The Friday Night Knitting Club

Anyone who knits or enjoyed the book Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons, this is the book for you! Kate Jacobs has created a well-written book about a group of women who become friends and bond through knitting together. The book takes place in New York City and features different types of female personalities in a wide range of ages. Most of the activity in the book centers around a knitting boutique called Walker and Daugther, started by a single mom who needed a way to make ends meet so she could raise her daughter. Each character in the book represents a different life viewpoint and they all come together.

I feel like this book will appeal to almost any woman reading it. I was not annoyed by any of the characters and enjoyed the book from beginning until end. It didn't quite end the way I may have liked, but it wasn't a bad ending. And like I said before, it sort of gave me a feeling of Angry Housewives in that its a book about female bonding and having a strong group of female friends to lean on. But as much as it may have reminded me of Angry Housewives, it was completely different as well. Also, the overall knitting metaphor is interesting and not at all cheesy. (At least I didn't think so.)

This was our book club pick for May. We have the meeting tonight. I'll add the group's impression of the book tomorrow. :-) Hope you all had a nice long Memorial Day Weekend.

More Jane, Again

Because I am apparently very boring, all I have to post about is finishing two more of Stephanie Barron's Jane Austen mysteries, Jane and the Ghosts of Netley and Jane and His Lordship's Legacy, both of which were excellent. I love this series, and they're not losing their appeal as the series goes on. Fantastic stuff.

Um, I also re-read the Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde, as he has a new one coming out in July. I loved reading them again.

And I'm currently reading Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, which is lots of fun so far. One of my guesses I made during the first book came true, so I was pleased about that.

Other than that, I'm boxing up books for MOVING DAY in three weeks. Ack! I should put together a list of my "give-away" pile to see if anyone here wants any of my books, but I may not have time. They may just be donated to the library.

The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue

I really enjoyed Donohue's The Stolen Child from beginning to end. The concept of the book made it a fun read. Sort of a fairy tale for adults.

Changelings or hobgoblins live in the woods for decades until they can find a human child to change places with. They wait for the most opportune moment to kidnap the desired child and then switch places with them. The stolen child becomes a changeling and lives in the woods awaiting his eventual turn to become human again decades later with another child. The changeling who replaces the stolen child in the human world experiences "normal" life but can remember being a changeling and perhaps even recall things from his former human life before he was originally stolen. Confused yet? It is very difficult to describe this book without going on and on. The book is very well written and the character development is excellent. It alternates chapters between the changeling and the stolen child, sometimes having events intersect. Nothing incredibly earthshattering happens so don't except a huge reveal or a big bang at the end of the book. But it is worth reading and a nice break from my normal book choices.

I saw my aunt Carol this weekend and she said she has mostly been reading books that we have recommended on this blog, including The Road. She said it was very well written, but very sad and depressing. Just thought I would pass that along in case anyone is thinking of reading it. :-)