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Haley Mathiot (9 KP) rated Hattitude: Knits for Every Mood in Books
Apr 27, 2018
Hattitude is an amazing, beautiful, inspiring book with a TON of hats. Hats are so cool and versatile, you can wear one almost anywhere, and with all the patterns in here, there is literally a hat for every occasion: formal diner to snow day, university lecture to yard work. Hattitude has a hat for everyone.
The patterns themselves vary in yarn type and needle size, so between the various patterns that you catch yourself drooling over and the millions of kinds of yarn in the world, you’re pretty much set for life. If you find that you don’t have the needles you need, you’ll probably have a second choice (possibly a third or a fourth etc) to make to hold you over while you get those other needles because of all the awesome hats in here.
The hats range in all kinds of yarn: cashmere, wool, acrylic, chunky, chenille, that bumpy nubby stuff, and wool for felting. Some have cool décor like beads, sequins, ribbon, buttons, appliqués, giant buckles, and pearls. And some are more simple, with a few color combos, or some pattern work.
There are patterns for all levels, too! You have to be the judge of what you can or can’t do, though, since it doesn’t outright tell you “beginner level” or “advanced level,” but as a knitter it’s pretty easy to tell if you can do something. Read the pattern. If it doesn’t make a bit of sense, get help or pick another and come back to that one two years from now. Some patterns have only simple increasing and decreasing, some have some more advanced shaping and cables, and some have some complicated lace work.
As far as the layout of the book, Each pattern has a full front face photograph on one page, and the pattern opposite with a smaller photo from a second view point, so you get a full look at what you’re making.
The only reason I’d give this one four stars rather than five is… there are also some really weird hats in here. I don’t like all of them. Some of them I’d never make, and it’s just because they’re not my style at all. Maybe they’d look good on someone else, maybe someone else will like them. The book is, again, versatile, and will please a wide range of knitters, all with different likes. The downside of that is, I don’t think anyone can be fully pleased because nobody is going to like every single pattern. However, the good outweighs the bad here: there are way more patterns that I like than patterns that I don’t like.
All in all, I’d recommend this book to any knitter who has had some experience in shaping and working on double pointed needles and circular needles. And of course, anyone who drools over hats.
**review copy provided by publisher**
The patterns themselves vary in yarn type and needle size, so between the various patterns that you catch yourself drooling over and the millions of kinds of yarn in the world, you’re pretty much set for life. If you find that you don’t have the needles you need, you’ll probably have a second choice (possibly a third or a fourth etc) to make to hold you over while you get those other needles because of all the awesome hats in here.
The hats range in all kinds of yarn: cashmere, wool, acrylic, chunky, chenille, that bumpy nubby stuff, and wool for felting. Some have cool décor like beads, sequins, ribbon, buttons, appliqués, giant buckles, and pearls. And some are more simple, with a few color combos, or some pattern work.
There are patterns for all levels, too! You have to be the judge of what you can or can’t do, though, since it doesn’t outright tell you “beginner level” or “advanced level,” but as a knitter it’s pretty easy to tell if you can do something. Read the pattern. If it doesn’t make a bit of sense, get help or pick another and come back to that one two years from now. Some patterns have only simple increasing and decreasing, some have some more advanced shaping and cables, and some have some complicated lace work.
As far as the layout of the book, Each pattern has a full front face photograph on one page, and the pattern opposite with a smaller photo from a second view point, so you get a full look at what you’re making.
The only reason I’d give this one four stars rather than five is… there are also some really weird hats in here. I don’t like all of them. Some of them I’d never make, and it’s just because they’re not my style at all. Maybe they’d look good on someone else, maybe someone else will like them. The book is, again, versatile, and will please a wide range of knitters, all with different likes. The downside of that is, I don’t think anyone can be fully pleased because nobody is going to like every single pattern. However, the good outweighs the bad here: there are way more patterns that I like than patterns that I don’t like.
All in all, I’d recommend this book to any knitter who has had some experience in shaping and working on double pointed needles and circular needles. And of course, anyone who drools over hats.
**review copy provided by publisher**
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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Unmarriageable: A Novel in Books
May 7, 2019
One of these days I really need to read Austen. I enjoy so many retellings - Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Bridget Jones' Diary, and I know I have a copy of Mr. Darcy, Vampyre around here somewhere! (And now that I pulled up The Lizzie Bennet Diaries to link it here, I'm sorely tempted to sit down and watch the whole thing again but I have books to read!)
Anyway. Austen. I've read a bunch of retellings but believe it or not, I haven't read the original. I really need to get on that, but instead, I read Unmarriageable, which is Pride and Prejudice set in modern-day Pakistan! It's SO GOOD. The themes of family honor, class structure, and rumors damaging reputations translates incredibly easily into Pakistani society, which is why Soniah Kamal wrote it. In her Afterword, she writes:
"Was there any worry more Pakistani than the concern about what might bring a family honor or dishonor? .... Was there anything more Pakistani than [Charlotte's] calculated, 'arranged' marriage? ... Was there anything more apropos to Pakistan than class issues, snootiness, and double standards?"
She goes on to say she was already reading the book as if it was set in Pakistan, so why not write it that way for other Pakistanis? Kamal explains that Pakistan is very much a mix of Pakistan and English culture, and that the emphasis on learning English and English culture comes at the expense of their own indigenous culture, something forced upon them by colonizers. Unmarriageable is her way of melding the two cultures.
I really enjoyed this version of the classic, and it has me even more interested in other versions, such as Ibi Zoboi's Pride and Sonali Dev's Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors. Book Riot actually ran a short list recently on diverse Austen retellings, and I've added every one of them to my To-Read list!
You can find all my reviews (and links to the things mentioned above) on my blog, http://goddessinthestacks.com
Anyway. Austen. I've read a bunch of retellings but believe it or not, I haven't read the original. I really need to get on that, but instead, I read Unmarriageable, which is Pride and Prejudice set in modern-day Pakistan! It's SO GOOD. The themes of family honor, class structure, and rumors damaging reputations translates incredibly easily into Pakistani society, which is why Soniah Kamal wrote it. In her Afterword, she writes:
"Was there any worry more Pakistani than the concern about what might bring a family honor or dishonor? .... Was there anything more Pakistani than [Charlotte's] calculated, 'arranged' marriage? ... Was there anything more apropos to Pakistan than class issues, snootiness, and double standards?"
She goes on to say she was already reading the book as if it was set in Pakistan, so why not write it that way for other Pakistanis? Kamal explains that Pakistan is very much a mix of Pakistan and English culture, and that the emphasis on learning English and English culture comes at the expense of their own indigenous culture, something forced upon them by colonizers. Unmarriageable is her way of melding the two cultures.
I really enjoyed this version of the classic, and it has me even more interested in other versions, such as Ibi Zoboi's Pride and Sonali Dev's Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors. Book Riot actually ran a short list recently on diverse Austen retellings, and I've added every one of them to my To-Read list!
You can find all my reviews (and links to the things mentioned above) on my blog, http://goddessinthestacks.com
Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Take Me Home Tonight (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
If you’re planning an 80’s party anytime soon, make sure to download the soundtrack to Take Me Home Tonight. The opening montage alone reminded me of everything I loved about the 80’s. It also gave us a glimpse of Matt Franklin’s high school years. Matt, played by Topher Grace, was the kid voted as “Smartest” in his class, one who existed on the outer fringes of high school popularity, who always had his eye on the most popular girl in school, Tori Fredreking, but could never muster up the courage or find that “in” to catch her attention.
Unsure of where his life is taking him, Matt decides to take a break from MIT during the summer of ’88 and ends up working at Suncoast Video. Of course, who should come strolling in to his store one day but Matt’s high school crush herself. Hoping to impress her, Matt ditches his Suncoast nametag, and tells Tori, played by Teresa Palmer (a deadringer for Kristen Stewart, if Kirsten were blond and more animated), that he works for Goldman-Sachs. Tori’s a banker herself, it turns out, and her curiousity is finally piqued and she encourages him to attend Kyle Masterson’s annual Labor Day party.
Matt relies on his twin sister Wendy, played by Anna Faris, and their best friend Barry, an intense Dan Fogler, to help him build on this “in” and finally get Tori’s phone number. But Matt isn’t the only one having to deal with the confusing transition into adulthood. Wendy has to decide if she wants to pursue her Masters or settle down with her boyfriend Kyle, while Barry just got fired from his car salesman job. The three of them decide to attend the end-of-summer party thrown by Wendy’s boyfriend Kyle, played by Parks & Rec’s Chris Pratt, all with the intent of “living in the now.” Apparently living in the now means commiting grand theft auto, experimenting with cocaine, perpetuating a lie and crashing a bankers’ party.
Despite the silly hijinks, Matt isn’t hard to root for, especially given Topher Grace’s signature sympathetic awkwardness. Fogler’s comic foil to Grace’s straight-man dances precariously along the line between funny and WTH? When the movie about Sam Kinnison’s life is ever made, Fogler should be given serious consideration.
There’s good chemistry between the cast and there’s just enough sweet romance to balance out the outrageous situations. Silly, predictable entertainment, made more fun by the nostalgic soundtrack, this movie is tamer than most of the R-rated comedies of recent note. Think any John Hughes movie meets Hot Tub Time Machine.
Unsure of where his life is taking him, Matt decides to take a break from MIT during the summer of ’88 and ends up working at Suncoast Video. Of course, who should come strolling in to his store one day but Matt’s high school crush herself. Hoping to impress her, Matt ditches his Suncoast nametag, and tells Tori, played by Teresa Palmer (a deadringer for Kristen Stewart, if Kirsten were blond and more animated), that he works for Goldman-Sachs. Tori’s a banker herself, it turns out, and her curiousity is finally piqued and she encourages him to attend Kyle Masterson’s annual Labor Day party.
Matt relies on his twin sister Wendy, played by Anna Faris, and their best friend Barry, an intense Dan Fogler, to help him build on this “in” and finally get Tori’s phone number. But Matt isn’t the only one having to deal with the confusing transition into adulthood. Wendy has to decide if she wants to pursue her Masters or settle down with her boyfriend Kyle, while Barry just got fired from his car salesman job. The three of them decide to attend the end-of-summer party thrown by Wendy’s boyfriend Kyle, played by Parks & Rec’s Chris Pratt, all with the intent of “living in the now.” Apparently living in the now means commiting grand theft auto, experimenting with cocaine, perpetuating a lie and crashing a bankers’ party.
Despite the silly hijinks, Matt isn’t hard to root for, especially given Topher Grace’s signature sympathetic awkwardness. Fogler’s comic foil to Grace’s straight-man dances precariously along the line between funny and WTH? When the movie about Sam Kinnison’s life is ever made, Fogler should be given serious consideration.
There’s good chemistry between the cast and there’s just enough sweet romance to balance out the outrageous situations. Silly, predictable entertainment, made more fun by the nostalgic soundtrack, this movie is tamer than most of the R-rated comedies of recent note. Think any John Hughes movie meets Hot Tub Time Machine.
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