Women's Lives and Relationships Annotation
Title: Summer on Blossom Street
Genre: Women's Lives and Relationships
Publication date: 2009
Number of Pages: 361
Geographical Setting: Seattle, Washington
Time Period: Contemporary
Series: 6th book
Plot Summary: Macomber's 6th book in the Blossom Street series follows the main protagonist- Lydia Goetz and her life running her yarn shop on in Seattle. Lydia-who is a 2 time cancer survivor, wants to expand her family with her new husband, they decide to adopt a baby. Instead, they were asked to foster a 12 year old girl named Casey-who did not want to live with Lydia or her step son, Cody. During this time Lydia is hosting a knitting class called "Knit to Quit" and finds three students who want to quit something in their lives. We first meet Phoebe Rylander who is wanting to get over her ex fiance, we then meet Bryan "Hutch" Hutchinson who is wanting to quit his fast paced life style and lower his blood pressure so he does not die at an early age due to heart problems. Finally, we are reintroduced to an old character-Alix Turner, who is struggling to quit smoking so her and her husband, Jordan, can start their family. We also see more of Anne Marie Roche and her new life with her newly adopted daughter, Ellen. Throughout the novel, Macomber visits each character's lives and we see them fall in love and learn to accept themselves as they are, and find unity and peace through knitting or crocheting.
Subject Headings: Women's Lives- fiction. Women's Relationships-fiction. Foster care-fiction. Knitting-fiction. Romance-fiction.
Appeals:
-Tone/Mood: Realistic tone with a casual look at exploring issues and sentimental feeling overall tone of book.
-Characterization: Follows several women (and one man) and their every day lives and relationships with family, friends, and significant others.
-Story Line: Revolves around special issues and concerns that are typically associated with women (although Macomber breaks this stereotype by including a male perspective that is also dealing with these issues-proving that these topics are not just for women, but include men, too). The story line deals with difficult relationships with husbands and boyfriends, and also include issues with elder care and foster care.
-Frame/Setting: Revolves around issues that are relevant no matter the time in which the book is read: contraception issues, foster care, adoption, affairs, and deception.
-Style/Language: Conversational language and style-focuses on dialogue and thoughts of the characters. Characters meet face to face or converse on the telephone rather than through email or instant messaging or texting.
-Pacing: Saricks states that "the format can also make the pacing seem quicker. Short chapters speed the reader through the book" (161). Macomber uses short chapters to guide readers through the lives of each of these characters. Though short, there are many chapters and they are compelling.
3 Terms: touching, engaging, peaceful
Read-a-likes:
Fiction:
At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon
The Quilter's Apprentice by Jennifer Chiaverini
Rosie Hopskins' Sweet Shop of Dreams by Jenny Colgan
Anything written by Debbie Macomber- she has many series and standalone novels that fit within this genre!
Nonfiction:
Knit Along with Debbie Macomber- The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber- this knitting book gives patterns of the knitted projects that her characters work on in the Blossom Street novels.
Another Place at the Table by Kathy Harrison. This book follows Harrison's life as she fosters many children for over 13 years and welcomes them into her home while raising her 5 children (biological and adopted).
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel (a memoir). This nonfiction work follows the life of Alison and how she navigated her way through it in a fun and comical way.
I love that there is a non-fiction knitting book to go with these books. That adds something to it for me. The thing that continues to stress me out a little is that women's books are always somehow considered sentimental. I guess I like my women to be less sentimental and more change the world-y. But, at the same time, sometimes you just want to feel good about life. I think authors that try and broad hard subjects with tenderness are trying to bridge the gap between typical "women's" fiction and just "fiction."
ReplyDeleteYes, I love that she created a knitting book to go along with her characters. I agree, but I think that is the wonderful thing about this genre, they don't have to feature sentimental women but can feature strong, independent women, too. So many books fit within this description, I think it can be difficult to distinguish between women's fiction and other fiction.
DeleteLike April said you had me at yarn shop. I like the idea of a class called Knit to Quit. It sound like a class I would be into. I like how you talked about Debbie Macomber crossing the line and show that some of the same thing that affect women also affect men. I might have to see if we have that knitting book from Debbie Macomber it sound like it would be interesting to look at.
ReplyDeleteYes, me too! I'm a beginning knitter (I do more crochet than knitting) and I would love to take a class on Blossom Street.
DeleteIt seems like this novel emphasizes the network of female (and occasionally male) relationships that help bring reconciliation and a hopeful ending to books in Women's Lives and Relationships through the Knit to Quit club. Are there other instances of the way in which a relational support system is highlighted?
ReplyDeleteYes, outside of the knitting classes, there are many more connections between the characters where they encourage and support one another.
DeleteHi Chelsea! So, there is a dog featured on the cover. Is he part of the story? I can see my mom liking this type of book. Did you find the book engaging or were you bored? Did you learn anything about knitting? :)
ReplyDeleteThe dog has to do with one of the characters! You meet him in the book prior to "Summer on Blossom Street." He had a bigger role in "Twenty Wishes" (book 5). I enjoyed the book. I always turn to Debbie Macomber if I want a happy ending. What I liked about this book was in the front of the book there was a knitting patter for the readers! You could make the scarf that the characters were knitting in the book. It was a nice touch.
DeleteChelsea,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the annotation....I provide readers advisory services for a senior outreach program at our library and there are a few ladies that are devoted Mcomber fans and a few more ladies that love to knit.....I'll bring this book on our next outreach trip....thank you!
Chelsea,
ReplyDeleteMy mother really enjoys Debbie Macomber (and before her, Jan Karon), and that helps me when I'm looking for a gift :)
This kind of book reminds me of shows that my mother also particularly enjoys, which are full of quirky characters, often in a small town setting, living their lives and just trying to get along. She especially likes things such as 'The Church Basement Ladies', which has been staged at Beef and Boards in Indianapolis several times ( http://beefandboards.com/2016/05-church/index.html), and I can remember watching 'Nunsense' for the first time live there when I was little ( http://www.beefandboards.com/reviews/TheReporter-Times-nunsense.pdf ). It just goes to show, these kinds of stories are out there, in many formats, for those who enjoy them! It's strange...I'm not a huge fan of reading this genre, but I enjoy watching it!
I will have to check out those TV shows! They sound like something I would enjoy! I love that the first show had some filming in Indianapolis!
DeleteI had a library patron who read Debbie Macomber and similar authors. She drove me nuts. This patron could never remember which books in the series she read or if she was thinking of a different series. Then sometimes those series would have a one-off book like for Christmas or something (where it didn't necessarily affect the series or fall into any distinct place.) Those one-offs was the biggest wrench in her reading habits because she didn't want to read about any characters or events that she didn't know about yet. I suggested she wait to read those until after she finished the most recent book in the series, but no, she wanted to read them in order. That patron received several complimentary print-offs of series titles from NoveList.
ReplyDeleteOh my! Yes, it is frustrating when the books are not numbered so it is harder for patrons to find the correct date (especially if one of the books has been reprinted and so they think it was a later book when really it was published earlier). I like to refer to fantastic fiction before I get the next book and so far it has not been wrong!
DeleteI'm interested in this book now. I want to know if Lydia fosters Casey or does Lydia adopt her. Will Lydia and her husband get a baby? I want to know how well do the other characters do with their 'quitting' things? You've got me curious now.
ReplyDeleteThe first book in the series is "Shop on Blossom Street." You do not meet Lydia for until book 5, but she is one of my favorite characters!
DeleteChelsea,
ReplyDeleteI love these types of books. It seems like a slow pace novel where you really get to delve into the character's lives. I like how you mention that it seems faster pace because of all the events going on. Plus it seems that every character is struggling with something real. It makes the story more authentic and relatable. This series will have to go on my to-read list!
Me too! I love how you learn more about the characters but yet it reads quickly and you don't get discouraged by reading for hours and still have 200+ pages left. What I love about Debbie Macomber's books is that her characters are almost always relatable and deal with very real issues.
DeleteI liked how you included both fiction and nonfiction read-a-likes. This seems like a very sweet book, and I'm interested in reading the series, if they're as sweet as this seems.
ReplyDeleteThey are very sweet! I've enjoyed them very much. They're one of my favorite series so far of Macomber's.
DeleteThis sounds like a very inspirational read. Seems like a great book to read at the start of a new year, even if you only need to quite something small.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea, it would work as good motivation to quit a bad habit or issue in one's life!
DeleteI think in terms of fostering and adoption it could have been handled better. The story line there could have been deeper and she could have focused more on that rather than juggling so many other character's story lines. I think it is casual in a way that it is an easier read and you do not have to put much thought into it and can just enjoy the story.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a very pleasant read. My guilty confession is that I haven't read a Macomber book yet - which is kind of awful because she is VERY(!!) popular among patrons at my library. I see this book is part of a series - is it the sort of series where you have to read the previous books to understand a book from the middle of the series?
ReplyDeleteExcellent annotation! You also inspired a ton of comments!! Full points on an exceptional annotation. The summary and read a likes are spot on!
ReplyDelete