Remember the Yarn Along hosted by Ginny Sheller on her blog Small Things? If you do, you’ll know that in March of last year, Ginny decided it was time to move on to other things, and she brought her weekly reading and knitting check-ins to an end. I was sad to see them go and have missed keeping up with everyone’s reading and knitting, but I was too crazed with trips back and forth to Texas and then teaching in the Fall to figure out what to do about it.
As it turns out, Kat, of AsKatKnits, picked up right where Ginny left off and has been hosting Unraveled Wednesdays for nearly a year now. Thanks to her, all of us knitter-readers out here still have a place to meet up. I’m joining in with the little stack of finished books that’s sitting on the chair by my bed.
A Man Called Ove was a joy to read—laugh-out-loud funny and tender and uplifting. Backman’s descriptive powers are insane. I kept thinking that passage after passage would be perfect to show my Comp I students so they could see how great descriptive writing works.
I’ve also been enjoying J.K. Rowling’s alter ego, Robert Galbraith. The Cuckoo’s Calling and The Silkworm aren’t the absolute best crime fiction I’ve ever read, but they’re definitely engaging and full of many of the things I love about J.K. Rowling’s writing–deeply considered characters and lots of thinking about the big, important parts of being human. With the Galbraith books, you also get a nice does of suspense, which is fun.
Earlier this week, I finished Celeste Ng’s Little Fires Everywhere. It doesn’t seem like something that will hang around in my brain for years, but it was entertaining and very well written.
Alright, back to getting ready for tomorrow’s crazy day of classes. I teach from 8:00 AM until 9:05 PM on Thursdays, so it’s pretty intense. You know I’ll have my knitting with me for the in-between times, though! I’ll be working on Log Cabin squares. You can see them in both of today’s book pictures. Look for a post about my Log Cabin project soon.
Be sure to check out AsKatKnits if you haven’t already. Kat writes about all kinds of interesting things in addition to knitting and reading. And her photography is gorgeous.
Franklin is the perfect color for your post today. Thank you for the book recommendation; I’ve been trying to read more REAL books, to get away from tech at night. I just finished The Little Paris Bookstore, and started Ready Player One last night.
You’ll have to tell me about both of those! I’ve been hearing about Ready Player One for years and still haven’t read it. Do you mean Augie? Gray? I hope today is brighter. XOO
That’s Augie? He looks completely orange on my monitor!
Yep! LOLOL!!
Welcome! I am glad you found the little band of Unraveler’s! I also just loved Ove! And, I have added those Galbraith books to my TBR list! Great reading!!
Thank you so much! It’s wonderful that you’re keeping such a great thing going! I may not join in every single week, but I do hope to be a regular. 🙂
Your original Unraveled Wednesday post reminded me that I need to read Louise Penny. It’s funny that she was on your list again this week. I’ll take that as a sign!
Hi Melinda! Ginny is starting back up on the Yarn Along; however she is doing it once a month on the first Wednesday 🙂 I’m not sure if you missed her announcement…but the first one was on January 3rd. I absolutely loved A Man Called Ove. I laughed and cried and will forever remember it. I was not a fan of JK Rowling’s books with her writing as Galbraith. I just couldn’t get into them. Good luck on your log cabin!
I did miss Ginny’s announcement. Thanks for letting me know! And I hear you about the Galbraith books. I feel a bit conflicted about them. I’d love to have a long conversation about this sometime!
Great to see fellow knitter/readers! A Man Called Ove was one of my bookclub reads last year – we all loved it (in fact one member said Ove was her husband to a ‘T !)
Oh, my! Not sure if having Ove as your husband would be a good thing or a bad thing. LOL!
We were slightly worried when she told us what she thought too!
Haha!
8am – 9pm?! Goodness gracious!
I know, right? The upside is that I don’t have class on Mon, Wed, or Fri. I think once I get into a groove it will be okay. Just need to build up my stamina! Lol
I LOVE a man called Ove! I cried so much. Have you read my grandmother sends her regards and apologises, and Britt-Marie was here? They’re just as brilliant
Oh, my goodness. Me too!! I haven’t read the others you mention, but I was wondering if they were as good. Thank you so much for letting me know they are!
Oh definitely, they’re so lovely 🙂