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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 (5836 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 (1703 KP) Mar 6, 2018

Julian Barnes is a superb writer no doubt!

Hooks Can Be Deceiving
Hooks Can Be Deceiving
Betty Hechtman | 2018 | Mystery
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Hooks Can Be Deceiving By: Betty Hechtman
Published By Crooked Lane Books Published Date 11 December 2018
Mystery and Thriller 320 Pages
#HooksCanBeDeceiving #NetGalley
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I just love her books. I have read a few of her books and enjoy them. At the end of the book she always has a pattern or two for you try and also recipes. These recipes and pattern are mentioned in the book.
The main character in this book is Molly Pink. She works in a book store which has a yarn area to do projects. Within the first couple of chapters in these books there is always a murder. Molly usually gets herself involved with trying to solve them.
I won't go into too much detail because it is a mystery novel and I don't want to give too much away. The story is about a fellow crocheter who is killed. They want to put it as an accidental death but there are too many discrepancies. Molly gets involves because a friend asks her to do some quite investigating. Molly finds out some things and more questions come and a lot of other people need to be questioned by the police.
This was one of her better books because it had me guessing all the way to the end and I was surprised by who the murderer was.
I highly recommend this book when it comes out. I gave it 5 stars.
  
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Knitting At Home: 60 Classics from Ella Rae Designs by Leanne Prouse
ISBN: 9781933027999
Published: Published October 5th 2010 by Sixth&Spring Books
Rating: 5

 

Knitting At Home aims to be more than a knitting book with pretty patterns. Specifically, it aims to inspire and create a desire to satisfy creativity. It accomplishes this wonderfully. There isn't a pattern in Knitting at Home that I don't like, and there are several I'm itching to start on.

 

The book has six sections: A Room for Living, Relaxing, Sharing, Retreating, Little ones, and It's the Weekend. Each one has a great collection of patterns.

 

There was a good variety of patterns in the book, between socks, fingerless mitts, bags, and decorations for the home. There were also a lot of throws and blankets. Now I've never made a blanket… but after flipping through this book a few times, I've never wanted to make one so badly (Alas, most of my yarn is at home and I'm stuck at college). Same with pillows. I never understood the idea of knitting a pillow, but when seen in the photographs in the book and when I saw the beautiful patterns, I desperately wanted one! There are also some beautiful sweater patterns, some nice socks, a cute pair of slippers, and even some felted stuffed dolls.

 

The patterns and the whole feel of this book drips creativity and inspiration: everything from the layout to the font to the color schemes. Both Leanne Prouse and her artistic director did a great job on Knitting at Home.



Recommendation: beginner to experienced knitters who like larger projects and projects for the home.
  
Generally speaking when I get a craft book, I like 99% of the patterns. There are always a few that I’m not big on, or just not impressed by. But this book is different: I love every single pattern, and want to make them all in a bunch of different colors. Like I’m not even joking. And I even got my boyfriend to look through all the pictures too and he was like “oooh you should make that. Ooh that would be so pretty on you. Oooh look at that one.” It was kind of adorable.

There were a few things that made me really love this book. Yes the patterns themselves were lovely, but one of the things about them was the hook size wasn’t microscopic. When I go online and search for “Crochet lace,” a lot of times the patterns I find are very tight-gauge. Fingering weight yarn, tiny hooks, itty bitty details, slow progress. These patterns were mostly G, H, and I hooks, so they will work up pretty quickly.

Another thing I really liked was the French names and theme running through the book. All the patterns were elegant, light, delicate, and sweet. Some of them were gorgeous and sexy in addition! Even the layout of the patterns themselves was elegant.

Lastly there was both graphs for the lace, and the written instructions, for both kinds of people. I can’t just follow a pattern, and I can’t just look at a graph. But with both, I’m good.

I’m super excited about this book. Check back with me in a few weeks to see what I’ve made!