Ally's Books & Stitches

  Joy to the World for Jolly July Finished this Primrose Cottage Stitches piece for #ChristmasInJuly or #JollyJuly. I stitched on 14-Count Aida by Wichelt in Natural (I think). I changed the called-for colors to DMC904 for the green and DMC666 for the red because that's what I had in my Christmas stitches bag. I plan to make a pillow as pictured to display in my still-yet-to-be-purchased dough bowl. I may do some fully-finishing in August as I have several pieces to be sewn into pillows. We'll see. I am also planning to stitch a Jane Austen quote in August.  Happy Stitching! Alleluialu

  FIRST LINE FRIDAYS First Line Fridays is a book meme hosted by Carrie at Reading Is My Superpower  . My pick for this week is a Middle Grade novel entitled To: Night Owl From: Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan & Meg Wolitzer . It is one of the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club Summer Reading Guide titles that is on my list to read this summer. Here's the first line (actually a little more):  From: Bett Devlin To: Avery Bloom  Subject: you don't know me  but I'm writing you anyway. This could go into your SPAM. Maybe you're the kind of person who checks the spam. I don't. I found your email address online. You have a strange name. I never met anyone named Avery. But that made it easier to find you. So thank you for having that name.  There it is. I wanted to write more, but I probably exceeded the "first line" thing too much already. I'm reading this book for Reader's Weekend and I want to start it now. It is being compared to The Parent Trap, so I

  What Am I Reading This Week? July 18 – July 24, 2022   Continuing: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (a library book) – I am about ½ way through this one. It’s sad and funny and page-turning. A great book. Finding Me by Viola Davis (audiobook) – This book has made me respect Viola Davis more than I already did. Her life was really hard, but she pulled herself up from poverty and tragic conditions to become the wonderful actress she is today. I love her.     Just starting: To: Nightowl From: Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan & Meg Wolitzer – this is one of the selections I plan on reading from the Summer Reading Guide on Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club this summer. I purchased this book. It looks really cute.   Royal Flush by Rhys Bowen – the next book in Her Royal Spyness Mysteries series. I had secured it with a credit on my Audible subscription. I always enjoy these books. They are witty and light. I want to read all of Rhys Bowen’s books.   Happy Readin

  Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from  The Captive Reader  and Sharlene from  Real Life Reading  that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. This is what I checked out last week:  Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus - this is the July selection of the Modern Mrs. Darcy Book Club. It is Ms. Garmus' debut novel set in 1960's California about a scientist, Elizabeth Zott, whose career goes down a different path after being discriminated as a woman. Fast-paced and well-done! 

  What Am I Reading This Week? July 11 – July 16, 2022   #Mermaid Marathon – June 27 through July 10 – I finished most of the books on my TBR for this Marathon – definitely all the audiobooks. I am still reading the physical books: Son of the Deep by K. B. Hoyle and Ireland’s Pirate Queen by Anne Chambers. My favorite book of the Marathon was Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt – everyone should read that one! This two-week marathon was hosted by @The BrightSideGirl on Instagram and YouTube. Her reading marathons are always fun. The next one is the #Not-so-Scary-athon September 26 th – October 9 th .   Finished: (audiobook) When A Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare – This one was so entertaining. Here’s the setup: a painfully shy 16-year old English girl invents a lover in the form of Scottish Highlander Captain Logan Mackenzie to get out of attending any balls involved in her coming-out to English society. She actually posts the letters and keeps up the ruse for

  Remarkably Bright Creatures by Sarah Van Pelt I listened to the unabridged audiobook, published: May 3, 2022 by HarperAudio: 8 hours, 42 minutes. It was outstanding.  I fell in love with Marcellus, the octopus, at the get go. He was an amazingly intelligent creature. And Tova, an independent, spunky, kind woman in her 70's who loves the sea life she encounters in her cleaning job at the aquarium. She and Marcellus form an unusual attachment to each other during their time together. Then there is Cameron who comes off as a 30-year old jerk at first, but becomes dear over the pages. This is the story of how their lives entangle which brought tears to my eyes at the end. Such a worthwhile read! I gave it 5 Notes (I am a musician after all) - I didn't want it to end!