Review: Knit the Season

Summary: Knit the Season is a loving, moving, laugh-out-loud celebration of special times with friends and family. The story begins a year after the end of Knit Two, with Dakota Walker's trip to spend the Christmas holidays with her Gran in Scotland-accompanied by her father, her grandparents, and her mother's best friend, Catherine. Together, they share a trove of happy memories about Christmases past with Dakota's mom, Georgia Walker-from Georgia's childhood to her blissful time as a doting new mom. From Thanksgiving through Hanuk­kah and Christmas to New Year's, Knit the Season is a novel about the richness of family bonds and the joys of friendship.
-- Putnam

As a fan of the Friday Night Knitting Club novels, I was so excited to see that Kate Jacobs decided to write a holiday novel book this time, KNIT THE SEASON. This novel is exactly what I've come to expect from this series -- a wonderful story about women and the beauty of their friendships. I find these books to be so enjoyable, and I love how they just warm my heart!

The characters in these books are all very different, yet they have knitting, the yarn shop, and their Friday night meetings in common. It goes to show that strong friendships can develop between people who aren't all alike -- and I just love that message. I also think their friendships benefited because they all had to pull together and be strong for Georgia's daughter, Dakota. There's a very valuable lesson there that when you put someone else first, good things can happen to you!

I like all of the characters in KNIT THE SEASON (although each for different reasons); however, I definitely have a soft spot for Dakota. To me, KNIT THE SEASON is really about Dakota -- almost like her coming-of age story. As Dakota reaches adulthood, she has to assess her life and what's really important to her. She has to make difficult choices about her career, her future, and her family. In addition, she realizes that there is a great deal about her mother that she never knew. My heart just went out to Dakota in this book, and I so wanted to see her succeed (both professionally and personally) and ultimately find happiness.

It isn't necessary to read the Friday Night Knitting Club books in order; however, I strongly suggest it. KNIT THE SEASON picks up where KNIT TWO left off; and there the author does give enough background information that the reader wouldn't be lost. But (and it's a big one), if you don't read these books in order, you will miss out on some major story lines as well as seeing the characters develop. I think you'd still appreciate KNIT THE SEASON as a story, you just wouldn't truly appreciate the characters as much -- I feel like I know these women and almost consider them to be friends.

As is the case with all of Ms. Jacobs' novels, I think KNIT THE SEASON would make a fantastic book club selection. I can only imagine how fun it would be to discuss this book about women, family and friendships during your holiday meeting. There are recipes included in the back of the book as well as a pattern for knitted bookmarks. How cute would it be to make some of the delicious sounding recipes and bookmarks for your fellow book clubbers? In fact, if I were hosting the December book club meeting, I'd be tempted to have an entire KNIT THE SEASON themed-event! Besides the party aspects, there are also many wonderful topics to discuss in KNIT THE SEASON especially those about women and their friendships. I couldn't find a readers guide yet, but I'm sure there will one available in the very near future.

I think KNIT THE SEASON is a perfect read during the upcoming holiday season. (You can read an excerpt from Chapter 1 here.) It definitely got me in the Christmas spirit. It also is an ideal gift for a special friend in your life. KNIT THE SEASON will be available on November 3rd.

Thanks to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book.