What I made, by Sharon

Last Wednesday night I tore a left tricep at Pole. then on Saturday my right forefinger got horribly infected for no apparent reason.  I'm pretty grumpy about it. On Thursday I cast on a crotchet project in some left over handspun. It's been quite a fun project, because I speak crotchet as a second language, so it's taken attention and care. Alos, I can joke about being crotchety.  It's not perfect, but it is recognisable as a garment. The reading has been up and down this week.  I finished  Worry Box by Chris Panatier *, which did not live up to its early promise. You know when a book has a plot hole that you cannot forgive? This has that, and also characters whose emotions flip-flopped in a way I found unbelievable. The sentient house was believable though. Now I'm reading  Best Fake Fiancé  by Roxie Noir , the second in the Loveless Brothers series. Charming low stakes romance, just what I needed. Up next could be anything. Maybe Taylor Jenkin's Reid's...

Because I don't have all that many review books (15, but that's from here until January) I've been reading randomly and loving it. First I read  Woodworking by Emily St. James , which Katie mentioned her book club was doing.  She did then invite me to book club, but I'm not a bookclub person, even though I love it when people talk about books. My other group of friends who are in a bookclub are doing  Yesteryear , and I'm not going to that either, although I do want to know what they all think. After that I read   Only for Tonight by Kendall Ryan , a romance that I enjoyed. I don't know why sometimes I love a romance and sometimes they fall flat for me - maybe this time it's because I loved the main couple from the get go. Now I'm reading  Worry Box by Chris Panatier *. It's horror and sets up the tension early. Now it's letting me relax and I really don't think that's going to last long. Really well written.   Next up is  But for Fortune...

 I've run out of themes again! This week, like so many, have has ups and downs. On Sunday we went to the Museum, which I haven't done since 2001! We saw an exhibition on ancient Rome, which felt very relevant to the  Gaius Petreius Ruso Series by Ruth Downie , which I have been gradually listening my way through. This week I read    Enemies with Benefits by Roxie Noir.  I got it free somewhere along the way and then left it sitting on the bottom of my Kobo because enemies to lovers isn't my favourite trope, but I really loved this. Good communication, good communication and four more in the series - currently on Kindle Unlimited, if that's the way you get your books. Then I read  Thoughts Be Bloody * by Auden Patrick  which is meant to be a magical Hamlett retelling. It didn't work for me, for a number of reasons mainly because I think it was a bit YA, and also there is (spoilers) basically magical time travel. I hope it finds its audience though. ...

Last week I finished the horror novel  Tapeworm * by A.P. Thayer . It was very good - I went for lunch at work and didn't come back until it was finished - an hour and a quarter later. Oops, body horror can't be left in suspense. Then, aas predicted I read  Never Lasting*  by Angela Bourassa  . It's an 831Stories Romance, and I usually quite like these, but I hated it. Insta love, a main couple that I didn't want to get together, not ideal. I said that my next book  Thoughts Be Bloody * by Auden Patrick  was a horror - it's not, it's a Hamlet retelling with magic. It's not due until next month, so I decided to read the oldest book on my Kobo  The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride  . It's good, but is not a fast read. It's got heavy themes - race, sexual assault, privilege, poverty. After I finish this, it's on to the next oldest book  Enemies with Benefits by Roxie Noir.  It's the first of a romance series that I got for...

This week I finished, and loved    I Love the Whole World!* by Victoria Hannan . It's the story of a middle aged woman from Melbourne who wins a trip to Las Vegas and starts rediscovering herself.  I  also started listening to  Don't Stop * by Bonnie Friedman , which I put on hold, because they were both set in 2000 and featured women in their early 40s. But I found the audiobook quite annoying, partly because the narrator makes every man sound creepy. I'll try it again, but I don't feel confident I'll get through it.  Now I'm reading  Tapeworm * by A.P. Thayer . I don't normally read a lot of horror, but this is my year for it! My next book, by NetGalley review order is  Thoughts Be Bloody * by Auden Patrick  which is also a horror. I'll probably pop  Never Lasting*  An 831 Stories Romance by Angela Bourassa  in between for a romance break between all that horror! In knitting I've made progress on my  Alpine Bloom Dress ....

W elcome to part 33 in a series of non-fiction book reviews, originally based on the idea that the books I request tell you everything you need to know about me. I have, after so many chapters of this series, realised that all these posts say about me is that this was just a place to put these reviews, but now I can see how broad my non-fiction reading is, and how many interesting, good (and sometimes not-so-good) books and topics I've had a chance to explore. This instalment we have popular psychology, linotype machines and reality TV. All books were provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Reality TV For Snobs Turn skeptics into fans and fans into scholars with this smart, entertaining guide to 20 influential reality shows, from The Real World to The Traitors . Much like reality itself, reality TV has one main There’s just too much of it. Whether you’re a devoted fan who wants to share your passion, a specialist who doesn’t have time to watch every show, or a ske...

  After I finished  Preaching to the Choir * a really enjoyable horror novella by Adrian Tchaikovsky  I realised I had time to fit ion a non-review book, before proceeding to  I Love the Whole World!* by Victoria Hannan . I went to the library app to see what I might like to read. And there, waiting for me was a notification saying that I had 11 days left to read John of John . This is the Read With Us  September book. Read With Us is an online bookclub, run by many of the same people who participate in Unravelled Wednesday. i don't really participate, but I was inspired to request this book from the library. I had but a reservation on it when they first announced it, but had been told it would come my way by March 2027. And yet, here it was! I'm enjoying it, but it's not a light read and it's not a book to skip quickly through. The writing must be savoured and relished. I am racing through Hell Bent    the second in the Ninth House trilogy. It's a boo...

I got sick again!  This winter it's just been one thing after another. A bad cold kept me at home Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I always work from home Wednesdays, so I did log on today. Being sick left me lots of time for reading and knitting, so it's not all bad! Double Standard*  was an excellent short romance.  Ninefox Gambit* by Yoon Ha Lee is complicated  military space opera with lots of things blowing up and an interesting societal structure. It got me through a day when I barely got off the couch!  Now I'm reading  Never Date a Celebrity* by Claire Forsythe w hich is  Sapphic romance, set in rural Northern Ireland. very comforting.  Next up is the final two books in my current attempt to stay ahead of Netgalley deadlines -  I Love the Whole World!* by Victoria Hannan (Australian Women's fiction) and Preaching to the Choir * by Adrian Tchaikovsky   (horror novella).    The knitting has been very satisfying, since ju...

Last week I said I was struggling with      The Intrigue* by Silvia Moreno-Garcia . Unusually for me I put it aside and read  The Music Between You And I by Quiana Glide * a book that was full of grammar and plot errors. After that I returned to The Intrigue, but I didn't suddenly start caring about the characters or plot. I had just read three 5 star books in a row, so I guess I was due a slump. Now I'm reading  Double Standard*: An 831 Stories Romance by Mallory Thomas . All 831 romances have the same boring cover, in different colours. The book itself is an easy read and I'm liking it. I have an unusual number of ARCs to read - after Double Standard  there are four due on the 11th of August, which should be quite achievable, none of them are particularly long. Although i really should stop requesting ARCs with short timeframes! these all sounded really good. They are  Ninefox Gambit*  by Yoon Ha Lee ( military space opera)  Never D...

That's right, tomorrow I leave for my favourite weekend of the year - the Australian Sheep show.  As usual all NetGalley copies are marked with an *. I finished  In Wonderland * by Joyce Maynard . It's a mediative tale told from the point of view of a 14-year old having a very different summer, a poor girl being a 'mothers helper' for a rich, but dysfunctional family and reflections on how it affects the rest of her life. Now I'm reading    The Intrigue* by Silvia Moreno-Garcia . I'm a third of the way through. It's well written on a paragraph to paragraph basis, but i just don't care about any of the characters, or what happens to them. We have a failing scam artist, a bitter spinster and a frustrated young woman, and I'm completely not invested. They all deserve each other. I might not finish it, but I'll struggle on for a bit.  After that, I'll be reading   The Music Between You And I by Quiana Glide * an age gap, rockstar romance with a...

I got a cold AGAIN. It's been a winter for them! Leon is sick as well. This meant we stayed home Sunday, knitting and reading. On Monday, instead of my usual after work routine of gym to knit-night I came home. Tuesday I took off work, and spent the entire day on the couch - reading and knitting. I'm feeling better now, but it's been pretty restful and I did get a lot of reading and knitting done.  Books given to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honet review will be identified with a *. I read 3 5 star books in a row  Cherrywood by Jock Serong ,  The Followers * by Maree Prat and  Starlight Mountain * by Taylor Gray. Then I blew the streak with  Hot Girl Murder Club * by Ashley Winstead , which was a book about sisterhood and revenge and I thought it was a hot mess (a lot of reviewers thought otherwise, so that is, obviously, just my opinion). This morning I started  In Wonderland * by Joyce Maynard . So far I can say I like the writing style, but I'm re...