The Friday 56 (117) & Book Beginnings: Presence by Amy Cuddy

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...

Have you ever left a nerve-racking challenge and immediately wished for a do over? Maybe after a job interview, a performance, or a difficult conversation? The very moments that require us to be genuine and commanding can instead cause us to feel phony and powerless. Too often we approach our lives' biggest hurdles with dread, execute them with anxiety, and leave them with regret. By accessing our personal power, we can achieve "presence," the state in which we stop worrying about the impression we're making on others and instead adjust the impression we've been making on ourselves. As Harvard professor Amy Cuddy's revolutionary book reveals, we don't need to embark on a grand spiritual quest or complete an inner transformation to harness the power of presence. Instead, we need to nudge ourselves, moment by moment, by tweaking our body language, behavior, and mind-set in our day-to-day lives. Amy Cuddy has galvanized tens of millions of viewers around the world with her TED talk about "power poses." Now she presents the enthralling science underlying these and many other fascinating body-mind effects, and teaches us how to use simple techniques to liberate ourselves from fear in high-pressure moments, perform at our best, and connect with and empower others to do the same. Brilliantly researched, impassioned, and accessible, Presence is filled with stories of individuals who learned how to flourish during the stressful moments that once terrified them. Every reader will learn how to approach their biggest challenges with confidence instead of dread, and to leave them with satisfaction instead of regret...

Beginnings: "I'm sitting at the counter in my favorite Boston bookstore cafe, laptop open, writing."

56: "I am a lover of live music. I'm not willing to disclose the number of hours I've spent at concerts--from the tiniest bars to the biggest stadiums, from the most obscure indie bands to rock legends--but it's a lot."

Comments: Presence  by Amy Cuddy is another one of the books I checked out from the library. It's also my latest nonfiction read. Overall, the book presented some interesting ideas.

What are you reading this week? 

Thought Corner: Sakura Pigma Micron Pens

Name: Sakura Pigma Pens

Source: Purchased

Set: 8 count

Walmart     Michaels     Blick Art Materials     Amazon     Joanns

More info...

• Archival quality ink: is waterproof, chemical resistant, fade resistant, bleed free, quick drying, and pH neutral.
• Ideal for sketching, inking, and illustration.
• Includes 6 Pigma Micron, 1 Pigma Brush, and 1 Pigma Graphic

Today, I’m going to be talking about the Sakura Pigma Micron pen set that I bought. This is actually my first set of pens with archival quality ink, which is one of the reasons I’m so excited to talk about them. I’ve just used ballpoint pens, markers, and more recently Papermate Felt Tip Pens. So, I was ready to make the switch to fine liners.

A full list of the supplies I used for the painting will be down at the bottom of the post…

What I’m working on…

• A witch based off of a sketch from my sketchbook

Some things to know…

• The ink is waterproof (more on that later)
• These pens do not have an odor to them.
• Does not bleed when applied to paper
• Dries quickly

This is essentially what these look like. I had the choice of getting a smaller set, but choose to get the eight count since it had all the sizes I was looking for in fine liner pens.

Here's a quick swatch. As you can see, the sizes range from very thin to thicker darker lines. I personally prefer the look of thinner lines, but its nice to have the option to change that up when I want to. I also really like the brush pen.

Starting with the sketch…

The piece I’m talking about today is based off of a sketch of a witch from my sketchbook. I’d always planned to eventually turn it into a painting, and I figured that October was a good time to work on this one because of Halloween. Also, it gave me the perfect opportunity to test out these pens. I love these pens. It was definitely worth the price. They’re easy to use, and when I did a swatch of the pens I didn’t experience any dryness, which has happened to me on occasion with markers.

For this painting in particular, I wanted to keep the lines fairly thin because they weren’t that important to the overall piece. I used the 01 pen to ink the majority of the sketch. And the 1 graphic pen along the hat, eyes, and circle to darken the lines.

Next, I got to test out my favorite feature of these pens: they’re waterproof. I do a lot of watercolor painting, which is the reason why I originally looked into getting a set of these pens. Let me tell you, it’s awesome having these to use whenever I want to add a little more detail to my pieces before I begin painting. I love the fact that the ink dried quickly and it doesn’t smudge or bleed even when a lot of water was applied on top of it.

I pretty much just used some colored pencil to really get the color of the hair where I wanted it. I was pretty happy with how it looked at this point, but I later used some gel pen in order to really define some of the details I lost while adding color. I like the finished  painting more with the gel pen so the colors aren't just dark-on-dark-on dark.

Finished Painting

Overall…

I like these pens. I’m going to be able to get a good amount of use out of these pens, not just for paintings, but also inking sketches. These pens can be a little expensive, but if you get them from somewhere like Michaels, you can use coupons and easily get a good deal on them.

Full list of supplies used…

Sakura Pigma Micron pens

Reeves Watercolor Paint

Canson Watercolor Paper

Sakura Gelly Roll Gel Pen

Artist's Loft Colored pencil

Finally Fall Book Tag

I haven’t done a book tag in a very long time, and recently I’ve seen the Finally Fall Book Tag going around. I figured that it would be the perfect time to participate in it since its officially fall and October. Sorry summer, but I'm ready for cooler weather.

Before I get started, I have to get to the fine print for this post. This tag is created by Alina @ Tall Tales over on youtube. Check out her channel HERE and visit the original tag video HERE...

In fall, the air is crisp and clear: name a book with a vivid setting! 

I have two books for this answer: A Star-Touched Queen and A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi. The world within these books is awesome—layered with mythology, magic, mystery, and politics—and the setting is part of what makes the books so good.

Nature is beautiful… but also dying: name a book that is beautifully written, but also deals with a heavy topic like loss or grief. 

I also have two books for this questions. The first is The Reader by Traci Chee. There is a bittersweet note to this story. The characters deal with a lot of things like grief, betrayal, and loss. The Reader is a gorgeous tale, and I’m looking forward to the sequel, The Speaker. The second book is The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas—this one pretty much speaks for itself. 

Fall is back to school season: share a non-fiction book that taught you something new. 

I’m going to go with Gone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life Unstrung by Min Kym. I might have mentioned this book before during Music Monday, but the review is posted on a different blog. That being said, this is a memoir written by Min Kym about her life. Gone is a candid account of Min kym’s experience. It also illustrated the kind of care an instrument like a violin requires.

In order to keep warm, it’s good to spend some time with the people we love: name a fictional family/household/friend-group that you’d like to be a part of. 

Hmm, this question is a little hard. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any families or friend groups I’d want to be a part of. Actually, I’d join one of the houses from Aliette de Bodard’s The House of Shattered Wings. To date, this book has one of the more unique uses of the fallen-angle trope that I’ve seen. It’s still a cool story and one I’d like to eventually reread before getting the sequel. 

The colourful leaves are piling up on the ground: show us a pile of fall-colored spines! 

I was actually quite surprised by how many of the books on my shelf didn’t have fall colored spines, and I ended up having to just pick some at random. I still had some trouble finding enough books to even make this stack...

Fall is the perfect time for some storytelling by the fireside: share a book wherein somebody is telling a story. 

This is an easy choice for me: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco. I was late to the party. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter because I have read The Bone Witch and loved the story.

The nights are getting darker: share a dark, creepy read. 

Beasts Made of Night by Tochi Onyebuchi—which comes out October 31st, just in time for Halloween—isn’t necessarily creepy like that. However, the business of eating someone else’s sin and taking on the burden of their guilt, well, in my book that’s suitably creepy.

The days are getting colder: name a short, heartwarming read that could warm up somebody’s cold and rainy day. 

I really can’t think of any other book beside The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis. There’s a lot of chocolate involved.

Fall (luckily, it’s my favourite season) returns every year: name an old favourite that you’d like to return to soon.

There are actually a lot of books I would like to reread. One of them is Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. It’s been a couple of years since I initially read Ancillary Justice, and I recall enjoying the story.

Fall is the perfect time for cozy reading nights: share your favourite cozy reading “accessories”! Spread the autumn appreciation and tag some people!

I’ll tag anyone who wants to participate.

This tag reminded me of how much fun these types of post can be. If you have any book tag recommendations, feel free to leave them in the comments.

The Friday 56 (116) & Book Beginnings: The Creeps: A Deep Dark Fears Collection by Fran Krause

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...

A follow-up to the New York Times best-selling Deep Dark Fears: a second volume of comics based on people’s quirky, spooky, hilarious, and terrifying fears... 

Illustrator, animator, teacher, and comic artist Fran Krause has touched a collective nerve with his wildly popular web comic series–and subsequent New York Times best-selling book–Deep Dark Fears. Here he brings readers more of the creepy, funny, and idiosyncratic fears they love illustrated in comic form–such as the fear that your pets will tell other animals all your embarrassing secrets, or that someone uses your house while you’re not home–as well as two longer comic short-stories about ghosts...

Beginnings: "Oh, hello! Thanks for picking up this book. It's kinda scary. We should probably prepare a bit before we read it."

56: "Sometimes I can't help but worry that any one of the random strangers I pass might be my soul mate, and I'm missing our only chance to ever meet."

Comments: My beginning is from the introduction, and my 56 is from Fear #56 because...well, the pages aren't numbered. Anyway, I received this book earlier in the week for review. I really enjoyed this collection of comics, and found it to be kind of fitting to read in October. I mean, today is Friday the 13th...

What spooky books, comics, or short stories have you read so far in October?

Review: The Creeps: A Deep Dark Fears Collection by Fran Krause

Title: The Creeps
Author: Fran Krause
Source/Format: Blogging For Books; Hardcover
More Details: Comic; Humor
Publisher/Publication Date: Ten Speed Press; September 26, 2017
Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads...

A follow-up to the New York Times best-selling Deep Dark Fears: a second volume of comics based on people’s quirky, spooky, hilarious, and terrifying fears... 

Illustrator, animator, teacher, and comic artist Fran Krause has touched a collective nerve with his wildly popular web comic series–and subsequent New York Times best-selling book–Deep Dark Fears. Here he brings readers more of the creepy, funny, and idiosyncratic fears they love illustrated in comic form–such as the fear that your pets will tell other animals all your embarrassing secrets, or that someone uses your house while you’re not home–as well as two longer comic short-stories about ghosts...

I’m always on the lookout for collections—short comics or short stories—because I don’t read enough of them. When I came across The Creeps by Fran Krause, I was instantly interested. Before getting a copy of this book for review, I wasn’t familiar with Krause’s artwork. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I genuinely enjoyed this collection of short comics.

The Creeps is filled with comics about deep dark fears. Think along the lines of being haunted by pets, falling through a portal hidden on the floor, and empty mascot costumes. The majority of the comics were, on average, only four panels long, but they were mixed in with a couple of longer stories that took up more than one page. I was expecting to really get a kick out of The Creeps, but it didn’t really make me laugh as much as I’d expected. That being said, the comics were still kind of creepy, and I liked the illustrations—bonus points for the fact that they were all in color.

All in all, The Creeps was pretty much the perfect October read.

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

About the author...

Ananimator and cartoonist. He is currently a teacher in the character animation program at CalArts, creator of several cartoons, and the creator of the Deep Dark Fears webcomic series and book.

The Friday 56 (115) & Book Beginnings: The Unnatural World: The Race To Remake Civilization In Earth's Newest Age by David Biello

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...

With the historical perspective of The Song of the Dodo and the urgency of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, a brilliant young environmental journalist argues that we must innovate and adapt to save planet Earth...

Civilization is in crisis, facing disasters of our own making on the only planet known to bear life in the vast void of the universe. We have become unwitting gardeners of the Earth, not in control, but setting the conditions under which all of life flourishes—or not. Truly, it’s survival of the innovators. The Unnatural World chronicles a disparate band of unlikely heroes: an effervescent mad scientist who would fertilize the seas; a pigeon obsessive bent on bringing back the extinct; a low-level government functionary in China doing his best to clean up his city, and more. These scientists, billionaires, and ordinary people are all working toward saving the best home humanity is ever likely to have. What is the threat? It is us. In a time when a species dies out every ten minutes, when summers are getting hotter, winters colder, and oceans higher, some people still deny mankind’s effect on the Earth. But all of our impacts on the planet have ushered in what qualifies as a new geologic epoch, thanks to global warming, mass extinction, and such technologies as nuclear weapons or plastics. The Unnatural World examines the world we have created and analyzes the glimmers of hope emerging from the efforts of incredible individuals seeking to change our future. Instead of a world without us, this history of the future shows how to become good gardeners, helping people thrive along with an abundance of plants, animals, all the exuberant profusion of life on Earth—a better world with us. The current era of humans need not be the end of the world—it’s just the end of the world as we know it...

Beginnings: "The view from space changes people."

56: "Mud compresses under geologic pressure by as much as 90 percent, but sand is far more resistant, squeezing out water to compress by maybe 40 percent."

Comments: The Unnatural World is another one of the books I recently checked out from the library. This book focuses on an important topic: the environment. While I did like this book, it was still more of an average read. 

What are you reading this week?

Review: The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

Title: The Bone Witch
Author: Rin Chupeco
Source/Format: Borrowed from the library; Hardcover
More Details: Young Adult; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks Fire; March 7, 2017

Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble     Book Depository

Synopsis from Goodreads...

The beast raged; it punctured the air with its spite. But the girl was fiercer...

Tea is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy makes her a bone witch, who are feared and ostracized in the kingdom. For theirs is a powerful, elemental magic that can reach beyond the boundaries of the living—and of the human. Great power comes at a price, forcing Tea to leave her homeland to train under the guidance of an older, wiser bone witch. There, Tea puts all of her energy into becoming an asha, learning to control her elemental magic and those beasts who will submit by no other force. And Tea must be strong—stronger than she even believes possible. Because war is brewing in the eight kingdoms, war that will threaten the sovereignty of her homeland…and threaten the very survival of those she loves...

Man, The Bone Witch was something else. Before diving into this book I read about it and came across some mixed reviews. I do agree that it was like Strange the Dreamer in that they’re both slower moving fantasy novels. Time is spent developing the characters, and establishing the world. But that’s reasonable since both books have a complex society and magic that stems from mythology—stories, traditions, beliefs, and such. That being said, I honestly enjoyed this story from start to finish.

The Bone Witch has a dual storyline told mainly from the perspective of Tea and that of another person. Both perspectives detailed Tea’s life from when she first discovered her abilities and everything that happened after that point in time. I was a total fan of the choice of narrative for The Bone Witch. The style of storytelling was fitting for the kind of story that Chupeco was trying to tell. This wasn’t the most action packed book, but the mysteries between the dual perspectives was more than interesting enough to keep the pages turning.

The world Chupeco created was steeped in tradition and dependent on magic. The society of the Asha was also interesting. There was a clear difference between the way things actually were and how the main character, Tea, initially thought them to be.

Oh yeah, then there was that end. It can’t just end that way. It can’t. But it did. I have to admit that this book has one heck of a clever ending with a cliffhanger that I never saw coming. I have too many questions.

The Bone Witch is one of the best books I’ve read so far in 2017. I know that Chupeco has written a couple other books unrelated to this series, and I might eventually check them out. Beyond that, I’m more than excited for the sequel to this book. I’m ready for it to be here already, and it’s only been a couple of weeks since I read The Bone Witch.

Quarterly Recap: July-September

Hello, how have you been? Its finally fall, October is here, and today I'm going to be doing a quarterly recap. There have been some real highs and lows these past three months, but I'm going into October with a good dose of optimism (I'm finally over the reading slump I got stuck in during the middle of September, plus Halloween is coming)...

July Reviews:

• The Screaming Statue by Lauren Oliver & H.C. Chester
• The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman

August Reviews:

• The Library of Fates by Aditi Khorana
• Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
• Power Ranger (2017)
• The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis
• Dark Matter by Les Friction
• Women in Sports by Rachel Ignotofsky

September Review:

• Defy the Stars by Claudia Grey
• Canson Watercolor Paper

Other July Posts:

• Favorite Recipe: Baking Powder Pizza Crust
• Musing Monday: Favorite Podcasts
• Pardon the Construction
• Quarterly Recap (April-June)
• Weekend Tidbits #12: Art Haul

Other August Posts:

• The Time We Went to Coolirpa's 1 Million Subscriber Celebration
• Favorite Recipe: The Best Brownies

Other September Posts:

• Cover Reveal Blitz & Giveaway: Haven by Mary Lindsey 
• Favorite Recipe: Eggless Sugar Cookies

I'm looking forward to reading and accomplishing more during the rest of the year. That reading slump in September was just...ugh. However, while I wasn't reading, I had more time to work on some different posts for the blog, including a few more art supply reviews (one of them includes a fan art of Padme Amidala, which I'm super excited to talk about on the blog). I had a lot of fun writing about my paintings, and am planning to work on more art related things in the future.  

Also, it's freaking OCTOBER! Obviously, I’m looking forward to everything Halloween related including—but not limited to—movies, TV shows, and desserts/food/drinks.

The Friday 56 (114) & Book Beginnings: The Cosmic Web by J. Richard Gott

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...

J. Richard Gott was among the first cosmologists to propose that the structure of our universe is like a sponge made up of clusters of galaxies intricately connected by filaments of galaxies--a magnificent structure now called the "cosmic web" and mapped extensively by teams of astronomers. Here is his gripping insider's account of how a generation of undaunted theorists and observers solved the mystery of the architecture of our cosmos. "The Cosmic Web" begins with modern pioneers of extragalactic astronomy, such as Edwin Hubble and Fritz Zwicky. It goes on to describe how, during the Cold War, the American school of cosmology favored a model of the universe where galaxies resided in isolated clusters, whereas the Soviet school favored a honeycomb pattern of galaxies punctuated by giant, isolated voids. Gott tells the stories of how his own path to a solution began with a high-school science project when he was eighteen, and how he and astronomer Mario Juri? measured the Sloan Great Wall of Galaxies, a filament of galaxies that, at 1.37 billion light-years in length, is one of the largest structures in the universe. Drawing on Gott's own experiences working at the frontiers of science with many of today's leading cosmologists, "The Cosmic Web" shows how ambitious telescope surveys such as the Sloan Digital Sky Survey are transforming our understanding of the cosmos, and how the cosmic web holds vital clues to the origins of the universe and the next trillion years that lie ahead...

Beginnings: "Galileo once said: "Philosophy [nature] is written in that great book which ever is before our eyes--I mean the universe.... The book is written in mathematical language, and the symbols are triangles, circles, and other geometrical figures." So it proved to be with the arrangement of galaxies in the universe." 

56: "After Caltech, I went to Cambridge University and worked with Martin Rees, who was head of the Institute of Astronomy at the time."

Comments: My current read, The Cosmic Web by J. Richard Gott, has finally broken me out of the reading slump I've been stuck in for the past couple of weeks. 

What are you reading this week?