Review: The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club by Gil McNeil

 This book was a gift from my Michigan Mom. She knows me so well :-)



About the Book

For every woman who has ever dreamed of starting over, or being a better mother, or just knitting a really nice scarf . . .

Jo Mackenzie needs a fresh start. Newly widowed with two young sons and a perilous bank balance, she leaves the bustle of London to take over her beloved Gran's wool shop in her sleepy seaside hometown. There, she finds unexpected comfort in a "Stitch and Bitch" knitting group that meets every week to trade gossip and, occasionally, a new stitch. When a new man enters Jo's life, the knitting club has even more trouble confining the conversation to knit one, purl two. The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club is an uplifting, winning tale about the healing power of friendship and new beginnings.

For more information about The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club you can visit Gil McNeil's website.

As always, you can purchase a copy of this book from my Amazon store.

My Review

I loved this book, and not just because I'm a knitter. Although that probably helped a little :-)

The knitting group that Jo starts meeting up with was awesome. I felt the camaraderie between the women, even though they were all so different. Much like the knitting group that I used to meet with every week. These women were there for each other no matter what, and were always willing to lend an ear and a hand. They added a bit of drama and quite a bit of comic relief to the story.

I also liked Jo, she was a strong women, and yet she had her weak points. I love characters like this, that are slightly "flawed". Since I know I'm no where near perfect it really helps me relate to them. What I liked most about this story is that despite everything Jo goes through she never gives up, even when she really wants to. She faces some tough situations and yet she keeps herself together for her children.

The small town that Jo moves her family to was also a good part of the story. I've never lived in a small town like this but the book describes this town exactly as I would picture a small town. The nosy neighbor, the really friendly neighbor, and the neighbors who are just good neighbors. Some of the neighbors even added a bit of comedy to the story.

This was just a very well written book and I loved it.

Review: The Kingdom Hall No More by Daniel Chamberlayne

I'd heard about this book while doing some research on religions. I purchased this from Amazon.



About the Book:

Freshman author Daniel Chamberlayne discuss his 16 years experiences growing up as a Jehovah Witness and attending the Kingdom Hall in Hollis, Queens, New York Daniel discusses all his activities in the kingdom hall and what led up to getting baptized with no choice of his own and what led up to getting "disfellowshipped' and "shunned" from the organization and how is Daniel living now since his departure of the Jehovah Witnesses in 1990.

You can purchase a copy of The Kingdom Hall no More from my Amazon store.

My Review:

Having Jehovah Witness family members and having attended meetings with them as a child I tend to connect with books about Witnesses as I know the subject matter. However I am not a Jehovah Witness but I feel to have a better understanding of religion you have to understand them all, whether you agree with their philosophy or not.

I did connect with Daniel in this story. I remember going to the meetings as a child and knew exactly what he was talking about. Which made it much easier for me to connect. Although, not having much experience attending other religious events as a child I would expect them to be similar from a child's perspective. But this story isn't so much about his attending meetings as a child as it is about his journey through life and the actions that led to his disfellowship.

His story is not unlike many others that I have read or heard about. Although his is filled with more famous people than the rest. It's amazing how many people who were influential in rap and hip-hop Chamberlayne has connected with in his life. I know they weren't the stars they are now when he met them, but I would have been so star-struck and he kept his cool. I know I wouldn't have been so cool about it.

My heart hurt for Chamberlayne as he talks about the dark times when he was shunned by his mother and most of his family and friends. As a child you tend to befriend the friends of your parents, and because his mother's friends were almost all witnesses most of his friends were witnesses. That would have been hard to deal with. And some of the tactics his mother takes to make him accept his life as a Jehovah Witness were just crazy to me. My parents and I disagreed many times about many things but I would never have been subjected to what his mother subjected him to. I was so sad.

The writing wasn't great, but the story and the things Chamberlayne went through (the good and the bad) were so compelling. I just wanted to keep reading to see what kind of craziness was going to happen next! I'd say it was well worth the read. 

Giveaway: Ghellow Road by T.H. Waters - Kindle edition

I'd like to thank T.H. Waters for letting me giveaway a copy of her amazing book Ghellow Road. You can also enter to win a paperback copy of Ghellow Road here.



About the Book:

Ghellow Road is a literary diary of a young girl's journey through the tangled labyrinth that is her life. Theresa's story begins in a large midwestern city where she is born to loving parents in 1965. For a brief moment in time, her life is full, as is her heart, and the world is hers to receive without consequence. As time passes and Theresa grows, supernatural forces begin to shape her existence, no matter how carefully her father colors the empty spaces of her world. After a series of tragic events, Theresa and her family seek refuge in a small Minnesota town nestled near the shores of Rainy Lake. She creates a new life for herself there, sharing adventures with friends and riding the ups and downs of adolescence. Yet through it all, her mother remains forever lost in the prison of her own mind and forever lost to Theresa. The young girl feels as though she is leading a double life, one that no one else could possibly understand. She begins to peer at the world as if looking through a thick, black veil, never certain which pieces are illusion and which are not. Through the kindness and support of the townspeople, She eventually summons the strength to survive. This is a story of tragedy and triumph. This is the story of my life.

You can read my review here.

Use the rafflecopter form below to enter! Good Luck! Remember this giveaway is for the Kindle edition :-)

Giveaway: Ghellow Road by T.H. Waters

I'd like to thank T.H. Waters for letting me giveaway a copy of her amazing book Ghellow Road. You can also enter to win a Kindle copy of Ghellow Road here.



About the Book:

Ghellow Road is a literary diary of a young girl's journey through the tangled labyrinth that is her life. Theresa's story begins in a large midwestern city where she is born to loving parents in 1965. For a brief moment in time, her life is full, as is her heart, and the world is hers to receive without consequence. As time passes and Theresa grows, supernatural forces begin to shape her existence, no matter how carefully her father colors the empty spaces of her world. After a series of tragic events, Theresa and her family seek refuge in a small Minnesota town nestled near the shores of Rainy Lake. She creates a new life for herself there, sharing adventures with friends and riding the ups and downs of adolescence. Yet through it all, her mother remains forever lost in the prison of her own mind and forever lost to Theresa. The young girl feels as though she is leading a double life, one that no one else could possibly understand. She begins to peer at the world as if looking through a thick, black veil, never certain which pieces are illusion and which are not. Through the kindness and support of the townspeople, She eventually summons the strength to survive. This is a story of tragedy and triumph. This is the story of my life.

You can read my review here.

Use the rafflecopter form below to enter! Good Luck!

*** 4/20/12 - Rafflecopter has been having some issues but they are aware of it and working on it. If you've been trying to enter please be patient. It seems as though it's working for some and not for others! You can stay updated about the issues on their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Rafflecopter/posts/342982852430700

Review: Ghellow Road by T. H. Waters

Thank you to the author for sending me this book to review.



About the Book

Ghellow Road is a literary diary of a young girl's journey through the tangled labyrinth that is her life. Theresa's story begins in a large midwestern city where she is born to loving parents in 1965. For a brief moment in time, her life is full, as is her heart, and the world is hers to receive without consequence. As time passes and Theresa grows, supernatural forces begin to shape her existence, no matter how carefully her father colors the empty spaces of her world. After a series of tragic events, Theresa and her family seek refuge in a small Minnesota town nestled near the shores of Rainy Lake. She creates a new life for herself there, sharing adventures with friends and riding the ups and downs of adolescence. Yet through it all, her mother remains forever lost in the prison of her own mind and forever lost to Theresa. The young girl feels as though she is leading a double life, one that no one else could possibly understand. She begins to peer at the world as if looking through a thick, black veil, never certain which pieces are illusion and which are not. Through the kindness and support of the townspeople, She eventually summons the strength to survive. This is a story of tragedy and triumph. This is the story of my life.

You can purchase a copy of this book from my Amazon store.

My Review

I hate to start off saying this story is sad, because I know that's not the author's purpose. However there was so much to the story that was just sad. I cried a few times while reading it. There were quite a few high points in the story also, it's just that while I was reading this book I was in a mind frame that made me connect so much more with the sad stuff.

Despite the fact that it made me cry I do have to say that I really liked this book. It was very well written and I connected instantly with Theresa. I felt all the emotions she was experiencing throughout the book. Knowing that this was a biographical story absolutely gave me a more intimate connection to the story. But I do feel that even if it wasn't a true story I would still have had the same connections to the story. It was so well written that I could easily get lost in the story.

Whenever I read a true story, or a story based on the author's life I find myself wondering how the author can so freely open themselves up like that. There are some things that happen in this book that had they happened to me I don't know that I would be able to share them for the world to see. I think that takes an extreme amount of bravery and courage to just lay it all out there for the world to scrutinize. But I'm glad that there are people like T.H. Waters that will take us along with them through their lives. So in closing I just have to say thank you to T.H. Waters for allowing me to lose myself in the story of your life. It was emotional, captivating, and inspirational!