Books, books, books!!!

As expected, yesterday was exhausting, so when I got home yesterday evening, I climbed into bed with my Earlene Fowler Love Mercy book; the sewing room would have to wait. Alas, no more pieced letters. But while sitting on the bleachers during the morning's basketball games, I did finish sewing the center circles onto my plaid Dresden Plates.


Quick question: why did none of you mention that I hadn't yet sewn those circles on PRIOR to my sewing the top together? It would have been SOOOO much easier if I had sewn those on first, the way it is supposed to be done! Oh well, done is done.

So, since I don't have new sewing to show you, how about new books? Bernie emailed me to see how I got my list of Quilt Fiction on my sidebar, which made me realize that I'd not updated my list with my most recent acquisitions, which made me wonder if some of the other books I wanted might be available yet, which led me to discover that there are some new books that have come out that I hadn't realized, and some others coming out soon. Yay!

I picked up the following titles (used) to add to my quilt fiction collection:

• Cat's Cradle, Jacob's Ladder and Double Wedding Room, all from Lizbie Brown - these are from a series of 6 books. I have the first two, Broken Star and Turkey Tracks, and once these arrive, I'll just be missing the third, Shoo Fly. I've been trying to find these books for years - they are hard to come by here in the US. In summary, "Elizabeth, a widowed American, left Virginia to run a quilt shop in Bath. There, she finds herself unofficially teaming up with Max, a PI whose office is above her shop." (from http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/b/lizbie-brown/broken-star.htm) I've not read these three yet.

• Sister's Choice, Endless Chain, Touching Stars and Wedding Ring from Emilie Richards' Shenandoah Album series. Oops, looks like I missed one - Lover's Knot. Oh well, I'll get it later. No rush, as I've read all of these (and LOVE them!). By the way, I also love her Ministry is Murder series, although I have one of those left to read. And in it, the protagonist's mom is a quilter, so there are quilts in these books, too.

• Murder by Serpents: The Mystery Quilt by Barbara Graham. I know nothing about this book or this author, but I like quilts and I like mysteries. The editorial review from Amazon reads, "Spring in East Tennessee is normally the most beautiful of seasons, a time of growth and renewal. Residents of tiny Park County are shocked when it is also a time for murder. When a snake-handling preacher is murdered with his own snakes, Sheriff Tony Abernathy and his wife, Theo, a quilt shop owner are thrown into the search for a killer. From the beginning of the investigation, it seems like an unlikely choice of weapons. Why kill a man few people even knew existed? The trouble has just begun. Soon the entire sheriff's department is fighting rising water, more deaths and illegal drugs. Theo aides Tony's search as she runs her shop, designs a mystery quilt (pattern included) and is mom to their two young sons." We'll see. If I like it, she has another book in the series. I've not bought it yet, though, since all I can find online is a $26 hardcover, and that is a bit out of my price range for my quilt fiction library purchases.

• The Fortune Quilt by Lani Diane Rich. Again, I know nothing about the book or the author, but one of the reviews on Amazon reads, "Carly McKay, a 29-year-old TV producer in Tucson, Ariz., comes from a loving Catholic family—a great dad and two sisters—all of whom have been scarred by the wife and mom who abandoned them 17 years earlier. On assignment from Tucson Today, Carly travels to Bilby, a small town revitalized by a thriving artist community, to interview Brandywine Seaver, a hip psychic quilt maker. Brandy gives skeptical Carly a quilt and a reading, telling her that her mother's not dead and that "[e]verything's about to change." When her mother's shocking return confirms Brandy's reading and she also loses her job, an angry Carly returns to Bilby to give back the "Quilt of Evil." She ends up staying in order to reimagine her life, and in the process discovers new love and the courage to take charge of her destiny."
  Again, we'll see.

And I am waiting on pins and needles (hee hee hee) for the following books to be released:

• Earlene Fowler's next Benni Harper book, Spider Web, is due out in late May. Woo hoo! this may be my favorite series of all time!
• Marie Bostwick's fourth Cobbled Court Quilts books, Threading the Needle, which is due out at the end of May, plenty of time for you to read the first 3 if you've not read them yet!

• Clare O'Donohue's third in her Someday Quilts Mystery Series, The Double Cross, actually came out in September. How did I miss that!?! Next order, that will be on it!

• Arlene Sachitano's fourth Loose Threads Mystery, Quilt by Association, was released in late December. I guess that will be on my next book order, too!

• Jennifer Chiaverini's The Union Quilters will be out in late February. Perhaps I should plan my next book order for then. I like all of her books, but I particularly like the ones with a historical slant/theme.

Also, does anybody know the answer to this: I have Bonnie Hunter's Scraps and Shirttails 2 and Tonya Ricucci's Word Play Quilts on my TO BUY list. But I am wondering, are they (the authors) better off if we buy the book from a "bricks and mortar" bookstore, from Amazon, or directly from them? Does it make a difference? I want to do whatever I can to support these artists/authors in the fullest way possible (within my limited means). Does anyone know?