Coconut Library

Needles and Pearls :: review

 

Needles and Pearls

By Gil McNeil

415 pages. Hyperion/Voice. $14.99

published May 11, 2010

(read an excerpt from the book here)

In The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club, Gil McNeil introduced us to Jo Mackenzie. Having learned that her husband was cheating on her and was leaving her and their two sons, Jack and Archie, for his mistress was the first crushing blow of the night. The  other? Having her husband die in a car accident within an hour after breaking the news and walking out on her. (We learn all of that on the back flap, so no need to throw rotten tomatoes at me for ruining the book.) What happens next is the heartwarming and surprisingly funny story that McNeil weaves for us throughout the rest of this alluring tale about a mother's love and the power of her relationship with her children. We meet back up with Jo, Jack, and Archie along with the other flavorful characters in Broadgate (a small seaside town in rural England) in Needles and Pearls. 

McKnits, the yarn store that Jo has been given by her lovable and spunky grandmother, is starting to grow with the help of sweet local carpenter, Martin and the publicity given to it (and Jo) through a friendship started with top actress Grace Harrison, who has commissioned Jo to be her personal knit instructor. Jo and her boys are settling in well to their new community as they near their one year anniversary of moving there, when life sends them some unexpected surprises. In true McNeil fashion, these bumps in the road are quickly made into endearing episodes and plot twists that make her characters more real and layered. She takes the chance to explore some topics that are not traditionally found in the lighter side of literature; pregnancy, divorce, death, dysfunctional families. Yet she is able to come at the subject with the warmth and hindsight of someone who convinces the reader she knows what she's writing about. 

Though this heartwarmer doesn't  keep us at the edge of our seats and can sometimes be a bit hard to follow as to who is speaking (it is strongly dialogue driven without always noting who the speaker is), we can count on McNeil to make us laugh while wrapping up loose ends somewhat tidily. While the adults are the crux of the novel, McNeil writes children in a vividly accurate portrayal adding extra charm and humor to her work. 

Though knitting is certainly a presence in these novels, it is mostly because these books are set partly in Jo's yarn shop. McNeil herself comes from a line of champion knitters, and is able to seamlessly interweave this passion into a much bigger story. Those looking for a novel about knitting might be disappointed when they find that these stories have about as much to do with the actual practice of knitting as the movie Beaches did with the beach. It's more of a catapult for story lines rather than the overall theme of the book. 

Enjoy this book over a lazy weekend when you could use a good laugh and a bit of relaxation. 

Rating: Three Stars
 (please note the new rating system for reviews below)

Rating Guide for Coconut Library:
***** Classic : A timeless book to be read by all
**** Excellent: One of the best of its genre
*** Good: Enjoyable, particularly for fans of the genre
** Fair: Some problems, approach with caution
* Poor: Not worth your time

Disclosure: This book was sent to me by the publisher. The review is my honest opinion and I was given no compensation to 
write about this book. 

The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club

  I wonder if the fact that I am now craving tea everyday, took up crocheting again, and am dying to get back to England means that I was influenced by the charming book The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club. Gil McNeil gives us a story about Jo, who after being told by her husband that he has had an affair, loses him in a car accident. McNeil spares us the agony of going through the tragedy and allows us the uplifting glimpse of Jo's life, with her two young boys, as she rebuilds after. She moves to the English seaside, takes over her grandmother's yarn store, makes new friends (including an international movie star) while keeping close contact with her refreshing and witty best friend and rebuilding her life with her two (quite funny) adorable boys. I devoured this book in a big gulp, and can't wait for a second helping. You can almost hear her boys as you laugh out loud at them, and see her seaside house which I imagine is a bit shabby chic and utterly comfortable. Her life and  story are charming and real. Thanks to Hyperion/ Voice for this pleasant little surprise in my mailbox. I would giveaway a copy, but I won't because I'm not ready to part with mine... I plan on reading it again (kind of like comfort food and your favorite movies combined). 

Although the sequel has been published in the UK, we will have to wait until May for it to come out State-side. I can't wait. 
Five Coconuts

xo,
The Coconut Librarian

There's Something About Christmas

There's Something About Christmas by Debbie Macomber is a sweet, short Christmas novel. As with most Macomber books, it is a lighthearted, heartwarming easy read. It took me a good chapter or two to decide if I would keep reading it, though after that it was a fairly quick read. 

 Emma Collins has always believed that the world is divided into two kinds of people: those who love fruitcake and those who don't. She's firmly in the second category, so it's ironic that her major assignment for the Puyallup, Washington, Examiner is a series of articles about . . . fruitcake. At least it's a step up from writing obituaries.

Her task is to interview the finalists in a fruitcake recipe contest, and that means traveling around the state. Actually . . . flying around the state. Local pilot Oliver Hamilton, who's starting an airfreight business, has agreed to take her wherever she needs to go, in exchange for free advertising. Unfortunately Emma hates small planes -- almost as much as she hates fruitcake.

But in the weeks leading up to Christmas, Emma falls for Oliver (who's not quite the Scrooge he sometimes seems) and his mutt, Oscar (who's allergic to her perfume, which makes him sneeze repeatedly). And she meets three wise women who know a lot about fruitcake -- and even more about life. (from publisher)

I recommend this if you are looking for sweet holiday reads, though this one could be read at other times of the year as well as it doesn't strictly have to do with Christmas, but rather takes place around that time of year. 
Three Coconuts

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! 

xo,
The Coconut Librarian

The Help

 I've wanted to read The Help by Kathryn Stockett since the moment I saw it on the shelf about a year ago. I put it on my wishlist, but kept reading other books. As the months went by I heard people say how much they loved it while it rose on bestseller lists. I finally bought it in October (because the hold list at the library was a mile long), and though my book club read it in November, I still procrastinated. I knew this was going to be a good book; too many people loved it for it to be a flop. However, I (wrongly) thought it was going to be a large commitment. A thick hardback about segregation in early 1960's Mississippi? That to me was a no brainer... get ready to have some heavy reading in a book you should be reading, even if you don't thoroughly enjoy it. Wrong. Incorrect, mistaken, false; if I could remember how to say it in another language I would. 

This novel, that I thought was going to be more of an education than an escape, was nothing like what I expected it to be. It reads smoothly, like you are sitting at a kitchen table sipping sweet tea with the very characters themselves while they are filling you in on the gossip of their town. The narration switches between Miss Skeeter (a white aspiring writer and new college graduate in her early 20's), Minny (a black maid and sassy mother of five in her 30's), and Aibileen (a black maid, sought after baby nurse, and talented writer in her 50's). Skeeter returns home to Mississippi after graduating from college in 1962 only to find that she no longer quite fits in with her lifelong friends. While they left college after one or two years to marry and start having babies, Skeeter finished her education and came home with plans for a career. Once home, the town's views about segregation and the roles of black and white people as citizen classes do not bode as well with her as they do with her friends (one of whom is the Junior League president, and staunch segregation supporter). And, to top it all off, her beloved maid and nurse, Constantine, has been fired and nobody will tell her why or where she's gone. Skeeter, wanting so much to be a writer, begins a project that has the potential to bring light to the circumstances in Jackson, Mississippi (one of the most notoriously racist cities of the time) but she will need the assistance of Aibileen, Minny and other Help even at the risking of their own lives. 

Though Stockett includes tragic events in the story, they are not the crux of the novel. They add to the setting because they explain the time. This is not a hard book to swallow, however, and you will not be wading through pages of history to get to the heart of the story. This book is actually the opposite. It wears it's heart on it's sleeve and adds history as relish to give the story depth and authenticity. The chapters narrated by Aibileen and Minny are especially beloved by many readers, me included, for the tone, rhythm, and flavor that they add to the story. 

I can't make you read this book, but I can tell you that you will be missing out if you don't. There are not very many books that pull you into them in such a way that you enter a different world while you are reading. This is one of those. I envy those of you who will be opening it and reading it for the first time. Don't pass it up.
Five Coconuts

xo,
The Coconut Librarian

Summer at Willow Lake

 Summer at Willow Lake is the first in Susan Wiggs' Lakeshore Chronicles. (The most recent is Lakeshore Christmas, new this season). Apparently, you don't need to read each of the books in the series... you can pick up any one you want and you will be fine. However, I like to read a series from the beginning, even if just because that's the way it was written.

Summer at Willow Lake is Olivia Bellamy's story. Olivia is a successful designer who stages homes for the real estate market; setting up homes with a few small changes or improvements to make them more inviting and sellable. She loves her job, and is happy enough with her life. However, when she and her boyfriend break up she agrees to take a job from her grandparents; to spruce up the summer camp that they owned (which all the children in their family attended... including Olivia) for their 50th anniversary and vow-renewal ceremony. Along with her best friend and sometimes partner, Freddy, and closest cousin, Dare, Olivia begins the camp restoration project. The setting itself is perfect for those of us who have fond and numerous camp memories of our own, but thrown in Connor Davis (Olivia's old camp love), a family secret, and a good dose of hope and restoration for the people in this story as well, and you've got a 534 page cozy, charming read for anyone. 

I already have The Winter Lodge (#2 in this series) waiting to be read, and if they are all this comforting I will be finishing this high-GoodReads-reader-rated series before you know it!
Three Coconuts

xo,
The Coconut Librarian

The Christmas List, Challenge, and Book Club - Oh My!

 Usually I save my review of the Book Club selection until the end of the month, but seeing that this book has a Christmas theme, it is best read during this season. I want to post the review now to really encourage you to pick up this small book and read it this month. In fact, if I could, I would be buying this as a Christmas gift for all my friends and family. After reading the description on the back cover, I thought this would be a cheesy, cute Christmas novel for us to read for December. Having now read the book, I realized this is an original twist on a timeless story, and an incredibly inspiring one at that. 

James Kier is a very successful real estate mogul, who has lost his values along his way up the corporate ladder. He has no regard for the feelings of others, and has a vision for nothing else besides money and his own pleasure. A newspaper headline and following article about his untimely (and incorrect) death sends him on a journey through his past to those he has hurt. This is where the similarity to Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol ends. Richard Paul Evans' story jolts us out of the comfortable familiarity of a tale we thought we knew, and propels us on with his heartening tale of what turns out to be a thought provoking tearjerker. We readers learn lessons throughout the book, even if unable to relate entirely to the main character, as Evans gives us examples of not only trying to make wrongs right, but what matters in the meantime. Part of why I read is to change who I am. Whether it be to escape into the life of the character I am learning about, travel to a place I've never been (or revisit some of my favorites), or find encouragement and inspiration to find ways to make this world, along with my own personal world, a better place. The Christmas List is a book which I didn't expect to be the latter. Reading it honestly makes me want to be a better person, and I'm not the only one. After watching the video and reading people's reviews on GoodReads, I see that hundreds of other readers feel the same way I do. If you don't believe me, read it yourself. It will only take a few hours to read this absorbing novel. 
Five Coconuts

Announcements:

 On another note, I am taking part in The Christmas Challenge at The True Book Addict. The rules from this original Challenge are as follows:

The Christmas Reading Challenge:

• will run from Thanksgiving Day, November 26 through New Year's Eve, December 31, 2009
• you can choose 1 - 3 books...I know it seems a small amount, but it's a busy time of year and the challenge is only a little over a month.
• These must be Christmas novels, books about Christmas lore or a book of Christmas short stories (sorry, no children's books, but YA novel is okay).

I am adding an extra boost to the challenge, and instead of 1-3 Christmas books, am reading as many Christmas books as I can until Christmas (seriously, what other time of year can I do this?). So, if you would like to join, you can do the regular challenge (The True Book Addict version), or the boosted challenge (my version)! Usually by the time December 26th comes around, I am sad that Christmas is over for an entire year. What other month is there so much hope, so many inspirational movies and songs, so much love in the air, and pretty decorations along the city streets? I realize this challenge is for those who celebrate Christmas whichever religion you are, as I know people who are not practicing Christians who still love Christmas. If you are bah-humbug about Christmas, Coconut Library's goal is to be all Christmased out by December 26th, and ready for a new year and you can rejoin us for all of the great books coming to kick off the new beginning! 

 Last thing: As you know, I am a big fan of GoodReads and can hardly understand why everyone isn't on it. You get no advertisements, you need not post any personal information (as well as being able to set your account to private), you can review and get hundreds of reader reviews on any book that is published, and it's free! As has been mentioned, CL moderates a book club called Heartwarmers, and you are welcome to join that one. However as of December 8, 2009, CL will moderate a Coconut Library Book Club on GoodReads! It will be open for readers of Coconut Library and will feature the Book Club selection for each month. This will be a place where, regardless of location or time availability, we will all be able to discuss the current month's book together. Please take a moment to check it out. What do you loose if you don't like it? You can cancel your account immediately. Come join us to discuss The Christmas List this month. Looking forward to seeing you there!

xo,
The Coconut Librarian

The Penny Pincher's Club

Kat, the protagonist, finds out her husband is going to leave her after their daughter graduates from high school in June. Devastating, yes, but what's more so is that Kat knows nothing about finances because she, like so many women, left "that business" up to her husband (who has recently opened a separate credit card and bank account that she can't touch, thank you very much). 

Luckily, her older sister, Viv, takes her to a high powered lawyer who gives her the best advice of her life... she must learn about her financial world and she must create a nest egg. Enter the Penny Pinchers Club, a cast of quirky characters including Kat's (now ex) cleaning lady, who help her figure out that she is $37,000 in debt (oh yes), and then teach her how to budget, save, and climb out of that monster of a hole she's dug for herself. In the process of doing this work on organizing her life, gaining perspective about her spending habits, and conserving for her future (all without telling her husband that she knows about his plans or that she is saving up for the inevitable, and very expensive, divorce), Kat ends up spending more time with her family than she has in years, ventures out on her own to fulfill her business dream (because of her necessity to make more money), and learns a much needed lesson about personal finances and the importance of having a handle on them. 

Of course, add a dash of romance and intrigue by throwing in Liam, Kat's ex-almost-fiance who is recently divorced, wealthy, and still in love with Kat. And don't forget that twist of "oh, shoot, are you sure?!" at the end to really seal the deal.
Four Coconuts

Stay Tuned: Coming Next Week...
* The Washington Post: Chapter One Site information
* Best of... List 
* One Thousand White Women (review)

xo,
The Coconut Librarian

Evening Class

Evening Class was my second encounter with Maeve Binchy. I am getting very fond of her. There is something about her way of writing; I don't realize that I am hooked until I've taken a moment away from the book and feel as though I'm missing something! She is so subtle, that Maeve.

I found the main characters likable and entertaining. The way that Binchy combines their individual stories (within the larger story) is wonderful and thorough. I find myself wanting to jump on a plane and join them in Dublin. Each chapter is from a different person's point of view (as it was in Heart and Soul), and that actually suits this sometimes ADD reader more than I thought it would. Although I have found in the past that this is not my ideal for storytelling, something about the way that Binchy includes other story lines in each subplot, and brings them all back to the bigger story makes her writing delightful. 

Once again the author delivered a heartwarming, feel good, entertaining novel.
Five Coconuts

xo,
The Coconut Librarian

 

The Forgotten Garden

I knew this book had been on the May 2009 Indie Notables List, and had also seen it displayed in Barnes and Noble, but I didn't know much about this book when I started reading it. My book club on GoodReads, Heartwarmers, decided to read it this month. So, I borrowed it from the library. Though it took me a little while to crack the cover, because I became busy and the length was a bit daunting, I am so glad I finally dove in! 

Kate Morton is a stellar wordsmith and I am so impressed with how she spins a tale. If there were a picture next to "storyteller" in the dictionary, it would be of Kate Morton's face. It's always so delicious to find yourself in a novel that is a bonafide story, where the fibers of plot and syntax connect in such a way that you find yourself in awe of how the author was able to weave it all together so richly. Historical fiction, mystery, light fantasy, and tragedy are all bled together to create a spellbinding story. 

Amazingly you don't even realize that you are in a mystery until you have already connected with the story, and then it is such a quality mystery that the outcome is not even able to be guessed at until the last fourth of the novel (and even then, it is still a watery guestimation). 

I haven't felt this way about a story since I finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society last year. There is a special sensation that certain books give you; like you have stumbled into something remarkable and though part of you wants to tell everyone so that they can witness it too, the other half of you wants to keep it your own precious secret. These books did that for me. 

So often throughout The Forgotten Garden I wondered how the author was able to articulate ideas that felt like my own. It takes not only work, but concentration, observance, and a generous amount of introspection to be able to translate those universal feelings onto the page (or in this case onto 549 pages) yet keep the ideas fresh. In the conclusion, Morton backstitches the threads of the piece in such a way that the reader steps back in admiration of the final product;  I was taken until the very last punctuation mark. It will be my displeasure to return this to the library -- this is a title that deserves a place in my personal library, and I intend to secure a copy for future re-reading. 
Five Coconuts

xo,
The Coconut Library

Watermelon

Watermelon is the first book by Marian Keyes that I have read (it has been included in the last two days' posts). I have read about and heard about Keyes work, but never picked up one of her books. What a mistake. Now I put her in the same category as Emily Giffin, because even though their writing is considered chick-lit, they create substantial plots. Their characters don't annoy me; they have brains. I have only read one of Ms. Keyes' books, so I cannot speak for her entire body of work, but from what I've seen, she writes like a friend telling you a story about what happened to a sister/ cousin/ friend/ co-worker of hers. Though she is maybe a smidge more fluffy than Giffin, she is also a bit more funny. 

The comical beat to this story was enjoyable. I related to the character on numerous occasions, and liked her throughout almost the entire book (there was one part, which I will not disclose, where I wanted to smack her in the face... the feeling only lasted a few pages and was only because I thought she was making a bad decision). The style of writing resonated with me also, perhaps because it is similar to mine (though I by no means intend to compare myself to an accomplished novelist, I can relate to her way of working the prose).

The novel mostly takes place in Dublin, Ireland (a theme for me lately?) which I enjoyed because I am a fan of Ireland and the people there. Keyes, herself, is from Ireland and has the wit to prove it. What could have been depressing, dragging, and dull reading, instead was sweet, swift, and satisfying.

I will be reading more of Keyes in the future. (I have, in fact, already ordered two more of her books from PBS.) I recommend Watermelon to lighten the work week, while giving you enough substance to keep you coming back for more. 
Four Coconuts

xo,
The Coconut Librarian