Finished this today. It’s not going on my favorites shelf (few do), but I am left with a certain fondness for the book. True, I was expecting more about the secret lit classes than general life and politics in Iran during the revolution. This book, however, did give me a new perspective on Lolita and The Great Gatsby, as well as prompting me to read “Daisy Miller” yesterday and start Pride and Prejudice today. That alone made the book worth reading. But it also, if only for a moment, gave me a new appreciation for things I take for granted.. small things, such as colorful socks and chocolate.. and larger things, such as male friends and women’s rights.

“A novel is not an allegory … It is the sensual experience of another world. If you don’t enter that world, hold your breath with the characters and become involved in their destiny, you won’t be able to empathize, and empathy is at the heart of the novel. This is how you read a novel: you inhale the experience.”

Yesterday I finished the Felted Clutch. Another quick, easy knit with pleasing results.

I made the Asymmetrical Cable Hat using Crystal Palace Yarns Iceland. It was a very quick and easy knit. Word of warning: I made the women’s size and had less than a yard of yarn leftover. I would not have had enough to complete it had I made the men’s size. However, the hat is very stretchy, and when I made hubby try on the my women’s size hat, it fit him wonderfully.