The Quilters' Holiday - Jennifer Chiaverini

This is one of the Elm Tree Quilters' series by Jennifer Chiaverini. There is quite a few, the first being 'The Quilter's Apprentice' (which I think is very appropriate as not only is Sarah learning about quilting, but we are learning the background to the Elm Tree series, so we are apprentices in a way too). I think it is important to read the Quilter's Apprentice first, and while I think that it is important that the books are read in order, I read this one slightly out of sequence - but I read 'The Quilter's Apprentice' first (which gives you a background of Sylvia and how she met Sarah, and the beginning of the Elm Tree Quilters).

This story is based around the American Thanksgiving holiday. While the quilters have a tradition of having a day sewing and pot luck supper (each quilter has to bring a dish made with leftovers), this book focuses also on the traditions that each of the quilters hold.

In this book, some things have moved on from the last book that I read - which makes me realise that I have not read it in sequence. Sarah is expecting twins and while Bonnie is not featured in this book, it states in this book that she has lost her business and has broken up from her husband.

What I liked about this book is that it is a part of a series and you know all the characters already - you sort of feel that they are family, and you can see how the characters have come on. Each time I finish a book that I enjoy, I feel quite sad, as it feels as if I am losing part of my family, but this series stops that as when you finish one book in the series you can start another.

This book is quite a short book to read - there are about 228 pages or so, and not many chapters, it doesn't take long to get through the book. Each chapter is about a different quilter - there is a chapter about Sylvia, a chapter on Diane, etc. Much of the book is not focused on a story as such but the friendship of the quilters and nosalgia - what has happened in their past that they think back fondly to.

I got my copy of this book in my local library, where you could try to - failing that, you could try ebay or Amazon.