Skeinspotting

I love books!

Not just knitting books but fiction, either classic or contemporary. I used to read over 50 books a year but looking back over the last year, I was so busy with my knitting empire I didn't really read that much.

I was totally impressed with the number of books Kerrie Allman had read since Christmas, she asked me what genre of books I liked so I sent her a list which I will share with you.

Here are some of the books I have read and really enjoyed, the taste is reasonably varied. I did like a lot more contemporary light hearted stuff as well but when time is so precious, my fave genre is fiction that is unique rather than blockbuster if you know what I mean.

Last year I went through a phase of reading Chinese authors, moved by their stoical but emotional way of dealing with tragedy which was absolutely fatalistic and beyond my own cosy experiences. It taught me to have an acceptance of those tragic things that had happened that can't be changed. When I was going through a hard time myself (massive hole in the arm,hospital and pet bereavement!)these books saw me through. These are my recommendations:

Red Azalea, Empress Orchid and Wild Ginger all by Anchee Min
Falling Leaves Adeline Yen Mah
Wild Swans Jung Chang
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Paperback) *by Lisa See (Author)

Also this is a very short list of the ones I can remember (really must write down my readings on my blog this year, so many things to do so little time!)

Misfortune (Paperback) by Wesley Stace (Author)
Human Traces (Paperback) by Sebastian Faulks (Author)

Lazy Eye (Paperback) by Donna Daley-Clarke (Author
The Alchemist's Daughter (Hardcover) *by Katharine McMahon (Author)
Fingersmith (Paperback) *by Sarah Waters (Author)
Affinity (A Virago V) (Paperback) *by Sarah Waters (Author)
The Night Watch (Hardcover) by Sarah Waters (Author)
Tipping the Velvet (Virago V) (Paperback) *by Sarah Waters (Author)
Never Let Me Go (Paperback) *by Kazuo Ishiguro (Author)
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (Paperback) by Marina Lewycka (Author)
The Time Traveler's Wife (Paperback)* by Audrey Niffenegger (Author
The Shadow of the Wind (Paperback) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Author)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time: Adult Edition (Paperback) *by Mark Haddon (Author)
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (Paperback) by Patrick Suskind (Author)

Human Traces (Paperback) by Sebastian Faulks (Author)
Flow, My Tears, the Policeman Said (S.F.Masterworks S.) (Paperback) by Philip K. Dick (Author)
Ubik (Gollancz S.F.) (Paperback) *by Philip K. Dick (Author
Eye in the Sky (Gollancz SF) (Paperback) by Philip K. Dick (Author)

Forget the dreary plodding way of approaching classics at school, there are some real gems and you can appreciate them with the freshness of an adult perspective if you go back to them. If you haven't already read these (as an adult) I would throughly recommend them as easy reads:

The Woman in White (Penguin Popular Classics) (Paperback) *by Wilkie Collins (Author)
Jane Eyre (Penguin Popular Classics) (Paperback) by Charlotte Bronte (Author
David Copperfield (Penguin Popular Classics) (Paperback) *by Charles Dickens (Author)
Middlemarch (Wordsworth Classics) (Paperback) by George Eliot (Author), Doreen Roberts (Introduction
Far from the Madding Crowd (Penguin Popular Classics) (Paperback) by Thomas Hardy (Author)
The Turn of the Screw (Dover Thrift) (Paperback) by Henry James (Author)

Share your thoughts and add you recommendations. Show that knitters have a broad spectrum of creative thought and can be abstract as well as concrete and manual. Do you knit and read at the same time? I imagine it goes well with blankets and throws with repetitve long rows of straight knitting, not lace, Aran or colour work.

*Extra special faves