Interstate 69 by Matt Dellinger (388.122 Del)

This book tells an interesting story about the political and social interactions that are part of attempting to build a major interstate highway. It also tells the story of several Indiana families who supported and opposed this highway.

Jim Wichman

Eating animals by Jonathan Safran Foer (available in Book on CD or Book-641.303 Foer)

This is a must read for anyone interested in a healthy environment and healthy eating. The author discusses factory farming and the toxic practices that are affecting the animals and the environment. Desensitized workers and unregulated or ignored regulations have lead to inhumane treatment of the animals and toxic land sites. Unnatural life spans and indoor living in cruel conditions are creating unhealthy animals affected by parasites and diseases. The suffering of the animals and the health risks involved through improper handling of the animals raises a serious red flag that something is very wrong.-Submitted by Terri Wichman

What in the Wolrd is Going On?: 10 Prophetic Clues You Cannot Afford to Ignore

In What in the World Is Going On?: 10 Prophetic Clues You Cannot Afford to Ignore, Dr. David Jeremiah compares current events to Biblical prophecy. A good deal of it will be familiar to those who have looked into this subject, but I did run into several new ideas. I admit that it made my hair prickle when the day after I read one of those ideas, that same issue was on the news.

The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet by Margaret Huber

The Complete Photo Guide to Crochet by Margaret Huber is basically a crochet stitch encyclopedia, although it does contain a few interesting patterns that use some of the stitches.

There were a few techniques that were new to me (or I did them so long ago that I had forgotten) including one called intermeshing crochet. It looks complicated, but is simply two mesh designs worked over each other. (Mesh is double crochet, chain, double crochet, chain...).
Another cool pattern was a spiral shape worked in four colors.

If you like to work with yarn, this is a book you won't want to miss.

Kathi

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

This author describes a tragedy that most of us do not think about.
-posted for Jim Wichman

Crisis Economics by Nouriel Roubini & Stephen Mihm

The authors have written a book that provides an easy to understand description of the finance world. The authors explain the recent financial crisis and its consequences. An excellent book. -posted for Jim Wichman

Perfect One-Dish Dinners: All You Need for Easy Get-Togethers by Pam Anderson

I checked through the recipes in Perfect One-Dish Dinners: All You Need for Easy Get-Togethers by Pam Anderson. I bet the dishes are very tasty, but they have lots of butter. If I made the dishes in this book, I would have to change out some of the ingredients for others a little less fat.

Kathi Linz

How to Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave Fake Trails, and Vanish Without a Trace by Frank M. Ahearn and Eileen C. Horan.

If you've ever considered dropping out of sight or want to make yourself safer from someone who might want your personal information, you should pick up How to Disappear: Erase Your Digital Footprint, Leave Fake Trails, and Vanish Without a Trace by Frank Ahearn and Eileen Horan.

The first thing this book recommends is that you get out of Facebook, Myspace, and any other social website. Then the author tells you how to delete your name from some of the primary places a skip tracer will look for your information. He tells you how to alter some of the information you have in other places, so that you become technically invisible.

This book made me a little paranoid about how many or what type of people might be looking for my information. You will also discover a way to find out who is doing an online search for your name.

Kathi Linz

Second Nature by Jonathan Balcombe

If more people understood what this author is trying to communicate, the world would be a healthier and happier place. Posted for Jim Wichman.

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Having read several of the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan, I found that he was not only well-versed in Greek mythology, but he had an entertaining way of bringing the old gods into modern times.

As I know less about Egyptian mythology than Greco-Roman lore, I was curious about The Red Pyramid. I got a lot of information out of the book without being bored even once.

Carter and Sadie Kane battle Set and other evil creatures during the Demon Days. A few of the good gods - Maat, Horus, Isis - a baboon named Khufu and an albino crocodile called Philip of Macedonia help them. There's also a bunch of magicians who have their own agenda and, for the most part, you don't know whose side they are on through most of the book, but they do make for some interesting complications.

I won't try to cover the same ground as Mr. Riordan except for this: In Egypt, black is a good color because the black soil grows food, while red is the color of death because nothing will grow in the red desert sand. That will give you a hint about the title of the book.

Kathi

The Crocheted Prayer Shawl Companion: 37 Patterns to Embrace, Inspire & Celebrate Life

There are several good books with patterns for knititng comfort/prayer shawls. Now there is one for us crocheters. The Crocheted Prayer Shawl Companion: 37 Patterns to Embrace, Inspire & Celebrate Life by Janet Bristow & Victoria A. Cole-Galo has both rectangular and triangular shawl patterns. Most are listed as easy; a few are intermediate.

Heft on Wheels: A Field Guide to Doing a 180 by Mike Magnuson

In his book Heft on Wheels: A Field Guide to Doing a 180, Mike Magnuson tells about his first 38 years of eating, drinking, and smoking . He then describes his love of cycling and how he determined to change his life. At first he joined a bicycling club and began to get into shape, but since he was frequently hung-over, had smoky lungs, and weighed (in a couple of cases) double what the other members weighed, he was always far behind the pack.

As Mike changed his habits, he was able to accomplish more and more in his cycling passion. He rode several "centuries", hundred mile treks, including one called "Bridge to Bridge" which is an up-and-down mountains trail. By the end of the book, Mike had lost something over 100 lbs. and was nearly as fit as Lance Armstrong.

One major point that Mike makes is that he did not take up bike riding to get in shape. He did it because he loves to ride bicycles. In order to become good at what he loved, the other things fell by the wayside.

Kathi

Eating Well in Season: The Farmer's Market Cookbook by Jessie Price

With the farmer's market so close by the library, I checked this book out (Eating Well in Season: The Farmer's Market Cookbook by Jessie Price) to see what recipes might look tasty. There were a lot of excellent recipes that seemed easy to prepare. If you want new ideas for healthy meals or want to work on a more balanced diet, this book will give you some interesting options.

Kathi

The Great Potato Cookbook by Reader's Digest

The Great Potato Cookbook put out by Reader's Digest has over 250 recipes for cooking soups, salads, main dishes, vegetarian dishes, and even desserts with potatoes and sweet potatoes. It describes the difference between floury (high starch) potatoes and waxy (low starch) potatoes and how to best use each.

My main complaint with many cookbooks is that the recipes ask for ingredients and spices that I don't generally have on hand. This cookbook is mostly plain cooking but with combinations that will make you think, "That's worth trying." There are recipes representing various ethnic tastes, yet nothing so exotic that you can't find the main spices or ingredients. ("Hey, hon, would you please pick up some blowfish for supper tonight?")

Kathi

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus

One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus is based on an actual request by Sweet Medicine Man Lone Wolf to President Ulysses S. Grant that one thousand white women be given to the Cherokee nation as brides so that their children could walk in both worlds. Although the request was never fulfilled, Jim Fergus has made an intriguing story about the first - and only - forty women who went to be Cherokee brides. May Dodd emerges as a lynch pin in this little group. She keeps several journals during her year in the West describing the journey from Chicago and the reason she signed up, their stay at the last fort before meeting the Cherokees, their month of acclimation before the group wedding ceremony, and the events that followed right up until the Black Hills became interesting to gold-seekers, and the Indian nations took their stand to remain free people.

It was interesting to see the events leading up to the Battle of the Little Big Horn through white eyes living with the Cherokee. Had May kept writing, she might have found that she didn't fit well in either world anymore.

Kathi