Sovay

In 1783 England, Sovay Middleton is not a typical young lady, although she is wealthy and beautiful. To unmask an unfaithful fiance, she dresses as a man and robs his stagecoach at gun point. To protect her father, she robs a mail coach. She makes enemies in England, especially when she interferes with a scary spy-master who is taking advantage of the tense situation between England and France. When her father and brother go to Paris during the Terror, Sovay follows, even though she risks her life for her love of family and freedom.
In this thrilling adventure tale, Sovay stars as a striking young woman who defies expectations in pursuit of justice.
I listened to the audiobook, 12 hours, narrated by Bianca Amato. At the end of the CD, there is a traditional ballad about Sovay, sung by the narrator, which sent me to wikipedia and eventually these lyrics to learn more. Celia Rees takes th

Publish Post

e traditional ballad and expands it into a wonderful adventure story about the Terror in France. Very cool!

too many pirates

For the last several weeks, I have been struggling to read a paperback romance "High Seas to High Society" by Sophia James 277 pages and also listen to an audiobook Sovay by Celia Rees (I'm about 6 discs in). Both are great escape stories but both are about girls masquerading as boys, one as a pirate and one as a highwayman, and both have father issues (one pirate dead, one escaped to Paris to avoid arrest) and it has been very very confusing. But delicious adventure, and the whole dress like a boy to accomplish your goals ploy is always a good one.

Also, in the middle of all that pirate goodness. I read Gone with the Wind for book group, 1000 pages and about 200 pages of criticism, mostly from the new book Frankly, My Dear, which was excellent. And what is a blockader if not practically a Southern gentleman pirate.....

vacation reads

Crafty Mama: makes 49 fast, fabulous, foolproof (baby and toddler) projects by Abby Pecoriello
I loved this book for the inspiration it gave me, and for the light vacation reading it conveyed. I only made one project from the book, but that made it all worthwhile -- FAIRY SKIRTS (and Kate, if you are reading this, we made one for each of your girls, I just haven't mailed them yet).
I was disappointed that the "no sew" instructions sometimes made the fabric projects much more complicated than if the author had just bought a cheap sewing machine and tried an inelegant straight stitch on her project, but overall this was a winner! I'm also sad to realize that my baby is more of a toddler (she actually took her first steps the same day I read this book) so some of the projects in this book were too "young" for our family now. Since Leigh Anne and I both had crafty-baby-showers (scrapbook pages at hers, drawing on fabric squares at mine), the many ideas that gave instructions for how to adapt it for a baby shower were definitely of interest! I don't feel up to this right now, but they also have ideas for crafty mama play groups, to find fellow crafters and get together to craft!
255 pages

Tourist Trap by Emma Harrison was thicker than my regular teen romance paperbacks, but the extra pages weren't filled with anything special, just teen angst self doubt and tired plot lines. At least I was on vacation when I read it.361 pages.

scary beautiful

Scary Beautiful by Niki Burnham - a fun romantic comedy about a gorgeous and recently dumped girl who is insecure about the new school year and her role in her group of gal pals, especially when she realizes she likes a geeky guy from the local pizza place. Cute fun. 264 pages.

How weaning happens by diane bengson (la leche league)
Of course this book says that weaning happens a bunch of different ways and there is no one way it happens and gradual is better, etc. Still not sure what Kivrin and I have in store for us, but nursing is still going okay for us so we will continue for now (while offering whole milk in sippy cups a lot too!) The book claims it "reassures parents that weaning is a natural process and does not have to be a stressful event for mother or child" but I didn't actually get that impression from the book. Much like childbirth itself, you can't predict it or control it, you can let the kid sat their own pace for it but you might decide to intervene if they take too long, and everyone else will offer you critical advice the closer it gets to the big day....156 pages which I read several times and am tired of looking at now.