| Title | : | The Shop on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0778321606 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780778321606 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 416 |
| Publication | : | First published April 27, 2003 |
When Lydia Hoffman, a cancer survivor and owner of A Good Yarn, starts a knitting class for her patrons, she forms a special friendship and bond with three extraordinary women--Jacqueline, Carol, and Alix--and together they share laughter, heartbreak, and dreams.
The Shop on Blossom Street (Blossom Street, #1) Reviews
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I first read this book from the first time in 2007 when I was trying to get pregnant and starting to see a doctor about it. I picked this book out because it had a character in it that was having trouble getting pregnant. I loved that book the first time I read it. It was also the first Debbie Macomber book I read, but now she is my favorite author.
In, 2020 I re-read it. This book about a group of woman that all goes into a yarn store for learn to Knit, and they where all for different walks of life. They become friends, and they learn to be there for each other. This is a lovely story. I really loved all the characters.
5 stars both times I read it. -
Perhaps this is the longest time I took in deciding the rating of this romance book. I mean, any book. I read it in 3 days. But each time I picked it up I had to adjust to feel comfy with the genre of said book.
I was indeed caught, surprised, by the twists in the novel. I feel that I'm underrating this writer. Her book helped me to come out of my reading slump.
Some might say that this book has a happy ending too sweet. But I have seen books that had a similar ending but with an actual body count. Is this story worse off? I leave it to you to decide. -
What a wonderful story about an eclectic group of women who form an unexpected friendship at a knitting class. It had me smiling and crying (a lot), I slipped easily into the emotion of each woman. Honestly I had left this book sitting on my TBR pile for so long because I thought it was about a knitting shop. I was wrong, the Yarn shop was simply the place that the women met.
This book tells the story of four women and the difficulties each of them are facing in their lives. It reminds you that you should never judge people on their appearance or what you presume are their circumstances. You just never know what goes on behind closed doors.
This is a wonderful story that reminds you about importance of relationships and friendships. It's a nice quick read that will leave you with that 'ahh' feeling afterwards. -
Interesting read for me. Not the type of book I thought I would like but this author has been on my to-read list forever so I decided to give it a go.
Was the story told mostly on the surface? Yes. Other than the facts being given about each of the characters, did I get a super insightful look into who they were and what made them tick? No, but without making the book super long, it would have been difficult given all of the different characters and sub-plots. Did the problems in the book get wrapped up a little too conveniently? Yep. Despite that, the book kept me interested and reading. Not once did I get bored or want to put down the book.
So even though this was not the most emotionally engaging or heart stopping read, I enjoyed it and will definitely read more by this author. -
I think Debbie Macomber is my Fairy God-author. She seems to have come along just when I was in need of her cozy, comforting stories about relate-able female characters that you actually want to root for. Her prose is easy and smooth, and along with her warm-hearted but un-Pollyanna-like stories, results in a unique style that is soothing and unpretentious. In other words, I find Debbie Macomber's writing to be likable, lovable, and just what the doctor ordered to zap those over-extended mommy blues!
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Predictable, sappy, WAY too focused on traditional gender roles... Should I go on? I should've guessed all this from the back of the book, but it was about a knitting shop, and I knit, so I picked it up. Oh well. -
nothing earth-shattering and yet such a readable and feelgood read I couldn't stop reading
the perfect book to pick up if you are looking for old school HEA romance book
3,5 stars -
Güzel bağlandı, kitapları gerçekten çok akıcı.
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I will use the same preface I did for the other knitting book I reviewed:
I knit and have been knitting for a long time (well since 2003 or 2004) ....and my projects range from simple to increasingly difficult.....This preface is going somewhere I swear....I started knitting b/c I like being crafty and I like doing something with my hands while watching tv other than snacking. That's it. And its just so damn cool to make my own clothing and such.
I also knit during down times at my hospital job....and the ladies I work with (who are very well intentioned) now give me knitting fiction to read. This is the other of two, I'll review. And really have to start telling people that even though I knit I will NOT enjoy every "knitting" book there is out there. B/C this is strike 3, all 3 I read kinda suck.
I'm giving this book another star. Only because it reads almost like a Harlequin novel and there is something to be said about how sinfully awesome it is to read trashy novels.
This book is (ugh ENOUGH with the fricking tragedy themes) about a cancer survivor who decides to open a knitting shop....she has a non supportive sister so she's on her own in this venture. She creates a class of three totally different women, one punk, one socially elite snob, one newly stay at home woman trying to have a baby.....This book is rife with stereotypes of all these women, but in a wierd way it did suck me in at times....the naivete was astounding, but hell we all know these kinda people its just more exaggerated here. It was a quick read. Out of the 3 "knitting" books I read, this might the better of all 3. -
I suppose I am a bit of a literary snob. I have avoided reading books by this prolific author and others like her precisely because they are on book stands everywhere. I guess what I failed to recognize is the fact that in order for them to be so readily available, they are very competent writers with a large readership. I now understand why Ms.Macomber is so popular with her readers. The shop on Blossom Street is in Seattle, Washington. It's a yarn shop that has been opened by Lydia Hoffman, a two-time cancer survivor who has undertaken this fledgling business as a reaffirmation of life and living. She had taken up knitting as a means of coping with her cancer treatments. She offers a beginning knitting class to which 3 women decide, for various reasons, to take part in. Jacqueline, a mature, wealthy woman desires to make a baby blanket for her soon to be born grandchild. Carol, one half an upwardly mobile professional couple has been unable to have children. She and her husband have made one last attempt to conceive by use of artificial insemination. Carol wants to make a blanket for her hoped for child. Finally, Alix, a young woman with spiky purple hair and a huge chip on her shoulder signs up for knitting to fill some community service requirements. A very eclectic group of women who find themselves bonding together to love and support one another in their various attempts to find love and pursue their dreams. This book had more depth to it than I thought it would have. It made for a satisfying reading experience.
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I decided to try this book, because we have tons of Debbie Macomber fans that shop at my bookstore. Something that popular couldn't be all bad, right? Right??
The writing wasn't bad per se, but the characters were two-dimensional and I figured out how everyone's plotline would end about 30 pages into the book. Lydia Hoffman is a two-time cancer survivor who invests her life savings into opening a yarn shop. She offers a beginners class on knitting, with the ultimate goal of making a baby blanket. Her first student is Jacqueline, who has just found out the daughter-in-law she hates is pregnant, and is no longer on speaking terms with her son because of the nasty things she said to his wife. The second student is Carol, who has attempted in-vitro twice, only to have it end in miscarriage. She has one more try to make it work, and takes the baby blanket lesson as a sign that the procedure will be successful. The third student is Alix (yes, I know), who is on probation for pot possession and has purple hair (that's how we know she's a rebel!). She thinks that if she knits the blanket and donates it to the Linus Project, it will fulfill her community service requirement for the court.
Will Lydia overcome her self-doubt, and fall in love with the cute UPS guy? Will Jacqueline take the stick out of her ass and learn to love her daughter-in-law? Will Carol finally get pregnant with ehr miracle baby? Will Alix quit being such a bitch? If you answered yes to these questions, then you don't have to read this book. You already know how it ends! -
I like to knit....when I can. I like to read...all the time. Debbie Macomber is a great author of good wholesome fun fiction. She incorporates the lives of the women outside of the knitting realm. Topics like family relationships, cancer, self esteem, ect. add to the realism of her characters. Her follow up novel " A Good Yarn" wasn't as impressive as this first book [The Shop on Blossom Street] in her knitting series. I also found she has a companion book each of these titles at craft stores. They contain the patterns for the items knitted in each of her books.
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I loved it so much at page 300 that I went to the book store and bought A Good Yarn & Susannah's Garden. Yes, that sums up my review ;-)
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This was a good read,It is a story of 4 woman who suffer pain and have issues,how they finally accept n find happiness
Carol-She n her husband Doug want to have child but they have infertility problem they have undergone 2 IVF which failed Carol miscarried and now third is scheduled and this is the last chance to conceive if again she miscarries then they will have get emlisted for adoption which might more 4-5 years,in between these her brother Rick wants his ex-wife back but he is a cheater he keeps cheating and when Ellie his wife finds out they get divorced but now he wants her back,there's more to Carol's story how she finds so many shocking truths and how she longs for the child
Jacqueline-She is one woman who is in love with her husband Reese but something has gone wrong in her marriage and she knows her husband has other woman in his life but she keeps herself busy and tries to ignore it and pit her pain n humiliation deep burried then there's her son who is only source of happiness to her has married to Tammi-Lee and now they are going to have a baby,Javqueline has problems accepting Tammi-Lee as her daughter and is still finding it difficult and now the baby on the way she wants to prove it to her husband n son that she will be a good grandmother no matter what
Lydia-She has survived brain tumor twice but then how it changed her life and her relationship with her sister,mother n father,and how she is scared to even go n fall in love cause there'sno guarantee of her future,how she analysis her behaviour and try to mend her fences with her sister and then there's Brad who she likes but fears what if history repeats itself
Alix-She is in her twenties has amnesia she has flashes here n there but all she hears in shoutings n fights of her parents,everyone shouted at her even her teachers give her negative comments which makes her more angry,she was only close to her brother but he got involved with drugs n died,then there's her room-mate Laurel she rakes drug but when rais happens she puts whole blame on Alix ans she is convicted and there's a guy Jorden whom she likes a lot but there's a vast difference between their background and upbringing,he is a minister which scares Alix the most
Liked the way ironies of life was potrayed and then how all these woman join Knitting classes where they meet and bond with each other,their friendship grows and how finally all these 4 find happiness and their HEA
Good read
Recommend it -
Uma história completamente absorvente de quatro mulheres totalmente diferentes umas das outras e que se tornam amigas devido a uma loja de tricot e às suas aulas nas tardes de sexta-feira.
Um livro que adorei ler pois retrata um mundo (o mundo do tricot) que me é totalmente familiar.
Uma vez mais a Debbie Macomber apresenta-nos uma história doce e que nos faz acreditar que os nossos sonhos se podem tornar realidade. -
Two-haiku review:
Knitting class of four
Each one with different problems
Friends help each other
Four different stories
Knitted together with love
Very nicely done -
Heartwarming story that gave me all the feels. Really enjoyed this one!
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Uma leitura docinha, com quatro mulheres que se juntam à volta de novelas de lã e correspondentes agulhas. Gostei, mas já sinto falta das leituras mais densas e menos previsíveis... Por isso, vou fechar o parêntesis das leituras levezinhas e lançar-me àquilo que me preenche bem mais!
NOTA - 07/10
Opinião mais detalhada em vídeo (a partir do minunto 00:35):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyuF5...
Obrigada, Carla! -
Needed a fix after finishing Rose Harbor series. This is another sweet series by Debbie Macomber.
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İlk öncə nədən başlayım bilmirəm. Rəy bəlkə bir az uzun oldu və buna görə üzr istəyirəm.
Deməli, səhv etmirəmsə, ilk dəfə pdf versiyada bədii kitab oxudum. Məlum həm gözləri yorur həm də əsl kitabın yerini vermir! Bu səbəblə, belə oxumağı sevmirəm çox. Amma buna baxmayaraq kitab o qədər axıcı və sadə dildə yazılmışdı ki💚 İnanıram ki, kağız versiyada olsa idi daha tez bitirə bilərdim. Kitabın içindəkilərə gəldikdə çox gözəl və insanın içini isidən həyat hekayələri var idi. 4 tamamilə fərqli hekayəsi olan qadınlar toxumağı öyrənmək üçün bir yerə yığışırlar. Sonra 4-nü də birləşdirən hadisələr baş verir. Çox maraqlı idi. Sizə bir az klişə və sadə gələn yerləri ola bilər. Amma bir o qədər mənalı yerləri var idi. Həm kədərli hiss etdim həm güldüm, həm də təəccübləndim və s. Müxtəlif hisslər verdi mənə bu kitab. Və bu tip kitabları çox sevirəm:) Həm də bu aralar yorğun olduğum üçün kitab çox yaxşı təsir bağışladı. Məni müəyyən qədər reading slumpdan çıxardı. Bu səbəblə, kitabı mənə tövsiyyə edən kitabsevər qıza burdan təşəkkürlər💚 Bundan sonra yazarın kitablarını almaq və kitabların qoxusunu hiss edərək oxumaq diləyi ilə...💚 -
I'm a little bit embarrassed that I read this book at all; I enjoyed a later book in the series (which I found on Amazon's Kindle Prime Lending Library, where the pickings can be slim) and was looking for an easy airplane read. The plot sounded like it would be predictable but entertaining enough - four women, knitting, relationships / babies / etc. That part was fine, and Macomber is a vivid and fluent writer. But this book is just so... naive. Deeply conservative in a completely unaware way. The characters - all of whom live in Seattle, which is a fairly liberal city, and most of whom are well-educated and not particularly religious - seem to be living in the 1950's, assuming that it is natural for a woman to quit her job upon getting married, even if she loves it, just in case any children should appear, and referring to a divorced man's relationship with a single woman as adultery. I'm happy to take a little bit of traditional gender role nonsense with my chick lit, but this is going way overboard.
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This was a joy to read. I used to be an avid knitter, but these days I'm interested in line dancing, reading, and quilting. This story is about a young woman who decides to open a knitting store. She has had two bouts of cancer and a tough beginning for her 30 years. Along with her shop she offers knitting classes and two have been with the same three participants. These three women have nothing in common except their interest in learning to knit. The author does a beautiful job showing how folks from different backgrounds can come together and contribute to each others lives. Lovely story and I'm delighted to know it is the first book of a series.
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This book was the ultimate comfort food for my soul!!!!
Some books are like spicy mexican food, or fancy french cuisine, but this book is like good old South African "pannekoek" on a rainy day!! Its comfort to its core!!
When i was done I felt like i had 4 new girlfriends and warm on the inside and that is why this gets a 5 star from me.
Every woman who had trouble conceiving, has trouble with a family member, went through rough patch in marriage had an illness can relate to all 4 these girls.
Starting the second book Immediately!!!! -
Cancer survivor Lydia Hoffman opens a yarn shop on Blossom Street. In order to attract customers, she decides to hold knitting classes, with a baby blanket being the first project. Three people sign up, all with different reasons for being there. Unhappily married Jacqueline Donovan dislikes her new pregnant daughter-in-law, Tammie Lee, but decides to knit the baby blanket to show her son she is making an effort to accept his new wife. Carol Girard desperately wants a baby, but has been unable to conceive and is about to undergo her third and final IVF procedure. When she sees the sign for knitting a baby blanket, she takes it as a good omen and joins the class. Alix Townsend had a rough upbringing, has had a bit of trouble with the law, and is living from paycheck to paycheck. Although she can barely afford it, she decides to sign up for the knitting classes because she can donate the blanket to charity and use it against her court ordered community service hours. Lydia is a bit concerned that these totally different women won't get along, but they all become close in ways none of them imagined.
"The Shop on Blossom Street" was a funny, but light read, what I call cotton candy for the brain. Of the four characters I liked Lydia and Alix the best. Lydia's troubled relationship with her sister and the affect the cancer has had on her life, especially in her relationships, were interesting. The story of Alix's troubled childhood makes her a sympathetic character and readers will want her to succeed in her relationship with youth minister Jordan Turner. Carol's struggle to have a child is heartbreaking, although I found her character to be a bit bland. I found Jacqueline to be a stereotypical rich, shallow person at first, concerned only with her standing in society, but her character grew on me by the end of the book.
Debbie Macomber's story telling ability is her strong point. She creates characters that you care about and readers will eagerly turn the pages to find out what happens to them. Unfortunately at times she resorts to cliched characters like Jacqueline, which is a shame when the other three characters are so believable and likable. Some of the plots in this book are also cliched and one particular plot, involving Alix and her roommate, was too convenient and totally unbelievable.
"The Shop on Blossom Street" is a nice but fluffy read. -
I read this because I knit and will read anything that has to do with knitting. (Obsessed much? Who me?) It is the story of four
stereotypeswomen who have nothing in common but bond in a knitting shop making the same baby blanket for different reasons.
The shops owner is Lydia and she opened the store because she fought Cancer and realized you have to live life while you have it. Jacqueline is the snobby older woman who is judgemental and cold because her marriage is a hollowed out shell. Carol is the baby obsessed woman who can't conceive. And finally to round out this lovely little group is Alix - you can tell by her name she is the tough chick who was ordered to knit a baby blanket for community service. (Really? Knitting for community service?!?! How cool would that be?)
Every time I think of this book I can't help but remember the episode of Family Guy called Chick Cancer where Lois and Peter go to a chickflick called Autumn's Piano and when the girls in the movie are introduced their names are Sassy, Pouty and Suicidey. My point being that you know what is going to happen to everyone in the book in chapter one - this is not a book of surprises. And honestly it got a little dull here and there. So much so that even though it is about knitting and I know there is a sequel (I might even own the sequel?) I haven't been able to make myself read it. Maybe I will get the second one on Audio book. -
I love this story. This is the fourth time I've read it but I guess I'm old enough now that stories will always be new each time. I love to knit myself and so I was drawn to this story because each book has a knitting pattern in the front. Lydia is a 2-time cancer survivor that opens a yarn store as an affirmation of life. She offers a knitting class and three women sign up. These women couldn't be more different in personality and even though they bump heads in the beginning they end up forging some close friendships. The characters in this story are all wonderful and I find myself wanting to know more about them. Each chapter has the name of the person it will be about instead of a title and I always find myself wanting to jump forward to read more about a certain person or situation. I especially like Alix but I also really feel a connection with Lydia. I may not have cancer but I do battle with chronic pain/Fibromyalgia and many of the things she says really resonated with me.
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Three women with very different lives and problems meet and become unlikely friends through a knitting class at a new local yarn shop.
Part sweet (not at all racy) romance, part girl-friends-being-strong-for-each-other feel-good story, this was a comfy, easy read and a re-read for me. I would have liked...more?...in most aspect of the book: each woman's story could have been fleshed out better, the endings all seemed a little too pat. And also in some places I would have liked a little less, mostly in the needed-more-editing department, as some of the characters' thoughts and feelings were rehashed a few times too many. I'm also not a huge fan of Christian romance themes, and although this one only skated round the hint of a God-y plot, I still balked a bit at how close one storyline came to Youth Pastor Falls for and Then Saves Poor Bad-Girl Godless Uncouth Woman. (Just, ew.) Despite all of this, I still enjoyed it, which may come down the nostalgia of a re-read. *shrug* -
This book was ok, but I wasn't too fond of the slow moving storyline and very predictable ending. A couple "steamy-yet-not direct" scenes were a little too much also. I like Debbie Macomber books, but this one didn't do much for me.
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I had read this book some years ago, and decided to listen to the audio because I needed a stress-free book, and Debbie always delivers a happily ever after ending. Lydia, a 2 time cancer survivor, finds love and friendship when she opens her yarn shop. Linda Edmond was the perfect narrator.
