A Good Yarn - Debbie Macomber
This novel is as cozy as a cup of tea and a sleepy cat in the window of a yarn shop. A Good Yarn is the sequel to Debbie Macomber's first novel on the subject, The Shop on Blossom Street, which was entertaining enough, but not terribly well written. In her second novel with the same main character, Macomber seems more confident as a writer; her characters are better developed and it moves along at a quick pace, but at its core, the novel is derivative chick-lit, easy escapism and not much more.

Lydia Hoffman is a two-time cancer survivor who invested her life savings in a yarn shop located on Blossom Street in an up-and-coming Seattle neighborhood. To offset her lonliness and increase revenue, she offers beginning knitting classes to a motley crew of women who, despite their various troubles, learn to lean on one another . Because as they learn to knit...they grow stronger...stitch by stitch...woven together...or something like that.

The characters in both novels are slightly cliched (and eerily similar) - there is always the older socialite, the harried young mother or newlywed, and the "troubled teen." When it comes to dialogue, Macomber is no Maeve Binchy, certainly her "teen speak" had me gritting my teeth. While I can't applaud this book (and perhaps planned series, she has been on the NYT Bestseller List), I can recommend it as the perfect rainy Saturday read.

Knitters, in particular, will enjoy the namedropping of various charitable organizations (Warm-Up America, the Linus Project), the "inspirational" knitting quotes that precede every chapter, and the knitting pattern at the beginning of the book.