The Joy of Hate by Greg Gutfeld

Wow, this guy says it like it is.  His libertarian views are somewhat extreme but if you can follow his logic - he makes common sense.  Our world is run on an ideal of tolerance right now.  If you aren't tolerant you are the scum of the earth.

He speaks out about the muslim culture and gay rights.  It's the attitude that everyone is certainly allowed (and really must ) have an opinion about.  But lets just live side by side and not bug each other about it.

Oh, yeah, and he's funny too.

Here's a quote from the introduction - see you don't even have to read very far to get this one.

'That's the funny thing about tolerance:  it's actually an avenue for bad behaviour, instead of respect for the good stuff.  It's why, in the name of tolerance, there are so many mass murderers in the world running countries.  We have now made it a rule to respect those who refuse to respect us.'  - Greg Gutfeld   'The Joy of Hate'

Mary by Janis Cooke Newman

This is a fascinating book about the life of Mrs. Abe Lincoln.  Not being american I didn't know about her other than her existence.

Regarding her first sight of Abe, 'the ugliest man upon which I had ever laid eyes,'  How could it be worse after that...?
Apparently she was the first to be called the First Lady.

I liked how she took a list of statistics of a woman who lost 3 children, loved seances, loved shopping....

And changed her from a pariah living in an insane assylum into a believable and misunderstood character.

Baby & Kids Quilts (Best of Fons & Porter)

Super cute baby quilts, wouldn't you know it came from Fons & Porter.  I hate their website but love their shows and now apparently their books.

Blue Moon Promise by Colleen Coble

I just looked back to the last one I read by Colleen and realized that this one has the same problem.  I think it is the covers -- I love them.  They are somehow sooo attractive to me I scoop them up.  She starts strong but kind of fizzles but I did manage to read the whole thing this time.

Free Motion Quilting with Angela Walters

I think she says with instead of by because of the great way she has of making you think you could actually do this with her help...I love it.

Fresh Air by Sinclair Lewis

Fresh Air is a travel book written in the 20's in the common vernacular.  It is really cute and a bit of a love story I guess.

T and I were watching Boardwalk Empire on HBO and he noticed Jimmy reading this book while travelling by train to Chicago... of course I had to look for it at the library. They didn't have it but it was a free download for my kindle.  Sweet.

Follow the adventures of Claire driving her father and herself in an imported Gomez-Deperdussin with an American made body.  Yeah almost another language. 

When I mentioned it to my Mom she recognized the author. 

J.D. Robb, Time of Death

More candy, this one has 3 books in one...

Yeah...

a lot like chocolate

The Lightkeeper's Bride by Colleen Coble

I liked that has a cool job like a telephone operator.  But as with Colleen's other book that I read recently, called Lonestar Sanctuary, I found myself loosing interest.  Maybe the stories are just not long enough for a full length novel.  I don't know I just started to loose it around 2/3 through.

Facebook Marketing/

I am very fascinated by what is happening in the marketing end of the world.  I'd like to understand how the internet will convince me to look at their ads.  Ok, not counting those really cute dog ads at Subaru...

Then I thought that the facebook one was too specific for me and this one might be more readable...

Quilt Fiesta by Cheryl Lynch

Surprising Designs from Mexican Tiles indeed.  I was very impressed at how much these fairly simple blocks looked like the Mexican tile walls and floors we saw in Mexico.  Very interesting.  I think she did an extremely good job of the fabric selections that carried out the designs.

Open Road's Best of Paris

Yes, I am planning a trip

A Cup of Friendship by Deborah Rodriquez

I am just getting into this.  I can barely put it down to write this.  Deborah does an amazing job of setting the scene of a part of the world I have never been to.  But I have been to Turkey, I wonder if her cafe is on a street like this...

Wow, now I have read the whole thing.  It was just too good to put down.  I suspect that it is a pretty good insight into life in Afghanistan.  It fit with my current idea that sometimes people need to figure things out for themselves.  

Orphan Blocks / Quilt a Gift

These two books were ones I picked from the library website but both fell a little short.

The orphan blocks one didn't help much with the single orphan my sister sent me from Texas.  And the baby Quilt a Gift for little ones was too fussy....

Three Quilting Books

Circle Play is an old friend.  I just get it from the library again and again.  So simple but well thought out idea.  I will get to trying this I am sure....someday....

More Loose Change was not so great.  Okay, in that all quilting books are, but... the content was a bit done over....

Quilting Among Friends was very good.  Lots of inspiration.  Somehow it appeals to my sense of 'I could do that but what if I just changed this...'

Hattitude by Cathy Carron

Really interesting.  There are lots of variety in shape which I especially appreciated but it turns out my head is very close to 23" in circumference and its not too clear how to make that work.  Of course my problem is that most hats are too small.

I think I could work with this.

Spud & Chloe and Mug Hugs

Both about knitting.  Super cute knitted doll & pet sheep with a cartoony story besides. Spud & Chloe is the brand of Alpaca yarn...

Mug Hugs are super cute too.  I actually thought I might make one for my morning cup of joe.  Most of my mugs are tapered tho and these patterns are mostly for straight up ones.  Does this mean I have to BUY a NEW coffee mug???

Most of the mug patterns could be easily adapted for a scarf - you know longer and maybe not sooo narrow, but...

The Body in Motion - Its Evolution and Design

I guess I am just a sucker for anything with a design in it.  Theodore Dimon, Jr. really does it here.  A great way to get a handle on how our bodies move and how they should work in a non repetitive strain world.  Really easy to read and understand.  Lots of lovely illustrations of how my body should be.  And maybe a few hints on how I can carry on.

Short too.

He compares our spines to bridges - I'm pretty sure mine isn't like this beauty in South Carolina.

I'm thinking mine is more like this swinging bridge in Souris, Manitoba.

The Pioneer Woman, Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

This love story is written by Ree Drummond.  What a light hearted, humourous romp - the Marlboro Man is delicious.  But I have to read it quickly as it's a New & Notable (which means no extensions from the library)

Here is my representation of the pioneer life that I chose before I realized that the book was present day.  (It's from the old shed at my family farm )

I just finished the book today.  (I started this a few days ago) - I highly recommend this read.  If you are married it will remind of the early days - something we all need to remember - in a marriage.  By the end I thought that if I had written the book, I would not want my 'marlboro man' to read the result as it would give him a fat head.  

Very romantic and sweet.

Angela's Ashes

Frank McCourt has written this book (in 1996) about his early life as a desperately poor existence in Ireland.  He treats the topic with accuracy and detail.  And a certain acceptance of the way it was.  No whining.  I found it a bit depressing but in the end  I admired his ability to portray a segment of his personal life in a fairly objective way.

Better with Buttermilk

The subtitle of Lee Edwards Benning's informative book is 'the Secret Ingredient in old-fashioned cooking'.  What an eye opener.  As a lover of real, simple ingredient cooking and old fashioned tasty products, this book is amazing.  There is even a recipe for making your own butter extender using buttermilk.