Spotify premium | The Little Room of Rachell

My second time at the craft group in a very relaxed café, lots of chat and a few hours that flew. Very good mocha too!

I paused and took a progress pic of the five circles I’d crocheted and thought I probably had better stop. I was surrounded by mostly crocheters, I think only one at the other end was knitting. I was so enjoying chatting and hooking that my hands found themselves getting busy again. In a way it’s good, because I’m seeing my hand therapist on Friday and can report how sore it now feels. This once would not have counted as a lot of crochet…

Describing my book group and this new craft group to a friend this morning, when we were driving along, I realise that I’ve now met two women who own and ride horses in the last couple of weeks. Maybe it’s not that interesting, but as they are from completely different groups and locations it’s tickled me.

The other day I was rather horrified that my new ball of Hayfield Spirit DK came vacuum packed flat in the post. I had noticed the generously cheap postage but didn’t realise some yarn sellers are now vacuum packing orders. I thought the wool content would be completely ruined, the fibres squashed into submission. Well, actually after springing out of the pack, the ball plumped up quite nicely and doesn’t feel any thinner at all than the previously non-vacuum packed. Have you had any yarn arrive packaged like this? Do you feel it made any difference to the quality of the wool?

This week I’m reading and also listening to Weyward by Emilia Hart and enjoying it very much.

‘Wearing together the stories of three extraordinary women across five centuries, Emilia Hart’s Weyward is an enthralling novel of female resilience and the transformative power of the natural world.’ From GoodReads.

I’m also listening to Robert Webb’s How Not to be a Boy which ties into Caitlin Moran’s What about Men? And also part of Elizabeth Day’s Friendholic, both of which I mentioned last week. Robert’s writing is excellent. I really like the way he portrays himself and his family, making conscious choices to be fair and empathic about all (barring the dull grammar school science teacher!) Robert has a great voice for narrating audio (he’s known for being an actor and comedian, part of the Mitchell and Webb duo, in case his name is unfamiliar.)

I’ve realised that recently where audiobooks are concerned I’m doing the thing that lots of crafters do, only I’m doing it with audiobooks. I’ve started many, listening to some of it, then moving on to try a next, listening to more of the first and then bouncing back to the next, and then starting another, and then…. I used to have to commit to one book using a credit from Audible. I’d listen to the book, then wait until the next month brought a new credit to spend. With the Audible plus catalogue (3 months membership for 99p offer I could not refuse the other day) and Spotify premium including 15 hours a month of audiobooks or podcasts, I am now absolutely spoilt for choice. I have given up book monogamy for hopping around like a wild thing!

Instagram seems to be full of people at the moment unravelling, or frogging, crochet and knitting like billio! (iPhone does not like this antiquated slang.) I don’t really know whether it’s a chain reaction to someone prominent doing it, or spring cleaning approaching, but my feed is full of people posting photos of unfinished items, then either filming something being unravelled, or agonising over whether they should unravel it, or carry on. They say it’s not very fun to crochet / knit and maybe they could use the yarn for something else, but they’ve got so far in the making that it seems a shame. What do we think? Can we advise? Impossible to answer! But I’ve tried. I generally take the middle line and say surely it’s got to be fun? It’s a hobby, not work. And do you want / need to use whatever it is at the end? If you don’t think you will, then unravel it by all means. But then often find myself adding a caveat: it’s such a lovely piece of work, can you add a border and turn it into a baby blanket?! Anyway, what I suppose I’m thinking as I dictate this to my iPhone is that I will stop starting anymore new audiobooks and finish a few in the next week.

Spring has suddenly sprung here in my part of England: daffodils, pink blossom, white blossom, forsythia everywhere, beautiful magnolia trees in bloom and an array of spring flowers. It suddenly arrived and gosh it’s welcome!

~~~

Linking with Kat and the gang for Unraveled Wednesday, sharing what we’re making and reading this week. What are you making and reading at the mo?

It’s cold, grey and windy outside today, luckily I’ve got a pot of Teapigs darjeeling earl grey brewing, will stack the log burner and light it soon, I also plan to maybe do a bit of crochet. I’m using chunky yarn, it’s black and what I’m making is, I suspect, probably quite eccentric. More about that another time!

The Hotel by Louise Mumford

A dual storyline thriller. Four teenagers go to an abandoned Victorian hotel, which of course comes with a murky past. They plan to make a film and generally get up to hijinks in the gap between school and university. Things go terribly wrong and only three leave the hotel. Where is Leo? What happened on that fateful night?

It is now ten years later and there are fans who organise an annual convention, complete with merchandise, which has grown up around the original film that was put online. There is also intense speculation about what really happened.

The now scarred twenty eight year olds are invited to meet at the hotel once again, to join in the making of a reunion film with a professional company. What could possibly go wrong?

The Housekeepers by Alex Hay

The Housekeepers is about a heist in the Edwardian era, dreamt up, planned and executed (mostly) by women in a Park Lane mansion in London.

This is a story of revenge, for deeply personal reasons and an attempt to right some wrongs. There are female friendships which tug at the heartstrings and a few love stories too. It’s an absolutely cracking read.

When I read an advance review copy of The Housekeepers, at the beginning of the year, I remember thinking that I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there was a film or TV series commissioned in the future…

The Bookbinder of Jericho by Pip Williams

The story of twin sisters, Peg and Maude, who live on a narrow boat on the Oxford canal and work in the book bindery in nearby Jericho, at the Clarendon Press.

Peg wants far more from her life, but is stymied due to her gender and place in the world. Society is fixed for the working class and generations of families have worked in the same buildings. She is continually told not to read the books, but to bind them. Peg is tied to her sister Maude and feels that her life is narrow, full of responsibilities and a frustrating lack of freedoms.

Women are still not allowed to vote. Despite being accepted into university and able to study at Oxford, they are not awarded a degree. Going to study English at Somerville college is Peg’s dream, but this feels completely unattainable to a woman of her class and educational background. Then, World War 1 begins, bringing a wave of Belgian refugees fleeing devastated cities, through this mixing of the classes society begins to be irrevocably altered. Peg’s life alters she forms different relationships and new opportunities begin seem to be possible.

PS, if you are a fan of Pip’s The Dictionary of Lost Words, then you should know that this is set in the same period of time, in another area of Oxford. Look out for a few familiar characters.

No! I Don’t Want to Join a Bookclub by Virginia Ironside

I Don’t Want to Join a Book Club. Marie swears off all kinds of things that her friends and contemporaries are embracing: book clubs, yes, but also learning new things like foreign languages and joining gyms. Activities that challenge the mind and body, activities that others like to brag about—these are not for Marie. From the Penguin and Random House website

This was one of my holiday reads when we were away at the end of May. I picked it up from a community centre bookshelf where I’ve found lots of good reads before. Something about it grabbed me. And I realised I kept picking it up and putting it down. It’s basically the diary of Bridget Jones when she’s sixty and quite grumpy.

There are four books in the Marie Sharp series. I may look for the next sometime.

The Beginning of Everything by Jackie Fraser

A linear story about Jess who has escaped a bad situation and arrived in Wales seeking sanctuary. She and Gethin begin a friendship which is sustaining and positive for both, albeit beginning with a very unusual meeting.

This feels like an original story. The author gently and sensitively reveals Jess’s emotions, how she really feels about herself and about the beginning of a new relationship. It’s really beautifully written, I’m not sure that it will be for everyone as it’s not dramatic, it doesn’t have huge twists, but it’s really compelling. You want to find out what will happen and you root for them both.

For such a simple story I really could not put this book down! I read until the early hours to finish it; always the sign of an enjoyable book.

And Away by Bob Mortimer

Bob Mortimer’s life was trundling along happily until suddenly in 2015 he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required immediate surgery and forced him to cancel an upcoming tour. The episode unnerved him, but forced him to reflect on his life so far. This is the framework for his hilarious and moving memoir, And Away… From Goodreads

I’m not sure that you will have heard of Bob if you’re not in the UK and haven’t ever lived here. Would Shooting Stars etc have been shown internationally? I wasn’t ever a fan of Bob’s comedy with Vic Reeves a.k.a. Jim Moir, but absolutely LOVE Gone Fishing, which he presents with Paul Whitehouse. (It’s not about fishing!)

This was the first audio book I listened to last month, when I delightedly discovered Spotify Premium membership now gives you 15 hours of audiobooks a month. I was missing Audible but didn’t want to pay for another subscription.

Lovely audio book. Laugh out loud funny, particularly the first half, really warm, classic Bob.

Soups by Maggie Ramsay

There is a wide variety of soups; plenty of vegetarian, some meat and fish based varieties, also those containing pulses and grains. There are 80 recipes in all, including garnishes.

The author has given plenty of instruction, so it would be suitable for a novice cook. There are suggestions for adding or substituting ingredients. Many soups can be adapted to be vegetarian and vegan.

The one downside for me was there are no photos at all, bar the one on the front cover. I really do not care for the illustrations, as I felt that they neither represented the recipes, or were particularly attractive. The book is lacking in this respect.

I am planning to cook the Moroccan-Style Vegetable and Chicken Soup for dinner soon, the recipe instantly appealed as it will be a warming autumn meal.

📕

Currently I’m re-reading The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan, before I can borrow her latest; Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop from the library. It’s warm, cosy and easy reading at bedtime, or in the middle of the night when I’m wide awake. I’m trying Simon Mayo’s Mad Blood Stirring again after abandoning it in 2019, listening to Oh Miriam! By Miriam Margoyles (NOT for the faint hearted) on Spotify. Lastly, I’m considering ditching Stanley Tucci’s Taste which is boring me, although I have got to the 60% point, so it seems a shame to give up now. I’ve tried a bit of the audiobook too, but for an actor his reading style seems very monotone.

Are you stuck into any books at the moment? Can you recommend something you’ve enjoyed this year?