Book Round-Up

The Correspondent by Virginia Evans: An absolutely lovely epistolary novel about an elderly woman looking back on her life, and the wonderful, difficult, troubling relationships she had. It was well worth the months-long wait at my library.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry: I’ve only loved Henry’s odd-numbered books, but this (her 6th) broke the pattern. Probably because it was also a departure for her, with a good chunk of the novel devoted to another elderly woman reflecting on her life and relationships (a theme this month, I guess). I know some were put off by that, but I was ok with it, especially because I tend to prefer romances that are secondary, not primary, plots.

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett: Of course I read a book about a woman who runs a cat shelter and her wizard landlord. I'm loving Fawcett's take on romantasies -- fewer assholes, more humor.

Woman Hollering Creek by Sandra Cisneros: I don't know why it took me so long to read Cisneros, but I absolutely loved this collection of vivid, evocative, heartbreaking, and funny stories. My favorite was "Little Miracles, Kept Promises."

Men of Maize by Miguel Angel Asturias: Considered to be possibly the first magical realism novel, it's not nearly as famous as 100 Years of Solitude, probably because the text is quite challenging -- a loose understanding of time, opaque (to me) allusions to Guatemalan political history, extensive references to Mayan folklore and religious beliefs, and an impressionistic approach to language use. I'm so glad I didn't try to read it in the original Spanish, a particular dialect with lots of Mayan vocabulary. This edition was heavily annotated and had several essays on the author, text, and translation, which allowed me to understand much better Asturias's themes of colonialism and the degradation of the environment and left me with a desire to learn more about the Mayans. (Interestingly, there's a section very similar to my favorite Cisneros story.)

 

I Made a Book!

The pattern is from The Barmy Fox, based on a simple folded paper booklet design she used to make for her young students. The embroidery uses a wide variety of stitches, although I made some changes to suit my own preferences. For stability and opacity, I inserted stiff interfacing between the pages.

This is such a clever but simple way to make a booklet, and I have so many ideas I want to try with it. 

 

Cross Stitch Diary Part 2

 I've been making and reading, just not quite having the energy to post. (Sometimes I post on Instagram or Substack.)

A piece of cranberry pie for Thanksgiving.

Candles for Advent.

A Christmas tree.

A blue SUV because the brakes failed and we had to cancel our trip to see family.

A wedge of cheese because we celebrated New Year’s Eve with a charcuterie board (we are old and/or tired and/or introverted).

A crown for Three Kings’ Day.

A birthday cake for my oldest.

A star for Minnesota, l’Etoile du Nord (so proud of Minneapolis).

A stack of books for the ones I read in January.

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Book Round-Up

 Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells: Still enchanted by the series. I think I'm going to buy them (high praise!)

Winter's Tales by Isak Dinesen: A varied collection of tales, rigid in upholding the class system and morality, but also with sharp insights about the inherent oddness and tragedy of some people. "The Dreaming Child" in particular, about the lies we tell ourselves, has stuck with me.

Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead by Sara Gran: I joined a book club, and this was the first (for me) pick. And I was one of the only people who liked it, ha. Ostensibly a murder mystery set in New Orleans about a year after the flood, it's by no means a conventional procedural. There are elements of magical realism, not a whole lot of detecting gets done, and Claire is an oddball (to put it mildly). Instead it's about trauma, the lack of control we have over what happens to us, and the ability to rise above it. This is the start of a trilogy and I'm looking forward to the other two.

The Librarians by Sherry Thomas: Of course I was going to read a book about librarians who solve a murder. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a disappointment. I liked the characters and the story, but the whole thing felt engineered, like the author was given a checklist of modern topics, character traumas, and pop cultural references to incorporate.  A more organic version of the story would have been perfect.

English Is not Easy by Luci Gutiérrez: This is a delightful graphic novel that explains the English language to non-native speakers. For a native speaker like me, the value is in the quirky, funny, occasionally bawdy illustrations.

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia: This story has the titular character go on a scavenger hunt arranged by an eccentric millionaire while dealing with the ghosts (figurative and literal) of her past, but it took an unexpectedly dark turn towards the end. Still, it was fun and engrossing, and filled with a number of great characters.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy: another book club pick, and again I was one of the only ones who liked it. It's a family drama with elements of eco-dystopia and magical realism; normally I avoid dystopian novels at all costs, but gratifyingly this one found hope in human relationships, particularly in those of parents and children. A common reason given today for not having children is the unwillingness to subject them to climate change, but that can lead to a sort of despairing complacency, an excuse to not bother to try to solve the very many problems we are facing. Future generations can and should inspire us to work towards the common good. I think some of my fellow club members were hung up on the lack of explanation for the some phenomena and motives in the novel, whereas I'm more comfortable with unanswered questions. It's a sad novel, but gorgeous in its own way.

Cross Stitch Diary

 Inspired by The Daily Stitchuation, I've started a stitch diary (not my first one). For my own sanity, I'm not forcing myself to stitch every day, or create a motif for each day. 

Part 1:

 A cap, because my Down Syndrome son finished high school.

A strawberry, because I love them.

An evil eye, because I was reading about them.

A resist symbol, because Trump.

The flag of Iceland, because I read Sjon's Codex 1962 (and I want to go someday).

A hospital symbol, because my son had minor surgery.

A school bus, because the privatized bus system in NYC suuuuucks.

A tear, because life is hard.

An apple, pumpkin, and leaf because I love fall.

A witch's hat because I crocheted one a week before Halloween.

Part 2:

 A piece of cranberry pie for Thanksgiving.

Candles for Advent.

A Christmas tree.

A blue SUV because the brakes failed and we had to cancel our trip to see family.

A wedge of cheese because we celebrated New Year's Eve with a charcuterie board (we are old and/or tired and/or introverted).

A crown for Three Kings' Day.

A birthday cake for my oldest.

A star for Minnesota, l'Etoile du Nord (so proud of Minneapolis).

A stack of books for the ones I read in January.

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

Mitchell's novel, set in the same world as Cloud Atlas (and all his other novels), has a similar formal structure: it's divided into six parts, each a different kind of story -- coming-of-age, Faustian bargain, war memoir, literary satire, metaphysical fantasy, and eco-dystopia. Underlying the narrative, though, are references to a war between the mysterious Horologists and Anchorites; the former are trying to protect humanity from the latter, who want to use humans as fuel in their quest for immortality.

 But it’s not until late in the novel we learn this, and with the exception of the fifth section we spend little time with the Anchorites and Horologists themselves. Instead every part serves as a character study, each one narrated by someone with a connection to Holly, the first narrator and the key to the novel as a whole. in each of these sections we see the characters make bad or even disastrous decisions, but what matters is the fallout — not just the consequences to the plot, but the effect on the characters and what they choose to do after. 

 It's here that Mitchell demonstrates his skill as a writer. Most of the characters are deeply flawed, often making stupid, selfish, or evil choices, but Mitchell lets us see what drives them to make those choices. The fourth section in particular stood out -- it's the section that covers the longest time period, allowing us to see an arrogant, self-involved writer ever so slowly repent and learn to put others before himself. On the other hand, the fifth section, while fun and fascinating, felt out of place. The sixth section returns us to ordinary humans, but, set in a near future ravaged by climate change, it displays a deeply cynical attitude about humanity, something that seems almost like a betrayal of the poignantly-depicted characters of the rest of the novel.

Despite my disappointment in the ending, I fully intend to read more of Mitchell's work. The world he has created is filled with wonderful characters and fascinating bits of lore.

A Long-Overdue Christmas Wrap-up

 It's been a tough month.

On the crafting front, I started Sue Spargo's Christmas tree pillow project. I cannot actually afford any of her kits, though, so I worked out of my stash. In the process I changed some motifs and stitches to suit my tastes, such as adding a manger scene because Christmas isn't secular for me, and eliminating most bullion knots because those are the devil's stitch. What I have so far:

I also stitched this freebie from Momentoell. I like the chunky effect she gets by using 6 or even 12 strands of floss. The lovely, soft colors are a nice change of pace, too, from the usual embroidered Christmas tree.

Not much jewelry making happened, but I did remake a bracelet (which apparently I never photographed) with several Christmas-themed charms into a necklace. No point in wearing a bracelet if my wrists are covered up in several layers of long johns and wool sweaters (it's so cold where I work).

 

My middle son gave me a skein of acrylic yarn for Christmas. I love the color, but it is too scratchy to wear so I crocheted a garland. This worked up so fast and fun I made a second with a different yarn.

He also gave me more buttons, so I made a button garland for the tree.

And I finally finished my youngest's quilt: 

On the book front, I read three Christmasy books:

The White Priory Murders by Carter Dickson: An enjoyable locked-room mystery, where, amusingly, Dickson had two characters immediately propose the most obvious explanations to accuse each other. John Dickson Carr was name-checked in the locked-room mystery Wake Up Dead Man, too, which was a fun little easter egg.

Snowed In by Catherine Walsh: a cute holiday-themed contemporary romance, related to her previous novel, Holiday Romance. I enjoyed it, but it lacked an effective structure to hang the story on.

Golden Age Christmas Mysteries ed. by Otto Penzler: some of these would better be classified as spy thrillers or adventures, but all were enjoyable. The collection runs the gamut from light-hearted, comedic stories to darker, melancholic ones, so there's something to suit most tastes.

I think that about wraps it up. Aside from the food, cancelled trip, car troubles, pretty snow fall, improv king cake ...