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Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2200 KP) rated A Wicked Yarn in Books

Dec 30, 2020  
A Wicked Yarn
A Wicked Yarn
Emmie Caldwell | 2020 | Mystery
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
This Debut is a Good Yarn
After the loss of her husband, Lia Geiger moves to a new town in Pennsylvania and starts selling things she and her knitting friends make at a local craft fair run by her best friend, Belinda. She’s expecting to sell lots of items over Mother’s Day weekend, and Saturday is great. But when she arrives on Sunday, she finds Belinda standing over the dead body of Belinda’s ex-husband, a developer who just the day before was planning to buy the barn where the craft fair is held and tear it down. With attendance at the craft fair dropping and Belinda everyone’s prime suspect, Lia jumps in to clear her friend. Can she do it?

While I don’t normally read crafting themed cozies, I’m glad I picked up this debut because I enjoyed it. The mystery is strong with several viable suspects, and it kept me guessing until the end. I did struggle with Lia’s relationship with Belinda. Even given what she is going through, I had a hard time believe that Lia and Belinda are best friends. However, there are plenty of other characters to love here, including Lia’s new neighbors and her young adult daughter. I enjoyed spending time with them. I’m looking forward to visiting Lia again when the next book in the series comes out.
  
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ArecRain (8 KP) rated Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World in Books

Jan 18, 2018  
Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World
Knitlandia: A Knitter Sees the World
Clara Parkes | 2017 | Biography
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

I normally don’t reading books like this nor have I read the author’s book The Yarn Whisperers, so I wasn’t surprised that this wasn’t to my taste. I requested it because I am a knitter, but unfortunately, this story had less to do about knitting and more about travel. The writing is simple enough, having the conversationalist tone of a blog writer trying to entice a reader; and I enjoyed her easy style. It did take me a while to power through it, however, as I found I didn’t particularly care about the subjects the author chose to write about. The most interesting part of the book, to me, was the opening where she describes her mom’s car being on fire. I didn’t know any of the people the author name dropped so I felt their significance in the story was lost on me.

I really wanted to like this book although I feel I should have known better. I learned my lesson, I guess. Also, my copy randomly had images of A’s in giant gray boxes periodically throughout the book. I am not sure what they were supposed to be but they were distracting. I imagine they were supposed to be images that just didn’t translate in my digital copy. If that’s the case, I am deeply sorry I wasn’t able to see them.
  
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Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated Trust No One in Books

Mar 15, 2018  
TN
Trust No One
Paul Cleave | 2015
8
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Jerry Grey is currently living in an elder care facility and suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, which would be bad enough except that he is convinced that he murdered a girl many years ago and is continually trying to confess to it. The problem with that though, is that he was a best-selling crime novelist and the murder to which he keeps confessing mirrors a plot point from one of his books, so no one believes him. Maybe they're right, and it's just the disease making him think that he did kill her, but evidence keeps appearing that makes him think that it's true, and that somehow he is continuing to commit murders. Or someone is trying to trick him into believing he is. Luckily, he had been keeping a journal of his life with Alzheimer's which should help to make sense of everything. Now if he could just remember where he put it. The first half of this book was perhaps a little light on suspense, and instead seemed to deal with the horror of Alzheimer's and dementia in and of themselves, which are quite frightening. Once the twists start coming however, things move at a breakneck pace, and there are plenty of surprising developments to be had. Aside from a few slightly weak moments, this is one hell of a story and a pretty great suspense yarn for the Halloween season.
  
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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated The Only Story in Books

Jan 10, 2018  
The Only Story
The Only Story
Julian Barnes | 2018 | Fiction & Poetry
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Slightly irritating protagonist, but good story
This unusual romance is definitely not in the same ballpark as the likes of The Notebook and other such love stories - instead it begins as a pseudo-parody of the younger man-older woman genre - ending in a tragically realistic fashion.

Following the story of protagonist Paul, a 19-year-old man-child, attempts to find his feet in the world by defying social conventions. Enter Susan, a married woman with two grown children even older than Paul. Beginning innocently after joining a tennis club, Paul seems to grow increasingly attracted to the almost middle-aged woman, but is clearly ambiguous about his motives for pursuing her. Is it out of sheer rebellion against his traditional upbringing or just another yarn to tell his university friends? What does become increasingly apparent is that it is not just a summer affair, as things start to unravel over time. The question posed by the book at the end is: "Would you rather love the more, and suffer the more; or love the less, and suffer the less?"

As per usual, Julian Barnes is a unique storyteller, able to adapt his writing every single time. It is vastly different from some of his other works such as The Noise of Time, which is written almost like a Russian classic. This, on the other hand, is written in an honest first-person narrative, sounding genuinely like a happy-go-lucky teenager. While it is not a perfect story, especially as the chronology feels inconsistent, it is an easy read.
  
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ClareR (5721 KP) Mar 6, 2018

I’ve just finished reading this and I’m mulling it over before I write my review. It really affected me, I think.
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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) Mar 6, 2018

Julian Barnes is a superb writer no doubt!