Category: Writing

author: Hank Reinhardt
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2010/01/02
date added: 2014/02/09
shelves: history, non-fiction, science, technology, d-and-d
review:
The author died before finishing, and it reads like it. Which is unfortunate, because there’s a lot of fascinating information and a great tone to the book. I include this on the d&d shelf because it gives me some color to use in describing characters and actions. Lots of lively bits of history, great photos and drawings, and strong opinions about swords (and other weapons, armor).

Best tidbit for me was the description of the secondary dagger used in (renaissance?) fencing, the main gauche, mostly because my character in our current game fights very much in that style. (Dagger, BTW: 14-16″ blade, nothing to sneeze at.)

Last chapter is weak & meandering philosophizing, unfortunately, and there’s at least one entire intended section missing, on Arab swords.

author: Hank Reinhardt
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2010/01/02
date added: 2014/02/09
shelves: history, non-fiction, science, technology, d-and-d
review:
The author died before finishing, and it reads like it. Which is unfortunate, because there’s a lot of fascinating information and a great tone to the book. I include this on the d&d shelf because it gives me some color to use in describing characters and actions. Lots of lively bits of history, great photos and drawings, and strong opinions about swords (and other weapons, armor).

Best tidbit for me was the description of the secondary dagger used in (renaissance?) fencing, the main gauche, mostly because my character in our current game fights very much in that style. (Dagger, BTW: 14-16″ blade, nothing to sneeze at.)

Last chapter is weak & meandering philosophizing, unfortunately, and there’s at least one entire intended section missing, on Arab swords.

author: Ken Bruen
name: Elaine
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2013/09/01
date added: 2014/01/09
shelves: mystery, fiction
review:
I saw the TV series recently and decided to get the first book from the library. Good stuff; quite different from the show in some of the particular, but a similar feel to it. And strangely poetic. There’s a great voice in Jack Taylor. Not that much plot, really, but a good story.

author: Ken Bruen
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2001
rating: 3
read at: 2013/09/01
date added: 2014/01/09
shelves: mystery, fiction
review:
I saw the TV series recently and decided to get the first book from the library. Good stuff; quite different from the show in some of the particular, but a similar feel to it. And strangely poetic. There’s a great voice in Jack Taylor. Not that much plot, really, but a good story.

author: Alison Bechdel
name: Elaine
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2013/08/01
date added: 2014/01/09
shelves: autobiography, graphic-novel, non-fiction
review:
Read this for a writing course I took at work (The Evergreen State College) over the summer. Glad I got a chance to enjoy it. Great artistic technique, notably the contrast between the “cartoonish” style of the main narrative and the occasional bit of realism included as illustrations, usually drawings of photograph. Fantastic narrative styling, moving backwards & forwards in time, examining the author’s relationship with her father, and her father’s identity, from many different angles.

(Plus I had the opportunity to try turning some of an essay I’d written for the class into a page of graphic novel. Note: I can’t draw AT ALL. But it was still a great way to think about narrative, emphasis, etc.)

author: Alison Bechdel
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2013/08/01
date added: 2014/01/09
shelves: autobiography, graphic-novel, non-fiction
review:
Read this for a writing course I took at work (The Evergreen State College) over the summer. Glad I got a chance to enjoy it. Great artistic technique, notably the contrast between the “cartoonish” style of the main narrative and the occasional bit of realism included as illustrations, usually drawings of photograph. Fantastic narrative styling, moving backwards & forwards in time, examining the author’s relationship with her father, and her father’s identity, from many different angles.

(Plus I had the opportunity to try turning some of an essay I’d written for the class into a page of graphic novel. Note: I can’t draw AT ALL. But it was still a great way to think about narrative, emphasis, etc.)

author: Alison Bechdel
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2013/08/01
date added: 2014/01/09
shelves: autobiography, graphic-novel, non-fiction
review:
Read this for a writing course I took at work (The Evergreen State College) over the summer. Glad I got a chance to enjoy it. Great artistic technique, notably the contrast between the “cartoonish” style of the main narrative and the occasional bit of realism included as illustrations, usually drawings of photograph. Fantastic narrative styling, moving backwards & forwards in time, examining the author’s relationship with her father, and her father’s identity, from many different angles.

(Plus I had the opportunity to try turning some of an essay I’d written for the class into a page of graphic novel. Note: I can’t draw AT ALL. But it was still a great way to think about narrative, emphasis, etc.)

author: Sandi Doughton
name: Elaine
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2014/01/06
date added: 2014/01/08
shelves: ebook, history, local, non-fiction, science
review:
Solid overview of a really fascinating topic. I learned quite a bit about the evolution of thinking about northwest quakes (and to some extent, earthquakes in general). Somewhat Seattle-centric, as might be expected with a Seattle-based author, plus I think a lot of the actual science is centered in Seattle. If you live anywhere in the region, particularly in the Puget Sound area, absolutely worth reading.

author: Sandi Doughton
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2014/01/06
date added: 2014/01/08
shelves: ebook, history, local, non-fiction, science
review:
Solid overview of a really fascinating topic. I learned quite a bit about the evolution of thinking about northwest quakes (and to some extent, earthquakes in general). Somewhat Seattle-centric, as might be expected with a Seattle-based author, plus I think a lot of the actual science is centered in Seattle. If you live anywhere in the region, particularly in the Puget Sound area, absolutely worth reading.

author: Melissa Morgan-Oakes
name: Elaine
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2013/08/01
date added: 2016/03/17
shelves: crafty, knitting, non-fiction, wishlist, read-again
review:
My group used (mostly) the techniques in this book for a sock knit-along project. Didn’t actually knit any of the patterns in the book, although some looked intriguing.