Some stitching,some reading, some DVDs

Well, I am stitching away here - but I can't show you!  We are having a Retreat Challenge Round Robin and I can't share pictures until the unveiling of the finished pieces at CQI Retreat in September.  I'll post all my pictures then though so that you can see what I have been up to.  Colleen is running this challenge and had two colourways for us to choose from.  Right now I have finished working on Janet's block that makes use of the yellow/pink/blue challenge fabric.  Here is the photo of that challenge fabric - that part is not hush-hush.  There have been grumblings about the fabrics but that is what a challenge is all about, right? To challenge you!  I have to say I loved this one!  For me, it was very bossy - told me what it wanted in no uncertain terms!  lol

Well, since I can't share my most recent stitching, I'll tell you what I have been reading instead.  This is my absolute favourite book so far this summer - Water for Elephants, written by Sara Gruen. It is a historical novel, set in a circus during the Great Depression.  I could not put this book down.  I know there is a movie that has been made but after reading the book, I do not want to see it.  I don't want anything to spoil this book for me.  Thank you to Janet for another great book recommendation!

The Hunger Games, written by Suzanne Collins, is the first book in a trilogy and is another of Janet's recommendations.  Thanks Janet!  This is actually a young-adult book, but don't let that turn you off.  It is well written and I am looking forward to the next two in the series.  It is set in post-apocalyptic North America.  Try to imagine the reality show, Survivor, but where after the game the one who  outwits, outplays and outlasts is also the only one left alive!

I picked up these two books at the library this week.Who could resist the story of a kitten dropped into the book return slot of a small town library one cold winter night, especially when he goes on to call the library home for the next nineteen years?  That is the story of Dewey Readmore Books, "the small town library cat who touched the world".  Both of these books are written by Vicki Myron, the librarian who adopted Dewey.  I was a little disappointed to realize I had read the first book last summer - you know how you get through the first paragraph when you figure that out?  The second book is a series of cat stories, nine of course!, and I am enjoying that one now.  I am a sucker for animal stories!

I watched a couple DVDs while I was stitching this week too.  The first was Unknown, featuring Lian Neeson.  In spite of how much I like Lian Neeson, I have to admit this movie didn't really do it for me.  It is an action/thriller but for me at least there was something missing in the storyline.  So, if you have been thinking I love everything I watch or read, here is the exception to the rule!

This one was more like it!  Taking Lives, featuring Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke, was another action thriller about a serial killer who takes on the identities of his victims.  It was fast paced and quite a good watch.