Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Russell's "Fliers" is a hit or miss

As advertised, Nathaniel Russell's "Fliers:  20 Small Posters with Big Thoughts" is a quirky, gift-worthy collection of thought-provoking posters.  Some are silly, some pose questions deeper than face value - and all of Russell's "fliers" require a sort of double take.  Perhaps this is a matter of personal taste, but I felt like some of Nathaniel Russell's humor was a bit lost on me.  Also, a few of the fliers felt like they were trying a little too hard to drive the point.



Even though this book did not really "click" with me, I did appreciate the set up of the collection.  Each flier is removable and can actually be used as a poster (heavyweight paper).  I also really appreciated the cover, which unfolds as a poster itself.

My overall impression was great quality posters, though some of the contents were hit or miss.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this honest review.

Saturday, October 21, 2017

Learn to watercolor in 30 days

Jenna Rainey's "Everyday Watercolor:  Learn to Paint Watercolor in 30 Days" is a very well put together guide through the basics of watercolor.  I myself have dabbled a little with watercolor, but I find Rainey's guide useful since she goes through specific techniques with the brush.  After introducing all the basic techniques, she suggests projects to apply what you've learned for the first few weeks.  I appreciate the guided intro feel to this book.



If you are already an experienced watercolor artist, this book is probably not for you.  If you are a beginner or someone like me - dabbler, but not familiar with all the basic techniques, this is a perfect intro guide!  The daily exercises are actually manageable for one day - it's not a huge time commitment.  I look forward to completing all 30 days.  Check back for updates!

I received this book from Blogging for Books for an honest review.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Dr. Beddingfield's "Med School Uncensored"

As a former pre-med student, I appreciated many points to this book.  There are far more books out there about how to get into med school versus books about what happens during and after med school (which is really the most important part!).  And, there are a lot of common knowledge bits of medical school and beyond that are not quite common knowledge when starting out.  Here, Dr. Beddingfield outlines the key points of making it through medical school (from board exams to relationship advice) and beyond medical school.  He even gives a rough outline of beyond residency; I was surprised he even included a section on malpractice suits during practice.  


The only thing that I wish Dr. Beddingfield had included was a section on non-traditional medical school students.  There are plenty of people who apply to med school after a traditional 4-year track, but what about those who do career changes, or even have gap years and need to manage their married/parenting lives during the medical school years and beyond?

Overall, though, this is a great overview of life as a medical school student and as a doctor afterwards.  If you are looking for advice on how to get into med school, this book is not for you.  And this book is also not the end-all-be-all for advice throughout the med school years.  It's a great read in your downtime as a rough overview of what to generally expect in the years ahead.  

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this honest review.

Sunday, October 8, 2017

Whittling for beginners

Melanie Abrantes brings an accessible approach to whittling in her "Carve:  A Simple Guide to Whittling."  I appreciated how Abrantes offered step-by-step guides to a wide variety of projects that can be used in the kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom.  There's even a section on whittling projects that can be finished during a camping trip.  I also appreciated the details and suggestions on the types of wood that Abrantes offered for each project. 

The texture of the cover is appropriate - feels almost like the cover was whittled itself :)

The only problem I had with this book was the templates at the end of the book.  Many of them spanned across two pages, making it difficult to copy the templates to whittle. 

Overall, great intro to whittling, but definitely just a start. 

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.