Book Round-Up: Love Stories

 Persuasion by Jane Austen: I think this is now my favorite Austen novel. It was her last work, published posthumously, and I find the comedy funnier, the satire sharper, and the emotions more heartfelt than her other works.

 Well Met by Jen DeLuca: The Ren Faire setting was cute, and the argument the protagonists had about the Authorship Question had me laughing, but overall I found the characters behaving more like teenagers than the mid- to late-twentysomethings they were.

 Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn: a love story where the protagonists are more interesting than usual, and which had some smart things to say about friendship. My only complaint is that the narration, the interior monologue of the heroine, was verbose to the point of distraction.

Writers & Lovers by Lily King: I read this in 23 hours, neglecting sleep and chores and work (but not my kids -- they are too noisy to neglect easily). It's a moving novel about grief, daily pressures, inspiration, writer's block, and opening one's heart. Its setting of Cambridge and Boston in 1997 is evocative (I lived in Somerville in 1998, and Boston thereafter) and the depiction of Casey's struggle to get her life under control was moving. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

A Sampler Wrap Bracelet

 Inspired by Kate Richbourg's appearance on Beads, Baubles & Jewels, the Beadshop's project pages, and the perpetual trend for wrap bracelets, I succumbed and made my own, incorporating as many techniques as possible.

 

For the most part I was working off images rather than written instructions, so certain segments took a while to get the hang of -- the chain section in particular. I loved the look of it in the BB&J episode, but it was never explained. 

The whole point of this exercise was to work it out of my system, but now I want to make more, more, MORE! Maybe in soft neutrals, and perhaps another in rich jewel tones.

A Cellini Rick Rack Ninja Star

 A heck of a name for a heck of a pattern:

The pattern is Sarah Cryer's, apparently the result of several techniques mashed together, and I'm not going to lie -- it was a challenging thing to make. The pattern itself is quite logical, and it's easy enough to understand what to do, but actually getting the beads to behave was a fiddly, frustrating process. I think part of the problem (for me at least) was having each round start at an inner point, which meant I had to step up and keep the work from twisting while also positioning the beads correctly and maintaining adequate tension for the decrease.  

Once the first four rows were established, the star was much easier to manage. Which is why Cryer recommends pausing after row four to create a "caster star" off the original base -- another four rows which are then removed from the base and left that way, from which to create new stars. The advantage is that the beads are all in place already, making it easy to "continue" beading with new thread and different beads for the new star (the first three rows of peyote are always the most difficult).

So, I tried that, and ended up with a twisted mess, even though my base was not twisted or a mess:

But I really, really want to make more stars! So after I finished, I started a new one with 4 rows to serve as my casting model. At Cryer's suggestion, I connected the inner points together with some extra beads to make it even easier to work with:

I am seriously excited to do this again; I plan to make a Christmas ornament, a larger one by sizing up each of the beads to 11s, 8s, and 6s.

Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty

Empire of Gold was a glorious finish to a wonderful series; not only did Chakraborty tell a fascinating story filled with magic, politics, world-shaking events, and heart-felt relationships, she introduced me to cultures and mythologies I knew little about, something I am grateful for.

Like the best fantasy, the novel reflects the challenges humanity faces on both a global and personal level. Chakraborty doesn't shy away from depicting the horrors of prejudice, occupation, and genocide, but she doesn't wallow in it, either, and there is a strong thread of hope throughout the series. Many of the characters, however good or evil their actions, however naive or cynical they are, want a better world, and this is treated as a laudable goal, not a fantasy. By the end of the book old hates have not been forgiven or forgotten, but there is a path forward to a more peaceful future.

On a smaller scale, one of the things I enjoyed the most was watching Nahri -- orphaned con artist and reluctant heir to a powerful legacy -- face every challenge with her own brand of strength. So many tried to put her in a box, whether as a woman, a Nahid, a shafit, an tool of revenge, but at every step she defied them and out-manipulated them, refusing to let someone else control her fate. I don't recall any other fantasy heroine who was quite so adept at not doing what others wanted, while still honoring her own (evolving) moral code, and that makes her a treat to read.

Lately almost everything I read inspires me to make something. The covers of the U.S. hardcover editions featured gorgeous color combinations which I memorialized in some simple stretchy bracelets: