Reading

What’s On My Nightstand?

chicks-with-sticks-2.jpgWhat’s on my nightstand? Chicks with Sticks (Knit Two Together), by Elizabeth Lenhard.

I have a three-page, single-spaced list of Recommended Reading, but this book was not on it. I discovered it browsing the library shelves this week. The knitting title caught my eye–I’m a knitter. I had a stack of a dozen books already, what’s one more? Just today I’ve discovered it’s the middle book of a trilogy. Ack! It was the only one on the shelf, and nothing I read on the cover (did I read anything on the cover?) clued me in to this. I’m on page eighty-something, so I’m not going to stop; I’ll just have to read the books out of order.

The good news is, I’m not lost. Until moments ago, I believed it was a stand-alone book. That’s good! Kudos to Ms. Lenhard. It can be a struggle for series writers to not assume previous knowledge of situations and characters, in case something like this happens.

After reading Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park, I commented here that I would like to build embroidery into my stories. Ms. Lenhard goes a step further: she’s built a story around knitting.

Categories: Reading

2 replies »

  1. Eeek! I hate it when that happens… I generally research the order and request them from the library all at once. I’m so weird about it, I’d have to stop book 2 and go back to book one LOL

  2. But do you research each and every book to see if it’s part of a series?

    I guess most people probably do. I really did just pick the book out based on the knitting reference. I looked no further than that.

    I finished the book last night. I found a couple of characters that seemed to appear out of nowhere. I expect they are in the first book.

    I wonder if or how much the first book will be ruined by my having read the second one first.