I’m just a few chapters into Hari Kunzru’s Gods Without Men, and I’m loving it. I’ve wanted to read this novel ever since it was published four-ish years ago, but the first chapter is sort of a meditation on some aspect of Native American mythology – something about Coyote the Trickster or some such, and I had enough of Coyote the Trickster on a third grade field trip to the Miwok Village* and just couldn’t bring myself to move on. This is a drawback of Kindle books, I think. When I read a hard copy (and, often, before I even purchase it), I take myself on a little tour. How long are the chapters? Are they numbered, titled, dated, epigraphed, not delineated at all? Does the book jump around in time? Are there long passages of italics, and if so, why? Are there 80 pages of Power Point slides?** If I were reading a hard copy of Gods Without Men, I would have seen immediately that the mythology in the first chapter was only a few pages long and that immediately afterwards there are actual human characters – really compelling ones. But I was reading my Kindle, and even though it is possible (though less convenient) to browse around in a Kindle book, I don’t think to do it. But anyway. Good book. I’ll tell you more soon.

(*I mean no disrespect to Native American mythology – and yes, I do know that Coyote the Trickster is part of Navajo mythology, not Miwok. My tolerance for anthropomorphized animals is low in general, regardless of origin.)

(**Yeah, I know this one only applies to A Visit from the Goon Squad, but a girl can dream.)

This orange cowl will be finished any minute. I may even stop back in later and post a finished photo. This project has been a tortoise rather than a hare – and when I started it I promised myself a trip to someplace cold enough*** for me to wear it. And now winter approaches again. We’ll see…

(***Canada?????)

Yarn Along is hosted by Ginny on her blog, Small Things.