©Holly B. of 2 Kids and Tired Books 2007-2014 All rights reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than 2 Kids and Tired Books or 2 Kids and Tired Books Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
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Looking outside…it’s cold. We got about an inch of snow on Thursday. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Listening…to the The Artist looking through the bulk lego bins at our favorite Lego store. Other customers mingling around.Loving…that my freezer is full of delicious home-raised beef. We purchased half a cow from my aunt and uncle. Picked it up on Thursday from the butcher and grilled steak that night. Oh my goodness it was yummy. Thinking…that I have too many thoughts. That I have never examined my own thoughts and feelings as much as I have these last few months. I have shared some of my thoughts and views here and I had a much longer series of thoughts written down to share today because of the inauguration and Women’s March. But, I decided it wasn’t worth it.Honestly, I am so weary of the hatred. Being anonymous on the Internet is cowardly. And even if you use your own name, hiding behind your keyboard and attacking other people simply because they have a different life view than you do is cowardly. I could tell you how I believe. I could tell you how I voted. I could tell you my concerns for the upcoming administration. But I truly don’t think it would make a difference. There would be one word or one phrase that is latched onto and honest conversation and true discussion would be out the window. For the few readers I do have, I think some of my thoughts and beliefs would surprise you. But those thoughts and beliefs are mine and I have the right to them. Just like you have the right to yours, whether we agree or not. But, whether we agree or not, should make no difference. We are women. The influence and reach we have is amazing. And even with differences in belief or opinion, if we all work together, we truly do make a difference.I hate labels of any sort. I think that women, all women, have more in common than not. I think that you can have honest dialogue. I think that you can disagree without getting angry and mean.From before the election through today, I have seen people on social media trying to explain their thoughts and getting slammed because someone else took offense, likely where none was intended. Tolerance only if someone agrees with you isn’t tolerance and impedes honest communication and effective dialogue.Stop assuming everyone who disagrees with you hates you. This goes both ways and for every political affiliation. Ask someone you know who has a different political opinion to share their thoughts and then listen without judging and allow them to listen to you. You don’t have to agree. Call your government representatives and share your views. Help others. March. Work together. Make a difference in your communities. Listen to each other. Volunteer. Be kind. Do good. Love is a verb.In my kitchen…Not sure what’s on the menu for tonight.Wearing…denim skirt, white turtleneck, gray sweater, burnt orange scarf.Hoping…that the sun peeks out today.Reading…Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Manby William Shatner.Today…it’s National Lego Day, so we are at our favorite Lego store in Boise. Bricks and Minifigs. It’s right by The Doctor’s office. It’s a family day today. Those are so nice. I suspect we will end up at The Chocolat Bar today as well.Quoting…“I say to you all, once again — in the light of Lord Voldemort’s return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort’s gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Goblet of FireFeeling…So tired of winter. I don’t mind the cold. I don’t even mind the snow. I’d rather live in Idaho than Arizona or Las Vegas. But, this winter is getting old. I am ready for spring.Gratitude…for my hard-working husband. This first month of practice has been a fantastic beginning and I am so proud of him.From my world… This probably reflects my thoughts this week more than writing anything could.What about you? What are you reflecting on this week? How has your week gone?©Holly B. of 2 Kids and Tired Books 2007-2014 All rights reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than 2 Kids and Tired Books or 2 Kids and Tired Books Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
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I keep a wish list on Goodreads called “want to read”. Currently, it’s up to 2724. Yeah. I also have several stacks of books tucked against walls throughout my house. Each is probably at least 3 feet high of books I haven’t read yet. I periodically go through my list and purge it, but it still is not slowing down. Nor are the books that keep appearing on my Kindle. They’re all still on my wish list, I just haven’t gotten to them yet.Each month I highlight 5 books I want to read. I don’t set out to plan themes, but somehow patterns creep into my viewing.This month it’s all about sewing! Seamstresses and dressmakers and weavers. I have basic sewing skills thanks to Home Economics classes and my mom. I am not, however, an accomplished seamstress. My mother is and she made most of our dresses when my sisters and I were growing up. With few exceptions, she also made all of our dance formals too.Even now, she is more than willing to do the mending or altering for me when I have sewing to do.—————————————-The Forgotten Seamstress by Liz TrenowIt is 1910 and Maria, a talented young girl from the East end of London, is employed to work as a seamstress for the royal family. As an attractive girl, she soon catches the eye of the Prince of Wales and she in turn is captivated by his glamour and intensity.But careless talk causes trouble and soon Maria’s life takes a far darker turn. Disbelieved and dismissed she is thrown into a mental asylum, shut away from the real world with only her needlework for company.Can a beautiful quilt, discovered many years later, reveal the truth behind what happened to Maria?The Funeral Dress by Susan Gregg GilmoreA deeply touching Southern story filled with struggle and hope.Emmalee Bullard and her new baby are on their own. Or so she thinks, until Leona Lane, the older seamstress who sat by her side at the local shirt factory where both women worked as collar makers, insists Emmalee come and live with her. Just as Emmalee prepares to escape her hardscrabble life in Red Chert holler, Leona dies tragically. Grief-stricken, Emmalee decides she’ll make Leona’s burying dress, but there are plenty of people who don’t think the unmarried Emmalee should design a dress for a Christian woman – or care for a child on her own. But with every stitch, Emmalee struggles to do what is right for her daughter and to honor Leona the best way she can, finding unlikely support among an indomitable group of seamstresses and the town’s funeral director. In a moving tale exploring Southern spirit and camaraderie among working women, a young mother will compel a town to become a community.The Hidden Thread by Liz TrenowThe Hidden Thread is a breathtaking novel about the intricate craft of silk and the heartbreak of forbidden love.When Anna Butterfield’s mother dies, she’s sent to live with her uncle, a silk merchant in London, to make a good match and provide for her father and sister. There, she meets Henri, a French immigrant and apprentice hoping to become a master weaver. But Henri, born into a lower class, becomes embroiled in the silk riots that break out as weavers protest for a fair wage.New York Times bestselling author Liz Trenow weaves a luminous tale of class struggle and star-crossed love. The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham A darkly satirical novel of love, revenge, and 1950s haute couture—soon to be a major motion picture starring Kate Winslet and Liam HemsworthAfter twenty years spent mastering the art of dressmaking at couture houses in Paris, Tilly Dunnage returns to the small Australian town she was banished from as a child. She plans only to check on her ailing mother and leave. But Tilly decides to stay, and though she is still an outcast, her lush, exquisite dresses prove irresistible to the prim women of Dungatar. Through her fashion business, her friendship with Sergeant Farrat—the town’s only policeman, who harbors an unusual passion for fabrics—and a budding romance with Teddy, the local football star whose family is almost as reviled as hers, she finds a measure of grudging acceptance. But as her dresses begin to arouse competition and envy in town, causing old resentments to surface, it becomes clear that Tilly’s mind is set on a darker design: exacting revenge on those who wronged her, in the most spectacular fashion. The Seamstress by Frances de Pontes PeeblesAs seamstresses, the young sisters Emília and Luzia dos Santos know how to cut, how to mend, and how to conceal. These are useful skills in the lawless backcountry of Brazil, where ruthless land barons called “colonels” feud with bands of outlaw cangaceiros, trapping innocent residents in the cross fire.Emília, whose knowledge of the world comes from fashion magazines and romance novels, dreams of falling in love with a gentleman and escaping to a big city.Luzia also longs to escape their little town, where residents view her with suspicion and pity. Scarred by a childhood accident that left her with a deformed arm, the quick-tempered Luzia finds her escape in sewing and in secret prayers to the saints she believes once saved her life.But when Luzia is abducted by a group of cangaceiros led by the infamous Hawk, the sisters’ quiet lives diverge in ways they never imagined. Emília stumbles into marriage with Degas Coelho, the son of a doctor whose wealth is rivaled only by his political power.She moves to the sprawling seaside city of Recife, where the glamour of her new life is soon overshadowed by heartache and loneliness. Luzia, forced to trek through scrubland and endure a nomadic existence, proves her determination to survive and begins to see the cangaceiros as comrades, not criminals.In Recife, Emília must hide any connection to her increasingly notorious sister. As she learns to navigate the treacherous waters of Brazilian high society, Emília sees the country split apart after a bitter presidential election. Political feuds extend to the countryside, where Luzia and the Hawk are forced to make unexpected alliances and endure betrayals that threaten to break the cangaceiros apart. But Luzia will overcome time and distance to entrust her sister with a great secret—one Emília vows to keep. And when Luzia’s life is threatened, Emília will risk everything to save her.An enthralling novel of love and courage, loyalty and adventure, that brings to life a faraway time and place, The Seamstress is impeccably drawn, rich in depth and vision, and heralds the arrival of a supremely talented new writer.—————————————-What about you? What books are on your “want to read/wish” list?5 Books I want to Read is a monthly meme started by Stephanie at Layered Pages. If you want to check out some other terrific bloggers and what their wish lists look like, you can do that here: A Bookaholic Swede, Layered Pages, The Maiden’s Court, Flashlight Commentary and A Literary Vacation. ©Holly B. of 2 Kids and Tired Books 2007-2014 All rights reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than 2 Kids and Tired Books or 2 Kids and Tired Books Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
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I will freely admit that I judge books by their covers. The cover is usually what first captures my attention when browsing Goodreads or Netgalley. Actually, in all honesty, it isn’t just usually, it’s pretty much all the time. The cover determines if I look at the synopsis and reviews.It’s pretty much a given that I’m going to love any cover that has the ocean on it. I can rhapsodize well and long about my love of the ocean. The title implies that the ocean can be dangerous and the ocean on this cover is rugged with waves crashing over rocks. A rocky shoreline can be treacherous to ships and reading this story is the only way we will find out why the sea is feared.What about you? Any book covers capture your attention this week?Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated with Erin at Flashlight Commentary. If you want to check out some other terrific bloggers and what their Cover Crush posts look like, you can do that here: The Maiden’s Court, Flashlight Commentary, A Bookaholic Swede, Layered Pages, indieBRAG, A Literary Vacation.©Holly B. of 2 Kids and Tired Books 2007-2014 All rights reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than 2 Kids and Tired Books or 2 Kids and Tired Books Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
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©Holly B. of 2 Kids and Tired Books 2007-2014 All rights reserved. If you’re reading this on a site other than 2 Kids and Tired Books or 2 Kids and Tired Books Feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.
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