Blackberry Creek Home Arts: Crocheted Stuffed Hearts

Books Read in 2013

Gillian Flynn: Sharp Objects: A Novel
The beginning of this book reads like just another crime novel, starring a hard-drinking girl reporter, Camilla Preaker, with troubles of her own. However, the author takes her reader gradually into the unfolding mysteries not only of two murders but also of the world of Camilla's chillingly dysfunctional family. For much of the rest of the book, the lives this broken family seem to take over the story, the murders being almost a back story or merely a setting for the real horrors that reside with the Preaker family. But ultimately, the author brings it all together in an ending that might take you by surprise, as it did me. This is one of the best first novels I've ever read--so good in fact that I immediately started reading Flynn's GONE GIRL. I'll tell you about it when I'm finished. (***)
Ransom Riggs: Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
To me, the key to a really, really good book is story. And this author's first novel has an enchanting story to tell. A mysterious island, an abandoned orphanage, a strange collection vintage photographs, and a cast of most peculiar characters combine to create a story you won't want to end. A technique that Ransom Riggs used to create this story, or to enhance it, should intrigue all. He used a collection of actual vintage photos (themselves very peculiar) to illustrate his narrative. This reader found herself staring at the photos much longer than she would have illustrations in other books. Can't wait for this author's next creations. (****)
Stephen Dobyns: The Burn Palace
Brewster, Rhode Island, is just like any other small American town. But recently, something out of the ordinary—perhaps even supernatural—has been stirring in Brewster. While packs of coyotes gather on back roads and the news spreads that a baby has been stolen from Memorial Hospital (and replaced in its bassinet by a snake), a series of inexplicably violent acts confounds Detective Woody Potter and the local police—and inspires terror in the hearts and minds of the locals. If you like mystery and suspense, this should be an enjoyable read for you. But you will have to overlook a couple of drawbacks. The book has so many characters that, at times, it's hard to know who's who. And there are too many of what I call in fiction "unflushed toilets." That is, things are left unresolved or fully explained. To avoid spoilers I won't give examples, but if you read the book, you'll no doubt find them. (**)
Bentley Little: The Haunted
WARNING: This book is only for readers who love scary books. Not an original concept (mom, dad, two kids move into haunted house), but Little does some original things with it. It's fast paced and a real edge-of-your-seat read. And at the end, you know the story's not over yet. (***)
Joyce Carol Oates: Daddy Love
I definitely cannot recommend this book to anyone. It's too dark and the subject matter too heart rending. You should read the descriptions at Amazon and/or the reviews online to see if this subject matter is for you. The story begins when five-year-old Robbie Whitcomb is abducted from a mall parking lot, right under his mother's nose. The next six years tells of Robbie's life of abuse, molestation, and terror at the hands of his captor, the man he knows only as Daddy Love. I won't go any farther and give away the ending. I, personally, could not stop reading once I started this book. Ms. Oates has a way of grabbing one's attention with her writing, and I just had to find out how everything turned out. (***)
John Irving: A Prayer for Owen Meany
"I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother's death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany." And so begins this wonderful book, one of the best I've ever read. In the summer of 1953, two eleven-year-old boys—best friends—are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen, after that 1953 foul ball, is extraordinary. As much as I loved this book, I will add that a good editor could have improved it by cutting the length by a least 100 pages, I believe. Irving often gets bogged down in descriptions of term papers and teaching methods that, in my opinion, add nothing to the story. But that's no reason not to read this book. Don't just read it, relish it. It's a treasure. (****)
Ivan Doig: The Bartender's Tale
Everyone has that one memorable summer of youth, that time when childhood begins to take a back seat to long awaited adulthood. For 12-year-old Rusty Harry, it is the summer of 1960 in a small town in Montana where Rusty's dad tends bar and does the job of a single parent as best he can, which turns out to be pretty darn good. The bar, the town, and the people who make up Rusty's compact life are the players in this magical story that's right up there with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD for being one of the best coming-of-age stories you'll ever read. (****)
Sharyn McCrumb: If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O
The crew at the Hamlin sheriff's office is preparing for the reunion of their 1966 high school class. Well actually Martha is preparing; the guys are trying to figure ways to get out of going. Adding more excitement, a semi-famous folk singer has moved into town, and she is receiving threatening postcards. When a local teenage girl is reported missing and subsequently turns up dead in the French Broad River up in Knoxville, Sheriff Spencer Arrowood and his staff spring into action and solve another of McCrumb's "ballad mysteries." Good read. (***)

Books Read in 2012

Sharyn McCrumb: The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter
Nora Bonesteel, the wise woman of the Tennessee mountains is what her Celtic forebears would recognize as an "edge witch", one who patrols the boundaries between life and death, good and evil, the supernatural and the mundane. In this novel, sorrow comes to the mountain community in the guise of a murder/suicide on a remote farm and via a polluted river that brings death into the valley. Nora Bonesteel, with her graveyard quilt and her herbal remedies, does what she can do to protect the ordinary folk from tragedy. This is a wonderful novel to trace the continuance of Celtic heritage and folkways into America's Eastern mountains. (***)
Sharyn McCrumb: She Walks These Hills
In 1779, Katie Wyler, 18, was captured by the Shawnee in North Carolina. The story of her escape and arduous journey home through hundreds of miles of Appalachian wilderness is the topic of ethno-historian Jeremy Cobb's thesis-and the thread that runs through the third of McCrumb's ballad novels (after The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter). As Cobb begins to retrace Katie's return journey, 63-year-old convicted murderer Hiram (Harm) Sorley escapes from a nearby prison. Suffering from Korsakoff's syndrome, he has no recent memory: old Harm is permanently stuck in the past. Hamelin, Tenn., police dispatcher Martha Ayers uses the opportunity to convince the sheriff to assign her as a deputy. One of her first duties is to calm a young mother who, angry at her inattentive husband, is threatening her baby with a butcher knife. Ayers and the sheriff must also warn Harm's ex-wife Rita that he has escaped. Acting as a kind of narrative conscience is a local deejay, a "carpetbagger from Connecticut," who sees Harm as a folk hero from another era. Deftly building suspense, McCrumb weaves these colorful elements into her satisfying conclusion as she continues to reward her readers' high expectations. (***)
Yann Martel: Life of Pi
Pi, his family, and their zoo set off on a move from India to Canada. All goes well until they are ship wrecked in the middle of the Pacific. Pi and three of the zoo animals manage to board a lifeboat and are saved from the sinking of their ship. The narrative of Pi's seven months as a castaway is sometimes brutal, sometimes sad, but all the time a page turner. This is a wonderful book. Perfect writing, strong characters, intriguing plotting. I recommend highly. (****)
Jodi Picoult: Second Glance: A Novel
Do we love across time? Or in spite of it? A developer has slated an ancient Abenaki Indian burial ground for a strip mall, and now strange happenings have tiny Comtosook, Vermont, talking of supernatural forces at work. Ross Wakeman is a ghost hunter who's never seen a ghost-all he's searching for is something to end the pain of losing his fiance Aimee in a car accident. He tried suicide-any number of times. Now Ross lives only for a way to connect with Aimee from beyond. Searching the site for signs of the paranormal, Ross meets the mysterious Lia, who sparks him to life for the first time in years. But the discoveries that await Ross are beyond anything he could dream of in this world-or the next. Picoult expertly weaves in the factual Vermont eugenics program of the 1930s, from which it has been said that Hitler got his ethnic cleansing idea. I truly enjoyed this book. (***)
Wanda E. Brunstetter: The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club
The unlikely group that signs up for Emma Yoder's beginner's quilting class proves the adage that quilting is good therapy. The group includes a preacher's wife, a troubled married couple, a biker working through a dui probation requirement, a young woman from a troubled home, and a young widower with a baby. Every member of the group, including the teacher, is battling his/her own problems. As the six-week course progresses, our quilters come to know each other and themselves better and work through the problems that are threatening to upend their lives. The narrative is a little stilted, in my opinion, but it's an easy, feel-good read. I understand this book has been made into a play. I'd like to see a performance. (***)
Stephen King: In the Tall Grass
A long short story or a short novella by Stephen King and his son Joe Hill. Good and scary, well plotted, a spine-tingling joy to read. But I do believe the fellows had enough here to go ahead and make into a full-length novel. The plot centers around a field of tall grass across the highway from a rest station. There's something in that tall grass, something horrible. And once you're in, you're in for good. (***)
Steven Sidor: Pitch Dark
It’s Christmas Eve, and Vera Coffey is on the run. She doesn't know the men who are after her. She has never seen them before, but she has seen the horrors they visit on people who don’t give them what they want. Vera has something they want badly. She’d give it up if it weren’t the only thing keeping her alive. The Larkins have known the toll violence takes on a family ever since they were trapped in a madman’s shooting rampage. They've been coping with the trauma for nearly twenty years. Now, on a cold and lonely winter morning, Vera collapses at their roadside motel. And she’s brought something with her. Together they'll have to make one last stand against an evil that has followed them further than anyone could've imagined. If you don't like fast-paced thrillers, don't open this book. (***)
Graham Joyce: The Tooth Fairy (Kindle)
That childhood sprite, the Tooth Fairy assumes a sinister incarnation in this exceptional supernatural novel about a troublesome but endearing trio of boys coming of age in the English Midlands in the 1960s. Seven-year-old Sam first lays eyes on the Tooth Fairy, oddly dressed and smelling of horse's sweat and chamomile, in the middle of the night after he has stashed a tooth under his pillow. Over the years, the fairy becomes a fixture in his life. No one else can see or hear this odd creature, who is sometimes male, sometimes female and alternately coy, cruel and cuddly.Sam's chums are Clive, a "gifted child" who wins a NASA science contest at age six but longs to be normal; Terry, an affable lad whose life is plagued by catastrophe; and Alice, the fetching, knowing girl who drives the boys wild with lust. Joyce describes the boys' childhood experiences, sampling drugs, toying with explosives, worrying over acne, and carefully portrays their childlike stoicism in the face of several horrifying tragedies. Sam worries that the Tooth Fairy, who grows menacing and sexually demanding, is responsible for those calamities. The novel's appeal lies primarily in the three boys, who are charmingly mischievous, naive and hormone-driven, portrayed by Joyce with a gentle wit. No less compelling, though, is the fairy, a fleur de mal from childhood's secret garden whose perfume seduces Sam and the reader alike into a fertile, startling nightmare. FYI: The Tooth Fairy has won the 1997 British Fantasy Award for best novel. (This review from Amazon.com.) (****)
Smoky Trudeau: The Cabin
James-Cyrus Hoffmann has just inherited his grandfather's farm, and with it a mysterious cabin deep in the woods on Hoffmann mountain; a cabin he has dreamed about since childhood. When James-Cyrus enters the cabin, he is vaulted back through time to the Civil War era, where he meets Elizabeth, the brave young woman who lives in the cabin, and Malachi, a runaway slave. James-Cyrus realizes his dreams of the cabin were visions of the past, and that Elizabeth is his great-great aunt—a woman who vanished without a trace from the family tree. (***)
Eowyn Ivey: The Snow Child: A Novel (Kindle)
Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead, and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of farmwork; she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them. A very good story. (****)

Books Read in 2011

Gregg Olsen: Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest
The setting is a forested wilderness in the Northwest, circa 1911. The villain is a tall, egotistical woman doctor with an imposing jawline and a fierce will to dominate others. The victims are two wealthy English sisters, gullible health faddists after the fashion of those who flocked to Dr. Kellogg's sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. But unlike Dr. Kellogg's comparatively gentle method of diet plus enemas, Dr. Hazzard's method was to literally starve her patients to death--and then defraud them of their valuables. An intriguing story but not very well written. (**)
Charles Frazier: Nightwoods: A Novel
A woman living in an abandoned rural lodge is suddenly forced to raise her dead sister's two wild young children. Neither of them has spoken a word since witnessing their mother's brutal murder, and they've developed a fondness for breaking things and starting fires. When their ne'er-do-well father is released from jail, the action in this lush and lively novel flares. Not as good as Cold Mountain but better than 13 Moons. I liked this book a lot. (***)
Stephen King: 11/22/63: A Novel
Jake Epping is a 35-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time. A tribute to a simpler era and a devastating exercise in escalating suspense, 11/22/63 is Stephen King at his epic best. (****)
Emma Donoghue: Room: A Novel
To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer. Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating--a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child. (****)
Dean Koontz: What the Night Knows: A Novel
Here is ghost story like no other you have read. In the Calvinos, Dean Koontz brings to life a family that might be your own, in a war for their survival against an adversary more malevolent than any he has yet created, with their own home the battleground. Of all his acclaimed novels, none exceeds What the Night Knows in power, in chilling suspense, and in sheer mesmerizing storytelling. --Amazon.com (***)
Daniel Woodrell: Winter's Bone: A Novel (Kindle)
Intriguing story and writing that is both lyrical and earthy. I loved this book. Bone chilling. The movie, which I saw before I read this book, sticks very very closely to the book's plot. (****)
Stephen King: Mile 81 (Kindle Single)
A right scary novella with somewhat the same theme (but not exactly) of CHRISTINE and FROM A BUICK 8. (***)
Robert McCammon: The Five
The only complaint I have about this book is that there's a little too much rock and music terminology that I don't understand. Otherwise it's an excellent thriller with a supernatural touch. You won't see the ending coming, an ending that proves you never know what effect your actions might have on someone else. (***)
Peter Straub: A Dark Matter
Four high school friends in 1966 Madison, Wis., fall under the spell of charismatic wandering guru. During an occult ceremony in which said guru attempts to break through to a higher reality, something goes horribly awry leaving one participant dead. Decades later, one of the four's writer husband interviews the quartet to find out what happened. And so we get to hear the entire story not once, but four times, as told by each of the four. I have to say, Peter, I could have done with the one telling, the last one, the one that I almost didn't make it to. (**)
Jack Kilborn: Endurance: A Novel of Terror (Kindle)
The Rushmore Inn in rural West Virginia is much like the Eagles' Hotel California: Folks check in but they can never leave. Run by a crazy woman and her brood of inbred mutants, this inn doesn't appear in vacation pamphlets or Chamber of Commerce websites. It's the area's dirty little secret that even the sheriff is in on. Being a fan of scary books, I enjoyed this one. It's scary--very. But there was one thing that kept distracting and irritating me. I have lived in the south all my life, and I have never heard anyone use y'all for a plural pronoun. When you call someone "y'all," you better be speaking to more than one person. Apparently the vocabulary rules are different in West Virginia, or this author is in over his head when he writes in southern dialect. (***)

Books Read in 2010

Stephen King: THE COLORADO KID (Kindle)
The most boring Stephen King story I've ever read, and one of the most boring stories ever. A couple of old newspaper reporters tell a young female newspaper reporter the story of one of the mysteries of Moose Look Island. It goes on and on and on till you don't even care how the mystery is solved. Good thing too. Because it isn't. (**)
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Kindle)
Excellent storytelling. The narrator is a 15-year-old autistic boy who sets out to solve the mystery of who murdered his neighbor's dog. The journey is engrossing; You'll find this one hard to put down. And, with Christopher's fast-paced way of telling his story, often opting for tangents, you'll find yourself breathless and a bit tired at the end. Like you've made the journey with him. And you'll fall in love with this kid along the way. (****)
Charles Portis: True Grit
Somehow I missed ever having read this western classic, which was published in the 60s. I loved it. Portis is a very good storyteller. You'll fall in love with Rooster and Mattie. Now I'm ready for the new movie starring the amazing Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn. (Remember the old movie with John Wayne as Rooster?) (****)
Elissa Elliott: Eve: A Novel of the First Woman
A fictional account of the lives of Adam, Eve, and their children, with appearance by Elohim, Lucifer, and a bunch of other folks that we never knew were there. Good story. (***)
Ray Bradbury: The Fog Horn (Kindle)
A 1951 short story by this master of science fiction and horror. A humongous beast has slept miles under the sea for millions of years until he hears a voice like his calling to him. The monster returns year after year to visit this one of his kind until his new companion's voice is silenced. (****)
Ransom Stephens: The God Patent (Kindle)
I have mixed feelings about this book. It's a well told story with an intriguing conclusion. But I felt the characters were a bit flat. I think they could have been fleshed out more. (***)
Stephen King: Full Dark, No Stars
Four long stories by the King of Horror. No vampires or werewolves though. The monsters in these stories are all too human. They're some of King's darkest stories, however. Sometimes they're hard to read. But the writing is some of his best. (****)
Barack Obama: Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
The author created OF THEE I SING for his daughters Sasha and Malia back in 2004. It's a tribute to some honored Americans of all races. It's a great little read and would make a wonderful gift for some beloved child in your life. I'm giving one to my grand nephew (5 y.o.) for Christmas. I also got one for me. (****)
Tiffany Baker: The Little Giant of Aberdeen County
What it means to be different and the importance of acceptance run throughout this yankee gothic story. Aberdeen County, N.Y., in all its quirkiness, serves as a microcosm for the larger world and reminds us that we are all different and that things—and people—are not always what they seem.While I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good read, it is not without problems. The main character, a girl named Truly who cannot stop growing, serves as the story's narrator. But the story loses some of its believability as Truly describes scenes, conversations, and thoughts involving other characters that she could not possibly know about. And some situations, such as the burial of Amelia's father, the lack of any kind of investigation when Truly's sister disappears, etal, interrupt one's suspension of disbelief. It's a testament of the author's otherwise superb story-telling ability that I was able to overlook this drawbacks enough to enjoy this book. I would have given it four stars if not for these problems. (***)
Charlaine Harris: Grave Sight (Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 1)
Harper Connelly's talent is that she can find dead people. She finds a bunch of them in Sarne, Ark. Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver solve a trio of murders in this small town, then hightail it to safer ground. Fun read. (***)
Stephen M. Irwin: The Dead Path (Kindle)
This is onen of the best scary books I've ever read. An adult fairy tale of sorts, don't even open it unless you're a scary story fan--'cause it's plenty scarey. Warning: It has spiders--lots and lots of spiders. (****)
Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird: 50th Anniversary Edition
My fifth reading of this most excellent of books. My book club chose this as our October selection to honor the 50th anniversary of its publication. Scout, Jem, Dill, Atticus, Boo, and Ms. Lee, thank you for this story. (*****)
Stephen King: Roadwork
One of King's "Richard Bachman" books. There really is a difference in Bachman and King. Bachman is harsher and not as sympathetic with his characters, I think. This is a pretty good story of a man fighting eminent domain to save his house and his sacred memories. In a way, he wins. (***)
Amy Greene: Bloodroot (Kindle)
Named for a flower whose blood-red sap possesses the power both to heal and poison, Bloodroot is a stunning fiction debut about the legacies of magic and madness, faith and secrets, passion and loss that haunt one family across the generations, from the Great Depression to today. (****)
Stephen King: UR (Kindle)
This novella concerns a man who ordered a Kindle from Amazon and got a highly unusual pink one that let him read books and newspaper from alternate dimensions of our universe. Good read. (***)
Christian Moerk: Darling Jim: A Novel (Kindle)
A dad-gum good book. Modern Irish gothic tale of traveling bard Jim Quick and victims of his killing spree. This author combines fairy tales, Arthurian legend, horror, mystery, and a few other genres to create this entrancing tale of murder and revenge. (****)
Colm A. Kelleher: Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah (Kindle)
A compendium of every UFO and paranormal experience that most people have ever heard of. According to this book, which is presented as a true story, the owners of a Utah ranch were terrorized by everything from Big Foot to giant wolves over a period of several years, some of which appeared out of a portal to/from another dimension. NIDS (National Institute for Discovery Science) subsequently bought the ranch and started an investigation. Although the author reports that the investigators experienced many of the same phenomena that the Gormans did, they apparently didn't get a lot of evidence in the way of photos, videos, or recordings--as none appear in the book. Read at your own risk of becoming disenchanted. (**)
Jeannette Walls: The Glass Castle: A Memoir (Kindle)
This is the story of Rex and Rose Mary Walls, who might just be the worst parents in the history of the world. Victims of the Walls's laissez faire form of child rearing as well as their parents' complete lack of a sense of responsibility for their children, the four Walls kids suffer inhuman deprivation and indignity. The miracle is that they all got out and, at least in the case of this author, because productive adults. A good story. (***)
Stephen King: N (Kindle)
Is it possible for a psychiatrist to "catch" his patient's illness, specifically OCD? A very severe case of OCD with some very serious side effects. Well, as we know, with the Master of the Macabre, anything is possible. The strange thing about this story is that it appeared on my Kindle, and I didn't order it. (***)
Dan Simmons: Black Hills
Paha Sapa (Black Hills) a young Lakota Sioux, counts coup on old Yellow Hair at the Battle of the Greasy Grass and acquires Custer's ghost as an unwelcome lifelong companion. Paha Sapa's adult life finds him working as s powder man with Gutzon Borglum on Mt.Rushmore, a white sculpture paid for by the white government and carved into The Six Grandfathers, a mountain sacred to the Sioux and other Plains Indians. But Paha Sapa has a plan to avenge this desecration. If you have any interest in the history of the Sioux or Mt. Rushmore, or if you just like a very good story, you should love this book. I did. (****)
Justin Cronin: The Passage (Kindle)
I have mixed feelings about this book. In the end, it was a good story, well plotted. But Cronin included way too many characters, especially in the middle of the book. Hard to keep up with who was who. But I'd still recommend it for anyone who likes a good end-of-the-world thriller. (***)
Ramey Channell: Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge
The story of how Lily Claire and her beloved cousin Willie T. solve a mystery that starts with a map on a baby boy's tongue. A good read for young people and adults. Filled with humor, adventure, and a touch of the supernatural. A fun read if there ever was one. (****)
Paul David Binkley: Thawing Eden (Kindle)
This book did not measure up to my expectations. While the premise was intriguing (finding the ancient Garden of Eden under the Antarctic polar ice cap), the execution just didn't ring true for me. The last fourth of the book is the best. (**)
Richard Matheson: The Box: Uncanny Stories (Kindle)
I love Richard Matheson's writing. My initial reason for reading this book was to get some more insight into the movie of the same title that left me wondering WT?. But I think the story was even more ambiguous than the movie. My favorite story in the book is the last one, "Tis the Season to be Jelly." (***)
Sandra Felton: Living Organized: Proven Steps for a Clutter-Free and Beautiful Home (Kindle)
This book gives advice on how Messies can become Cleanies. Tips on decluttering, organing, finding your style, and living beautifully. The main problem I had with this book is that the author seems to be speaking to an audience with plenty of money. (**)
Irene Latham: Leaving Gee's Bend
In 1930s rural Gees Bend, Alabama, young Ludelphia Bennet goes on a journey to save her mother and ends up saving Gees Bend. (***)
Donald B. Kraybill: Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (Kindle)
Not so much a story of the Amish school house shooting as a documentary on the history of Anabaptists and the Amish doctrine of forgiveness. But it's very interesting. It's also very inspiring to know that there are people who work this hard to follow Jesus and do the things he taught, especially the part about forgiveness and loving our enemies. (****)
Joe Hill: Heart-Shaped Box (Kindle)
As one has-been hard-rock star found out, be careful what you buy on Ebay (or a knock-off Ebay). You might get a little more than you paid for. This is a scary book. (***)
Robert Goolrick: A Reliable Wife
In the fall of 1907, Ralph Truitt puts an ad in a Chicago newspaper for "a reliable wife" to share his life in rural Wisconsin. Catherine Land answers his ad, claiming she is "a simple, honest woman." What she is, however, is a prostitute whose plan is to become Truitt's wealthy widow. The action, suspense, plot twists, and beautiful prose kept me turning pages until the very last one. (****)
Dennis Lehane: Shutter Island (Kindle)
Edge-of-your-seat page-turner with a lot of twists and an ending that I never saw coming. I had to read the last two chapters three times before I believed it. Can't wait to see the movie. (****)
John Connolly: The Gates: A Novel
Who knew quantum physics could be so much fun? This book is sort of a children's book for adults. When scientists at the CERN particle accelerator have a wee malfunction, the Gates of Hell are opened and Samuel Johnson, his doggie Boswell, and three of his friends find themselves on the front lines in a demonic war. Sounds scary, and it is a little. But mostly it's funny. (***)
Greg Mortenson: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time (Kindle)
Greg Mortenson risks his life time and again to build schools in the hostile environs of the Islamic world. Mortenson is a living hero to rural communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he has gained the trust of Islamic leaders, military commanders, government officials and tribal chiefs from his tireless effort to champion education, especially for girls. Read this book and believe that peace can be won without violence. (****)
Dan Simmons: A Winter Haunting
This is a very scary book. The ending took me totally by surprise. Didn't see it coming. Sequel to Children of the Night. Just as good, if not better, than Children. (****)
Louise Murphy: The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
Using a framework based on the "Hansel and Gretel" fairy tale, Murphy weaves a story of horror and heartbreak set in Poland during the latter days of the Holocaust. The moral of this story can be found in the very last chapter: When all is said and done, "when the bombs have stopped dropping...and we are done killing each other," love is what we're left with. Love is all that's eternal among the many human emotions. (****)
Clyde Bolton: Nancy Swimmer: A Story of the Cherokee Nation
This novel takes place during the 19th century in North Georgia in the period before and during the removal of the eastern Indian tribes to Oklahoma. It's an interesting and well written account of the life of Nancy Swimmer, a Cherokee woman who lived during this time. It's heartbreaking as well and will not endear you to the government of Georgia of the time, nor to the old Chicken Snake himself, President Andy Jackson. (****)

Stitches Used:
ch: chain
sc: single crochet
decrease: Join 2 sc stitches to make one
increase: stitch 2 sc into 1 sc space

Materials:
*any yarn, any weight (mine are made from worsted weight acrylic yarn)
*crochet hook recommended for yarn (I used size H)
*embroidery needle for weaving yarn tails

Finished Size:
depends on yarn and hook (mine are approximately 5" x 6" after stuffing.

Tips:
The heart begins at the bottom point. After working each row, count stitches to be sure you have the correct number.

Heart 1:
Work 3 chains plus 1 turning chain (4 chains). This is your foundation chain.

Work all stitches in both loops, front and back.

Row 1: 3 sc then make 1 turning chairn; turn work. (There is a single turning chain at the end of each row, and you always turn your work at the each of each row.)

Row 2: One increase in first sc, sc in second sc, and another increase in last sc. Total stitches in row is 5. Make 1 turning chain and turn work.

Row 3: One increase in first sc, sc to last sc, increase in last sc. Total stitches in row is 7. Make 1 turning chair and turn work.

Row 4: Repeat as Row 3, increasing in first and last sc. Total stitches in row is 9. Make turning chain and turn work.

Row 5: Repeat as Row 3, increasing in first and last sc. Total stitches in row is 11. Make turning chain and turn work.

Row 6: sc in each stitch across (no increases). Total stitches in row 11. Make turning chain and turn work.

Row 7: One increase in first sc, sc to last sc, increase in last sc. Total stitches in row is 13. Make turning chain; turn work.

Row 8: Repeat as Row 7, increasing in first and last stitch. Total stitches in row is 15. Make turning chain; turn work.

Row 9: Repeat as Row 7, increasing in first and last stitch. Total stitches in row is 17. Make turning chair; turn work.

Row 10: sc in each sc across (no increases). Total stitches 17. Make turning chain; turn work.

Row 11: Increase in first sc. sc in next 17 stitches. Increase in last sc. (This is your last increase.) Total stitches in row is 19. Make turning chain; turn work.

Rows 12, 13, and 14: sc in each sc across; no increases. 19 stitches in each row. Make turning chain at end of each row and turn work.

Row 15a (starting right lobe of heart): 9 sc, chain 1 and turn.

Row 16a: One decrease (sc first 2 stitches together. To see how to decrease in single crochet, go here.) Sc in remaining stitches. Total of 8 stitches in row. Make turning chain and turn work.

Row 17a: Decrease in first 2 sc. Sc across to last 2 stitches. Decrease in last 2 sc. Total stitches in row 6. Make turning chain; turn work.

Row 18a: Work as Row 17. Total stitches in row 4. Make turning chain; turn work.

Row 19a: Make 2 decreases. Tie off yarn. Snip yarn and weave in tail on back side of heart. (Right lobe is finished.)

Row 15b (starting left lobe of heart): Make a slip knot on hook. On right side of heart, sc in 9th stitch from left side. (There will be 1 unused sc in middle of row 15a.) See photo below.

Row 16b: Sc in first 7 sc, then do a decrease in last 2 stitches.Chain 1 and turn. Total stitches in row is 8.

Row 17b: Work 1 decrease in first 2 sc. Sc in next 4 sc. Work 1 decrease in last 2 sc. Total stitches in row is 6. Chain 1 and turn.

Row 18b: Work 1 decrease in first 1 sc. Sc in next 2 sc. Work 1 decrease in last 2 sc. Total stitches in row is 4. Chain 1 and turn.

Row 19b: Work 2 decreases. Total stitches in row is 2.

Finishing first heart: Starting where you finished last decrease, sc around outer edge of heart. (Work 2 sc in the psace at end of each row. Sometimes it's hard to find the right space; just do your best and try not to make more than 1 sc in any one space.)

When you reach the tip of the hear, do 3 sc in 1 stitch to make a point. (Stitch your 3 sc increase into the middle stitch of your original 3 sc in first row.)

When you reach the cleavage of the heart, do a decrease (combine 2 stitches into 1) to gather it in a bit.

When you reach the starting point, tie off and snip yarn, and weave tail in on back of heart.

Your first heart is complete.

Heart 2: Work same as Heart 1

Joining Hearts 1 & 2 and Stuffing: With back sides of hearts facing, please Hearts 1 and 2 together, matching raw edges. Use a pin to hold in place if needed.

Starting on one side of joined hearts, work 1 sc in each pair of sc around heart to join the two hearts. Five or six stitches before reaching the starting point, stop stitching and stuff heart with polyester fiberfil (or stuffing of your choice). When heart is stuffed, finish working sc to the starting point. Tie off yarn and snip. Weave yarn tail into edge of heart.

Finishing: See photos above to embellish your heart. Add ribbon hanger, yoyo, button, charms, bows, or whatever you choose. I used a hot glue gun to attach my embellishments.

My 2013 UFOs

1. Pat Sloan Orange Challenge quilt
2. Psalms quilt
3. Santa X-stitch Sampler
4. ~~Mini Tesselated Pinwheel quilt~~
5. Bluework Sunbonnet Quilt
6. Sister's Choice Table Runner
7. ~~Blue/Yellow Scottish Stars Quilt~~
8. Wild Things Quilt
9. Andy's Hearts Quilt
10. French General Snowball quilt
11. Siggy Block Swap Quilt
12. Disappearing Nine Patch Swap Quilt
13. Loves Bears All Sampler
14. Strippy Sampler Quilt
15. ~~Blackberry Creek Quilt~~
16. Grandmother's Flower Garden
17. Redwork Sunbonnet Windows Quilt
18. Friendship Star Quilt
19. Sweet Little Girls Fabric Journal
20. Ami Simms Doggie Quilt
21. Sunbonnet SuSu
22. Chicken Churn Dash Quilt
23. ~~Ribbed Knit Sweater (ravelled)~~
24. Kitty Afghan
25. God's Eye Agape
26. Critter Bowls
27. Whole-Cloth Baby Quilt
28. Ebay Dresden Plate
29. Cat Blocks
30. Nine-Patch BOM
31. Bee Hive Block

Blackberry Creek Home Arts

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