Summer Reading Updated

Earlier this year I signed up for a reading challenge, 52 Books in 52 Weeks.

Here's a mid-summer update on my progress. I've been a lot lately, and I'm taking a vacation next week and bringing lots of books. I'm almost to the halfway mark and at 24 books.

Books I have read cover to cover this year:

1. Bringing Home the Birkin: My Life in Hot Pursuit of the World's Most Coveted Handbag by Michael Tonello, Dec 30, 2008
2. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Jan 08, 2009
3. Knitting Rules!: The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Feb 02, 2009
4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Book 5) by J.K. Rowling, Feb 02, 2009 - (reread)
5. Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Feb 20, 2009
6. Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs, Feb 23, 2009
7. Big Boned (Heather Wells, Book 3) by Meg Cabot, Feb 25, 2009
8. Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes, Mar 09, 2009 - (reread)
9. In the Merde for Love by Stephen Clarke, Mar 18, 2009
10. The Friday Night Knitting Club (audio) by Kate Jacobs, Mar 25, 2009
11. Dating Big Bird by Laura Zigman, Mar 30, 2009
12. He's Just Not That Into You by Greg Behrendt, Mar 30, 2009
13. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary, Mar 30, 2009
14. High Maintenance by Jennifer Belle, Apr 7, 2009
15. Spin to Knit: The Knitter's Guide to Making Yarn by Shannon Okey, April 27, 2009
16. Bucky Katt's Big Book Of Fun: A Get Fuzzy Treasury by Darby Conley, April 29, 2009
17. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron, May 4 2009
18. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, May 28, 2009
19. The Budget Gardener: Twice the Garden for Half the Price by Maureen Gilmer, Jun 11, 2009
20. The Color Of Magic (Discworld, Book 1) by Terry Pratchett, June 19, 2009
21. Travels in the Scriptorium: A Novel by Paul Auster, June 25, 2009
22. The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs, July 2, 2009
23. A Deadly Yarn (Knitting Mystery, Book 3) by Maggie Sefton, July 8, 2009
24. KnitLit: Sweaters and Their Stories...and Other Writing About Knitting by Linda Roghaar, July 22, 2009

Books I have read but not finished this year:
1. Some Like It Haute (audio) by Julie K. L. Dam, February 20, 2009 - It was an audio download from Boston Public Library, but my hard drive died 3/4 through. I need to download it again and just finish the thing.
2. Smith & Hawken: Hands On Gardener: Seeds and Propagation by Susan McClure, May 2009
3. Wrap Style: Innovative to Traditional, 24 Inspirational Shawls, Ponchos, and Capelets to Knit and Crochet by Pam Allen, April 2009
4. Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City by Kelly Coyne, June 11, 2009 - had to return to library - couldn't renew due to holds. I've put my name back on the list.

Reading right now:
1. The Corset Diaries
2. The Light Fantastic

Reading but on hold because they keep getting bumped:
1. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4) by J.K. Rowling
2. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
3. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
4. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Here is my current list of books to read this summer*:
1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (audio download) - never read as a child. My sister Gretchen read and loved this series, and I think it's finally time for me to find out why she did.
2. 1984 by George Orwell (audio download)
3. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
4. Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
5. Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
6. The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsen
7. The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable by Terry Pratchett
8. Yoga and Fear in New Jersey

*List may change at any time due to proximity of books to bed/current mood, whether or not I forget that I'm currently reading it.


If you want to know what I'm reading now, check out
my 'currently-reading' shelf:

Fashion stupidity

What is it with guys and wearing bright pale yellow? It's just so wrong. Seems to be an in color this season though as a guy on the escalator was wearing a yellow shirt and now on the train there are 3 more people wearing it. Now, I know I have an aversion to yellow already, but most of the time it's also accompanied by the full on pseudo1920's golfer look. Excuse me? We're in metro Boston. There IS no where to golf in the city.

A Review: A Deadly Yarn (Knitting Mystery, Book 3)

A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
I wasn't sure what to expect from this serial novelist, given that they are murder mysteries and knitting themed. I have read a few other knitting related serial novels, a cross-stitch mystery, and a bunch of other serial mystery novels. The majority of them are poorly written and do not have a plot or characters that hold my attention or keep me guessing.



While I did figure out "who did it" early on, I enjoyed reading this book. The characters are around my age and for once the writing about knitting made sense. Yes, there was excessive use of descriptive words, yes, some of them were romantic or schmaltzy, but it didn't bother me enough to stop or to throw the book across the room every time I picked it up. Usually I plow through books I hate because I dislike unfinished reads.



I think I'll now go back and read the two earlier books in this series.


View all my reviews.