Reviewing "Threads Around the World" by Deb Brandon

I originally put this on hold at my library on a whim, not even really looking past the title of the book and thinking it must be one of those how-to books about embroidery that I sometimes enjoy perusing. The kind of books with a lot of pictures that are easy to read through in an afternoon.

When I picked up the book at my library I almost didn’t start reading it. Firstly, it was much thicker than I’d anticipated. When one expects a pinky’s-width thick book and it’s more like a thumb-and-index-finger’s-width (actual measurements may vary), it may cause one to reconsider whether the book is perhaps about something completely different than originally thought.

Upon further inspection, it turned out the book was about embroidery. But it was not a tutorial book. It was an exploration of various cultures’ use of threads and textiles.

This was daunting. I have read my fair share of nonfiction books that were rather bloated versions of academic essays and theorems. Though I do enjoy embroidering and quilting, I wasn’t sure I was that much of a sewing geek to enjoy a serious book like this one.

Yet I started it. And I read it. And I finished it.

And I am glad I did.

The author Deb Brandon is a “geek” about things like tapestries, but every chapter plunges the reader not into over-technical jargon, but into a story, a place, and an experience. She adeptly explains the significance of certain colors, materials, and images that are incorporated into the art and clothing of various ethnic groups. She also shows how something as simple (which is not always so simple, really) as making clothes or fabric is an integral part of history, and how people have expressed their creativity and individuality through skills that have been passed down through generations.

This book was, to my pleasant surprise, a thoughtful and poetic exploration of a part of life that is easy to take for granted. That’s one of my favorite kinds of things to read: the kind that shows me something beautiful that instills a new appreciation for the world.