Joining Kat and her merry band of Unravelers. Go see what the others are up to.

Knitting.

I am finishing a charity hat for Hats for Sailors. The yarns are Valley Yarns Superwash worsted in Wine Time, and Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Haystack Heather and Estuary Heather. I had originally intended to do the hat in the two KP colors, but when I finished the second stripe I didn’t like the effect. Yay for stash! The Valley Yarns Wine Time fit in perfectly. I would have finished the hat at knitting group yesterday afternoon but I had errands that had to be run before, so I got there late. And I might have finished it last night but I made a mistake that I have committed before on a striped hat. When I started the decreasing rounds I forgot all about about changing colors. Frog it! Manaña la cachucha estará terminada!

Reading.

Haven / Emma Donoghue. This is a dark, frustrating book about a possibly insane monk who convinces two other monks to come with him in a tiny round boat made of skins down the river Shannon and out into the North Atlantic to find a barren island that God will guide them to. No compass, scarcely any food or water, only the barest of necessities to sustain them when they land… somewhere. They do land on an island inhabited only by birds, with no fresh water, and only a fingernail thickness of topsoil in which to grow food. Set in the 6th century, this is a testament to the insanity of sanctimonious, self-righteous piety. 2★

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I gave up on The Song of the Cell. Too many nonfiction books in a row have left me yearning for a nice murder mystery.

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The Fall of the House of Usher / Edgar Allen Poe. Well, it is not a murder mystery exactly, but this is what I chose next. I came across a reference to this book recently and realized I had never read it. Library to the rescue! I also read The Telltale Heart, but by then I was tired of florid 19th century prose.

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Unholy: Why White Evangelicals Worship at the Altar of Donald Trump / Sarah Posner. One paragraph in the introduction told me all I needed to know; no need to read the entire book. “[Trump] drew the attention of curious white evangelicals, many of whom also responded to his racist, anti-immigrant, and anti-Muslim rhetoric, cheering it as a brave assault on political correctness…Trump might still be a “baby Christian” in the eyes of some of the evangelical leaders who decided to back him, but he was nonetheless anointed for this time and place.” No rating.

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The Narrowboat Summer / Anne Youngson. Two newly met women decide to deliver a newly met third woman’s narrowboat to a repair facility by sailing it through the canals of England to Chester. The third woman lives in the apartment of one of them while she undergoes medical treatments for a potentially fatal condition. It is a gentle, sweet story with fully developed characters. 4★

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Listening.

Still listening to The Four Winds. Reminiscent of The Grapes of Wrath, s a depressing book this is. It tells the story of a young mother from the Texas Panhandle whose husband ran off because the crop failures and drought of the Dust Bowl was too much for him. She sticks it out on the Texas farm with her inlaws, but eventually takes her 13-yo girl and 7-yo boy with her to California. There they find that it is not the land of milk and honey they were promised. Okies are despised by the locals. She and her children end up living in a tent in a Hooverville-type settlement and picking cotton for sustenance. It is highly rated on Goodreads (4.30) and a nominee for Best Historical Fiction in 2021. The story is heartbreaking. Just hoping there is some joy by the end.

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Watching.

Still watching New Amsterdam. Why do they have Dr Sharpe (on the right of Dr Goodwin) always wearing stiletto heels? What hospital employee wears anything but Crocs or running shoes? Sheesh. Still liking the program, though.