Tag Archives: reviewettes

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

In which there IS actually linkity this week!

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Congrats to Jamie, who won Redemption (Diversion #5) by Eden Winters! Redemption will be released by Rocky Ridge Books on August 8.

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Reading Update
Artists’ Journals and Sketchbooks: Exploring and Creating Personal Pages by Lynne Perrella. Very good idea book/peek into the art journals of a number of artists. What’s particularly interesting about this book is it was published in 2004 – apparently the term “art journal” was just gaining traction.
Drawing from Life: The Journal as Art by Jennifer New. Very good look into the journals of 31 people whose journals fuel their creativity and work. Many of the contributors aren’t artists per se – an engineer, a volcanologist, a gardener, travelers – but all the journal excerpts are highly individual and artistic. Also, the book’s graph-paper themed pages give the impression that the book itself is a journal.

“I like these books. They are my books now. You can’t return them to the library, Mom.” -Mayhem

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The cats ate linkity!

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Congrats to Curlyq, who won Immutable by Becky Black!

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Reading Update
Journal Spilling: Mixed-Media Techniques for Free Expression by Diana Trout. Very good overview of art journaling techniques, complete with prompts at the end. “Spilling” refers to writing (or creating an art entry) without thinking about it – basically stream-of-consciousness. I liked this book enough that I’ve ordered a used copy for myself.
Painted Pages: Fueling Creativity with Sketchbooks and Mixed Media by Sarah Ahearn Bellemare. This was ok – it focused on creating mixed media works, with a sketchbook being one of the tools to get there. After reading perhaps the first third without any of it resonating with me, I skimmed the rest. I do love how her work looks – it turns out that some pretty journals I just bought had covers with her art on them. 🙂

“Can’t we have the windows open and the air conditioning on, Mom?! I’m just too warm and sleepy to enjoy the open windows otherwise.” -Mayhem

Pretty sure she’s had that actual thought. 🙂

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Name your own linkity!

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Congrats to Idamus, who won Dancing Days by Clare London!

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Reading Update
The Beautiful Mystery (Three Pines #8) by Louise Penny. Good continuation of the series, with much less angst than I was expecting based on the previous book… at least initially. Let’s just say I’m eying the next book anxiously and suspiciously… This was the first book that had only the briefest reference to Three Pines – it mostly takes place at a remote Quebec monastery.
Collage Lab: Experiments, Investigations, and Exploratory Projects by Bee Shay. Pretty much what it says on the tin! I liked the examples of the various experiments – I’ll definitely refer back to this one when I want to do a photo transfer using gel medium, for example. What I didn’t like was the tacit art knowledge that seemed to be required throughout the book.

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity’ll larn you

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Congrats to Angela, who won Flashbulb (Flight HA1710 #3) by Clare London!

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Reading Update
Art Journal Art Journey: Collage and Storytelling for Honoring Your Creative Process by Nichole Rae. Ok book probably best suited for someone getting started with art journaling who prefers a minimalist text and photograph style without much additional color. (So, not me.)
Bury Your Dead (Three Pines #6) by Louise Penny. The series continues with this slow-building story about fallibility, the power the past holds, and healing.
The Hangman (Three Pines #6.5) by Louise Penny. This novella was written for a series of books for Canadian adults with reading difficulties. So the fact that it isn’t written in Penny’s usual style and that it could be set at almost any time during the series makes a lot more sense now. Feel free to skip this novella entirely.
A Trick of the Light (Three Pines #7) by Louise Penny. This installment suggests there’s a lot of personal and emotional trauma coming in Book 8 for many of the main characters. I’m already feeling anxious about it! 🙁

“Can’t I be melted in peace, Mom?” -Mayhem

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Linkity hates trying to figure out if that was a firework or a gunshot

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  • Tiny (the journal is 3″ x 5″) composition book stamped journal page:

  • Bright journal page:

  • Watery journal page:

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Reading Update
The Brutal Telling (Three Pines #5) by Louise Penny. Very good mystery which really shakes things up in Three Pines! 😮

“I disapprove of the number of pillows on this couch, as they greatly reduce the amount of space I have to sprawl out.” -Chaos

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Linkity warns of melted cats on the floor

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Reading Update
A Rule Against Murder (Three Pines #4) by Louise Penny. Good continuation of the series – the Chief Inspector and his wife are staying at a lodge to celebrate their anniversary when death visits the unhappy family reunion also at the lodge.
Aspertools: The Practical Guide for Understanding and Embracing Asperger’s, Autism Spectrum Disorders, and Neurodiversity by Harold S. Reitman. DNF @ 33%. I really wanted to like this book. I liked some of the information in it, but unfortunately I found the author’s style too annoying to continue reading. YMMV.
Doodles Unleashed: Mixed-Media Techniques for Doodling, Mark-Making and Lettering by Traci Bautista. DNF at 43%. Maybe the formatting of the ebook made this seem kind of chaotic? Maybe the paper book is less a nonstop and thus somewhat overwhelming list of prompts? YMMV.

“BoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBoredBored…” -Mayhem

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In which linkity suffers a fortunately non-fatal cute burn

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Congrats to Courtney S, who won Collusion (Diversion #2) (2nd ed) by Eden Winters! Collusion will be released by Rocky Ridge Books on June 20.

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Reading Update
No Excuses Art Journaling: Making Time for Creativity by Gina Rossi Armfield. So-so – perfect if you’re looking for a very structured approach to art journaling at $50-$97/year. No thanks, although I did enjoy some of the sample journal pages in the book.
A Fatal Grace (Three Pines #2) by Louise Penny. Very good continuation of this series. The Chief Inspector and his team return to the magical village of Three Pines, where a nasty interloper has been murdered. Lots of setup for the next book, too – have I mentioned how much I hate foreshadowing?!
The Cruelest Month (Three Pines #3) by Louise Penny. Good mystery continuing the series with a return to Three Pines after someone dies at a seance. All the foreshadowing from the previous book culminated near the end of this one, but felt a bit too pat.

*being adorable* -Mayhem

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Higgeldy piggeldy linkity

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Congrats to MarMight, who won The Champion’s Secret (Red Dragon #4) by Becky Black!

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Reading Update
I Think I Might Be Autistic: A Guide to Autism Spectrum Disorder Diagnosis and Self-Discovery for Adults by Cynthia Kim. Excellent little book for those of us who’ve come to suspect we’re neurodiverse instead of neurotypical. Defines autism spectrum disorders, describes the process of getting an official diagnosis (and how that might not even be possible for everyone), and discusses how to properly self-diagnose. Highly recommended.
Still Life (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #1) by Louise Penny. Very good mystery set in Quebec, in a thriving little town that’s not on any of the maps (the Chief Inspector checks as they’re driving out from Montreal), after an elderly and much-beloved town resident is found dead. Accidental death… or murder? I’m already on the wait list at the library for the next two books in the series. 🙂

“Clean face, clean face, I’m going to have a clean clean face!” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity tries to catch up

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Congrats to Trix, who won Kick at the Darkness by Keira Andrews! Kick at the Darkness was released on May 28 by KA Books.

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Reading Update
Girls Growing Up on the Autism Spectrum: What Parents and Professionals Should Know about the Pre-Teen and Teenage Years by Shana Nichols, Gina Marie Moravcik, & Samara Pulver Tetenbaum. I skim-read this not as a parent, but as an adult with an ASD looking looking for better understanding. I do think this would be an excellent resource for parents – it’s very well-researched and practical.
Nerdy, Shy, and Socially Inappropriate: A User Guide to an Asperger Life by Cynthia Kim. Excellent book about the life-changing discovery that you’re autistic in your 40s. (Oh, how I could relate to THAT.) Based on Cynthia Kim’s blog, Musings of an Aspie, this book is packed full of everything Kim’s learned since her diagnosis, backed by research and supported by stories from Kim’s life.
Indexing by Seanan McGuire. Good contemporary fantasy about the ATI Management Bureau, an agency devoted to keeping fairy tale narratives from gaining power and warping reality. First person narrator and ATI team leader Henrietta Marchen is herself a Snow White in abeyance. (Maybe it was just me, but I definitely wondered if this story was inspired by the Thursday Next novels of Jasper Fforde).

Sad but true story – I can’t quite figure out whose tail that is. (It’s been over six months since I took the picture.) Chaos has a slight kink near the end of his tail, and there could sort of be a kink near the end of the tail in the picture, right??! Plus it looks more like his fur than May’s. I’m pretty sure…

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes, Tales of the Neighborhood

Linkity’s jammin’ with Paul Bunyan

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Congrats to Monica, who won Owner of My Heart (Mending the Rift #2) (2nd ed) by Valentina Heart!

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Reading Update
Ideas & Inspirations for Art Journals & Sketchbooks by Suzanne McNeill. Ok short collection of examples from McNeill’s own “Sketch-Journals”, along with some tips for starting your own such journal and a list of basic supplies.
Painting Nature in Watercolor with Cathy Johnson: 37 Step-By-Step Demonstrations Using Watercolor Pencil and Paint by Cathy Johnson. Very good book about using watercolors (primarily watercolor pencils) to capture scenes from nature, ranging from forests to mountains to water to desert. Lots of great detail about technique and materials, too. (In the conclusion, Johnson mentions her friend Hannah Hinchman – I can definitely see similarities in their styles and subject matter!)
I am AspienGirl: The Unique Characteristics, Traits and Gifts of Females on the Autism Spectrum by Tania A Marshall. This was an odd book. Each page had a quote from an “AspienGirl”, another from some sort of adult caregiver (parents, teachers, grandparents, psychologists, etc), and a photo. The appendices had additional detail about typical characteristics/symptoms of females with Aspergers/high functioning autism and how female characteristics differ from those of males. The overall effect was chaotic and shallow. Plus the whole “AspienGirl”(r) annoyed me…

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem

I am not sure how May can breathe whilst sleeping on her face like that…