Books Read in July 2025

* Book group selection | bolded means favorite

Grownup Fiction

The Beach Club by Elin Hilderbrand
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry
Daughters of the New Year by E.M. Tran

Nantucket Nights by Elin Hilderbrand

Because I like Elin Hilderbrand’s books, I feel it important to say that this one hasn’t aged well. A white lady writing a Black character was cringy in several places, 40-year-olds of any gender shouldn’t be sleeping with 18 year-olds of any gender, and the resolution acted like it wrapped things up very well, when really it set a family up for a big blowout once things come out.

Grownup Nonfiction

The Capsule Wardrobe: 1,000 Outfits from 30 Pieces by Wendy Mak
You Will Be Able to Sew Your Own Clothes by the End of This Book by Juliet Uzor
Couture Sewing: The Couture Skirt: More Sewing Secrets from a Chanel Collector by Claire B. Shaeffer
How to Accessorize: A Perfect Finish to Every Outfit by Micaela Erlanger
Gertie’s Charmed Sewing Studio: Pattern Making and Couture-Style Techniques for Perfect Vintage Looks by Gretchen Hirsch

Love Leather Accessories: 20 Easy Leather Accessories to Sew by Zoe Larkins

These were all a bit twee for my style.

How to Wear Everything: A No Nonsense Guide to Dressing by Kay Barron

Barron has firm ideas about how clothes should be worn, but also seems like it’s no skin off her back if you choose to go your own way.

Pop-up Embroidery: A Beginner’s Guide to Modern Raised Stitches by Ashley Denn

One of the most interesting embroidery books I’ve ever seen. Denn takes (mostly) standard embroidery stitches and really finds ways to make them pop.

Furoshiki: The Japanese Art of Wrapping with Fabric by Aurélie Le Marec

I probably should procure a book about this Japanese art written by someone from Japan rather than someone from France, but the library has what it has. Furoshiki was well presented, and I’m super interested. I’ll dive right in once I finish those other projects…

Mending Life: A Handbook for Repairing Clothes and Hearts by Nina Montenegro and Sonya Montenegro

Calm illustrations and good instructions. This will be one I purchase.

The Movie Quiz, July 2025

This was a tough one, and I thought we had done very badly. But it turned out that we got our usual 120 points and were smack in the middle.

Fun names this round:

Garlic as Good as 10 Things I Hate About You
Bridget Jones’ Diary of a Mad Black Woman
The Rambo Connection
Edwoodington
Eddington in Peru
The OG Cast of Lady and the Tramp

More Things from the Wedding

We each had hand-lettered place cards, and got to take home a coaster. The cats on the coaster are smitten kittens, which is what Cheyenne’s daughter called Cheyenne and Renee.

As we went to our table Matt said, “Look, it’s that drawing thing you do!”

And it turns out that Cheyenne also Zentangles!

Cheyenne and Renee’s Wedding

Cheyenne and Renee met at the Rosetown Ramblers square dancing club, and they invited Matt and me to their wedding. It was held at the Nordic House, which was a lovely venue.

The brides:

The Nordic House, of course is also the home of the Ole Bolle Troll, which Matt and I went to say hi to.

There was a delicious dinner, and then there was strawberry shortcake.

But also with a small cake for cake cutting.

Cheyenne and Renee invited 16 Ramblers, enough to fill two tables, and we had a grand time.

Jason and gerry

Jeff mugs for the camera.

Susan and John talk.

Jim, Eileen, and Matt made up the rest of our table.

As was befitting a couple who met while square dancing, there was a community square dance.

The whirling nature of the pictures had to do with the light (the sun had set) but also probably reflects the three glasses of wine I had drunk.

I had a really good time at this wedding.

Yard Tools All Have Their Place

While Stephanie North was painting my bedroom, I got to work adding hooks to the 2x4s Burt installed during our Unwrecking Crew session.

I placed each tool in a spot in hopes that everything would fit.

With some overlap, it did, all except for the tree pruner.

I had to add two more 2x4s bits to the very top to get the final things up.

Then I swept everything clean and things are looking quite tidy.

I’m very pleased with the project.

Matt Protests

Matt attended another protest, with this new sign: If there’s money for raids, there’s money for Medicaid

He found out that using the dollar sign for money and the numeral four in succession caused confusion. People read it as four dollars rather than money for.

This sign was from a previous protest, but you don’t want to leave a blank side.

Last Day of Blue Walls!

It’s been almost 15 years since Chris and I panted the walls blue. It wasn’t my favorite color, but it was my favorite color of the Metro Paint colors. Rereading that post, I was reminded that I once had an idea of installing shelving so the cats could hang out up top. I have no memory of that plan, though I do remember the plan to stencil Hungarian stars on the wall.

Anyhoo! I’ve grown very tired of this blue and am very excited for a new era. Here’s a corner by corner view.

To prepare for painting, I pushed my desk into the middle of the room, put my bedframe in the back yard, and my mattress in the front room.

To prep, I spackled over holes that I wouldn’t be using, and removed all of the extraneous things like switch plates and shelving.

In this picture, you can see that the second mirror on the wall was installed before the room got painted, and we didn’t bother to remove it when we painted it. It won’t be coming back, so I spackled and texturized those holes.

The big texture spot on this wall was where the folding desk was. That desk only lasted two years; I have other desk plans for the new room. The person on Buy Nothing who came to get it was thrilled. And also named Patricia. And was younger than me. Weird!

Both the postcard display and the drying racks on this wall will be coming back.

All the shelves are down from the desk area, but they will be back.

And here’s an interior of my very empty closet. The front room is stacked with all the many things I efficiently stored in my closet. It’s kind of a lot.

And here’s the view from the closet floor.

I’m excited for the changes.