but I have two of his books still to read--Nightwoods from 2011 and set in the 1960s, and The Trackers from 2023 and set during the Depression. And, I really need to reread Cold Mountain. I sort of remember it but want a refresher.

Reading Roundup - Autumn

Since I've been participating in Nonfiction November and I really cannot seem to do more than one post per week, and even that is a challenge, I have a slew of wonderful books read that demand a comment or two.

Persuasion, by Jane Austen - This time I read the annotated version, with an introduction by David Morrison, and really enjoyed both the novel and the notes. I have said that I don't like annotated versions, but this one worked for me. A perfect Autumn read, and I think it just might be my favorite Austen novel.

We Solve Murders, by Richard Osman - first novel in what promises to be a new series by the author of the immensely popular Thursday Murder Club mysteries. It was bit slow going for the first third, but then the pace picked up and it turned out to be terrific. Basic idea is that a young woman (Amy) and her father-in-law (Steve) are best buds and team up to solve a series of murders and end up deciding to open a detective agency. He is a retired cop, and she is a professional bodyguard. They are funded by a best-selling author who craves excitement, and there is a motley assembly of secondary characters who are all good company. Osman's sense of humor is spot on for me, and the scenarios he creates, while pretty far-fetched and complicated, are also interesting, entertaining, and logical to a point.

The Lover of No Fixed Abode, by Carlo Fruttero and Franco Lucentini (Gregory Dowling, translator) - set in Venice, a rich, restless Roman princess falls in love with a mysterious tour guide, and while you might be thinking this is a sappy, feel-good romance (ala Roman Holiday), it is so much more. Not until at least two-thirds, maybe even three-quarters, into the book do you get the idea that Mr. Silvera is not simply a tour guide. I don't believe I am giving away too much of the twist of the novel to say that this is the most intriguing time travel book that I have ever read. And it's not really time travel but more about the elasticity of the time/space continuum. There is Jewish folklore and Christian mythology tied up along with an intimate voyage into the heart and magic of Venice. Booking my trip for 2025 now!

The Frozen River, by Ariel Lawhon - I absolutely loved Lawhon's Code Name Helene, from a few years ago, and this latest novel by the author was another 5-star read for me. Based on the diary of Martha Ballard, a Maine midwife in the late 18th century, the story has a murder mystery at its heart, but I loved it for the depiction of the life of a family and a community. In so many ways, Martha and her story reminded me of Claire in Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series. While Martha is not a time-traveler, the fictional Martha created by Lawhon shares her outspokenness, her insistence on truth and justice, her fierce love and protection of her extended family, her dedication to her profession and her desire to heal, both physically and emotionally. I love visiting Maine, and it was such a treat to read about its early days when the USA was brand new.

The Comfort of Ghosts, by Jacqueline Winspear - the final book in the absolutely wonderful Maisie Dobbs series. It was a beautiful rounding of the story, tying up loose ends, and connecting threads from the earliest novels together in a meaningful and satisfactory ending. I am sorry that there will be no more adventures with Maisie, but I do love to reread so I will happily visit with her from time to time.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my blogging friends. Stay safe, stay warm, and enjoy that second slice of pie!

Nonfiction November: Book Pairings (Week 3)

It's hard to believe that we are already at week 3 of Nonfiction November, but here we are. 

This week is hosted by Liz at Adventures in reading, running, and working from home. 

Week 3 (11/11-11/15) Book Pairings: Pair up a nonfiction book with a fiction title. 

I have been reading Jeff Shaara's Civil War novels along with the nonfiction Civil War books that have seemingly consumed me. Shaara is an excellent historical fiction author and has series on not only the American Civil War but also WWI, WWI, and the American Revolution.

So I read Gods and Generals and A Blaze of Glory while I was reading Battle Cry of Freedom. Gods and Generals covers the opening of the war in the East, and A Blaze of Glory covers the same time period in the West (i.e., the Mississippi campaigns culminating in the Battle of Shiloh).  I also read the second book in the Western theatre (A Chain of Thunder, about the Battle of Vicksburg), and I plan to read The Killer Angels by Jeff's late father, Michael Shaara, which is about the Battle of Gettysburg as I continue my year of Civil War reading. If you are interested in more titles on the Civil War that I have read over the years, I've collected them onto their own page. 

Looking at some of my other nonfiction titles from this year...

Bruno's Cookbook, of course, pairs perfectly with any of the novels in the wonderful Bruno mystery series by Martin Walker. Bruno is a policeman in a village in the Dordogne in France, and he spends most of each book cooking, gardening, riding his horse, coaching tennis, and occasionally dealing with criminals. A thoroughly wonderful mystery series with a most endearing protagonist.

Another no-brainer is to read one of Austen's six masterpieces before, during, or after reading any of the three bios I read on Austen this year. I just finished rereading Persuasion--the annotated version with an intro by Robert Morrison--and it is as wonderful as the first time I read it, roughly 50 years ago!

BTW, 2025 is the 250th anniversary of Austen's birth on December 16, 1775. There will be lots of reading challenges, book events, etc to mark this milestone. I have a whopping 42 posts on Austen, which I should really collect and organize onto their own page.

Another potential pairing is to read Prodigal Summer by one of my favorite contemporary authors, Barbara Kingsolver, along with Linda Vater's The Elegant and Edible Garden.  This reminds me--I need to reread Prodigal Summer as it has been way too long since I last read it.

As you can tell, I really do like to read related fiction along with nonfiction. I find that stories help me really remember and understand the history in particular that I am reading about. It'll be interesting to see what kinds of pairing others come up with for other genres.

Nonfiction November: Choosing What to Read (week 2)

 

I am really enjoying Nonfiction November--reading other bloggers' posts is opening new possibilities for adventures in nonfiction. Thanks to the hosts for putting this together! This week is hosted by Frances at Volatile Rune. 

Week 2 (11/4-11/8) Choosing Nonfiction: What are you looking for when you pick up a nonfiction book? Do you have a particular topic you’re attracted to? Do you have a particular writing style that works best? When you look at a nonfiction book, does the title or cover influence you? If so, share a title or cover which you find striking. 

I generally read around specific nonfiction areas--history, archeology, literary biography and lit crit, gardening, birding, and travel. And within these basic areas, I have favorite subjects--English history, Roman history, American Civil War, Shakespeare/Austen/Dickens as well as other favorite authors. I like to read up on places I like to visit (Maine, Italy, California) and places I hope to visit (Everglades, the Dordogne, Canadian Rockies, etc). 

I rarely if ever read self-help books, although I will read and collect cookbooks that are connected to favorite authors, locations, or cuisines. I rarely read celebrity memoirs, although I loved Yes, Please by Amy Poehler and Bossy Pants by Tina Fey. I sometimes read things like Educated by Tara Westover if the subject captures my interest, the writing is reputed to be good, and people I trust really like it.

I think I am immune to titles and covers because I mostly pick nonfiction based on liking the author (Erik Larson, for example), hearing about a book that is in my zone, or trusting a positive review from a fellow blogger. However, I do appreciate wonderful covers and titles, and they may push a book up on the TBR stack. I get frustrated by derivative titles and covers that seem to be clinging to the coattails of a successful book.

I absolutely love the cover of Around the World in 80 Plants, by Jonathan Drori. This book was a feast for the eyes, heart, and soul, and I think the cover invites a reader like me into the beautiful and exotic world revealed in the book.

NonFiction November - Week 1

I am excited to be participating in Nonfiction November this year (see what happens when you retire!). 

This week's prompt is hosted by Heather at Based on a True Story, and it is: Your Year in Nonfiction

Celebrate your year of nonfiction. What books have you read? What were your favorites? Have you had a favorite topic? Is there a topic you want to read about more?  What are you hoping to get out of participating in Nonfiction November? 

I do like nonfiction and tend to read around particular topics (birding, gardening, archeology, literary biography) as well as picking a pet topic for the year and diving into it (aka "going down a rabbit hole").  This year's pet topic was the American Civil War, and believe me, there are thousands on nonfiction titles on this topic!

So far this year, I've read 12 nonfiction books out of 63, which is 19%. I am happy with that ratio. Here are my titles with links to the ones I've posted about. They're also so grouped by general topic.

• Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent, by Judi Dench - absolutely loved this book. As a fan of Dame Judi and a long-time devotee of Shakespeare, it ticked all the boxes for me. I would say this was my favorite nonfiction--fun, interesting, insightful, thoughtful.

• The Backyard Bird Chronicles, by Amy Tan - a slow listen, literally, I had to speed up the pace on the audio version as Tan is a slow reader, but I loved it.
• Better Living Through Birding: Notes from a Black Man in the Natural World, by Christian Cooper - an excellent memoir of a birder I admire on so many levels.

• The Elegant and Edible Garden: Design a Dream Kitchen Garden to Fit Your Personality, Desires, and Lifestyle, by Linda Vater - an Xmas present and a feast for the eyes, with lots of good tips for garden design and maintenance.
• Seeds: One Man's Serendipitous Journey to Find the Trees That Inspired Famous American Writers from Faulkner to Kerouac, Welty to Wharton, by Richard Horan - interesting and glad I read it but a few issues, so only 3 stars.

• Bruno's Cookbook: Recipes and Traditions from a French Country Kitchen, by Martin Walker and Julia Watson - I love Martin Walker's Bruno mysteries, mostly for the cooking, eating, gardening, imbibing, and location, but the mysteries are also good! This was another Xmas gift, and I loved reading it cover to cover.

• The Civil War, by Bruce Catton - I did a major deep dive on the American Civil War this year, reading a host of fiction (Jeff Shaara) and nonfiction as well as a Great Courses Lecture series. Bruce Catton is one of the most prolific writers on the topic, and this book was an excellent overview of the war.
• The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War, by Erik Larson - I love Erik Larson and have read most of his books. This was very focused and extremely well-written. A good addition to the vast amount of stuff written on the topic.
• Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era, by James M. McPherson - this had been on my TBR shelf for literally years, and I finally took the time to read it. Exhaustive and excellent.

• Jane Austen: Writing, Society, Politics, by Tom Keymer - I read all three bios with my JASNA Denver/Boulder book club. I'm a lifetime member of JASNA and always try to read something by or about her every year. This was a fairly good book--not a lot of new insight but well-presented.
• Jane Austen, by Margaret Kennedy - an outstanding bio of Austen from the mid-20th century. Read it if you can find it! I needed to interlibrary loan it to get it.
• Obstinate Heart: Jane Austen, A Biography, by Valerie Grosvenor Myer - 3 stars at best. There are other, better bios of Austen out there.

I'm looking forward to finding other bloggers with similar tastes and interests and to discover new books to put on my TBR and wish lists!

Spell the Month in Books: October

Reviews From the Stacks

This is my first time playing along with Spell the Month, hosted by Reviews from the Stacks. This month's twist is to pick books from your favorite genre. Since I am a long-time classics reader, I had lots on my Read shelf to choose from.

O is for Of Mice and Men by one of my favorite authors, the incomparable John Steinbeck. I first read it in high school, but I've read it a few times since and cried every time.

C is for Cannery Row, also by Steinbeck and a truly lovely story that I have read many times.

T is for A Town Like Alice, by Neville Shute. I've read this three times and loved it each time.

O is for Oliver Twist by Mr. Charles Dickens -- my first Dickens and one I have reread many times.

B is for The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton -- unfinished but a wonderful story about American heiresses marrying English lords.

E is for Emma by the one and only Jane Austen. How could I not have an Austen on this list, and Emma is definitely in contention for Austen at her peak.

R is for Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, the grand dame of psychological thrillers. I first read this as a young teenager and have read it countless times since then.

Carrie Soto is Back...and Magpie Murders

I just finished listening to Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid and was blown away by how good it was. I cannot remember which of my book blogger friends raved about it, but thanks to whomever it was!

Carrie is a 37-year-old former tennis star--the best in the world when she retired--and she comes out of retirement in order to try to win one or more tennis slam tournaments (i.e., Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, or US Open) in order to keep her record of most wins intact

The first part of the book recounts her rise as a tennis star--coached by her dapper Argentian father--which is the usual story of a supremely gifted athlete who sacrifices a normal life in pursuit of a professional sports career. The second part details Carrie's training, both physical and mental, as she prepares for her comeback. I loved hearing about the intricacies of tennis strategy--being able to have the physical capabilities and muscle memory to literally think on your feet in the split second you have to return a shot was just fascinating. And the training involved to compete at this level was truly inspiring.

The story itself is great, with tennis and sport providing the vehicle for Reid to explore ego, self-doubt, family, ambition, resilience, and fear of failure, not to mention the inequalities between men's and women's sports, how they covered, sponsored, and reported on. But the writing is awesome--most of it is first-person narrative, with some sportscaster copy thrown, and Carrie's voice is so authentic, believable, and compelling. She is often not nice--she is nicknamed "The Battleaxe" by the press--but she is definitely a heroine. 

And the ending is superb. Immensely satisfying, both thematically and in terms of plot. I highly recommend the audio version. Five stars!

I also recently finished Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz and followed it up by watching season one of the TV series on PBS. Basically, it is a mystery story within a story, which is very clever. 

Susan Ryeland is an editor for a small UK publishing firm whose best-sellers are a detective-based 1950's-era mystery series by a very disagreeable author. The book starts with Susan sitting down to read the latest in the series, and so we get to read it along with her. I liked it--good setting (very Agatha Christie-esque), good characters, good whodunit...but we and Susan don't get to discover whodunit because the final chapter is missing. Cut to the frame story and Susan turns detective to track down not only the missing chapter, but also the nasty author commits suicide, and Susan suspects murder. Great plot--so much fun to read.

The 6-part TV series was okay--they ended up trying to tell the two stories simultaneously with the same cast playing characters in both worlds, and the worlds overlapped in that Atticus Pünd (the 1950's detective) visits Susan and they compare notes regarding the two mysteries. Very meta. And, very confusing. I'm not sure this treatment worked all that well, but I understand why it was done this way. Also, Horowitz wrote the screenplay for the mini-series. 

I think the book was clever, but the TV series was too clever, and that got in the way of it being as good as it could have been.

Susan Ryeland and Atticus Pünd join forces to solve both mysteries.

The sequel to Magpie Murders is Moonflower Murders, and I believe that is the focus of season two of the TV series. Has anybody read it? Should I?

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Brags or Confessions

I haven't done a Top Ten Tuesday in a while, but I loved the idea of this one, so here goes.

BTW, Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Bookish Brags (or Confessions!) (what are you proud of or… not-so proud of in your bookish life?) 

I always say that reading is not a competitive sport, but there are a few things that are braggable...

1. I have read/watched all of Shakespeare's plays at least once.
2. I have read all of Dickens's novels at least once.
3. I read all of Austen by age 21, the novels multiple times.
4. I started my blog in 2008, and while I haven't been super consistent with my posts, I haven't gone on hiatus since then. I love the book blogging world.

And then there are those things that I must confess...

1. When I was a teenager--probably 14 or 15 and reading Pride and Prejudice yet again in late June in the skating rink locker room between sessions, a fellow figure skater asked what I was reading. I showed her and she asked why, since school was out of session. I lied and said it was required reading for the Fall semester. In fact, I was reading it because I loved Jane Austen and P&P.
2. I have sworn off ever trying to read Henry James and Virginia Woolf. I have tried on many occasions, and they are just so much work! And for me, the payoff just isn't there.
3. I love most of Philippa Gregory's books, even though she plays fast and loose with historical fact, and I always say that historical fiction should not alter facts to suit the story line. But, she just tells such good stories!
4. I don't like The Princess Bride by William Goldman--I love the movie, but the book left me cold.

So there you have it, true confessions and a couple of self-congratulations!

What are you proud of, and what do you have to confess?

Murder and Mayhem - Fall Reading, Watching, Learning, and Playing

I didn't do the R.I.P. challenge this year. Not from not wanting to, or not trying. I simply couldn't figure out the logistics based on Instagram posts. I tried searching for a hosting blog, but that seems to be old school. I guess I am feeling my age, but I couldn't figure out how to sign up. post, etc. So, I punted and just read a bunch of mysteries sans challenge.

The Last Devil to Die, by Richard Osman - 4th in the fantastic Thursday Murder Club series, I gave this 5 stars on GoodReads as there is some seriously beautiful, heartbreaking, breathtaking writing that isn't part of the overall whodunit but puts this book outside the realm of a simple mystery novel. And the mystery part of the book is really good--we dive into the world of antiques, antiquities, fraud, and heroin smuggling, and there are some wonderful characters in this world, some of whom end up dead and some don't. And the fab four are as wonderful as ever. I am so looking forward to the Netflix movie that just finished production.

The Zig-Zag Girl, by Elly Griffiths - I have been hearing good things about Griffiths's Ruth Galloway series but decided (mainly because my library had a copy) to start with book 1 of her Stephens and Mephisto series. Set in Brighton in the 1950s, not long after WWII has ended, the book features a police detective and a famous (on the UK vaudeville circuit) magician who have to figure out who is murdering people using magician's acts horribly gone wrong. Good writing, good setting, good characters--I will definitely be reading more by this author.

Vanishing Edge, by Claire Kells - I've gotten burnt out on the Nevada Barr series, so when Lark from Lark Writes blogged about a mystery series based in National Parks, I knew I had to check it out. This is the first book in the series--set in Sequoia NP in CA. The main character, Felicity Harland, is a former FBI agent now working as a detective with the NPS and her sidekick in this novel (and hopefully into the future) is the brawny, sweet park ranger known as Hux. They are a wonderful pair, with some chemistry, but lots of smarts and wilderness skills. I enjoyed the mystery, setting, and characters and already have the next book in the series on my nightstand.

The Woman in Cabin 10, by Ruth Ware - I picked up this book on vacation in WA state and devoured it while traveling. I had heard lots of buzz about it earlier in the year, and it was a "can't put it down" thriller. Lo, the main character, works for a travel magazine in the UK and is lucky enough to get chosen for a major perk--a berth on a luxury cruise in the North Atlantic. She stumbles into a mystery and finds herself in grave danger in her attempt to figure out who she saw in the supposedly empty cabin next to hers, and what happened to her.

Murder in Chianti, by Camilla Trinchieri - book 1 of yet another mystery series, and this one was also recommended by Lark. Again, I have found a new series to love, as I really enjoy reading books set in Italy, and in this case, we have a former NYPD cop who has relocated to Tuscany and gets roped into helping solve a murder. Again, great setting, interesting set of villagers and side characters, and lots of discussion of great food and drink.

Fatal Pursuit, by Martin Walker - finally, not a new series! This is book 9 in the fabulous Bruno series set in the Dordogne valley in France. One of my absolute favorites in the entire series so far -- we have another WWII mystery, this time involving a gorgeous racing car (only 1 of 4 made) that went missing with a French resistance driver on his way from Alsace to the Dordogne. We also have a rally car event with Bruno as a reluctant participant, as well as the usual horses, dogs, friends, baguettes, fabulous food and drink, and cultural history.

I'm halfway through Magpie Murders, by Anthony Horowitz, which I am loving and will wax poetic about in a later blog post.

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Still reading up on the Civil War--1/3 of the way through another Bruce Catton, this time The Coming Fury, which covers a lot of the same ground as The Demon of Unrest, but terrific nonetheless. I also watch Manhunt on Apple TV about the search for John Wilkes Booth and the other conspirators involved in the Lincoln assassination. Tobias Menzies was excellent as Edwin Stanton, Lincoln's Secretary of War, sometime political rival, and friend and champion. Definitely worth watching.

Also, just started watching The New Look on Apple TV about Christian Dior and Coco Chanel during WWII in Paris and afterwards. Absolutely riveting. Honestly, I am glad I no longer use Chanel No. 5. Coco should have been prosecuted as a Nazi spy.

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Still harvesting tomatoes--what a bumper crop. My freezer is full of tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes,  and we've been eating a lot of tomato soup, salsa, bruschetta, and tomato sandwiches. And I have given away so many bags to friends, neighbors, and the food share.

I just started piano lessons--I haven't played in >30 years and I was mostly self-taught, so this is great fun and challenging.

Gearing up for quilting season. I have a king-size quilt that I am almost done quilting, and then there is a Civil War era quilt that I would love to make this winter.

And that's a wrap. Hope everyone is doing well, staying healthy and reading lots!