Tuesday, January 27, 2015

January drawing to and end

So far January for where I live in So Missouri has been a very good month, weather wise.  Sure can't complain.  Sorry for the folks in the north east who are getting hammered.  But isn't that sort of what winter is like up there?  Glad the weather guys got the roads cleared in preparation for the storm even though it wasn't as bad as they predicted.  Mother Nature is still in charge in case we forget. 

I haven't been around here to post any blogs, just got caught up posting my column for the last 3 months.  I think with FB now and our being connected with that we old timer bloggers sort of let things slid.  I need to go thru and read the folks that I peep in on and see if they are still blogging.  I think since I have had so much going on with family members who are either sick or getting elderly it leaves me not wanting to share the personal stuff going on and as a result I don't seem to have anything to share.

Also I find this blogger site harder to use on my old computer.  It won't let me down load pictures most of the time and I can't go back and correct anything.  So if I don't catch it right away and back space its just there.  Soo  will try one more time to leave a picture of the rug I recently wove on my new loom, which I love.  So till next time, its just me here, the Weaverbird of Mo.




Well dang!  Found I could download from my phone better than from my pictures stored in computer.  Yahoo!


January column


Welcome to 2015! Here at Read Again Books, I wish for all, a great year to remember. Appreciate what you have and hold your loved ones close. My one New Year resolution is to get my Yoga CD out and practice daily with the stretching exercises. The new year is a time to at least try to do something healthy for yourself.

December was a busy month. For the Granby business folks I post a challenge to have you come to the First Tuesday Business Coffee. Each month hosted by a local business. February it will be at my book store on the at 7:30 AM on the 3rd. Come enjoy meeting or catching up on news from your fellow business folks, have a cup of coffee and treat. We have a lot in common so check with Earl at the bank for location if you want to come and get on his e-mail list.

On the 20th I set up in Webb City Farmers Market and did very well selling rugs. Over Thanksgiving I went to Iowa and bought a nice floor loom from a good friend, so I am excited to be weaving on it. I now have 2 floor looms that are for sale.

On the 21st the Fiber Folks of SW Mo held their Christmas lunch and we sent our huge box of “warmies” off to be distributed to local shelters and DFS. We did this last year and decided to make it an annual thing that we can work on all year to donate. Hand made caps, scarves, mittens and much more. Anyone wanting to contribute can come by the store to drop off.

I actually got a few books read this month. I am finding that I like reading books that have movie tie-ins. The first is a throw back that I actually read a few years ago.

The Red Tent
by
Anita Diamant

I did a review of this book back in 2011, and commented “What a beautiful book”. I still stand by that as I was able to watch the 3 night mini series recently on TV. In the old testament Dinah is the only daughter of Jacob who also had 11 sons. There is only a brief mention of Dinah in the bible, but Diamant wrote this wonderful fiction about what her life might have been like. The red tent was a tent set aside for the women only, as a place to gather during their monthly menses, birthing, and illness. They formed tight sisterly bonds and were a mystery to the men. It was here that they handed down their wisdom through their story telling. The book tells of Dinah's marriage to the prince of Shechem that resulted in a son and her relationship with her father and brothers. The TV version follows the book very well and so very worth watching if it comes on again. Minnie Driver played the part of Dinah and was very believable. If you can't watch it then please read the book. This one stays in my library.

Gone Girl
by
Gillian Flynn

Ben Affleck stared in this recent movie. There was a lot of hype for it on TV, so when I was able to get the book I figured it would be a good read. Also the setting was in a fictitious town of New Carthage Missouri, supposedly in norther Missouri along a river. As Nick and Amy start the day of their 5th anniversary, Amy disappears. The story goes from chapter to chapter telling their individual stories at different dates in their relationship. They both seem to be complicated people especially Amy as her expectations of Nick seem over the top. At some point the evidence piles up to cause Nick to be arrested even though a body has not been found. I don't want to be a spoiler so won't tell the ended but I was pretty dumb founded. When it comes out I will have to rent the movie and see if it follows the book. This was a very good book that was hard to put down.

I did read another book but will save it till next month.

My new motto for the new year: Creative clutter is better than idle neatness!
I know all my crafty friends can relate to this.

December Column


Where did November go? Soon we will be saying where did 2014 go. Things have been very busy here at Read Again Books. If you pass by my shop you will see an addition to my store sign. I have added a big sign that says simply WEAVING. I have been able to move a floor loom and another table top loom into my space now. I had my first weaving workshop on the 10th. I will be doing all day workshops and half days with very flexible scheduling. I still have many books on sale for 50 cents so come stock up for the cold days ahead. I will continue to take books on trade in but limited to just clean books that do not duplicate what I have due to cutting down on my books space.
My reading has suffered the last couple months. Seems if I sit down to read I end up with some handwork to do instead of reading, so I only have a couple to offer up this month.

I have had several customers recommend Amanda Quick to me. I didn't realize until I did a little research on the author that her real name is Jane Ann Krentz. Krentz uses the name Quick for her Victorian novels. So this is a first time read for this author.

The River Knows
By
Amanda Quick

Louisa didn't mean to kill the man who broke into her room. Especially since he was a member of England's nobility and that class protected him from the likes of her. She is a woman alone at a time when many women alone were cast out to fend for themselves or jump off a bridge. But Louisa was different. She had grit and determination as she fled her humble apartment over a little bookstore that she inherited from her father, she is forced to fake her death and take on a new identity. She talked a newspaper into letting her write articles and she becomes a sort of underground sleuth, seeking out ways to expose the exploits of the high society. She finds employment in the home of a society lady who is a rebel also but wealthy. This allows her to mingle with the rich and go unnoticed. Louisa meets up with a man who is investigating the death of his fiancé. The plot thickens as they join forces to uncover who is behind several murders. Of course they develop a romantic relationship. I enjoyed this different type novel and the quick dialogue and humor.

The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger

This book seems similar to a TV series I have been watching lately called Forever, about a Dr. who has been around for several hundred years. He is a medical examiner and helps solve crimes. Seems he dies in each segment but pops up in the river with no cloths to be helped back to his home by his “son” who is an old man now. Great show. But now about this book. It is a love story that spans time. The main character is Henry (same as that TV Dr.). He was born with a condition that makes him jump backward and forward in time. He also ends up with no cloths. I guess when you move thru time your cloths can't go with you. As a grown man he has gone back in time and meets his future wife who is only 6. Over the years he manages to pop back into her life and she falls in love with him. They do not meet in “real” time till she is 20 and he is 28. But since at 28 he has not gone back yet to that time when she was 6 he doesn't recognize her. Confused yet? The book keeps you all straight as its told in segments and each one starts out telling you who is “speaking” and their age. It is a beautiful love story with an unusual ending. I saw it advertised recently to be on a movie channel but haven't seen it yet.

I would like to wish everyone a safe and VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

November column


November column

I look around my reading area and realize I have four partially read books. What makes a person start reading another book before finishing the first one? Maybe its because I have so many books that I want to read but lately have been so busy its hard to find time. Bedtime reading makes me fall asleep.

My book store is slowly getting a face lift inside. I have torn out two major shelving units, clearing me about 12 square foot of free space. A good handy man has help me build shelves all along one wall and also in my storage area so I can keep duplicate books there. A little fresh paint and I moved my big floor loom into place. I have two table top looms set up so will be ready to start scheduling classes. So if you are interested in either a short 4 hour class to just weave a rug or an all day class to learn more about the loom and weaving, plus weave a rug. I have gift certificates available for that person who is hard to find a Christmas or birthday gift. Oh, and if you need a pretty good handyman/plumber, I can recommend one to you.

For my book choices this month, I rediscovered a favorite author, Ted Dekker. I have several of his books in my stack and one more is in that stack of partially read books!

THR3E
by
Ted Dekker
No the book title is not a typo. That is how it is spelled on the cover. It was one of those “I can't put down” books. Dekker has a way of mixing good, evil and all that is in between into his books and that really gives them substance. I did learn that it was made into a movie also. When Kevin's cell phone rings and the voice tells him that he has exactly three minutes to confess his sin to the world or the car he is driving will blow up, the caller hangs up. Since he has no idea what to do in three minutes he maneuvers his car to an open area when he escapes just before it blows up. Kevin is a seminary student who lives a quiet life, so how can this be happening to him. But this is the only the first move in a very deadly game. He continues to get phone calls from this man who calls himself Slater who gives him bizarre riddles he has to solve before something tragic happens. With the help of a life long friend he struggles to keep his sanity and solve the riddles. Each test has the number 3 or multiples of 3 in it. As the tale is spun you realize that maybe everyone is not who they seem to be. Especially as bits and pieces of Kevin's childhood come to light. The ending is so unexpected, but true to Dekker style. I am looking forward to finishing the next book.

The Trumpet of the Swan
by
E.B. White
Sometimes I like to read a children's book just for fun. Recently I chose this old classic written in 1970.
Louis is a trumpet swan, a cygnet to be exact, as that is what young swans are called. But he is unlike his brothers and sisters, he can't trumpet. They live with their parents on a beautiful pond. Their mother teaches them what swans need to learn and their father guards and protects them. Then a young boy named Sam comes to their clearing and made friends with Louis. He even took Louis to school with him, where he learned to read and write. As he got older Louis fell in love with Serena a beautiful swan, but he still could not utter a sound. His father got him a trumpet. He became very musical and had many adventures. Of course there is a happy ending as he and Serena returned to the secluded lake to raise their own cygnets.