Unraveled, Week 8/2024

I know that February is a short month, but I feel like I've missed a week somewhere. At least I know what day of the week it is! It's Wednesday, which means it's time to link up with Kat and the Unravelers.

As I'd hoped, I was able to ply my latest singles on Monday, and the heat is still on enough that I could leave it on the radiator overnight to be dry by yesterday morning. This skein ended up more or less as I'd expected:

The finished yarn is in the heavy fingering range and approximately 357 yards. I do like how the blues and grays ended up pretty evenly distributed. I'd hoped for a little more yardage, but clearly I wasn't spinning as fine as I thought. I've already pulled out the fiber for my next spin but haven't yet decided how I want to spin it, so I haven't started on it just yet.

And check out my progress on my sweater!

I tried it on again yesterday while I was almost done with the 12th stripe to verify that it was long enough and was satisfied with the length. Now it's on to the sleeves!

It's been a very good week of reading here.

I have a feeling that several of you who are on NetGalley also downloaded Real Americans when it was available (no approval required) for a limited time. This is a family saga spanning three generations told by three different characters at three points in time. Each character's section reveals a bit more about this family and their struggles, but there are themes that run through all three: the parent who wants the best for their child but struggles with how involved in that child's life to get, the repercussions of the decisions a parent makes with regard to their child, and the many facets of identity and how they play a role in fitting in (or not) in a given society. While there were some strands of the plot I wanted more of, I really enjoyed this book and think it would make for great discussions because of some of the moral and ethical questions it raises. I gave it 4 stars.
I received this book from NetGalley and Knopf in return for an honest review. This book will be published May 30, 2024.

I am late to the party on this one -- like more than a decade late! -- but I so enjoyed Kate Atkinson's recent collection of short stories that I finally decided to read Life After Life. Though I missed this one when it first came out, it had been on my radar for a quite a while, so I'd bought it on Kindle when it was a daily deal several months ago. Now I wish I'd read it sooner because I simply adored this book! The premise is an interesting one: Ursula Todd is born and dies and is born again, repeatedly, and in each life things go a little differently. It's a bit like a Choose Your Own Adventure book, except that there are no choices to be made. I think what I loved most about this book wasn't the creative structure of it but rather the vivid portrait it paints of life in England in the first half of the 20th century and the beautiful family relationships it portrays. It's a long book but went quickly, and I'll admit I didn't want it to end when it was over. I gave it 5 stars.

Finally I treated myself to a little light murder mystery. I'd read Magpie Murders a couple of years ago and had been meaning to get to the sequel, so when I was in need of an audiobook over the weekend, I decided now was the time for Moonflower Murders. As with the previous book, this mystery contains a separate book within it, so it's kind of like getting two novels in one. While I can see the very strong influences of other mystery writers (and certainly Atticus Pünd feels very much like Hercule Poirot to me), this one hit the same sweet spot for me as Masterpiece Mystery shows do -- and, in fact, I was rather tickled by the fact that the audio is read by two of the actors who starred in the Masterpiece dramatization of Magpie Murders! I gave this one 4 stars.

Now I'm trying to finish up Larry's Party and deciding what my next ebook will be.

What are you making and reading this week?