The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club

Don't you just want to dive into this cover?

Imagine your husband confessing to an affair and saying he wants a divorce, only to die in an automobile accident hours later. How would you deal? Instead of wallowing in her pain and confusion, Jo Mackenzie knows that in order to support herself and her two little boys, Jack and Archie, she must take them from their London home and buy her grandmother’s yarn shop in a small seaside town. Jo soon finds herself amidst a less than perfect house, two rambunctious young men, a store that needs updating, and the eternal question of what to have for dinner. First tackling the shop, Jo makes much needed changes such as new window displays, yarn reorganization, launching a successful Stitch and Bitch group, and even a new name, much to the dismay of the shop’s longtime assistant. Settling into town, Jo quickly makes friends with her neighbors and the new owners of the town pub, and stands up to the schoolyard queen, the head of the PTO. But among all the hustle and bustle of their new lives, Jo and her boys endure countless heartbreaking moments when they remember the husband and father they lost. Originally entitled Divas Don't Knit, the novel was renamed for distribution in the USA. Perfect for fans of The Friday Night Knitting Group, all who like mom lit and British chick lit will adore this book.

McNeil has already written a sequel called Needles and Pearls, which will hopefully be distributed here soon. Check out her website at http://www.mcknits.co.uk/, which includes some patterns from the book.

Having recently read a few books where the husband dies, I was expecting a heavy-handed treatment regarding Jo's grief process. I was happily disappointed, for McNeil addresses some of the issues but doesn't dwell on them. Most of the time, the reader can almost forget there was even a major tragedy in Jo's life, and that made the book more enjoyable and relaxing.

In the book, Grace hires Jo to finish all her knitted pieces, in addition to being her on-call knitting coach. I really wish I could just knit and leave the troubling seaming to someone else. That would make me a much more productive knitter.

it's the little things

Every summer, I get a present from Jane Green. Yesterday I was able to place a hold on the newest Jane Green book, Dune Road, due out June 16. I can't wait.

For those of you who still need some convincing that Jane Green should be at the top of your reading list, I offer you a review of one of her older titles, Babyville.

When you’re living the life of a freewheeling young professional, where do babies enter into the picture? Bound in a comfortable but passionless relationship, Julia feels the solution to her troubles is to have a baby with Mark--the only problem is, she can’t seem to get pregnant after months of trying. When her best friend Sam was pregnant with her first child, she dreamed of leaving her job to enjoy stay-at-home motherhood. Now Sam is plagued with postpartum depression, and falling for a married man who makes her tingle in a way that her own husband no longer can. At a wedding, these two women meet Maeve, a television producer generating the best work of her career, who is struggling with her options after a one-night stand has resulted in pregnancy. Through these three intertwining stories, Green shows how pregnancy not only changes people’s lives, but also how having a baby changes a person's sense of self. Because of their unique situations, each woman has to not only reevaluate her priorities, but also modify her perceptions of herself and what she really wants out of life.

Written as a series of novellas, the stories will delight readers who love a London setting. With characters who could be your best friends, and situations so real that you feel every emotion, Green has again struck gold in her accurate portrayal of thirtsomethings. A definite must-read for fans of contemporary British women's fiction.

books i have loved part II--Come Together

Another book I love is Come Together by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees.
Jack and Amy are living the single life in London, until a casual one-night stand makes them realize that maybe they should take a risk and try a real relationship. Written in alternating he said/she said chapters, readers get an inside perspective on how the other side thinks. Lloyd and Rees, both novelists in their own right, were put together by their publisher to write this book, and fell in love in the process. They even graced the cover of their book. They now live in London with their family and have co-authored numerous books.

The first time I read this book, I read it in one sitting. Needing something good to read, it went with me to college as my security blanket during those first days away from home. This book didn’t change my life, but I’ve read it many times because it’s just a good story. There are twists and turns, but the happy ending I seek comes at the end.

Perhaps part of my draw to this book is the fact that their subsequent joint efforts have been so hard to get my hands on. Come Together was published in the United States, but the rest of their books are published in the United Kingdom, meaning that libraries in Britain, Canada and Australia obtain them, but American libraries don’t. I’ve been fortunate for the interlibrary loan service from the Vancouver BC Public Library to help me with my fix. As I researched this piece, I realized I hadn’t looked for one of their new books in awhile—turns out I missed The Seven Year Itch in 2007. Guess I’ll be calling upon the Vancouver PL soon…

The Reading Group

The Reading Group by Elizabeth Noble talks about, what else, a reading group made up of five women: Harriet, a young married mom who feels she has married the wrong man; Nicole, an unhappily married young mom whose husband routinely cheats on her; Susan, a happily married woman with almost grown sons who has to care for her failing mother; Polly, a single mom who has a 20 year old daughter who just found herself pregnant; and Clare, a married woman who is infertile. The story winds its way through a full year of the book group, with each chapter starting with the book choice of the month. Without giving too much away, each woman has a difficult year, but manages in their own way to come out on top, but not always the way one would expect.

I picked up this book (Kim, is this the one you read?) because I loved Alphabet Weekends and Things I Want My Daughters To Know and wanted to read the author’s first book.

I particularly liked how the author handled the book group meetings—for the actual book discussion part, Noble understood it wasn’t necessary to always follow who was saying each bit—she just let the conversation flow, like a normal book group would do, with women cutting each other off and jumping in with revelations. I really liked that and thought it was totally life like.

In the extras at the end of the book, the author states that the novel is about six women—Harriet, Nicole, Susan, Clare, Polly and Polly’s daughter Cressida. Because of her feelings about Cressida’s pregnancy, Clare drops out of the book group about halfway through the year, and we hear almost nothing from her through the rest of the book. I thought the author should have followed this character a bit longer, instead of having her drop out of the story except to pop back in towards the end. Considering how closely and deeply we follow the other characters, that treatment seems atypical.

I look forward to reading Noble’s second book, The Friendship Test.

K

A Bad Bride's Tale

I read Polly Williams's first book, The Yummy Mummy, right after I returned to work the first time. It was a great book about a pregnant Englishwoman being left by her boyfriend and having to figure out how to raise her child on her own. (I was thinking the other day about how I don't remember how it ended--I can't remember if she went back to her boyfriend or met someone new--I hate how I can't remember anything!) Williams's next book was A Bad Bride's Tale. This novel follows Stevie, a thirtysomething Englishwoman as she prepares to marry Jez, her longtime boyfriend. Even though she has massive doubts leading up to the big day, she stumbles through the vows and marries Jez. Quickly, things start to fall apart. Their honeymoon is even less than idylic, as Jez befriends a former rival of Stevie's who just happens to be at the same resort. Within weeks of the wedding, Stevie moves out and goes back home to stay with her family, support her younger sister as she deals with a premature baby, and spends more time with an old friend, meeting up with him in Oxford and New York. You can basically guess how it all ends, but I was delighted to be regaled with several twists and turns which left me wondering if really the book wouldn't end happily.

I hope Williams keeps writing--I can't wait for her next book!

K

Time of My Life

Recently, I finished Time of My Life by Alison Winn Scotch. This little gem made it's way to me right when I needed it--it's a beautiful thing when a book you've been waiting for makes its way to you when you are just finishing another (maybe it's just librarians who feel this way)!

Jill is a suburban wife and mother, bored with her marriage but filled with joy for her little girl. One day after a particularly deep massage, she wakes up seven years in the past, dating her old boyfriend, the one who got away. Possessing the gift of hindsight, she avoids the pitfalls that tripped her up the first time around, excelling at work and nurturing her relationship, thinking that she will change her life completely. But traveling to the past doesn't always fix everything--she realizes her old boyfriend really isn't the one for her, and she seeks out her future husband who she's been bumping into, falling in love with him all over again.

This was a fantastic chick lit book that truly answers "What if...?" I don't usually like time-travel (a typical component of science fiction novels, which I detest), but I realized halfway through, this is not the first time-travel chick lit book I've enjoyed--see The Boy I Loved Before by Jenny Colgan.

K

The Beach House

After I regretfully said goodbye to the characters in Things I Want My Daughters to Know, I was eager to start the newest Jane Green book, The Beach House.

I adore Jane Green books. Each of her novels has been stellar. I have been known to obsessively check the library catalog for new publications. Now that I am a fiction selector, I get to read the advance listings and know even earlier.

But, back to The Beach House. An eccentric older woman owns a huge mansion on the beach, which she turns into a bed and breakfast to keep from losing the house to the bank. People from different walks of life come to stay, ending with the requisite romance and parent/child affirmations.

As much as I was looking forward to it, this Green disappointed. I didn't care about the characters as much as I normally do. Oh well, I'm sure the next one will be great.

K

Things I Want My Daughters to Know

In the month before I returned to work (I think...), I read Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble. This story centers on four sisters whose mother dies of cancer in the opening pages. Their mother left each daughter with something special, but most importantly, she leaves a package of letters she has written over the years to her daughters about all the things she wants them to know (hence the book's title). The mom describes how each was born, how she and their fathers met, how her parents met, information about each of their fathers, just information she felt it was important to pass on. As each daughter has her turn with the journal, the novel follows the first year after their mother's death--one daughter learns to commit to a relationship, another rededicates her marriage, one searches for a place to call home, and one, the youngest, navigates her first relationship in high school.

This book was awesome (which isn't a very dignified word for a book review, but whatever). It was so good, so encompassing, it drew me in completely and I hated for this book to end. I just hope that I get around to writing down all the things I want my girls to know (before I forget them).

Last year, I read Noble's Alphabet Weekends, and couldn't wait for her next book to come out. My friend Kim has recently read one of her older books and said it was excellent--I need to put The Friendship Test and The Reading Group on my to-read list!

K

Catching up

Over the past few months, I haven't found much in the new books section worthy of my time, so I've been going back and reading the early books of my favorite authors.

In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner: Great book, better than the movie (of course), but I couldn't stand the part where Rose runs into characters from Weiner's first book Good In Bed. Surely that wasn't necessary?

Jemima J by Jane Green: Before now, I hadn't even read what this book was about. I was pleasantly surprised to find a book about transformation and finding your true love, even with a little mystery thrown in. Excellent first novel--and now I understand why she was given a publishing deal.

Mr. Maybe by Jane Green: Like many sophomore novels, this one was a bit rougher than the first and Green's subsequent books. I didn't understand why the main character wasted so much of her time on someone who was so obviously wrong for her. I suppose we have all been there, of course, willing to compromise because we want something so badly. But I'm glad that she wised up in the end.

Now reading: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Nothing like a depressing novel for the holidays.

K

Babyville

I first read this Jane Green novel at least three years ago, when I was unmarried and without kids. At the time, I wrote a review of the book for my library's website. Having just finished it for my book group, I realize how my perspective has changed since the first read. Reading my old review made me laugh out loud at how I thought I knew what I was talking about when I said that having a baby changes your life. At the time, I had no idea about the scope of that statement. Oh, the folly of youth...

The book follows three British women--one who wants to get pregnant but can't, one who doesn't want to get pregnant but does, and one who is married and has a baby, only to become infatuated with a married male friend. On this second read, I was more sympathetic toward the woman who couldn't get pregnant, because I now know the true joy of having a baby. I could hardly get through the last third of the book which follows the infatuation storyline. I was very frustrated with that character's desire to leave her husband and start a new relationship--I just don't understand how she could get that annoyed and mad at her husband to want to leave him and her child for someone new. I just don't understand it now that I'm married; I'm sure it seemed much more plausible before when I was not involved with anyone.

I usually enjoy rereading books, and have a couple that I try to read every year, but this reread just wasn't the same.

K

Slummy Mummy

This was an interesting entry in the Chick Lit category because I felt like the author branched out several times through the dialogue of some characters to share her opinion on current issues like feminism and the SAHM/working mother so called war. But overall, I thought it was a fabulous book, and totally quenched my craving for brit chick lit. I don't want to ruin it for anyone, but I was happy the book ended the way it did, which was what I thought was the "right" way.

In the book, Lucy Sweeney is a former TV exec who is currently staying home with her three sons, the youngest of whom is in preschool. Somehow Lucy tries to accomplish everything and therefore accomplishes nothing. I totally feel for this character because this is exactly how taking care of children full time is--you try and try and try to wash the dishes and start the laundry and cook the meals while not only watching your kids (i.e. making sure they don't hurt themselves) but trying to engage them and stimulate them, heck, even playing with them, and somehow it seems like you just can't do both. I feel like in this book, Lucy kept going back to the fact that she couldn't do it all, you can't have it all, even though she tried for the sake of appearances to her husband and fellow moms. I perfectly understand her feeling of shame when her husband comes home from work and finds that she hasn't done a single thing on her to-do list, and if only he was there to see all the stuff she had to deal with that day, he would probably understand too, but he doesn't, and therefore she feels guilty.

I have thought for awhile that I am a better mother because I work full time--because I'm not with Addie all the time, I definitely feel our time together in the evenings and on weekends is precious, so I'm willing to let things go (like housework) in favor of playing with her for hours. I also feel like working full time gives some structure to my days, so that entire weeks don't go by without me cleaning the house (or at least they shouldn't...). I feel like because I work full time, I'm contributing to the household income, that my husband can't get mad at me for not always having the dishes clean or the laundry folded the second it comes out of the dryer. I am more efficient with my time at home because I work; I'm prevented from trying to be superMom because I have to work; I'm absolved from guilt (some of it) because I have to work.

Of course, there is all that guilt from not spending more time with my child...

K

forever ago

Just at this moment reading a review for another Austen inspired novel, I realized that I never posted my completion of Austenland. I loved it. It was a delight, even though I haven't read all of Austen's novels and barely remember some of the characters and plot points from the various books. The author threw in enough twists and turns that I couldn't guess the ending. I think it is many Austen fans' dream to be able to go back in time and live the way she lived.

Right now I'm flying through Second Chance by Jane Green. I love love love it. Green could write anything and I would love it. As always, Second Chance is filled with loveable characters who I find parts of myself in and therefore can identity with, and the plot just keeps me guessing. I really wish she would put out books faster!

K

up next

Today, finally, I got the new Jane Green novel: Second Chance. I have been dying to read this! As soon as I'm done with Austenland, which is turning out to be fabulous, I will start Second Chance. Of course waiting at home are Dedication by the same pair who wrote the Nanny Diaries (I didn't read their second novel, did you?) and The Bright Side of Disaster, which seems like mommy lit. Good stuff!

I will post soon about my recent craft projects and the awesome craft books I have found.

K

catching up

So two weeks ago, I had started four different fiction books. I never read more than one at a time because I usually get confused. So I decided to focus my efforts on which was due back at the library first--Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares. In this fourth volume, the girls are once again up to their usual traveling and forgetting who they are and what they are about. There was also a lot of sex. That particular aspect sparked a conversation with A about what we would let our kids read. It was classified in the juvenile fiction in our library instead of YA; maybe the whole series should be moved to YA even though the first books are tamer (then again, didn't Bridget sleep with Eric in the first book?). A asked me if I would want/let Addison read this and I think I said not before high school, but I'm sure I was reading this level of fiction in middle school. And if I hadn't read it myself, I guess I would have assumed, if picking it out for my daughter, that since it was in JF, it was appropriate for ages below 14. It just makes me wonder/realize how much stuff my kids will encounter without me even knowing it. There is no way for me to prevent them from being exposed to all the things that I don't want them to know about before a certain age. It is just kind of amazing to realize as a parent that no matter how much you want to protect them, there is no way to protect them from everything. Very sobering thought for me.

Anyway, now I'm finished The Three Day Rule by my favorite British authors Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees. I have to finish it asap so that I can return it to the Vancouver (Ont.) ILL department before it's overdue (no renewals!!). I hate how Canada can get British fiction that we can't in the USA. All those British people get to read Jane Green books before I do, too. So unfair!

K

Alphabet Weekends

On Friday night, I finished Alphabet Weekends. Excellent book. The story involved three couples at different points in their lives and relationships. Although you knew that the couple involved in the title activity was going to get together, the main drive in the plot came from a couple where one member was involved in an affair. I'm pleased that the author stuck with reality and decided not to end everything happily.

This book has inspired us to start our own version of alphabetic dates, the first of which occurred last Friday night as we partook of Russian food at Astoria, then headed to the St. Louis Art Museum for the Art in Bloom event. We had a wonderful evening.

K

books I read last year

I know I read many more books that this in 2006, but I can't remember them all right now. But I do remember--

Bed Rest by Sarah Bilston (another ARC from Lissa)
Piece of Work by Laura Zigman (my boss told me that someone he knew made note of what they were reading when each of their kids was born--I was reading this)
24-Karat Kids A Novel Dr. Judy Goldstein and Sebastian Stuart (an ARC from Asia)
Little Earthquakes by Jennifer Weiner

K

what I have been reading

I remember how every summer when I was growing up, I participated in the Summer Reading Program at the local public library. I loved how the lists of books we had to have in order to get our book prize at the end of the summer grew as the months passed. When I was in second grade, I kept a meticulous list of all the books I read. I've tried on and off in the years since to keep track of what I've read, but half the time I forget to write down the titles and authors.

One of my resolutions for this year is to start writing down the books I have read. It seems like this is a no-brainer resolution; most people are probably resolving to read more, but this will be hard enough for me to do!

So here are the books I have read since the beginning of 2007 (I think).

I know there was a book I was rushing to finish before January so that I could start on The Yummy Mummy but I cannot remember the name of it (hence the resolution)!

The Yummy Mummy was an ARC from my friend Lissa (I love having friends who get free books at library conferences). She knew I would love it since it was British chick lit (my favorite). I had actually just the day before read a review of this book and was dying to read it. It was fantastic. The plot had enough twists and turns that it didn't end like I thought it would. I love my breezy, easy chick lit, but I do like it when authors try a little harder to make the storyline and the characters more substantial than usual. Now that I have gotten married and have a child, I have moved from the career-girl-seeking-true-love chick lit to the mummy lit--20-30 somethings who have kids.

After Yummy Mummy, I wanted another good book and picked up Gucci Gucci Coo by Sue Margolis. While this was an enjoyable read, it wasn't as good as Yummy Mummy (but what would have been? It's so hard to follow really good books with an equally good book). This book also doesn't end like you initially think it will. It even had a touch of mystery and suspense, which reminds me of what Lissa said about the Helen Fielding's follow-up to the Bridget Jones books, Olivia Joules And The Overactive Imagination--"Fielding is trying to turn chick lit into spy/adventure." (Sorry Lissa, that wasn't it exactly, but you get what I mean.) But this was way better than Olivia Joules which I couldn't even get past the first chapter in. Margolis also wrote the book in the third person which I understand gives the author more leeway in describing characters but I found it kind of annoying to read what the protagonist thought and felt instead of hearing about them firsthand. Maybe it's just me.

Today I finished Always and Forever by Cathy Kelly. I recall reading a short story by Kelly in Irish Girls About Town and always meant to read some of her full length treatments. I thought this book was great. The back cover gave me the impression that the book was predominately about the women's friendships, and that wasn't the case. But it wasn't too much of a disappointment because the women's individual stories were interesting. The balance between the three/four story lines was excellent. I don't think the book would have been as good if it were about only one of the women. To be honest, I wanted to book to end differently for the woman who had quit her job to stay home and care for her kids. I think this title would appear to many different people because of the variety of ages and situations represented.

What should I read next? I have nothing waiting for me at home. And since the library closes soon, I have just 27 minutes to find something new to read!

K