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Review: Knit the Season Nov 3, 2009 (10 of 10 found this helpful)
The third installment of The Friday Night Knitting Club, Knit the Season is a feel-good holiday book that celebrates friendships, family, new milestones, and unlimited possibilities for the future.
Knit the Season offers readers the chance to revisit the characters from The Friday Night Knitting Club and Knit Two, following them as they reconnect during a holiday season in New York and abroad. A novel that continues to explore the dynamic of friendship between a group of diverse women, Knit the Season offers readers hope and joy after the long and sometimes painful road they've traveled with Georgia Walker, her daughter, friends, and family.
I, like many others, had a difficult time with the plot twist at the end of TFKNC, but this newest installment helped me see that it served as an impetus for the other characters. Kate Jacobs used the twist as a motivation for all the changes the characters make--they are dynamic--altering their life courses as a result of plot events.
By using memory flashbacks from various characters' perspectives, we get a closer look at how one character can influence the life path of others. The flashbacks in Knit the Season also serve to enhance the characterization of Georgia Walker in her role as mother, sister, daughter, granddaughter, lover, and friend. Like the Christmas tree garland she and her Scottish grandmother knit over the years, the characters are connected to each other by Georgia and form a strong chain that can't be broken by the passage of time, distance, or age.
Fans of TFNKC and Knit Two will really enjoy catching up with the circle of friends, especially when they are each poised to embark on new and wonderful opportunities. Knit the Season, to be fully appreciated, needs to be read after the first two novels. Those books help build the relationships and back story that pave the way for the happiness and closure of Knit the Season.
An enjoyable read, Knit the Season put me in a festive, upbeat mood. Jacobs includes some knitting patterns and delicious recipes at the end of the novel, inspiring me to get in touch with my inner Martha Stewart! If you've yet to read the TFNKC, consider adding it to your holiday wish list.
-Natalie of Book, Line, and Sinker
11.3.09
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A Warming holiday read Nov 3, 2009 (5 of 5 found this helpful)
This was a great read for the holiday season. I know that a lot of people are like me, and enjoy the break from our normal reads at this time of the year. This book captures the warmth and spirit of the holiday season to share with family and friends. This is the third book in the series and I had to go read the first two books before reading this. It's not necessary, but it gives you more history and background for each of the characters. I love the flashbacks from each of the characters and it helps with the reasons of their choices in life. Every character is different, but they each share a meaning and love of friendship. A truly warm and wonderful read for this time of the year.
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Underwhelming ... Nov 10, 2009 (3 of 3 found this helpful)
I actually pre-ordered this book ... that's how much I enjoyed Kate Jacobs' first two installments in the "Friday Night Knitting Club" series, as well as her book "Comfort Food". However, unlike the other readers who have thus far reviewed "Knit the Season" here, I was somewhat disappointed in the end product this time.
Knit the Season is not a *bad* book, but it's also not a terrific one. Some of the plot elements were contrived and overly-predictable, and the author's use of flashback scenes/dialogue (snippets from various points in Georgia's life) was - to me - an irritating, extraneous interruption. For all of the characters' zeal about telling Dakota unvarnished stories about her mother, these flashbacks still paint a picture of Georgia as largely saint-like; the first book did a much better job at fleshing out her character and providing insights into the woman she was. Presumably, since Dakota was not a young child when her mother died, her memories of her mother would have provided her with a much more realistic snapshot of the woman than the vignettes that the flashback segments produce.
If I hadn't read the first two books, I would have pegged the characters here as two-dimensional. Dakota's "passion" for baking and her desire to ultimately pursue a career as a pastry chef - which was quirky, charming, and just one facet of her personality in the previous books - reaches nearly obsessive proportions throughout most of the book. Dakota also tends to stay "in her own head" a great deal. It would have been interesting (and more illuminating) to see her interact with her classmates or her teachers, but her interactions in the book are virtually limited to those that involve her family and the "knitters" although she is purportedly a full-time student. Anita is a spineless simp who allows her son to dictate her life. The spirit and "spark" that characterized her in the previous books is missing here. Catherine waffles back and forth about committing to her long-distance paramour, due to her inability to reconcile retaining her independence with being in a relationship. Professor-and-mom-to-twins Darwin and producer-and-single-mom Lucie - two of the more-interesting characters in the previous books - are, here, reduced to looking on from the periphery as their families share a duplex and each wonders how to let the other know that sometimes there's such a thing as too much togetherness.
You get the idea.
Kudos do go to Jacobs for including a brief but pivotal scene set at a Chanukah party given by Anita and her beau; it was nice to see the holiday included as more than an afterthought. However, I think I'd have preferred a better-conceived plot that wasn't shaped around the holiday season.
In sum, an unremarkable albeit quick read, with predictable outcomes. I wouldn't mind revisiting the Club, but I hope that next time there is a more compelling story to tell. Based upon her other books, Kate Jacobs seems to be a talented author, and this is not a bad book - it's just not a terrific one. I recommend reading the first two books in the series before heading into this one. And I recommend Jacobs' "Comfort Food" as a superior alternative that better showcases her talent.
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Another Heart Warming Book in this Series Nov 3, 2009 (2 of 3 found this helpful)
As a fan of the Friday Night Knitting Club novels, I was so excited to see that Kate Jacobs decided to write a holiday novel book this time, KNIT THE SEASON. This novel is exactly what I've come to expect from this series -- a wonderful story about women and the beauty of their friendships. I find these books to be so enjoyable, and I love how they just warm my heart!
The characters in these books are all very different, yet they have knitting, the yarn shop, and their Friday night meetings in common. It goes to show that strong friendships can develop between people who aren't all alike -- and I just love that message. I also think their friendships benefited because they all had to pull together and be strong for Georgia's daughter, Dakota. There's a very valuable lesson there that when you put someone else first, good things can happen to you!
I like all of the characters in KNIT THE SEASON (although each for different reasons); however, I definitely have a soft spot for Dakota. To me, KNIT THE SEASON is really about Dakota -- almost like her coming-of age story. As Dakota reaches adulthood, she has to assess her life and what's really important to her. She has to make difficult choices about her career, her future, and her family. In addition, she realizes that there is a great deal about her mother that she never knew. My heart just went out to Dakota in this book, and I so wanted to see her succeed (both professionally and personally) and ultimately find happiness.
It isn't necessary to read the Friday Night Knitting Club books in order; however, I strongly suggest it. KNIT THE SEASON picks up where KNIT TWO left off; and there the author does give enough background information that the reader wouldn't be lost. But (and it's a big one), if you don't read these books in order, you will miss out on some major story lines as well as seeing the characters develop. I think you'd still appreciate KNIT THE SEASON as a story, you just wouldn't truly appreciate the characters as much -- I feel like I know these women and almost consider them to be friends.
As is the case with all of Ms. Jacobs' novels, I think KNIT THE SEASON would make a fantastic book club selection. I can only imagine how fun it would be to discuss this book about women, family and friendships during your holiday meeting. There are recipes included in the back of the book as well as a pattern for knitted bookmarks. How cute would it be to make some of the delicious sounding recipes and bookmarks for your fellow book clubbers? In fact, if I were hosting the December book club meeting, I'd be tempted to have an entire KNIT THE SEASON themed-event! Besides the party aspects, there are also many wonderful topics to discuss in KNIT THE SEASON especially those about women and their friendships. I couldn't find a readers guide yet, but I'm sure there will one available in the very near future.
I think KNIT THE SEASON is a perfect read during the upcoming holiday season.It definitely got me in the Christmas spirit. It also is an ideal gift for a special friend in your life.
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Knit 2.5 Nov 20, 2009
This book is a great little story for the holiday season. I enjoy Kate Jacob's books enormously. Everyone knows that any slim volume with a shiny red cover appearing in the stores around Halloween is going to be a cute, fluttery holiday tale. So with the expectations set, I looked forward to reading it to find out what the Friday Night Knitting Club had been up to lately.
This book captures the warmth and spirit of the holiday season and what it means to Dakota to share time with family and friends. This third book is also a great segue to future installments which I look forward to. It also gives more history and background for each of the characters so that Jacobs can develop her base of fans for the next book in the series. I love the flashbacks from each of the characters. They permit the reader to rediscover each player. Every character is different, but they each share the love of friendship. This story is a warm and wonderful light read for this time of the year. Eggnog, anyone?