Librocubicularist October 2016

October is my favorite month of the year, it contains both my birthday and wedding anniversary, as well as the best weather of the year. It is finally cooling off, crisp fall temperatures make me want to be outside and also help my sleep more soundly at night. Unfortunately, fall is also a time when my allergies act up. However, that gives me plenty of opportunities to curl up with a good book and cup of hot cider...

Keeping a Nature Journal: Discover a Whole New Way of Seeing the World Around You by Clare Walker Leslie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am in love with the idea of keeping a journal but somehow in practice, it never quite works out. Nature journaling is especially appealing because it's a combination of things, writing, art, and documenting the world around you. I feel happy when I spend time outside but it doesn't often happen because I feel like I need a reason, something to do while I'm out there. With so many chores to do inside, 'doing nothing' outside seems wasting time, but updating your nature journal? That's worth doing. Right now I only have the beginnings of a nature journal. I use my phone to take photos of the sky and sometimes record the weather using Instaweather photos.

Our rosebush, complete with dried seed heads, full roses, and new buds in mid-October.

This book offers great advice for how I can expand on that.

There are lots of benefits involved in keeping a journal about nature and this book both begins and ends with listing them. It all begins with learning to observe and connect with the world around you. The first chapters give suggestions of places to begin journaling and questions to ask about the world around you. There are examples of different styles and layouts that can be used as well as basic drawing tips.

The bulk of the book explores the seasons, discussing elements to explore during each. For example, winter is an excellent time to look at the structure and shape of trees without leaves getting in the way. On the other hand, not much is going with animals during this time and you might have better luck recording indirect evidence of them, than actual sightings. There is an awesome chart with suggestions of things to draw and questions to explore concerning different aspects of nature such as the sky and weather or plants and trees, for each season.

The final section deals with teaching yourself and others how to improve your journaling. While there are short drawing exercises sprinkled throughout the book this section provides more detailed advice to practice drawings. From simple contour and gesture drawings to details on foreshortening and perspective there are a variety of exercises to help you capture as much information as possible before your subject moves. The section also includes a discussion of how to motivate beginning journalers both with reasons to keep the journal going and encouraging people who feel they can't draw. The last chapter deals with the many ways that nature journals can be used to form connections and teach other subjects. Aside from the obvious connections to science and art, there are suggestions for using journals in teaching math, language, and history lessons.

Rutabaga the Adventure Chef: Book 1 by Eric Colossal

Rutabaga the Adventure Chef: Book 2: Feasts of Fury by Eric Colossal

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

From the perspective of someone who plays fantasy RPG's and likes to read cookbooks, this series is awesome. Rutabaga is an adventure chef, someone who travels around searching for fantastic, exotic ingredients to use in his recipes. The stories include recipes both within the story and in an appendix at the back. The recipes presented at the end are inspired by the events of the story, not necessarily the dishes cooked in the story. They are short and easy to follow, with notes on where you may need an adult's help. Those in the story don't contain exact directions, partly because they use imaginary ingredients, but you should still be able to re-create the dishes if you have some cooking experience. It could be a lot of fun to experiment with your kids to create your own take on the recipe and would help teach how to improvise while cooking.

The stories make me want to create a master chef in a game as either a playable character or NPC. There's lots of potential for hilarious situations and I hope the series continues for some time.

The LEGO Christmas Ornaments Book by Chris McVeigh

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Christmas is my all-time favorite holiday and as a kid, we added homemade ornaments to the tree every year. This book provides a way to continue that tradition with LEGO, providing typical, picture only instructions to make 15 different ornaments designs. The designs vary in difficulty and range from traditional (snowflakes and balls) to quirky (arcade games and hamburgers). Each design includes a part list with element id numbers so you can buy the pieces you need either from the lego website or other marketplaces such as Bricklink.com. You could buy parts and give out little ornament building packages as gifts or just enjoy assembling some for your own tree every year.

Beautiful LEGO by Mike Doyle

Beautiful Lego 3: Wild! by Mike Doyle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars




This book series showcases tons of really cool LEGO art and creations. The works span a wide range of subjects from birds to mecha, Mirco scale to giant landscape builds. Also included are interviews with several LEGO artists answering questions about what lead them to choose LEGO as a medium and what, if any, favorite pieces or techniques they use. One of my favorite things in the first volume is the mosaics by Katie Walker. Unfortunately, my local library only has the first and third volumes not the second so I haven't had the opportunity to look through that one. However, if you are interested in LEGO at all I highly recommend you check them out for some amazing inspiration.

Sundressing: Sewing and Style for Summer and Beyond by Melissa Mora

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book comes with patterns for sundresses for women and girls. There seems to be a pretty wide range of sizes. I tend to have problems finding patterns large enough to fit my hips and based on these measurements I should be able to sew something to fit easily. There's a small section about modifying patterns, mostly for adjustments to the bust line. The directions for each pattern contain further alterations specific to each dress.

There are some really cute things, especially for little girls, it really makes me wish I had a daughter to sew for.

Sew Many Dresses, Sew Little Time: The Ultimate Dressmaking Guide by Tanya Whelan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This book is all about mix and match patterns. There are several bodice patterns and skirt variations that can combine to make over 20 different dresses. Lots of information about pattern alterations give even more variety by offering different sleeve and neckline options. I have zero experience with pattern alteration but I feel like if I took my time, read all the instructions well, that I could learn a lot about it by making a couple of dresses with this book.

Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is more of a comic strip than a graphic novel. The story is all about Phoebe and her friendship with a unicorn.... Phoebe inadvertently saves Marigold earning a wish, which she uses to make them best friends. Neither one of them is really sure how to have/be a best friend so it takes some getting used to. Much of the humor comes from the fact that being friends with a unicorn didn't end up quite like Phoebe expected. She expected to suddenly be popular and awesome because she had a unicorn best friend but that didn't happen because of something called the Shield of Boringness.

The Devious Book for Cats: A Parody by Fluffy & Bonkers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Thd Devious Book for Cats aims to help your housecat get the most out of his or her nine lives. It offers tips on a variety of subjects such as how to wake your human up when you need feed, hunting wild game, and the international sport of shelf swat. Also included are tales of famous cats thru out history to provide inspiration for a life well-lived and a typical programming schedule for various windows around the house. Not sure what our three kitties thought of this book but the shelf swat section was very informative for my husband and I. Clearly we live with Champions who absolutely must practice constantly. I'm sure our new understanding of the rules will allow us to set up more challenging shelves for them to play and help push their scores to a new high. There is apparently a book for dogs by the same group, we may have to check it out for their brother, Gil.

Devious Curry kitten stole Gil's raccoon for a few snuggles.

This week we are prepping for a Halloween/ Anniversary dinner, hopefully, I will be able to share some of the detail next week in a bonus holiday post. If not, be sure to check back on the 14th of November to see the completed Legend of Zelda string art.