Why not combine your love of crafts with your love of books?
I've only read a handful of crafty fiction and while they aren't winning any literary awards, they are easy and entertaining reads with familiar relatable content for us craft enthusiasts. Some of them even include recipes and patterns as an added bonus! If nothing else, these books make me want to run out and open my own yarn shop!
These are just a few suggestions if you're looking for something to read at the beach, on a plane, or at the park. I haven't read all of these so I won't rate them but I am listing books whose author or publisher I am familiar with. Consider it a reference if you're looking for something new.
Dropped Dead Stitch by Maggie Sefton
Prime Crime, pub. June 2010
ISBN: 9780425235195
From the Publisher:
"Seventh in the national bestselling Knitting mystery series. Spring has sprung for the knitters of Fort Connor, Colorado, and the House of Lambspun. But for one of Kelly Flynn’s pals, things are unraveling...After Kelly’s friend Jennifer is attacked by a stranger, their close-knit group of friends escapes to a ranch retreat in the mountains to stitch and talk. But they’re in for a shock when the owner of the ranch turns out to be Jennifer’s attacker—and he’s found dead a few days later."
Prime Crime
The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
Berkley Trade (Penguin), pub. 2008
ISBN: 9780425219096
From the Publisher:
"Juggling the demands of her yarn shop and single-handedly raising a teenage daughter has made Georgia Walker grateful for her Friday Night Knitting Club. Her friends are happy to escape their lives too, even for just a few hours. But when Georgia's ex suddenly reappears, demanding a role in their daughter's life, her whole world is shattered. Luckily, Georgia's friends are there, sharing their own tales of intimacy, heartbreak, and miracle making. And when the unthinkable happens, these women will discover that what they've created isn't just a knitting club: it's a sisterhood." Berkley Trade
The Quick and the Thread by Amanda Lee
Prime Crime, pub. August 2010
ISBN: 9780451230966
From the Publisher:
"First in a new mystery series that will have readers stitching—and itching for more
When Marcy Singer opens an embroidery specialty shop in quaint Tallulah Falls, Oregon, she throws a soiree and a Stitch-In. Soon, Marcy’s sign-up sheet for embroidery classes fills up and everyone in town seems willing to raise a glass—or a needle—to support the newly-opened Seven Year Stitch.
Then Marcy finds the shop’s previous tenant dead in the storeroom, a message scratched with a tapestry needle on the wall beside him. Now Marcy’s shop has become a crime scene, and she’s the prime suspect. She’ll have to find the killer before someone puts a final stitch in her."
Prime Crime
Diva's Don't Knit by Gil McNeil
Bloomsbury Publishing, pub. 2007
ISBN:
9780747581642
From the Publisher:
"Gil McNeil's hilarious and heartbreaking new novel is about family life, celebrity and knitting.
Jo Mackenzie needs a new start. Newly widowed with two young sons and a perilous bank balance, she has to leave London to take over her grandmother's wool shop. They arrive in the pouring rain and Broadgate Bay is the kind of Kentish seaside town where the tide went out a long time ago and the dusty old shop is full of peach four-ply. Marmalade mohair, an A-list actress moving into the local mansion and a 'Stitch and Bitch' group will help, but it's not going to be easy.
Very Large dogs, celebrity, small town intrigues, packed lunches and romance all loom large in Gil McNeil's funny and uplifting novel.
Divas Don't Knit turns prejudices and assumptions upside down and tells it how it really is in the world of knit-one, purl-one. Knitting has never been so much fun."
Bloomsbury Publishing
Waking Up in the Land of Glitter: a crafty chica novel by Kathy Cano-Murillo
Grand Central Publishing (Hachette Book Group), pub. 2010
ISBN: 9780446509244
From the Publisher:
"With glue guns, glitter, twigs, or yarn, the ordinary can become extraordinary . . . especially at La Pachanga. Owned by Estrella "Star" Esteban's family, the restaurant has a rep for two things: good food and great art. La Pachanga brings people together-even when it looks like they couldn't be further apart.
One ill-fated evening, Star jeopardizes her family's business, her relationship with her boyfriend, and her future career. To redeem herself, she agrees to participate in a national craft competition, teaming up with her best friend, Ofelia-a secretly troubled mother whose love for crafting borders on obsession-and local celebrity Chloe Chavez-a determined television personality with more than one skeleton in her professional closet. If these unlikely allies can set aside their differences, they'll find strength they never knew they had, and learn that friendship, like crafting, is truly an art form."
Hachette Book Group
