Yarn Along and a Book review.... or two

Today I am joining up with Yarn along at small things.

I am reading "a most unsuitable match " by Stephanie Grace Whitson. It arrived in the mail less than a week ago and I am over halfway through it. Its a light read and very well written I will have a review to post in a few days. I am still knitting on my yellow socks- no purl monkey monkeys. If you can knit 2 together and yarn over you have all the knowledge you need to knit them. and the pattern is free too!!! Go ahead.... try it! As you can see this one doesnt have much before the toe decreases. If I am reading or teaching I cant knit. I have tried using things to hold my book open to no avail. If you have any suggestions on tricks you use so you can knit AND read at the same time I would REALLY appreciate it. (has to be paperback since this is the version I receive as a review copy)

I have two book reviews to post while I am at it:

We all LOVE good news don't we?! I love hearing good news, and it doesn't seem like it happens real often though does it? That's why I jumped at the offer to review the book "Upside- Surprising GOOD NEWS about the state of our world". by Bradley R.E.Wright PhD. I don't know about you but I hear nothing but bad news on the television and radio and I find that I rarely feel the need to turn it on. I seriously doubted that the author would be able to prove the point with convincing, accurate information.(pessimist that I am!) But Sociologist Brad Wright does a good job at teaching us how the statistics and information shared by the media have been collected and used to sell news. As said in John Ortberg's forward, " The bad news about good news is that good news doesn't tend to sell. Everybody wants to get good news from the Doctor and their boss and their (choose one) therapist/stockbroker/fantasy leagues commissioner. But it turns out that articles indicating that the economy is running along okay or that rivers are relatively clean don't sell newspapers, which means they don't tend to get written."

I am going to admit that this book was a hard read for me. I am not a facts sort of girl. Numbers, graphs and charts cause my eyes to glaze over. Im an artsy kind of girl so I had to read a chapter, gave it some time, then read the next, and so on. This was not a read it in a few days and write the review type of book for me. I did like that the author writes with humor- humor and statistics? I know, go figure! I love how he tackles topics we all find important Poverty, health, education, morality, and the environment. I find this book to be a relief, I really am able to sleep better at night. Upside's last chapter being titled " The Counting of blessings" was a great way to wrap it up in a neat package. (for those of you wanting more-There are ten pages of Notes as well.) I give this book a hearty five stars. Does that mean I enjoyed every minute? No. It was hard work, felt like I was back in college. Wait a minute.... I didnt go to college! Ha ha!

It will make a great 12th grade home school sociology book for my son too!

If youd like to take a peek here is the first chapter of "Upside- the surprising Good news about the state of our world"

My second review:

WOW! Davis Bunn's "Lion of Babylon" kept me interested from the first word to the last. I didnt want it to end, I cared about the characters and what would/could happen next. (will there be a sequel???) The book is set in present time Baghdad and starts off with a former State Department operative "the Lion" being called back to duty after being dismissed for taking time off to care for his ill wife. I wont give details but I enjoyed the authentic depth of each of the characters and the way the threads of each segment of the story are woven together seamlessly. I have seen God work miracle upon miracle in my own life during the adoption of our sweet daughter and enjoyed watching the same things unfold before my eyes as I read this story.I love the idea of God really being in control- dont you?! I typically sit on the couch knitting as my husband watches movies with similar settings, the only difference is that the characters of this story have a faith that is real and binds them together.(and I need to tell you I didnt get much knitting done while reading this book!) I highly recommend this story to anyone that enjoys a fast moving novel. I have read several of his other stories written with Janet Oke and found that like the others, Bunn did not leave me reading a story just to check it off my list.

I dont hesitate in giving this book five out of five stars.

If youd like to go take a sneak peek here is the first chapter of Lion of Babylon.

I will be dropping this one in the mail to my mother in law since she is a huge fan of his too.

Note: I received these books free to review from Bethany House Publishers. The opinions expressed in this review post are my true thoughts and feelings regarding this book, I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade comissions 16 CFR, Part 255.

Thank you for joining me this Wednesday for Yarn along.

Under His wings,

Anna