Unraveled Wednesday | Moving Through May

Welcome to Wednesday, friends. I hope this week has been treating you well. As I type this introduction, a hummingbird is visiting the feeder stuck to my window so I can’t complain too much! I’m here to share some of the reading and stitching I’ve done this week, thanks to Kat’s Unraveled Wednesday linkup.

KNITTING THIS WEEK:

I haven’t managed a ton of knitting, but did add a few rows to my DRK Everyday Sweater. There might be an increase of just an inch since last week, but I used my new barber cords to stretch out the stitches which makes for a much prettier picture. There’s about 6″ of the body done and I’m shooting for 9″ before the ribbing, so I’m nearly there. Luckily I have some great audiobooks queued up so I’m hoping to spend some more time with this sweater in the upcoming evenings.

READING THIS WEEK:

I threw a little fit on Sunday. I stomped my feet and said to Matthew, I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to finish a book again! Between my lack of concentration and being pulled in a thousand different directions by everyone here at home, it’s been difficult to sit down to read more than a sentence or two. Despite my frustration, I feel lucky to have finished a couple of books this week.

The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse is the most recent book in Mary’s Erdrich-Along. This is – so far – my favorite Erdrich novel. It tells the story of Father Damien, the priest who arrived at Little No Horse in 1912 and died in 1996. It is written with gorgeous details and I spent the entire time swooning over Erdrich’s prose. I’ve always enjoyed her stories but found her writing to be top-notch here. So many secrets within the Nanapush, Puyat, Kashpaw, and Lazarre clans are uncovered, as well as Father Damien’s own secret life.

The biggest secret (especially after reading Love Medicine) is revealed towards the end of the book, but I studied the family tree so carefully when my copy arrived that I already knew what was coming. That didn’t ruin it for me; in fact, it made me excited to dive in! I am looking forward to learning more about these families and am crossing my fingers for more June Morrissey, who did not make an appearance in this one. I started reading this on April 27 and finished on May 16, which is quite a long time for me given the length of this book (my edition is 361 pages). I think that shows how delicately I tiptoed through Erdrich’s words, soaking them all in just a little at a time. Despite wanting to sit down and binge through it, it was a lovely way to read this book.

I’m hoping to start The Beet Queen next week? I don’t want to jinx my chances by talking about it too much.

Heartwood: The Art of Living with the End in Mind was recommended to me by a dear friend and it is a powerful little book. It begins by describing a challenge that Becker took on as her childhood friend was dying of cancer: what if she lived a year of her life as if it were her last?

In the subsequent pages, Becker shares so much of what she’s learned about death from those around her. She’s led an incredible (and quite privileged) life and has had the opportunity for a myriad of experiences. The best part is that she works hard to find reverence in all of them. This book is moving, thought-provoking, and intimate and I appreciated Becker’s vulnerability as she was writing it.

I’m knee deep into a couple of other books that I hope to share with you all next week. It feels good to have a small reading momentum again. My first inclination in the morning has been to get an iced coffee from Dunkin and spend the day reading on my front step. Of course – we have so many other things to get done during the day, especially with homeschooling, so that’s not an option. But I’m finding small pockets of time to read a paragraph or two and that adds up to a lot. Somehow. And I’ll take it!

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I’m planning to be back on Friday with a few more updates. Until then – I hope you’re able to find your own pockets of time to do what you’re enjoying right now. Stay cozy!