Review: Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played To Win by Rachel Ignotofsky

Title: Women In Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played to Win
Author: Rachel Ignotofsky
Source/Format: Blogging for Books; Hardcover
More Details: Nonfiction; Sports
Publisher/Publication Date: Ten Speed Press; July 18, 2017
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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Women in Sports highlights notable women's contributions to competitive athletics to inspire readers young and old. Keeping girls interested in sports has never been more important: research suggests that girls who play sports get better grades and have higher self-esteem--but girls are six times more likely to quit playing sports than boys and are unlikely to see female athlete role models in the media. A fascinating collection full of striking, singular art, Women in Sports features 50 profiles and illustrated portraits of women athletes from the 1800s to today including trailblazers, Olympians, and record-breakers in more than 40 different sports. The book also contains infographics about relevant topics such as muscle anatomy, a timeline of women's participation in sports, statistics about women in athletics, and influential female teams...

 Last year, I had the chance to receive a copy of Women in Science for review, and it ended up being one of my favorite reads of 2016. And now, Rachel Ignotofsky has released a new book, Women in Sports. I'm excited to talk about about this book since it's my latest nonfiction read, and it deals with sports. By the way, I don't follow sports like that. I'm more of a casual observer, but it's nice to know more about those who are considered pioneers in their respective sport—at least by name—and Women in Sports does just that.

Like Ignotofsky’s last book, Women in Sports was comprised of 50 profiles of women who excel at what they do. It included names like Serena Williams, Simone Biles, Danica Patrick, Kelly Clarke, Althea Gibson, Kristi Yamaguchi, and many others that I wasn't familiar with. The profiles are relatively short with a page of illustrations and another with a neat summary of early life and crowning/breakthrough moments. I honestly didn't mind because I went into this book expecting summaries. That being said, Women in Sports introduced me to a lot of women athletes that I'd honestly never heard of before. Another thing I want to mention was the overall design of this book. I loved it. The pages were colorful and covered in illustrations specifically tailored to the subject of each profile. I also liked the fact that there were a couple of other things added to this book like a chart on muscle anatomy and a timeline of when major accomplishments were made by various female athletes. Some of my other favorite profiles included:

• Anita Defrantz (Rower and Athletic Administrator)
• Deng Yaping (Ping Pong Player) (Professional ping pong is intense. Don't believe me? Look up some of Deng Yaping's matches on youtube). 
• Gertude Ederle (Distance Swimmer)
• Ashley Fiolek (Motorcross Rider)
• and Melissa Stockell (Paratriathhlete)

Overall, Women in Sports is a good reference book and I look forward to Ignotofsky’s future work. I’m definitely going to keep this one on my shelf.

This copy of the book was provided by Blogging for Books for this review.

About the author...

Rachel Ignotofsky grew up in New Jersey on a healthy diet of cartoons and pudding. She graduated with honors from Tyler School of Art’s graphic design program in 2011. Now she lives in beautiful Kansas City, Missouri, where she spends all day drawing and learning as much as she can. She has a passion for taking dense information and making it fun and accessible and is dedicated to creating educational works of art. Rachel is inspired by history and science and believes that illustration is a powerful tool that can make learning exciting. She uses her work to spread her message about education, scientific literacy, and powerful women. She hopes this book inspires girls and women to follow their passions and dreams...

Music Monday (30): Black Eyed Peas, Disclosure and Lion Babe

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: Lately, I’ve gone back and listened to a lot of favorite songs that I haven’t thought of in years. The last time I participated in Music Monday, I talked about Rock Angelz. Well, from there, I’ve gone back to Monkey Business by Black Eyed Peas, Lincoln Park, Christina Agulara, and even Gwen Stefani. Anyway, I’m here to talk about The Black Eyed Peas. Back in 2005 Monkey Business was my go-to music. No playlist, just the album. It’s hard to believe that Monkey Business has been out for twelve years already. My first pick is Disco Club. To this day, Disco club still has one of the catchiest beats I’ve ever heard. There’s something kind of groovy about this song. I love it.

 My second pick is Don’t Lie. After all these years, Don't Lie is still one of my favorite songs from the Monkey Business Album.

Adri:I have a small confession. There are moments in time that I don’t listen to music, at least not like that. When start listening to music again, the first thing I put in the search bar is my pick for Music Mondays: Hourglass by Disclosure featuring Lion Babe. Not only do I love this song but when I found it, I also found a new artist.

What are you listening to this week?

Album Review: Dark Matter by Les Friction

Title: Dark Matter

Band/Artist(s): Les Friction (Even Frankfort, Helmet Vonlichten, Paint), also Featuring Emily Valentine and Laura Fabian

Source/Format: Les Friction; CD

Label/ Release date: Moriposa Lane Music, INC/ Would Work Sound LLC; August 25, 2017

OfficialSite Bandcamp     Itunes     Spotify       Amazon      CDbaby

I first heard of Les Friction in an epic music compilation. This was a few years ago when I first began listening to this genre of music. Like any music junkie, I’ve checked to see if new music was on the horizon. My day lit up when I saw the tweet announcing Dark Matter was coming out.

Not only did this album meet my expectations, it exceeded them. Every millisecond is perfect, starting with Your World Will Fail. This song starts calm and then changes about midway. At this point it morphs into something more, resulting in a pleasant mix of instrumentals and vocals. Other songs including Who Will Save You Now, Dark Matter, and Firewall seems to follow this pattern somewhat too. Obviously, like any album, Dark Matter has calm moments too. I Remember and You Always Knew add a touch of sincere tranquility. These two duets with Emily Valentine and Laura Fabian, respectively, occasionally misted my eyes. The album ended with Kashmir (which is a cover of a song by Led Zeppelin); the only thing I can say is that it is the perfect way to end an album.

Due to the fact that each track was diverse in sound and lyric, the whole album maintained a certain aesthetic. Not one felt out of place. Actually, a host of emotions were elicited as I listened to each song. I’m not even sure they are nameble. To put it simply, it’s like finding that perfectly tailored dress. I love it!

I recieved this CD from Les Fricition for this review.

The Friday 56 (112) & Book Beginnings: Women in Sports: 50 Fearless Athletes Who Played To Win by Rachel Ignotofsky

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Women in Sports highlights notable women's contributions to competitive athletics to inspire readers young and old. Keeping girls interested in sports has never been more important: research suggests that girls who play sports get better grades and have higher self-esteem--but girls are six times more likely to quit playing sports than boys and are unlikely to see female athlete role models in the media. A fascinating collection full of striking, singular art, Women in Sports features 50 profiles and illustrated portraits of women athletes from the 1800s to today including trailblazers, Olympians, and record-breakers in more than 40 different sports. The book also contains infographics about relevant topics such as muscle anatomy, a timeline of women's participation in sports, statistics about women in athletics, and influential female teams...

Beginnings: "Florence Madeline "Madge" Cave was born in 1881 and grew up in England. During the winter, men and women enjoyed skating, but women were not allowed to participate in any of the competitions." 

56: "First gymnast in history to be awarded a score of a perfect 10.0"

Comments: I read Rachel Ignotofsky's other book, Women in Science, and really enjoyed it. So, I was excited for Women in Sports. I liked this book a lot, mainly because it introduced me to a number of female athletes that I've never heard of before. My beginning comes from page 11 and the 56 is talking about the gynmnast Nadia Comăneci. 

Have you recently read any nonfiction? Or what are you reading this week?

Review: The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis

Title:The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart
Author: Stephanie Burgis
Source/Format: Borrowed from the Library; Hardcover
More Details: Middle Grade; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Bloomsbury US; May 30, 2017

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Aventurine is the fiercest, bravest dragon there is. And she's ready to prove it to her family by leaving the safety of their mountain cave and capturing the most dangerous prey of all: a human. But when the human she finds tricks her into drinking enchanted hot chocolate, Aventurine is transformed into a puny human girl with tiny blunt teeth, no fire, and not one single claw. But she's still the fiercest creature in the mountains -- and now she's found her true passion: chocolate! All she has to do is get herself an apprenticeship (whatever that is) in a chocolate house (which sounds delicious), and she'll be conquering new territory in no time...won't she?

The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart is one book I’ve been waiting for since I first heard about it sometime last year—I can’t remember the exact date now, I just know that it was a long time ago. This isn’t the first book I’ve read by Stephanie Burgis, but it’s certainly one of my favorites. I sped through this book. I read it in almost one sitting and can say that The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart was such a cute story filled with magic, chocolate, and of course dragons.

I have to admit that I was looking forward to this book because of who Burgis choose to be the narrator of the story. I think it was a great decision because Aventurine was such an interesting character. She was a dragon who thought she knew everything there was to know, and set out to prove just that. However, it becomes quickly apparent that Aventurine still had a lot to learn about herself and the world outside her cavern home. The other dragons were a point of interest too. I loved all the scenes with Aventurine’s family, and it was interesting to see Burgis’ portrayal with what life was like for younger dragons—like, for example, what was expected of them, what they were supposed to learn, etc..

Chocolate—you can’t go wrong with something like that. I loved how chocolate was used in the story. It was my second-most favorite part of The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, because it wasn’t just there. Instead, Burgis explored how chocolate—and other chocolaty desserts and drinks—were made, and I thought that was a pretty neat thing to include.

Yeah, The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart is one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. And, now that I looked at the Goodreads page again, I noticed that there appears to be another book in the series. So, in light of that, I look forward to reading more of Stephanie Burgis’ books.