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Mar 31, 2009

Elizabeth rated it:

It was ok. Some of the reviews called it profound, but I wouldn't go that far. In spite of the subject matter I didn't find that it had much emotional depth... It was an easy read, which is what I was looking for. The brief jaunt to Venice at Christmastime renewed my desire/intention to visit Venice.

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 07, 2009

bonny rated it:

I stumbled upon this book purely by accident, and was very pleasantly surprised. Much of the knitting fiction I've read has felt a bit forced, as if the authors were struggling to specifically write fiction about knitting. Gil McNeil manages to make knitting an integral and interesting part of Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club. I can picture the lovely yarn colors & garments she describes. She manages to make the mess & emotions of everyday life funny and interesting, while portraying More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 09, 2011

Stephanie rated it:

Jo's husband Nick announces he wants a divorce. Jo is stunned, hurt, and angry- until Nick dies in a car accident right afterward. Having been a stay-at-home-mom to their two boys, Jack and Archie, for several years, it's back to work with Jo. She moves the two boys from London to a small town near the English seaside and takes over her grandmother's knitting shop. Longtime employee Elsie isn't happy with all the changes she's making, but Jo's got enough on her plate right now without worrying a More...

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Oct 18, 2010

Anne Hawn rated it:

There have been a number of books that deal with knitting groups, but this one is an interesting twist. Jo Mackenzie’s husband has just been killed in a car crash…just after he has informed his wife that he has a mistress whom he has been living part time and he has taken a second mortgage on their house to finance their life. He will be leaving her immediately…and then he is killed. Her emotions are in limbo and her life has been turned upside down. There is only one solution on the horizon. More...

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Sep 14, 2010

Min rated it:

This is the first book in McNeil's series, and I read it only because I stumbled upon the second book in the series (Needles and Pearls) in a bookstore last month.

At the beginning of the book, we find out the Jo and her two sons are moving. Why? Because she's suddenly become a widow and has decided to move to take over her grandmother's wool shop. How did she become a widow? Because the very night that her husband told her he had been cheating on her for a year, he drove off, cra More...

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Jul 30, 2010

bookczuk rated it:

I usually don't like the kind of books where a group of women come together over some common interest (books, knitting, or something) and find strength and courage, becoming better people, etc, etc. I was really concerned that this would be one of those books, but it actually wasn't. There's a genre of literature, too, which has become kind of called "knitting fiction" where a women in her 30s-40's has a profound life-changing event, and as she begins to find her way, ends up in a kn More...

10 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 20, 2010

Laura rated it:

There’s a very set formula for Knitting Fiction, and this one doesn’t deviate from it much, at least in its premise. Take one woman in her 30s or 40s, add something tragic (e.g., deadly disease, widowhood, etc.), along with one wool shop full of delightful customers (excepting the sulking teenager) and presto! You’ve got a warm and cozy novel full of hugging and learning faster than you can turn a heel.

Where The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club does depart from the typi More...

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Feb 28, 2010

Olivemylove rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Oct 31, 2009

Nikki rated it:

Since I don't knit, I'd been avoiding the numerous knitting-group novels which seem to have supplanted book-club-themed books in the domestic fiction area. But the colorful cover (not the one shown) of the large-print edition led me to pick it off the shelf, and after sampling a few pages I was hooked. The English setting probably helped, as I'm a big fan of Erica James and Katie fforde, whose books have some similarities to this one.

Jo Mackenzie-Jones, formerly an editor for BBC New More...

1 comment like

Jul 25, 2009

Marlyn rated it:

Jo McKenzie's husband is killed in a car crash, but she's not sure whether or not she should grieve, as he had told her he was leaving her just before he drove away. Meanwhile, she has two young sons to raise, and no real source of income.
Then her grandmother decides to retire, and asks Jo to take over her yarn shop, in the seaside town where Jo grew up. Eager to make a new start, Jo and the boys relocate to Broadgate Bay, where Jo sets about modernizing her granmother's musty yarn shop.
More...

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Apr 15, 2010

Shelli rated it:

I would never recommend this book in a million years, but I loved it the way I sometimes love other things that are bad for me ... like fries and Costco muffins.

The plot is perfectly paced, and I love the main character. Jo is a decent mom who's trying her best and doing a pretty fine job of it all. She's forgiving and generous, and knows how to pick her battles. We'd be friends in real life.

This book made me all itchy to learn to knit. I taught a friend how to crochet an More...

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Dec 31, 2011

Ana rated it:

In the flurry of knitting group-related novels recently, I'd have to say this one was my favorite. The writing got progressively wittier until I was laughing and reading bits out loud to my husband at the end. The author uses capitalized words when expressing a character Displeasure, which as I read I found funnier and funnier. The protagonist kept her chin up and her sarcasm dialed up to nine.

I'd say take a pass on the The Friday Night Knitting Club and read this instead. Just reme More...

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Nov 21, 2010

Nancy rated it:

Jo Mackenzie (sounds a bit like "Gil McNeil", doesn't it?) is not having an easy time. Shortly after foreign correspondent husband Nick tells her that he is leaving her, he crashes his car into a tree, leaving her with a surprise second mortgage, no money, and two small boys. With limited options, Jo moves her family to a small seaside town and takes over her Gran's near-moribund knit shop. After her isolated life in London, life in a small town - replete with loony aristocrats, boss More...

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Dec 27, 2010

Esther rated it:

I picked this book up from a stack of books at my mother-in-laws. I was interested because I hadn't read any books from the new, small genre of knitting club stories/books. My M-I-L hadn't read it yet and thus couldn't warn me that the book had a very slow moving plot that didn't really resolve any of the issues because the book is (heaven forbid) part of a series, was 3x's longer than it needed to be (it would of only been 2x's as long as needed if McNeil hadn't dropped the f-bomb among other c More...

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Feb 18, 2010

Danarifai rated it:

Basically, this is chick lit. An easy read after heavy reading. I related with Jo, the main character, in that she is dealing with the frustration, anxiety, exhaustion of motherhood despite the pure joy that comes with it. Her career goals are also very intriguing in that she quit the job she was groomed for in college and worked before she had children and instead opted to make her hobby (knitting) her work. She nurtures a small business (a wool shop) to financially provide for her family. More...

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Sep 29, 2011

Jodi rated it:

First, I loved this book because it was a farewell gift from one of my bookclubs complete with written messages from my friends. *sniff*

Second, I found it an easy read that held my attention which most books can't do right now since I'm in a crazy chaotic moving between states place in my life and I'm stressed beyond belief.

Third, I loved the British humor but hated the profanity and constant talk of "shagging". On the plus side most of the profanity was th More...

2 comments like

Jun 14, 2011

Catherine rated it:

What drove me nuts about this book is that the author likes to capitalize words all the time because when you do that it makes what you're saying so much more important. Well, not really. McNeil also writes with a stream of consciousness approach. One sentence oftentimes takes up a whole paragrah. The ending was also unsatisfying. Basically, the book begins with the death of Jo's husband and ends about a year later with nothing really insightful happening inbetween. The story could have ke More...

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Apr 24, 2011

Dani rated it:

This book wasn't bad. But it wasn't super intriguing either. It was just okay. I felt as if I was coasting my way through, waiting for something interesting to happen. But a dozen small moments don't compel me as much as one or two big moments so for me this book was eh. I have no intention of reading the second book. I need clear climaxes and dramas that need solving, not the sordid tale of everyday life.

Now, if McNeil had gone more on the emotional side of the main character's bat More...

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Jun 08, 2009

Margaret rated it:

Another book, British this time, about a knitting shop and the community that grows up around it. Unlike some American knit-shop authors, Gil McNeil does not center her story around solving a mystery (two-fer genre writing) or knitting patterns and how they serve as self-help triggers, but tells the story of a recently-widowed London woman who packs up her children and moves to a coastal town to take over the yarn store-- "wool shop" in England--her grandmother has been running. McNeil More...

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Feb 06, 2010

Shelly♥ rated it:

I really enjoyed the characters in this book, the setting (a small Scottish seaside town) and soaking in the British culture. While the characters progressed in their lives to some degrees, there were no overwhelming obstacles overcome, (in my opinion). It just seemed like a period of time cut out of someone's life.

One thing that did bother me was the amount of cursing in the dialog and in the thoughts of the main character. Perhaps another slice of British culture I am unfamilia More...

1 comment like

Apr 25, 2009

Sandie rated it:

Novels with protagonists engaged in every "crafty" endeavor from knitting and quilting to scrapbooking and wine making seem to be the order of the day and authors like Kate Jacobs, Jennifer Chiaverini, Debbie Macomber and Ellen Crosby have managed to build quite a successful following with these subjects. Enter British author and knitting diva Gil McNeil with her contribution to this eclectic mix, The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club.

McNeil has chosen to encumbe More...

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Jun 24, 2010

Catherine rated it:

It started off slow, but eventually picked up speed. It is a great book to show that change is good and starting over doesn't mean the end of the world. Jo McKenzie is told by her husband that he is divorcing her after having a year long affair. He leaves the house and is killed in an accident, leaving Jo alone with their 2 boys (who are under the age of 7). Jo has to rebuild her life, so she moves back to Broadgate from London and takes over her grandmother's yarn store. Jo discovers that More...

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Feb 03, 2011

Judy rated it:

While Beach Street was a fast read, it's not going to the top of my favorites for this year. There was simply too much gratuitous swearing for my taste. The use of the "F" word became really bothersome and was totally unnecessary to move the storyline. Don't get me wrong; I'm not easily put off by swearing as long as it serves a purpose. The swearing in this book, however, did nothing for the story except prove the author could have all kinds of characters saying it.

In defens More...

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Sep 25, 2010

Loralee rated it:

Don't bother staying up late reading this book! My mistake.
I was drawn in by the start of this book--a widow moving her two children to a seaside town to run her grandmother's yarn shop. Family life is brilliantly detailed, and the tone reminded me of "Life of Kate Reddy, Working Mother," which I very much enjoyed. This book, however, petered off midway, with little vignettes about the children, the movie star knitting friend, the parents, the grandmother, and the neighbor's d More...

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Dec 18, 2011

Carissa rated it:

This was the first book I read on a Kindle and.... I loved it! I'm not sure if my affection for the book was affected by the novelty of the medium, but it had all of my favorite book elements--starting or reviving a new business venture (seriously--why do i LOVE this theme in books so much? I think it relates to the whole "i love a makeover, but not the kind with makeup" part of me), witty dialogue, a bit of romance, good women friends who really get each other, not a huge emphasis o More...

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Oct 25, 2011

Michelle rated it:

Jo has had a major upheaval in her life- her husband told her he wants a divorce, but is killed in an auto accident shortly after. She finds herself deeper in debt than she realized and has to reset her expectations and move to her grandmother's village by the sea to help run her knitting shop as she can no longer afford London with her two young boys. Her best friend and news anchor, Ellen, delights in a good drink and an occasional game of strip poker, and Jo has some funny and realistic conv More...

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Aug 11, 2009

Mary rated it:

I am currently reading this book. My books finally got here from the library. The library is in the process of moving to a new building, so they have not been lending books. So far this is just the kind of book that keeps my interest, thanks Barb for recommending it. I am about half way through and can't wait to get finished and find out what happens to Jo and her family.

I have finished this book and enjoyed it very much. It had a lot of humor and mothering dos and don'ts. The More...

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Jul 01, 2011

Alice rated it:

I am not a knitter, but I am so glad I picked up this book. I saw its sequel on the New Books shelf, and so decided to start with the original. In typical craft fiction fashion, the plucky heroine overcomes a personal tragedy by taking over her grandmother's knitting shop and forging a new group of friends. However, this woman's fabulous sense of humor and her life with her two young sons had me laughing out loud on every other page. Maybe it's just the vision it gives me of my future life with More...

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Jul 01, 2011

Sharon rated it:

I am not a knitter, but I am so glad I picked up this book. I saw its sequel on the New Books shelf, and so decided to start with the original. In typical craft fiction fashion, the plucky heroine overcomes a personal tragedy by taking over her grandmother's knitting shop and forging a new group of friends. However, this woman's fabulous sense of humor and her life with her two young sons had me laughing out loud on every other page. Maybe it's just the vision it gives me of my future life w More...

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Nov 05, 2010

Michelle rated it:

I admit that I did not finish this book. I just...couldn't.

At around page 80, I thought, "Dang, nothing is happening." Then it occurred to me that the premise is pretty heavy and that the first 30 or so pages were pretty intense. When nothing had happened by page 150, I reached the conclusion that I am allowed to have fairly high expectations concerning the books I choose. I didn't choose this book to learn anything profound or for it to change my life, but I did expect More...

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