Recent Reads: "Knit One Pearl One", "Water for Elephants" and "Land of Sheltered Promise"

I have been reading everyday, but I haven't done a book report on here for months.  Here are a few of the latest books that I have recently finished.  I loved all three of these.

"Knit One Pearl One"

by Gil McNeil

c. 2012

Knit One Pearl One is a fun, fast read.  I think of it as a "chick's book".  Gil McNeil is a great writer with a lot of insight.  This book is the second in a series, and the first one that I have read by this author.  I won this book from a contest over at my friend Becky's blog.

Jo McKenzie is a busy single mother of three, who recently moved to a charming seaside town to take over her Grandmother's yarn shop.  She expands the business by adding a tea shop and knitting lessons.  Jo makes killer display windows as she figures out how to work around her boyfriend's mother who also works there (a grumbly sort of old lady).

That is not all.  Jo is friends with a movie star who lives right outside of town, and Jo's best friend is a talk show host.  Pearl is Jo's baby girl, and Pearl's father, Daniel, shows back up into the picture.  Daniel is a famous photographer and Jo's one-night-stand (she met him shortly after her husband's death).

This is just a fun book, a day-in-the-life about a nice woman and her friends, family and her work.  I had fun reading it and looked forward to finding out what happened next.

"Water for Elephants"

by Sara Gruen

c. 2006 

Water for Elephants is so good!  I first heard of it when my friend Lisa recommended it on her blog.  It is about an old man, Jacob, who lives in a nursing home.  While Jacob is there recovering from a broken hip, the circus comes to town and sets up right next door to the home.

Though the story takes place over a matter of several days, most of the book is about Jacob remembering the years that he spent traveling in the circus as a veterinarian.

I don't even want to say any more because I would hate to spoil even one thing for anybody.  Just read it, you won't regret it.  It is fascinating. 

"Land of Sheltered Promise"

by Jane Kirkpatrick

c. 2005

Have I ever told you guys that I want to be like Jane Kirkpatrick when I grow up?  I do.  I want to write historical fiction abut the Pacific Northwest someday, when I figure out how.  I am good at the research and I have tons of raw material, but am not quite sure how to get the rest of it all figured out. 

Land of Sheltered Promise is a book that covers several generations of shirt-tail relatives who end up living on the same piece of land.  Three separate stories span nearly 100 years.  The land where the story takes place is a real ranch in Central Oregon, not far from the towns of Shaniko and Antelope.  It is known as either The Big Muddy Ranch or for awhile during the 1980's as Rasneeshpuram.  What each story has in common, besides the land itself is how each character transforms because of the ranch.

The first story begins in 1901, where a young pregnant bride comes to terms with her husband's trial and sentencing for murder.

The second story is about a grandmother who tries to get her granddaughter away from her daughter, a commune resident living in Rasneeshpuram in 1984.

The third story is about transforming the abandoned Rasneeshpuram into what it is today, a Young Life Christian camp, beginning in 1997.  

Ms. Kirkpatrick and her husband live not far away from The Big Muddy Ranch.  This book covers so much history, and is beautifully written.   It is very good, though sometimes her books are not an easy/quick read for me.  I always remember the people in them though.

So, there you are.  If  you are looking for something to read, any or all of these are good picks.

~ Kathy M.  

Here are links to my other book reviews:

• "A Hundred Secret Senses" and "The Joy Luck Club"
• "Ah Fu: A Chinese River Boy"
• "All Posts Having Something to do with Recent Reads"
• "Angel's Rest"
• "Change of Heart" and "The Secret"
• "Crooked Little Heart"
• "Family News", "Little Earthquakes", "Hold Tight"
• "Firefly Lane", "A Map of the World" and "When Joy Came to Stay"
• "Haunted" by Chuck Palahnuik
• "Knit in Comfort"
• "Knit One Pearl One", "Water for Elephants" and "A Land of Sheltered Promise"
• "Leaving Home" and "Drowning Ruth"
• "Little House on the Prairie, On the Banks of Plum Creek and By the Shores of Silver Lake"
• "Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings - The Yearling"
• "Mercy"
• "Midwives", "Living Among Headstones", "Whitethorn Woods", "Gerald's Game"
• "No Country For Old Men", "The Shipping News" and "The Secret Life of Bees"
• "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue"
• "The Beach House"
• "The Department of the Lost and Found", "Miami Psychic: Confessions of a Confidante" and "Belong to Me"
• "The Help"
• "The Lovely Bones" and "Everythings Eventual"
• "The Memory Keeper's Daughter"
• "Thin Threads"
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn: The Movie in Full
• Bargain Book Bonanza #11: "Case Histories" and "Heart and Soul"
• Bargain Book Bonanza #4: Children's Lit Blog and Book Reviews
• Bargain Book Bonanza #6: St. Vinnie's
• Bargain Book Bonanza: Bend Humane Society Thrift Store
• Link to my Children's Literature, American Folklore and American Traditions Blog

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