The Aloha Quilt: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel (16) (The Elm Creek Quilts)

I love this series. Majority of the books are wonderful heartfelt stories. This one just didn't do it for me...the reactions seemed over the top and immature. The drama felt forced, and I found myself skimming just to finish it. Oh well. Onto the next.

First, I have to admit that this is not the reading genre that usually is included in my reading lists. Both my wife and I have been fanatical readers all of our lives, but each of us has our own taste and our reading regimen is quite different. After about fifty or so years of reading books together though, we have found that crossing over into each others selections from time to time is not only helpful, but fun! I read books on here list, she on mine. Secondly, I have never read any of the books in this particular series or any books by this author. This work was selected at complete random. I was at the library, went to the shelf where all her books were and just grabbed one. This is the one I added to my already overflowing arm full. I say this to let you know that I am not judging my reading enjoyment of this book with any preconceived notions, no earlier work or later work to compare it with, nor any prejudices one way or another other than my wife loves this series and has read most of the books in it. I have discussed other books in this series with her and others and did have a pretty good idea of the series premise and author's methods. Thirdly, I am not a quilter, have never made a quilt and it is a pretty good bet I never will. I simply do not have the patients or fine motor skills to pull it off. That does not mean though that I do no like quilts and quilters. I was raised in a family of them (my wife included) and have been to more quilting shows, shops and gatherings that I care to talk about. I appreciate the art involved, the skill necessary to produce them, and their historical value and significance. This story, and others in this series, center on the quilting world. As I read this work, I was strongly reminded of the writings of Maeve Binchy, an author I greatly admire and read often. Chiaverini is obviously a very skilled story teller and is able to take the events in an ordinary life of an ordinary person and turn out a good tale. Bonnie Markham, one of the seasoned and members of the Elm Creek Quilt Camp is going through a terrible and traumatic divorce. She is loosing just about everything, including her share of the Elm Creek establishment. She accepts a good friends offer to join her in Hawaii in order to set up a new quilting camp. The story revolves around this move, her relationship with her quite evil ex-husband to be, friends and of course the Islands of Hawaii. Enough said about the plot. There are many, many fine reviews posted here that more than adequately cover that aspect of this work. I found the writing in this book to be quite good. The author can tell a story and tell it well. There were enough characters to keep a lively story going, yet no so many that the reader is overwhelmed. The description of the Island is excellent. I learned much about Hawaiian history by reading this book that I simply did not know...much to my chagrin. For the limited space the author had, the cha

Ms Chiaverini has done it again. Thank you Thank you Thank you for another outstanding episode of the lives of the Elm Creek Quilters! Each book has been a unique experience and this one is one of my favorites. I hate to ask but....when will the next book come out????

Jennifer adds to the personalites of the wonderful stories of a quilting commmunity. The newest addition to the Elm Creek Quilters leaves me dissappointed in reading the last page as I dont want to leave this group and wait for the next book to come along I own all books in the series and each one that she writes draws me into the group more then the previous novel Will there be an instructional book on Hawaiian Quilts to follow?

"The Aloha Quilt" is the sixteenth book in the Elm Creek Quilts series. In this installment, the focus is on Bonnie Markham, the owner of Grandma's Attic quilt shop (now defunct) and an original partner in Elm Creek Quilts. Bonnie finds herself in the middle of an ugly divorce from her husband and dealing with the emotions of losing her business. When her college roommate contacts her to spend the winter in Hawaii and offers her the opportunity to work as a consultant in opening a quilting camp there, she jumps at the chance. This is definitely Bonnie's story with the other Elm Creek Quilters taking a very minor role and typically only reference from time to time. I really have to give Jennifer Chiaverini a tremendous amount of credit for maintaining such high quality books over an amazingly long span. Most series seem to lose their steam around book six or seven and need to be ended at that point (even though many authors don't and the reader often continues to suffer along because it's hard to stop even when they get bad). While loyal readers may be disappointed to have the story moved away from Elm Creek Manor, I think these forays into other locales and the focus on a single character are what has kept the series so strong and is a stroke of brilliance by the author. I remember the television series M*A*S*H and its long run - it was always hard to see a beloved character go and someone new come in, but without the new blood, the series would have ended much sooner. I think the same thing is true here - there is no end in sight and as long as she can keep writing, there will be stories to tell. While I loved the book from start to finish, my one complaint was the telling of the history of Hawaii. I loved reading about it and was glad it was included, however, the way it was done at times felt more like a history lesson rather than seamlessly woven into the fabric of the novel. Some of it felt forced and I actually thought "here comes the history lesson" which took me out of the novel and disrupted the flow. It didn't last for long, but I wish it were done more smoothly. Overall, and excellent novel and one that fans of the series will definitely enjoy !

Hawaii is about as far away from Pennsylvania as you can get. And in this book, that's exactly where Elm Creek quilter Bonnie Markham is headed. (Avid readers will recognize Bonnie as the one-time owner of the Grandma's Attic quilt shop, as well as being one of the founders of the Elm Creek quilt camps.) Bonnie and her husband Craig are in the middle of a contentious and stressful divorce. When Claire, Bonnie's old Penn State roommate, invites her to spend the winter on the island of Maui in order to help establish an Aloha Quilt Camp, Bonnie takes her up on the offer. Why not exchange a few months of Northeastern snow for a warm and sandy beach in Paradise? Bonnie soon finds herself in the unique position of being perched in a vacation destination, where she is neither tourist nor resident. With her friends Claire and Eric, she explores some of the tropical landscape. But at the same time, she and Claire must hunker down and do all of the planning for creating a brand-new quilt camp, based in Claire's large, restored inn. Claire's savvy native assistant Midori introduces Bonnie to the intricacies of crafting Hawaiian-style quilts. Midori's nephew, Hinano, serves as a native guide and historical expert for Bonnie as well, even though the two of them often end up arguing about something. One question continues to linger throughout the storyline: Will Bonnie really return to Elm Creek Manor when her consultation duties are done? Or will she instead decide to relocate to Maui and teach full-time at the Aloha Quilt Camp? The best fiction is enlightening as well as entertaining. Purists scoff whenever Ms. Chiaverini dares to move her plots away from the safe cocoon of Elm Creek Manor in central Pennsylvania, either geographically or historically. But that's exactly the way Life works. Rarely does a group of individuals remain static. Its members have obligations far and beyond their affiliations with one another. Following those threads away from the center gives these characters (and us) a chance to learn more about their personalities. It also helps us discover the various traditions of quilts in other places and at other times. Kudos to Ms. Chiaverini for once again providing another interesting insight into the universal heritage of intricate stitchery.