Sue Grafton | The Little Room of Rachell

I’ve dug my Stripy blanket out and actually it’s nice to be adding to it again. Isn’t it bright though?! I kind of forgot how much it’s a bit in your face. It took me aback when I saw it again yesterday, which was a very lazy Sunday afternoon.

I’m reading Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton at the mo. I’ve had it from the library for more than a week, but getting into it has taken a while. It’s an absolutely brick of a hardback. If you need a doorstop, this is the one for you. Having read a whole chunk yesterday made me feel more engaged with the story. I think I know exactly how one storyline will play out, but I’m not going to say anymore.

I was really sorry to learn of Sue’s recent loss, her books have brought pleasure all around the world. It’s sad too that this is the premature end of the alphabet series, however I’m glad a ghost writer is not going to be brought in to write Z. I’d rather it was the original author, or nothing at all.

As you know, I always have an audio book on the go too, after the compelling Three Things about Elsie by Joanna Cannon I fancied something completely different. My Audible library has contained Danny Baker’s 2012 autobiography Going to Sea in a Sieve for a long time. I bought it after enjoying the BBC tv adaptation Cradle to Grave in 2015. If you’re outside Britain I’m not really sure you’ll ever have heard of Danny Baker, but it’s still worth watching for the entertainment value. Peter Kay plays Danny’s Dad with only a bit of accent slippage! I’ve only heard 35 minutes of the audio book, with Danny narrating, and Ilove it. After the prologue I found myself repeating the story of the burning car and the game of chicken, while Someone made some smoked mackerel pate for lunch. Then I felt compelled to rush into the dining room to wave my iPhone in the air and play the bit about Nigel Slater’s ‘lamentable’ book Toast (I sort of agree about that) while he was trying to eat lunch and catch a bit of the Winter Olympics. I can feel myself trying to remember other little snippets to repeat later. This is always the (painful for others) sign that I’m loving a book. It’s just so cheery and authentic that I want to ~~over~~share.

What are you making and reading?

I’m joining in again with Ginny’s now monthly Yarn Along.

Stash busting is fun especially to begin with when there’s no plan. I just started out making a four colour double crochet block, then another. Doubles are pretty greedy stitches though, so I can imagine I might want to go to restock the claret and raspberry yarn (my two current favourite shades) which kind of defeats the object of a stash buster make. Still, Stylecraft is cheap. Lucky isn’t it?

For years my cousin and I have been reading the alphabet series by Sue Grafton, sharing the books after hunting them all down in charity shops. Latterly we’ve been waiting a few years at a time for the next one to be published. X is the 24th in the series. I worry that Sue Grafton might not get to the end sometimes.

I’m only 3 or 4 chapters in, but Kinsey’s already eaten a grilled cheese sandwich and bought peanut butter, so all is well! These books always make me crave egg and cucumber or pnb sandwiches without fail…

I’m joining in with Ginny and all the other yarn alongers again. It’s my fave post of the week and I love to see what others are reading and making. Looking up the #yarnalong tag on Instagram is good too.