2.5/5⭐ Eh. A quick, mispell-laden adventure through friendship and life. It felt cursory and didn't really resonate with me. #buzzwordathon
2.5/5⭐ Eh. A quick, mispell-laden adventure through friendship and life. It felt cursory and didn't really resonate with me. #buzzwordathon
3.5/5⭐ Cute and meaningful without being over the top about it. There isn't too much depth, but there's a lot of heart. The artwork is full of wonderful details. #roll100
1.5/5⭐ I would have devoured this book as a teenager. It suffocates you in stereotypical gothic vibes. The man is a dangerous enigma, the woman is a young mystery, and the author reminds you of these things in every weakly written paragraph. I DNFed at the line “a part of her wanted to...blush furiously at the singular masculine attention from a very masculine male.“ 🤢 #doublespin
Does anyone have any experience writing reviews on #Reedsy? I received this invitation, and from all accounts Reedsy seems to be a legit site, but if anyone has personal experience I'd love to hear it. #ReedsyDiscovery
Writing an Identity Not Your Own won for April and over How to ADHD for March, but The Hero's Closet from January is still the overall winner. #readingbracket2024
1.5/5⭐ The humor and romance are just so heavy handed. The demon is yet another boundary-breaking domineering man. The writing is weak.
3.5/5⭐ I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
The content is very good and vitally important. It covers a wide range of stereotypes/tropes/pitfalls to avoid harming marginalized communities. It also discusses methods for doing your research as a writer. I feel much better equipped to approach writing identities not my own in a respectful, nuanced, untokenized way. Many fantastic resources are listed throughout the book. #bookspin
3/5⭐ I like the focus on recycled/reusable fabrics. There's a lot of repetition in the projects (masks, sponges/wipes, bags, gift wrap), and the overall collection feels lackluster.
2.5/5⭐ Fine if you want something easy with a bit of a sad streak throughout. There are way too many POV characters, some of them still being introduced over halfway into the book. All the romances resolve with minimal friction and too simplistically.
3.5/5⭐ A thorough guide to organizing fabric, notions, and other sewing supplies, from deciding what to keep to long-term storage for finished projects. Includes many ideas to meet a variety of needs.
3.5/5⭐ I read this in the middle of the day and got creeped out by the wind making noises outside, so successful horror. I liked the vividness of the descriptive prose and the self-awareness of horror tropes.
It wasn‘t charitable but apologies didn‘t exonerate the sinner, only compelled graciousness from its recipient.
3/5⭐ The description implies it's a love story, but it's really not. This book takes place during the decline/assimilation of Jewish culture in Kaifeng, China in the 1800s & the tensions that result. The afterword about the historical context is helpful. There's a common theme throughout of sadness vs happiness that I found thoughtful. The midpoint takes a wild turn that I didn't think fit with the tone of what came before or after. #buzzwordathon
1/5⭐ The author goes off about her degrees and training and research and decades of experience and yet includes not a SINGLE citation. There is little to no distinction between historical uses and whether or not the herbs actually do what they're thought to. It's especially worrisome that the author includes flower essences as if they're a scientifically valid method. At least there are a few appropriate warnings for contraindications.
3.5/5⭐ I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I love the atmosphere of this book. Throughout is the pervading mystery of fox lore, how it morphs and impacts people of varying beliefs, and how it compares to the reality of being a fox in this world. If you like slower, atmospheric magical realism with strong emotions, this one's for you.
Full review: https://hissingpotatoes.com/2024/03/13/review-the-fox-wife-by-yangsze-choo/
3.5/5⭐ Contains woo-woo like flower essences, but the other plant information is useful. The safety precautions are thorough. The book covers identification, wildcrafting methods, herbal medicine preparation methods, and recipes with very easy instructions. Some of the information, like which constituents are extracted best in which mediums, is stuff I've had trouble finding in other herbalism books. Includes further reading and resources.
.5/5⭐ Super pretentious. The author talks about himself in the highest terms and name/location drops all over the place. He says he has “merrily disregarded every distinction between highbrow, middlebrow, and lowbrow taste“ as if he's some benevolent writing god and then proceeds to name specific authors he clearly thinks fall into one of those brows (but he doesn't distinguish, so it's not elitist!). ⬇
2.5/5⭐ There's very little connective tissue to the story. Often an entire chapter goes onto a tangent into a side character's full history or Botswanan history/culture. The main plot doesn't make its presence known until 2/3 of the way through, and even then there's no sense of urgency or conflict/difficulty and it's distracted from with sideplots. I like the main character but there was never a hook for me. #roll100
3.5/5⭐ This book is a combination of specific helpful info/advice, generic unhelpful info/advice, simplistic idealism, implementable practicality, personal memoir, and wonderful validation. I loathe the new trend of books putting their citations and resources lists on a website; they should be printed in the book, full stop. #doublespin
Foxes in Love Vol. 1 won February, but The Hero's Closet edges it out by half a star. #readingbracket2024
4/5⭐ As a reference it's wonderfully informative with tons of illustrations and photos. The author uses muslin to demonstrate so many variations of gathering, shirring, ruffles, flounces, godets, pleating, smocking, tucking, cording, quilting, stuffing, and darts. She also shows how combinations of these methods can be used to produce beautiful patterns in creative projects. I can see why this book is recommended in crafting circles so often.
0/5⭐ I feel horrible for the ADHDer who is subject to these methods.
The part that broke me: “Better [your college kid] should run out of clothes once a week and then stand staring at the dryer in their bathrobe, totally focused, because they are hungry and need clothes to enter the dining hall.“
Full context and rage review at https://hissingpotatoes.com/2024/02/27/review-organizing-solutions-for-people-wi....
3/5⭐ The design of the book pages is cute and pleasant. There are tons of recipes for every part of the body in a variety of applications. I would have liked more information about what the individual ingredients do so that I could make informed substitutions and customizations if I couldn't get a particular component, especially since many of them are not common. There are some warnings but they're not complete.
3/5⭐ Claims that you can use essential oils in place of extracts, which is false and dangerous. Doesn't need to repeat that the foods are sugar and carb free every single page. Helpfully provides vegetarian/vegan/dairy-free/nut-free options in the recipes. The majority and strength of this book lie in the sweet fat bombs, though the savory recipes are good templates for making your own combinations.
2/5⭐ I'm giving up 80 pages in. The description would be lush and beautiful if the characters and plot counterbalanced it. Without that balance, the description is just slow distraction. I'm still not sure what the plot or hook are that I'm supposed to care about. The characters are flat, the women caricatures of actual people. There's decent humor, but not nearly enough to justify me continuing to slog through the book. #bookspin
3.5/5⭐ If I see the words “low carb“ or “healthy“ one more time I'll scream.
When you read enough of Slajerova's cookbooks, you start to see near repetition in the recipes.
That said, there's a good variety of cuisines represented, the recipes look yummy, and the keto information covers many considerations. In conjunction with other resources, the book is a good starting point for those considering keto or looking for more recipes.
4/5⭐ A good variety of keto recipes that sound delicious. The instructions and keto information are easy to understand. The design of the book is very pleasing.
4/5⭐ The time estimates for each recipe must be for super chefs, because it takes me a lot longer to prep. That said, the recipes in this book are relatively simple and look delicious. The skillet berry crumble was a big hit at a family gathering.
4/5⭐ Lots of yummy-looking recipes and useful information for eating a keto diet. I like the section for homemade basics to have on hand instead of sugar-laden store-bought versions. Most of the nutrition information is roughly accurate when I calculated it for myself, but for some reason recipes with bone-in meat are way different.
3.5/5⭐ Uses the g-slur. Claims to provide identification info, but the author directs readers to other resources. The author explains how she uses these herbs in daily life for maximum practicality. The warnings are mostly sufficient. The instructions are very clear, and the recipes are useful, varied, and easy. This book is a good starting point for beginning herbalists and a compendium of more ideas for experienced herbalists.
3/5⭐ I lost interest about halfway through. The mystery of Abe's history and Jacob's exploration were more engaging than the typical bad-guy-does-bad-things of the second half. The age discrepancy in the romance put me off. #roll100 #52BookClub24 apostrophe in title
3/5⭐ I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
If we're supposed to root for the protagonist's final actions, the author's sense of justice is very different from mine. Eveen is a colorful character whose unorthodox methods & foul mouth drive this story. The worldbuilding is complex, the action smart, dark, & brutal.
Full review: https://hissingpotatoes.com/2024/02/15/review-the-dead-cat-tail-assassins-by-p-d... #doublespin
4/5⭐ Really fun, cute, relatable, and heartfelt. Perfect for fans of Catana Comics and Sarah Andersen. #Buzzwordathon
Excuse me I came here for silly comics, not to be hit in the gut with a freight train.
4/5⭐ Even though there are only 12 projects, it's the ideas for mixing and matching techniques that really make this book so useful. The steps and images are clear, and the projects range from beginner to advanced.
2/5⭐ A weird combo of proper contraindication/safety warnings, false info, & bizarre/unrealistic foods to avoid (e.g. oranges, black pepper). The sources are just a list of notes in the back with no access dates or in-text indications that they exist. The supplements/herbs sections include info on what they supposedly do but not quantities/frequencies. I feel overwhelmed & like I don't have an action plan for actually implementing anything.
Admittedly many of the books I read last month were short sewing ones, but I'm still happy I got a #BookSpinBingo blackout!
I created my own #readingbracket2024, and my January pick is The Hero's Closet!
2.5/5⭐ Almost every other project is just a pillow variation, so I'm not impressed. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, though.
4/5⭐ I'll be thinking about this book for a while. It's not perfect, but it has a lot of things to say about life. I enjoyed the ride.
I like Addie's stubbornness & love for new experiences, the central complicated relationship between her & the darkness.
It feels like Henry's origin of “feeling too much“ & his throwaway statement that he “used to be“ Jewish implies things about emotions & Jewishness that I don't think the author intended.
2.5/5⭐ The plot follows two competing groups of scientists trying to build a contraption to get them to the center of the earth, not the journey to or within the center of the earth. The story was slow at times. I got through because of the fantastical ideas and imagery, Blaylock's prose, and the hook of seeing from the perspective of a mentally unstable character. The treatment of an Asian character was racist. #roll100
3/5⭐ While the projects, primarily folios and pouches, are useful, there are few illustrations compared to steps involved. Considering how complex some of the projects are, it just gets confusing.
3.5/5⭐ A nice variety of projects for many storage needs, creatively utilizing available spaces in a sewing area. Sometimes a step doesn't have a corresponding picture despite the written instructions being confusing without one, but overall everything seems manageable.
4/5⭐ I love anything to do with organizing, and this book hit the spot. These projects offer lots of variety for storage, containers, and organizers for the home. Some are more complex than others, but the photographs make the instructions easier to follow. Most of the projects are likely for sewists who have some experience already.
3.5/5⭐ A nice variety of advent calendar formats and ideas, not just single sheets with pockets to hang on a wall. There's even one for dog treats!
3/5⭐ The projects are divided into various Christmas styles (rustic, Scandinavian, traditional, monochrome, kids, and contemporary). There's some repetition of project ideas, like stockings and wreaths, but if you're really into Christmas decorations this book will be great for you.
4/5⭐ These projects are simple, practical, pretty, and cute. I like how the author coordinated and themed them according to various rooms of the house. They work well together as sets either for yourself or as gifts.