Oh friends, it's been a week -- and we're only halfway through! As if that giant report for work wasn't enough, tomorrow evening I have back-to-back synagogue-related Zooms. I am very much missing the calm of last week.
It's Wednesday, which means it's time to link up with Kat and the Unravelers and to share what I'm making and reading (though that's not much this week). My hands have been pretty busy during work hours, though I can still get a bit of stitching time in during the day during my daily team meetings (we do a brief check-in every morning now that we're a bit short-staffed so that we can make sure nothing gets missed). So my making has been something tiny:
This is a Flax Light, though without the garter stitch detail on the sleeves, that I'm knitting as a baby gift for one of my fellow board members. She's expecting her first child and is due next month. Our board meeting this month is in person, so I realized it would be the perfect opportunity to give her this gift. It also gives me a deadline to work to! I'm using Knit Picks Felici in the Beatnik colorway, one of quite a few Mo and I ordered several months back. I thought this was a good gender-neutral colorway, particularly for a fall baby. I have to knit the body to 5 inches under the arm and am already to 3.5 inches, so I'm pretty sure this will be finished up in plenty of time.
Work has impeded my reading time as well as my crafting time, so I haven't been doing as much this week. Still, I've managed to finish two books since last week:
Western Lane is the first book I was able to get my hands on from the Booker longlist; it was available on Hoopla for me as both an ebook and an audiobook, and I opted for the audio because I needed something to listen to on my run. It's a short book (only a little more than 4 hours on audio, and less than that at my usual 1.5 speed), so I managed to listen to the whole thing in one day. This debut is a quiet story of an 11-year-old girl, her two sisters, and her father dealing with the grief over the death of their mother and wife, and for the protagonist and her father, the primary way they do it is through the game of squash. I didn't love this book, though part of the problem for me may have been some difficulty in following the story on audio (there's some jumping back and forth in time). I gave it 3 stars.
Yesterday evening I made it a priority to finish Book Lovers, which I'd picked up from a Little Free Library in my neighborhood earlier in the summer. This was such a perfect palate cleanser for me after some more serious reads. It was the first book I've read by Emily Henry, and I know she's very popular; now I understand why. This book was a bit of a parody of a Hallmark movie, but it was smart and funny and also surprisingly touching. I wouldn't classify it as fine literature, but it was easy to read and quite enjoyable, and now I'm looking forward to getting to another title of hers that I picked up at a LFL. I gave this one 4 stars.
What I would like to be reading right now, rather than that big report for work, is The Covenant of Water, which I completely got lost in when I started it last week. I'm a little past the halfway point and know that if things were quiet I'd have it finished up in a few days. Here's hoping I don't have to wait too long to get back to it!
What are you making and reading this week?
That baby sweater is great, Sarah! There is nothing like the almost instant gratification of a baby knit! :)
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping that work and Zoom meetings calm down so you can get back to the important work of making and reading! As Kat said, you were smart to go with the quick gratification of a baby sweater and will soon have a lovely little FO.
ReplyDeleteThat is such a fun baby sweater! Perfect for a Fall baby. I hope your busy-ness calms down a bit so you can do the important things (making and reading). Are you enjoying The Covenant of Water as much as Cutting for Stone?
ReplyDeleteThat is the cutest little Flax Light! Hope the rest of the week slows down a little bit.
ReplyDeleteThat sweater's adorable...and the funny thing is that since I have no sense of scale, I thought it was an adult's sweater. And I thought, wow that came out of nowhere and fast!! What a lovely gift it will be -- and what a great project for such a busy week.
ReplyDeleteDon't you love when you end up really enjoying a Little Free Library pick-up? I find they're hit or miss, when it comes to selection--so Yay for your 'hit'!
What a cute baby sweater! I enjoyed Book Lovers but when I tried another Emily Henry . . . not so much. I'll be curious to see how that works out for you.
ReplyDeleteOh, that sweater is going to be perfect!
ReplyDeleteI've never thought to use Felici for a baby sweater ... it's perfect! and what a sweet gift to be able to make in person. I've enjoyed all (four!) of Emily Henry's books, but they are all very much ymmv with fellow readers. I think you might enjoy Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn next. I always enjoy her books - and the plots don't seem quite so cut & dried. In Georgie, I remember thinking about halfway through the book that it was surely nearly all wrapped up ... and then I was delighted that it wasn't!
ReplyDeleteIf you want to explore a little more romance (especially when it's "smart"), Natalie (one of my fellow Fiction Matters' patreons) has a substack - she's delightful and her recommendations are thoughtful and spot on. https://moonstruckreads.substack.com/
DeleteWhat a darling baby sweater. Flax is such a classic pattern. I'm reading "Mrs. Dalloway" and have just begun listening to "The Librarian of Banned Books." The audio book eerily echoes a little of what is happening today in this country regarding the banning of books. It's a little frightening.
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