This is an awe-inspiring discussion of the growing process of rice in Bali, Indonesia. I picked the book, because I was curious about rice farming, and the cover and title appealed to me.  It’s much more interesting  than farming, and less dry than the average nonfiction.

REVIEW

In compiling a list of quilt related books, I came across a very special book. Winter Lights: A Season in Poems & Quilts by Anna Grossnickle Hines is a poetry book illustrated with actual quilts, made specifically for the book. It is an idea I would like to try myself. Hines has more than succeeded in making the idea work.

REVIEW

Current Pick and List of Previous

Time for another ultra-condensed snippet of Pratchett.

This book seemed slower to me than the average Pratchett. Maybe because I had too many interruptions. The Death scenes are great, and Windle Poons was interesting as a poltergeist (decidedly unwizardly), but the back and forth between those and the shopping carts bothered me.

Ultra-Condensed Reaper Man

Discworld series

All of my adult life I have wanted to make good crusty breads. After having my second child, I did try, using a book written for bread machines. The idea was to mix with the bread machine and bake in the oven. The dough was too sticky to handle. The bread ended up too heavy, and I still had a mess to clean up.

My first reaction to this title is that it must be an exaggeration. After reading the introduction and mixing a batch, I learned that the hands on preparation is really that short and simple. The best review I could possibly give is no complaints from the kids. They want me to keep making it.

A breadmaking method that works for the inexperienced and people on the go.

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How would you like the chance to relive a day? What if that day was the worst day of your life? Could you improve it, even if your actions caused different behavior from others?

Wendy Mass has such real characters. I have loved each of her books I’ve read so far. Amanda is a strong young girl, a little self-centered at first, but after living through the day once, she starts to be more aware of others. Great for middle readers.

REVIEW

This month’s selection is a book I’ve been wanting to read for half a year. My library just recently had it available. Paper Towns is the first John Green book I’ve read. I love his titles, and the meaning of this one surprised me. I have heard of the idea to which Green refers but did not know they were called that.

REVIEW

Current Pick and List of Previous

Teens and others who read YA books can participate in this survey to identify trends and topics that are of interest to readers of young adult literature. Topics include:

• How often they buy books and where they shop
• How often they visit the library and/or take out books
• What kinds of books they are interested in reading
• Who and what influence their reading selections
• How they feel about required summer reading
• What they think about eBooks and digital reading devices
• What their other media habits are

The survey ends August 31, 2009. Results will be shared with the media, publishers, authors, booksellers, librarians and educators in September 2009.

The survey takes about 15 minutes. As a token of Teenreads.com’s appreciation for filling it out, respondents from the U.S. and Canada will be eligible to enter a random drawing to receive a copy of one of 27 titles.

This month’s selection was chosen partly because of all the wonderful details. In Wink! The Ninja Who Wanted To Be Noticed, J. C. Phillipps has cut tiny details out of paper (some of which she painted first) to assemble her art. To me, the details add so much to the story – people in the background, plants, the grandmother’s sewing, the ninja’s ribbons. I have seen other books with collage, but Phillipps has gone farther than most.

I have to mention that part of why I love paper collage is that it looks so much like my favorite medium, quilting. I am a paper paster myself, for making greeting cards, and I truly love to see splendid collage.

For those who have already seen and love Wink, J. C. Phillipps is working on another, Wink!  The Ninja Who Wanted to Nap, with a possible publish time of Spring 2011.

REVIEW

Current Pick and List of Previous

I cannot believe this much time has gone by, and I haven’t posted this extension to our website. Quotable is in partnership with Fantasy Folder. Quotable is a site of random quotes from books, submitted by users. They are posted on Twitter immediately on approval, so don’t forget to follow us at quotablebooks. In case you are intrigued by the quotes, we also have handy Amazon links for the entries.

The site is doing well, but it is overbalanced by Pratchett quotes. I love Pratchett, and he is great for quotes. But please help us by submitting others.

*The tab for submissions is a plus sign.

I have another selection for my Horizons – Transition to Adult list.

I first picked out this book, because it has a cool title and Lincoln on the front cover. I expected it to be historical fiction and maybe a little dry. What it is, instead, is a thriller/detective story centered around preinaugural papers of President Abraham Lincoln. The author has done an excellent job of building the story. I wanted to know more about the secret societies (there is a second with an inconspicuous name), more about the Sherman family (is there some truth to the genealogy or totally fabricated), and more about the resolution.  It is a good, quick read with some exciting historical teasers.

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