Unraveled Wednesday: 11/20/24

I'm joining Kat and the Unravelers today with the blue hat once again. I had hoped to be finished but I managed to do a bit more reading this week, so I'm just on the crown decreases. Twelve more rows and I'll be done. 

I'm really enjoying the simple cable crossings every other row so I might look for another project with similar characteristics. I do have the Sparkly Hitchhiker waiting in the wings so I'd also like to finish that soon-ish. 

Jane recommended The War That Saved My Life last week and I thought it was wonderful. It's a deeply moving historical novel that takes readers on a journey of resilience, healing, and the transformative power of love. Set against the backdrop of World War II, this middle-grade novel doesn’t shy away from complex emotions and difficult topics, making it equally compelling for both younger readers and adults.

The story follows Ada, a young girl born with a clubfoot, who has endured a life of abuse and neglect at the hands of her mother. When the evacuation of children from London begins, Ada seizes the opportunity to escape her grim existence. Along with her younger brother Jamie, she is sent to the countryside, where they are placed in the reluctant care of Susan Smith.

Bradley’s portrayal of Ada’s inner world is extraordinary. Her growth from a terrified, self-loathing child to a brave and self-assured young girl is beautifully paced. The story doesn’t oversimplify Ada’s trauma but instead shows how healing is a gradual, often painful process. Susan’s own struggles with loss and loneliness add depth to the story, creating a poignant parallel to Ada’s growth. The author’s depiction of wartime England is vivid and immersive, bringing the historical setting to life without overshadowing the emotional core of the narrative.

This book is as heartwarming as well as heartbreaking. It’s a story that reminds us of the enduring human capacity for kindness and courage, even in the face of cruelty and adversity. I haven't been able to concentrate very well on reading since the election results and both the subject and the fact that this is a middle grade novel made it a perfect book for me at this time. I am anxiously waiting for the sequel The War I Finally Won from the library. This was 4.5 stars for me, rounded up because Jayne Entwistle is a wonderful narrator for the audiobook.

I also read several other books. One was The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke.  It was a quirky little story but the illustrations were quite captivating; I gave this one three stars. What Does It Feel Like? by Sophie Kinsella is an interesting semi-autobiographical novella. While Kinsella is best known for her light, feel-good romantic comedies, this is slightly more introspective. Kinsella was diagnosed with glioblastoma and to help process her feelings she wrote these vignettes about her brain tumor and treatment.

I found tender insights (especially because Kinsella and the novella's protagonist, Eve, are both mothers to five children) along with humor. I don't know if Kinsella and her husband are like this in real life, but she has written Eve with a lot of humor.

My main critique is that the novella's short format left me wanting more emotional depth and development. I realize it may be unfair to criticize the way the author chose to write the novella as she wrote it as a way to better deal with her feelings. Glioblastoma is a serious disease, and while humor is needed and necessary, I would have welcomed a more thorough work of non-fiction to better deal with the medical realities or the impact on family and relationships. This one gets 3.5 stars from me.

The last book I read this week was The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig. It's a poetic exploration of emotions and experiences that feel deeply familiar yet are unnamed. A mix of a linguistic treasure trove and a philosophical journey, this book turns the ineffable into language, offering readers the words they didn’t know they needed to articulate the complexities of their inner lives. John Koenig opens the book with this quote:

“I read the dictionary. I thought it was a poem about everything.” --Steven Wright

 and this book is just that. Each definition is more than a cold description; it’s accompanied by a narrative, vignette, or reflection that reads like poetry. Koenig doesn’t just define emotions—he evokes them, and his prose captures the deeply personal nature of these experiences.

Yes, the book is a collection of made-up words, but if you're a fan of poetry, philosophy, linguistics and the conjunction of them, you will most likely enjoy this four-star book as much as I did. As an example, here is one of my favorites:

aimonimia n. The fear that learning the name of something—a bird, a constellation, an attractive stranger—will somehow ruin it, inadvertently transforming a lucky discovery into a conceptual husk pinned in a glass case, leaving one less mystery to flutter around in the universe.

I read The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows and was entranced. 

What are you making and reading this week?