Unraveled Wednesday: 7/31/24

I'm happy to join Kat and the Unravelers today on this last Unraveled Wednesday in July. I didn't weave any potholders this week, so how about a look at my Hitch on the Move? I am making progress, but slowly.

Counting tells me that I have 40 more rows to go, but the blue section is very long (and getting longer) so I'm not even going to do the math to figure out how many stitches that is. It's a lot, but I trust that I'll be done by the time it's finally getting cool enough to wear it. The ants were pretty interested in it, or maybe I just disturbed them when I threw the shawl down on the patio. I made sure to brush them all off before I came inside. I fight ants in the kitchen all summer, and I don't want to be allowing them to hitchhike in on a Hitchhiker. 

Reading this week included one book that I've been meaning to read for a long time and one that will definitely be among my favorites this year. The first one is Maisie Dobbs. I may be one of the last people to start the Maisie Dobbs series, but I've always kept it on my list of "books to read when I run out of other more interesting ones." I finally got to that point a few days ago, and had no excuse not to listen to it after I found it in my Audible library. This first installation is the story of how Maisie goes from being a maid to college to a nurse in WWI to apprenticing with a Scotland Yard detective. Maisie is full of charm and pluck (possibly a bit too much at times for my taste) but I will read the next installment someday in hopes of more than just a pleasant story.

Leonard and Hungry Paul is the witty and poignant tale of two ordinary 30-something young men negotiating life. It's also bound to be one of my favorite books this year, and that is saying something for a book where not much happens. It's only 240 pages long but the author has written a lot into those pages, and for me, it was not a book to be rushed. Rónán Hession has written about the two friends and the lives they are comfortably leading. Leonard loses his mother, so the book touches upon grief but is also filled with board games, tea drinking, and the occasional chat. Leonard begins a relationship with a woman in his office that he finds "breathtaking", Hungry Paul enters a contest designed by the local Chamber of Commerce to write a new send-off for emails. (His entry is perfect.) There is humor in Leonard's first date, and Hungry Paul is also quite funny when he tries to complain to the supermarket about a tin of expired candy (but there is a surprise at the end).

Some of the things I liked best about the book were that it was kind, gentle and that the humor was not at anyone's expense. Hession seems to have an excellent sense of this as he is Assistant General Secretary of the Department of Social Protection in Ireland and has written about kindness in fiction. This book is so much better than I have made it sound, so please trust Rónán Hession's take on it and make sure you read this book:

"In my debut novel, Leonard and Hungry Paul, two gentle young men try to find the balance between engaging with the world and becoming overwhelmed by it. It is a novel about friendship, family, kindness, and, above all, the contributions quiet people make to society."

Four and a half stars rounded up.

What are you making and reading this week?