Since I was participating in NaNoWriMo last month, I didn't do much reading. I did finish reading Patrick Modiano's "Out of the Dark" which was an interesting, short read. The cover I had was black so no picture. You can find it on Amazon here.
I read a few comic books in November. Two were by "The Oatmeal".
These gave my brain a nice break from thinking about my novel.
I almost finished this. I had less than 100 pages left but the writing began to lack. The author is really passionate about his book and overloads it with detail. At the beginning, the book moves quickly but gets bogged down in the middle and I couldn't force myself to finish it, even though I was really interested in the topic. You can go here to learn more about Ada Lovelace.
Very enjoyable read. I actually kept it one extra day (and have a fine at the library) so I could finish it. I love her style and humor. I also love how honest she is about her life and doesn't try to sugarcoat anything. I need to start watching Parks & Rec again on a regular basis.
My husband got this out from the library and thought I might enjoy it. A graphic novel that didn't take long to read and I really liked it. It's about a man who lives on a very tidy island when he suddenly starts growing a gigantic beard. This, of course, causes chaos on the tidy island. You'll have to read it to find out what happens.
My son won a set of the Wimpy Kid series last month and quickly read all 8 books and wanted us to read them too. We decided to have a family book club. My husband and I have both read it - only took a few hours to read the first book. Has anyone else read this? My husband and I were not happy with the message, or lack of message this book carries. He's not a wimpy kid, he's a whiney kid. It should be an interesting book club meeting this weekend. I wonder what the other books are like.
I saved the best for last. I several pages of notes I took while reading this book. A great read and it really opened my eyes to how I think about my crafting. You can find Kim's website here. I didn't have time to do all the exercises in the book as I had to return it to the library but its message got me working on a project.
I knit this bag this summer. It took a couple attempts and my colourwork still wasn't great. It was also my first felted piece and I wasn't sure how my bad colour knitting would look after felting. This was supposed to be a gift for my sister for Christmas. I had bought enough yarn to make myself one and maybe my mom. I used some of that yarn to make Floyd's stocking.
Here it is after felting. Looks even worse. I was very disappointed in myself for not redoing the leaf until it looked right. All those voices that Kim talks about in her book were yelling at me in my head about how stupid I was for even trying something like this. But I didn't throw the bag out, just threw it on my desk telling myself I'd fix it somehow.
After a couple days, I decided to sew it and create a slightly different bag and cut off the leaf. I figured if it didn't work I'd just throw it out. I'd never work with felted yarn before so I was very nervous. It ended up okay but obviously not what I originally planned. All it needed were a couple snaps to keep it closed and it would be done but I never got around to buying them. Something about it just didn't sit right with me. It was a crappy project that didn't work and I was trying to do whatever I could to save it but would my sister actually like it or use it? It had ended up smaller than I thought it would and the handle was shorter than I would have liked. After reading "Mighty Ugly" I decided I couldn't give it as a gift as it was. It was a piece of crap. But the front and back were two good pieces of felted purple. Was there anything I could do with them?
I cut and sewed and stuffed and made a pin cushion. Something useable that doesn't look crappy. It's a bit on the big side. I'm going to offer it to my SIL and if she doesn't want it, I'll use it. I liked that I saved this ugly project and didn't listen to the voices telling me what a bad crafter and gift giver I am.
For December, there is only one book I need to read, "The Book Thief". I borrowed it from my SIL last Christmas and have started it several times but haven't finished it yet. I have a million excuses but I will finish it and return it to her when I see her later this month. Anything else I read will be a bonus.
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