Skip to main content

Unravelled Wednesday and What are You Reading Monday - the one with the big ones

I had a gap between review books (nothing due until September!) and I decided to read the oldest - and longest - book on  my Kindle, The Far Pavilions by MM Kaye, which I bought in December 2020, so I guess the turnover on my Kindle isn't as slow as I thought it was. 


I bought it when it was the Kindle Daily Deal. But the reason I bought it was because, back in the old days, before Kindles, when I used to buy most of my books second-hand from op-shops, I had a copy of this. It was about 2006, and I lived alone in a little one-bedder, and I used a bookshelf to create visual separation between the doorway and the living room, and this book sat there, unread. It had a lurid cover, the same, or similar to the one above.  At some point I got rid of it, still unread.

I hesitated to start it, because it's 950 pages long, and because I was worried it would be full of distasteful colonialism. It's fine, and asks the relevant questions (what right do English people have to come to this country and take over?) and is, so far, a jolly good adventure. Of course, I'm only a quarter through it, because it's a big book, and you'll be hearing about it for a while!  
 
My knitting project this week is actually crotchet, my first crotchet project since the dishcloths in February. I decided to use up a bunch of LOSY (Left Over Sock Yarn) to make a baby blanket for KOGO. It's really fun, I got to learn a new stitch, and crotchet grows so fast - I started this on Sunday, and am almost on the straight side bit before decreasing.   

To read my all my book reviews, and to see everything I knit, you can find me on Ravelry as Sharondoubleknit and on GoodReads as Sharondblk.

I'm joining in with Kat from As Kat Knits for Unravelled Wednesday and Kat from the Bookdate for It's Monday, What Are You Reading.  Thanks Kat and Kat for hosting these linkups. 

Labels:

Comments

  1. Jane30 July, 2021

    The new blanket looks like fun. It is so bright and cheerful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Miaismine02 August, 2021

    Wow! A 950 page book! Amazing! I'm glad you're enjoying it! I'm a crocheter as well and curious about which stitch you're using. The afghan is turning out so pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Marg02 August, 2021

    I remember buying this book years ago, back in the day when the thicker the book the more likely I was to purchase it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kathy Martin02 August, 2021

    A large book can be daunting. I hope you are still enjoying it. Your crochet project looks like fun. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

    ReplyDelete
  5. shelleyrae @ book'd out03 August, 2021

    The oldest book on my Kindle dates back to 2011 :)
    I hope The Far Pavillions turns out to be worth the time

    Wishing you a great reading week

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tee03 August, 2021

    I wish I was a better knitter than I actually am LOL

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Linky Wednesday - the one with the pause

In meditation it's said that the pause between the in breath and the out breath is a gap, a space to rest. Well, I'm in that in-between space for reading, listening and knitting. This is a random photo of a highlight of my week - I filled up my lolly jar. These are just supermarket party mix. During the lockdowns, we sources a great pick-and-mix delivery service, but at some point they started sending from the UK, which is a bit silly. Rachey messaged me a new one she found, and I impulsed purchased a kilo of mixed lollies, and then she sent me a link to the biggest lolly shop in Melbourne, which also delivers sweets by the kilogram, so i think I'm sorted for the rest of the year!  In reading I've just finished  The Beckoning Lady   by Margery Allingham . It's the second last book in the Summer of Mystery, and I have to admit, having now read nine Margery Allingham books, that they are OK. I wouldn't have read them if they were not connected to this club, but on...
5 comments
Read more

Geogradiant MKAL Part 1 - that was unexpected (spoilers)

Stephen West released the first MKAL clue on Thursday night. I started knitting it without looking at spoilers. When I got up on Friday he had sent through an "alternative" clue one. I then went and had a look at the spoiler thread to try to work out what was going on. Which was that some people thought the pattern looked like a "German hate symbol". I knit on anyway, since I was half-way through. Then he took down the original clue, replacing it with a mitred square in garter stitch. The Ravelry forums and Instagram are a complete shit-show, even though Rav is being moderated. It's been a bit disheartening, having something that is usually quite light and fun weighed down with all this. I admire Stephen's quick and sensitive response to this drama. I also feel that anything can look like anything if you squint. To me this looks like a Celtic knot. I think mine is pretty, and I'll knit on through all crises. 
7 comments
Read more

Unravelled Wednesday - the one where it's ordinary

This week I finished my first book for the  2025 When Are You Reading? Challenge , which was   The Silence of the Girls   by Pat Barker , which covered the pre 1200 time period. I loved it, it's a retelling of the siege of Troy from a feminist perspective. I haven't worked out what I'm reading for the 1200-1399 time period. Suggestions are welcome. I'm currently reading  Central Station by Lavie Tidhar , which is science fiction set in a future Tel-Aviv. It's good, but there are loads of characters and I'm not overly invested. Although at least I'm having no problems telling the characters apart, they are very district. I just don't overly care what happens to them.   I'm listening to a NetGalley review copy of  Mona Acts Out by Mischa Berlinski , which is the story of a woman unravelling. It's very different from Mischa's other books, but quite compelling. I'm not sure what's next, probably something from Kobo-Plus, perhaps Regrets...
6 comments
Read more