Non-Fiction

Low Budget Tricks for Small Spaces

2014, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

Well. It was pretty. That’s just about the only good thing I can say about Low Budget Tricks for Small Spaces.

I picked this one up at the library because, well, it was pretty. Unfortunately there’s almost no text in the book and the “low budget tricks” didn’t appear to be very low budget, as far as I could tell. I also couldn’t always figure out what the “trick” was.

I’m not going to say it was a waste of time because it was very pretty and there were some super interesting rooms. It just wasn’t a very helpful book if you wanted, umm, low budget tricks for small rooms.

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Snowflakes, Sunbursts, and Stars

2013, Art, Books in Bed, Non-Fiction /

Jenna tweeted me about Snowflakes, Sunbursts, and Stars so I had to reserve it at the library. What she doesn’t know is that I’m a horrible quiller and an almost equally bad origami and kirigami person. I love all of the papercrafts but I’m not meticulous enough for them and I get frustrated. I also have problems understanding written origami directions. TELL me which fold to make and I’m good — show me in diagrams and I’m probably going to screw it up 15 times.

This book is GORGEOUS. Every single star, sunburst and snowflake. I wanted them all and I loved the project ideas in the back. It was almost gorgeous enough to make me want to try a few projects. Thankfully a good night’s sleep was enough to knock that idea out of my head. However, I think Elly might be game to give a few a try so I’m going to try and find my papers and see if I can convince her to make me one for Christmas…

Wish me (her? us?) luck — we’re going to need it through no fault of the book, which is really really beautiful.

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Relish

2013, Books in Bed, Comics & Graphic Novels, Non-Fiction, Women /

I grabbed Relish to take to the hospital yesterday when we took TW’s mom to the ER — and I finished it before the doctor had even made his way in to see her. It’s a super fast read, as graphic novels often are.

I liked it, though not as much as I’d hoped — based on whatever reviews or reading list I read that caused me to reserve it last week. But, it was good — I just had super, super high expectations.

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Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World

2013, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Non-Fiction, Women, Young Adult /

The last of the Cybils non-fiction about Temple Grandin. I was a little surprised since it seemed like Temple Grandin was every where a few years ago and I thought I’d probably be bored with this. I wasn’t. And, TW especially liked it, though that shouldn’t surprise anyone — Moo!

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4 Middle Grade and YA Non-Fiction

2013, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Non-Fiction, Young Adult /

More catch up book blogging — Cybil blogging, to be specific.

Bomb: The Race to Build–and Steal–the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon was the book I didn’t expect to love because how many times can you read about this topic and learn something new or find it fresh and interesting. Or maybe that’s just me because chemistry and bombs are not my thing. However, this was better than I expected — not so much for the spy factor, but for the inclusion of the race toward the bomb that was happening in the USSR and in Germany. That made it more interesting than just a straight how we got the bomb (and used it) sort of thing.

I really enjoyed the Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War. I mean really enjoyed it. Those poor kids. I cannot imagine how confused they, particularly the older ones and not the babies, were.

I liked Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 well enough. It was a little long but Moonbird himself is awesome. Which reminds me, I meant to see if there had been any more sightings since this book was written.

I’m not a big fan of books about the Titanic but I liked Titanic: Voices From the Disaster more than I expected to. It, too, was a little long but not so boring that I didn’t read it straight through.

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Quick Escapes Chicago

2013, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction /

I didn’t have any books on my library cart that I really wanted to read enough to commit to them — not when I’ve got a dozen waiting for me at the library that I really want to red before the end of the year. And, I also want to put in a lot of hours on JMP’s Christmas stocking this month so… what to do last night when I wanted to read something but didn’t have anything I really wanted to spend a lot of time on.

I discovered I did have a very old version of Quick Escapes Chicago sitting on the library cart (huh, I thought I’d read all of the travel guides I reserved back in October but I guess not.) Quick, easy read and now I can move onto stuff that I really want/need to read. And, it was one of the best “beyond Chicago” travel books I’ve read. Outdated, certainly, but a good set of excursion recommendations. It made me want to pack up and head out for a day or three.

I’ll remember that for the next time we decide to take a mini vacation.

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Superman: The Unauthorized Biography

1 Comment / 2013, Books in Bed, Comics & Graphic Novels, Non-Fiction /

I’m not a diehard Superman fan. I’ve probably only read a handful of his comics over the last 50 years. I know I’ve only seen a couple of the movies. I liked the old TV show but if I had to choose, I’d always choose Batman.

So the fact that I impulse picked up Superman: The Unauthorized Biography is kind of amusing. The fact that I read every word is just plain weird. It took days — days when I’m way behind on what I want/planned/need to read. I couldn’t help it. Even though it was pretty much the same ole thing for every period of time:

– Origin story.
– Fashion changes.
– Lois/Clark/Lana/Superman angst.
– Bad guys.
– Let’s kill him/reboot.

And do it all over again. And again and again and again and again.

Still. There was something oddly compelling about the book. I kept stopping to watch video or surf comic covers for each of the time periods I was reading about. I kind of want to watch a Superman marathon now… in fact, I might do that next week instead of going back to Dawson’s Creek… maybe. It’s a good thing the STUPID Davis St. project is still only 70% (or something) completed because otherwise I might be tempted to stop at the comic book store next week when I pick up the girls from their father’s apartment. Wait, maybe the construction will be done by then… nah.

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The Endangered Species Road Trip

1 Comment / 2013, Books in Bed, Favorites, Non-Fiction /

The Brookfield Zoo has some great books in their gift shops. TW spotted The Endangered Species Road Trip in one of them and I reserved it at the library. It was excellent. I read the entire thing yesterday.

Environmentalist books can be… preachy. And sometimes dry. And also a little boring. This one was none of those things. It was interesting and amusing and it made me think about what I’d like to see on my own endangered species road trip, someday.

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