Unraveled Wednesday: 10/1/25

I’m happily joining Kat and the Unravelers today, still plugging away on the sock and adding some length to the rainbow scarf. Inspired by Carole’s “sock in the wild” photo from Monday, I decided to take one of my own while I was checking in on Nugget. 

Nugget, however, had some strong opinions. She felt the first photo was too sock-heavy and far too Nugget-light. (She’s not wrong.) So we tried again, this time featuring Her Highness lounging regally on her pillow in the bow window, supervising the neighborhood and patiently waiting for me to get inside and pay the proper tribute in treats. 

 

As for the knitting itself: I did make a little progress on the sock after Monday’s photo, but the toe still remains to be done (and the second sock). Meanwhile, I measured the scarf and discovered I’ve got a good 24" left to knit. So, I cheerfully joined the third skein and will just keep rainbow-ing along!

 

 

I read two books this week. The Salt Stones was recommended by both Jane and Sarah, and I found it to be a beautifully written meditation on what it means to live in relationships with land, animals, and family. Helen Whybrow’s prose is both lyrical and grounded, weaving together the visceral details of farm life, like birthing lambs in the cold of late winter, battling predators, shearing sheep, and harvesting blueberries, with reflections on stewardship, resilience, and belonging.

What struck me most is the balance between the daily grit of farm work and the larger sense of rhythm and meaning that Whybrow finds in the cycles of life and death. The book doesn’t romanticize shepherding or land stewardship; it acknowledges the exhaustion, the heartbreak, and the constant need to adapt. Yet at the same time, there’s a deep tenderness in the way she connects her care for the sheep and the farm with her love for her family and her responsibility to future generations.

This is not a fast-paced book. it moves in seasons rather than chapters, and its power lies in its quiet accumulation of moments. At times the meditative tone can feel a little heavy, but the writing is gorgeous and the reflections are well worth lingering over.

For readers who enjoy memoirs rooted in place, nature writing that doesn’t shy away from difficulty, and thoughtful explorations of what it means to truly belong to a landscape, The Salt Stones will be a rewarding read. 

Patrick Ryan’s Buckeye is an ambitious, multi-generational story set in Bonhomie, Ohio, beginning in the shadow of World War II and stretching into the postwar boom years. It starts with a single fateful encounter between Cal Jenkins, haunted not by combat but by his inability to serve, and Margaret Salt, a woman with secrets of her own. Around them swirl characters marked by grief, longing, and resilience: Cal’s wife, Becky, whose gift as a seer allows her to bridge the living and the dead, and Margaret’s husband, Felix, whose absence at sea casts a long shadow.

Ryan writes with warmth and empathy, particularly when exploring the ways ordinary people carry extraordinary burdens. The setting feels textured and true, and the novel shines when it zeroes in on the small-town dynamics of Bonhomie, where everyone’s business eventually comes to light. The consequences of one “stolen moment” ripple through the next generation, reminding us how personal choices can shape entire families.

The book’s scope sometimes works against it. The narrative spans decades and multiple perspectives, which occasionally left me wishing for more depth in certain storylines rather than breadth. A few of the characters’ motivations felt underdeveloped, and the pacing sagged in places. Still, there’s no denying the poignancy of Ryan’s themes - loss, love, and the uneasy reconciliation between who we are and who we hoped to be.

Buckeye doesn’t fully deliver on its sweeping ambitions, but it offers a moving and often thought-provoking portrait of ordinary lives intersecting with history. Readers who enjoy family sagas with a touch of mystery and spirituality will likely find it worth the read. 

What are you making and reading this week?

 

Bits and Pieces

As we approach the end of September, I think it's time for a few bits and pieces. 

Making - Grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. John has been in Montana for the past couple of weeks, and that means I haven't had to cook dinner. It's been a lovely vacation from meal preparation. I can eat what I want, when I want, and that's often a grilled cheese sandwich at 8:00 pm. 

Not Looking Forward To - Picking John and Justin up at the airport tomorrow. I'll be glad to see them but their flight is scheduled to arrive at 11:14 pm. That's way past my bed time, and the last time I picked them up from a late flight it arrived more than an hour late. Wish me luck!

Hoping - That the cooler temperatures that are predicted for later this week actually materialize. It's been oddly hot and humid for late September and that makes me unhappy. 

Also Hoping - That my dear deer friends, a doe and her two fawns, don't get hit on the road. They visit my yard almost every afternoon and evening to eat the acorns from our oak trees but they are getting dangerously close to our busy street. 

Watching - The Morning Show and Ted Lasso. I know I'm very late to the party but I decided to subscribe to Apple TV through Amazon and see what I've been missing. The first seasons of both shows were watchable but later seasons weren't quite as good. That's okay; they were acceptable to knit to.

Also Watching - Ratatouille! I bought a Blu-Ray copy and once I got three different remotes figured out, it was a charming and entertaining movie. I started the third skein of rainbow yarn but didn't get a lot of knitting done while I was watching. The movie was good enough that it deserved most of my attention.

Ready For - Ragweed pollen season to be over. I'm not sure when that might happen, but it has really bothered me this year.

Grateful For - Sudafed, ibuprofen, and antihistamine eyedrops. 

Also Grateful - That I was able to get my covid and flu shots a couple of weeks ago. I got both of them at the same time and slept for most of the next day, but I feel much better knowing that my immune system is ready for fall and winter.

Avoiding - Housework, as usual. I have cleaned the bathrooms, but vacuuming and dusting have still not happened. 

Best new word I've learned - Backpfeifengesicht. It's one of those great German compound words and means "a face in need of a slap" or "a face badly in need of a fist". I fear I may need to use this in the days ahead. There's even a song about it. The lyrics are a bit rude but it is a catchy tune. 

How I've felt for much of 2025: 

But I hope your week is off to a good start!
 

The Best Kitty

Jess and Justin are away on vacation this week, so I’ve been looking after their cat, Nugget. I drove Jess to the airport last Saturday, and on the way she mentioned that Nugget had been acting oddly. Normally Nugget cleans her bowl and asks for more, but lately she hadn’t been eating much and was going in and out of the litter box repeatedly. As Jess got out of the car at the airport, she was still telling me where the cat carrier was in the garage, just in case.

This was a bit more responsibility than I had signed up for, but I didn’t really have a choice. On Sunday I went to check on Nugget, and she greeted me at the door with a string of plaintive meows. I asked her how she was doing, and she assured me she was “just fine; please scratch my ears and hand over some treats.”

I cleaned the litter box; Jess had put in special indicator pellets to test for a possible UTI, but nothing had changed color. Then I offered Nugget a small handful of food, which she inhaled before demanding seconds. When I went downstairs to get her treats, I discovered what I think is the real issue: The Interloper.

The Interloper's Pen

Jess recently brought home a kitten from her veterinary office, and Nugget was not amused. She refused to come downstairs where the kitten was and had been avoiding Jess and Justin altogether. Normally I only visit Nugget every other day when I'm cat-sitting, but since Justin's house is 45 minutes away, I wasn’t keen on making a daily 90-minute round trip to deal with the kitten, too. Thankfully, Jess arranged for a friend to watch the kitten this week, giving Nugget a much-needed break.

I spent some time with her, scratching her ears, brushing her fur, giving her treats, and telling her repeatedly that she is, without question, the best kitty. By the time I left, she was happily curled up on her favorite pillow in the front window, purring and clearly enjoying life without the competition.

Jess will be picking up the kitten once she’s back next Tuesday. Until then, I’ll keep visiting Nugget, scratching her ears, and reminding her - this week and every week after - that she truly is the best kitty.

 

Unraveled Wednesday: 9/24/25

I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers with the same rainbow scarf as before. I'll admit that it does look much the same as last week, just longer as I'm approaching the end of the second skein. But this week, I do have a special guest posing with the scarf.

I'm pet-sitting Justin's cat, Nugget, this week, so she was happy to pose for a few WIP photos in exchange for a handful of treats. Then she sat on my lap and let me scratch her ears for an hour or so. I really need to consider getting a cat of my own. My blood pressure would be lower and somehow the news of the world is much easier to face with a warm, purring cat snuggled on your lap.

I only finished one book this week. It was one I had placed on hold way back in July and looked forward to reading for a long time but it turned out not to be my cup of tea. Culpability sets out to be both a tense family drama and a sharp exploration of AI ethics, but it ends up as neither. The premise is promising: a wealthy family’s autonomous minivan collides with another car, forcing each family member to reckon with their role in the tragedy. Unfortunately, the novel quickly becomes a muddle of overwrought family conflict and scattered tech commentary, with neither strand developed in a satisfying way.

The multiple themes are messy and inconsistent. Lorelei’s OCD, Noah’s suspicions, Alice’s chatbot project, Izzy’s shifting behavior, Charlie’s fragile mental health, criticism of entitled teens, AI drones in war zones, a corporate secret from Lorelei’s past, a dull teen romance, and even a fidelity subplot made for too many threads, and none pulled tightly enough. What could have been a sharp study of guilt and responsibility instead veers into soap-operatic twists and a search-and-rescue detour that feels tacked on.

Holsinger has a gift for premise and pacing, but here the execution falls short. The book loses its way, juggling so many competing storylines that the important central question, what it means to be responsible in an age of machine intelligence, gets buried.

A few interesting ideas flicker to the surface, but overall Culpability never fully commits, leaving me with the sense of a novel that wanted to be about everything and ended up being not much at all. Two and a half stars but I can't round up. 

What are you making and reading this week?

 

Sometimes Monday ...

 ... is a good day to say goodbye to my finch friends.

Justin got me this bird feeder last Christmas and I quickly attached it to my kitchen window. That seemed like the perfect place - I could reach it to refill the tray with seed, it was right by my chair at the kitchen table so I could see any birds that visited, and there were no good ways for the squirrels to get into it. I filled it with seed and waited for the birds to find it. 

 

 

And they did find it within a couple of weeks. I've had cardinals, finches, and even a nuthatch or two. After a while it was mainly the finches that came, and they only seemed to eat the sunflower seeds and leave the rest.

 

I finally got the hint and started filling the feeder with unsalted sunflower kernels. John thought I was nuts, but seeing the finches regularly for their breakfast, lunch, and dinner made me happy. 

 

Last week they seemed to be visiting less frequently and by Saturday I realized that I hadn't seen any of them for a couple of days. Even though we're in an area where finches can live here year-round, some house finches from the northeastern U.S. do move south for the winter. I feel a bit sad without their frequent visits and I didn't even say goodbye. (I realize this sounds kind of silly but I do miss them.) I'm just going to keep the feeder filled and hope that maybe some sweet chickadees and other birds find it this winter. Maybe the finches will even return in the spring. 

 

Here's hoping you've got birds at your feeder and any other wildlife in your yard is not eating your landscape plantings.  

 

 

A Gathering of Poetry: September 2025

It's the third Thursday of the month so I'd like to welcome you to A Gathering of Poetry. Poetry has become even more important to me recently, so I've been reading a poem a day from several volumes. This seems to be just about enough to maintain a minimum of mental health, and I came across this one. It spoke to me and I hope it says something to you, too. 

The Orange

by Wendy Cope 

 

At lunchtime I bought a huge orange –

The size of it made is all laugh. 

I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave –

They got quarters and I had a half.

 

And that orange, it made me so happy,

As ordinary things often do

Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.

This is peace and contentment. It's new. 

 

The rest of the day was quite easy.

I did all the jobs on my list

And enjoyed them and had some time over.

I love you. I'm glad I exist.*

 

 

*And what else is there? 

 

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Cope, Wendy. "The Orange". Set Me On Fire: A Poem for Every Feeling. edited by Ella Risbridger, Doubleday, 2019. 

 

You can read more about the poet here.  

 

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Thank you for reading and joining us for our monthly Gathering of Poetry. You are

more than welcome to add your link below if you would like to share one of your

favorite poems. The more the merrier!

  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Unraveled Wednesday: 9/17/25

I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers with more rainbows. The scarf hasn’t changed much in appearance, except that there’s simply more of it now.

I’ve just started the second skein, and honestly, these cheerful stripes are so much more fun to knit than the lonely sock waiting in my knitting bag. The poor sock hasn’t seen a single stitch of progress. Maybe next week will be a calmer news week with fewer reasons to reach for endless rainbows.

 

 

I did finish two pretty good books this week. T. Kingfisher has a gift for twisting fairy tales into something both eerie and deeply human, and Hemlock & Silver is no exception. This reimagining of Snow White is less about poisoned apples and more about the slow, creeping corruption of power and secrets. Anja, our healer who drinks poison as part of her trade, is a wonderfully unconventional heroine - practical, stubborn, and brimming with curiosity about the natural world. Her mix of grit and compassion kept me rooting for her from the start.

As always with Kingfisher, the side characters shine just as brightly: the stoic guard, the insufferably entertaining cat, and of course, Snow herself, whose illness carries a haunting mystery. The mirror-world element gives the familiar Snow White tale a chilling twist. This adds a gothic, unsettling atmosphere that balances the earthy humor and warmth of Anja’s narration.

If I had a small quibble, it’s that the pacing drags a little in the middle, with some of Anja’s experiments feeling repetitive before the story pushes forward into the mirror realm. But the payoff is worth it - dark, tense, yet tinged with hope in the way Kingfisher does so well.

Clever, spooky, and surprisingly tender, Hemlock & Silver is perfect for readers who love fairy tale retellings with sharp edges. This was four stars for me. 

More Than Enough was another four star book. Anna Quindlen has always had a gift for writing about ordinary lives in a way that feels luminous. This is a novel that quietly gathers power as it explores the tangle of family, friendship, and identity.

Polly Goodman is such a deeply relatable character—an English teacher who balances the joys of her classroom, the frustrations of IVF struggles, and the comfort of her book club friends with an honesty that never feels forced. The book club itself is one of my favorite aspects of the novel: their banter and intimacy capture how sustaining long-term friendships can be. When a joking gift of an ancestry kit stirs up unsettling questions about Polly’s family history, Quindlen handles it not with melodrama but with nuance, reminding us that the past has a way of shaping our present in ways we don’t expect.

What makes the book especially moving is how it balances heaviness with light. Quindlen’s humor flickers through even in moments of grief or self-doubt, and her prose carries that clear, conversational tone she’s so well known for. The themes—what makes a family, how friendships evolve, how we redefine ourselves through change—are timeless, but here they feel both personal and fresh.

I enjoyed how many threads Quindlen successfully weaves together: Polly puzzling over how she might be related to her “niece,” navigating the medical ups and downs of IVF, watching her father’s heartbreaking decline into dementia, coping with the stresses of her teaching job, and wrestling with her lifelong conflicts with her mother. It’s a lot, but that is pretty much how life unfolds. Messy, layered, and never neatly contained. Quindlen captures it with warmth, wit, and an eye for important small moments.

The book shines in its portrayal of friendships, especially Polly’s book club, which feels wonderfully lived-in—like people you know, not just characters on a page. A few sections get weighed down by introspection, but overall the novel is deeply engaging, thoughtful, and beautifully written.

For readers who love stories about identity, family, and the sustaining power of friendship, this one is more than enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on February 24, 2026.  

What are you making and reading this week?

 

Read With Us: Discussion Time!

Today is the discussion day for our Read With Us summer book, The Friend by Sigrid Nunez. 

Kym, Carole, and I are each posting a discussion question or two on our blogs today, and you are welcome to respond in the comments. I would also encourage you to reply to others' comments if you choose.  This is a book discussion, after all, so there are no correct answers or right opinions. I've been looking forward to discussing this book. I'll make a confession; this was not my favorite book, but I don't know of a better bunch of people for a book discussion than all of you. 

 

Here are my questions: There is little in The Friend when it comes to drama; it's primarily a study of character and an exploration of ideas. Would more action have made a difference to you in terms of how you experienced the book? Nunez also includes a large number of quotations and stories from the works of writers. Are they well integrated into the novel? Did you enjoy them or find them distracting?

 

I'll be glad to share my thoughts about these questions tonight during our Zoom discussion. These questions on our blogs and the Zoom discussion are your chance to express your ideas. So what do you think? I can't wait to hear your thoughts! (And I'm counting on our discussion to give me fresh perspectives in my own thinking about this novel.)

The in-person Zoom discussion will be at 7:00 pm Eastern this evening. If you haven't RSVP'd to Kym already you can send me an email (the email address is in the upper right) and I will make sure you get an invitation with the Zoom link. I hope to see you there!

 

Sometimes Monday ...

 ... is a good day for some reflections on the Delaware River. 

 

 I hope your view of things today is a lovely one!

Unraveled Wednesday: 9/10/25

I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers with a scarf in progress and not much more sock progress. Ryan approved the rib pattern, just as many of you did last week, and I've enjoyed working on it a lot this week. There is much more to go but I'm trying to do one rainbow repeat each day. I've gotten through four full repeats and started the fifth and am just approaching the end of the first skein. Sometimes my inability to count to three hampers progress but it's easy to see when I've made a mistake and correct it before I've knit too much more. 

The sock has been left to sit alone in a knitting bag for most of the week, but rainbows are more fun and what I find myself wanting to knit. I'm about halfway down the foot on the first sock, but the shortie socks are small enough I will still be able to finish them well before Christmas. 

My reading was interesting this week. This Book Made Me Think of You was a lovely surprise. I don’t usually enjoy books categorized as romances, so I went in with tempered expectations, but Libby Page hooked me with the premise and the emotional depth behind it. Tilly is grieving the loss of her husband, Joe, when she discovers he has left her a year’s worth of books to guide her through life without him. What unfolds is less a straightforward love story and more a tender exploration of grief, resilience, and most importantly, the transformative power of books.

I especially loved the way Book Lane, the fictional bookshop, became a character in its own right. The book-inspired adventures and Tilly’s journey gave the story freshness, and I found myself jotting down some of the real-life reading recommendations to try. The romance thread with Alfie, owner of Book Lane, is gentle and quietly hopeful, but what stayed with me most was how well Page captured the idea that books can help carry us through even the darkest times.

On a personal note, I couldn’t help wishing my own partner knew me well enough to curate a stack of books just for me. He is not a reader and knows very little about my reading life, but that element added to the poignancy and charm of the book. 

A heartfelt, bookish novel that made me smile and appreciate books even more. Thank you to Berkley and Edelweiss for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on February 6, 2026. There is a current Goodreads giveaway if you are interested. 

What are you making and reading this week?

 

Sometimes Monday ...

 ... is a good day to say hello. 

 I hope your week is off to a lovely start!

Haiku Friday

 I wrote a few more haiku that I like and thought they might be worth sharing.

As a hopeful girl

you always dreamed of being

beautiful Glinda

 

 

Complete happiness
Caught a silver inconnu
in the blue Yukon

 

Wishing you a weekend full of whatever you might need most! 

Unraveled Wednesday 9/3/25

I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers with the start of another pair of socks and some rainbow scarf swatching. 

I cast on for another pair of shortie socks for Jess in inverse colors and I've knit the heel flap, turned the heel, picked up the gusset stitches, and decreased all the gusset stitches. Now it's just plain round and round knitting on the foot until the toe and I'll have a finished sock. 

I finally just asked Ryan what he thought about the previous rainbow scarf swatch and it's a good thing I did. 

 He was okay with the colors but didn't like the idea of a double-sided scarf. I was knitting a tube mainly so I didn't have to worry about the scarf curling but he would prefer a single thickness.  

I decided to see what the stripes and colors looked like in a cartridge belt rib as it makes a squishy, double-sided, non-curling scarf. I'm not personally thrilled with it but I'll ask Ryan what he thinks when I see him later this week. If he's not impressed with this attempt, I may try a simple stockinette with a seed stitch selvedges on both sides. I will probably also ask him to draw exactly what he had in mind so then I can try to make that happen. I ordered some yarn in saturated rainbow colors that I may end up using. That will work for wider, more distinctive stripes which I think is what he may have in mind and I won't be constrained by the self-striping yarn. 

While I was fiddling around with rainbows this week, I finished three books, two ARCs and one dependable Chief Bruno. 

Emily R. Austin has a gift for writing characters who feel both flawed and endearing, and Is This A Cry for Help? is no exception. Darcy, a librarian returning to work after a mental breakdown, is the kind of narrator who draws you in with her mix of vulnerability, wry humor, and hard-earned resilience. I appreciated how Austin balances the personal—Darcy’s grief over an ex, her loving but imperfect marriage, her struggles with guilt and mental health—with the broader, very timely issue of book-banning and the fight for intellectual freedom.

The novel does a lovely job of highlighting the quiet power of libraries as community spaces, while also showing how messy and complicated personal healing can be. Darcy’s relationships, especially with her wife and her colleagues, felt authentic and sometimes a little raw in the best way.

That said, the pacing meandered for me at times, and a few sections dipped into repetition, but overall the warmth of Austin’s writing carried me through. I closed the book feeling hopeful, grateful for the messy humanity on display, and reminded of why libraries (and stories like this one) matter so much.

If you enjoyed Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, you’ll find the same darkly funny, tender voice here—tempered with even more growth and heart.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on January 13, 2026.  

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Good Intentions had a strong setup: grief, sisterhood, and the unsettling pull between strangers who meet in a hospital waiting room. The writing was immersive at times, and the premise promised a layered exploration of loss and obsession.

But for me, the execution didn’t quite deliver. Cady’s spiral felt more repetitive than tense, and instead of building suspense, it often circled the same ground. Her delusional fixation could have been compelling, but I found myself more frustrated than intrigued. By the time the predictable twist showed up in the last chapter, I was mostly just ready to finish so I could look away.

There is an interesting voice here, and Walz does create an atmosphere that captures the messiness of grief, obsession, and mental health. It just didn’t grip me as much as I’d hoped. Two and a half stars rounded up because it does have an intriguing cover. 

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book. It will be published on February 3, 2026. 

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This third entry in the Bruno, Chief of Police series continues to build on everything that makes the books so enjoyable—lush descriptions of the Dordogne, the blending of food, wine, and community life, and the balance between small-town policing and wider political intrigues.

The mystery this time centers around truffles, smuggling, and old intelligence connections, and while the premise occasionally veers into the unlikely, Walker keeps it engaging with his evocative sense of place and careful pacing. The story broadens St. Denis’s horizons, weaving in international ties and darker undercurrents, yet never losing the warmth of Bruno’s kitchen or his devotion to his neighbors.

What stands out most, though, is Bruno himself. Even in just three books, he’s evolving from the contented small-town policeman of the first novel into a character with increasing depth and responsibility. His personal relationships and his sense of justice are becoming more nuanced, and Walker shows how Bruno adapts as his cases grow more complicated. That growth makes him a compelling anchor for the series.

A little heavier on politics and intrigue than the earlier installments, Black Diamond still offers the perfect mix of mystery, atmosphere, and character development. Fans of Bruno will find plenty here to savor. 

What are you making and reading this week?

 

Let Them Eat Bread!

I was thrilled to receive a small Pullman pan (9"x4"x4") for my birthday. (Thanks, Jill!) Since my kitchen turns into an oven of its own during the summer, I hadn’t had the chance to actually use it yet, not wanting to add more heat by turning on the oven.

But we’ve been having a stretch of cool nights and warm (but thankfully not humid) days lately, so it felt like the perfect time to finally bake some bread and test out my new pan. At first, I thought about just scaling down the recipe I usually make for my 13" Pullman, but in the end I decided to give the King Arthur recipe a try.

Everything went smoothly—mixing, kneading, the first rise—until I let it go a little too long on the second rise. I had to punch it down a bit to get the lid on, which I’m pretty sure kept it from getting that nice oven spring. Even so, the bread is delicious, and it makes excellent toast. 

 

I actually think this smaller pan might be more practical since there are just two of us. Next I'll be trying a few other white bread recipes, and then a cinnamon swirl loaf, and after that maybe some oatmeal bread. From the looks of it, this pan should be perfect for just about any yeasted recipe that calls for three cups of flour—so I’ll be happily testing that theory in the months ahead.

 

 

Hope your week is off to a good start, ideally with something tasty on your table too!

A Few Books

I read four five books this week so I'm sharing my thoughts. 

I’ve enjoyed several of Fannie Flagg’s novels in the past—her warmth, humor, and ability to capture small-town quirks usually shine through. Unfortunately, Something to Look Forward To, a collection of short stories, didn’t land the same way for me.

The premise is fun enough: bite-sized tales about everyday Americans finding unconventional ways to deal with life’s challenges, often through humor and resilience. But the execution felt more inane than insightful. Many of the stories struck me as too silly or cartoonish, without the depth or heart I’ve come to expect from Flagg. The characters skimmed the surface rather than becoming people I could really root for, and the repeated attempts at quirkiness sometimes came across as forced.

There were a few moments that made me smile, and the light tone might appeal to readers looking for pure fluff or a distraction. But compared to her novels, this collection felt like an afterthought—more of a patchwork of gags than the warm, engaging storytelling I know she’s capable of.

If you’re a longtime Flagg fan, you might find a little comfort in her familiar voice here. But if you’re new to her work, I’d recommend starting with one of her novels instead. Two and a half stars, but I just can't round up.   

Clumsy Beauty is a sweet and uplifting collection, full of warmth and encouragement. Kennedy’s poems are short, hopeful, and often accompanied by charming illustrations that match the book’s spirit of self-acceptance. The focus on imperfection as a form of beauty is timely and encouraging, and I appreciated the overall positivity of the collection.

That said, many of the poems felt very closely tied to the author’s own emotions and experiences. While this makes them heartfelt, it also limited their resonance for me. I was hoping for a broader, more universal appeal—something that would invite me in more fully rather than feeling like I was overhearing someone else’s private reflections.

As a result, this is a nice book to dip into for a quick dose of positivity, but it didn’t quite leave a lasting impact. Readers looking for a gentle reminder of self-worth and a celebration of quirks will likely enjoy it more than those seeking depth or universality in poetry. Three stars from me. 

What My Mother Gave Me, edited by Elizabeth Benedict, is a thoughtful anthology of essays by women writers reflecting on a gift—sometimes physical, sometimes intangible—that they received from their mothers. The range is wide: from heirlooms and recipes to gestures, habits, or life lessons. What emerges is a portrait of the complex, layered relationships between mothers and daughters—relationships that are rarely simple and often deeply moving.

The collection shines in its variety of voices. Some essays are tender and heartwarming, while others are raw, even painful, showing that gifts can carry both love and ambivalence. The honesty of contributors like Lisa See and Ann Hood stood out to me, and I appreciated how the book didn’t shy away from the complicated or bittersweet aspects of maternal bonds.

That said, the quality of the essays is uneven. A few felt more like sketches than fully realized reflections, and the tone could sometimes drift into sentimentality. I also found myself wishing for a bit more editorial framing to weave the collection together more cohesively. 

Overall, this collection isn't flawless, but it’s rich with moments of recognition and resonance. Anyone interested in mothers, daughters, and the ties between them will find something to connect with here. This was another three star book for me. 

 

The Dark Vineyard, the second installment in the Bruno, Chief of Police series was a thoroughly enjoyable read. Walker once again brings the Dordogne region of France to life with such affection and detail that it almost feels like you’re wandering the vineyards, shopping the local markets, and sitting down to meals that linger long into the evening. The sense of place is easily one of the strongest features of the book.

The mystery this time centers on a suspicious fire and the larger question of how globalization and modern industry threaten the traditions of small-town life. Bruno is a charming and thoughtful detective—more interested in preserving harmony in his beloved St. Denis than in enforcing the letter of the law. His diplomacy, intuition, and love of his community make him such a refreshing main character.

The plot does unfold at a gentle pace, with more attention given to meals, friendships, and village politics than to fast-moving suspense. That may frustrate readers who want a tightly wound thriller, but for me, it’s part of the series’ appeal. There’s a warmth and humanity here that balances the darker elements of the crime.

I gave this four stars because while I adored the setting and characters, the resolution of the mystery felt a bit rushed compared to the careful buildup. Still, the book left me satisfied and eager to continue with the series. Anyone who loves a mystery wrapped in atmosphere and community will find much to savor here.

I was excited to pick up The Magician of Tiger Castle because I’ve loved Louis Sachar’s Holes ever since I read it with my kids and was curious to see what he would do with a novel written for adults. The premise—a struggling kingdom, a princess in peril, and a down-on-his-luck magician—had a lot of charm and whimsy, and I could definitely see flashes of the clever storytelling that made me a Sachar fan in the first place.

While this is marketed as an adult novel, it read much more like YA or even middle grade fantasy to me. The characters are sweet but not very layered, and the conflicts often feel simplified rather than complex. I enjoyed the light, fairy-tale atmosphere, but I found myself wishing for more depth in the world-building and the moral dilemmas.

Overall, it’s a cute, imaginative story that might work well if you go in expecting something light and fanciful. But if, like me, you were hoping for a more mature novel from Sachar, this may not quite deliver.

I hope your Labor Day weekend (if you’re in the US) is off to a great start, and that somewhere between the hotdogs, hamburgers, and swimming, you find a little time to enjoy a good book.

Unraveled Wednesday: 8/27/25

I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers with the end of a project and the beginning of another one. 

Ta-da! A finished pair of socks for Jess for Christmas.

I got tired of photographing my knitting on our dry, crispy lawn, so I chose the ivy bed as my background. It hasn't suffered from the drought quite as much. 

The new project on my needles has a little bit of a backstory. When I was working on my rainbow socks, Ryan casually mentioned that he’d love a rainbow scarf for Christmas. Since my kids rarely never ask me for knitted things, I jumped on the opportunity and went hunting for yarn right away.

I placed a pre-order about six weeks ago—it was supposed to ship in three, but of course, it took twice as long. When it finally arrived, I’ll admit I was a little taken aback. In the shop photo it looked like a classic ROYGBIV rainbow, but the skeins I received had a very different vibe. For a couple of days I debated reaching out to the dyer, but in the end I decided to just cast on and see how it knit up.

Now that I’ve got a bit of fabric on the needles, I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it … but it’s growing on me. Sometimes yarns really come to life only once you’ve got some “real estate” knitted, so I’ll keep going and see how it looks as the scarf takes shape. I'd love to hear what you think!

I finished four books this week so I'll post my thoughts about them on Friday. 

What are you making and reading this week?