Turning Leaves

Just a quick update on the reading front:

Mudbound by Hillary Jordon was returned to the library yesterday. This one was selected on the basis of the linked NPR review. Although a great premise, it somehow failed. Did she write this piece for the gut wrenching ending? Can an author take you that far just for a predictable reaction?

You know before you read Mudbound, that it cannot end well. Any novel set in the deep South during the 1940's cannot lead to happiness. Add to that a cast of characters who are stereotypical old South and those who have just returned from WWII fresh from the wonders of an "integrated" Europe, you know it will be tragic.

This next one is a MUST read. The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney is by far one of the best novels I have read in ages! Stef Penney is a British screenplay writer well in control of her pen. This novel is a murder mystery set in the Canadian wilderness of the late 1860's. The remote area is still under the control of the Hudson Bay Company, and its outposts play a critical role in the plot. Without over-reaching, Penney writes of the murder of a French trapper and how it affected the lives of so many. Each character has their own story that resulted in their struggles to eek out a life in this barren country. Like Mudbound, it tackles multiple themes and subplots, but Penney handles it in a way that is not contrived, nor forced.

And not only tons of reading, but lots of knitting as well! The KnitPicks slipped stitch vest is finished - I will post a photo once the zipper is in. The entrelac bag is ready for felting. And February Lady is on the needles. I had a false start on Friday, but I finished the yoke yesterday, and have just started the lace section.

And best of all...SmartyMags has Little Girl and Omar back!