The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

My book group decided to go with a classic for our January meeting and chose The Great Gatsby. I have never actually read this book, so I was anxious to dive in and see what the hype was about.

This book tells the tale of the youthful Nick Carraway and his colorful and mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby and his lavish lifesyle on Long Island's West Egg in America's Jazz Age.

Gatsby is wealthy and famous for the lavish parties he throws every Saturday night. However, no one knows where he comes from, what he does, or how he made his fortune. Carraway, the narrator, is a young man from Minnesota who, after being educated at Yale and fighting in World War I, goes to New York City to learn the bond business. Honest, tolerant, and inclined to reserve judgment, Nick often serves as a confidant for those with troubling secrets.

On the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted love between a man and a woman. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope. Though all of its action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island, New York, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess.

I am really glad I finally read this novel. I always make a point to try to read as many of the classics as I can. So, it was a real treat to live in Gatsby's world for a few weeks.

The Friday Night Knitting Club - Kate Jacobs

I was a little hesitant to pick up this book, as I really know nothing about knitting. Not to stereotype, but to me knitting has always seemed like something "older" women do, so I wasn't sure I would be able to relate to any of the characters in the novel. And for me, if I can't relate to the characters, I don't usually end up liking the book. I was afraid I would be bored by this book.

I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up liking this book. The focus of the book was really more about the relationships between the eclectic group of women than about the knitting. This story really centers around this group of women, the issues and problems in their respective lives, and how they come together once a week for a Friday Night Knitting Club at the knitting shop owned by the main character of the book, Georgia.

Kate Jacobs does a great job creating a diverse cast of characters to portray in this novel. All of the women are so very different, and yet seem to come together and support one another when they all most need it. Very well written and engaging. This book is a definite must read for those who generally like female-based, chick lit type of books.