Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times by Elizabeth Wayland Barber, Donna Postel (Narrator)

I learned about this book from the Unraveling by Peggy Ornestein memoir which I listened to early in the year. It was a very interesting nonfiction book mostly focussed on the lives of Bronze Age women and fabric craft. It primarily focussed on weaving in the Mediterranean civilizations such as Mesopotamia, Egypt, Minoans, and Greece. It was not exhaustive but I really liked how Barber used folklore and stories from these societies to elucidate women’s role in the societies. I am trying valiantly not add more hobbies which is why I have resisted getting a loom. This book made weaving history fascinating. I wish there were more feminist histories like this. I listened to the end of this one mostly while winding yarn into hanks.

1.5x. Aug 13-19. 2025.

In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss by Amy Bloom (Narrator)

Audiobook first 20%. While I usually listen to memoirs on audiobook especially when narrated by the author, this powerful book was too much for me and had to continue on print. This was a moving story about a couple and their journey through an Alzeheimer’s diagnosis, right to die laws, and finally, assisted dying. I believe in the right to die and am grateful that I live in a country where there is Assisted Dying. Reading about Bloom and her husband’s Brian trying to navigate through the US laws and towards Dignitas in Switzerland was stressful. A powerful story about two people who love each other. Very moving.

1.25x. Aug 20-24, 2025.