Book Round-Up

A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer: It's rare that I don't finish a book I start, even if only by skimming, but I just couldn't get into this novel,despite the interesting characters and the bones of a good story. I think that was the problem -- the basics were there, but the plot elements, world building, and magical system weren't fleshed out sufficiently. I stopped about halfway through and just read the final couple of chapters. My copy comes with the sequel, but the idea of trying to read it exhausts me.

Love Lies Bleeding by Edmund Crispin: Another classic mystery, this one caught my interest because Shakespeare's purportedly lost play Love Labour's Won plays a minor role. I would have preferred more on Shakespeare, but it was an enjoyable book.

Girls Are Weird by Pamela Ribon: A novel of young woman experiencing a "quarter-life crisis" just as blogging was becoming prominent. My twenties were filled with different concerns, but it was fun to read about a life going (mildly) off the rails before getting a happily-ever-after resolution.

The Fortune Teller by Gwendolyn Womack: The central character is an appraiser specializing in manuscripts who discovers a long-lost work that purports to explain the ancient Egyptian origin of tarot cards (really a medieval creation), so of course I was intrigued. The heroine was a rather frustrating character because of her tendency to avoid her problems (which caused more problems, of course), but the book was otherwise a fun read.

A Gift for A Sister

I had a lovely needlepoint pattern with grapes that would make a good thank-you for one of my sisters, who has a home on Martha's Vineyard (that's good!). But somewhere along the way I lost the actual chart (that's bad).  So I improvised my own design based on the fuzzy cover image (that's good!). But I ran out of Waterlilies thread in evergreen with only one corner Jessica stitch left (that's bad). But the thread pack from a Victoria Sampler leaflet had a strand of evergreen Waterlilies (that's good!). Unfortunately, it was from a different dye lot and too pale to use (that's bad). But an Au ver a Soie thread from the same pack was the right shade of green, albeit unvariegated (can I go now?).