I made a great library run today thanks to the Cecil County Library. As much as I love my local library I always get a thrill driving across the bridge to go to the CCL. They are a fairly new library and have a great selection of books. Since it is so small normally I can find the book I am looking for and if I have to order it 9 times out of 10 it takes a day to come it. Plus when books do come in for you they actually call you. A real live human calls:) I just love that! Plus I can call there to put my books on hold if I am not near my computer. Completely amazing:) It seems so many things now a days is computerized so when I get real live help I fall in love:) Anyway, here are the great books I got:)
An Amish Gathering: A Change of Heart by Beth Wiseman
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Summary:Harriet Truman returns to Foggy Point thinking she’s just going to see to her aunt Beth’s customers while the lady takes a European cruise. Instead, she discovers she now owns both business and house, whether she wanted to or not. Still, she’s stuck until Aunt Beth comes home, and she does enjoy being a part of creating beautiful quilts.

But then Avanell Jalbert, her aunt’s best friend, is murdered on the same night someone breaks into Harriet’s studio and trashes the place. Something is coming unravelled in Foggy Point, and Harriet is caught in the tangle. The question is, can she figure out what’s going on before she ends up dead herself.

My Review:

 This book was okay. It was kind of hard to read at times because I never really felt the characters were fleshed out. I know that it is a cozy mystery and it is hard to flesh anything out in only 121 pages but still. The mystery was really good and I kind of figured out who did it right away but I was really surprised at why. I never really warmed up to Harriet and the "leading man" Aiden didn't really make me get goose bumps. As much as I love cozies this book really didn't thrill me and I probably will not read the rest of the series.

Other Books in the Series:

Quilt as You Go

Quilters Knot

Teaser Line:

Fred came in the door and in one leap landed on Randy's back. Randy yelped and jumped onto the ottoman. Chinese food flew everywhere. Fred hissed,

Randy cried, and Aiden and Harriet each tried to grab their respective pets. The cat jumped up onto a bookshelf, a clump of broccoli dangling from his

head. The dog ran down the stairs, trailing rice as she went. The two adults collided and then rolled off the ottoman onto the floor in front of the TV.

Fascinating Fact:

The worlds largest quilt is 135 Feet Long and 85 Feet Wide. It was the brain child of Leonna Tennyson and made to celebrate the centennial celebration in North Dakota. Quilters around the state ( 7,000 to be exact) stitched fabric to make squares for the 53 counties. 

Good Morning Dear Readers:)

I have had several people ask me to extend my challenge because some are not close to finishing and some are doing other challenges but want to do this one as well. So I have decided to extend the challenge to December 31st 2010. I will update the challenge page today.

I have also updated my Blog Tour schedule. You may want to peek at that because I have some great blog tours coming up in the near future. Next Wednesday I will be doing a blog tour for Write the Right Words. If you are interested in this book ( which is fabulous by the way) then you will definitely want to stop by. I will be giving away a signed copy of the book:)

Also, coming up soon will be a post and pics of Me and My Girls tea party. I have been planning it for awhile and the date is coming up very quickly. I got the idea when I read Winter of Discontent. We will be having scones, finger sandwiches and of course tea. I hope you will come back for it because it is going to be a lot of fun.

On a more personal note I have been getting back into my jewelry making. It has been a lot of fun and a good de-stresser. So don't be surprised if every once in a while you see some jewelry give aways here:)

I think that is about it. I have some mini reviews coming up later on today. So I will see you then:)

'Til We Read Again,
Bobbie

About The Murderer’s Daughters

Lulu and Merry’s childhood was never ideal, but on the day before Lulu’s tenth birthday their father drives them into a nightmare. He’s always hungered for the love of the girl’s self-obsessed mother. After she throws him out, their troubles turn deadly.
Lulu’s mother warned her to never let him in, but when he shows up, he’s impossible to ignore. He bullies his way past ten-year-old Lulu, who obeys her father’s instructions to open the door, then listens in horror as her parents struggle. She runs for help and discovers upon her return that he’s murdered her mother, stabbed her sister, and tried to kill himself.
For thirty years, the sisters try to make sense of what happened. Their imprisoned father is a specter in both their lives, shadowing every choice they make. Though one spends her life pretending he’s dead, while the other feels compelled to help him, both fear that someday their imprisoned father’s attempts to win parole may meet success.
The Murderer’s Daughters is narrated in turn by Merry and Lulu. The book follows the sisters as children, as young women, and as adults, always asking how far forgiveness can stretch, while exploring sibling loyalty, the aftermath of family violence, and the reality of redemption.

About Randy

The dark drama of Randy Susan Meyers’ debut novel is informed by her years of work with batterers, domestic violence victims, and at-risk youth impacted by family violence.
Randy Susan Meyers’ short stories have been published in the Fog City Review, Perigee: Publication for the Arts, and the Grub Street Free Press.
In Brooklyn, where Randy was born and raised, her local library was close enough to visit daily and she walked there from the time she figured out the route. In many ways, she was raised by books, each adding to her sense of who she could be in this world. Some marked her for horror. Reading In Cold Blood at too tender an age assured that she’d never stay alone in a country house. Others, like Heidi by Johanna Spyri, made her worship her grandfather even more.
Some taught her faith in the future.
A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith was the only bible Randy ever owned, her personal talisman of hopefulness. Each time she read it, she was struck anew by how this author knew so much and dared to write it.
Randy now lives in Boston with her husband and is the mother of two grown daughters. She teaches writing seminars at the Grub Street Writers’ Center in Boston.



My Review:
Wow, I just don't know what to say. Even with the sensitive subject matter and tense moments I loved this book. It follows the lives of LuLu and Merry after their father murders their mother and almost kills Merry. LuLu feels guilty over her mothers death and Merry's almost death. Merry who was only 5 at the time is confused over her feelings for her father. The reason I liked this book so much was because it seemed real. I could see this happening to a family that was dealt with this blow. As we follow them into their adult life we see them take different stances as far as their father is concerned. I was very pleased to see how toward the end they both had grown and learned to accept each other and how they felt.  I would highly recommend this book. It is definitely one you can't put down.


Til We Read Again,
Bobbie

Wow, this has been a very busy week:)

This week I have read:
i know i am but what are you by Samantha Bee--- Let me tell you this book was just fabulous! It was definitely not for the faint of heart. My review will be up this week.
Write the Right Words-- While this was not a fiction book or a novel I found that I enjoyed this one as well. Please stop by my blog for my tour stop on this book. I have a great activity planned for my girls that goes with this book.
Georgia's Kitchen--- This was an ARC provided by the publisher and let me tell you I loved this book. I started it at 3:00 PM and didn't go to bed until I finished it. I stayed up rooting for Georgia. This is another must stop by for the blog tour.

This week I have the following books on hold. So when you come back Monday they may or may not be the books I read. It depends on whether they come in at the library:)
The Diary of Mattie Spenser:With the convention of finding a diary in an elderly neighbor's attic trunk framing her story, Dallas creates a ripping good read from this fictional journal. Beginning in 1865, a week after her wedding in Fort Madison, Iowa, Mattie Spenser confides to her diary as she and her new husband travel by Conestoga wagon to the Colorado Territories. The building of a sod house; the births and deaths of children; the melting of narrow attitudes toward "loose" women, Indians, and Negroes; and the growth of Mattie as a person are all visible in these pages, full of what seems like genuine details of prairie life. There's enough about her complicated relationship with her husband to satisfy readers longing for romance and resolution. If some of the hooks in the tale, which include wife beating, incest, miscegenation, and adultery, are a bit contrived, the pace is lively and engaging.
The House Next Door:Thirtysomething Colquitt and Walter Kennedy live in a charming, peaceful suburb of newly bustling Atlanta, Georgia. Life is made up of enjoyable work, long, lazy weekends, and the company of good neighbors. Then, to their shock, construction starts on the vacant lot next door, a wooded hillside they'd believed would always remain undeveloped. Disappointed by their diminished privacy, Colquitt and Walter soon realize something more is wrong with the house next door. Surely the house can't be "haunted," yet it seems to destroy the goodness of every person who comes to live in it, until the entire heart of this friendly neighborhood threatens to be torn apart.
The Kitchen House:When a white servant girl violates the order of plantation society, she unleashes a tragedy that exposes the worst and best in the people she has come to call her family.

Got books? If not I do:) A whole stack of them to give away!!! I had so much fun with Book Extravaganza that I am back with another round. Thanks to Got Books for organizing this.