A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donelly

Somebody from my book group chose A Gathering Light for this month's read.  I didn't realise it was meant as a Young Adult book until someone pointed it out to me.  In fact the library labels YA books on the spine but while my copy did have the label, some copies did not.  Clearly it's a matter of debate as to where the book fits.

Set in 1906, it tells the story of Mattie, a 15-16 year old girl living in the Adirondacks in New York State.  She longs to go to university but at the best of times that's unheard of in the community where she lives, and since the death of her mother, he father needs her on the farm.

The plot has two threads, that of what happens to Mattie, and another that revolves around a drowning based on a true story of a murder.  There are also two time-lines set very close together which I found a little confusing at first until I realised that one was based in the time when Mattie took a job for the summer and the other was earlier the same year.

I found it quick and easy to read, the characters seemed very real, and the descriptions of the setting captured my imagination..

I’d seen a bear cub lift its face to the drenching spring rains. And the silver moon of winter, so high and blinding. I'd seen the crimson glory of a stand of sugar maples in autumn and the unspeakable stillness of a mountain lake at dawn. I’d seen them and loved them. But I’d also seen the dark of things. The starved carcasses of winter deer. The driving fury of a blizzard wind. And the gloom that broods under the pines always. Even on the brightest of days.

Its title in the USA is A Northern Light, and is available from Amazon.com

As A Gathering Light it is available from Amazon.co.uk.

The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs

I had to read this book for my book group but it's one I might well have chosen for myself.  I'm not a knitter (though I wish I were) but it struck me it could be similar to Maeve Binchy's "Evening Class" and I did enjoy that.

In fact it bore very little resemblance.  It tells the story of single mother Georgia Walker who struggles to bring up her daughter by taking knitting commissions.  The knitting business develops into a shop selling wool which in turn becomes a meeting place for friends united by their interest in knitting. 

It's light and easy enough to read.  The characters aren't terribly well developed and the plot is in parts unlikely to say the least.  It's set very firmly in New York with a side trip to Scotland to visit the wise old granny.  I'm not at all sure Kate Jacobs has ever been to Scotland but I'll let that pass.  A holiday read, I think, or a way to pass the time on a long flight.

The Friday Night Knitting Club is available at Amazon.com
or in the UK at Amazon UK

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert

I read Moloka'i fairly soon after reading The Island by Victoria Hislop because of the similarity of setting - a leprosy island.

Moloka'i was a relatively easy read and it left me with the feeling that I knew more about both leprosy and Hawaii than I knew before, and that is exactly what i want from a book. It doesn’t pull any punches in describing the ravages of leprosy. It has made me aware of Hawaiian culture, something I knew nothing whatever about before this, and has left me wanting to know more.