Last night’s knitting group was wildly successful. I finished all the chart work for my Ice Queen and even started thinking about working the picot edging before I pooped out. All of us were nursing ourselves back from crummy days with a little knitting fix. After a few hours knitting, we all were much happier . . . and the caramel brownie did not hurt either!
I got myself all tangled up in the instructions for the picot edging, but I am not panicking — I think I was just too tired last night and I’m going to spend a little research time on Knitty before I get myself into a total snit. I am excited about a project started on Saturday and finished within the week, so I’m going to try and get a bit more done today and tomorrow. I would love to put this thing in the mail soon! I have to admit, I would also love to make one for myself too.
How to keep my knitting mojo going? More audiobooks! I’ve been bouncing around between more serious stuff and “beach reading” like Phillipa Gregory and John Grisham. But I’m having trouble finding good suggestions for serious stuff. At the moment my main complaint is about book reviews. I’ve sniffed through NY Times book reviews for the past few years and found some treasures. But today, when I was looking for other credible sources for book reviews . . . nada. How could this be? Does no one read anymore? Is it possible that the NY Times is the only publication that deals in literature?
Come on blog buddies . . . what am I missing?
I think it’s definitely possible. You could check out the Chronicle of Higher Education’s website; they’ve got book reviews, I believe.
You could also ask some nerd you know who is in grad school, reading “serious” books almost non-stop. Maybe I could help! Tell me what you like to read, typically, and I’ll see if I’ve run into anything that may tickle your fancy.
Also, I’ve got most of one skein of laceweight mohair lying around in a variegated gray/white/black. I think it would work well in feather and fan and, if you want it, it’s yours.
Do take a look at the London Review of Books! (http://www.lrb.co.uk/) I think you’ll find some excellent suggestions there.
The Week’s book reviews (http://www.theweek.com/home) of “serious” fiction and nonfiction are brief but might point you in some previous unconsidered directions. The print edition has a section in which some notable author recommends five or six books and explains why he or she likes them. I’ve always liked that part (and have found much inspiration there), but I don’t think you can see it online.
These days I am working my way through unabridged recordings of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series while I knit. Not “heavy” literature by any means, but certainly not mind candy. Amid the cleverness, memorable characters, and wordplay he manages to work in quite a bit of social criticism.
I can recommend the audiobooks of Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky, and The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. And of course many much more trashy novels–those are the two that might be shelved in the literature section that I’ve read recently.
I’m about to dive into Moby Dick for my book club (which is dedicated to “serious” books and you are welcome to join)–I will give you a review!