Comforts of home.

Last night, I was sitting in my favorite corner of my living room. I had a great book about knitting in my hands and a cup of hot spiced apple cider (which I partake in year round). I glanced up from my novel and noticed my 17 year old daughter sitting in her favorite corner, wrapped in a blanket reading. The tv was on but just providing some background noise. I love the fact that we are comfortable enough with each other that no conversation is needed. But still it flows easily when we to talk. I will remember these times as she goes out in the big world all alone.

My summer plans

My daughter is leaving for summer camp in a few weeks. This is the second time that she has left me for almost an entire summer. Last summer, I did not know what to do with the time that I had on my hands. I just kind of piddled. Well, this summer, I have a plan. I was telling my boyfriend how I like to read books and write a little blurb about them and place them in the kitchen at work for others to enjoy. He suggested that I start an online blog (which is kind of redundant, but bless his heart, he was trying!) to spread the word about my latest reads.

So the thing is, I will read anything. If the story captures my attention in the first few chapters, I will read it. I will become engrossed with the characters, I may forget that they aren't really real people. So this summer, since its going to be just me, I decided to keep track of all the books that I have read and what I think about them.

Now, I am on a very strict budget, so I find lots of books at thrift stores, yard sales, and at my local library. I tend to walk past the new releases and head into the stacks and look for lost gems. My local library has been giving away tons of gently used and not so gently used books as they update their selections. This has been a gold mine for me. I currently have at least ten books just riding around in my car waiting to be read. So the books I review here will probably not be on the New York Times Best seller list. If they are, it was probably 10 years ago. But that's okay because a good story never dies.

The last book I finished was The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

This is a beautiful story. It is the story of Dinah from the Bible told by Dinah from her point of view. It is the story of her growing up in the women's tents with her mother and her "mother aunts". Although, it is a story based on Biblical characters, it is a fiction. Anita Diamant does a tremendous job of transporting me to the fields near Jacob watching his sheep. We watch Jacob's life unfold through the eyes of his wives. We are shown how Biblical women led their everyday lives. I was especially interested to read about them spinning wool while they spun stories for their favorite daughter Dinah. Dinah's life was not all fields of green. The tragedy that she faced caused me to put the book down for about two hours just so I could deal with it! 

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. Especially anyone who enjoys historical fiction. The characters are very real and I will miss them all as I turned the last page. 

My next book is Knitting A Novel by Anne Bartlett. I actually have four books checked out from the library that have knitting as a theme. So please check back again!