Book Review: The Giving Quilt

I'm reading (listening to) the Elm Creek Quilts novels out of order, but enjoying it all the same. The Giving Quilt is book 20 in the series. It works as a standalone novel. The book felt like a quilt. The dominant story is of a quilt camp centered on giving, called "Quiltsgiving." During the camp, participants keep giving journals and contemplate the question, "Why do you give?" 

Within that main framework come the smaller stories of various participants, young and old. The young cheerleader, dropped by her male counterparts, is struggling along on crutches. The librarian whose book display causes a stir and may cost her the job. A teacher is mourning her deceased husband and trying to find new interests on her own. A quilter who returns to the manor after an unsuccessful bid for a quilt instructor job. Each well-told story holds realistic conflicts and satisfying resolutions. I am thrilled my library has more of these books in audio form, because they promise a clean read, acceptable for my husband's and kids' passing ears.