In other news, if you live near me, best beware of the great "Doo-rag" bandit:
Oh yeah, the September book report:
1. The Restless Sleep: Inside New York's Cold Case Squad, by Stacy Horn. Insider look at a real cold case squad -- which, of course, is nothing like TV but compelling nonetheless.
2. The Epicure's Lament, by Kate Christenson. I lost interest in this about fifty or sixty pages in; my guiding rule is that when I start to think "oh, I really ought to read more since I started it" -- it's time to move on. The book is written from the first-person point of view of a 40s-ish wastrel with a terminal disease, and instead of finding his rambling funny and eccentric, I found it simply boring. So I moved on. (I should have known better, since I disliked In the Drink.)
3. Breakfast with Tiffany, by Edwin Wintle: I heard the author on NPR and thought the book sounded charming. It is and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Describes the culture shock of a forty-something, single man in NYC who agrees to become guardian to his fourteen-year-old niece. Omigod, I know, right?
4. The Partly Cloudy Patriot, by Sarah Vowell. Collection of essays about history and politics that makes you laugh but also has great resonance.
5. Take the Cannoli, by Sarah Vowell. Liked the previous one so much I read this next. Several priceless, read-out-loud-to-husband parts, although not quite as good as no. 4.
Actually, at Md. Sheep & Wool, the Koigu ladies come and bring all their miniskeins that are left over from miscellaneous dyelots. You pay by the gram. Can you believe it? The year before last, and the year before that, I got a bunch. (Well, ahem, $100 worth.) Last year there were people waiting at 8 a.m. for them to open! (They were sold out by the time they got there)
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it's the modular technique for Log Cabin blankets that's described in Mason Dixon Knitting.
Erm, "sold out by the time I got there."
ReplyDeleteRegarding number 2: Nancy Pearl, author of Book Lust and model for a librarian action figure, has what she calls The Rule of 50. Give a book 50 pages, if you don't like it by then, give it up. Life's too short and there are too many books.
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way about the Vowell books. I loved Assassination Vacation as well. It would be a great book for high school history classes: she makes history so *human*.
Ok, I have NOT been skimming and didn't know about the Koigu log cabin concept, but dang, what a great idea. I've been wanting to do the log cabin thing since I picked up Mason Dixon, and have 6 skeins of Koigu in my stash.
ReplyDeleteLike I needed another project LOL. Thanks.
Speaking of mill ends, how big is the blanket going to be, Carol?
ReplyDeleteWe-e-ell, my husband was scoffing when I said I was going to make it a blanket to snuggle up with on the couch. I don't think he was suggesting I'd run out of yarn...
ReplyDeletebut I think I'm just going to see how far I get and when it looks like the right size, stop.
Love love love cannoli... also try out Fraud by David Rachauv... check the spelling on that
ReplyDelete