Book Club: Moon Over Soho

It’s been a wild few weeks. I’ve been totally remiss in book club posts, but I have kept up with my intended reading, so that’s something at least.

Mabel the Merciless got Hand Foot and Mouth at daycare, and if you’ve never had the misfortune of having it in your house, it’s the worst. My poor little nugget got a blister on her tongue. I responded the only way I knew how: by letting her eat an objectively irresponsible amount of ice cream.

She’s better now though, and was safe to be in public in time to go to our first drive in movie of the year, The Incredibles 2.

Also, Mr. Incredible stole that movie for me. When he was so tired that he left the baby with Edna, all I could think was:

“Mr. Incredible, you are all of us.”

We go to Becky’s Drive In. There are multiple drive-ins near me, but Becky’s has the best concessions. They have funnel cake. Seriously, if you’re within a three hour radius of there, it’s worth the drive. We like it so much that we named one of our flagship Vacation Yarn colors after the name of the town it’s in.

This week I’ve been reading…

I’ve been plowing through my re-read of the Dresden Files, and I got my copy of the new compendium of short stories in the mail! It’s a signed copy. That gets me in all my nerd places.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BjyVT2InHMa/?taken-by=doctor_llama

I’m actually planning to hoard it for a month before reading it. In July, I’m going on a girls trip with a ton of family, and it’s the perfect thing for a weekend away in a luxurious cabin. That’s the plan anyways, we’ll see if I have the will power to actually wait that long.

Meanwhile…

The Rivers of London Series by Ben Aaronovitch was recommended to me on the Lattes and Llamas Ravelry Book Club thread, and I’m completely hooked. I’m basically incapable of doing anything without also knitting at the same time, so I really appreciate that the narrator on the audiobooks is great. It makes a big difference, and since I have a serious Audible addiction,* I’ve become a connoisseur of narrators. Anyhow, I talked about book one, Midnight Riot in a previous post, and book two was just as good. Peter Grant, London’s only police sanctioned wizarding apprentice has settled into his role as the primary investigator for all things supernatural.

One of my favorite things about the second book, Moon Over Soho, was that the author fleshed out the relationship between Peter and the rest of the London police force. They sort of hate him, and sort of love him, but really respect him. The book was well crafted, and several plot lines that seem unconnected converge perfectly at the end in a natural way. I also love that while the books are SUPER DARK (seriously, not a light read, you’ve been warned) most of the violence takes place off screen. I like horror movies, but hate gore. A well told story doesn’t need it.

The Rivers of London balances heavy plot lines and violent ends without feeling the need to try to gross me out. What really stood out for me was that the sex, and there’s a lot of sex in book two — it’s a plot point. That’s always been a complaint for me with the Dresden Files. The sex scenes feel very fanfic and not in a good way. But Ben Aaronovitch pulls it off without it being cheesy. Book two focuses heavily on the relationships among the main cast of characters, and even though it didn’t have a big twist ending like book one, it kept me engaged the whole time. I was honestly sad when it was over, and can’t wait to start book three.

*I don’t have a problem. You have a problem. Don’t look at me when I’m on my Audibles.

Currently on my needles…

I’m getting ready to send out the final Society Of Caffeinated Knitter’s (SOCK) box at the end of the month and we’re going out with a bang. We did a year of mystery, TV inspired boxes, and I’ve saved my favorite for last. I’ve posted one sneaky spoiler, this month’s yarn isn’t actually inspired by Beauty and the Beast, but when your yarn matches your notebook so perfectly it would be criminal not to take at least one photo of them together.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BkAo_JSnvNP/?taken-by=doctor_llama

SOCK club isn’t gone forever, but it’s going on hiatus until further notice. So if you want to get in on it, this month is the last chance. I’ve also been hard at work on Christmas presents. I’ve got a Jughead hat going for a close friend, and you’ll be able to get your hands on the pattern next month.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjs_iWnnVaB/?taken-by=doctor_llama

I also ordered a huge pile of Valley Yarn Goshen to make a sweater for my mom, but I keep changing my mind on what pattern I want to use. I was going to make Totally Biased, but the pattern reviews have sort of turned me off of it. I know I want to use Goshen, and make a worsted weight cardigan, and also I’m lazy so I want garter stitch throughout. I love designing, but most often for Christmas gifts I like to use the opportunity to knit up other people’s patterns. I think sometimes that can come off weird on social media, but can you imagine an author that didn’t read other people’s books? Me either. Anyhow, I’d love pattern suggestions.

~Megan-Anne

“For a terrifying moment I thought he was going to hug me, but fortunately we both remembered we were English just in time. Still, it was a close call.” -Peter Grant, Moon Over Soho.