Book Review - Knit One, Kill Two

Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton (unabridged audiobook)

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

"Kelly Flynn never picked up a pair of knitting needles she liked—until she strolled into House of Lambspun. Now, in the first in a brand-new series, she learns how to knit one, purl two, and untangle the mystery behind her aunt's murder."

Review:

This book falls under the category of  cozy mystery, little violence, no graphic material, the writing equivalent of  a "Matlock" episode.  This subgenre of crime fiction has a huge following and you can often find books with themes such as knitting, sewing, baking, you name it.  Sometimes one might want to do some light reading, perhaps featuring a particular hobby.  Being an avid knitter is obviously what drew me to this title.

That being said, I wanted to like this book more than I did.  This is my first foray into cozy mysteries and even knowing a bit about the genre it still felt really, really thin on everything, story, character development, etc.  I certainly enjoyed the knitting portions of the book, the description of the yarns, the yarn store, Kelly's first tries with knitting made me nostalgically think of my own.  All in all, it was a sufficient story, but not challenging enough for me to thoroughly enjoy it.

I'll probably give another cozy a try, if I feel the same way then I'll conclude this genre isn't for me.

2 out of 5 Iggystars

Book Review - Wool Omnibus

Wool Omnibus by Hugh Howey

Synopsis:

Wool is the story of a post-apocalyptic society struggling for survival.  What's left of Earth's population lives underground in Silos, hundreds of stories deep, which offers protection from the inhabitable surface.  Order is kept in this society by a few, as the severest punishment to be had is sentenced for the mere expression of wanting to bet let out into the world above.  Those who want out get exactly what they ask for.


Review:

This book was suggested to me by a fellow knitter and certainly knowing Wool had a bit of knitting in it, was a draw.  But it was the thrilling Part One that captured my attention and whet my appetite for for the excellent story that lay ahead.  I found the setting to be quite interesting, civilization burrowing underground instead of the sci-fi trope of trying to look to the stars.  The plot is a main focus, while the details of everyday living, the societal structure and background serve to move the story, with its many mysteries, forward.  I immediately cared about the characters as well, they were very believable and I loved that motives and actions had a kind of moral ambiguity.  Sometimes  cutthroat decisions were made that a decent person would never agree with, but were in a sense, kind of logical.

This was a "page" turner (I actually read and listened to some of Wool) that I really found hard to put down.

This book started out as a short story, it's subsequent parts being released over a six-month span.  Right now it's only available in digital format on Amazon for the ridiculously low price of $6, but Howey recently got a publishing deal and it should be available in print early 2013.


4.5/5 Iggystars

What's in a Name Book Challenge 2011: The Giant's House

Um, no.

This is the story of a lonely librarian, Peggy, who forges a friendship with a young man, Jimmy, who is tall, very tall. In fact he starts out tall when they first meet, over six feet at age eleven and eventually he grows to be over eight feet tall. The fact that he doesn't fit in with society draws her to him as emotionally she feels just as much of an outcast.

There were things to love in this book, ideas I connected with, that really hit home. Passages about love, wishing you could find love just so you could finally think about something else, not wanting to listen to love songs because love feels so out of your reach that those romantic melodies pain you to hear. The voice of Peggy had wit, and sometimes humor as dry as a bone, that I liked...at times. However, that just wasn't enough for me to fully enjoy this read.

I had issues with this book. I didn't like Peggy. As I kept reading I kept wanting to like her, expecting to like her, but I didn't. Well for one, if you read the description on the back of the book, you'd be led to believe that this was a friendship which evolved into a romance, but Peggy pretty much set her sights on Jimmy during their initial interactions when he was that tall kid. There was nothing inappropriate about her actions, but in her heart she'd decided he was her soulmate well before he had even made it to his mid-teens. It was unsettling to me how much she'd devoted her heart to him and no, not just as a friend, but as her one, true love. Had it been a man as the protagonist, with his attentions on a girl, I think that there would have been a very different reaction to this story.

I moved past those feelings once Jimmy became of age (as I mentioned there wasn't any appropriate conduct), but I never connected to the romance. Trust me, I love quirky, eccentric, off the beaten path, but some of the writing seemed to try and force this upon me.

I know this book was critically acclaimed, but I just wasn't feeling it.

2 out of 5 Iggystars