As you know, I went to Boonsboro to fulfill my promise to be Lani Diane Rich's stalker - at least in the mid-Atlantic region. At one point, I was standing in line peering at the books laid out in front of Lani, trying to figure out which ones I would be getting that day. (They had move all her books down in front of her, so I was not able to get them before getting in line. Which as fine, but it led to this.) At this point most of the line was angled towards La Nora, so another author (I will get her name, it escapes me right now - Cordelia Frances Biddle!) saw me leaning and mationed me forward. I explained I needed to choose before I apporached, otherwise I would choose them all and my budget would be very mad at me. After perusing from afar, I chose Maybe Baby and The Fortune Quilt.
While they are unrelated, I read Maybe Baby first, since it was published first. It is the thoroughly enjoyable story of a woman who has to visit her estranged mother to ask for money to save the family business, and runs into her ex-fiance who is in the process of moving to California to take a job with her nemesis. And there's a bird and a kidnapping or two. Very fun.
I read some other books next to space out and savor the Lani-ness. But then, a listserv I'm on exploded with people talking about it and I knew I needed to hurry up so I could stop closing my eyes as I skimmed passed those emails. So I read it this weekend. Oh my god.
The Fortune Quilt is a quick read. Not because it's short, but because it just reads fast. It is the story of Carly, who is given a quilt by a woman who makes quilts that tell people's fortunes. Except Carly doesn't believe in that crap. Carly is the no nonsense eldest sister, who raised her siblings after her mother abandoned her father and them and she doesn't go for woo-woo stuff. Until her life falls apart. It's funny, it's sad, its a story about family and how to deal with conflict and change and community.
Rants About New (and old) Things
