Blackberry Creek Home Arts: Pillowcase Instructions

Books Read in 2012

Elmore Leonard: Raylan: A Novel
A crime novel based on the tv show "Justified." US marshal Raylan Givens chases bad guys and girls who have committed everything from bank robbery to kidney pilfering. Good book if you like crime fiction with a touch of dark humor. Which I do. (***)
Suzanne Collins: The Hunger Games
I was pleasantly surprised to find how good this book actually is. Very readable with lots of action that keeps the story moving. Like STEPFORD WIVES of long ago, I found the concept to be very disturbing but also very believable. That a reality show could reach this extreme does not seem nearly as impossible to me as it would have seemed several years ago. And that the rich could one day control the country--well, I'm afraid we're well on our way. (***)
Todd Burpo: Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back (Kindle)
I don't buy it. Not to be disrespectful to this little boy or his family, but I think somebody is reading much too much (and maybe adding a bit) to this child's stories. There's too much here that just doesn't ring true; a blue-eyed Jesus; a 4-year-old boy that says things like, "God is three persons," (blessed Trinity!); people with wings. I'm not saying it's a hoax. I just think maybe Colton's parents got a little too excited and made something of their son's experience that it wasn't. Let me be clear: I do believe there are authentic near-death experiences; I just don't believe this is one of them--at least not as depicted in this book.
William Landay: Defending Jacob: A Novel
Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student. Your heart will break as you watch the crumbling of this happy family. (***)
Glenn Kleier: The Knowledge of Good & Evil
A thriller that's a mixture of DaVinci Code, Flatliners, Paradise Lost, and the author's own imaginings of the afterlife. This thriller has, as I expected it would have, a surprise (sort of) ending. I have only one serious criticism and that would be that there's too much description. But there's lots of action and suspense to make up for it. (***)
Gregg Braden: The Divine Matrix: Bridging Time, Space, Miracles, and Belief
Between 1993 and 2000, a series of groundbreaking experiments revealed dramatic evidence of a web of energy that connects everything in our lives and our world—the Divine Matrix. From the healing of our bodies, to the success of our careers, relationships, and the peace between nations, this new evidence demonstrates that we each hold the power to speak directly to the force that links all of creation. I wish the author had told us more about how to use this power in our lives. (***)

Books Read in 2011

Gregg Olsen: Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest
The setting is a forested wilderness in the Northwest, circa 1911. The villain is a tall, egotistical woman doctor with an imposing jawline and a fierce will to dominate others. The victims are two wealthy English sisters, gullible health faddists after the fashion of those who flocked to Dr. Kellogg's sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. But unlike Dr. Kellogg's comparatively gentle method of diet plus enemas, Dr. Hazzard's method was to literally starve her patients to death--and then defraud them of their valuables. An intriguing story but not very well written. (**)
Charles Frazier: Nightwoods: A Novel
A woman living in an abandoned rural lodge is suddenly forced to raise her dead sister's two wild young children. Neither of them has spoken a word since witnessing their mother's brutal murder, and they've developed a fondness for breaking things and starting fires. When their ne'er-do-well father is released from jail, the action in this lush and lively novel flares. Not as good as Cold Mountain but better than 13 Moons. I liked this book a lot. (***)
Stephen King: 11/22/63: A Novel
Jake Epping is a 35-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time. A tribute to a simpler era and a devastating exercise in escalating suspense, 11/22/63 is Stephen King at his epic best. (****)
Emma Donoghue: Room: A Novel
To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. . . . It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space. But with Jack's curiosity building alongside her own desperation, she knows that Room cannot contain either much longer. Room is a tale at once shocking, riveting, exhilarating--a story of unconquerable love in harrowing circumstances, and of the diamond-hard bond between a mother and her child. (****)
Dean Koontz: What the Night Knows: A Novel
Here is ghost story like no other you have read. In the Calvinos, Dean Koontz brings to life a family that might be your own, in a war for their survival against an adversary more malevolent than any he has yet created, with their own home the battleground. Of all his acclaimed novels, none exceeds What the Night Knows in power, in chilling suspense, and in sheer mesmerizing storytelling. --Amazon.com (***)
Daniel Woodrell: Winter's Bone: A Novel (Kindle)
Intriguing story and writing that is both lyrical and earthy. I loved this book. Bone chilling. The movie, which I saw before I read this book, sticks very very closely to the book's plot. (****)
Stephen King: Mile 81 (Kindle Single)
A right scary novella with somewhat the same theme (but not exactly) of CHRISTINE and FROM A BUICK 8. (***)
Robert McCammon: The Five
The only complaint I have about this book is that there's a little too much rock and music terminology that I don't understand. Otherwise it's an excellent thriller with a supernatural touch. You won't see the ending coming, an ending that proves you never know what effect your actions might have on someone else. (***)
Peter Straub: A Dark Matter
Four high school friends in 1966 Madison, Wis., fall under the spell of charismatic wandering guru. During an occult ceremony in which said guru attempts to break through to a higher reality, something goes horribly awry leaving one participant dead. Decades later, one of the four's writer husband interviews the quartet to find out what happened. And so we get to hear the entire story not once, but four times, as told by each of the four. I have to say, Peter, I could have done with the one telling, the last one, the one that I almost didn't make it to. (**)
Jack Kilborn: Endurance: A Novel of Terror (Kindle)
The Rushmore Inn in rural West Virginia is much like the Eagles' Hotel California: Folks check in but they can never leave. Run by a crazy woman and her brood of inbred mutants, this inn doesn't appear in vacation pamphlets or Chamber of Commerce websites. It's the area's dirty little secret that even the sheriff is in on. Being a fan of scary books, I enjoyed this one. It's scary--very. But there was one thing that kept distracting and irritating me. I have lived in the south all my life, and I have never heard anyone use y'all for a plural pronoun. When you call someone "y'all," you better be speaking to more than one person. Apparently the vocabulary rules are different in West Virginia, or this author is in over his head when he writes in southern dialect. (***)

Books Read in 2010

Stephen King: THE COLORADO KID (Kindle)
The most boring Stephen King story I've ever read, and one of the most boring stories ever. A couple of old newspaper reporters tell a young female newspaper reporter the story of one of the mysteries of Moose Look Island. It goes on and on and on till you don't even care how the mystery is solved. Good thing too. Because it isn't. (**)
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Kindle)
Excellent storytelling. The narrator is a 15-year-old autistic boy who sets out to solve the mystery of who murdered his neighbor's dog. The journey is engrossing; You'll find this one hard to put down. And, with Christopher's fast-paced way of telling his story, often opting for tangents, you'll find yourself breathless and a bit tired at the end. Like you've made the journey with him. And you'll fall in love with this kid along the way. (****)
Charles Portis: True Grit
Somehow I missed ever having read this western classic, which was published in the 60s. I loved it. Portis is a very good storyteller. You'll fall in love with Rooster and Mattie. Now I'm ready for the new movie starring the amazing Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn. (Remember the old movie with John Wayne as Rooster?) (****)
Elissa Elliott: Eve: A Novel of the First Woman
A fictional account of the lives of Adam, Eve, and their children, with appearance by Elohim, Lucifer, and a bunch of other folks that we never knew were there. Good story. (***)
Ray Bradbury: The Fog Horn (Kindle)
A 1951 short story by this master of science fiction and horror. A humongous beast has slept miles under the sea for millions of years until he hears a voice like his calling to him. The monster returns year after year to visit this one of his kind until his new companion's voice is silenced. (****)
Ransom Stephens: The God Patent (Kindle)
I have mixed feelings about this book. It's a well told story with an intriguing conclusion. But I felt the characters were a bit flat. I think they could have been fleshed out more. (***)
Stephen King: Full Dark, No Stars
Four long stories by the King of Horror. No vampires or werewolves though. The monsters in these stories are all too human. They're some of King's darkest stories, however. Sometimes they're hard to read. But the writing is some of his best. (****)
Barack Obama: Of Thee I Sing: A Letter to My Daughters
The author created OF THEE I SING for his daughters Sasha and Malia back in 2004. It's a tribute to some honored Americans of all races. It's a great little read and would make a wonderful gift for some beloved child in your life. I'm giving one to my grand nephew (5 y.o.) for Christmas. I also got one for me. (****)
Tiffany Baker: The Little Giant of Aberdeen County
What it means to be different and the importance of acceptance run throughout this yankee gothic story. Aberdeen County, N.Y., in all its quirkiness, serves as a microcosm for the larger world and reminds us that we are all different and that things—and people—are not always what they seem.While I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves a good read, it is not without problems. The main character, a girl named Truly who cannot stop growing, serves as the story's narrator. But the story loses some of its believability as Truly describes scenes, conversations, and thoughts involving other characters that she could not possibly know about. And some situations, such as the burial of Amelia's father, the lack of any kind of investigation when Truly's sister disappears, etal, interrupt one's suspension of disbelief. It's a testament of the author's otherwise superb story-telling ability that I was able to overlook this drawbacks enough to enjoy this book. I would have given it four stars if not for these problems. (***)
Charlaine Harris: Grave Sight (Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 1)
Harper Connelly's talent is that she can find dead people. She finds a bunch of them in Sarne, Ark. Harper and her stepbrother Tolliver solve a trio of murders in this small town, then hightail it to safer ground. Fun read. (***)
Stephen M. Irwin: The Dead Path (Kindle)
This is onen of the best scary books I've ever read. An adult fairy tale of sorts, don't even open it unless you're a scary story fan--'cause it's plenty scarey. Warning: It has spiders--lots and lots of spiders. (****)
Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird: 50th Anniversary Edition
My fifth reading of this most excellent of books. My book club chose this as our October selection to honor the 50th anniversary of its publication. Scout, Jem, Dill, Atticus, Boo, and Ms. Lee, thank you for this story. (*****)
Stephen King: Roadwork
One of King's "Richard Bachman" books. There really is a difference in Bachman and King. Bachman is harsher and not as sympathetic with his characters, I think. This is a pretty good story of a man fighting eminent domain to save his house and his sacred memories. In a way, he wins. (***)
Amy Greene: Bloodroot (Kindle)
Named for a flower whose blood-red sap possesses the power both to heal and poison, Bloodroot is a stunning fiction debut about the legacies of magic and madness, faith and secrets, passion and loss that haunt one family across the generations, from the Great Depression to today. (****)
Stephen King: UR (Kindle)
This novella concerns a man who ordered a Kindle from Amazon and got a highly unusual pink one that let him read books and newspaper from alternate dimensions of our universe. Good read. (***)
Christian Moerk: Darling Jim: A Novel (Kindle)
A dad-gum good book. Modern Irish gothic tale of traveling bard Jim Quick and victims of his killing spree. This author combines fairy tales, Arthurian legend, horror, mystery, and a few other genres to create this entrancing tale of murder and revenge. (****)
Colm A. Kelleher: Hunt for the Skinwalker: Science Confronts the Unexplained at a Remote Ranch in Utah (Kindle)
A compendium of every UFO and paranormal experience that most people have ever heard of. According to this book, which is presented as a true story, the owners of a Utah ranch were terrorized by everything from Big Foot to giant wolves over a period of several years, some of which appeared out of a portal to/from another dimension. NIDS (National Institute for Discovery Science) subsequently bought the ranch and started an investigation. Although the author reports that the investigators experienced many of the same phenomena that the Gormans did, they apparently didn't get a lot of evidence in the way of photos, videos, or recordings--as none appear in the book. Read at your own risk of becoming disenchanted. (**)
Jeannette Walls: The Glass Castle: A Memoir (Kindle)
This is the story of Rex and Rose Mary Walls, who might just be the worst parents in the history of the world. Victims of the Walls's laissez faire form of child rearing as well as their parents' complete lack of a sense of responsibility for their children, the four Walls kids suffer inhuman deprivation and indignity. The miracle is that they all got out and, at least in the case of this author, because productive adults. A good story. (***)
Stephen King: N (Kindle)
Is it possible for a psychiatrist to "catch" his patient's illness, specifically OCD? A very severe case of OCD with some very serious side effects. Well, as we know, with the Master of the Macabre, anything is possible. The strange thing about this story is that it appeared on my Kindle, and I didn't order it. (***)
Dan Simmons: Black Hills
Paha Sapa (Black Hills) a young Lakota Sioux, counts coup on old Yellow Hair at the Battle of the Greasy Grass and acquires Custer's ghost as an unwelcome lifelong companion. Paha Sapa's adult life finds him working as s powder man with Gutzon Borglum on Mt.Rushmore, a white sculpture paid for by the white government and carved into The Six Grandfathers, a mountain sacred to the Sioux and other Plains Indians. But Paha Sapa has a plan to avenge this desecration. If you have any interest in the history of the Sioux or Mt. Rushmore, or if you just like a very good story, you should love this book. I did. (****)
Justin Cronin: The Passage (Kindle)
I have mixed feelings about this book. In the end, it was a good story, well plotted. But Cronin included way too many characters, especially in the middle of the book. Hard to keep up with who was who. But I'd still recommend it for anyone who likes a good end-of-the-world thriller. (***)
Ramey Channell: Sweet Music on Moonlight Ridge
The story of how Lily Claire and her beloved cousin Willie T. solve a mystery that starts with a map on a baby boy's tongue. A good read for young people and adults. Filled with humor, adventure, and a touch of the supernatural. A fun read if there ever was one. (****)
Paul David Binkley: Thawing Eden (Kindle)
This book did not measure up to my expectations. While the premise was intriguing (finding the ancient Garden of Eden under the Antarctic polar ice cap), the execution just didn't ring true for me. The last fourth of the book is the best. (**)
Richard Matheson: The Box: Uncanny Stories (Kindle)
I love Richard Matheson's writing. My initial reason for reading this book was to get some more insight into the movie of the same title that left me wondering WT?. But I think the story was even more ambiguous than the movie. My favorite story in the book is the last one, "Tis the Season to be Jelly." (***)
Sandra Felton: Living Organized: Proven Steps for a Clutter-Free and Beautiful Home (Kindle)
This book gives advice on how Messies can become Cleanies. Tips on decluttering, organing, finding your style, and living beautifully. The main problem I had with this book is that the author seems to be speaking to an audience with plenty of money. (**)
Irene Latham: Leaving Gee's Bend
In 1930s rural Gees Bend, Alabama, young Ludelphia Bennet goes on a journey to save her mother and ends up saving Gees Bend. (***)
Donald B. Kraybill: Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy (Kindle)
Not so much a story of the Amish school house shooting as a documentary on the history of Anabaptists and the Amish doctrine of forgiveness. But it's very interesting. It's also very inspiring to know that there are people who work this hard to follow Jesus and do the things he taught, especially the part about forgiveness and loving our enemies. (****)
Joe Hill: Heart-Shaped Box (Kindle)
As one has-been hard-rock star found out, be careful what you buy on Ebay (or a knock-off Ebay). You might get a little more than you paid for. This is a scary book. (***)
Robert Goolrick: A Reliable Wife
In the fall of 1907, Ralph Truitt puts an ad in a Chicago newspaper for "a reliable wife" to share his life in rural Wisconsin. Catherine Land answers his ad, claiming she is "a simple, honest woman." What she is, however, is a prostitute whose plan is to become Truitt's wealthy widow. The action, suspense, plot twists, and beautiful prose kept me turning pages until the very last one. (****)
Dennis Lehane: Shutter Island (Kindle)
Edge-of-your-seat page-turner with a lot of twists and an ending that I never saw coming. I had to read the last two chapters three times before I believed it. Can't wait to see the movie. (****)
John Connolly: The Gates: A Novel
Who knew quantum physics could be so much fun? This book is sort of a children's book for adults. When scientists at the CERN particle accelerator have a wee malfunction, the Gates of Hell are opened and Samuel Johnson, his doggie Boswell, and three of his friends find themselves on the front lines in a demonic war. Sounds scary, and it is a little. But mostly it's funny. (***)
Greg Mortenson: Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time (Kindle)
Greg Mortenson risks his life time and again to build schools in the hostile environs of the Islamic world. Mortenson is a living hero to rural communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he has gained the trust of Islamic leaders, military commanders, government officials and tribal chiefs from his tireless effort to champion education, especially for girls. Read this book and believe that peace can be won without violence. (****)
Dan Simmons: A Winter Haunting
This is a very scary book. The ending took me totally by surprise. Didn't see it coming. Sequel to Children of the Night. Just as good, if not better, than Children. (****)
Louise Murphy: The True Story of Hansel and Gretel
Using a framework based on the "Hansel and Gretel" fairy tale, Murphy weaves a story of horror and heartbreak set in Poland during the latter days of the Holocaust. The moral of this story can be found in the very last chapter: When all is said and done, "when the bombs have stopped dropping...and we are done killing each other," love is what we're left with. Love is all that's eternal among the many human emotions. (****)
Clyde Bolton: Nancy Swimmer: A Story of the Cherokee Nation
This novel takes place during the 19th century in North Georgia in the period before and during the removal of the eastern Indian tribes to Oklahoma. It's an interesting and well written account of the life of Nancy Swimmer, a Cherokee woman who lived during this time. It's heartbreaking as well and will not endear you to the government of Georgia of the time, nor to the old Chicken Snake himself, President Andy Jackson. (****)

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My 2012 UFOs

1. Pat Sloan Orange Challenge quilt
2. Psalms quilt
3. Santa X-stitch Sampler
4. Mini Tesselated Pinwheel quilt
5. Bluework Sunbonnet Quilt
6. Sister's Choice Table Runner
7. Blue/Yellow Scottish Stars Quilt
8. Wild Things Quilt
9. Andy's Hearts Quilt
10. French General Snowball quilt
11. Siggy Block Swap Quilt
12. Disappearing Nine Patch Swap Quilt
13. Loves Bears All Sampler
14. Strippy Sampler Quilt
15. Baltimore Album Quilt
16. Blackberry Creek Quilt
17. Grandmother's Flower Garden
18. Redwork Sunbonnet Windows Quilt
19. Friendship Star Quilt
20. Sweet Little Girls Fabric Journal
21. ~~African Fabric Journal~~
22. Ami Simms Doggie Quilt
23. Sunbonnet SuSu
24. Chicken Churn Dash Quilt
25. Ribbed Knit Sweater
26. Kitty Afghan
27. God's Eye Agape
28. Critter Bowls
29. Whole-Cloth Baby Quilt
30. Ebay Dresden Plate
31. Family Portrait
32. Possum Blocks
33. Cherry Lasagna
34. String Cuddle Quilt
35. Cat Blocks
36. Nine-Patch BOM
37. Bee Hive Blocks

Blackberry Creek Home Arts

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