The Friday Night Knitting Club (edition 2007)

I really liked this book. It is the story of a group of women, all different, who form a knitting club. This group of strangers become friends and then family. The ending was a complete surprise to me. ( )

Sex and the City for Knitters is how one review here described this book. Not quite. Female friendship is a main theme but without the sex, clothes, cosmos and panache that SATC has. Georgia has a circle of close friends that have been garnered through the knitting club at the yarn store she owns. Life hasn't been easy for Georgia, raising her daughter on her own. When the father of her daughter comes back into her life after a lengthy absence, she is forced to decide whether or not to let him back into her life and into their daughter's life.

The novel plods along slowly developing each character and her story. Most characters are not fully realized and each shadows of what they could have been. There is a tragedy at the end that was unexpected but was glossed over and moved through at rapid fire pace. It seemed rushed since the rest of the book plodded along so.

I had high hopes for this novel being a knitter who enjoys the companionship of fellow knitters but was very disappointed. ( )

I read this book for my real-life book group... And I quite enjoyed it! At least until the last few pages! Geeeeeesh! Was that really necessary?

Here's a blurb I half-stole from someone else (I totally reworded it, but still): This book was primarily a story about Georgia Walker, her daughter, Dakota, and the knitting shop Georgia opened when she found herself single, pregnant, and alone in New York City—far from her home in Pennsylvania. Anita, Georgia's "fairy godmother," meets Georgia and helps her start her business and becomes her friend and the mother Georgia needs and always wanted. Many years later, the Friday Night Knitting Club forms after hours at the store, and Georgia finds herself amongst some VERY interesting new frinds while reluctantly reconnecting with old friends. And in the midst of everything is knitting, which ends up tying them together in ways that they would never imagine.

I thought the main characters were TERRIBLY interesting. I really enjoyed exploring all of their lives and finding out what happens to them. And while I thought the ending could have been much more.... to my taste... (read: mushy, gushy romance), it does draw the characters even closer together.... Sad though it was... ( )

I was very disappointed in this book. The writing is sub-mediocre, and the storyline and characters are cliche and repetitive. It wasn't a miserable read, but it was not nearly as good as I thought it would be, judging from all of the press it received. ( )

September 2009 COTC Book Club selection.

I was surprised by how much discussion we got out of this. We talked about the decisions the women made, the depth of the characters (or lack thereof), and the plausibility of the story. We also talked about knitting a little. I enjoyed the book very much and hope to get to read the second one eventually. ( )