A Gentleman of Leisure by PG Wodehouse (1910)

Light-hearted, pure entertainment.

The Last of the Duchess by Caroline Blackwood (1995)

In 1980, Caroline Blackwood received an assignment to write a profile on the elderly Duchess of Windsor, but was unable to get anywhere near the Duchess thanks to her equally elderly lawyer/attack dog, Maitre Blum. This book is a fascinating account of Blackwood’s struggles to complete her assignment, including interviews with (an apparently insane) Blum and several of the Duchess’ old friends and acquaintances, all of whom had been cut off from the Duchess by Blum. Totally gripping.

Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie (1976)

Audiobook narrated by Stephanie Cole.

A clever mystery with good narration. Enjoyable knitting listening.

The Twits, The Minpins, and The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl

Audiobook narrated by Richard Ayoade, Bill Bailey and Kate Winslet

Another one I enjoyed while parked on the couch with my knitting. All three narrators perfectly captured the spirit of Dahl’s wild stories.

While searching for an image of my particular edition of A Gentleman of Leisure (which I couldn’t find and so had to photograph my own), I came across this monstrosity at left. Most books that are now out of copyright and can be printed and sold by anyone have weird, ugly or inappropriate cover images, but this one takes the cake. There is zero percent chance the person who chose this image has read this, or any other, PG Wodehouse. Thank you, mystery “publisher”, for the biggest laugh I’ve had this week.

Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Knitter’s Almanac (1981)

(I bought my copy for $5.75 at the World’s Biggest Bookstore, according to the price tag on the cover. That would be in the late eighties, I guess. I was such a cool teen.)

Elizabeth Zimmermann is my favourite knitting writer and teacher, bar none. She was smart and funny and no-nonsense and I’m positive she was the reason I decided so early on in my knitting career to work things out for myself and not blindly follow patterns.

Literary Lapses by Stephen Leacock (1910)

Speaking of being a cool teen, this particular edition was published in 1982 and I’m sure I asked for it for Christmas not all that long after, proving I had the tastes of a septuagenarian even as a child.

Leacock himself might have been a bit of an ass, but he did have the knack for writing humour. There’s nothing like reading a book published over a hundred years ago to highlight how much things have changed, but it’s also amazing how human nature hasn’t changed at all. His observations on people’s behaviour are the real winners in this collection.

Mossy Trotter by Elizabeth Taylor (1967)

Not that Elizabeth Taylor. Ugh, how tiresome it would be to share a name with a major celebrity.

This is an entertaining novel for children about a boy who doesn’t want to participate in his mother’s friend’s wedding. It was well-observed (read: definitely written by the mother of a young son), although I thought the ending was a bit flat and abrupt.

The Pebble Spotter’s Guide by Clive Mitchell (2021)

As a huge fan of both collecting pebbles and collecting identification guides, I can’t believe it never occurred to me to look for a pebble identification guide. This one is geared to the UK, although I did recognise a few I’ve picked up here. The author’s enthusiasm is as charming as the watercolour illustrations. Now I just need to find the Canadian equivalent.

The Clementine Complex by Bob Mortimer

I ordered this one when I saw it was nominated for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction (which it has since won) and realized it was the same loopy Bob Mortimer I have enjoyed watching on Would I Lie to You? It’s a fun little mystery about a guy trying to track down a woman he met in a bar because (1) he liked her and (2) she is his alibi after a work acquaintance he’d met up with for a drink is murdered. It’s equal parts goofy and suspenseful. Fun.

Work It Out by Sarah Kurchak

I confess I ordered this solely based on the subtitle: A Mood-Boosting Exercise Guide for People Who Just Want to Lie Down. I thought it would be about how people who enjoy sedentary hobbies (like me) might find some motivation for not sitting down quite so much. If I had done even two seconds of research, I’d have discovered it’s geared toward people who don’t move enough because they’re struggling with depression, anxiety, ADHD or any other condition that makes it hard to jump out of bed and run ten kilometres every morning. I ended up reading the whole thing anyway because it has a lot of good advice. I’d group it with How to Keep House While Drowning (which I read in August 2022) for smart resources on how to gently and compassionately cope with mental and/or physical hurdles to life-enhancing activities.