Interesting subject Yvonne, as I have been planning to buy a copy of Jane Eyre for a friend who, somehow had never read it. She claims her class never 'did' it at school, which seems a feeble excuse for never reading it. ;-) Anyway I was looking at the Book Depository site (free delivery to Canada being too good an offer to turn down) and came up with over seven hundred choices . . . If you had never heard of Jane Eyre and looked at even 20 of them, I wonder how many of those covers would give you a clue to what lay inside? May be the ones showing a single female, or the 'artist's impression' of a busty female and a hunky guy. But what about rugged mountains, coastal scenes and ones so 'obscure' they have no 'meaning' at all? Answers on a post card please. Here is a link that might be useful: Will the Real Jane Eyre . . . .

I collect books with interesting covers and have been known to buy a new copy of a book because it had a better cover than a different edition of the same book. I also have a stack of old pulp novels and a few romances with covers ranging from stunning to "what on Earth is going on here?" weird or ridiculous.

One way to evaluate the quality and safety of any canning publication is to look for USDA approval in the forward, does he/she make reference to or show a working knowledge of the guidelines and or the science involved in canning, does he/she offer only acidic food recipes like jams and pickles, or include low-acid pressure canning foods as well, and look at his/her credentials. Food science training? Great! Personal blogger and cook? Maybe not so great. ;-) There are many so-called canning books published that one shouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. Not saying this is one of them as I don't know. Just take the time to evaluate carefully before using. Dave

Whenever a federal tap is turned on there are always many, many siphons that magically appear. But even I as a macroeconomist who is used to dealing with large numbers finds $6.5 trillion extraordinary. To paraphrase Sen. Everett Dirksen, a trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon you're talking about real money.