Reading Update

Like Anna, I've had books and reading on my mind lately - for a change! My library books were due today and I actually read all three that I checked out. I caught up on the "Temperance Brennan" series by Kathy Reichs with "Devil Bones" and "206 Bones." (I guess all of the more recent titles have to have the word 'bones' in the title to tie in with the TV series.) By themselves, the two books were what I've come to expect from the series. However, reading them back to back instead of a year apart, there were a few inconsistencies and holes in the stories, including a major plot point from "Devil Bones" that wasn't addressed in "206 Bones." I guess we'll see if it comes up in the next book in August.

I also read "13 1/2," the stand-alone book from Nevada Barr, author of the "Anna Pigeon" national park mysteries. I thought the book was very well written, even if it was a bit predictable, and the post-Katrina New Orleans setting was interesting. But I love the Anna Pigeon books and I'll be glad when the next one comes out, also in August.

That brings my total number of books read so far in 2010 to six, so I need to keep moving. I checked out the latest Margaret Maron "Deborah Knott" book (can you tell that I love crime fiction series?) and "Life Sentences" by Laura Lippman, which I've been anxious to read for awhile now.

The Raven

I finished "The Raven" a couple of weeks ago and finally took a picture of it one sunny day last week. Even with all of the half and quarter stitches, it was a pretty quick stitch, especially since it only has two colors. But now on to something with a little bit more color to it!

Olympic Stitching

I watched a ton of Olympic coverage, staying up way too late most nights, but I was also able to get a lot of stitching done. First, I continued working on the "Christmas Eve" stocking. Here's what it looked like at the start of the Opening Ceremonies:


And I finished it during the men's figure skating finals!


This one was much faster to stitch than the snowman stocking, since it didn't have that big block of white. I still have to decide if I want to add buttons to it.

After finishing "Christmas Eve," I decided to take a break from stockings and started "The Raven" by Lavender Wings instead. This design is full of 1/4 and 3/4 stitches. I can't remember the last time I stitched a design with these stitches, so I really have to concentrate. I changed the reddish/GAST gingersnap border to DMC 550/purple to match some other raven designs I have planned for the future. Here's how it looked during the Closing Ceremonies: