Book Reviews
Finally a book review again! I have been reading a lot, but mostly German books where I dodn't know if there's an English translation available or not. This book I know is originally in English, so even though I read it in German I can blog about it in English.
Geisha, a life is the true story of Gijon geisha Mineko Iwasaki. She was the person who helped the author Arthur Golden in writing the Memoirs of a Geisha, a book that claimed to tell the truth about Gijon geisha life. However, Golden had made some things more "interesting" so Ms. Iwasaki decided to write her own book, with her own name.
It's been a long time since my last book review. Not that I wouldn't have read in the meantime, but somehow nothing inspired me to write a review. Now this book I read, no - devoured, gets me back on the writing track. I read it in a few weeks, but remember it was in German and has over 600 pages.
The previous resident of our current apartment had left this book behind, so I picked it up in search of something to read before I could get a library card. I quickly became fascinated with the four adult sisters that have only their father in common. After the father has a stroke and is paralysed, the sisters come together and live for a while in their childhood home, not looking for companionship but finding it anyway in their sisters. The women become close again, and past secrets are revealed. All this time the father lies in coma in a hospital.
Even though this posting is called Knitting, it is a book review. The title of the book just happens to be Knitting . It's written by Anne Bartlett, and is her first novel. One can notice that when reading the book. The storytelling is exquisitly good at some points, but very quickly plummets to an average level, and back throughout the book.
The story is about two women who meet in a surprisin situation, and become friends even if they are very different. Martha knits, Sandra works in literature. They start a project together, which reveals weaknesses in both of them, but also strengths and the capability to heal from loss.
Kitty Knits by Donna Druchunas is a great knitting book for a cat lover! It's filled with beautiful and useful knits for cats and the cat owners. I have already knit the mouse and am impressed. Such an easy and small pattern, but very clever! Possibly the best written pattern I've ever made (not counting the first confusion about the bobble, which was to become the mouse's ear... I knit the bobble first, then started the mouse! Then I read the pattern, ripped, and started again).
