Unraveled, Week 26/2021

I'm glad I'm posting a little later today because in checking others' blogs I've been reminded that it's Wednesday and not Thursday, as I've been thinking for much of the morning. Wednesday means it's time to link up with Kat and the Unravelers!

There still has not been much knitting around here, but yesterday I did finish spinning up my Bond/Suri alpaca singles, which I hope to at least start plying later today:

I've also been doing a lot of reading. I have finished four books in the past week and, amazingly, 16 during the month of June, and I'm hoping to finish one more before the end of the day. This week's reads were all solid 4-star books:

I'm pretty sure that I heard about Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America on the Novel Pairings podcast, and it was available without a wait at the library. This is a collection of essays (I think of them as mini memoirs) by a Black, gay Christian man in which he explores his identity along all those facets. He deals with some very heavy topics, and yet there is so much humor in his writing. I laughed often reading this collection, and I was frankly sorry when it was over (so I followed Thomas on Twitter to get more of his humor).

Bingo square: An LGBTQIA+ author

My mother had mentioned Nobody Will Tell You This But Me because she had heard about it through the Jewish book festival in Florida when they were there over the winter, and I'd been meaning to read it. I finally decided to borrow the audiobook and listened to it all in one day (it's only about four hours long, so don't be too impressed). This is a memoir of sorts; the author uses stories, emails, and voicemails from her late grandmother to paint a picture of a sassy, opinionated woman who was full of life and love for her granddaughter. I don't think you have to have or have had a Jewish grandmother to appreciate it, but it did make me think fondly of mine.
Bingo square: Borrowed

My tour of Maggie O'Farrell's back catalog continued with This Must Be the Place, which has cemented her as one of my favorite authors. I didn't love this with a passion like I did the previous two I read, but I very much enjoyed it. This novel has a really fascinating structure: It's told from multiple perspectives and in scenes at different points in time, and sometimes you see how certain plot lines and characters end up without knowing how they started. You do get a full picture by the time the book ends, but if you don't like that sort of uncertainty, this might not be the book for you.

Bingo square: Recommended by a friend (thanks, Juliann!)

Olympus, Texas is a new release and a very buzzy summer book that I've been hearing a lot about. It's the story of a very complicated family in a small town, and as you might guess from the title, it's inspired by mythology. I'm not usually interested in stories of dysfunctional families, particularly when everyone seems to be horrible in their own way, but this one drew me in rather than repelled me. You aren't beaten over the head with the mythology inspiration, but there are subtle clues here and there. And while nearly every character has their faults, they aren't blind to them. I think this one is worthy of all the buzz.

Bingo square: A family saga

The book I am hoping to finish today is The Autobiography of Malcolm X -- I have less than 120 pages to go, and I think if I can really set aside some time to do it, I can get through them. I also started listening to Americanah on audio this week and just passed the halfway mark. It's read by Adjoa Andoh, who you might recognize from Bridgerton, and she does an amazing job with all the accents. I also just got Hour of the Witch from the library this morning -- looks like July will be just as good a month for reading as June has been!