Wow – August has arrived! We are rounding the corner on the year and doing our best to make the last few weeks of summer memorable. We woke up to a very rainy morning and potential for thunderstorms this afternoon. I’m hoping the forecast holds together and we get to enjoy a dark and stormy day.
I have a pretty typical update for you today: a little bit on how we celebrated the weekend, knitting progress, and the three books I finished last week. So let’s catch up!
Home:
I cannot complain about July’s weather. The month started out very hot but then settled into a pattern of 80ºF days and 50ºF nights. By my count, we’ve only reached the 90s six times (it’s the pink highlights in the picture above) and the actual temperature hasn’t reached 100 at all this year. The heat index has been higher than 100, but I’m not tracking that. A lot of summer can happen in August and early September so we’re not out of the woods yet, but we’re inching closer to my favorite season of all: Fall!
August 1st marked the celebration of Lughnasadh – the Gaelic celebration of the harvest. We enjoyed the turning of the year by playing lots of games (mahjong, Uno, and Sorry!), I dusted off my sourdough starter (Addy has been resting in the fridge since February), and I did quite a bit of knitting. Not a bad way to usher in August!
Knitting:
I have good news and bad news this week:
Good news: I finished the bind off on my Inclinations cowl! I even washed and blocked it yesterday. Just waiting for it to dry to seam it and then I’ll have a new cowl, ready for the spooky season. The plan is to share final pictures with you next week!
Bad news: some of you might remember that I keep a pair of socks on the needles for our school time, especially when the kids are doing independent work. Well, the knitters among you might notice something amiss in the picture above: after knitting the heel flap on this sock, I went straight into the gusset. I completely skipped turning the heel! That’s what I get for trying to do too many things at once. I’m working up the gumption to rip it back and try again.
Reading:
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
(not that Elizabeth Taylor)
Elizabeth Taylor has been on my radar for a long time so I was so happy when Mary chose this for our Postal Book Club. Mrs. Palfrey moves into the Claremont Hotel after the death of her husband. They lived a distinguished life and this feels like a step down for her. Luckily for the reader, there’s quite the cast of characters living here! Taylor’s observations on the other residents are funny, biting, and astute.
I thought this book struck the perfect chord of funny and sad. It definitely reminds me that aging isn’t for the faint of heart!
Beginning Middle End by Valeria Luiselli
(Amazon)
This book was incredible. Beginning Middle End picks up right around where The Lost Children Archive left off, but it’s not necessary to have read it first. This begins with a mother and daughter staying in a friend’s apartment in Sicily. The mother is newly divorced from the girl’s stepfather and finishing her second novel. They’re unsettled given how much their life has changed recently but they find purpose going through the volumes of Loeb books that fill the apartment they’re staying in. These books are full of ancient wisdom that the mother and daughter use to find their footing and discover their next steps. Throughout, they’re also navigating the grandmother’s loss of memory, despite the fierce and amazing life she continues to lead.
The Italian setting is superb and the allusions to The Odyssey couldn’t be more culturally relevant right now. I highlighted to much in my copy and I’ll definitely be buying a physical one – this is one to reread and let soak into your bones. And I can’t help but want to have conversations with these characters and start a Loeb Classics book club with them! Loved it, loved it — and so many of you will, too.
Thank you to Netgalley and Knopf Publishing for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Beginning Middle End is already published, so please consider using the links above to order a copy!
Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman
I picked up Helen of Nowhere on Kobo after the Booker Long List was announced last week. This little book was a challenge to read but oddly comeplling. It starts with a professor who had an illustrious career but has fallen out of favor. Despite his insistence that he loves women and wants to see them succeed, his deeper thoughts seem to tell another story? After his wife decides on a divorce, he starts looking for a quiet house in the country where he meets a real estate agent who is selling a house for Helen, an independently wealthy woman who toiled to make her home something special. Helen is in a nursing home? Or has she died? It’s never quite clear — but when the real estate agent channels Helen for the professor, a complicated reality is reflected back to him.
The ending made me giggle despite my low-grade confusion throughout. The author clearly thinks little of the world of academia! And again – more Homer allusions here with this Helen making me think of Helen of Troy. This book won’t be for everyone, but if you’re up for a bit of a challenge, this is a good choice. Also, the audiobook is $2.72 of this writing and is less than 4 hours long.
We’ll be heading into the library in a bit for B+B to refresh their stacks of books. I’m planning to bake that loaf of sourdough bread this afternoon and maybe swatch for my next knitted tee, Flower Child. I still have over half of my current audiobook left (about 20 hours left), so I need to get listening before Libby yanks it back! And I’m planning a Booker Prize post to let you know which books I’m planning to read and how I’m planning to get my grubby little hands on them. If things go to plan, that will be up on Wednesday. Earlier if things go even better.
I hope your week gets off to a great start and you find time for the things you love. Take good care!
The Cozy Burrow 
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