Category Archives: Reading

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity from a 64F day in Minneapolis, MN, in mid-February

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Bookity

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Artsy Crafty

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Teh Cute

Reading Update
Alien Taste, Tainted Trail, Bitter Waters, and Dog Warrior (Ukiah Oregon #1-4) by Wen Spencer. Not her best work (it’s pretty old), but at least the writing improved as the series went on. Unfortunately, this is the entire series and it doesn’t feel finished to me.
The Rivers of London, Moon Over Soho, and Whispers Underground (Peter Grant #1-3) by Ben Aaronovitch. Rereading this excellent series again. Just as good (if not better) the second time around.

“That’s enough out of you, Mayhem!” -Chaos

“Mom!!!! The big kitty is being mean to me again!!!!!” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity fears the news

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Bookity

Do, Think, Make, Learn

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Reading Update
No Excuses Watercolor: Painting Techniques for Sketching and Journaling by Gina Rossi Armfield. I really can’t recommend this – glad I got it from the library. Definitely not worth $12/Kindle or $17/paperback from Amazon. This felt more like a series of vaguely connected blog posts than a book.
The Fuller Memorandum (Laundry Files #3), Overtime (Laundry Files #3.5), The Apocalypse Codex (Laundry Files #4), The Rhesus Factor (Laundry Files #5), The Annihilation Score (Laundry Files #6), and The Nightmare Stacks (Laundry Files #7) by Charles Stross. Since this was a series binge reread, I’m just linking to the series on Goodreads, from which you can find my reviews.
Exploring Watercolor: Creative Exercises and Techniques for Watercolor and Mixed Media by Elizabeth Groves. Very good introduction to watercolor – it has a bunch of techniques and ideas that I’m looking forward to trying!

“Feedmefeedmefeedmefeedmefeedmefeedmefeedmefeedmefeedme!!!” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity’s not lyrical

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Bookity

Do, Make, Think, Learn

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Reading Update
Wireless by Charles Stross. Good collection of scifi short stories, including one from the Laundry Files (which I’d already read as a separate ebook). Some of these were mindbending. As always with Stross, I skimmed all of the technobabble and jargon. 🙂
The Atrocity Archives (Laundry Files #1), The Concrete Jungle (Laundry Files #1.5), The Jennifer Morgue (Laundry Files #2), Down on the Farm (Laundry Files #2.5), and Equoid (Laundry Files #2.9) by Charles Stross. Rereading the Laundry Files, which are mostly from the first-person point-of-view of applied computational demonologist Bob. I’m just linking to the series on Goodreads – if you’re curious, you can find my reviews from there. 🙂

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

This week should make up for the utter lack of linkity last week

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Bookity

Think, Do, Learn, Make

Cookity

Gluten Free

Artsy Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
A Pacific Northwest Nature Sketchbook by Jude Siegel. Pretty good detailed description of how to keep a nature sketchbook/watercolor journal, with lots of specific examples from the Pacific Northwest (that bit got old by the end). I did get some great quotes on creativity out of this one.
The Nightmare Stacks (Laundry Files #7) by Charles Stross. Don’t start this one anywhere near your bedtime… D’oh! This is about one of the PHANG’s we met in a previous book, who is trying to adjust to working for the Laundry instead of for an investment baking firm.

“…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Mayhem

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity from the land of ice and snow

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Bookity

Do, Make, Think, Learn

Cookity

Gluten Free

Artsy Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Wolf Who Rules (Elfhome #2) by Wen Spencer. Any book that has me awake until after 2 am to finish it gets an automatic five-star rating. Will be rereading this one. (In fact, read it twice this past week.)
Elfhome (Elfhome #3) by Wen Spencer. Another one I basically read in a single sitting and will be rereading! (I really hate the cover, though.) (But read it twice this week anyway.)
Bare Snow Falling on Fairywood (Elfhome #0.9) by Wen Spencer. Very good free short that takes place as the first chapter of Tinker starts.
Pittsburgh Backyard and Garden (Elfhome #1.5) by Wen Spencer. Very good, very funny free short about a documentary film crew trying to film some of Pittsburgh’s dangerous flora and fauna.
Peace Offering (Elfhome #3.5) by Wen Spencer. Very good short that takes place during Elfhome #3.
Wood Sprites (Elfhome #4) by Wen Spencer. Very good tale of two twins in New York City who are from the same batch of fertilized eggs as Tinker, only implanted a decade later.
Project Elfhome (Elfhome #4.5) by Wen Spencer. Very entertaining collection of shorts and drabbles that expand on and tie up some loose ends from the four (so far) main books. (It includes the three shorts mentioned above.)
Endless Blue by Wen Spencer. Good tale of the outer space equivalent of the Sargasso Sea, with an unfortunately rushed feeling ending.

I’m not sure how he manages to be baleful and cute at the same time, really. Apparently it’s a gift.

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity is ready for spring…

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Bookity

Think, Make, Learn, Do

Cookity

Gluten Free

Artsy Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Women and Girls with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Understanding Life Experiences from Early Childhood to Old Age by Sarah Hendrickx. Excellent overview that highlights exactly how little research there has been about women on the spectrum, particularly older women. Recommended.
Tinker (Elfhome #1) by Wen Spencer. Any book I read in a single sitting tends to get top marks from me. This book reminded me a lot of the Bordertown books, with a bit of quantum mechanics and scifi tossed in.

*exerting kitty mind control cuteness powers whilst looking vaguely worried* -Mayhem

Reading, Reviewettes

Belated linkless linkity

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D’oh. You know things are bad when I didn’t realize what day of the week it was! Things continue to be crazy at work with disaster recovery, but keep your fingers crossed that we get the worst of it finished this weekend.

Reading Update
Little Book of Book Making: Timeless Techniques and Fresh Ideas for Beautiful Handmade Books by Charlotte Rivers. Probably the most interesting parts of the book were the sections featuring work by book binders from around the world. The actual book binding instructions were unfortunately not the most clear or detailed. But there were a few great tidbits, like a ratio for making cornstarch paste instead of wheat paste (very useful for we celiacs).

“Must.Stay.Awake.To.Keep.Being.Crabby.” -Chaos

Reading, Reviewettes

No linkity, but another cute cat picture and a couple book reviews…

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My circadian cycle is so screwed up… Went to bed at 4:30 am Thursday and got up around 11:30 am to get back to work. Still probably a week or so of disaster recovery left, which equals a continually screwed up sleep cycle. I haven’t been this disoriented by waking/sleeping stuff since I was in the National Guard a couple of decades ago…

Reading Update
The Art of Whimsical Lettering by Joanne Sharpe. Inspiring explanation of how to embellish your handwriting in a variety of fun ways. Particularly useful for those of us who write a lot in art journals. 🙂
The Weekend Crafter: Rubber Stamp Carving: Techniques, Designs & Projects by Luann Udell. My absolute favorite book about carving rubber stamps – and I picked it up from a Little Free Library in my neighborhood.

“Your schedule is really messed up, Mom. I do not approve.” -Chaos

Mayhem is in this picture, too! She’s the blurry dark spot barely visible between the slats on the chair seen between Chaos’ ears. 🙂

Linkity linkity link, Reading, Reviewettes

Linkity is crabby

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Nobody should have to deal with ransomware on their 50th birthday, dammit! It seems to be an issue with my work computer – I noticed it because there were a couple of dropbox folders that I synch between work and home and suddenly all the files in said folders were encrypted. Plus there was a helpful “pay us and we will decrypt your files” message. Not sure if it’s good or bad that I’m on vacation this week (although hey! I obviously didn’t click anything stupid on my work computer, since I wasn’t there…). Anyway, cleaning that up, restoring the folders from backup (I definitely recommend CrashPlan, which paid for itself in salvaging this mess), and sending an email to our support guys at work has consumed quite a bit of my linkity time. Let’s see how far I get in the time I have…

Bookity

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Gift Guides

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Reading Update
My Day with the Cup by Sidney Crosby. It’s very sweet. And it having 87 pages is the most Sidney Crosby thing ever. (This is from the 2009 Cup win.)
Little Book of Letterpress by Charlotte Rivers. Interesting look at the work of various letterpress studios around the world. I would’ve loved for the “Letterpress in Practice” chapter to have been much longer.
Eight Million Gods by Wen Spencer. Anytime I end up reading a book in a single sitting because it completely sucked me in, that book is an automatic five-star read. Plus I’ve reserved Wen Spencer’s Elfhome series at the library and am looking forward to starting it soonishly.
Letterpress Now: A DIY Guide to New and Old Printing Methods by Jessica C. White. Very good overview of three types of printing presses (tabletop platen, freestanding platen, cylinder press), along with projects for each type.

*gazing adoringly at Chaos* -Mayhem

“..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…” -Chaos

Covers, Linkity linkity link, Reviewettes

Letterpress with linkity

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Bookity

Do, Make, Learn, Think

Cookity

Gluten Free

Artsy Crafty

Cool

Cool or Wha…?

Wha…?

LOL

Teh Cute

Reading Update
Drawing AutismDrawing Autism by Jill Mullen. It was interesting to see the wide variety of art drawn by others on the spectrum and to read their thoughts about their art. But my favorite remains this bit from Temple Grandin’s intro:

Some people who are visual thinkers can do geometry and trigonometry; they possess the second kind of mind: the pattern thinker. Instead of creating photo-realistic pictures in their imaginations, they see patterns and relationships between numbers. It is a more abstract form of visual thinking…. If they do visual art, it may be more abstract and impressionistic, as opposed to photo-realistic.

*thlurrrrp* -Chaos

*purring* -Mayhem