Book Reviews

The Beader's Companion (Loveland, CO: Interweave Press, ISBN 1-8883010-56-X) by Judith Durant and Jean Campbell is an indispensable tool for bead jewelry designers at the beginning and intermediate level. It is a small (7" x 5") paperback book with spiral binding that lies flat, so you can keep it on your work surface next to your beading projects. The pages flip upwards, so that the text is in landscape mode, leaving plenty of space for illustrations. It is amazing what amount of useful information can be crammed into a mere 104 pages! The book starts out by describing various kinds of beads (with illustrations), as well as types of glass and finishes used for beads. This is followed by section on threads/cords and different types of needles. Particularly useful is a chart telling beaders what thread to use with which kind of bead. There are also extensive chapters on various stitches and crochet techniques (again illustrated with simple, but effective black-and-white dr...

Do you ever remember your folks or grandparents telling you; "it takes two to tango," meaning that there must be more to the story and more fault of the circumstance to spread around. Often, it was a notification that they were not buying the total story and that the blame ought to be spread around a little bit more. Well, the other day, I got thrown out of McDonalds; why you ask? Well for food-fighting, but I swear that the guy threw nothing back at me, indeed, the manager did not buy it, and threw us both out. Boy was that guy mad at me, I started and he never threw anything back at me, but the manager throws us both out and said; "It takes two to tango!" Indeed, it usually takes two to tango, but in reality it was not a food-fight anyway, as the gentleman was simply reading his newspaper and never responded. Now that is a funny true story, but have you ever wondered why it takes two to tango? Let me recommend a book that is quite good and will completely clear th...