Unraveled, Week 25/2021

Good morning! Despite this being my first day of vacation, I was up at the normal time (but I didn't really mind). Wednesdays are always a fun day on the blog because it's my day to link up with Kat and the Unravelers and talk about knitting and reading.

I do not have anything to show you that's exciting in the way of knitting; the only knitting I did yesterday was to finish the stripe I was in the middle of on my ADVENTuresome Wrap, and it doesn't look different enough to warrant a new photo. I can, however, share a photo of my haircut (which was confirmed to be my first since November 2019):

Reading has been very good this past week, in large part due to a run of library holds that came up at more or less the same time (as much as I try to space them out, it always seems to happen this way!). I have finished four books since this time last week.

I read Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability, and Making Space after hearing Sara talk about it on the Novel Pairings podcast and then hearing Mary's recommendation. I'd describe this book as part memoir and part academic study, an unusual but enjoyable combination. This book made me really think about how disability has been portrayed in stories and popular culture over time, and it was really eye-opening. I actually learned a lot about disability representation, and I think it will be useful to me in my work life as well as my personal life. I gave this book 4 stars.

Bingo square: An author with a disability

No One Is Talking About This was the last book I had to read from the Women's Prize short list, and I have mixed feelings about it. I found the first half to be really weird, though I certainly understood the point the author was trying to make -- I think she just overdid it a bit. The second half, though, was really heartbreaking. The message I took from this book is that we've forgotten that the real world/real life is so much more important than the life we purport to have and post online, but I think that message could have been conveyed a bit more subtly. I gave it 3 stars.

Bingo square: That you want to read in spite of the cover

I'm not one who normally gets to read the buzzy new books right away, but I got on the library wait list early enough to get The Other Black Girl shortly after its publication. This book has been described as a combination of The Stepford Wives and Get Out, and I'd say that's pretty accurate. There is something strange going on, but the main character isn't sure if that is reality or if she's just losing her mind. This book had me guessing right up to the end. I gave it 4 stars.

Bingo square: Person on the cover

Believe it or not, I have not read anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid before this week, but I have to say that I really enjoyed her latest, Malibu Rising. This book covers 24 hours in one day in 1983, the day of the famous party held every year by four siblings. But in between the hours in that day, we get the back story of those siblings and how they've gotten to this point despite their absent father and alcoholic mother. While this book is well written, it's not the sort of writing that you stop while reading to admire; rather, this is a book of the page-turner variety, and it's definitely a good read for a summer day. I gave it 4 stars.

Bingo square: Recommended on a podcast

Now it's time for a bingo card update -- or should I say cards? I haven't filled the first one, but I fully expect that I will and didn't have an appropriate square for Malibu Rising, so I printed out a second card:

I will shortly have a second square on the second card, too, because I'm going to move Unsettled Ground from "Borrowed" on card one to "A Read With Us selection" on card two -- the "Borrowed" square on card one is going to be very easy to fill! I am still reading Malcolm X but have decided to really buckle down and get through it, and that should be easier to do now that I'm on vacation. And I'm sure before too long I'll start another ebook from the library so that I'll have something to read while I spin!

So, what are you reading these days? How is your bingo card shaping up?