Celebrating the Possibilities of Lace

A review of :  Lace One Skein Wonders:101 Projects Celebrating the Possibilities of Lace
                      by Judith Durant published by Storey Publishers


The is a beautiful book filled with wonderful Knitting projects! Each project is presented with clear instructions, diagrams where necessary and wonderful photography which shows the project magnificently, but often show techniques or close-ups of sections to help explain the instructions as well.If you are a knitter this book will open a wealth of projects to dream over and accomplish. Each project is very well outlined and explained so there will be no difficulty completing each of these wonderful projects. There are all kinds of projects: shawls, fingerless gloves, socks , scarves and others , all with a lacy touch.There are explicit diagrams showing where each stitch goes in the project and esplanations on how to accomplish each stitch. This book was provided to me as an ebook through NetGalley. When I requested this book I did not realize it was a knitting project book (I crochet) howeverit thrilled me to see such exquisite projects , that I am pulling my knitting needles out of moth balls and trying to remember how it is done again!
This is a wonderful book and I recommend these beautiful patterns to any knitters with the desire to make intricate lacy items!

I, Saul by Jerry Jenkins and John MacDonald Review

Having shied away from the Tim Lahaye and Jerry Jenkins series "Left Behind" when it first came out, not because of the subject matter or the story but because the grammar at the beginning was like reading Harlequin romances (bad); I hesitated to request this title. I was however delightfully surprised by both the story, the quality of the research and the matured writing style of this book. This time Mr. Jenkins has teamed with a Bible scholar and together they bring a very real and truthful feel to a fiction mystery.
A discovery has been made in Rome, the prison where the Apostle Paul was held until his execution is being excavated. A member of the Vatican staff visits the ruins and finds a roll of parchment placed in a crevice beneath a wall , he sneaks it from the sight and upon discovering what it might be, he hides it in a safe place giving a clue to a friend as to its whereabouts. He is murdered and now the friend is in danger because the antiquities police think he knows where the manuscript is. The friend, a local tour guide, calls his friend in the United States to come help him get out of danger and retrieve the artifact. This begins a rollercoaster thrill ride of the two alluding police, alluding the antiquities policeman who is working for himself and hopes to sell the artifact on the black market, alluding his girlfriends father who also has eyes on the prize and staying alive to find the artifact and bring it to world attention.
The artifact is presumed to be a parchment written by the Apostle Paul recounting his life that has never been see or read in over two-thousand years.
The story goes from present day to Paul's time and back again explaining how the parchment came to be, why it was found where it was and telling the story of Paul's life from before his conversion to his death. The Biblical references are base on the facts in the Bible and the story of Paul's life is embellished from the known facts referenced in the Bible.
The life of Paul comes alive on the pages and is a most enjoyable read. The contemporary mystery is well documented and researched and has a very believable feel to reality today. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and will look forward to others by these authors.

Homer Hickam's book "Cresent" a review

Being the 2nd in a series for teens written by acclaimed author Homer Hickam (Author of "Rocket Boys" from which the movie "October Sky" was based) this book is a fresh look at the teens of the not too distant future on the Moon. Mining rights have been established on the moon and whole businesses are growing up on the moon to support the industry. People sign on to go to the moon for work - sometimes for adventure, sometimes just for a job and sometimes because they are no longer welcomed on earth. Rivalry abounds not just from earthbound politics and countries who want the riches of the Moon for themselves, but among the leaders of the various mining camps and towns on the moon. There are constant skirmishes and battles to keep what's yours. Crowhoppers, genetically bred soldiers are sent from earth to fight for whichever faction they are being paid by. Their motto their mantra is "to live is death , to die is life."  Mostly they live to fight and die honorably. The miners are constricted to fight against them in battles. Thus Crater, a likeable teen, inventor, miner is not in the mine working but in a skirmish over a convoy when they are attacked by Crowhoppers. Infiltrating the under ground tube the Crowhoppers were living in, Crater finds a lone Crowhopper and for some reason feels for it and captures it instead of killing it. He returns to base with it and finds out it is a girl - rare among crowhoppers. His prisoner causes quite a stir since none of the people of Moontown are going to trust it they all just want it dead. Crater insist that it be given a chance. Her name is Cresent and she is a very hard worker. Crater's adoptive mom, who is the exiled Queen of England, Q-bess takes the girl in and helps her learn how to live among humans. This is very hard for Cresent to do since everyone but Crater and Q-bess want her dead. Here insues the adventures of Crater and Cresent. This is a delighful story that will leave you wanting the more that is to come. Though written for teens and should be totally enjoyed by them since it is a space love story of sorts, it was a delightfully relaxing tale for adults. I thoroughly enjoyed the book , highly recommend it and can hardly wait for the next in the series. It has everything Battles, love story,jealousy, history, treasures and a few ghost as well.

I earned this Seal of approval

                                                                                     I am a Professional Reader!!!!!!
 Finally after over 40 years of working and volunteering in public libraries and it took Netgalleys to give me the recognition I have deserved!
Actually I am proud to read and review books for publishers through NetGalley but I have been professionally reading and reviewing books since 1996 when I joined the review team at School Library Journal and more recently at Library Journal. While it all is professional the pay is free access to books. Nothing could be better than that to an avid reader like myself. So thank you to NetGalley for making an official reader of me. Bring on the books...!!!!!

marathon of reading

I took a couple of days off from work just to relax unwind and rest to get ready for the summer season which is the busiest time in the library (especially when you are running on a skeleton staff due to budget cuts.) I vowed that I would catch up on my reading during my time off and Dan Brown's "Inferno" came in for me just as I was leaving. I devoured this book. It was an excellent blend of suspense Art and science. The characters were likable even though many were secretive and deceitful. I will not spoil the story but this book was so much better and moved so much better than "The Lost Sign" his last book. I almost didn't bother with this book because the last one was so boring. This book is much more like "Angels& Demons" which has always been my favorite of all his books. I did stop as I read to bring up the pictures of the artwork and some of the architecture of the places the book travels through. The science is fascinating too. Mostly though this book is an edge of your seat thriller and I enjoyed every page of it!
Next I read " The Bones of the Old Ones" by Howard Andrew Jones. This is the second book in a series and I hope he will write more because it is pure entertainment! The books are set in Mosul in the same time period as the "Arabian Nights" and are grand buddy adventures with ginnis, magic, sword fighting, mystical enemies and great friends persevering together. These fantasy books are fun escapist reading and I thoroughly enjoy every word!
 Next I tackled "The Fifth Wave" which is a Young Adult book that looks through the eyes of a very courageous and independent 16 year old at the reality of an alien invasion of her world. First the darkness occurs, caused by electromagnetic pulse. All lights go out, all motors stopped, planes fall from the sky and chaos reigns. That is the first wave. The aliens Mother ship hovers above and the population waits to see if they will make contact. Then the second wave hits and only the lucky survive. After the 3rd wave only the unlucky survive, those that will band together with a hope of surviving but after the 5th wave your on your own and there is no one you can trust. The book is a very truthful look into the way societies will collapse and the individual terror of the unknown. It is a novel of courage and perseverance through incredible odds. It is very literal and should really appeal to teens who can identify with the characters. There is a message of hope that runs throughout the book.
Now I have started "The Golem and the Ginni" by Helene Wecker which so far promises to be a delightful fantasy.
Even though I work in a library where I have first access to an amazing collection of book; I must also give a shout out to wonderful sights like Librarything and Goodreads where you can read wonderful reviews and patron comments about books and leave your own comments as well as participating in there wonderful book giveaways. I have received many wonderful books I might not have had access to through these sites. There is also Bookshout and Netgalley who both offer excellent choices of ebooks which you can download and review for free. Bookshout also offers some at reduced prices as does Amazon. Also our public library offers a statewide link for our patrons called Georgia Downloads where you can check out both audio and ebook versions of thousands of titles. So the reading world is exploding with possibilities!!!!
I'm also reading "I,Saul"by Jerry B Jenkins and James S. MacDonald on Kindle on my I-phone. I don't really enjoy reading on my phone but it is a great way to not have to carry a book with you to lunch or to an appointment and still have something good to read. "I, Saul" is a wonderful blending of present day archaeological Thriller and a wonderful dialogue of Luke and Paul as Paul is in prison in Rome before his execution. I am enjoying this fictional look at Paul's life which is well researched and thought out and works nicely with the contemporary plot line.
I have several other books that I am reading on my phone or on my kindle or adobe reading apps on my computer such as "Florian's Gate" by Davis Bunn; "Thieves of Book Row" by Travis McDade; Leadership lessons from the Cherokee Nation" by Chad Corntassel Smith. And on Bookshout I'm reading "Songs in the key of Solomon" by John and Anita Renfroe and "Jesus in the present Tense" by Warren W. Wiersbe. You might wonder how I can keep up with so many books at one time but it really is just like watching multiple TV shows on Television. You can watch NCIS, Once upon a Time, Hawaii 5 0, CSI (my favorites) and still keep up with each ones plot lines why shouldn't you be able to do that with books!
Oh well. like the famous quote "So many books, - so little time!  I must get back to reading!!!

Roswell Conspiracy by Boyd Morrison

A rollicking great chase of a thriller is found in the Roswell Conspiracy, Boyd Morrison's latest installment of Gordian Fiction.  Tyler Locke and Grant Westfield work for Gordian Engineering spending their time testing race cars, assisting on archeological digs, chasing bad guys and making the world a safer place. In Australia they are meeting with a potential client when they must rescue her from being assaulted by men trying to break into her home. The men set fire to her house and flee, but Tyler and Grant go after them they chase them to the jet boat dock where the men try to escape but are killed in the chase. The client, Fay, a 75 year old woman, has an artifact given to her at the crash in Roswell in 1947 that she wants them to investigate. Tyler is skeptical but willing to listen to her story particularly when he finds she is the grandmother of an old flame from his college days.  Fay was at Roswell in 1947, witnessed the crash  and was given an artifact by the alien that crawled out of the spaceship before it died. While still disbelieving her story the boys agree to look into the mystery. They begin by trying to find out who the men were that attacked her at her house and who they worked for. This leads them to a robotic truck, a warehouse , some Russian spies who are ambushed by some other rogue spies and a trailer train full of explosives being remotely driven into a secret American base. They must free themselves and diffuse the bomb or blow it before it reaches the base and stay alive. Thus begins a nonstop thrill ride of spies, counterspies, government agents with Tyler and Grant trying to stay ahead and solving the mystery of the artifact and saving the United States from destruction.
This is truly a non-stop page-turner in true Boyd Morrison style. I first got hooked on his work when reading Rogue Wave, a thriller set with a tsunami hitting the Hawaiian Island that was nail-biting to the very last drop of ocean wave. The two previous Gordian books, The Ark and The Vault are also rip-roaring adventures with Tyler and Grant. I highly recommend all of Mr. Morrison's work and will be anxiously awaiting his next book!

New year,new posts

I am endeavoring to post a review of any books I read this year. this will be for all kinds of books since I read and review for School library Journal, and Library Journal on a regular basis. I have also began to get free books from contests on Librarything, Goodreads, and most recently Netgalley. Thre should be a wealth of diverse topics included and I hope that any who find their way here enjoy the reviews.
So far I have already read Clive Cussler's new book Poseidon's Arrow, a Farm Dogs and  Goat children's non fiction book for SLJ and am daily reading through a chronological bible. As you know I also work as a librarian.
Happy Reading!!!