It has been said that "Every quilt tells a story." This Old Quilt tells 'The story of every quilt.' The book warms the hearts and educates the minds of quilters and non-quilters, lovers of the art and collectors of lore. As every enthusiastic quilter, collector of quilts and lover of history can tell you, there is an amazing history within the squares of each handmade quilt and in each individual pattern. The artists very spirit goes into each individual stitch, into every created square, and full circle into the completion of the pattern. Some quilts tell stories, some relay history, some give direction to the wayward and some point the direction to freedom. The editor of this collection sews together a wonderful array of memories, essays, short stories, lore, and historical accounts of quilts involved at every stage from a wide variety of writers. I highly recommend this collection to anyone interested in quilting and also to those of us who just enjoy reading a great book under the warmth of an old quilt. A heartwarming and inspiring collection of interesting facts, experiences, fiction, and heritage lays waiting in these pages. Wrap yourself up in your favorite old quilt, pour yourself a warm 'cup o' joe' and enjoy these intriguing and heartwarming stories in front of a simmering fire. You will love learning something new.

Aptly edited by Margaret Aldrich and featuring contributions by Alice Walker, Terry McMillan, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, Whitney Otto, Patricia J. Cooper, and Norma Bradley Allen, The Old Quilt: A Heartwarming Celebration Of Quilts And Quilting Memories is a coffee-table sized anthology of stories and memoirs relating to quilts, quilt folklore, and history to intrigue quilters of all predilections. Lavish color photographs, artwork, quilt patterns, and even the occasional cartoon liven the tales with dazzling visual appeal. Wry stories and incredible illustrations make The Old Quilt truly a "must" for any needlecrafting enthusiast of quilts and quilting!

This book is a necessity for anyone who enjoys not only
quilting but the art of crafts. It is wonderfully written
and illustrated and successfully portrays the beauty that
is captured through the art of quilt making.

The Belly Gunner is the dramatic, first-person narrative story of Dale Aldrich, an American GI who served in World War II, and who told of his life to author Carol Edgemon Hipperson. Eyewitness experiences, gripping and deadly battles, black-and-white photographs and an era that changed the world forever are all presented in vivid detail, in this straightforward account especially suitable for readers age 12 through 17, and is highly recommended for school and community library collections.

This book is fantastic, and loaded with history. You can't put it down once you've stared it. Good for all ages, and Vets will love it! Good job Carol.

This is a very readable book on Espionage and especially demonstrates the weaknesses in our Counter-Intelligence system.

The CIA takes the heat in this book but this story demonstrates an inherint weakness in our security within ALL agencies involved in dealing with sensitive issues.

I felt this book was well written and recommend it to anyone who wants to try and understand how this could have happened.

I've read every book on the Aldrich Ames case (including a new one that recently came out) and I must say that this book was the most difficult one to put down. The story reads like one you would expect from professional journalists -- well documented, precise, and interesting from beginning to end. If I had to recommend one book on this pathetic case of espionage, it would be a "no-brainer" -- get _Betrayal_!!

Cutters is one of my favorite "Keep it in perspective" books. I feel I need to read this humorous endearing book every once in a while to remind myself what has value and what does not. Each chapter has Mrs. Cutter dealing with struggles that every mother has, and coming to see how wonderful her life really is! There's the chapter where a new and respected woman comes to town and says "Here's a new and better way to discipline your children." Mrs. Cutter thinks, "Yes, I don't want to be old-fashioned. I must use this new way." Of course, everything falls apart, the children get out of hand, and Mrs. Cutter sees her folly. There's a chapter in which she longs for a newer and better house, deciding to sacrifice everything in order to get one. Or the time she's told the only right way to live is to get rid of all the clutter in the house, even your dearest oldest treasures. Though written long ago, it seems to be right where so many of us live today. The book is cheering, uplifting, and so very enjoyable!

"The Cutters", is a book about a family in the earlier 1900's, with 3 boys, one girl, Grandma and Ed and Nell Cutter. Nell Cutter is the mother, and the main character, although her children are sometimes the main characters in other chapters. She always has something to do, as most mothers of four do, and is always on the go. However, that does not mean that she does not have time for her family. Nell realizes in the end that her family means all the world to her, and that mothers should enjoy their children while they still have them at home, because one day, they won't be. This book would be a good read-a-loud for the family, as it has no questionable content, or bad language.

I found this book very helpful in not only making believers out of non-believers, but sending my Amway conversions through the frigg'in roof! I closed my poor aunt Selma four months and now she's putting $2k/month into my pocket today. Gold mine baby (or should I say TOUCHDOWN JESUS!)

Aldrich's book is best absorbed a page or two at a time. Keep it next to your devotional literature and pray through it on a daily basis. It is an encouraging, inspiring, and thought-provoking look at the most important aspect of religious conversion-- the one-on-one connection established with another human soul. That is the hardest and most time-consuming aspect of witnessing, something the hit-and-run methods of evangelism are (perhaps purposefully) ignoring. Don't read this unless you want to see your in-laws, neighbors, boss, and co-workers become believers.

This is the best and most complete description of the life cycle of a mole I have ever read. It also gives supplementary information on other moles and incompetents in the CIA as it goes along. There is one problem in the book. It assumes that the CIA has a monopoly on people with common human nature imperfections. I have seen similar problems in the military, academia, and industry. The reader is probably familiar with the recent Catholic child molesting scandal which is another example. As a result of this, the author advocates corrective action which involves the either-or logical fallacy and "throwing out the infant with th bath water" type actions.

Well written, and stunning in its detail of the incompetence, unbelievable bungling, and the persistent failure to follow up on what was obvious about Ames to all but the blind--this,within the bowels of the CIA at the highest levels. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Not even Ames's rampant drinking, lavish lifestyle, and poor performance could for years unmask or launch a thorough investigation, something in any other organization would certainly take place. And then, to have the same person assigned to the CIA's Counter Intelligence Center with access to highly classified material and at the same time was "considered a dumping ground for CIA underachievers" has to be the apex of irony on a scale incapable of measurement.

"The directorate of [CIA] operations regarded the Counter Intelligence Center as a place that poor performers could be sent because they could not do much harm," said panel chairman Jeffrey H. Smith, a former Senate Intelligence Committee staff member. "It was like a bank concluding that because one of its officers had performed poorly, he should be put in charge of the vault." (pp. 248-49) Indeed.

For the many who did their jobs, this must have been a crushing revelation, none more so than for Jeannie Brookner, a successful case officer who was forced to bring a sexual discrimination lawsuit against the Agency, in which the court papers revealed "a male-chauvinist nightmare of drunkeness, drug-taking, and wife-beating, in which the mentally unsound [Ames might well qualify, in certain respects] serve alongside the corrupt to produce a parody of the intelligence community that is far more bizarre than anything a novelist might imagine. It is difficult to believe that in this apparently lunatic world the CIA could ever spy successfully against anybody." (p. 250)

A companion book would to have to be "The Year of the Rat: How Bill Clinton Compromised American Security for Chinese Money."

While Rick Ames smugly and gloatingly languishes in jail, he must wonder at times why he hasn't Bill as a cellmate because, as both books reveal, "Ah shucks, we did it for the money."

In my family, this is a favorite of three generations-my grandma, in her 80s, my mother, in her 50s, and me, in my 20s. We all find the characters to be believeable, and they stay with us long after we have finished the story. This book appeals to readers on many different levels. First of all, there is the historical aspect of the struggle of life on the prairie when Iowa was just becoming state. Added to that is the impact of the Civil War. Second, there is the story of a young girl, unsure of herself, growing to womanhood and finding out who she really is as she faces events that are out of her control. We witness Suzanne's first infatuation, her crushing disappointment when she realizes her feelings are not returned, and, eventually, a true love that will outlast anything, even war. The reader realizes that though the times may change, the emotions of growing up do stay the same. Lastly, this book is a wonderful break from the stories of today that feel they must contain some sex, violence and profanity. At times, we just need a good, old-fashoined story where that stuff doesn't get in the way. I can't begin to describe the well-worn condition of my grandma's original book. It just shows that it has been a close, personal friend to three women who love it dearly.

I read this book while I was in high school. I loved it so much that I wrote a term paper on it. That was 10 years ago. I recently picked it up again and rediscovered every description of the prairie, every breathless detail. It still remains my favorite book of all time. I was so endeared to it again that I am searching for all titles written by Bess Streeter Aldrich. It is amazing how she writes such timeless words that touch your heart and senses.

The Story of a Bad Boy is one of my favorite books. It's interesting, humorous, and touching, and gives you an inside look at the life of a boy in Massachusetts in the early 1800s. I love the author's style of writing. It seems to make the story all the more humorous, and brings you back to those olden days. I also love this book because it's a true story, and this kid led a life full of adventures and mishaps. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Tom Sawyer because these two books are similar, and the two boys have the same type of mischievous personalities. Yet in spite of similarities, Bad Boy is unique because it's true.

We live in a world of fantacy and of real life.This book gives you a glimpse into the life of a real American boy.

While this book will appeal to fans of prairie or pioneer literature, it has depths that will actually appeal to almost anyone. Set in the early 1900s in small-town Nebraska, it follows the childhood and early womanhood of Laura Deal. Laura is the beloved granddaughter of Abby, the heroine of Aldrich's "A Lantern in Her Hand", and this book picks up right after Abby has died.

Laura is gentle and whimsical, and through her discerning eyes we get to view the other members of the family, many of whom are unintentionally humorous and certainly similar to those we know in real life. There is her practical, materialistic mother, about whom Laura one day thinks, "Mother has no poetry in her soul!" Her father John is quiet and hardworking, who carries some of the burdens of the town on his back but inside is afire with pioneer pride. Brother Wentworth dashes from one boyish pursuit to another. Her extended family, such as her flighty cousin Kathie, fussy Aunt Grace, and powerful Uncle Mack, are all interesting to read about. Outside of her family are several fascinating neighbors, including the attractive Alan and old Oscar, one of the town's founders, who lives in the past and can only find Laura to listen to tales of his glory days.

Although on the surface the story follows Laura's chronology in a fairly simple path, as she moves from school to college to a crisis of decision about how to proceed with her life, there are many other events, major and minor, occurring with everyone else in the story. There is her father's conflict with her uncle over bank monies lost, her cousin Kathie's gallivanting about rather than caring for her child, and old Christine's greediness for more land.

There are also lovely descriptions of the Nebraska countryside, and in the brief but beautiful details of life we get a sense of time and place. Having had a grandmother in Nebraska myself, it all felt so real to me when I read this wonderful book! I also felt breathless when it came time for Laura to decide if she would choose love or money, and the last sentence of the book is one of the best lines I've ever read. It should be quoted like Shakespeare. Quite simply, this is a book to cherish.

This book is a WONDERFUL commentary on how we deal with the connections between generations. Not only was Laura caught between the ancient and modern worlds, but her feelings of progression and independance conflicted with her feelings of love and friendship. The realization that Laura finally makes is in fact the realization that ties us to the past and to the future. It creates an appreciation for those who came before us and those who will follow.

I read this book first at age 14 and again at age 23. I feel more connected to Laura's emotions now, but her plight and hopes were some of the same that I had as I was growing up. There is an appreciation for all those people who stepped out of the safe world and traveled to the west, making a home for all of us who have followed.

This is a wonderful collection of Bess Streeter Aldrich's work. The volume includes a complete text of "A Lantern in Her Hand" and "Miss Bishop" along with five short stories written by Bess Streeter Aldrich. It is a wonderful selection to inclue in a colleciton of prarie pioneer stories. She writes with such knowledge of the past, and adds the mystery and characters to make the stories intreguing. I enjoyed it thoroughly! A must for you if you like Nebraska or midwestern historical stories without the sex and violence!