Every Which Way Crochet Borders by Edie Eckman

source: ARC courtesy of NetGalley
title: Every Which Way Crochet Borders: 139 Patterns for Customized Edgings by Edie Eckman
published: January 24, 2017
pages: 224
rated: 5 out of 5 stars

blurb:
Step-by-step instructions and symbol charts put these 100 creative new border designs within reach for beginning and advanced crocheters alike. If you’re ready to chart your own crocheted course, Edie Eckman offers plenty of helpful design advice, including how to choose an appropriate border for each project and how to incorporate an element from the main stitch pattern into a new border design. She then explains, with the help of close-up photos, how the same pattern can have dramatically different results depending on the weight of the yarn. With each pattern diagrammed to approach in both rounds and rows, Every Which Way Crochet Borders is an inventive and invaluable resource.

my thoughts:
What a fantastic resource Every Which Way Crochet Borders: 139 Patterns for Customized Edgings by Edie Eckman for crocheters is!

The patterns are clear and varied, the photos are crisp and detailed and the book itself is well organized. The edge patterns all have diagrams as well, which is a wonderful touch. For a crocheter looking for nice border patterns, this book is an absolute gem. I know personally that when I am looking for a border pattern to give my project a finishing touch it can be hard to find a good one. The edging patterns here are unique and varied, there are plenty of ideas.

Listen to Me by Hannah Pittard

source: free copy via AmazonVine
title: Listen to Me
author: Hannah Pittard
genre: psychological thriller
published: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (July 5, 2016)
pages: 191
first line: They were on the road later than they intended.
rated: misleading

Blurb:

A modern gothic about a marriage and road trip gone hauntingly awry.

Mark and Maggie’s annual drive east to visit family has gotten off to a rocky start. By the time they’re on the road, it’s late, a storm is brewing, and they are no longer speaking to one another. Adding to the stress, Maggie — recently mugged at gunpoint — is lately not herself, and Mark is at a loss about what to make of the stranger he calls his wife. When they are forced to stop for the night at a remote inn, completely without power, Maggie’s paranoia reaches an all-time and terrifying high. But when Mark finds himself threatened in a dark parking lot, it’s Maggie who takes control.

My Thoughts:
Okay, so I am upset. When I grabbed a copy of Listen to Me I expected a thrilling story, one I could enjoy on a cool Fall evening while sipping a cup of tea. What I discovered was that I wanted to throw the book across the room when I was done reading.

On one hand this was a quiet, tense story about a married couple who are beginning to doubt one another. On the other hand, I found this book to be falsely marketed, the blurb is misleading: “When they are forced to stop for the night at a remote inn, completely without power, Maggie’s paranoia reaches an all-time and terrifying high. But when Mark finds himself threatened in a dark parking lot, it’s Maggie who takes control.” This one is supposed to be a psychological thriller, I found nothing really thrilling about it and was upset with the turn the book took towards the end. It certainly is not a “modern gothic” as the blurb suggests. Come on people.

R.I.P. XI Peril on the Screen

image by wikipedia, fair use, click here for details

title: The Babadook
genre: psychological drama/thriller
released: 2014
If it’s in a word. Or it’s in a look. You can’t get rid of … The Babadook

My thoughts:
I am a big fan of indie films. Some of my favorite films are independent and you can find me many a weekend watching an indie film on Netflix with my latest crochet project in hand.

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI 2016

Yay. It is Monday and I don’t mind it because of the 3 day weekend due to the Labor Day holiday. That gives me some time to enjoy blog land this morning.

I am a little bit late this year, but I will definitely be participating in R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI. It is tradition. I will update this post as I read.

The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King

source: purchased
title: The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
author: Stephen King
published: November, 2015
pages: 495
rated:4 out of 5

blurb:
A master storyteller at his best—the O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King delivers a generous collection of stories, several of them brand-new, featuring revelatory autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each story.

Since his first collection, Nightshift, published thirty-five years ago, Stephen King has dazzled readers with his genius as a writer of short fiction. In this new collection he assembles, for the first time, recent stories that have never been published in a book. He introduces each with a passage about its origins or his motivations for writing it.

There are thrilling connections between stories; themes of morality, the afterlife, guilt, what we would do differently if we could see into the future or correct the mistakes of the past….

my thoughts:

You might know that Stephen King is one of my favorite authors. I first began reading his short stories in my early twenties and was hooked since. I brought The Bazaar of Bad Dreams on vacation last month and I found it the perfect book to dip in and out of while relaxing in the sun. This is a collection of 20 short stories, some brand new, others previously published. King also includes his personal comments on each story which gives it all a nice touch.