Wednesdays are for linking up with Kat at As Kat Knits. Unraveled Wednesday is a weekly gathering of bloggers who share their reading and knitting for the week. They are truly the most welcoming and kind group of people on the internet, so feel free to visit as many blogs as you can!
This week I’m sharing two atmospheric books that are perfect for this season and no (!) knitting.
Books Finished This Week:
The Orphan of Salt Winds by Elizabeth Brooks
This book reminded me so much of my favorite author, Kate Morton. It flashes back and forth between 2015 and 1940/41 as Virginia, now an 86 year old woman, remembers coming to Salt Winds when she was adopted as a 10 year old. Salt Winds is a broody cottage on the edge of a dangerous saltmarsh. There’s a WWII element, family secrets, and so much coziness! It was a lovely tale, but not quite as masterful as a Morton novel. It is totally worth reading though, because it’s still quite well done. And it’s less than 300 pages, so it doesn’t require a large commitment.
Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
Thornyhold is the perfect September book for me. Geillis Ramsey inherits Thornyhold, a cottage, from her Aunt Geillis Saxon. The whole village believes that Aunt Geillis is a witch and the young Gilly soon gains that reputation by association. This novel is full of the coziest details: spiffying up a long unused cottage, organizing the gardens, cooking delicious English meals in an Aga. There’s a romance element, but it doesn’t overpower the story. I hadn’t read this in a couple of years and it was even better than I remembered; I’m already looking forward to rereading this next September!
Knitting
I think I’m giving up knitting. Who needs knitting? I know I don’t need knitting.
Just kidding. But I don’t have any progress to show you on that belt for my Spark Cardigan. Not one single stitch. Thank you all for the encouragement last week. I’m okay with no progress – I’ve been using my knitting time for other things that I’m happy with. Perhaps I’ll catch fire this week and have a finished belt to share with you next week. Or perhaps… not. Tune in to find out!
Thanks for visiting today! Are you gathering any atmospheric reads for the fall?
The Cozy Burrow 
I’m currently reading Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker and next will be delving into the atmospheric historical romance, Disloyal by Michael Cohen. I hear that it doesn’t have a happy ending…;-)
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Ha! Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker looks like a lot of fun. I hope you’re enjoying it. I don’t think I could use my precious reading time to entrench myself into Trump World — I haven’t read ANY of the books that have come out about him over the last few years! Too demoralizing. I hope you learn something new in the Michael Cohen book!
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The Orphan of Salt Winds sounds right up my alley, so thanks for recommending it! I think you’re entitled to a little break from your Spark — you did knit up the whole thing other than the belt super fast, so I’m not surprised you need a little rest from it.
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It was a lot of fun, especially when I was able to stop comparing it to Kate Morton.
And thanks for the encouragement about the belt 🙂 It will get done and I will LOVE the sweater when it does!
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I’ve made a note of both books, but it will be a while before I read them. I’m reading The Witch Finder’s Sister by Beth Underdown- it’s good! you can’t do everything every week- I wish I could.
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Oooh – The Witch Finder’s Sister sounds interesting – thanks for the rec!
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The Orphan of Salt Winds does peak my interest but my stack is so tall right now. I am reading Caste and Apeirogon. When I am in a knitting slump I make a donation hat. Our church knitting group donates children’s hats to a local group.
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Oh goodness, I hear that Caste and Apeirogon are both amazing – enjoy!
I’m enjoying my little break from knitting right now. I AM looking forward to knitting a few hats once this sweater is finished though 🙂
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When I’m in a knitting slump, I do some other kind of “craftiness” — embroidery or sewing or something. It doesn’t usually take too long before I’m ready to knit again. Although faced with a never-ending belt, I’m not so sure. 😉
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Ha! Good advice. There’s always some other craft to keep me busy 🙂
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I love that you read the same book every fall. I have never done a yearly reread of anything before. My rereading is very sporadic. But this one sounds like the perfect book for it. I’ve put it on my TBR list.
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I hope you enjoy Thornyhold! I wasn’t able to reread it the last couple of years, but I was happy to return to it this year.
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I can’t believe I have never heard of Mary Stewart, she wrote so many books and they all sound good. Thank you for bringing her to my attention. There are times aren’t there when knitting is not right, it never lasts that long and as you say there are always plenty of other things to fill our time!
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I’m happy that you’ve found her! I’ll be honest that this is the only book I’ve actually read by her, but she did write a ton! You’re so right about accepting that sometimes we just need a break from knitting. My mojo will return 🙂
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I have had The Orphan of Salt Winds on a TBR list for a long time. So this is a little reminder to put it back on hold through my library. A break from knitting is A-ok. That belt isn’t going anywhere.
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I hope you enjoy The Orphan of Salt Winds! Thanks for the encouragement with the belt 🙂
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