pickHonest, pragmatic, vulnerable.
Subjectively, I can say, as an atheist who has previously dabbled in neopaganism/Wicca, there was a lot of relatable content in here.
But there were also a multitude of experiences and thoughts that stretched my credulity: I couldn't follow the author in all of her reasoning, interpretation, anxiety, over-thinking, and what appeared to be emotional trauma, occasionally leaking out during her practice. 1/?
Demon smurf summoning! But not really? 🫣
The hazards of over-reliance on textual interpretation...
pickAbsolutely lovely! Can easily see it becoming a picture book classic for a new generation. A timeless story of finding family, of the changes in growing up, of finding love and acceptance as your idea of family grows too.
The art and the writing are a charming match. ❤️
pickThe outlandish fun continues. 🤪
Highlights for me in this volume include:
Cat chase while errand running- the ending! 😍
Volleyball rematch calling on the power of princess and wife 😉
Bonus story where Miku critiques her own dream's internal logic/premise for a magical girl transformation story 😆
“...the incense of climate change.“ 😬
I'm gonna remember that one.
Today's 'scratched my brain just right' sentence.
so-soI guess my main question is what's the difference between meditating and meandering?
A pastiche of reminiscing on personal train journeys past in North America and Europe, shared travel experiences with others, snippets of personal history, discussion of train travel history and trivia, reflecting on moments in quarantine when travel is not possible and the author is determining what she gets out of it.
1/2
so-soOdd experience for me as an adult reader. I love picture books, when you can spend a brief moment in a little story, when consuming the text arguably takes less time than admiring the illustrations.
I enjoy a lot of graphic novels, where the image vs text consumption time is about equal.
But there's something about early reader level chapter books with a smattering of illustrations - it's like the ratio is off. 1/?
so-soOof. It feels a little weird to still be championing Daniel Mason's writing, when in other hands, I'd be explaining that this novel lived up to every expectation of a tragic war-torn novel and its predictable plot beats. Did I see everything coming? No. But did I guess exactly how it would end just over halfway through? Yes. We can have the discussion about an author skillfully leading you towards a conclusion, 1/?
Offering prospective partners that will make materially advantageous matches to banish the ghostly remembrances of the woman he's still in love with? Yeah, exorcism sounds about right.
Taking a moment to be grateful for modern medicine. 🫣 If anyone wants to fill me in on the early medical trivia that explains why beef tea is good for skin infections, I'm all ears!
“...the curative power of manliness...“ Yeesh. 🤦🏼♂️
pickThe over-the-top ridiculousness continues, to my great joy.
Highlights this volume for me include:
-Reconciling the characters battling in a performance for children with a tea ceremony of Tatsu's making, who are swayed from their planned performance out of sheer terror of Tatsu
-the retired mob boss who's a big softie for dogs
-the former mob boss's wife, now diligent grocery store employee, playing peekaboo with a kitten
🥰
so-soThat was a LOT. Not entirely certain if this particular storyline continues after this book, but at least for now, I think I've had my fill of alternate worlds where Batman is in even rougher shape.
The multiverse, the look at Batman and the Joker, their psychology, remains interesting, but the emphasis on endless battle is exhausting. I'm glad to see Tim go looking, but the poor boy's still full of drama, 1/?
pickYep, turns out I did read this before, but I only actually remembered the first story, so here are my expanded thoughts, since I didn't say much the first time 'round. One day I will stop being surprised by how dark a book with the word dark in the title can be. 🙄
Honestly, in that all the characters are still in a state where they believe in fighting the (nigh insurmountable, omnipresent) bad guys, as opposed to grimly resigned 1/?
Today's 'scratched my brain just right' sentence.
Evidence for my longed-for hypothesis. I sincerely believe train travel will be my favourite, if I ever get the chance. 🫤
Yes, that is a retired mob boss losing it over how cute his dog looks in its new sweater in the top panel, and kicking his feet up in the impromptu photoshoot in the bottom left panel. 😍
Relatable: Read three books and two journal articles, then I might be open-minded about it... 🥴
Mom's winning! 😅
so-soFeeling a little weird about this one...
At first you've got the 'archaeology is nifty, here's some nifty archaeology!' Like a 'series of articles interviewing different archaeologists' feel, kind of chatty pop science narration vibes.
Then: uh oh, but it's really hard to get a decent paying job, or funding, or legal protection for sites, often at the mercy of private developers, and then there's identifying human remains from historical wars 1/?
He made a friend! 🥹♥️🦙
Preservation and conservation: keep the history found from being lost. 👏🏻
“To some extent, archaeologists find what they're looking for, and if you never look for evidence of powerful women, even if the hills and valleys are full of queens and warriors, they'll be invisible.“ 👸🏿👸🏽👸🏾👸🏻🙌🏻
Prime candidate for a cozy mystery series. 🥸
One plant heals, another harms...😬🫣
pickThe wacky shenanigans with the history/threat but not the reality of violence, more absurd parody of it, continues.
The highlight for me this volume were the chapters focusing on the sweetest father-in-law ever.
The dessert competition with social media engagement stakes is runner up.
I'm noticing some traditional gender norm judgements on display, but its limited to antagonists spouting such nonsense, and unorthodox-ly contested by our 1/?
Tatsu, the original cornball.🥰
pickIf I had a coffee table, this would definitely be on it. This book indicates that there are variations in Harris's style, not all pieces are the same carefully-coloured, impressionist brush-stroke versions of sci fi scenes shown to such great effect on John Scalzi's Old Man's War series book covers.
A large portion of the art in this collection is similar in style however, and surprise, all are my new favourites.
1/?
Last look: toasty alien landscapes. 🔥🐦🔥
pickHeck of a mix in this one.
Leather Bound is dark, grotesque, heavy on the violence to animals and involves one person with icky rash and one guy with multiple limbs getting eaten. There's a message and a hint of psychological musing in there, but I'd be less nauseous if I skipped it.
1/?
Does anybody else see a happy little bug?
Like the palette of an autumn day brushed over the scene of new visitors. 🍂🍁
pickI loved this SO MUCH! You know that phrase 'brain teaser'? Well this was a cross between a 'brain engager' and a 'brain happy-er'. 😁 I honestly think the the title and cover do the book a disservice because it's a such a clever, well-crafted little collection of poems. On top of both the title and the poem itself in each case indicating an image related to the subject matter, most of the poems had a pleasant rhythm and a rhyming scheme. 1/2
You know that quote from Last Holiday, where Queen Latifah's character is admiring the hotel and asks : “don't that ceiling ever just make you want to cry?“
THAT'S how I feel about John Harris's impressionist sci fi art. Forgive the genre pun, but I find a lot of typical, modern sci fi art to be alienating. It's sharp and cold. Even if the subject matter is about what is unknown, I need to know there can be warmth and softness and colour.
Awwww, Alfred voice for encouragement. 🥹
pickAs seems to be happening more often these days, the non-fiction that has been staring at me from the depths of my TBR for years, are turning out to be great reads that I wish I read earlier.
In this case, I'm very glad I have the full picture of what this book offers by reading it 'in one go', but I think its strength will be in its use as a manual, something to refer back to repeatedly along the craftivist journey, in addition to the online 1/?
pickPleasantly pointless. There's a meandering humour to the task not going to plan, and then the somewhat abstract ending. It gave me a giggle and a chance to see more of Klassen's art, so mission accomplished. ☺️
Helmuth retains a grounded sensitivity to issues of cultural appropriation, racism, history of colonialism, gimmick/snake oil/consumerism which can creep into the craft and religion, as well as raising some points specific to a more recent look at Wicca: the limitations provided by older texts' emphasis on the gender binary of the God and 1d
⚠️Animal death
1d