Books Archives
The Creative License
August 03, 2006 | Comments Closed
The Creative License by Danny Gregory is a really fun read. It’s a beautifully illustrated and highly entertaining book that’ll dip you head first into a world of creative expression, art and fun.
The book starts of with some inspirational stuff about creativity and how anyone who wants to can be creative. For naturally creative types there is also a cautionary tale about how easy it can be to stifle you creative nature.
Very quickly though you move from reading to doing. Danny (I’ll use his first name because I feel as if he’s my pal after reading the book!) starts off teaching you how to draw. As someone who is a so-so drawer (is that a word?) I found the exercises fun and helpful, and I’m pretty sure I’m getting better as I practice. He goes on to talk about and show you all sorts of fun and creative exercises all pulled together with art, humor and some truly valuable insight.
I can’t recommend this book enough. To pretty much anybody. It’s a light, fun and inspirational read that will help you be more creative regardless of how creative you feel you are. As Danny says, it’s “dedicated to you, the artist” no matter who you are.
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The Elements of Graphic Design
July 13, 2006 | 
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I’ve been reading a quite a bit lately and design’s been what I’ve been reading the most about. I’ve simply been devouring all sorts of books on design and I’m always looking for more if you’ve got any recommendations. One book I’ve just finished up is one I think many Web designers could get a whole lot out of, even though it’s not focused on the Web at all.
The Elements of Graphic Design by Alexander W. White is a great reference and easy to follow guide to the fundamentals of page layout. It covers concepts like space, relation, hierarchy and more. It’s a whole book about white space in many aspects.
As someone who “grew up” with Web design I found the book enlightening in many ways; it’s easy to follow mostly due to it’s easy to follow language and great use of examples, and has a ton of useful information. At it’s core it teaches you to pay attention to the space between elements and recognize the impact that space (a design element itself) has on the quality of your designs.
The book is primarily focused on layout design for print and graphics. At first glance that might not seem all that relevant to Web design, but if you read through and then sit down and think about it, there are lots of lessons in here to be learned.
If nothing else it’s a great reference, but if you’re looking to learn some great design fundamentals, or even if you just need a refresher, pick it up, it’ll be worth it.
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Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
October 04, 2005 | 10 Comments
I’ve spent a good portion of my leisure hours over the last few days devouring Neil Gaiman’s wonderful novel Anansi Boys.
Set in the same universe of his spectacular novel American Gods, Anansi Boys is the tale of Fat Charlie Nancy and Spider, the sons of the trickster god, and all around smooth fella, Anansi. It’s also about songs, and stories, Tiger, Bird and karaoke.
It’s an easy enough read that moves fairly well, has some great moments of humor and is generally an all around good book I’d recommend to anyone.
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Banewreaker
September 22, 2005 | 9 Comments
Banewreaker is the first volume in a two part fantasy epic by Jacqueline Carey, whom I’d never read before. She’s been highly recommended to me, but this is the first one that sounded like something I’d like.
Fortunately it was. I enjoyed it very much.
Banewreaker borrows heavily from Tolkien and while that is probably it’s biggest fault, I really enjoyed the twists and her unique take on it. It doesn’t come from an “original” source, but what she does with it I found fairly original and engaging.
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Ilium
August 30, 2005 | 8 Comments
While I was on vacation in Mexico I read quite a few good books. The best of these was Dan Simmons’ epic space opera Ilium. This book has everything. And I mean everything. To try and explain what it’s about would be very difficult, but I think I can give you enough of an idea that it might get you interested.
Ilium begins on Mars, far into the future, and, at the same time, smack dab in the middle of the Trojan war here on earth thousands of years ago. The “greek gods”, through the use of nano, quantum and other technologies are recreating Homer’s Iliad with the help of 20th century Iliad scholar,Thomas Hockenberry, on the terra-formed plains of Mars.
Their vast use of quantum technology has alerted a group of self-aware (and, in one case, Shakespeare loving) robots living on the various moons of Jupiter, who launch an expeditionary force to investigate, and possibly eliminate, the activity on Mars.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, a dwindling number of “old style” humans—people with no past, no future beyond their alloted 100 years, no art and no clue about anything outside of their pampered existence—struggle to find meaning amidst some pretty radical changes as their lives are turned upside-down.
When Hockenberry decides to change the path Homer laid out, everything goes crazy and Gods, Greek heroes, robots, little green men, dinosaurs, alien entities and classic Shakespearean characters collide in a very well written and highly engaging tale that really works…and really hooks.
Simmons blends classic literature, great characters and lots of good, hard science fiction into one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Hockenberry is a great protagonist whose interaction with the old world of Troy and the new, slightly crazy world of the post human “gods” makes for a great read.
My Rating: 4.5 out of 5.
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Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince
August 05, 2005 | 1427 Comments
(Just a warning, there are minor spoilers in here, and if you get into the comments, don’t be surprised if there are major spoilers in there.)
I just finished Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince and all in all I really enjoyed it.
It’s a bit slow to start, and nothing of any consequence happens for about the first 2/3’s of the book, but it’s an enjoyable read. I quite liked all the teen angst stuff and every time I read “won-won” I chuckled quite a bit.
It really picks up towards the end, and it seems like Rowling crammed a whole bunch of stuff into the final 5 or so chapters, making the book feel a bit lopsided overall. This one is also a bit heavy. I mean, when the book ends Harry, Hogwarts and the rest of the wizarding world isn’t in a very good place. It’s pretty sad and things are looking bleak.
It really makes you want to get on with the story and see what happens though. I know I can’t wait for the next book. I am curious how it could all be wrapped up in one volume. It seems like there are even more loose ends than their was before. Are we in for one of those “keep-on-growing” series?
I’m not opposed to that, as long as everything gets wrapped up and explained. I’ve got lots of questions, and a few theories. That’s one thing I’ve loved about this series—there is so much to think about and speculate on after every book.
Anyway, it was a nice read. Not quite as good as some of the previous books, but still very entertaining.
My Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
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Interview With JK Rowling
July 18, 2005 | 0 Comments
Over at CBCNewsround they’ve put up and extensive and entertaining interview with JK Rowling to coincide with the release of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince.
A short excerpt:
Edward Hollet representing W H Smith - If Voldemort ever encountered a boggart what would he see?
JK Rowling: The thing that Voldemort fears more than anything else is his own death. It its the quest of his life to cheat death, so we would have to see himself lying dead on the floor.
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Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix Summary
July 18, 2005 | 8 Comments
As I’m sure many of you did, I got my copy of Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince in the mail this weekend. Just like last time though I found I needed to go back and refresh my memory about the events from previous books. I figured it’d be a good idea to point them out.
You can find a Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix summary here.
And more summaries here:
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Hope those help.
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Fables
May 19, 2005 | 5 Comments
Fables is my favorite comic right now. It’s a complicated and engaging book that’s at times part who-done-it, part adventure story, part epic fantasy and lots more. Its main characters, all wonderfully re-imagined, are “fables” from storybook past. You’ve got Bigby, the Big, Bad Wolf and chief detective of Fabletown. Snow White, the mayor. Prince Charming, resident bad boy and just about any other storybook character you can imagine.
But this isn’t a kid’s fairy tale, no sir. In true Vertigo style, it’s down right shocking at points, which in my opinion just adds to the fun! I mean, you’ve got Goldylocks going on a murderous rampage, Snow White dream-conversing with the disembodied head of one of the Three Little Pigs, or in the current story arc, Boy Blue carving his way through enemies toward the shadowy “Adversary” with a vorpal sword.
It’s all smartly written and very beautifully illustrated and IMHO is the best comic to come around since Neil Gaiman’s Sandman ended it’s fabulous run. A great read that’s very highly recommended.
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