February: Books, Knits, and Everything Else
The Books
The Coworker, Freida McFadden.*
Silent Spring, Rachel Carson.
Goldenrod: Poems, Maggie Smith.*
Dept. of Speculation, Jenny Offill.*
The Pecan Children, Conner Quinn.*
First Frost: A Longmire Mystery, Craig Johnson.*
The Coworker: A librarian friend recommended it, so I checked it out based on that alone. It had lots of twists and turns with a satisfying resolution. It was dark and sometimes darkly funny--the villain is exasperatingly, almost comically, dumb about her amoral actions and the harm she causes but she, and the rest of the characters, are more shrewd than they initially appear. I read this while down with a cold, and it was a nice distraction. It probably filled my thriller quota for a few months.
The Silent Spring is something I've worked my way through for about a year now. I had a hard time focusing on it and also I struggle with scientific texts even though Carson wrote this to appeal to a lay audience. I'd like to try it again sometime soon.
Goldenrod was great. I want to read it again. The writing is spare without being stark, and I especially liked how Smith writes about nature.
The Dept. of Speculation. I had read Weather, and 'enjoyed' that. 'was engrossed by' is maybe the better description. Anyway. I raced through Dept. of Speculation and was engrossed by the way the writing style, which read like snatches of conversation and bits of journal entries.
The Pecan Children. I loved this. I texted one of my sisters to tell her she had to read it. I re-read the last few chapters to enjoy it some more. Fantastic twist. Mounting dread. Rural setting. Supernatural elements. Twin sisters arguing about the family farm and old loves. I loved it so much.
First Frost. This was another one of those Longmire books where the present setting is probably 2 chapters of story and the flashbacks (fully and entirely unrelated to the present day) take up the rest of the book. Learning about Walt's character and how it's been formed by being anti-internment camp at the tender age of 22 is not something I expected, but I guess I should have. On one hand, I almost enjoy the backstories of Walt and Henry in their younger years because their friendship is fun. On the hand, I feel like Craig Johnson wants to write about other characters and is scared. You can write other books! Be free! Write a Longmire story or don't! It's fine!
The Knits
I stalled on knitting an acrylic cardigan for myself. The sleeve decreases that made so much sense when I was reading through the pattern now sound like gibberish.
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| If I don't turn this biography in soon, the library is going to hunt me down. But I really want to finish it! |
I cast on a shawl. It's thick and thin single ply wool on #10.5 needles, so it's going quickly. Also, it's just been pleasant to feel the yarn in my hands as I decide what colors to use.
One night, I wove in the ends on a granny square. I'd like to get back to regular sock knitting and hope to do so soon. This is, apparently, a season of rest. At least as far as crafting and completing projects goes.
Everything Else
There's been a lot going on, and I remember very little of it. I feel like I've run around a lot and that my brain was occupied with lots of deadlines and that I met most of them (as far as I know). We had days of sub-zero windchills and days with highs in the mid-70s. Standard Arkansas in February things. There were snow days and Valentines Day chocolate and church events and a child-free weekend derailed by a broken water heater and work/school/meals/laundry. I created at least 3 new accounts with passwords and I think I wrote down 2 of them. And we filed our taxes. And got new glasses for the child. I want to make a quilt. I need to make some garden plans. I want to find my steel hook for the doily project. And I want to get really intentional about my gift knitting (another post for another time). And I really, really want to finish that Hildegard of Bingen biography.
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