When Is a Book a Frog?
When you don’t finish it.
To “frog” is a knitting/crochet term that refers to the act of ripping out your work, or unraveling the knit/crochet project. You are left with a ripply ball of yarn and nothing to show for the hours of work you put into what no longer exists.
Rip it=Ribbit=Frog
Frogging one’s work generally leads either to frustration (possibly tears) or relief.
A Panned Planned Book Review…
I intended to have a book review ready for this week’s Mountain Song Designs YouTube episode. Unfortunately, I had to break up with that book after the first few dates.
Have you ever found a book with rave reviews? The synopsis sounds interesting, and other people have listed all the reasons you are going to love it. You wait months to borrow it from your library. With starry eyes, you finally begin to read. But then you slow—you don’t like it. In fact, you borderline hate it.
Do you push through and read to the end, trusting others’ opinions? Or do you tap the Return Loan button after debating for days whether or not you want to finish it?
That’s what I had to decide last week. I won’t share the name of the book, but I will say that I can see why other people would love it. It just didn’t land with me.
When I read a book, I get into a relationship with the characters. I’m like the children in Mary Poppins when they jump into the chalk drawings—I become fully immersed. I sing with farm animals. I dance with penguins. I ride carousel horses across the countryside. Then I finish it all off by singing a silly song in front of a crowd. I am all in.
But if the main character is irritating or unbelievable, I can’t connect. This doesn’t happen often to me— I adore living through a diverse range of characters’ experiences. I’ll see the world through the eyes of a wizard, or a dragon, or a gargoyle, or even (ahem) a teenage girl who falls in love with a sparkly vampire.
But if it does happen that I can’t connect, I must decide if it’s worth losing all of those hours of my life to a book I don’t like. I would prefer to read for the fifth time a book that I adore than read for the first time a book that inspires me to roll my eyes and make fun of the lead character.
So, I sent the book back. And I moved on to a great book. I plan to share it with you on my next YouTube episode.
What do you do when you hate a book—the characters, the writing, the plot? Do you slug though it to check that box, maybe full of hope for brighter chapters ahead? Or do you throw it right back into the multiverse and move on?
What about a knitting pattern? Do you finish or frog it?
As for me, my time is precious. The older I get, the less willing I am to surrender the time I have left on this revolving rock to books or knitting projects that I hate.
I suppose, in the words of a great philosopher (I think), “I’m too old for this knit.”
I invite you to join me in frogging the things in life that don’t serve you—dumb books, frustrating knitting projects, or time spent worrying over things you can’t change.
Whatever it is—Frog it!
[Check out this picture of a disconcerted frog in the hands of my little naturalist. BTW, the frog was fine.]
I promise that next week will be sufficiently PACKED with yarny goodness. My Fairlea Hat pattern releases on April 6th, and I will have all the details here!
Until next time, read a story that takes you someplace lovely, knit a project that brings you joy, and frog all the rest.
If you want to listen to my live thoughts on frog-ish books (plus all my current designs and projects), check out my recent YouTube episode.