Joining Kat and friends. Go see what the others are up to.

Knitting.

I finished the first hat for daughter-in-law. It can be worn as a slight slouch with the brim down or as a toque with the brim folded up. I was working on it one night last week while I was wearing a black sweater. When I got up to go to bed the front of my sweater was gray — that angora sheds! I hope she is not allergic, but if so it is not a big problem. I am planning on three hats for her: this one, the Sockhead, and a white cabled one. She can have all, none, or anything in between, whatever.

Reading.

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From the Corner of his Eye / Dean Koontz. Years ago Koontz was an author whose books I chose to read. Eventually I decided his writing was not pleasing me, and I swore off his books. But I enjoyed A Big Little Life so much that I decided to give this author another try. Big mistake. The first few dozen pages could be a course in overwrought purple prose. Bleah. He tones it down after that but by then he had lost me. Koontz should stick to writing about his dog; he does so much better then. 2★

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Righteous Prey / John Sandford. This is #32 in the Lucas Davenport series. I have read every single one, the first dozen or so twice. Excellent police procedural, intelligent characters, intelligent and realistic dialogue. 5★

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The Colony / Audrey Magee. I was about 1/3 of the way into this when the latest Prey novel (below) came in for me at the library, and I never got back to this book. It is set on an island off the coast of Ireland where a nearly extinct dialect is spoken. An artist comes for the summer and a linguist returns for that summer; there is conflict between the two. The book is well-written; it just couldn’t stand up against the new and shiny John Sandford novel. 4★*

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A Little Life / Hana Yanagihara. I only got about four pages into this one before giving up. It may have gotten a 4.33 rating on Goodreads, but I didn’t want to work as hard as it seemed to require. (no rating)

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The Merchant’s House / Kate Ellis. This is the first book in the Detective Sargeant Wesley Ellis series. An okay mystery, but it had a couple instances of a writerly device that I find annoying: a character knows there is something s/he noticed but cannot remember what it was. I will probably give this series another try, but if the author pulls that again I’m quitting. 2.5★

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Missing, Presumed / Susie Steiner. Just started this one, a police procedural set in Cambridgeshire, England. I seems well written. Oddly enough, Goodreads tells me I read this in 2016. So far, absolutely nothing is familiar. (rating TBD)

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Listening.

Watching.

The Great British Bake Off aka The Great British Baking Show. I am watching season 13 and am up to episode 5. This show makes me want to bake something! According to the linked Wikipedia article, it affects many viewers that way. “The series is credited with reinvigorating interest in baking throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland, with shops in the UK reporting sharp rises in sales of baking ingredients and accessories.” 5★

* I cannot tell you how many times I tried to position the text next to the image like I always do, but this one absolutely refused to cooperate. Gremlins, I tell you.