{Yarn and Books} Pretty New Socks for Spring

I'm racing myself, trying to see how much yarn from my DIY yarn sampler I can use up before I put together the next one on May 1. It won't be as much as I expected, not since I got distracted by Socks on a Plane and Invitation to the Dance. And Winter Leftovers...but I've been digging through my stash and using it up and that's the whole goal anyway.



Partly because I thought the boys might like it, and partly because I was so intrigued by the idea of feral children and their unsuspecting young governess, I picked up The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood. It's the first in The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place. Think A Series of Unfortunate Events combined with a traditional Gothic, without the romance. My sons weren't interested, but I've already finished the second book and have the third and fourth sitting in my knitting corner.



I might not have picked up Confessions of an Accidental Zoo Curator by Annette Libeskind Berkovits if I wasn't so fascinated by the ongoing saga of April the giraffe. As I'm typing this, we're still watching and waiting to see if she ever gives birth. Some of the stories, especially one about a giraffe, were interesting. I do wish the author had given more information, either to explain what happened and why, or to let the reader know how a bad situation ended. I was less interested in reading about her son's hermit crabs or the squirrels in her attic.

Disclosure -- I was provided with an advance review copies by the publishers. All opinions are my own. This post is linked to Patchwork Times, iknead2knit, and  Frontier Dreams