Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads Blog Tour

Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads by S.R. Mallery

Publication Date: December 16, 2013

Mockingbird Lane Press
Formats: eBook, Paperback, Audio Book
Pages: 276
Genre: Historical Fiction/Short Stories
Source: Publisher via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for an honest review

The eleven long short stories in Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads combine history, mystery, action and/or romance, and range from drug trafficking using Guatemalan hand-woven wallets, to an Antebellum U.S. slave using codes in her quilts as a message system to freedom; from an ex-journalist and her Hopi Indian maid solving a cold case together involving Katchina spirits, to a couple hiding Christian passports in a comforter in Nazi Germany; from a wedding quilt curse dating back to the Salem Witchcraft Trials, to a mystery involving a young seamstress in the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire; from a 1980's Romeo and Juliet romance between a rising Wall Street financial star and an eclectic fiber artist, to a Haight-Asbury love affair between a professor and a beautiful macrame artist gone horribly askew, just to name a few.



My Take:

Because I enjoyed the author's first novel, Unexpected Gifts, so much, I was excited for the opportunity to read the short story collection, Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads. As with any short story collection, some of the stories resonated with me more than others, but overall, I enjoyed the whole collection very much.

The aspect of this collection that I really connected with was that all the stories deal with sewing, quilting or textile arts in general - but most often, with quilting. I am not a quilter, but my grandmother was and I have so many fond memories of watching her work on quilts and then seeing the final result of all that work. I think my all favorite stories were actually the ones that involved quilts.

I loved the story involving the young deaf slave girl who makes beautiful quilts and uses her skills to help other slaves escape. This story was touching and a bit suspenseful, but ultimately, satisfying. The other story that really stuck with me was the one involving the Salem Witch Trials and a curse and a surprisingly powerful quilt. I could list a few more that I really loved, but I think the point has been made. The stories are very memorable.

I also appreciated that many of the stories involve a female protagonist who is creative, smart, and ambitious. In some of the stories, the women use their sewing skills to better themselves or the situations of others. In other stories, their sewing skills are just a talent, but it is central to how they see themselves. Some of the stories are dark, some are humorous, but all of them are stories that make the reader pause and reflect.

I think the collection of stories in Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads will appeal to those who are interested in sewing and quilting, naturally, but I also think it will appeal to pretty much anyone since there is such a variety of genres included in the book. My favorite stories were mostly the historical ones, but I liked the modern detective story as well. I think Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads will be one of those books that I recommend often.

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Buy the Book

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Buy the Audio Book

Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads is now in AUDIO!!! Listen to narrator, Suzie Althens, breathe life and depth into these stories!

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Audible.com
iTunes

About the Author

S.R. Mallery has worn various hats in her life.

First, a classical/pop singer/composer, she moved on to the professional world of production art and calligraphy. Next came a long career as an award winning quilt artist/teacher and an ESL/Reading instructor. Her short stories have been published in descant 2008, Snowy Egret, Transcendent Visions, The Storyteller, and Down In the Dirt.

Unexpected Gifts, her debut novel, is currently available on Amazon. Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads, her collection of short stories, Jan. 2014, both books by Mockingbird Lane Press.

For more information please visit S.R. Mallery's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, December 1
Review at Unshelfish

Tuesday, December 2
Review at Bibliotica

Wednesday, December 3
Review at History From a Woman's Perspective

Thursday, December 4
Spotlight & Giveaway at Teddy Rose Book Reviews and More

Friday, December 5
Guest Post at What Is That Book About
Interview at Dianne Ascroft Blog

Monday, December 8
Review at WV Stitcher

Tuesday, December 9
Review at 100 Pages a Day - Stephanie's Book Reviews
Guest Post & Giveaway at Historical Fiction Connection

Wednesday, December 10
Review at A Book Geek

Thursday, December 11
Review at Book Nerd

Friday, December 12
Review at Based on a True Story

Monday, December 15
Review at CelticLady's Reviews

Tuesday, December 16
Review at Book Babe

Wednesday, December 17
Review at Just One More Chapter

Friday, December 19
Review at Book Drunkard

Unexpected Gifts Blog Tour and Review

Unexpected Gifts by S.R. Mallery
Publication Date: April 16, 2013
Mockingbird Lane Press
Formats: eBook, Paperback
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Publisher/author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for an honest review

Can we learn from our ancestral past? Do our relatives’ behaviors help mold our own? In "Unexpected Gifts," that is precisely what happens to Sonia, a confused college student, heading for addictions and forever choosing the wrong man. Searching for answers, she begins to read her family’s diaries and journals from America’s past: the Vietnam War, Woodstock, and Timothy Leary era; Tupperware parties, McCarthyism, and Black Power; the Great Depression, dance marathons, and Eleanor Roosevelt; the immigrant experience and the Suffragists. Back and forth the book journeys, linking yesteryear with modern life until finally, by understanding her ancestors' hardships and faults, she gains enough clarity to make some right choices.


My Take:
Unexpected Gifts sounded like it had potential, so I agreed to read it for review. I honestly didn't know how well the premise would work out, but it did intrigue me. I have to state right off that I was very pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I am into family history and have researched my own genealogy and if someone had given me treasures like Sonia's mother showed her, I would have been in heaven.

Sonia is obviously troubled and at the start of the book, is incapable of seeing her choices for how bad they actually were. As a psych major, you would think she would have a better grip on her own issues, but for much of the book she is in denial.  However, one particularly bad night for her parents starts her on a path to discover her family's history - starting with her own parents.

I really loved how Sonia is able to see her parents lives differently once she gets the chance to read their letters and/or diaries. I found myself so caught up in their lives that when the book switches back to Sonia, I was a little upset because I wanted to read more. Actually, with each generation, I was equally captivated by their stories - the good, the bad, the triumphs, the struggles, and especially the history.

 Fortunately, Sonia is able to find out the real problems and issues her ancestors dealt with and could see some of their traits in herself. Reading about the mistakes her ancestors made and the consequences of them seems to work as a wake-up call for Sonia and she is able to break some of the cycles of bad decisions.

I enjoyed Unexpected Gifts so much - for a variety of reasons. I loved the look at each historical period and the depictions of the families within each period. Sonia was so obviously in need of some type of intervention, and the look through her family history seems to have been just the thing. I will be suggesting this book to all my friends and can recommend it to anyone interested in U.S. history in particular, genealogy or historical fiction.

Watch the Book Trailer

Praise for Unexpected Gifts

“S.R. Mallery has caught the defining moments in the lives of one working class, upward striving family, as each one of them benefits from and contributes to the growth and setbacks of America itself…A rich and involving book, the author has written a gem. –Dorothy Salisbury Davis, A Gentle Murderer, Lullaby of Murder, The Pale Betrayer, etc.

“S.R. Mallery, with her strong sense of history and deft narrative skills, shows us one American family’s fascinating journey through flashpoints of American history, as a modern day young woman discovers the spirited narratives of her forbears, and is inspired to take charge of her own life…. an impressive, wonderfully thought out and well-told first novel.” –Carla Davidson, former Senior Editor at American Heritage Magazine

Buy the Book

Amazon
Barnes & Noble

About the Author

S.R. Mallery has worn various hats in her life.

First, a classical/pop singer/composer, she moved on to the professional world of production art and calligraphy. Next came a long career as an award winning quilt artist/teacher and an ESL/Reading instructor. Her short stories have been published in descant 2008, Snowy Egret, Transcendent Visions, The Storyteller, and Down In the Dirt.

"Unexpected Gifts", her debut novel, is currently available on Amazon. "Sewing Can Be Dangerous and Other Small Threads", her collection of short stories, Jan. 2014, both books by Mockingbird Lane Press.

For more information please visit S.R. Mallery's website. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads.

Unexpected Gifts Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, September 1
Review at Bookish
Review at Unshefish

Wednesday, September 3
Review at Reading Room Book Reviews
Guest Post at Just One More Chapter

Thursday, September 4
Review at WTF Are You Reading?

Friday, September 5
Spotlight at What Is That Book About

Monday, September 8
Guest Post & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, September 9
Review at Beth's Book Reviews
Review at CelticLady's Reviews

Thursday, September 11
Review at Book Nerd

Friday, September 12
Review at A Book Geek
Spotlight at From the TBR Pile
Spotlight & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time