Scarf City

I've made 2 scarves and have pictures of neither, so I'm going to write about the books that I have recently finished reading.

Up first. . .

The Other Side of the Story by Marian Keyes. Okay, she is my guilty pleasure author. It's what you might call chick-lit, but I *love* her stuff. Haven't read a bad book by her yet (and I've read them all). You want some curl up by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa reading? Buy this book! I devoured it, as I have done with all of her other books. Gerat gift for yourself or a girlfriend.

Next . . .

Black Dogs by Ian McEwan. This book was a bit of a disappointement. I've read several other books by McEwan and was impressed, but this is, I believe, one of his earlier works and it lacks the beauty of his later novels. If you want to read a truly excellent book, read Atonement: A Novel. This book *blew* *me* *away*! I think he may be one of the greatest living writer's. The writing is beautiful and the levels of meaning are astounding. Go read it! (Forget Black Dogs, though.)

And finally (can you tell that I have been reading a lot lately?). . .

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. This book was an enigma for me. At first I didn't really think it was very good, but I could *not* put it down. I literally read it in an afternoon. It's written from the perspective of a teenage boy with autism who is a savant. The strange style that the author used to create the voice of the boy is what put me off, but the story was fascinating. After a few chapters (numbered using prime instead of ordinal numbers), the voice seemed more natural to me and I got over my initial aversion to it. Check it out for an interesting read.

Now I'm out of reading material. Funny tid-bit. . . Whenever I "run out" of books to read, I usually complain to Pete that I have nothing to read. He looks around the house, which is filled with literally hundreds of books, and says "You have *nothing* to read?" Okay, I guess you have to be there, but it usually makes us giggle :)

Comments

[Cara]

Hi! I too loved Atonement and there's good news. There was an article in the New York Times the other day about McEwan - apparently he has a new novel coming, even though he thought he might not be able to write after 9-11. It was definitely within the last week. I have the Haddon book on my shelf to read. I'll definitely pick it up now!
Thanks.

[Renee]

Thanks for the book reviews. I also LOVED "Atonement", but I think I'll stay away from "Black Dogs". I recently bought "Curious Incidenet" but I haven't read it yet. I'll have to move that one up in the line - like you, my book collection is rivaled only by my yarn collection!

[Wendy]

The Other Side of the Story was a lot of fun! I too thought Atonement was great, but haven't read this McEwan book -- and I think I'll give it a miss.

Sounds as though you and I have similar tastes in reading material!

[Katy]

Ooh, I love Marian Keyes...I'll have to check out the new one. In a similar "guilty chick lit" vein, have you read any Jennifer Crusie? She's pegged as a "romance" writer, but her plots are great and her dialogue is sharp. I particularly liked "Faking It", and there's another one about a detective...hmmm.

[mrspilkington]

i thought atonement was amazing too. i haven't liked a couple of his earlier works either...i've got to check out the mark haddon book, i've heard so much about it.

[Melissa G]

Thanks for the reviews--always looking for new material. My problem is the library is one mile away, within the 'hood and I can access its catalogue online, request books, and they'll call me when they're in. The more I read the more I knit--or is it the other way around? Have you read Katie Fford (guilty chick-lit)?

[chris]

The Hub and I go through the same scenario with "I don't have anything to read" . . .

I like Marian Keyes, too -- didn't even know she had a new one out! I'll have to pick it up this weekend.

[Susan]

I liked curious case. The experience of being inside that boy's story was fascinating.

[kelly]

I read The Other Side of the Story a while back and, of course, loved it. Another chicklit author I like is Jennifer Weiner ("Good in Bed", "In Her Shoes").

[PJ]

hmmm?...Atonement...and then the additional comments on that book..sounds like a good one! Thanks

[Susan]

Thanks for the reviews. Marian Keyes and her genre is a guilty pleasure for me, too. I often have two books going at once, one "light" and one meatier, so Atonement goes on my to-read list.

My husband and I do the same thing. He also laughs at me when I complain that I have nothing to wear or nothing to knit.

[knittykim]

The reviews are always appreciated. I will be trying Darkly Dreaming Dexter this weekend (murder/crime novel re: serial killer that only kills serial killers). My sense of reading material is warped, no??

With all your books, I wish you were my neighbor. In college, a professor lived next door, and boy, did I read that year!! good, eclectic stuff

[Heather]

I completely understand the "I don't have anything to read". I've got a pretty big (ahem !)book collection too but sometimes you just need a new voyage for your mind. Old friends won't fit the bill. :0)

[Lisa]

Oh I love Marian Keyes! I'll have to put that one on reserve at the library. I second Katy's recommendation of Jennifer Cruise. Her books are another guilty pleasure of mine.

[Szarka]

We lurved us some 'Curious Incident'. Christopher is just too charming. Hubby is borrowing the audiotape *again* to share with one of his work cohorts on this weekend's biz trip.

[Abigail]

I had a similar reaction to "The Curious Incident.." I couldn't stop reading it, but I'm not sure I actually enjoyed it, if that makes sense.

I also really like Marian Keyes. You might also want to check out Alisa Kwitney. She's smart and funny too. :)

[Crash]

How about these for bobble hats then...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5542431184

[Gaile]

I've been combing bookstores lately looking for a good read, so thank you for posting your list! I added the Marian Keyes book to my wishlist, it sounds interesting. Sinc my family doesn't seem to want to support my yarn habit, maybe they'll buy me a book or two instead!

[Nicole]

Ian McEwan SUCKS :) that's my intellectual opinion. However The Curious Incident was fabulous.

[pknitty]

I have to comment anything I see someone mention Atonement. What a beautiful book. I want to say more, but don't give away the plot. His books are so different, so I was a little disappointment with Amsterdam eventhough it won the Booker Prize. Rumors is that Atonement may become a movie very soon. Maybe not since Enduring Love didn't do too well with the movie critics or audience when it came out last month.

[Maggie]

The boy in Curious Incident is actually supposed to have Asperger's Syndrome, which is in the same family as autism but isn't autism. I liked the book a lot. My son has Asperger's. He's 10 right now and he's much higher functioning than the boy in the book. My kid does really well in regular school and over the years has really learned how to socially behave and doesn't have much of the issues anymore.

When he's a little bit older I'm going to give him the book to read. I'm interested to see what he thinks of it...as someone who has perspective into the character without being affected like the character is.

[Mme Rubies]

I loved that Marian Keyes book. She is one of my guilty pleasures as well.

[lala]

how could one expect the proprietress of a knitting blog to **get** the dark, gritty meanings of a book like "black dogs"? i'm surprised you even picked up "atonement". your refusal to appreciate the work of a master because the subject matter disturbs you says a lot about what you are and what in life you care to avoid. your philistinery pokes through your words like a taut hernia. enjoy your retarded life with hubby. all of you.