Should I Stay or Should I Go?

 Yesterday, the postman delivered this book. I'm eager to get into it.

Even this second edition is older now--from 2003--but I just learned of it a few weeks ago. Given the kind of writing this is, I don't think it'll matter how old it is. It looks like the kind of book that can be read a little bit at a time, so I'll probably start it today and do that. The way things have been for the last month, I have not been reading as much as I normally do and things are stacking up 😲Does this matter? Only if you're someone who's really, really wanting to dive into several books right now--and I am such a person. I have a couple of chunky classics that I left halfway through and am looking forward to getting back to. I hope to finish a library book today and have another one that I haven't read yet and one waiting for me at the library. I have 6 books on my NetGalley shelf that are going to be published early in 2026 that sound great. I have a couple of library e-books to read. And my e-reader is stuffed with e-books. The piles of my own books aren't getting any smaller. Yes, I have been greedy when it comes to books and I freely admit I have no willpower in this regard. Nevertheless, I am feeling a bit frustrated about this situation and I am hoping to get myself back on track. The bottom line is that I'm happier when I'm reading a lot and learning new things through nonfiction or immersing myself in good novels. I mean, one of the books on my NetGalley shelf is The Epic History of Macaroni and Cheese. I had no idea mac and cheese had an epic history, and I've been looking forward to learning about this for a couple of months. 

As a result of this, for the past few days, I've been thinking about whether I want to stay in the library book group. When we got home from dog-sitting, I asked at the library about the book everyone's reading. I missed the November meeting because we were away and it was just as well because I did not like the book and abandoned it after the first very long and tedious chapter. There were no copies of the current book left so the call went out on the group chat asking if anyone was finished and could hand over their copy. When I learned the book is Funny Girl by Nick Hornby, I looked it up and felt like I really didn't want to read it anyway, but didn't feel comfortable saying, 'Never mind' in the chat. After a back and forth between various people, a woman who isn't finished with the last book yet offered to drop off her copy of Funny Girl so I could read it and get it back to her so she could read it. She dropped it off on Saturday. I read the first section. I was not surprised to find it boring. I'm about a quarter of the way through it and have decided that my reading time is precious and I'm not going to waste it on books I do not like and have zero interest in. Those days are over as my time on earth grows shorter! 

Then I started thinking about the group in general. I learned about it in August, but after they'd had their meeting for that month. The first one I attended was in September and the book was American Dirt. It was a good book, but the discussion was pretty superficial. The next book was Charlotte Gray. The book was mediocre but the discussion was better. I missed the November meeting where the book was the tedious Prayer for Owen Meany. Now this one. I might be missing the January meeting as well if I stay in the group and who knows what the book will be. So my track record with the group isn't great. I have only liked one of the four books and the discussions have been a mixed bag. And honestly, I guess I just don't care what people think about this book because I don't care about it myself. The next meeting is two weeks from today so I don't have to decide immediately whether or not to withdraw, but I think I'm leaning in that direction. In the meantime, I will message the woman who gave me her copy of the book so she can have it back. 

It was funny, that moment of clarity as I was sitting there feeling a bit resentful about wasting my time on a book I don't want to read. I looked up at the piles of books I DO want to read and thought, 'What the hell are you doing? Put this book down and move along.' So I did. Now I will decide whether or not to put the whole book group behind me. I tried it. The people seem quite nice but the books sadly have not been. This may not be the best use of my time.

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Glad That's Cleared Up

 Last week, a woman from the art gallery next to the library asked me if I'd be interested in teaching some classes/facilitating workshops there. The most immediate thing was workshops in the weeks before Christmas, starting Tuesday, November 25. I said I'd love to do this and we agreed to speak again soon. I left thinking about a class where some skill would be taught and a project would be made using what students learned. Students would go home with their creation completed. This is how things used to be at the yarn shop where I taught. Those were multiple week classes though and this would be just a couple of hours so I was thinking small. But then I started wondering about how people would get materials and whether they needed previous knowledge about, for example, crochet. She'd said the classes would be a couple of hours and would be capped at 10 students, I think. In that time and with that many students, I wouldn't be able to successfully teach them to crochet from scratch and help them complete a project, which I thought might be frustrating for them.

When we spoke on the phone the following day, I ended up being fairly confused about what was happening. I chuckled to myself because it seemed to me that this was another example of two people speaking the same language and meaning different things. It's also the case that I'm not sure how these things work here. It seems to be different than at the yarn shop, which makes sense, since it's a different sort of place (and in a different country). Anyway, I'd said that I would make some samples and send her pictures. I made the samples and when I was getting the email ready, I explained my confusion, asked some questions, and assumed I would speak to her again today (Tuesday). I was hoping to have a better idea about what's going on. And now I do. We spoke on the phone and then she read my email. She addressed my concerns. She views this less as a class and more as a social gathering with the projects being part of it. She's apparently done this in previous years. She isn't concerned about people finishing a project. Aa for materials, for one gathering I'll be making kits since I have enough of all the necessary supplies--except for tapestry needles, which she has ordered. People can finish at home that way. The following week, people will be making crocheted Christmas ornaments and she will have hooks and yarn for people to use. At some point, we'll be talking about a longer grant-funded class for the new year so I'm thinking about possibilities for that. I'm pleased that things have worked out and I'm more comfortable now that I understand what it is people are coming to these gatherings for (if any do). The project next week will be a huck embroidery/Swedish weaving gift tag. We'll use aida cloth and I'm using size 10 crochet cotton because it's the right size for the cloth and it doesn't require people to separate the strands as would be necessary with embroidery floss--much less hassle. So the materials are a bit unorthodox, but the technique remains the same.

I think this will be fun. I hope I'm right.

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Zipping Right Along

 We got home the other day. Both of us were glad to be back. Our little furry friend is a great little guy, but he is hungry for attention all the time. If I was sitting down, he was on my lap. If either of us got up, he wanted to play ball. He kept us on our toes. But now the Finnball season is over for us for now and we resume our normal, quiet, simple life. 

I didn't do much stitching while we were gone (see above regarding my lap companion), but I did bring some kumihimo supplies, which are few--my foam disk, some yarn, and scissors. I was so glad I shoved the yarn and disk into my bag at the last minute because it was what I worked on the most while we were there. No small/sharp needles or yarn balls rolling around. Once the yarn is cut and put on the disk, that's all you need. I used some thin yarn, so the braid I was making took a while and I was glad to have something mindless and simple to do, given the situation. Yesterday afternoon I sat at my kitchen table, took the braid off the disk, coiled it and sewed it into a circle, added the embellishment, and sewed on a brooch pin.

The leaf is from a deconstructed necklace I picked up at a charity shop a few years ago. I might cut the fringe a bit shorter. These braids can be very elaborate and different patterns can be created depending on how many strands of cord and where colors are placed. There are some gorgeous beaded pieces that I've seen. They're very impressive and the artists who create them very talented. That's not how I work, though. I'm more of an improv person. I'll just try stuff and see what happens. One of the things I find so enjoyable about this technique is using yarn scraps of all kinds and colors and seeing what results. In this case, I did an 8-strand braid with 6 strands of the gold wrapped with a metallic thread and two of the variegated Christmas colored yarn. I'm really happy with how this one came out. My experiments sometimes end up rubbishy but that's ok. There's always something to learn and I do enjoy the process. And I'm just using yarn scraps so it's perfect.

My book list has gotten longer as it always seems to do. Once we got closer to our return date, we both started putting in our requests at the library. I had a few in which I picked up today when I went to the yarn group. It was nice to be back and to catch up with the yarny women. There's an art gallery right next door to the library (in the same building) and one of the other women and I stopped to look at the current exhibit on our way out. Then as we were leaving, the woman from the gallery stopped me and wanted to chat about the possibility of doing some kind of a Christmas ornament workshop. I said I'd be happy to do that. Then she asked about the possibility of doing a longer series of classes in the new year. She'll be applying for a grant. So I'm now tossing around ideas in my mind for both of those things. This was unexpected, but I'm quite happy about it. I was planning to start one of the books I picked up this afternoon, but now my head is full of crochet ideas so I'll save the reading for later.

I hope November has been a good month for you so far. I can't believe we're almost to the halfway point already!

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October Reading: The Second Half (Classics, Wise Older Women, Spooky Stories)

 Somehow October has zipped by and here we are in a new month. Not much of this year left, but still plenty of reading to come! I posted my thoughts on the books I read in the first half of October here and now I have some thoughts on the books I've read since.

I read several collections of spooky short stories, all of which I enjoyed. 

Uncanny Stories by May Sinclair (read on the Serial Reader app)

Ghostly Tales: Volumes 1-5 by J. Sheridan le Fanu (e-books I own--these can be found on Project Gutenberg)

I'd read some of le Fanu before and liked his work. I want to read more of his novels as most of what I've read has been short stories or novellas. Most of these stories are set in Ireland. Sinclair is another author I'd like to read more of. I think this is the only work of hers I've read. These are all excellent collections of short stories with a supernatural element.

R.U.R. by Karel Capik (read on the Serial Reader app)

This play was mentioned in the book Goliath's Curse, which I read earlier in the month. I remembered it was on Serial Reader, so I read it in 6 installments there. RUR stands for Rossum's Universal Robots--a company that manufactures robots--this is the first use of the word, apparently. It's an excellent play and it's still so, so relevant as we start to live with the effects of AI--this play, written in 1920, was grappling with similar issues. Quite chilling. I recommend it.

Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky (read on the Serial Reader app)

This is a strange book which took me a while to get into--reading it in installments helped, I think. It's narrated by a guy who clearly has mental health issues as he recounts some episodes in his life. He doesn't have friends or family, lives in squalor, and is an outcast in many ways. He's a very bitter person. This was a critique of various philosophical ideas popular at the time. I'm sure there are many layers that I simply didn't see. As a story, it's OK. I would have gotten more out of it if I had a background in some of the ideas the author was critiquing.

Trying to Consciously Swim in the Sea of Affirmation by Seosamh Mac Suibhne (owned book)

Last week, a friend of the person whose home we're currently inhabiting and who has since become our friend as well, messaged me and asked if he could come for a visit with a friend who wanted to meet us. They came and we had a nice conversation. When they were leaving, his friend gave us two books. One was a collaborative effort that he was a part of and includes various wisdom teachings from a variety of cultures in both English and Irish Gaelic. The other was this collection of his poetry.

The art on the front and back covers is his. They're mosaics he created. He explained the meaning behind them both. On the front cover, the mosaic shows the ship between the north star and the sun. No one on the ship thinks they will ever reach either of these, but they use them to navigate the waters of life. The ship stays afloat. On the back cover, the ship has nothing to navigate by and is sinking. The poems within the book are presented in English or an Irish English dialect on one page and in Irish Gaelic on the opposite page. They revolve around relationships, being a grandparent, nature, life. I have not yet read the other book he gave us.

I read a couple of soon-to-be-published books, both about older women and both great fun.

Golden Girls on the Run by Judy Leigh (read via NetGalley--to be published on December 6, 2025 by Boldwood Books)

The Hole in the Wall, a pub in Ballycotton, Co Clare, Ireland, is hosting a bake-off at Christmastime. Things go off the rails fairly quickly and sisters-in-law Sadie and Bronagh, both in their 80s, take off in a grandson's Ferrari--just like Thelma and Louise, says Bronagh. They head first for Dublin but soon decide to go to Devon to stay with a relative-by-marriage. Plot ensues from there. Along the way they meet interesting people, learn that, even at 80+, there's still room for self-discovery, new friends, and adventure.

This is a delightful, fun, feel-good read. It's an amusing book as well. Small details like a cat named Isaac Mewton or the description of a perfume smelling like a combination of rose petals, tarmac and chips gave me a chuckle, as did the sharp commentary from Sadie and Bronagh at times. The book is filled with quirky characters who were enjoyable to spend time with. A few times the dialogue felt a bit preachy and/or kind of stilted and slightly unnatural, but this really didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book. It was simply a fun Christmas romp, complete with wonderful older women not playing into stereotypes, lovable oddballs, animals of various kinds, the warmth of the holiday season, and the festive cold of winter. If that's your kind of book, then this may just be a great read for you, too.

The Alphabet Sleuths by Laura Jensen-Walker (read via NetGalley--to be published on February 3, 2026 by Severn House)

The action starts early in this book with the following first sentence: "Claire Reynolds hadn't planned to kill a man that day, but stuff happens." Stuff does indeed continue to happen after that as the self-described Alphabet Girls, Atsuko, Barbara, Claire, and Daphne, become the Alphabet Sleuths. The women are residents of a retirement community in California and became close friends during the COVID pandemic. They're very different in temperament, life histories, and attitudes to aging and life, but they're a close and supportive group of friends. As the book opens, Claire is gardening and looks up to see Daphne, who is recovering from surgery on her arm, being strangled by a strange man. Claire rushes up to help her friend and inadvertently kills the guy. Plot ensues from there. I want to avoid spoilers so won't say much more about the plot here.

I really enjoyed this book a lot. The characters are fun to be with and their relationships with each other are lovely. They can each be exasperating in their own ways and are often funny. Some of the other characters in the book are quirky in the ways you'd expect in a cozy mystery and some were more sinister. The story kept me interested from that opening sentence through to the end. There are a couple of other mysteries that occur as the book goes on and it's unclear at first whether they're all related or not. All loose ends are tied up by the end of the book in a satisfying ending. If I had one quibble with the book it's a very minor one and that was what seemed like an overuse of the phrase "afternoon delight." This is a fun read that touches on some serious topics along the way, but with a light touch. Some of these involve the backstories of the characters, which are seamlessly inserted into the narrative. If you like cozy mysteries with older women protagonists and some humor, this may well be a book for you. It's a great read.

As always, publication dates and publishers may be different in your part of the world. I thank NetGalley, the publishers, and the authors for digital review copies of these fun books.

I didn't have any DNFs in the second half of the month. Yay! I do have books that I am reading more slowly than I'd like to because I have a small dog on my lap much of the time. The books I'm reading are chunky classics and even though they're paperbacks, they get heavy when holding them up for long periods of time. Fortunately, I can hold my phone and my e-reader in one hand so I can read e-books even with the dog on my lap. I am eager to get back to those chunky classics, though. I will try to be patient.

Here's to another month of great reading!

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