Patches Books

I received one for free a few years back in exchange for having my hush puppie recipe published (it's on page 153). Very easy to make recipes, all from scratch. Perfect for picnics, cookouts or church socials.

Mr Droz's book is a classic work of a vanishing breed. Born in 1912 in Kansas, his migration to southern Idaho and the hardships endured (including a crippling injury as a child) and his tenancious and perservering response (often with humor) to life's difficulties is captured in his work. His poetry personifies nature and life in a way that enlightens, instructs, entertains and provokes.

His whimisal work titled "The purple tiger" is an artful masterpiece remineniscent of Lewis Carrol's "The Walrus and the Carpenter"

A book for young and old, who appreciate a yarn and the beauty and fun of life given to compassion and imagination!

"The Sunny Patch Friends' Picnic" features, naturally, Miss Spider and other friends in Sunny Patch out on a picnic. It's a beautiful day in Sunny Patch, so Shimmer suggests it and everyone agrees. The bugs picnic at Dribbly Dell. They enjoy delicious natural food, gaze at clouds and enjoy a little bug music.

This book contains a fairly nice story. However, it's also designed as an activity book, complete with four pages of stickers. The stickers are designed to be used on specific pages to help complete the scenes. They can be used for this, or for whatever you and your kids want.

This was the first book ever published on the Irish in Missouri (1984). It covers the entire state, but the main focus is on Kansas City, St. Louis, and the Irish Wilderness. This book is great for historians and for genealogists. There is a new edition in soft cover with added and updated pages (264 pages), The original title was "Irish Settlers on the American Frontier". The title of the new edition is Missouri Irish and is just now being released.

If you loved the first Gifts for Giving book, youll love this even more. Not only is there great gift ideas in here but just delicious recipes.

I really enjoy the section on non food gifts like bath salts and such. Its really great to do something different than just cookies in a jar.

Another heartwarming Miss Spider adventure!

This series is wonderful-- fun for kids, but also enjoyed by adults (I am a huge fan). The illustration style is very interesting and unique--bright colors, endearing characters, engaging stories-- you can't go wrong.

Both the books and the neat DVDs in the "Miss Spider" series are always based around caring about others, understanding their feelings, and being considerate. The characters are not perfect-- they make mistakes, etc. But in the end they learn important lessons about love, family, friendship, and how we should treat others.

Interestingly, Miss Spider was herself an adopted "buggie" (you may enjoy the Miss Spider original book). As an adult her own family includes adopted buggies, too. Most children who live with their biological parents will not think twice about this aspect of the series, but kids who have been adopted may appreciate the subtle way in which Miss Spider stories show that adoption is a wonderful way to make or expand your family-- and that what defines a family is love.

My mother bought an old copy of this in the mid-fifties and read it to me as a bedtime story. I think I remember her telling me that her mother did the same thing for her back in the early part of the century after moving here from Vienna, Austria.

[Miss] Rice had remarkable writing skills, and also a fertile (and rather profound) imagination. All this is displayed firstly in her recreations of the poor white southern dialect coming out of the mouths of Mrs. Wiggs and her family - the speech cadences are marvelous, and very musical. But there are also the little snatches of poetry and proverbs she composed for the beginning of each chapter, which truly border on the sublime. And the occasional descriptive passages are full of feeling and artistry, clear-sightedness and wisdom.

There are plentiful little seed thoughts, scattered discretely to instruct young people, and not only consciously. Even if one doesn't understand this or that little gem, a child would tend to embrace it, taking it in on some level - each one serves its young patrons well, beginning to work it's little lifelong magic. This is a very deep, free-flowing child psychology, several years before Freud's more cantankerous "discoveries" became widely known and intellectually fashionable.

Much of this "short" story is about the interaction between the poor and the rich, and how each serves to enrich the life of the other. This is done in a well-rounded fashion, never becoming preachy, often with beauteous touches of humor, tenderness, and sadness. Sure the story is in big print, and it's obviously not Henry James, but there's nothing going on here that could ever be termed 'simplistic'.

I guess you could say that back in the old days when literacy was considered more a gift than somewhat of a burden, they really knew how to instruct, as it were.

I'll be honest, I judge books by their cover--which is ultimately why I picked this book over another, more boring looking one that was right next to it. But luckily for me, the choice proved to be a good one because after the first few pages, I could put the next 150 down!

Night or Day is about Kyla, a teen vampire hunter. Now I was talking about NoD with a few friends (yeah, I would and have recommended this book to others, it was THAT good) and there is a general consensus that while it might seem like this book borrows a little from more well known stories, rest assured, Night of Day is about a completely different kind of supernatural than the more main stream versions. But the rules of Patch's new world are clearly defined and, even better, they're more consistent. What ever problems you might find with this book (and there won't be many) holes in the theories won't be one of them.

But the best part about this book is the driving storyline. I read this book in one sitting and 150 pages feels both too short and deliciously lengthy. The beginning is a little slower and simpler, but it's the perfect pace while you adjust to Kyla's world. Then it speeds up and there is just enough complexity to keep you guessing until the very end. Speaking of the ending, while it does deliver a kind of closure, my greatest consolation comes from the knowledge that this is only the first of four books, and more will follow.

To conclude: buy the book.

And then send the author an email. She's really nice and gets terribly excited when contacted by a fan. It feels kind of like a supernova of happiness just exploded on the other side of my computer screen. So if you've never written to an author before, this would be a really good time to start.

When I read the professional book review, I was disappointed, for the reviewer either does not understand the story told here or lacks certain cognitive ability....This is a great book, well researched and extremely well documented. This is not the story of some heathen band of farmers being puppeted by large land holders as the reviewer stumbles with. This is a document which validates the efforts of those farmers with enough foresight and guts to break the chains of slavery imposed by a monopolistic market place, controlled by "the trust", James B Duke, who was the American Tobacco Company (yes, same Duke as the University and Duke Power)who controlled all aspects of the tobacco market in the United States and Europe.(The reviewer mentions Missouri and Illinois which never in history have grown tobacco and do not enter into the picture in any frame here except that the author may have taught in Universities in those states.) And these undereducated farmers then took steps to enforce the fact that no farmer could benefit unjustly from the sacrifices made by all the member farmers of the Tobacco Association to bring about the end to the unjust enrichment of the Trust. This is the story of economic justice at the point of force, first of numbers and then the willingness to commit talk to action in defending the future of every farm family in Western Kentucky and Middle Tennessee...with blood for blood if necessary. This is a story of economic and social action. It is an enduring story...which lasted into the new millenium...until today...
Only in the racial aspects attempted to be pulled into the frame of the picture does Waldrep venture into left field...it was never about race. Blacks were involved as association members and even as Night Riders...and although not in actions pivitol, they fought bravely for economic justice on their own terms. I am currently writing my book "The last Night Rider" which tells the story as it was lived by my family....my grandfather was the next door neighbor to Dr Dave Amoss, the Night Rider General....My four great uncles were all heavily involved in all of the raids and activities. I recommend the Waldrep book...it is very good reading....

I like to read about exploring and hunting in Africa, authors like Ruark, Capstick, & Hemingway. The reason I hunted down this book is because Hemingway said it was the best book he ever read about Africa. I figured he would know.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Baker describes his explorations, hunting expeditions, and encounters with the natives in experiences that now can only be dreamed about. He talks about his extensive hunting trips with the Hamram Arabs, who hunted elephants with swords from horseback. He tells about traveling hundreds of miles on the backs of camels, and about rescuing one pack camel that had fallen off the side of a cliff by wrapping ropes around it and lowering it to the bottom of the canyon. Even much of the day to day camp life is very interesting, as the party had to provide for all of their needs for themselves.

It is worth noting, that apparently modern readers must be somewhat put off by a supposed tone of superiority. One reviewer indicates this way, and in the version I have, the publisher actually attempts a vague apology on the back of the book. I didn't notice anything in Sir Samuel Baker's tone, but if someone can read this book and not conclude from the narrative that Baker actually is superior to the vast majority of mortals, they must have a better imagination than I do.

One of the most interesting aspects of Baker's explorations is that he had his wife, Lady Florence, with him the entire time. One of my favorite stories is about a night when he was awakened by a gentle tug on his sleeve, which was always his wife's signal that something was wrong. Without rolling over he reached under his cot and got his rifle first, and then his wife indicated that a hyena had just stuck it's head in the door of the tent. He waited a few minutes, and when the hyena took another look, he dispatched it there in the tent in the middle of the night.

If you like to read about Africa, or about exploration, hunting, or high adventure, I think you will enjoy this book very much.