No Time on My Hands

My sister gave me her copy of 'No Time On My Hands' and I put off reading it because it did not seem as though it would be my cup of tea. And yet it was and still is. This book which details pioneer life in the 1880s thru the 1950s in Nebraska was wonderful. It is full of details. At first it reminded me a bit of Laura Ingalls Wilder's books, but while there are some similarities in the difficulty of life in those long-gone days, it is quite different. Wilder's books were targeted for children into their teens, while 'No Time...' is large book (545 pages) for adults. Wilder's books were based upon her life and that of her husband, but they are classified as fiction. 'No Time on My Hands' is non-fiction and is a stand-alone book. I will treasure this book all of my days and will read it again and likely again. Oh, and knowing that, I returned my sister's copy when I was halfway through reading it so that I could order and read the rest of it in my own copy.

If you love reading about our history on the American people who dreamed big during the time when there were cowboys and women made beautiful quilts, this is the book for you. And the best part is, it’s all true.

If you liked the pioneer spirit of Laura Ingalls Wilder in the series of Little House on the Prairie books, you will love Grace Snyder in this book as an adult. Grace tells her story from an adult perspective about her entire life from 1882-1982, mostly in Nebraska. She was a remarkable woman who lived through many trials and triumphs throughout her lifetime. Although the story does not entirely focus on her quilt making, if you have an appreciation for quilts, it makes the book even more endearing.

This book is very well written and describes the amazing life of Grace Snyder. Even as a tiny girl she was confident of her abilities and could do things I would not have imagined (like herding the sheep and protecting them all day). Grace went on to overcome unimaginable hardships and became well known in her field. The detailed descriptions of daily life on the prairie in early days and how people survived the deprivation and loneliness with determined courage, will stick with me all my life. This is a very upbeat book.

This reads very much like Laura Ingalls Wilder books. Synder is a famous quilter who lived in a sod house to start life in Nebraska. She is known for her quilting and made one of the most well known quilts ever.I especially enjoyed this book. The author is a good storyteller as she relates tales of prairie life. There's much to learn about life in this book.

I love books about our pioneer past, although, as far as I can tell my folks all stayed east of the Mississippi! (Maybe I need to find some stories of people growing up in the hills of East Tennessee. Any suggestions? I'm sure they lived interesting lives too!) At any rate, ever since reading Little House on the Prairie in elementary school I have been fascinated by our prairie pioneers. This book focuses on the hard lives of people who settled in the sand hills of Wyoming. One reason I chose it is because I know little about this part of the country. This book is a real joy to read. Facts are presently calmly, though you can see the deep emotions that are felt. Today people go into hysterics if they lose a smartphone. Most people in years past showed more dignity in burying a dearly loved child who died too young than some people do today when they hold weddings and funerals for their dogs. All in all this is a wonderful book. If you enjoy sincere autobiographies of hardworking pioneers who just keep going, you will surely appreciate this book.

Loved this book! I'm a quilter, too, but that's not the focus of the book. It's the life story of a woman who grew up in Nebraska starting in the 1880s and the ups and downs of her life. I've had a hard time putting this book down to get other things done. Was recommended to me by a good friend and my husband wants to read it next! Wish it was available on Kindle but alas had to get paperback. Recommend highly for great entertainment!

I loved this book! If you ever wanted to know how a town got settled this read is for you. Such a good book that I always recommend!

I have just finished reading this book, and I must say it's been a long time since I enjoyed reading a book so much. This is not fiction, it's fact. For somebody who loves history as much as I do, it's a true window into the past, and to what pioneer life was actually like. But not only is this detailed, with pictures that show what the people and places were like, this woman has a knack for remembering the right sorts of things to tell AND a very droll sense of humor.This covers the period between 1884, when the author was only three years old, until the early 1950s. She has a remarkable memory for what happened to her during those years, especially the early ones. She recalls names, dates, locations and events ...and can re-envision them for the reader to the extent that I struggled to put the book down. Her family homesteaded in central Nebraska, moving several times, but not too far away from where they began. She married and moved to the sandhills area at the age of 21, so she remained fairly near to her large family until they began to scatter as they married and set up lives for themselves in the first couple of decades of the 20th century. She ends her memoirs at the age of 80, but she actually lived for another 20 years, and died a few months after her 100th birthday. Her mind remained sharp the whole time.Of course she is well-known in quilting circles for her fantastic quilts, some of which are in museums now. But for me, she was the settler girl who was the substitute for the boy her family didn't have till much later on, and who did all sorts of boy's work around the farm as she was growing up, and passed her observations and memories on to us via this book. Grace was the daughter her family jokingly called 'Pete' because she was willing to do a boy's work. A likeable family, a very engaging narrator and one heck of a story of a place times past—and very well told, too.

Ich habe das Buch in Amerika gesehen, fand es aber zu schwer. Die Reise im Nord-Westen Amerikas hat mich darauf gebracht, dass ich praktisch nichts weiss von der Geschichte der Siedler im ausgehenden 19. und beginnenden 20. Jahrhundert. In diesem Buch wird der Alltag einer Siedler Familie geschildert, das ganz normale Leben in dieser Zeit. Was mich beeindruckt sind die, für heutige Verhältnisse, primitiven Bedingungen in Haus, Hof und bei Hilfsmitteln; ebenso das Durchhaltevermögen der Menschen (auch Kinder!) und die Akzeptanz der Lebensumstände. Endlich einmal Menschen-Geschichte aus der Optik einer Frau, die 100 Jahre alt wurde und bis in die 60er Jahre des 20. Jahrhunderts gelebt hat. Ich empfehle das Buch Leuten die an der Entwicklung der Gesellschaft und der Gründerzeit in Nordamerika interessiert sind. Die Sprache ist nicht immer ganz einfach (Amerikanismen), da Begriffe vorkommen, die wir heute nicht mehr kennen. Man muss gut englisch können. Auf Wikipedia gibt's Auskunft.