Three Blocks Filled

I'm joining in with Carole and friends for Three on Thursday, today with three blocks I've filled on my Stay at Home Bingo card this week. Somehow the powers that be all aligned and I was in a spot to read a lot this week, so don't think this is a regular occurrence!

First, my library hold came up on the fourth book in Ann Cleeves' Shetland series, Blue Lightening. These books are good, and they're also a very fast read. I managed to get through this one in two days. I enjoyed it -- 4 stars. It got put in the "Thriller" box on my bingo card.

Next up was Nine Elms, which I'd gotten as an Amazon First Reads freebie a while back. I started reading it to fill the "Number in the Title" box on my bingo card. It started off promising and was a page turner, but in the end I found it a little too graphic for my taste (I much prefer my murder mysteries to spend more time describing the food the detectives eat, as in the Gamache books, than the state of the bodies). I gave it 2 stars.

Finally, the winner of the three books finished this week was Ask Again, Yes, which I loved. It was the book I've been listening to while I run, and I finished it up after yesterday's run because I had only about 10 minutes yet. I enjoyed this much more than the last Mary Beth Keane book I read, and I especially liked how parts of the story were told from the point of view of different characters, so it really felt like I was getting a complete picture of the whole story. I gave it 5 stars.

I now have nine squares filled on my bingo card, though no bingos yet, and have started thinking strategically about how to fill the rest. I went browsing in my library app last night for my next read and next listen, so I've started Alias Grace and have The Rules of Magic queued up on audio for my next run. I'll have to think about where to put them, because both could go in two or more squares on my card.

I'm still crafting quite a bit while I read. The shawl is still on the needles but is closer to completion now that I've moved on to the border, but the rows are quite long (they take about 15-20 minutes each now). I have absolutely no idea how big the shawl will be and will need to wait until it's bound off and blocked to find out.

I've also continued to work on Rainbow's crochet blanket for a bit each day, though it doesn't look much different from the last time you saw it. Yesterday I got a bit distracted by some other crochet.

This is the Churchmouse Yarn and Teas Half a Granny Square Shawl pattern that I adapted to kerchief size, which I've seen several people do lately. I used some leftover handspun and managed to whip this up in a couple of hours yesterday. Of course Rainbow is now demanding one of her own, so I expect you'll see another one of these soon!

Have a good one, all! I'll be back on Sunday with, I expect, a lot of spinning -- the weather forecast is not looking very good.