The Know-It-All

The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World
By A.J. Jacobs
0743250605

(The title will be longer than my review!) Now I want to read the Encyclopedia, right after the quilting and rug making!
9/10

Mistress Pat

Mistress Pat
By L.M. Montgomery
0553280481

I saw the ending coming, part of it, but it was delightful to get there! Great characters, loved all of them.
9/10

Fractured Fairy Tales

Fractured Fairy Tales
By A.J. Jacobs
0553099809

Adorable! Very funny. I liked the one that maybe inspired Shrek? Who knows? But it was Beauty and the Beast so of course I liked it!
8/10

The Gospel According to America

The Gospel According to America
By David Dark
0664227694

Ugh. I loved the parts with the Twighlight Zone and sci-fi books where he gives a tiny explanation and then talks about minute points like you've seen the episode, not even bothering to tell you thinks like "oh, I mentioned this actor? he plays this character," just assumes you know and uses the names interchangably. No coherence, no idea what his thesis is, what sections are points to support this thesis, which sections are just ramblings... what a bizarre book.
7/10

Into the Wild

Into the Wild
By Jon Krakauer
9780307387172

Don't admire him, the selfish child. In his 20's but acted like he was 5. Can't have been too bad of parents- their other two kids still speak to them! But he goes years without even calling to tell them he's alive. Irresponsible child, the author admires him for some reason. I have doubts about the sanity and maturity of this author.
7/10

Pat of Silver Bush

Pat of Silver Bush
By L.M. Montgomery
0553280473

Yep, I cried. I can't believe she actually killed someone. The mother was barely there though, that was odd.
9/10

The Jane Austen Book Club

The Jane Austen Book Club
By Karen Joy Fowler
(book on CD)

Since this was a book on CD, I kept thinking the main guy's name was Greg and couldn't figure out why that was a strange name. Had to look it up and yes, Grigg is a much stranger name than Greg! Worst part of this book is we never got to find out the ending to the white cat story! That is too bad, because it was probably an interesting story. I hope Ms. Fowler knows the end of it.
8/10

America Alone

America Alone: The End of the World as We Know it
By Mark Steyn
9780895260789

If this stuff is true, pretty earth-shaking. If it's not, it's still an interesting read. Could have been better organized, took me a bit to get into the book because it seemed so discombobulated. But good anyway.
8/10

The Blood of Flowers

The Blood of Flowers
By Anita Amirrezvani
9780316065764

So the Elm Creek books make me want to learn how to quilt, this book made me want to learn how to make a knotted rug like the main character does! I liked the main character, her family was believable and interesting. I wasn't as enamored of the city as she was, I just couldn't picture it. But the story was amazing and involved, definitely kept my interest! I can't believe this is the authors first books, it's wonderful!
9/10

The Quilter's Homecoming

The Quilter's Homecoming
By Jennifer Chiaverini
9781428142541 (book on CD)

Well-written. Didn't like the characters all the time, though. Henry was too hard-headed. And to not press charges, what was that about? But it was an amusing story, nice to find out what happened with Sylvia's favorite cousin Elizabeth (although really if you haven't seen someone since you were 4, isn't that holding onto things a bit? There were no other cousins that you had grown close to in those 80 years?). Odd though, since Sylvia doesn't know what happened to Elizabeth but the readers do.
9/10

A Tangled Web

A Tangled Web
By L.M. Montgomery
0553280503

As always, great characters! I liked how different this one was, not just following one character. Many stories going on at the same time, although all intertwined because of that crazy jug!
8/10

In the Absence of Angels

In the Absence of Angels By Elizabeth Glaser and Laura Palmer

I'm glad that she had so many people surrounding the family who were willing to stand with them and support them. Good book, of a pretty remarkable woman. So sad, though, that I looked her up online and she died quite a few years ago. Glad her foundation lives on, although it's a shame her foundation is still needed.
8/10

Circle of Quilters

Circle of Quilters
By Jennifer Chiaverini
1419387200 (book on CD)

I liked this set-up, a job interview that follows each interviewee for years before, to show how they ended up where they are. I didn't like some of them, but that's okay. Karen and Russ in particular annoyed me. But I loved the other characters, and even in the stories of the two I didn't like there were interesting things. Very nice, a shame I'm almost done with this series.
8/10

Magic for Marigold

Magic for Marigold
By L. M. Montgomery
0553280465

Adorable! As always, these characters are so much fun. Everything turns out as it should, of course. Just a sweet book to make anyone smile.
9/10