Bring on the crochet books!

So, whatcha reading?

Fiction: I just finished The Ruins by Scott Smith.
Children: Working on Shakespeare's Plays for Children
Non-Fiction: Lion Brand Wraps and Bags for work purposes.

I'm spending my last bit of time before classes start reading Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen and looking at the pretty pictures in Crochet Today magazine. (Ask me again on Monday, and I'll be in the middle of some tome on the rules of evidence or ABA ethics standards.)

Fiction: I Am Charlotte Simmons, Tom Wolfe
Non-fiction: Free Culture, Lawrence Lessig
Crafty: Crochet: History & Technique, Lis Paludan

I just finished "Pearl" by Mary Gordon.

Non-fiction: The unfolding of language
Fiction: Pride and Prejudice again (just seen the Knightley/Macfadyen film)
Crochet: Crocheting in Plain English - I only took it up a week ago so I figured if it was half as good as her knitting books it would be the best start.

Hi, all - I'm in the middle of Murder on the Leviathan by Boris Akunin. I have to have a dead body or two in my fiction. Or it has to be funny. Can't abide romance novels. Also, leafing through some Japanese crochet books that arrived this weekend from Amazon.com.jp. VERY inspirational.

Not sure how I ended up here and about to get very off topic.
Bopeep, I thought Matthew Macfadyen's Mr Darcy was the best I've seen. I could totally see how Elizabeth fell for him and I don't mean appearance wise. I loved the part where he took her hand to help her into the carriage. I really didn't care for the movie as a whole. Disliked how they portrayed the Bennets as a close knit, loving family. I had to read the book again right after I'd watched it too.

I am reading right now The Autobiography of HenryVII, September and Oliver Twist (again). I have read and I own lots of crochet books, but I have to review them to see what's what.

I have been crocheting for over 30 years, but I'm really not that old. I was just a kid when my gramma taught me. I recently taught myself how to knit. My projects working on but not finished: toothfairy pillows (4), man's scarf, knitted pillow, little purse. Items finished: Lots of ponchos! Lots of baby blankets! Lots of scarfs.

I want to finish a few things because there is a delightful crochet poncho pattern I'm itching to start. I also work full time, have a house and family and lots of cats! :)

I'm reading "From needle to Hook: Complete Guide to Converting Knit Patterns to Crochet". Unfortunately the focus is on how to imitate the look of a given stitch or stitch pattern, with less attention given to taking whole patterns for sweaters, or whatever and how to translate/convert into a crochet version. I read somewhere that since crochet is 200 years younger, there are far patterns for crocheters, especially patterns that are fitted (instead of boxy-looking items like sweaters). I finally found a book with a crochet pattern for a long (floor-length) coat, that has some shape and fitting to it, unfortunately, it is a summer jacket with large holes. However, I'm nowhere near good enough to attempt this anytime soon, so I;ve got plenty of time to keep looking.

I've been reading Amigurumi!: Super Happy Crochet Cute and of course Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It's very difficult to find time to read, play around on the computer, and crochet...usually crochet win.

Nice to see a crochet group here. Currently reading A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons. Waiting for my copy of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell to arrive.

This is why I "read" lots of audiobooks:)

I'm currently listening to Tallgrass about Japanese internment camps and a small town in Colorado.

I'm reading Portrait in Sepia which is my before bed book. What's really cool about this book is there is a crochet border decorating on of the pages of the books that shows the family tree of the characters in the book.

Fiction: Conqueror's Moon by Julian May
Craft: Hot Textiles by Kim Thittichai
Crochet: First Steps in Crochet by Mary Thomas (booklet)

I'm teaching myself how to crochet and am just having fun making a foundation chain, unravelling it and then making another @ the moment.

I'm having fun re-reading Stitch N Bitch Crochet, The Happy Hooker by Debbie Stoller
. It's packed full of so much crochet facts, information, tutorials, and patterns that I didn't catch it all the first time I went through it. It's highly possible I did get "it" all the first time but my ripe old brain forgot most of it. lol. Growing old is priceless. lol.

Thanks, all, for the tips about new books. I am a crocheting beginner, so my new crocheting books are on as basic a level as I can find. But I also bought a book on crochet by Barbara G. Walker because people said it really helped explain crochet to them.

If you can recommend crocheting tutorials or other materials for beginners, I could really use such materials. Is there anything on YouTube that is recommended? Also, I'm left-handed, so any materials that include lefties would also really help.