Book Reviews, Some Knitting and Some Whining

FINALLY!  Some book reviews for you....
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis:  I heard about this book on the Books on the Nightstand podcast.  The hosts had not even read it but had talked to so many booksellers and others who had read it - and they were all raving about it - that they wanted to mention it.  So..... my first inclination was to think that I wouldn't get it since it was just out and, therefore, in hardcover, so it would be too pricey.  But then, the stars aligned and I had a coupon and a one day discount thing, so it only cost $10 and I had to get it.  (and on Amazon - see below -it's not too bad either!)   What a great book.  I loved it.  First of all, the "tribes" referred to in the title are Hattie's twelve children.  Each chapter is titled for each of her children and at different, progressing times from 1925 to 1980.  Hattie came north to Philadelphia from Georgia when she was 15 to make a better life for herself.  It didn't turn out as she had planned - she meets her husband, August, and gets pregnant almost immediately - and we learn about her and her struggles, starting with a traumatic event in the first chapter,  through the various chapters about each of her children.  We see through all this that she never really recovers from that event and how it has affected her and her children's lives.  The writing is excellent and really draws you into the story.  I've read some reviews on Amazon and agree with some that mention a couple of the chapters leave you hanging and wanting some follow up that we don't really get.  But to me, this was minor and didn't affect my overall feeling about the book.
Click here to get it on Amazon:


I also finished Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson.  I talked a little bit about this book some time ago.  I started this book back in September but put it down about 3/4 of the way through as I got a little overloaded on the writing style.  Jenny writes the blog The Bloggess and is hysterically funny.  The most charming part about her blog is her way of running away with a topic, getting totally off-topic with run-on paragraphs that show us her self-admitted twisted and anxiety ridden mind, and then coming back around to her point.  Her book is very similar and reading chapter after chapter can get a little trying.  That being said --- I really liked the book.  She talks about her colorful childhood in very rural Texas and some of the things she thinks lead to her eventual anxiety disorder and depression diagnosis, then how she met her husband and built their family life, all in a hysterical blathering.
Click here to get it on Amazon:


In Knitting News:
I'm already behind for knit-a-long number 1- the Downton Abbey one. [ I'm putting a picture of my progress, but I don't know where it will end up since I'm writing this on my iTouch and it's not very clear how I'm supposed to insert a picture...]

I'm blaming it on the printer. On Sunday, I went to find the second clue and then remembered that I can't print from my net book. Don't ask me why I forgot - again- since I've had it for 4 years and have never been able to. Mind you, I COULD have been printing for at least the last 2 years since we got a wireless printer.... So, I decided that THAT was the day to figure out how to print wirelessly from my netbook. Eighty hours later (but still on Sunday....) I got it figured out. All of this as an explanation as to why I'm behind in the knit-a-long. That eighty hours seriously infringed on my knitting time. I was hoping to work on the second clue during the second episode but couldn't do that until yesterday. Now I'm about halfway through on both mitts. BUT, I still have lots to do on knit-a-long #2 - the socks- before the next clue comes out Friday.

And in other news-and-reasons-why-I-couldn't-knit..... I was painting trim around the living room window and the stair risers. Blech. I am so sick of painting. When we lived in Vermont we painted every room (and kitchen cabinet) in the house. We moved here and painted every room. Paul pointed out that that was over 5 years ago now but that just doesn't matter. I have an aversion to it. AND now that we put in the wood floors, I don't like the living room paint do we are going to re-paint. Paul isn't looking forward to it because I'll whine my way through the whole thing..... "this is BORING" (because it will be).... "argh! I spilled it" (because I will)...... "do we HAVE to do two coats?" (hoping he will say no, but he won't) ... "let's take a cookie break" (because we'll need one... Especially him!)