Book review: Craftfulness

I saw this book in a display at the library last month because apparently March is crafts month or something to that effect. The full title is "Craftfulness: Mend Yourself by Making Things." I expected the book to be different than what it ended up being like. It was okay, and I managed to finish it, though it was a drag to read and many times I'd read just a few pages, then stop. It was disappointing. 

It seemed to be aimed at a reader who is unfamiliar with and/or doesn't really understand the value of partaking in craft projects and making things. I am not that person, so I found the book bland and off-base and didn't think it offered much insight. It was a rather surface-level exploration of the subject matter -- I wish it had gone more into some kind of sociological/cultural analysis of crafting, its role/view/impact in society, that sort of thing. There were many brief excerpts of statements from various crafters where they talked about the crafts they pursue and what it means to them, etc. Many of these statements were not actually that interesting. 

At the end of the book, there are instructions for six beginner projects in different crafts (weaving, knitting in moss stitch, bookbinding, drawing, writing, clay, darning). I have no interest in darning (a form of mending) and the other things I already know how to do and/or could easily figure out (at a beginner level) without the use of this book's instructions. There's also an appendix section recommending further reading or resources, which was possibly the most useful part of the book. 

Although this book was rather boring and underwhelming, I guess it counts towards my reading challenge because it's written for an adult audience. It was pretty short, but felt like a slog to read. At least it was good for something to read in very short intervals when the circumstances weren't right to really dig into something with more substance.   

Book review: vintage Nancy Drew

I went to a little free library yesterday and there were two vintage copies of some Nancy Drew books. These copies mentioned a copyright date of 1940-something and 1950-something (the books were not directly subsequent parts of the series) so I was wondering if they were original editions. After looking it up online, I found out that these editions were published in the 1960s, so they're still pretty old. 

These books were further along in the series than I remember reading as a kid, so I was curious about what I'd think of them now. The editions from the 1960s contain only one illustration at the beginning and one on the cover, compared to more recent editions (from the 1980s to present-day) that contained a few illustrations interspersed throughout the book. 

This does not count towards my reading challenge, as these books are not primarily written for an adult audience. I remember reading books from this series in 3rd grade, possibly a little before or after that too.

This book, The Clue in the Jewel Box (#20 in the series), was a very quick read; I probably finished it within an hour or so. The general tone of the book was as I remembered it, and the primary recurring characters (Nancy's best friends, father, housekeeper, and boyfriend) were familiar. 

In the past, when reading them as a kid, I didn't pay much heed to trying to analyze the setting or that kind of thing. Apparently, the town that Nancy lives in (River Heights) is fictional, but I was wondering where it was supposed to be based on. 

If I had to guess, it might've been based on a town in upstate New York. It's mentioned that the town is on a river, and there's another town across the river, as well as ferry service on the river. The town isn't portrayed as extremely small. In this particular book, a building built during the revolutionary period is mentioned, which also implies that the location is somewhere that was part of the original 13 colonies. 

The books are still interesting and entertaining enough, albeit rather brief to read now. There's also a nostalgia element. I can't say whether children nowadays would be interested in this series, since maybe they can't even read well enough to even read a book in the first place.  

Book review: more graphic novels

I'm continuing to work away at the stack of library books from the graphic novels section. I was pleasantly surprised that this library branch has a decent selection of some slightly more obscure or indie comics, rather than just a bunch of manga and superhero stuff. I don't know how the selection in this library compares to other branches in the same library system, but I guess I could check the online catalog. 

Here, by Richard McGuire: I happen to be drawn to more experimental comics, such as this one. It consists of somewhat disjointed scenes of what happens in a specific location over the course of decades, hundreds, thousands and even millions of years. It doesn't have a super clear plot, but some of the characters are seen repeatedly at different parts in the book. 

The colors in this comic are somewhat muted and mostly monochromatic (rotating through different color schemes), but rich. I liked the art style. It seemed to have been drawn in maybe pencil or crayon, something like that. I'd like to own a copy of this book. Thematically, it's a little bit similar to the premise of "Sunday," which I saw at SPX last year but did not buy at that time because it was too expensive. Additionally, it's also reminiscent of the sound sculpture "forest (for a thousand years)" 

If you like experimental comics, this one is good, but if you don't like experimental comics, you probably won't like this one. 

Keeping Two, by Jordan Crane: This comic wasn't that experimental, but it was more indie (turns out it was published by Fantagraphics, an indie comics publisher that had a table at SPX). It depicts two different couples (who don't seem to know each other) as they undergo difficulties and arguments in their relationships. From the bright and cheery looking green cover, I assumed this would be a more upbeat and positive story than it actually was. The art style is done entirely in a monochromatic but bright green palette, and the characters are drawn in a more cute-cartoony way rather than ultra-realism.  

Part of the comic depicts events in the "present day" for each couple, but other parts are memories, flashbacks or imagined scenarios. The "present day" panels are outlined with a solid line border, but the panels depicting memories or imagined scenes are not outlined. It was a little hard to determine whether some of the panels were memories of things that actually happened, or imagined scenes -- these were not differentiated between in terms of style, at least not that I could tell. 

Overall, it's basically a reflection on relationships and the strains that can arise in them. The difficulties the couples face were presented in a very realistic way, in terms of plot and dialogue. It's kind of depressing and heavy despite the vibrant green colors (an interesting juxtaposition, perhaps?). I liked it decently, but not enough to really want my own copy unless I found it for free or very cheaply in a thrift store.      

Commute: an illustrated memoir of female shame, by Erin Williams: This was a memoir-type comic with a simplistic and slightly wonky art style. It was also hand lettered, and the letters were a bit wonky as well. 

It describes the experiences of a woman who was an alcoholic and had sex with a bunch of different men during that time. The recollections of all that are framed against the background of her commute (on a train) to and from work. 

It was a little bit experimental, I suppose? The tone of it was rather stark, with the recollections about traumatic experiences and alcoholism interspersed with mundane things observed during her commute.  

This comic deals with some rather mature themes, like alcoholism, sex, sexual assault, and contains some explicit imagery, so it's aimed at an adult reader. 

I couldn't really relate to some of the main themes in this comic (the alcoholism, having sex with lots of different men while being alcoholic, being sexually assaulted), but it was still interesting I guess. Come to think of it, I can relate to being on a train, but I usually think about different things than what the author thought about during her commute, and/or think about them from a different lens. 

Some parts of the comic were even a bit funny in like a darkly humorous way, such as a scene describing a sexual encounter with a professor she met at her grandfather's funeral: "His skin hung on his body like old plastic bags." Towards the end of the comic, she does start to describe her experiences post-alcoholism and getting sober, and eventually having a baby.    

This one was rather different from other comics I've read, but it was interesting enough, as the experiences described in it are mostly foreign to me. I was surprised that many of the goodreads reviews for this one were negative, since the criticisms they made were not things I really noticed or took issue with. I don't really put much stock in goodreads reviews anyways, but occasionally it can be interesting to see what people are saying on there.