The Knitting Circle: A Novel

by Ann Hood

Mary Baxter's life changed the day her five year old daughter Stella died suddenly of meningitis; she is understandably completely devastated. Months later, her mother suggests that Mary learn to knit and despite her initial reservations, she joins a local knitting group. She is surprised to find comfort in the way the movement of the needles calms her nerves and quiets her mind. Knitting also brings a new circle of friends into Mary's life, friends who also know about great loss and finding solace in knitting. This is a story about friendship between women and the love between mothers and daughters. It is about the love between Mary and Stella as well the complicated relationship between Mary and her own mother, a recovering alcoholic who also lost a young daughter, a sister that Mary never knew. In a beautiful passage, Mary's mother expresses her love for her daughter, a love that she could never show, in a letter that she wrote and kept for many years before finally giving it to Mary. She writes, "Daughter, I have a story to tell you. I have wanted to tell you for a very long time... It is my story, yet I do not have the words to tell it. Instead I pick up my needles and I knit. Every stitch is a letter. A row spells out 'I love you'. I knit 'I love you' into everything I make. Like a prayer or a wish, I send it out to you, hoping you can hear me. Hoping, daughter, that the story I am knitting reaches you somehow. Hoping that my love reaches you somehow." A well written novel that doesn't take the easy way out with an instant, magical cure for Mary's immense grief and sadness. Instead, Mary loses everything she loves most before she can begin to live and love again.

Nineteen Minutes

by Jodi Piccoult

After reading rave reviews for Nineteen Minutes in Entertainment Weekly, Publisher's Weekly, LJ and People magazine, I was really looking forward to this one. Ever since The Pact came out a few years ago, I considered Jodi Piccoult to be one of my favorite authors -- until The Tenth Circle last year; I hated that one. Nineteen Minutes is a little better but just SOOO LONG - over 450 pages! I like long books if they are interesting but this one just didn't hold my attention; I kept thinking about all the other good books I could be reading instead. It starts out okay and it has an interesting plot, however the pace is a little slow and some things just did not make sense to me. The author almost seemed to be saying that a school shooting was justified in some ways because the shooter had been teased for years by the popular kids; I just could not feel that bad for him after what he did. There's twist at the end, of course, but it felt false and completely unbelievable to me. Kind of disappointing.

Woman's Best Friend: Women Writers on the Dogs in Their Lives

Edited by Megan McMorris

Foreward by Pam Houston

A collection of twenty-six essays about women and their canine companions. I WANT THE DOG ON THE COVER SO BAD!! Anyway, the foreward was written by one of my favorite authors, Pam Houston. Since much of her writing is based on her life, reading her words here was like catching up with an old friend. In 2005, she wrote Sight Hound, a wonderful book about the relationship between a lonesome writer living on a Colorado ranch and Dante, her wise, lovable Irish wolfhound recently diagnosed with cancer.

In her moving introduction to this book, she writes, "Dante taught me that if your paws are too big to fit in your ears, you have to find someone else to do the scratching, and that if you want your hand to be licked, you might have to put it under somebody's nose. He taught me that sitting in the grass together doing nothing isn't really doing nothing at all, and that sometimes even if you haven't acted perfectly, the good thing happens anyway. He taught me that if you really love somebody, cleaning their bodily excretions off the carpet is no problem, and in the end, money doesn't really matter a bit. He taught me that loving in the inevitable face of loss, is the single most important challenge of our lives; that without loss, love isn't worth a hill of beans, and without love, life is nothing more than a series of losses. He taught me that everything is forgivable, that every moment contains eternity, and that loving unconditionally doesn't mean you are a self-annihilating fool. After he died he taught me how to live without him, but also that I didn't have to. He taught me that because we loved each other so completely, a part of him would always be with me."

Some of these stories are cute and funny, others made me cry, but anyone who loves animals will appreciate this well written collection. Most entries include a small photo of the dog that the author is writing about so that is a nice touch. The editor has a similar title coming out next month about cats. I can't wait to read it! ****

Love Is a Mix Tape

by Rob Sheffield

A love story for the '90's. Rob was a shy Irish music geek when he fell head over heels in love with a wild punk rock chick from West Virginia named Renee. Bonded by their love of music and making mix tapes, they were blissfully happy until Renee died suddenly and Rob was left devastated and alone, a widower at age 31. Sheffield is a writer for Rolling Stone and he uses his favorite songs to transport the reader back to a decade when Zima was the cool new drink, Kurt Cobain ruled MTV and alternative music went mainstream. This was a good book about the joy of falling in love and the pain of learning to live again after you lose that love. ***

b-mother: a novel

by Maureen O'Brien

Hilary Birdson is only sixteen when she finds herself pregnant and completely alone. For Miles, it was just a summer fling and he wants nothing to do with her or their baby. Her parents, still recovering from the sudden death of Hilary's brother Bird in a fraternity hazing accident, are unsupportive as well. They send her to a home for pregnant girls and she reluctantly chooses a wonderful couple to raise her son, Tom. Although she goes through with the adoption and is comforted by the knowledge that her baby is very loved and well cared for, Hilary never gets over losing Tom. Her dream of reuniting with him someday keeps her going for many years and their eventual reunion does not disappoint. A riveting novel about a broken family and a mother's love for her son.

Girls in Peril: a novella

by Karen Lee Boren

Set in a small Wisconsin town during the 1970's, this is the story of five young friends and how their lives are completely changed in one short summer. The leader of the clique is Jeanne, who has eleven brothers and an extra thumb on one of her hands that fascinates the other girls. When Jeanne's parents force her to have her extra digit surgically removed and her older brother starts getting into trouble, everything begins to change. Kind of a strange story that starts slowly but builds to a decent climax and interesting denouement if you can get through the first 100 pages or so. Just okay for me. Rating:**

London Is the Best City in America

by Laura Dave

Three years ago, Emmy ended her engagement by leaving her unsuspecting fiance sleeping in a Rhode Island motel room. She started life over in a nearby fishing town working both in a bait shop and on a documentary about the wives of fishermen. Everything changes when she returns to her hometown for her brother Josh’s wedding and he admits that he isn't sure if he can go through with it. Readers will root for Emmy as she confronts her past in this wonderful debut novel about family and love. *****