WIP Wednesday

I got nothing. Absolutely nothing to show. Hex coat, though progress has been made, still looks pretty much like last week. Snowman vest #1 still isn't finished; embroidering all those little faces is taking a bit of time. Snowman vest #2 looks pretty much like Snowman vest # 1, only with better tension. And the sock I started this morning doesn't even have a complete round yet. So, nothin' knitting today.

Thanks for all the early birthday wishes. My husband apparently didn't want to be outdone by me buying myself presents and he let me open (well, it wasn't wrapped technically) one early. (My birthday is still over two weeks away.) It was the movie Persuasion. Now, I know he loves me to give me that one. Getting him to watch it with me is a different story altogether.

Besides knitting I've also done a bit of reading lately and have come across a couple of good ones and taking my cue from Chris, I thought I'd mention them and tell you a little about them. The first is called Fairest by Gail Carson Levine (the author of Ella Enchanted). It has many elements of Snow White including a magic mirror and a girl named Aza who has white skin, red lips and black hair. She, however, is quite ugly and was abandoned by her birth parents in an inn where the innkeepers took her in and raised her as their own with their birth children. She does have a beautiful singing voice (she lives in a land where singing is highly valued) and has learned to "illuse" or make her voice sound like it is coming from elsewhere and Queen Ivi decides to make use of it to her own ends. I loved how Levine made the Cinderella story her own in Ella Enchanted and I very much enjoyed this book as well. It is a children's book, so a pretty quick read.

The other novels I've been enjoying are actually part of the series The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone. The first book is The Briar King. The Briar King takes place in a setting reminiscent of Medieval Europe where creatures from children's tales and legends begin to awaken, things that shouldn't exist. Dark powers and prophesies force Anne Dare, a young headstrong princess in love, to flee for her life for reasons she doesn't know or understand, and she doesn't know whom she can trust. Though there are many characters, each has his own unique personality and has a role in the thing happening; their stories interweave with Anne's. I've read two of the books and I'm about to begin the third. I'm very much looking forward to the last book in the series sometime next year.

I'm always open to suggestions for good books. I love historical fiction and fantasy. I like a little science fiction and sometimes mysteries. I think I'm overloaded on romances right now, but if you have a really good one to share...