Knit Two by Kate Jacobs eBook edition

No, I don't knit.  Nor do I live in Manhattan.  But I am a woman who is lucky enough to have a group of long-time women friends who meet weekly.  So of course, I absolutely fell in love with Kate Jacobs'  Friday Night Knitting Club.

When I saw that Knit Two, the sequel, had been released I could hardly wait to download and read it.

I finished it a couple of days ago and sat down to write this review.  I spent the next half hour or so staring a the title, cover art and a blank page.  A classic case of writer's block. . . not something that ever happens to me.  I finally got up and walked away.

Over the last couple of days I have idly wondered what the hell that was all about.  I mean, I enjoyed the book.  It was a pleasant and easy read that kept me entertained over the holiday weekend.  So why was I at a loss for words?

I think I finally figured it out.  I was disappointed.  I wanted to love the book, but I just couldn't do it.  Instead, I ended up with a mild case of like.

The first couple of chapters required a whole lot of work-- I had to go back into my memory bank a long way to find these characters and to remember why I cared about them.  Once that was accomplished I was faced with these characters in their current incarnations. 

Jacobs draws strong, fully rounded characters.  These women are believable and almost stride off the pages into your real life.  In fact they became so real that I found myself getting annoyed with them.  Anita and Catherine in particular indulge in way too much angst and high drama for my taste.

I found, however, that my annoyance with the characters was vastly reassuring.  I have certainly been annoyed with all the women in my group at one time or another.  And I am sure they have been as annoyed with me.  Face it, humans are often annoying!

The real problem with this novel is the plot; a real disaster.  Now, coming from me, who can stretch credulity to extreme limits, this is a pretty amazing statement. 

Knit Two, graphically reminded me that I prefer the classic "no discernable plot rambler" to a highly contrived plot with a neat and tidy resolution that has one in a million odds of actually ever happening that way. 

Trust me, the plot stinks, but the book is worth reading for the characters.  And no matter how I diss this story, when the inevitable third book in the series is published, I will read it too. 

Here is the publisher synopsis:

Knit Two returns to the Manhattan knitting store Walker & Daughter five years after the death of the store's owner, Georgia Walker. Georgia's daughter Dakota is now an 18 year old freshman at NYU, running the knitting store part-time with the help of the members of the Friday Night Knitting Club.

Drawn together by their love for Dakota and the sense of family the club provides, each knitter is struggling with new challenges: for Catherine, finding love after divorce, for Darwin, newborn twins, for Lucie, being both a single mom and caregiver for her elderly mother, and for seventysomething Anita, marriage to her sweetheart Marty over the objections of her grown children. As Kate Jacobs returns to the world of Walker & Daughter, she's once again keyed into many of the stresses and joys of being a mother, wife, daughter and friend.

Every woman who picks up this book will see themselves in its characters¿the very thing that made The Friday Night Knitting Club such a huge word-of-mouth success. A true love letter to the power of women's friendships, and, of course, knitting, Knit Two is entertainment with a heart.

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Speaking for Myself by Cherie Blair eBook edition

  Do you ever play the game?  You know, the one where you sit around with a bunch of people and talk about which famous (or almost famous) person you would like to sit down and have dinner with?  We play it often.  And in the last few years I have often said, "Cherie Blair."  I just had a feeling . . .

I mean, here is a woman who is married to the Prime Minister of England, works as an attorney (and in this book I found out she is also a judge), has a family and still manages to show up for official functions. 

You can tell from her accent that she isn't exactly "upper crust" and the British Press have a field day reporting on her.  Most of the reporting less than flattering, but somehow managing to show her as a REAL flesh and blood person with a real inner life.

Often these conjectures about people are hilariously off base.  But in Cherie Blair's case they may not be. 

Speaking for Myself is her accounting of her life.  Her telling of her own history is frank, opinionated, unsentimental and humorous.  It is at times a painfully honest account of who she is (and not always to her benefit).

She is a study in contrasts and contradictions.  A high achieving professional and a devoted wife and mother.  A political operator who has a tin ear when it comes to handling people and personalities. A pugnacious defender of her husband who sees him warts and all.  She has tremendous insecurities about money and this drives her to make some very unwise choices.  She is in fact, very human.  I ended up liking her a lot! 

And even if you don't like her much, her "ringseat to history" make this compelling reading. Her recounting of the events, stories about the people and insights into government make it a fascinating read.

Sure, some of the intricacies of the British legal system and Parliamentary maneuverings are dense and to me as an American a little boring.  But her story and her voice will keep you reading.

Here is the publisher's notes:

Even if she hadn't married Tony Blair, Cherie's story would have been amazing. Abandoned by her actor father, she overcame obstacles to become one of the UK's most successful barristers. But when Labour took power in 1997, she faced new challenges: her husband was the first prime minister in recent history with a young family, and Cherie was the first PM's wife with a serious career. Now, she gives a complete account of her own life--an astonishing journey for a woman whose unconventional childhood was full of drama and who grew up with a fierce sense of justice.

In her autobiography she reveals for the first time what it was like to combine life as a working mother with life married to the prime minister. She writes about her encounters with scores of foreign leaders and her friendships with Presidents Clinton and Bush, as well as with Hillary and Laura. And she offers inside details of her relationships with the royals, including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles, and Princess Diana.

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Add Life To Your Love Life

If there’s great sex in a relationship, you can bet the rest of the problems iron themselves out sooner or later. Agreed, sex is not the only thing that’s important, but if the passion’s missing, then it’s more a question of tolerating each other’s presence around the house. Couples who have been together a long time tend to view each other as just another person rather than the hot lover they once fell head over heels for. And as time goes by, sex with the same person becomes monotonous, even boring sometimes. What with kids, work and housework taking a toll on your energies, all you want to do by the time you hit the sack is go to the land of slumber. If you’re really interested in rekindling your romance, it’s time you took matters into your own hands:

Pack away those Pounds: Take a look at your wedding photos and compare them with the person who stares at you from the mirror. If you groan at the thought of how much weight you’ve gained, it’s time to start getting back into shape. Once we’re married, we tend to neglect the bodies we maintain religiously when we’re on the dating scene. Relive your courtship days as you lose weight; even a few pounds lost helps if you notice the renewed look of interest in your spouse’s eyes. And while you’re at it, give yourself a makeover that says you’re an adult rather than a parent or a spouse. Buy new clothes to go with your new look, and wait for the fireworks to begin.

Natural Viagra: Some foods act as aphrodisiacs and lend variety to the way you approach your love life. Whether you eat them off each other, feed each other or just eat them yourself, you can bet on an interesting time between the sheets.

Change is Good: Break the routine you’ve set and followed all these years. Steal away for a romantic weekend, or if your schedules don’t allow this, sneak out on a lunch date. Try out a sexual fantasy of your spouse’s that you earlier rejected as too kinky or too daring for your tastes.

Sexual Innuendos: More than dirty talk on the phone, it’s the text messages that are loaded with sexual innuendos and that indulge in clever word play that tend to turn most people on. Send them to your spouse during the day when you can’t get your hands on each other so that by the time you both get home, you’re headed straight to the bedroom, or maybe not!

Compliments and Consideration: Show a new side of yourself by not criticizing your spouse like you normally would. Instead, pay compliments and watch the change in their attitudes too. A happy spouse translates to a more enthusiastic partner in bed.

By-line:

This post was contributed by Heather Johnson, who writes on the subject of best dating services. She invites your feedback at heatherjohnson2323 at gmail dot com.

The Girl I Left Behind eBook Edition

The Girl I Left Behind is a perfect counterpoint to the Wednesday Sisters.  I hadn't planned it this way.  But overnight I moved seamlessly from the fictional 60s to the non-fictional version.

Judith Nies' memoir is the story of her transformation from a naive small town girl to an worldly aware women.  It is part coming of age story, part travelogue and part history lesson.  It is a report from the front lines from someone who lived it.

Neis captures the essence of the other sixties.  Not the "sex, drugs and rock and roll" variety.  She portrays in detail the political transformation of a generation. 

She weaves together the stories of the cold war, the CIA and the FBI into the fabric of civil rights marches, Vietnam war teach-ins and women's sit ins.  She tells of government secrecy and downright lies.  She talks of old boy's clubs and class in America.

Her stories of working on Capitol Hill in the late sixties bring some of the pivotal players of that time into sharp focus.  They are all on display from Congressman Burton of California to Daniel Ellsburg; from Senator Fulbright to Gloria Stienem. She even manages to compare and contrast the political climate of 1964 and 2004.

She graphically reminds of us of why "The Political is Personal".

This is very much the story of women.  Women and their quest for educations and votes.  Women seeking equal access to and opportunity in the workplace.  The fight for viable health care, birth control and child care. It is the story of women in the 20th century with a straight line from the suffragettes to NOW.  Unfortunately,  many of these stories have have been forgotten. It is important that we remember them and that we honor the brave women who tirelessly worked to ensure that women today have a measure of equality.

Most young women of today take it for granted that a women can vote.  They never question the idea that they can choose a career and be taken seriously in the workplace. Most young girls don't even question the "right" to play sports or have equal access to public accommodations.  Thankfully, most young women do not really understand institutionalized sexual harassment. 

And for all of that, women are too often judged by their appearance, and faced with conflicting demands about who and what they should be.

We've come a long way, baby . . . and we still have a long, long way to go!

Here is the publishers synopsis:

At the height of the Vietnam War protests, twenty-eight-year-old Judith Nies and her husband lived a seemingly idyllic life. Both were building their respective careers in Washington—Nies as the speechwriter and chief staffer to a core group of antiwar congressmen, her husband as a Treasury department economist. They lived in the carriage house of the famed Marjorie Merriweather Post estate. But when her husband brought home a list of questions from an FBI file with Judith's name on the front, Nies soon realized that her life was about to take a radical turn. Shocked to find herself the focus of an FBI investigation into her political activities, Nies began to reevaluate her role as grateful employee and dutiful wife. In The Girl I Left Behind, she chronicles the experiences of those women who, like herself, reinvented their lives in the midst of a wildly shifting social and political landscape.

In a fresh, candid look at the 1960s, Nies pairs illuminating descriptions of feminist leaders, women's liberation protests, and other pivotal social developments with the story of her own transformation into a staunch activist and writer. From exposing institutionalized sexism on Capitol Hill in her first published article to orchestrating the removal of a separate "Ladies Gallery" on the House floor to taking leadership of the Women in Fellowships Committee, Nies discusses her own efforts to enlarge women's choices and to change the workplace—and how the repercussions of those efforts in the sixties can still be felt today.

A heartfelt memoir and piercing social commentary, The Girl I Left Behind recounts one woman's courageous journey toward independence and equality. It also evaluates the consequences of the feminist movement on the same women who made it happen—and on the daughters born in their wake.

Use Coupon Code BKS4ME at checkout to receive a 5% Discount on this eBook Title!

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There is Hope For Everyone!

'Career Girl's Guide to Becoming a Stepmom' by Jacquelyn B. Fletcher. This is a positive straight-forward handbook and a must-have for any woman contemplating marrying or dating a man with kids. I bought this eBook and gave it to my girlfriend who is also dating a single dad after I read it. I've logged on to buy another copy for myself! This book is perfect for anyone with or without experience of being a stepmom. Fletcher's advice is insightful and "liveable". She can save you heartache and headaches. 'I Am Not My Breast Cancer' by Ruth Peltason. The distillation of wisdom, anger, hope and total honesty of the 800 women involved in the creation of this book is amazing. This eBook will become a key resource for any woman (or man) who has recently been diagnosed with Breast cancer. It will also bring those who have lived with the disease in remission or hence eradicated, with a sense of camaraderie that you rarely glimpse once you are "years out", as we say in the world of survivors. "Thank you, Ms. Peltason, for writing I Am Not My Breast Cancer!" Use the Coupon Code below to receive a Discount on either of these two eBooks.

Career Girl's Guide to Becoming a Stepmo eBook edition by Fletcher, Jacquelyn B. You have an exciting, fulfilling job. You've fallen in love with the man of your dreams—and met his three kids! Now what? Jacquelyn B. Fletcher shows how any professional woman turned wife and instant stepmother can build on the skills she employs at work— › More Info I Am Not My Breast Cancer eBook edition by Peltason, Ruth "I am not my breast, and I am not cancer; they are only pieces of who I am. What is my heart like, am I kind, strong, loving, compassionate. . . . Those are the things that count." › More Info

Buy either of these titles this week, and recieve an extra 5% off your total purchase - so read all you want - these titles and much more await you at eBooksAboutEverything.com! Use the following coupon code at checkout: BKS4ME