41. Happy Place by Emily Henry

400  pgs.

2023
Adult romcom
Finished 5/30/23
Goodreads rating: 4.02
My rating: 3
Setting: contemporary cottage on the coast of Maine

My comments: Three best friends since college.  One last week together in a snazzy summer cottage on the coast of Maine.  Being forced together after a five-month break up after eight years together with the love of her life.  It was just too much.  "I love you forever"...."I'll do whatever is the best for you"...."should we finally talks about it since we never have".....that kind of ridiculousness.  It got old fast.  Narrator Julia Whelan is always wonderful to listen to, she does such a great job with voice.  But the story - sappy and sentimental with  (of course) an HEA...been there, done that, no more please.

Goodreads synopsis:  Harriet and Wyn have been the perfect couple since they met in college—they go together like salt and pepper, honey and tea, lobster and rolls. Except, now—for reasons they’re still not discussing—they don’t.

They broke up six months ago. And still haven’t told their best friends.

Which is how they find themselves sharing the largest bedroom at the Maine cottage that has been their friend group’s yearly getaway for the last decade. Their annual respite from the world, where for one vibrant, blue week they leave behind their daily lives; have copious amounts of cheese, wine, and seafood; and soak up the salty coastal air with the people who understand them most.

Only this year, Harriet and Wyn are lying through their teeth while trying not to notice how desperately they still want each other. Because the cottage is for sale and this is the last week they’ll all have together in this place. They can’t stand to break their friends’ hearts, and so they’ll play their parts. Harriet will be the driven surgical resident who never starts a fight, and Wyn will be the laid-back charmer who never lets the cracks show. It’s a flawless plan (if you look at it from a great distance and through a pair of sunscreen-smeared sunglasses). After years of being in love, how hard can it be to fake it for one week… in front of those who know you best?

A couple who broke up months ago make a pact to pretend to still be together for their annual weeklong vacation with their best friends in this glittering and wise new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Emily Henry.

38. The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths

#12 Ruth Galloway

listened on Audible

2020
373 pgs.
Adult Mystery
Finished 5/27/2023
Goodreads rating: 4.20
My rating: 3.75

Setting: Contemporary Norfolk, England

My comments: It's been two years, and Ruth and Kate - now nine - live with Frank in Cambridge where both Ruth and Frank teach.  The mystery for this episode, back in Norfolk, is a bit convoluted with a large group of ex-hippie-type people who hang around together totally supporting each other and the man who is arrested for the murder of two women.  At the end of this one Ruth has said no to Frank's marriage proposal and decides to move back to her much-loved cottage in Norfolk.  There will be an opening for the head of archaeology at her previous university, and she and Nelson have gotten closer and closer...so the next book is going to definitely take us in a more positive direction in that respect, I think.  Pretty decent mystery, but a little dragged out.

Goodreads synopsis:  Forensic archaeologist Ruth Galloway changed her life—until a convicted killer tells her that four of his victims were never found, drawing her back to the place she left behind.

34. Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow

listened on Audible

320 pgs.

2023
Middle Grades CRF
Finished 5/15/2023
Goodreads rating: 4.32
My rating: 5

My comments:  Simon's a 7th grader and only child.  His mom is an undertaker and his dad is a Catholic deacon.  They move from Omaha, Nebraska to a tiny small town where, because of all its scientific and astronomical activity, no microwaves, cell phones, tv, anything of that sort is allowed.  Simon has been homeschooled for the past year and is heading back to school for the first time in 18 months or so, the first time since something pretty horrible happened to him - which he alludes to, and which slowly becomes known by about the middle of the book.  It's a book about friendship and family and trauma - and how both his parents and he deal with all that's happened.  He also raises a puppy to become a service dog, which is another interesting segment of the story which will greatly appeal to many kids.

32. Community Board by Tara Conklin

listened on Libby

272 pgs.

2023
Adult CRF/Chick Lit
Finished 5/9/2023
Goodreads rating: 3.34
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary fictional western Massachusetts town of Murbridge

My comments: Great cast of characters!  Darcy, the protagonist, is an absolute hoot.  After her marriage crumbles and dissolves, she heads home to western Massachusetts to her beloved parents.  However, when she gets there she discovers they have gone to Arizona to try out retirement there.  What follows is months of depression, but her antics throughout are basolutely riotous.  Most of it was really quite ridiculous, and I loved it and wanted more....and it included a great HEA!

31. It's One of Us by J. T. Ellison

30. The Lonely Hearts Book Club by Lucy Gilmore

listened on Libby

352 pgs.

2023
Adult CRF
Finished 5/2/23
Goodreads rating: 3.89
My rating: 4.5
Setting: contemporary small-town America

My comments: A beautifully character-driven novel.  An incredibly mean old man.  A librarian who only wants to please everyone.  A super-smart gay young man who has dabbled in many professions, still not finding his passion. A huge, scowling young man with a heart of gold.  A lonely mom who loes to cook, has no self-confidence and feels she has lost her only child. Add a few book discussions and lots of "feels" and you have this marvelous story about a book club of misfits.  I really liked it a lot.

May 2023 Book Bingo & Waiting to Read

 I'm digging myself in deeper and deeper...so many to read!

Final tally:  

1.  Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin - have on Libby returned

2.  The Door of No Return - Kwame Alexander - have on Libby returned

3.  Community Board by Tara Conklin - have on Libby

4   Unlikely Animals - Libby

5.  Someone is Always Watching - Libby

6.  Knitlandia by Clara Parkes - Audible/essays

7.  The Lantern Men - next one by Elly Griffiths - Audible

8.  America the Beautiful? One Woman in a Borrowed Prius on the Road Less Traveled by Blythe Roberson - Audible

9.  Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow - Audible/2023 Mid Grade novel - reading

10.  The Midnight Children by Dan Gemeinhart - Audible/Mid Grade novel

11.  The Indigo Girl by Natasha Boyd - March bookgirls choice - Chirp

12.  The Persian Pickle Club - Sandra Dallas (1995) May Bookgirls KS, avail on Audible for a credit

13.  The Love Wager by Lynn Painter (2023) 2nd May Bookgirls NE, avail on Audible for a credit

14.  I Must Betray You - Ruta Sepetys Bkgirls Eastern Europe, #3 on WL at TPPL/Libby

15.  Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver (won the Pulitzer Prize 5/2023!) purchased on Audible

16.  Across the Desert - Dusti Bowling

17.  Warrior Girl Unearthed - Angeline Boulley, YA purchased on Audible w/ $10 credit

18.  Next New Syrian Girl - YA purchased on Audible

19.  Free Radicals - Lila Riesen - YA AfghanAmerican CRF - 2023 (24.50/1 credit)

20.  Deep (YA dystopia) on Kindle

PA Bucket List

Philadelphia

Magic Gardens

Magic Gardens article

Magic Gardens website

need pre-purchased tickets

Enola

Cupboard Maker Books

open 7 days a week

lots of cats to adopt as well!

"largest" bookstore in PA

157 No. Enola Road

Only in Your State article

Lititz

Inna's Pierogi Shop

take out or eat outside in warm weather

closed Sunday and Monday

Only in Your State Article

website

2024 Mock Newbery Suggestions by Heavy Medal/SLJ

Rules for Suggestions

SPS Library has purchased

cag has read

SPS purchased + cag read

Alexander -  (3) An American Story (Ill:  Coulter)  pictbk GR 4.69

Applegate - The One and Only Ruby

Bailey - (2) Henry Like Always beg chap bk GR 4.28

Baldwin - No Matter the Distance

Bow - (9) Simon Sort of Says midgr GR 4.37 Kindle 10.99 Aud 8.52

Brown - (2) That Flag pictbk GR 4.69

Cline-Ransome - For Lamb ya histfic lgbt GR 4.47

Cordell - Evergreen pict bk GR 4.37

Craft - School Trip

Dunlap - It Happened on Saturday mid/ya GR 4.61 Kindle 8.49

Echenique - Our Roof is Blue

Edinger & Younge - (2) Nearer My Freedom verse nonfict GR 4.28

Fogliano - (2) All the Beating Hearts pictbk midgr poetry GR  3.70

Giles - Not an Easy Win

Harris - My Head Has a Bellyache

Kemp - A Crown for Corina pictbk GR 4.30

Kline-Ransome - (2) For Lamb 

LaRocca - Mirror to Mirror

Leavitt - Buffalo Flats

Lerner - A Work in Progress

Lin & Messner - Once Upon a Book pictbk GR 4.29

Lowry - (2) The Windeby Puzzle mid/ya histfic GR 3.59  yuck - didn't read it all, but tried...

Marsh - The Lost Year

McDunn - When Sea Becomes Sky  midgr GR 4.46 Kindle 8.44 Aud 17.56

Mendez - Anina Del Mar Jumps In

Nayeri - (3) The Many Assasinations of Samir, The Seller of Dreams

Nickum - Superpod

O'Shaughnessy - Lasagna Means I Love You

Oh - (3) You Are Here: Connecting Flights midgr 12-AsianAm short stories GR 4.44 Kindle 11.99 Aud 22.35

Pennypacker - Leeva At Last midgr GR 4.16 Kindle 11.99 Aud 22.35

Pinkney - Just Jerry midgr memoir GR 4.33

Salazar - Jovita Wore Pants pictbk biog (gender) GR 4.31

Santat - (23 A First Time for Everything midgr GN GR 4.48

Selznick - Big Tree midgr Fant GN GR 4.48

Stein  - (2) Beaky Barnes; Egg on the Loose juv GN GR 3.35

Swinarski - (2) What Happened to Rachel Riley mid/ya myst GR 4.29 Kindle 9.99 Aud 22.35

Tyson - (2)  My Red, White, and Blue pictbk GR 4.02

Wallace - Love is Loud: How Diane Nash Led the Civil Rights Movement pictbk biog GR 4.38

Wynter - Nell Plants a Tree

Yoh & Chang - This Is Not My Home pictbk GR 4.43

Cabbage Roll Casserole

Ingredients

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 3 ½ pounds chopped cabbage (coarse is okay)
• 1 (29 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth

Directions

1.   Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and gather all ingredients.

2.   Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir ground beef in the hot skillet until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain and discard grease.

3.   Combine cabbage, tomato sauce, onion, rice, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Stir in cooked ground beef. Pour mixture into a 9x13-inch baking dish, then pour beef broth over top.

4.   Cover and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour.

5.   Stir, re-cover, and bake until cabbage is tender and rice is done, 20 to 30 minutes more.

6.   Serve hot and enjoy!

Easy Peasy Chicken Brocolli Casserole

EASY TO MAKE HALF THE RECIPE!

Ingredients

• 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
• 2 cups (or more) cooked chopped broccoli
• 2 (10.5 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 pinch ground black pepper to taste
• 2 ½ cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 ½ cups bread crumbs
• ¼ cup salted butter, melted

Directions

1.   Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

2.   Combine chicken, broccoli, condensed soup, sour cream, and pepper in a bowl. Mix in 1 cup Cheddar cheese. Pour into a 2-quart casserole dish and top with remaining Cheddar cheese.

3.   Combine bread crumbs and butter in a bowl. Sprinkle over casserole.

4.   Bake in the preheated oven until bubbly and cheese is melted, 30 to 35 minutes.

Watch it on YouTube

26. Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

listened on Chrip (although I started on Kindle)

2017
262 pgs.
MidGrades/YA Crf/Myst
Finished 4/16/23
Goodreads rating: 4.31
My rating: 5
Setting: Contemporary Phoenix, AZ

My comments: I've wanted to read this for a long time - it's set in the Arizona desert and has cacti on the cover and in the title, for cryin' out loud!  So sorry it took me so long, because this was an amazing story. It should be required reading for everyone! The way it looked at and handled Tourette's Syndrome was particularly special...heartbreaking and informative at the same time.  Great characters, interesting setting, wonderful plot.  What more could one want?

Goodreads synopsis:  Aven Green loves to tell people that she lost her arms in an alligator wrestling match, or a wildfire in Tanzania, but the truth is she was born without them. And when her parents take a job running Stagecoach Pass, a rundown western theme park in Arizona, Aven moves with them across the country knowing that she’ll have to answer the question over and over again.

Her new life takes an unexpected turn when she bonds with Connor, a classmate who also feels isolated because of his own disability, and they discover a room at Stagecoach Pass that holds bigger secrets than Aven ever could have imagined. It’s hard to solve a mystery, help a friend, and face your worst fears. But Aven’s about to discover she can do it all . . . even without arms.

25. Secret Shopper by Tanya Taimanglo

Read on Kindle, recommended by Book Girlsl and read for their monthly read
319 pgs.

2013
Adult CRF
Finished 4/14/2023
Goodreads rating: 3.65
My rating: 2.5
Setting: contemporary San Diego and Guam

My comments:  Read for a Book Girls monthly read.  I always dislike writing a non-glowing review, but I guess I must be honest with my feelings.  This one definitely didn't do it.  A 25-year-old, discovering her husband has been cheating on her, sludges her way through it with believable feelings, ups, downs, sadness, anger.  What didn't work for me was her obsession for a new guy, Thomas.  Much of the book seems trite to me, and it definitely needed some editing work.  There were so many opportunities to give the reader some insight into Guam, but this  didn't happen either.

Spring Season Quilt Block by Beth Shibley of My Sewing Room

 I love that the two hourglass blocks and all the half square triangles are made with slightly larger squares, then cut down (I'd use my BlockLoc ruler) to make accurately-sized 2 1/2 inch squares.

A 10:45 YouTube video can be found here.  Cutting directions below.

Each block is a 5 x 5 -  of 2/12 inch squares, so the end block is 10.5 inches.

Would make a super scrappy quilt, and maybe a way to work on a leaders and enders project?

Cutting info

For the center five:

Cut FOUR (4) 2 1/2” squares - scrappy
Cut ONE (1) 2 1/2” square - white
For the two hourglass blocks:

Cut TWO (2) 3 1/2” squares - Red print
Cut TWO (2) 3 1/2” squares - White

For the sixteen half square triangles:

Cut FOUR (4) 3” squares - yellow /green print
Cut FOUR (4) 3” squares - lavender print
Cut EIGHT (8) 3” squares - white

My Blog's Artsy-Fartsy Table of Contents

Quilt Patterns

     10-Inch Heart Square from Pin Cut Sew

     11 Different Patterns using leftover/scrap 2 1/2 inch strips by The Quilted Forest

     16-Patch Delight by Lori Dickman

     Arkansas Crossroads

     Color Wash Scrap Quilt by Terry Rowland

     Crumb Blocks into Crumb Quilts by Merry Mabel Market

     Fold & Sew SIMPLE Square-in-a-Square

     Fresh Start Quilt by Agilejack (scrap/crumb strips - gorgeous and easy!)

     Hidden Trails Table Runner from Charm Pack by Moonkin Stitchery

     One Charm Pack Table Runner by Sew the Distance

     Paper Pieced Mini Houses

     Potato Chip Blocks (using 2 x 3 1/2 in. blocks or 2 1/2 x 4 1/2)

     Scrap Strips Diamond Trip (Donna / Jordan Fabrics)

     Spring Season Quilt Block by Beth Shibley

     Sweet & Salty by Charisma Horton

     Unallocated by Michelle McKillop

Gifts to Sew

     Tissue Holders (TOO easy) thanks Ronda Winstead

     Easy, EASY Simple Fabric Bookmarks thanks to Jona Giammulva

Yarn Projects

     2022 Homeless Blanket Project (through Charles Bruce Fdtn.)

     Kim's Magic Blanket

Yarn Patterns

     Amigurumi Octopus 

     Linen Stitch Dishcloth

     Bathroom Mat using leftover yarn tied together

Knitting Book Reviews

Picture Books About Knitting and/or Yarn

Yarn Bombing

Art Techniques to Try

     Neurographic Art

Artists

     Blair, Mary (Disney Artist)

     Gaudi, Antoni (architect)

     Haring, Keith

     Kahlo, Frida

     Kandinsky, Vasily

     Kusama, Yayoi

     Lewis, Maudie (Canada's Grandma Moses)

     Matisse, Henri

     O'Keeffe, Georgia

     Pippin, Horace

     Rousseau, Henri

     Sumner, Kae (6' 3" Disney Artist & Founder of Int'l Tall Person's Clubs)

     VanGogh, Vincent

     Warhol, Andy