Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics

Warning: this post is about books not quilting. Reading is actually a big part of my life so you might be seeing more posts here about it. Barnes & Noble has in no way endorsed or sponsored this post. The following is my own unbiased opinion. Images from barnesandnoble.com

Barnes & Nobel Leatherbound Classic

Has anyone seen the newish Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classics? I rarely go into book stores these days since Amazon.com prime shipping gets me books in two days with no parking/shopping hassles. However, when I went down to see Liz for her shower, I stopped at her Barnes and Noble to pick up a gift bag and card. On a whim, I walked around a bit and happened to see these awesome books! I couldn't resist picking up a couple to give to the twins...

Now I'm addicted. The bonded leather covers feel soft and sturdy, the edges either embossed in foil or stained, and the stories contain beautiful, classic illustrations. Even the endpapers are decorative! They look and feel like something that should be treasured. I decided I had to have some for our home library.

The first books I picked up were all the 'children stories' like Peter Pan, The Secret Garden, Black Beauty, Swiss Family Robinson, etc.

Barnes & Nobel Leatherbound Classics

I'm slowly but surely collecting all my favorite classic children and adult literature to live in our home library, and adding them to my to-be-read pile. You can see some of my recent additions on my Reading Lists page.

One odd addition to our library was the Barnes & Noble Leatherbound Classic edition of Gray's Anatomy. Truth be told, I love science. Especially biological science. Knowing full well this book was not the basis for the show 'Gray's Anatomy', I purchased it because the description said the illustrations and text descriptions were incredible.

For it's time (originally published more that 100 years ago), the illustrations are very detailed, even at a cellular level. It's not really a book you 'read' (which is why I didn't claim it in my 2011 Finished list) but I did skim through most of it, and I flipped to sections I was interested in to read in more depth. I am sure I will refer to it for anatomy questions many times in the future. Hopefully it will come in handy for our kiddos' science projects one day.


The first book I plan on actually reading in full is The Iliad and the Odyssey. Isn't the cover beautiful?!

I am just about to finish listening to the Starcrossed (audiobook) which is heavily based on Greek mythology, so I've decided to read the Iliad and the Odyssey in order to understand all the book references to it better. I haven't read a mythology book since the 8th grade when I read Edith Hamilton's Mythology for school. I remember loving that book even though my peers moaned and groaned about it. I am not sure what happened to my original Mythology copy so I've purchased it again.

By the way, I didn't love the narrator of Starcrossed at first, but, as the story picked up, the narration got a lot better. It's probably not fair that I've been listening to the Game of Thrones audiobooks narrated by Roy Dotrice. His narration makes anything sound amateur.

So what's on your reading list these days?

2011

Just thought I would jump on the bandwagon and share a few projects from 2011....

2011 Quilt finishes

2011 Swaps and Gifts

2011 Charity Blocks

It was a pretty productive year because I don't even have pictures of everything I completed. Looking back though, I realize that none of these things, except for a handful of quilted book covers, were for me. I love making things for other people and I love being able to use my quilting skills for charity, but I am running into an issue where one of my quilt guilds is having a quilt show in a couple of months and I have nothing to enter. Nothing.

In 2012 I am looking to change that up a bit. In 2011, I started a paper piecing project which, as you know, is one of the projects on my quilting bucket list:

I've been making flowers from greens and blues with a Kona White border around each flower and a Kona Pond border connecting all of the flowers. This my friends is going to be my main focus of 2012. The hope is that maybe if I dedicate more time than the odd hockey game or road trip, I'll actually finish this queen sized quilt in less than 20 years. Maybe.

Other than this hand sewing project, I am going to continue making blocks for do. Good Stitches, and finish works in progress. I'm going to try to resist flikr swaps and I am not going to join any new charity bees. I was way over committed for 2011 and I'm burnt out. Speaking of being burnt out, I obviously took an unexpected break over the holidays. I needed it but I am sorry for not warning you.

Things might be slowing down for a bit around here. I will still be sharing works in progress (especially the Rainbow I Spy preemie quilts) as they are completed, do. Good Stitches blocks, and if the muses inspire I'll share some new projects. But you might see long pauses between posts. You might also see 5 posts in one week.I can't guarantee one or the other. I hope you'll stick with me and keep me in your reader, even if I am a bit inconsistent with posting.

I hope this new year brings wonderful adventures for all of you, in quilting and in life!

Happy Quilting, and Happy New Year!