Smiley, Jane. True Blue. (Sequel to The Georges and the Jewels and A Good Horse)Abby Lovitt’s family lives on a California ranch in the 1960s. When a friend who runs a stable ends up with the horse belonging to a woman killed in a car accident, she offers the horse and its fittings to Abby, who gladly takes them. True Blue is a good horse, and well-trained, though apt to spook. The horse is a good addition to the family’s stables, and Abby gives lessons and goes to school, but is plagued by the ghost of the dead owner. Abby imagines seeing this ghost all over the farm. Abby breaks her arm, the family suffers some illnesses, but the activities of the stable continue and eventually Abby realizes there is no ghost.
Strengths: Don’t know how I missed this series, but will definitely be buying it. I have had a few girls who really like horses, and most of my horse books are really old! I really enjoyed the Elaine Clayton illustrations.
Weaknesses: The ghost story is rather weak, and the 1960s setting doesn’t really add anything to the story. There were also too many church details for my taste-- they slowed down the story.
Brocket, Jane. The Gentle Art of Domesticity.I enjoyed it, but it made me feel a little bad. I've been quilting for 30 years, and knitting for 43 and could have done a blog like Yarnstorm and earned my living doing fun things like knitting tea cozies. Or, at the very least, have had a better blog name. Man. One of my big regrets.
I realized that I spend a HUGE amount of time reading, to the exclusion of doing the crossword, caring what the house looks like once it is clean and clutter free, talking to my children, and knitting.
So I knit a sweater for Sylvie. Really, it's only practical. When you are that low to the ground, if it snows, you end up with icy armpits.
