Carole Knits

october zinnia
october zinnia
martinis with a view
martinis with a view
gettysburg fence for
gettysburg fence for
germinate shawl on rocks
germinate shawl on rocks
field of flags 2
field of flags 2
color affection with edge
color affection with edge
cedar leaf shawlette 2
cedar leaf shawlette 2
3_27_2014
3_27_2014
3_18_13
3_18_13
2_24_2014
2_24_2014
1_11_13
1_11_13
peony-bouquet-for-carole-knits
peony-bouquet-for-carole-knits
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dale-and-jackie-for-carole-knits
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nightshift-progress-for-carole-knits

Read With Us: The Young Mungo Promo Post

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By now you all know that the Read With Us spring selection is Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart. Kym and Bonny have both published posts encouraging you to read it and now it’s my turn.

And honestly, what’s left to say? We’ve covered the interviews and reviews, we’ve reminded you that it’s the perfect companion to Shuggie Bain but also that you don’t need to have read Shuggie Bain in order to read and love Young Mungo. We’ve been enthusiastic about this book group and the fun we have when we meet up to discuss the books we’ve read.

In other words . . . you should be ALL IN on Young Mungo by now. But just in case you aren’t quite sure and you need one more little nudge . . . here is my review of the book:

Reading this book is like reading about Shuggie Bain’s next door neighbors. And, while Shuggie still remains my favorite of Stuart’s two novels, Mungo is also a brilliant work. It’s heart wrenching to read about the things that happen to Mungo but Stuart is able to ease us along with his exquisite writing and a back-and-forth timeline that helps when things feel overwhelming. Highly recommended for the story, the characters, the setting, and the writing, this book is another triumph.

I hope you’ll join us on Tuesday, June 7th at 7pm for our zoom discussion.

Read With Us: The Spring 2022 Announcement

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It’s spring! The days are longer and the weather is warmer and we’ve got a fresh new image for our Read With Us posts, thanks to Kym. We’re also ready to . . . announce our Spring 2022 selection . . .

Young Mungo by Douglas Stuart

You may recall that I absolutely adored Shuggie Bain, Stuart’s first novel and the winner of the 2020 Booker Prize and nominee for the National Book Award for Fiction. Well. I think it’s safe to say (even though I haven’t finished this one yet) that Stuart has . . . done it again. It feels like you’re reading about Shuggie’s neighbors and the themes are, for better or worse, much the same. It’s another coming-of-age story about a gay, working-class boy, living in 1980s Glasgow, and that comes with all of the heartbreak and abuse you might suspect. But when the writing is as gorgeous as Stuart’s, well, it’s worth the read, even when the story is hard.

Bonny and Kym and I will be doing promos over the next month and our live virtual discussion will be at 7pm EST on Tuesday, June 7th. I hope you will, once again, Read With Us!

Read With Us: Agatha of Little Neon Discussion

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As promised yesterday, it’s time for our All Things Agatha discussion. In case you haven’t seen it, this is my review of the book:

Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Claire Luchette’s debut novel is sharp and funny with prose that gets right to the point. I would have enjoyed a little more backstory on Agatha’s life, and I’m hoping for a sequel that continues her tale, but I thoroughly enjoyed this novel about the lives of modern day sisters working in rehab.

My question for all of you focuses on Agatha’s backstory. I’d have liked more of it so that I could have developed a better understanding of why she chose to become a sister . . . and also why she then chose to leave it behind. I’m asking you, in the comments, to speculate on who Agatha was before she took her vows . . . and then what lead her to change her mind.

I’d tell you what I think but I don’t want to influence your own ideas so I’m going to stay silent . . . for now!

Please also visit Kym and Bonny today to read their questions and give them feedback, too.

As a reminder, our zoom discussion is tonight at 7:00pm EST. If you need a zoom invite please let me know straight away.

Read With Us: The Agatha of Little Neon Promo Post

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My job today is to convince you to read Agatha of Little Neon as our mid-winter Read With Us selection. Kym wrote about why you should read it here. Bonny wrote about why you should read it here. And, we all recognize that we’re fast on the heels of our last book, but this one is short and good and a perfect sort of follow up to Matrix.

Here’s the description of the book from GoodReads:

Agatha has lived every day of the last nine years with her sisters: they work together, laugh together, pray together. Their world is contained within the little house they share. The four of them are devoted to Mother Roberta and to their quiet, purposeful life.

But when the parish goes broke, the sisters are forced to move. They land in Woonsocket, a former mill town now dotted with wind turbines. They head up a halfway house, where they live alongside castoffs like the jawless Tim Gary and the headstrong Lawnmower Jill. Agatha is forced to venture out into the world alone, to teach math at a local all-girls high school, where for the first time in years she will have to reckon with what she sees and feels all on her own. Who will she be if she isn’t with her sisters? These women, the church, have been her home–or has she just been hiding?

Disarming, delightfully deadpan, and full of searching, Claire Luchette’s Agatha of Little Neon offers a view into the lives of women and the choices they make. It is a novel about female friendship and devotion, the roles made available to us, and how we become ourselves.

Agatha is definitely not a typical sister. And Little Neon is definitely not a convent. I’m going to capitalize on the alliteration in that 3rd paragraph and say that disarming and delightfully deadpan are terrific and accurate words to categorize this read. And all of that works together to make this the perfect . . . antidote . . . to Matrix. For all that Matrix was cloistered and ancient and obscure, Agatha is open and modern and real.

If you didn’t like Matrix, this book is for you. And if you loved Matrix, this book is still for you.

And I promise we won’t read a book about nuns again for a good, long time.

Read With Us: Mid Winter Bonus Book

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Can we pretend it’s Tuesday? Because I was supposed to post about our next Read With Us book yesterday and I totally forgot. I had that 21 in 2021 post all prepped last week and scheduled it to publish on Tuesday so that I didn’t have to do any weekend blogging . . . so this is a day late.

Whatever the date, though, I have a new book for you to read with Bonny, Kym and I!

Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette. It’s a short book and it’s . . . wait for it . . . about nuns. I know. Apparently we’re on a nun kick . . . which may be off for non Catholics . . . but here we are. I’ll be perfectly frank and tell you that I have not read this yet but Kym and Bonny both have and they both assure me that, despite the subject matter, it’s very different from Matrix. And I trust them and I hope you’ll trust all 3 of us and join us.

We’ll all be writing more about it next month but please mark your calendars now for Tuesday, March 15th for our zoom discussion. If you’ve joined us before, you know how fun and enlightening those discussions are. And if you haven’t joined us, I encourage you to give it a go. We are very easy going, very welcoming, and we come from all over the country so it’s pretty damn cool.

Okay. Blog housekeeping and Read With Us posting accomplished. Now it can be Wednesday.