Unraveled, Week 6/2024

Good morning and happy Wednesday, friends! I am drinking all the coffee this morning after not sleeping very well last night (someone was snoring and kept me awake). But I'm awake enough to check in with Kat and the Unravelers.

So far this week I've mainly been focused on spinning (and reading!), and I'm hoping to finish my third and final bobbin of singles for this spin today. I actually did all of the second bobbin on Monday, in large part because I was so focused on finishing up a book that I spent most of the day and evening at my wheel. Assuming I finish up this bobbin today, I'll be plying tomorrow.

My STRIPES! doesn't look very different from the last time you saw it, and that's because it isn't. I added a few rounds last night but otherwise haven't given it much attention. I'll give it more love once the spinning project is done.

Reading has been quite good this week. I've finished three books.

After everyone seemed to be reading and talking about it, I gave in to the buzz and borrowed Fourth Wing from the library. I know some of you have read it, and I'm guessing that even if you have no interest, you've seen it in book circles. This is a fantasy romance involving magic and dragons and quite a lot of death. It seemed like a mashup of Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, the Divergent series, and books by Anne McCaffery. Is it fine literature? No, not in the least. Is it entertaining? Very. It's a pretty big book (600+ pages), but it moves fast -- and it ends with a cliffhanger, so yes, I've got the sequel on hold already. If you're thinking of reading it, I'll note that the romance is very open door, so if that's not your thing, you'll probably want to skip this one. I gave it 4 stars.

After finishing The Poisonwood Bible, I decided I wanted to reread a book on my shelf from high school that seemed like it would be a good pairing. July's People was backlist even when I read it 25+ years ago. This short but powerful novel is set in apartheid-era South Africa and imagines an alternate history in which Black South Africans rise up to take control. The white Smales family is forced to flee their home and taken by their servant, July, to safety in his home village. The sudden uprooting and complete reversal of roles causes the Smaleses to examine their supposedly liberal views on race and class. In rereading this book, I was both amazed that I'd read such a difficult book in high school and thankful that I still had my notes from class in my copy. I gave this one 4 stars as well.

The third book I finished this week was The Three Musketeers, which I'd been listening to on CraftLit since last May. I was unexcited by it and gave it 2 stars.

I'm currently reading In Memoriam and am about a quarter of the way through after starting yesterday. I'm sure I'll be starting something else soon, too, because having only one book going at a time has become rare for me.

I hope your Wednesday is off to a good start. What are you making and reading this week?