Unraveled Wednesday | Week 3 of 2025

Hello, friends. I’m finalizing this entry on Tuesday afternoon. After finishing up today’s morning session of school, I went on a quick walk and came back for a lunch break. My walk was lovely: somehow the snow hasn’t gotten packed down or turned to ice yet, so it’s a really easy walk. This week I’ve been greeted by a little pack of bluebirds, which I thought went away for the winter? But much to my surprise, those blue wings and rust chests are out in the woods and enjoying themselves. They are delightful!

I’m linking up with Kat and the Unravelers again this week and sharing what I’ve been knitting and reading. Be sure to check out her post today to get lots of ideas for yourself!

Knitting

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Good news! My gamble with this single skein of Lorna’s Laces is going to pay off. I finished one sock and am sharing photographic proof that the sock does, in fact, fit! All that’s left of this first ball is just above my foot – only a few inches. I’m happy with how the colors are all playing together; I wish there wasn’t quite so much pooling around the heel, but I’m not complaining. It always feels good to use a skein of 15 year old yarn and make something useful out of it.

I finished the toe of my second sock on Monday night and am now working on the foot. I had a tiny amount of stress as I knitted the first one, worried that there wouldn’t be enough yarn. But now I’m much more confident so this second sock should be stress free.

As for next knits, I have to admit that I’m quite smitten by Andrea Mowry’s recent release, Moon Mint. Especially Kaci Apple’s version in the loveliest of greens (her Ravelry link). I’ve tried to stop jumping on band wagons but this one really has me tempted. !!

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Reading

My reading this week has made me think a lot about a book I reread last month, Melmoth. In it, Sarah Perry begs the reader to bear witness to the actions taken around the world throughout history. In all the books I read over the last week, that seems like an apt reminder. To notice what is going on around us, what the impressions of society would be if gender roles were actually reversed, if tragedies of untold proportions that were once hidden come to light, if a mother’s pain and heartbreak led to a deeper understanding of our existence in the world, and if people were given the opportunity to see themselves in a new light.

It’s always so rewarding when reading coalesces like this, when we’re able to pick up certain threads woven throughout seemingly disparate narratives. It makes for a raucous time in my brain while I’m out on my walks, that’s for sure!

So without further ado, here’s a little something about each of the books I’ve read since last Wednesday:

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The Power by Naomi Alderman

The Power won the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2017 and has been on my shelf since then — it was time to read it! In this novel, the world changes when women wake up and realize that they have the power to basically shoot electricity out of their hands. With this change in society, women now have the upper hand and men become fearful of the power held over them.

I was really excited to read this novel because I’m so interested in playing with power dynamics and what that can do for society. I’m not happy to share that I was disappointed in Alderman’s take on it: she basically created a world in which women acted like medieval cretins. This was a dark and disturbing account that offered little hope for the world. Perhaps her larger point was that power should be more equally distributed in our society, which I agree with. However, much of this was painful to read and I took little pleasure in watching the tables turn.

And still – this book was a helpful exercise to help consider our current dynamics. When you see it flipped so drastically, the power of men in our current society is really hard to miss. I think this is a good starting point for a novel and would love to see someone take this idea on a different journey.

The Power counts toward my goal of reading 6 Women’s Prize Winners in 2025. I have now read 1 out of 6 books in this category this year.

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Human Acts by Han Kang

This powerful novel memorializes the Gwangju Uprising in South Korea in May of 1980. I didn’t know anything about this event until a Fiction Matters friend suggested reading up on it before diving into this novel and that was excellent advice. And this is a timely read given the events in December in South Korea. In this novel, Han Kang introduces us to several South Koreans and describes a variety of experiences that every day citizens endured during the massacres.

Please be warned: there are some very graphic and difficult scenes described. Please read with caution. I was most moved by the Author’s Note at the end, which was a solid chunk of the audiobook and described Kang’s own memories of the event, which happened when she was quite young. This is worth reading again.

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The White Book by Han Kang

The audio version of The White Book was available to me on Libby without a wait and was less than 2 hours long – perfect for my walks! This was a quirky little collection of short stories about things that are white: rice, snow, sugar cubes, swaddling blankets. Included in this list is an older sister who died only a few hours after her birth. Kang included several poignant essays describing her mother’s experience with this painful event and mused about the sacrifices made in order for her own life to come into being. Powerful, raw, and thought-provoking.

Human Acts and The White Book count towards two of my 2025 reading goals. They each count towards my Han Kang Author Project (I have read 2 out of her 5 books) and my Translated Works goals (I have now read 2 out of 12 translated titles).

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Sky Full of Elephants by Cebo Cambell

This novel is on this year’s Aspen Words longlist and, in many ways, reminded me of The Power. Except in this particular novel, all of the white people in the United States suddenly march into the nearest body of water and drown. What follows is a society that grapples with their own identities, worth, and histories. It was a fascinating lens into what life could be like if the power dynamics of the United States weren’t written so deeply into our bones. The characters in this book are unforgettable and I really liked everyone, even when they didn’t like themselves all that much.

I hope this book makes the shortlist because I think it could start (and continue) some great conversations. And I love that the author gave us some hope in this novel, which I felt was lacking in Alderman’s play on power dynamics.

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Right now I’m reading 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World and Playground — and loving both. Here’s an update on my TBR for January:

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The good news is that I have figured out ways to read all of these books. I either have them in my possession, am on a waitlist, or have requested an interlibrary loan for all of them. So that’s good planning. Now to execute that plan!

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Friends, I hope this week has been treating you well. Please: stay well and stay warm, wherever you are. And I hope you find some time to do things that bring you joy. Take good care.