Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride

Chronicles all of the planning and chaos of the year before Lucy and John get married.

I'm reading these graphic memoirs out of order, I know, but after finishing Kid Gloves I decided to go back and read the wedding story, and it was lovely. The older I get, the simpler any hypothetical wedding of

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mine becomes (and the more unlikely, I feel), but it's fun to read about all of the little details and fun craziness that goes into planning a huge event like a wedding. This book gave me the warm fuzzies.

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It’s the story of the author’s relationship, from cute first date, though a break-up, engagement, and DIY-heavy wedding planning with friends and family.

I won’t say it wasn’t sappy at times, but no more than I was expecting. Mostly it was full of little details that give it character and

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feeling organically, rather than long self-indulgent swathes of emotion.

I’ll be honest: this wasn’t advice I needed when planning our wedding, because… well, it’s the kind of advice I would give people (dude, it’s just a big fancy dress-up party). Definitely a must-read for anyone even a little bit stressed or conflicted about their wedding.

Over all, it was sincere and artsy. You know that really artsy girl you went to highschool with? The one who’s always covered in paint, creative, kinda quiet, but not super angsty or anything? That’s the author (or all of your friends, if you were that girl).

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If you'd told Lucy Knisley a few years ago she'd be getting married, she'd probably have looked at you like you had two heads. In this graphic novel memoir, she talks about the surprising way in which she and her husband ended up together, the whole crazy process of the wedding, and her own mixed

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feelings about traditions and history and social expectations all bound up in marriage.

I like Lucy's style in all her graphic novels and the way she lets you into her life. In a way, this one is the most personal of them all, because you see her relationship with friends and family as they come out in the wackiness that is planning a wedding. Even as a single person, I've reached a certain age where many of my friends are married or marrying, and I can see the ways in which the day that is "all about you" is really about much more than that. Lucy's relatable, almost bemused attempt at navigating that minefield while making the wedding her own make you smile in recognition.

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Sweet and funny and dear gods it made me glad I'm not married and never intend to be. It also made me want to go have beers with Lucy and John and their kitty. (Um, actually, I just want to kidnap Linney because KITTY!) I recommend this to anyone who is married, who is thinking about getting

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married, or who wants to be able to justify to all their "smug marrieds" why they aren't married.

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I saw this book on a library sale shelf, and I think I confused the author with someone else, because I wasn't expecting a graphic novel/comic. It started and ended interestingly, but the middle, full of wedding planning minutia dragged for me. (Maybe someone who's been through it would see more

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humor in her recounting?)

Lucy and John were lucky to have so many contacts that were able to assist with the wedding and save them money. Not everyone is going to have that. I do remember a friend saying though that she managed to do her wedding on a budget by considering venues that are not the typical ones--I think she ended up using the botanical gardens. So--it is possible even for the not-connected folks.

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Having had my own wedding recently, this book was of particular interest to me. Something New was a big step up from the other Knisley book I read, French Milk. This book is still full of a lot of the insignificant details that were problematic in French Milk, and it probably could have been half

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as long and the quality would have remained the same (or been improved). But this book had a lot of heart and a lot of good ideas. I empathized with Knisley's feminist views of the wedding industry while also sharing her affinity for the romance of it all.

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I was a little disappointed by the last couple books I read by Lucy Knisley, but this one was just plain fun and amusing.

Knisley humorously addresses all the Wedding-Industrial Complex challenges my friends have discussed as they plan their weddings: the assumption that you'll diet; pressures from families, wedding planners, and others to care about things you don't care about; societal expectations about what being

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married means, including what marrying a man means for a bisexual woman... She does a good job, I think, of acknowledging her privileges -- she uses the word "lucky" on almost every other page -- while also acknowledging that planning a wedding is damn hard amid the unrealistic expectations our society sets for women. Every friend who got married in the last decade or so may be getting this for the next gift holiday.

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I have been reading Lucy Knisley's graphic novels in chronological order, and can gladly report that she is continuously improving as a comics artist.

Lucy's early travelogues "French Milk" (2007) and "An Age of License" (2014) were enjoyable reads, but often felt written for the benefit of Knisley

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herself. She would spend large sections of her books simply listing the foods and beverages that she ate during her trips. Consequently, these early books often felt like superficial lists. Rather than explore deeper issues with any great depth, Knisley would touch upon them, and then dive into another list of items that made more sense to her than her readers.

But never fear, as Lucy Knisley has really been hitting her stride with "Relish: My Life in the Kitchen" and "Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride". What is the difference? To me, Knisley seems to be placing herself in her reader's shoes a little more often. Rather than merely touching upon concepts on a superficial level, Knisley now fleshes out her stories in fuller detail.

With "Something New" about her recent, and unexpected, decision to get married to a long-separated boyfriend, Knisley covers the entire 12-month journey with commendable detail. Her artwork is charmingly-drawn and beautifully detailed. But even more impressive is the depth in which she describes the wedding itself. She effectively shifts backwards and forwards to discuss how her feminist views towards marriage have changed throughout her life, how her relationship with her now husband changed with time, as well as the way that she planned her wedding, and how things unfolded on the "big day" itself.

Released roughly a year after her wedding, the result is a triumphant success. Her storytelling abilities are still on the rise, and I look forward to reading the inevitable book about her pregnancy and the mid-2016 birth of her son.

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This is a fantastic memoir about getting married and analyzing the institutions of both marriage and wedding. Knisley's story is compelling, and her art is a feast. I highly recommend this book to everyone, especially if you're getting married but hate the idea of the stereotypical wedding. I wish

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this book had existed for mine--I was an unconventional bride who *hated* wedding culture and wanted a simple but fulfilling day, which I think we largely achieved. I related a lot to what Knisley had to say, even if her spiritual beliefs and mine differed quite a bit.

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By far the best Lucy Knisley book I have read to date. I definitely should've read this before I got married but I basically did kinda the same things she did when she got married. Crafty, low cost, wedding in the backyard. It was awesome reading what she went through before the wedding, all the

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trials and tribulations... plus the stress of finding the dress! Loved the actual pictures from the wedding. Recommended for anyone who is planning on getting married at all... seriously...

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I've loved Lucy's POV and art since French Milk, and, being close to her in age, I always felt represented in her books. This one was no exception. Great for everyone who's married, is about to get married, is thinking about marriage or even hates marriage!

I liked Knisley's discussion of larger ethical and historical issues surrounding weddings, but the more she got into the weeds of how she prepared everything, the less interested I became. I am less of a wedding person than she is, so it was difficult to appreciate.

I enjoyed this book but I think that had more to do with my interest in the author as a person and less about any interest in weddings or marriage. As usual Lucy's art is lovely and it was interesting to read the full account of this story since I saw some of it real time through her web comic

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years ago. I did have a bit of trouble reading it though, like literally, I had it on ebook and the type was so little.

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Read this one while preparing for my own wedding! Granted, mine was a lot less involved (work-wise) and elaborate. The amount of effort and stress Knisley put into her wedding sounds like a nightmare...though on the other hand her very personalized experience seems charming, and it's fun to follow

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her enthusiasm. Oddly, despite that comment, I never felt a real emotional connection...probably because I never dreamed about or aspired to all the wedding hoopla. Still, a fun story with an art style that I like and that encouraged me to read a couple of Knisley's other books when I spotted them.

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contains 300 times your RDA of tedious middle class hand-wringing

I am totally into the story of Lucy Knisley's life -- I think it's her emphasis on excellent food that I find deeply appealing. Also her art. And her honesty. And kindness. It's good stuff.

Lucy Knisley is my spirit animal. I will read anything and everything that she publishes. And when in the midst of the hellish ordeal that most people refer to as wedding planning, it was the most welcome breath of fresh air. I was that weird kind of bride that instead of firing her mom, said "Here

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Mom, take it - you plan it and I'll do whatever you want." and for Lucy's somewhat similar mentality, I was extremely thankful to find someone I could relate to in that stressful time.

A week before my wedding, my grandfather passed away and it was Lucy's writings, both Something New and Displacement, that helped me realize that he would want me to be happy and to celebrate instead of being sad. It was Lucy's words that reminded me that a wedding is a special occasion, not just because you're getting married, but because it is an amazing chance to get to spend time with the people you truly care the most about and who care the most about you.

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The first half was much more interesting, the second half is mostly wedding planning (as you might expect). Definitely interesting, a few good tips that I will keep in mind. I am left wondering about how the couple got over some of the issues touched on earlier in the book, however, and wish that I

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knew how that aspect was handled.

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