So any holiday that celebrates candy is my kind of holiday and then you throw bunnies in … no brainer. Having spent a bit of time as a kid in a place where “shalom” was the common greeting, I can’t tell you how enchanted I was with the idea of the Easter Bunny and baskets filled with chocolate. I got right in there and added what I knew… knitted bunnies!

These guys are from a really great book called Knitted Animalsby Anne-Dorthe Grigaff. There are so many sweet little creatures to make and PERFECT for beginners. Ms.Grigaff uses basic squares to form her animals and they knit up quickly so if you have little knitters in your world  that need to do something where they can have more immediate results these are the ticket,  completely doable.

Now these two farmers are from Toy Knits by Debbie Bliss. You definitely need a little more skill to pull this off but not a lot…

knitting is following directions and counting. We can all do that… right?!  Shelia Fee of Sheep to Shore fame can set you up with everything you need to make whatever you want. She is also a great teacher. Well I think we need a holiday to celebrate ice cream. I will begin to look for the perfect cow pattern!

If you dig this book, and I don’t know how you can’t, you may also like which we have hanging out on our shelves…

Fruits by Shoichi Aokiand it’s sequel Fresh Fruits

The Truth About Unicorns by Bonnie Jones Reynolds

As it turns out the book was published in 1972 and has been out of print.  Lucky for us, Felony and Mayhem reprinted it in November 2010.

I can’t say I was instantly hooked, it started off a little slow but once you get a little more familiar with the characters (of which there are many) it’s hard to put down.  I almost always nod off on flights but I was so enthralled by the time we were up in the air I didn’t even yawn.  Just nibbled my surprisingly free Delta Airlines cookie, sipped my ice water, and read the hours away.

It’s a wonderfully dark fairy tale that has a blend of fantasy and human reality that makes even the impossible seem possible.  Its not chick lit but it is a book with a more feminine target audience.  From witches to preachers wives, the women in the book are strong, authoritative characters.  And as strong women do, nerves are struck, tempers flare and vindictive ladies cut each other to the quick. A mysterious wood, family rivalries, a sleepy township, irresponsible youth, and generations of misplaced beliefs make this book a must read.

It is about a dystopia, a genre I didn’t think I’d like as much as I do… not being all into sci fi and the like.  But much like her first novel, which was one of my top recommendations last summer, the characters are well-developed and real, the story is compelling and full of love and the writing is pace perfect.

I can’t talk these books up enough.  They’re the perfect read for a quick trip, going to the beach or something to share mother/daughter.  *I will mention that there is content I would classify as later teen.  More for 16 and up.*

Cristina just finished Before I Fall.  Here’s what she had to say about it…

I don’t normally read young adult books but picked this one up on Dani’s recommendation and I have to say that it became hard to put down fairly quickly. The story keeps you guessing and thinking and hoping for the ending to turn out the way you want it to. It’s well written and as an adult reading it, it really brought me back to being in High School  and all the little things we wish we could have changed and done differently. I give it a big thumbs up and have to admit that I wish it had kept going past its 470 pages!

I’d also like to throw another suggestion into the ring…

Stephanie Kuehnert‘s  I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone is another fast paced tale about a troubled youth.  This one however isn’t young adult and is definitely a lot more rock and roll.  The author’s bio on the back of the book is fantastic…

Stephanie Kuehnert got her start writing bad poetry about unrequited love and razor blades in eighth grade. In high school, she discovered punk rock and produced several D.I.Y. feminist Õzines. She received her MFA in creative writing from Columbia College Chicago and lives in Forest Park, Illinois. This novel is her first. Visit her website at www.stephaniekuehnert.com.

Another book I couldn’t put down… literally spending two sleepless nights reeling from literary contact highs and backstage adrenaline.  If you’re looking for a love story with a little more umph, this is the book for you.

Well, they shouldn’t and I’m here to tell you something else… along with those bound bundles of art are some great stories.

I couldn’t possibly talk about all my favorites at once.  That’s just silly… you’d be reading this blog for days.  So I’m going to take this slowly.  Baby steps, you might say.

Since I just sold a copy tonight, I’m going to kick this cyber, literary Never Never Land off with some Rainbow Goblins. (Not to be confused with the equally awesome “Rainbow Connection.”)

The Rainbow Goblins are seven hideous little beasts; one for each color of the rainbow.  They love color and travel the world devouring the beautiful rainbows until only one valley remains where rainbows are born.  When they find this valley, they also find their demise and color can again take over the world.

It’s hard not to dig this little gem.

Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton

How to Read the Air by Dinaw Mengestu

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Paperbacks

Something Missing by Matthew Dicks

Weeping Underwater Looks A Lot Like Laughter by Michael J. White

Audiobooks

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

Poser: My Life in Twenty-Three Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer

Paperbacks

Nurture Shock by Po Bronson

Burning Marguerite by Elizabeth Inness-Brown

Just Kids by Patti Smith (This book is so good that everyone at the store is reading it and loving it.  Wendy called it “life changing” so I think we’ll see it on our list of likes for a few more weeks)

Audiobooks

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin

Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann

Young Adult

Blood Roses by Francesca Lia Block

The reader is introduced to Helen Hamilton, our modern day heroine, who just wants to survive high school. Although most teens battle identity issues, Helen, who hallucinates female statues crying tears of blood and has nightmares of epic desert journeys, is startled to find out that she’s not exactly human… she’s a demigod.

When the Delos family moves to Nantucket everything changes. Helen is mysteriously drawn to the new heartthrob, Lucas Delos, and after a failed attempt to kill him, she begins to grasp their roles in a reoccurring, age-old Greek tragedy.  Even though Lucas brings Helens powers to light, the Fates are doing their best to keep them apart.

Angelini’s writing is compared to Stephanie Meyer, however she develops more characters and a plot that has a bit more depth and historical background.  The characters are very relatable, considering their only partially human, and the romance between Helen and Lucas isn’t as gooey as Twilight.  This is not to say that it is not a beach read, it most certainly is, however a slightly more elevated one. This book will also please those who were opposed to Bella Swan’s weak female lead.  Helen is a more like Katniss in The Hunger Games. As some conflicts are resolved, more than a few rise up to take their places, leaving plenty in store for the two remaining books in the trilogy.

Starcrossed hits our cobblestone streets in June. We can definitely reserve you a copy.

-Reviewed by Lizzy Skokan

Swamplandia by Karen Russell

We The Drowned by Carsten Jensen

Paperbacks

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

Annabel by Kathleen Winter

Audiobooks

Brief Interveiws with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Young Adult

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Although this book has been on the Indie Bestsellers List and is currently sitting at #8, it hasn’t been flying off our bookshelves.  I’m not a big fan of Rumsfeld myself, and I haven’t read the memoir, but I do like hearing the behind-the-scenes, especially when it’s related to the events that have dominated the past decade.  So, after watching last nights interview with Jon Stewart I was a little more interested in what this book really had to offer and I looked up some other reviews…

The Washington Post review mentioned some interesting facts…

Rumsfeld was inspired to public service by Adlai Stevenson and he wrote a campaign check for New Jersey Democrat Bill Bradley in 2000 when he ran for president.  You’re right Gwen Ifill, I wouldn’t have guessed that.

The Huffington Post review declared him “self-righteous” which seems to be a common comment.

The Guardian’s Justin Webb gives the author a bit of a tip of the hat,

In my eight years in America for the BBC, I can honestly say that I never watched a single speech on the floor of either houses of Congress. But Rumsfeld’s news conferences were a must-see. They were the nearest thing America had to prime minister’s questions. Held in a bunker in the Pentagon, before an audience of nervous, tittering, chino-wearing, blue-shirted correspondents, these were spanking sessions for a generation of defence nerds.

but is disappointed by the lack of answers the book delivers.

I have to say, Rumsfeld puts on a highly entertaining dance during interviews (that apparently translates into the written word), even if it doesn’t answer the questions we have. This book might be worth reading just for that.

You can also check out his website, www.rumsfeld.com, or just poke around the web on your own and find out some more of that “unknown.”