I Made A Written Commitment!!!

I made a written commitment to Lizann--the only confirmed reader of this blog-- that I would update it this week. So here I go. I read a total of 17 books in September and October which, for those of you keeping score, means that I surpassed the 100 book mark. I know, you all stand in awe of my Evelyn Woods-like ability. Here are some highlights:

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

I think it would be nearly impossible for me to read this book before the Internet. I'm kind of wary about reading translated books because, no matter how good the story is, if the translator sucks it ruins the whole book. Thankfully, whoever translated these books did a wonderful job. The reason I needed the Internet is that I have no frame of reference for the Swedish monetary system. I looked up the exchange rate between the Swedish kroner and the US dollar multiple times.

The book follows two main characters--a discredited financial reporter and an anti-social computer hacker (the title character) as they work to solve a 40 year old mystery. We follow their lives separately until they finally meet in the last section of the book. Larsson slowly builds the action and tension until you do not want to put the book down.

The movie came out in Europe earlier this year. No word on when it will be available in the states or if Hollywood is going to do their own version.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Big thanks to Lynn for giving me this book. It's very hard to explain and it would take a long time because the book is over 800 pages long. Suffice it to say it is an awesome book and you should read it.

The Host by Stephanie Meyer

This is honestly the most thought-provoking book I've read in a while. As with Meyers' other books,, the prose is mediocre. But, this story is phenomenal.

The story begins several years after the earth has been conquered by parasitic aliens. The main character, Wanderer, has just been inserted into her new host Melanie. Usually when a soul (the closest word the aliens could come up with in English to what they are) enters the host body it completely suppresses the host's consciousness, but Melanie will not go away.

Wanderer is supposed to plumb the depths of Melanie's memory in order to find the last hold-out humans. Melanie convinces her to trek through the desert in search of her lost love instead.

They actually find him living with a colony of humans set up by Melanie's uncle. Jared (the lover) and the rest of the colony want to kill her, but are convinced not to by Melanie's brother Jamie. The humans eventually realize that Melanie is still there. They gradually are accepted into the community but it becomes apparent that things cannot continue as they are.

I'll stop here before I spoil the agony for you dear reader(s).

Here's the knitting rundown:

I finished Shane's fornicating deer hat. It's been a big hit and I've received several requests for them--all refused because then it is work.

I finished Loralei's Fern Lace Scarf but still have three Christmas projects to complete--Eclipse socks for Lizann, Sunshine socks for Mary, and a reversible cable brioche stitch scarf for my mom.

Cold mountain is trudging along at a rate of 2 rows a day and the Estonian shawl is at a dead standstill until after the holidays--same with the Falling Water scarf. I need to pull Vivian out of hibernation, but it's been to warm to even think about it and I'm not about to start wishing for cold weather.

That all for now. Knit books, read sweaters, stay classy.

Is It Procrastination If There's No Actual Deadline?

There are times in my life when I develop an aversion to a book or project that I've been really looking forward to getting started on. I'm not talking about books that I was never going to read--ever (ie anything by Dan Brown or Nicholas Sparks)--but books that I've ordered from the library and have waited a long time for. And when they finally arrive, they're off-putting for some reason.

Last week I wrote a little bit about how Lizann convinced me to read The Twilight Saga (even though up to that point I was not really interested). What's strange to me is that I can sit down and read four books that I'm completely ambivalent about without a second thought, but something I'm really interested in can sit around for weeks without even being cracked.

Case in point--Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It's been sitting in the To Be Read pile for five weeks and I've been putting off reading it. Well, I finally did and I feel completely irrational.

It is a great book. Great characters, great setting--the circus--what's not to love? Although there was one positive outcome from my procrastination. The day I finished the book was the day Ringling pulled in to town. How fortuitous was that?

Twilight, Sleepovers, Alpacas and More!

Over Labor day weekend I had the good fortune to have 5 days in a row off. Five full days of knitting and reading and boy did I put them to good use.

I want to start out by saying that I've never really had any desire to read the Twilight novels. At all. But, Lizann recently got them off of paperback swap and she encouraged me to read them. I want to give her some credit. Eventhough she feels strongly that her sisters and I should read these books, she really went to a lot of effort not to put undue pressure on us.

Unlike Lizann, I already read quite a bit of vampire fiction (Charlaine Harris, JR Ward, Lara Adrian, Maryjanice Davidson, etc...), so what stopped me from reading Twilight all these years was really the moody teenager aspect of it. That and the fact that Robert Patinson (sp?) is weird.

So, did I like it? The answer is yes. While I don't think that Stephanie Meyer is a great writer, she is a pretty good storyteller and that goes a long way with me. I know I've ranted about this before, but writers that overemphasize setting or characterization at the expense of plot make me crazy. It doesn't do me any good to be "transported to 1940s Hong Kong" if all there is to do when I get there is hang out with boring, self-absorbed people (The Piano Teacher by Janice YK Lee).

I read the whole series that weekend and it truly wasn't a waste of time.

This weekend we trekked to scenic Manhattan, KS for an Alpaca fair. Many thanks to Lisa for hosting a sleepover. And for the Chocolate Fondue, which was truly delicious. The fair itself was kind of a bust. It was really small and didn't have a huge variety of yarn to choose from. We bailed after about 15 minutes.

After that we headed over to Wildflower knits and browsed. I didn't find anything I truly loved but part of that is that I'm really into laceweight right now and I'm finding that a lot of LYSs just don't carry a huge selection. Let us all give thanks for the interwebz.

Then we headed over to Wamego and stopped at the yarn store there. I can't remember it's new name (it used to be called Settler's Farm), but it's right down the street from the OZ Museum. I found some lovely Wisdom Yarns Poems Sock. Its a single ply sock yarn with really long subtle color changes. It hasn't decided what it wants to be yet, but I'm guessing it will be something out of Cookie A's Sock Innovations book.

And now for a project update:

I've reached the halfway point on Cold Mountain, and it's measuring 28in unblocked. I don't think that I'll have any trouble blocking it to 6 ft when it's done. Width is another matter, the pattern calls for blocking to 26" and I think the best I'm going to do is 24". Oh well, not the end of the world and I'm not exactly long in the torso.

The Fern Lace Scarf is coming along nicely. I'm just over 60% done. The hard part here is going to be finding a stopping place. I think I have enough yarn in this skein to make a 7 or 8 ft unblocked scarf, but that might be a little excessive even for people who like long scarves. This is going to be a Christmas present for Loralei, so I might just have to ask her what she prefers.

I'm in the home stretch on the Whisper Cardigan. Unfortunately, this is the most boring part: eight inches of stockinette that increases two stitches every other row. I'm having to bribe myself to work on it. I will get it done though, I promise.

The Third X is Kicking my Ass

Last weekend I started on the Cold Mountain Stole. I love this pattern and I particularly love how easy it is to knit. However, it also seems really easy to make mistakes and not realize them for 20 rows. The first time I made a mistake, I seriously thought about laddering down and fixing it, but as this is lace, I decided to make it a design feature. Now I've found the second mistake. Luckily, it's only 5 rows down. This one I'll have to fix. Oh well, it'll be a good way to break in the new crochet hook set I got from Knitpicks.

I haven't been reading a lot lately. I've only finished three books since my last post and, with the exception of The Year of Living Biblically, none are really worth reviewing. TYOLB is definately worth a read though. I'd be really interested in what a truly conservative christian would think about it. Do I know any fundies? I'll have to think about that.

The Crabs Have a New Home

The Red Crab and the Blue Crab are in their new home. Last night I had the pleasure of gifting them to Katelynn Corinne (age 1 week). She stuck out her tongue, but I think she liked them. Her mom and dad sure did. I'm glad, because knitting crab legs is the most tedious job in the world and I'd hate to think it was in vain.

Also Norberta the Dragon moved in with Katelynn Last night. She's been with me for months, and I kind of miss her, but she's already found a good spot in Katelynn's room.


So that leaves me with only 4 WIPs: Angee Socks, Fern Lace Scarf, Ballet Camisole and Whisper Cardigan. Next up on the list is the Cold Mountian Stole. I have to wait until I get to a certain point on the Whisper Cardigan before starting because they share the same needle. I know I could just buy another needle, but I'm trying to resist the temptation.

In book news, I passed the 75 book mark at the end of July so everything else is gravy from this point out. I've only gotten through four books so far in August, but they've all been really good.

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates: Intense, incredibly well written story of what happens to a couple when they realize that they are not destined for greater things. Not recommended for anyone with relationship problems.

Look to the Lady by Margery Allingham: Third Albert Campion mystery. I'm reading these in order and Albert, as a character, is really growing on me. These were written in the thirties and they always remind me of Cary Grant for some reason.

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe: Fun book by a first time author. Connie is a Ph.D candidate at Harvard researching early American History. She has two tasks for the summer: clean out her grandmother's house and get it ready to sell and select a topic for her dissertation. She finds out a lot about her family and herself while completing both tasks. The book is set in 1991 when cell phones were scarce and there wasn't anything on the internet so she has to spend a lot of time doing research the old fashioned way.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: This is supposedly the most popular children's book in the world right now. I thought it was cute, but it wasn't Harry Potter. The book is a series of vignettes about the life of Nobody Owens a kid who grows up in a graveyard (because a psycho killer is after him). The illustrations are great and the book is well-written. It just wasn't for me. I would recommend it for kids age 10+.

There. Are you happy Lizann?

Whipping the WIPS!

I'm very proud of myself. I finished two WIPs in the last two weeks.

First: Aran Weight Victorian Lace Shawl

I started knitting this in the winter of 2007. It knit up fairly easily and I finished the knitting part of it in early 2008. I don't know if I was sick of it or if I was too intimidated by the idea of blocking it, but I just put it away and haven't thought about it since.

Well, over 4th of July weekend I finally decided to block it. I knew it was going to be too big for my blocking board, so I brought home some load center door boxes from work to extend the area. I commandeered the living room and set to work.

The yarn I used for this project was Peruvian Uros Aran by Elann. 50% Wool. 50% Llama. I was out of Soak, so I washed in in the sink with a little bit of off brand woolite. It reacted fine but the yarn made that part of the house stink like wet Llama.

It took over an hour to block, but it wasn't nearly as traumatic as I thought it would be.

Second: February Lady Sweater

So, according to Ravelry, I'm the 3316th person to finish this sweater. Go me! This version of the FLS is made from Knitpicks Crayon 100% cotton yarn. Special thanks to lynknits for the yarn inspiration on this one. The yarn is incredibly soft and washable.

Because I'm an incredibly loose knitter, I had to go down a needle size from the original to a size 7 even though this yarn is DK weight instead of the recommended worsted weight. The great thing about this pattern is that it can be adapted to almost any weight of yarn. My only frustration is that the pattern instructs you to continue knitting in garter stitch after the increases until the piece almost meets at the underarm. What the heck is ALMOST!?!?!?! I finally decided that ALMOST = 1 inch and it worked out really well. I didn't have any bunching in the underarm (unlike many folks on ravelry).

The buttons I picked out have a great coppery, southwestern look--even though they're plastic. I had two on a card that I bought years ago for a project that has since gone to project heaven--or hell--and, in a stroke of good fortune, I found a matching card at Joann's last Friday. The price had only gone up 54%.

The only thing that remains to be done is to stabilize the collar with a row of reverse single crochet (crab stitch). But since I'm not a hooker, I'll have to leave that to either Lizann or yarndork.

Vision in White

I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for this but here it is: I am getting tired of Nora Roberts. For those of you living in a cave, Nora Roberts is the best selling author in the universe. She's written well over 100 books, maybe 200 by now. Lately I've felt like she was recycling material. Nora generally releases 3 to 4 new books a year and there are about 5-10 reprints on the shelf at any given time. The new releases generally consist of a mass market paperback trilogy and a hardcover standalone novel. The Hardcovers are generally awesome. The MMP? Well the quality is sliding there a little bit. For the past few years all of the MMPs have been paranormal romances. And please don't be mistaken: I love that genre. LOVE IT! For the most part she does OK. But, there tends to be a "Nora Roberts Paranormal Romance Mass Market Paperback Format" (see below), and I've got to say it is getting old.

"Nora Roberts Paranormal Romance Mass Market Paperback Format"

Six people (three men and three women) live in an idyllic small town. Most of them are childhood friends but approximately 40% are there to write a book or "just felt an urgent need" to move to the boondocks (almost always from NYC or similar large metro area).

The Men:

One All-American Type
One Intellectual
One Bad Boy

The Women:

One Academic (usually a writer or "people scientist" [anthropologist, sociologist])
One "brought herself up from nothing" small business owner
One single mother with abusive (either physically or emotionally) asshole exhusband

Any one of these characters can be someone's long lost sibling.

The Mission:

These characters are contacted by some sort of paranormal beings who cryptically give them their mission: SAVE THE WORLD FROM EVIL.

In the process they pair off and fall in love.

Vision In White is the first in a quartet of Trade contemporaries and it's a welcome change. Well, it's not that big of a change. Four couples instead of three and the only evil they encounter are bridezillas. It' a fun book. Four friends own a wedding business. Mackensie is the photographer. Carter is the brother of one of the brides. Mackensie's mother is a train wreck as well as a financial and emotional leach. At one point she borrows her daughter's car and doesn't bring it back for a week. Carter and Mackensie fall in love--but will Mackensie's fear of commitment derail their future happiness? Three guesses.

Where Have I Been!?!?!?!

It's been almost a month since I posted last and I truly apologize to my three readers--or maybe they're thanking me. Lots of fun reading and knitting projects this month to talk about. Here's a preview of posts to come:

Book reviews:

Vision in White - Nora Roberts
Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris
Dark Lover - JR Ward
Tourist Season - Carl Hiasson
The Piano Teacher - Janice Y.K. Lee
Tap and Gown - Diana Peterfreund
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver

Current Knitting Projects:

Fern Lace Scarf
February Lady Sweater
Ballet Camisole

Also, if you're counting (if not, lucky for you I am), The Poisonwood Bible was my 50th book this year!!! (cue fanfare and balloon drop!) So, more posts to come. Happy book knitting and sweater reading to all!

-L

His Dark Materials

I've never really understood what all the fuss was about The Golden Compass. I read it a few years back and while there an anti-religious undertone, I never understood why Christian groups were so upset about it.

Recently, I listened to a full cast recording of all three books in the series: Compass, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. Of the three, The Subtle Knife is by far my favorite. I love conflict and this book is where all the action is. That and I really like Will and I find Lyra kind of annoying. Lyra spends most of this book in a drugged sleep--thank you Mrs. Coulter.

Throughout all three books, Lyra's relationship with her parents is fascinating. Azriel and Mrs. Coulter are such awful parents. Mrs Coulter grows to love Lyra in a very Emily Gilmore type of way ( I love you, but I refuse to get to know you--I'll just use my mental picture instead) but I'm not sure that Azriel loves her at all. I know he doesn't like her. The closest thing to love he ever shows her is grudging admiration.

I wasn't really happy with the ending. I understand why it ended the way it did, but I think that after I invested over 20hrs listening, it should have ended happier. These two kids sacrifice everything throughout the course of the story (including body parts) and still manage to carve out a little bit of happiness for themselves only to have it snatched away in the end.

The religious/anti-religious themes are blatant and at times Pullman comes across as preachy. I think that there will be a lot more backlash once the movie version of the Subtle Knife is released. They ended the Golden Compass before the audience learned of Azreil's agenda. It will only add more fuel to the ridiculous "war on christianity" fire.

April Socks

Well, I finally completed my April socks. These are the first socks I've ever done two at a time and I must say that I'm completely sold on the technique. Second sock syndrome is completely eliminated!

The pattern for these is "Magic Mirror" by Jeannie Cartmel. It's free on Ravelry. The design looks intricate and for the most part it is--but it's fairly easy to memorize. I'm not a huge fan of ktbl, but I have to say that the effect is pretty cool.

Next month's socks: Angee from the new book Sock Innovation by Cookie A.

Election

I have this vague memory of seeing the movie adaptation of Election by Tom Perotta. I can't really remember the details and I kind of feel like I didn't like it. I just don't think it was that memorable a movie.

When opened to the first pages of this book I was immediately hit with two realizations. First, the book is wayyyyyyy better than the movie. And second, Reese Witherspoon was perfectly cast as Tracy Flick. The second I started reading from Tracy's POV , all I could imagine was the movie Tracy.

The book alternates between a half a dozen characters in the first person and while I usually find this device annoying, the self-centeredness of the teenaged characters (and the adult characters too) lends it self well to the writing style.

This is is a short book and a fast read. I promise you'll laugh out loud.

A "Devine" Reading Experience

The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman is one of those books that make you want to go out and buy the author's entire backlist as soon as you read it. This book is well-written, well-paced, funny, poignant and relevant. It's a really fast read and once you pick it up you won't want to put it down.

The story centers around a Jewish girl named Natalie Marx. The first part of the book takes place in the 60s during Natalie's childhood. After seeing an add for the title in in a magazine Natalie's mother writes the inn for information. The proprietress politely writes back "Gentiles Only".

This is Natalie's first experience with blatant anti-semitism. She quickly becomes obsessed with the inn. On a summer trip to Vermont she convinces her family to masquerade as gentiles to see if they can get a room.

The second part of the book takes place after Natalie graduates from college. A childhood friend is marrying the son of the proprietors. Natalie returns to the inn for the wedding and her life changes forever.

Part of the joy of this book is the way the author handles heavy subjects in this book with out being heavy-handed or preachy. Highly recommended.

Late Reading

Every once and a while I will purchase a book by one of my favorite authors and sometime between the time of purchase and the time I get home I will become absolutely dead set against reading it. On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn has been sitting on my bookshelf since 2006 and I finally convinced myself to read it last weekend.

This is the eighth and final book in the Bridgerton series and I'm glad that I read it. But unlike the other books in the series (with the exception of the one about Benedict) I won't ever read it again. I can't tell you what I didn't like about it--something just rubbed me the wrong way. I know that it's probably irrational, but that's just the way it is.

Movie 10, Book 8

Like many of my generation, I have seen The Princess Bride maybe a hundred times. I can quote large passages of it ad nauseum. But until recently, I had never even though about reading the book. I'm glad I did because it gave me a prime example of a situation where the movie is better than the book.

I don't mean to imply that the book is bad. It's a great book, it really is. But the movie is so much better.

Things I liked about the book:

• Cinematic imagery
• Fezzik rhyming (he even thinks in rhyme)
• Inigo's backstory

Things I could have done without:

• Anything written by Goldman in his own voice (unfortunately there is a lot of this)
• The long lost Buttercup's Baby sequel (don't even read it--it's not worth your time)

Overall, it's a really funny book that inspired a truly great movie. Well worth the effort.

P.S. If you're the type to check the reviews on Amazon before reading a book, be sure to read the reviews by people who don't realize that there is no S. Morgenstern and the book isn't really an abridgment at all. I can't tell whether they're meant to be serious or ironic--and that's what make them art.

The (REALLY) Thin Place

I've been trying really hard to formulate my thoughts about The Thin Place by Kathryn Davis. It's been really difficult. Not because I have too many thoughts, but because I really don't have any at all.

I heard about this book on NPR and they were just raving about it. I'm not sure they really read it. I only got halfway through and I gave up. I will stipulate that the author has a talent for prose. It really was some of the most evocative writing I've ever read. And her characters are incredibly fleshed out. The problem is that nothing happens. There are way too many characters and because there isn't a plot, there's really no way to keep them straight. Because there isn't a plot, the pacing is non-existent. The slow pace isn't helped by the short, disjointed chapters that hop between around 15 characters.

Reading this book is a chore. I would rather clean than read this book again (or finish it for the first time). I really hate to clean.

Du Maurier knows Suspense!

Daphne du Maurier is the Grand Dame (literally) of British mystery writers. Rebecca is the first of her novels that I've read and it kept me guessing until the very end. This is a dark, psychological tale that starts out a little slow, but by the time the pieces start to fall into place you'll be hooked

The narrator of the book (we never learn her name) meets a dashing older man in Monte Carlo. They fall in love and marry quickly. When they return home to England, this very young, very shy woman has trouble adapting to life at Manderly (their estate). Everything is compounded by the fact that his first wife, Rebecca, was a larger than life figure. The narrator feels crushed by the weight of the comparison.

I must admit that I don't have a lot of sympathy for shy characters. I spent part of the book wishing that she's stand up for herself. Du Maurier is such a skillful writer. The sense of sympathy we feel for the narrator grows as we slowly begin to realize that Rebecca was not the paragon everybody thought she was. When the narrator finally stands up for herself I cheered.

I don't want to give too much away. The plot twists and turns until you're not sure which way is up. A reviewer on another site mentioned that Dan Brown should take lessons from Dame Du Maurier. I couldn't agree more.

A Howling Good Read

I'm always a little leery of paranormal fiction. If done well, it can be some of the best fiction out there because there is a lot of room for creative license. But, there's also a lot of potential for dreariness.

I'm ashamed to admit that I was reluctant to read the Mercy Thompson series by Patrica Briggs. Based solely on the cover art, I was sure that these books were going to be dreary to the extreme. But I couldn't have been more wrong. The fourth book in the series, Bone Crossed, just reinforces the adage that you can't judge a book by its cover.

The fourth installment of the series picks up where the third, Iron Kissed, left off and takes off fast. Mercy (a coyote shapeshifter/VW mechanic) can't seem to get rid of those damned vampires. If they're not using her as a pawn, they're trying to kill her. Or possibly do both at the same time. Someone has vandalized her business, and and old college frenemy wants her to go to Spokane to ghostbust a house (nevermind that Mercy isn't a ghostbuster). On top of this, she's entering a new phase of her relationship with her alpha werewolf significant other, Adam.

I highly recommend reading the first three books in the series before opening this one. The universe is somewhat complex and there are many characters and settings not fully explained to new readers. Also, Mercy has had some traumatic life experiences in the past and her way of dealing with them might seem strange to those unfamiliar with her personality.

On the whole, Bone Crossed, is a super fun read.

Cranford

I was inspired to read Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell after watching the PBS/BBC miniseries last year. The town of Cranford is dominated by women. There are relatively few men, at least in the social circle of the characters in this book. The main characters are all single, either spinsters or widows, and they fiercely guard their way of life.

The book, originally published serially in 1853 in Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words, is a series of vignettes of the daily life of Miss Mathilda Jenkyns. This book is definitely character driven and starts off slow. Nothing truly exciting ever happens in Cranford and you have to get to know the characters before you understand how small disruptions can make huge waves in their lives. Gaskell manages to convey how important small events are to these characters. You get the sense that if anything big ever happened they'd die from the shock. The narrator, Mary Smith, a frequent (and slightly more worldly) visitor to the town tries to keep molehills from turning into mountains and for the most part is successful. But, sometimes even she gets sucked into the daily drama.

Fans of the miniseries might be disappointed with the book. Many of the funniest storylines from the series are added. But, the loyalty and friendship the characters display towards each other should endear this book to all but the most jaded reader.

Goal For 2009—75 Books

January

(1) Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen (reread)
(2) To Sir Phillip with Love - Julia Quinn (reread)
(3) Bleak House - Charles Dickens
(4) Running Hot - Jayne Ann Krentz

February

(5) Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen (reread)
(6) Plum Spooky - Janet Evanovich
(7) Crossfire - Joann Ross
(8) The Pregnancy Test - Erin McCarthy
(9) Bone crossed - Patricia Briggs

(10) Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell

Currently reading:

The thin place : a novel - Kathryn Davis
Shattered - Joann Ross

To Be Read:

The Mill On the Floss- George Eliot
Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
Emma - Jane Austen (reread)
Adam Bede - George Eliot
North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
Fire and ice - Julie Garwood
THE TREASURE KEEPER - Shana Abe
AT HIS MERCY - Linda Howard
The perfect poison - Amanda Quick
GHOULS JUST HAUNT TO HAVE FUN - Victoria Laurie
Black Hills - Nora Roberts
Knockout - Catherine Coulter
BURN : A Novel - Linda Howard
Temptation and surrender : a Cynster novel - Stephanie Laurens
Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
The Princess Bride - William Goldman
The Unbearable Lightness of Being - Milan Kundera
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
The Piano Teacher - Janice Y.K. Lee
Revolutionary Road - Richard Yates
Middlemarch - George Eliot
Daniel Deronda - George Eliot
Romola - George Eliot
Flat-Out Sexy - Erin McCarthy
Hard and Fast - Erin McCarthy
Tap and Gown (releases 5/19/09) - Diana Peterfreund
Rampant (August 09) - Diana Peterfreund
King Solomon’s Mines - H. Rider Haggard
Persuasion - Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
The Old Curiosity Shop - Charles Dickens
Dead and Gone - Charlaine Harris

Setting an Intention

I'm not known the world over as an early adopter. Our's was the last family in town to get a microwave. And, because of an aunt's disasterous foray into betamax, we were the last family we knew to get a VCR. So it shouldn't surprise anyone I know that I'm just now getting into blogging.

So what do I hope to accomplish?

This blog is really for me to keep track of my thoughts regarding reading and knitting. So, I'm setting an intention. I don't want to use this space to bitch about my friends, enemies, family, co-workers, employees, bad drivers or general fuckwits. I plan to review the books I read (my goal is 75 books this year) and document my knitting projects. I'll link this to Ravelry when I get the chance.

So, I guess that's it for now. It's a beginning.