Fiction Book Review: The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club By Gil McNeil

My kids rolled their eyes, but completely got it, when I couldn’t resist buying The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club by Gil McNeil. I first spotted a book by this author at the Brighton Library, but it was the second or third in the trilogy. After reading a sample and loving it, I jotted down the author’s name and went home. Since I so badly wanted a book that would hit me just the right way after having had an especially trying spring and summer, I didn’t want to wait for the library to borrow a copy from another location, so I bought the above-mentioned title from Amazon. In case anyone noticed the author’s name, I should mention that I did check Gil’s gender before buying and was relieved to discover that she is a she. I’m sorry if this offends anyone, but I am not interested in reading a book about knitting and women’s friendships written by a man.

A Visit to See Amy

I visited my sister, Amy, today for the first time in months. I was a bit over-generous with my belated birthday presents for her since the occasion was almost three months ago and I had missed it. Buying a couple extra things helped assuage my guilt, which was forgotten the minute she joyfully ripped the packages open before I even had a chance to get them out of my car.

My sister turned 50 on May 25 of this year. She’s not quite sure, but she thinks she’s about 16, which is the age her mental illness first became apparent. Perhaps I should say that that’s how old she was when we had to drop everything and try to get her some help.

She lives in a group home in Ortonville, Michigan with about 20 adults who all have some kind of mental problem. They seem pretty peaceful, but maybe that’s because they’re heavily medicated. When I was there today, there were several residents sitting around the t.v. watching something insipid featuring a hairy puppet I didn’t recognize. The show had the look of a cheap Sesame Street knock-off.