studiomikarts's reviews
55 reviews

Make Your Art No Matter What: Moving Beyond Creative Hurdles by Beth Pickens

hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

This book was easy to read, relatable, and included good information that I think will help lots of artists with creative block, imposter syndrome, making time for art, etc. If you've never read a book like this before and are struggling in your artmaking, I recommend picking it up!

Unfortunately for me, I am already practicing all the relevant tips (e.g. seeing a mental health professional, dedicating regular time to my craft, giving myself weekends off, even using my mortality as a reality check), so rather than the boost in motivation I was hoping to get, the book simply reassured me that I'm already doing the right things and it's just a matter of patience and persistence now.

Rating the book on whether it would be helpful for others, I give it five stars. Rating its helpfulness to me, including the occasional typos in the Humble Bundle eBook edition, only three. Hence, my overall four-star rating. 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Tertiary Phase by Douglas Adams

adventurous challenging funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

Even though, once upon a time, I had read all the Hitchhiker's Guide novels, and this dramatization is based on the third book, I didn't remember anything about it as I listened to this. That's not a complaint, just an interesting observation, since this series is among my all-time favorites. Not knowing what was coming meant all the plot twists and jokes were fresh and new, so I enjoyed this radio play completely! I loved the cast, including the recasting of characters whose actors had passed away, though it was sad to think that both of Slartibartfast's voice actors have now passed 😞 I didn't know until finishing this and reading others' reviews that Douglas Adams himself voices a role posthumously, as well! Definitely looking forward to listening to the next entry in this series!

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Secondary Phase by Douglas Adams

adventurous challenging funny informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

I listened to this with such relish that I started it, finished it, and started & finished the next audio drama before I realized I never entered either into Goodreads! [FYI: This review imported from said site.] If that doesn't tell you how much I enjoyed it, I don't know what will 😆 The Hitchhiker's Guide series has been among my lifetime favorites since childhood and listening to these dramas for the first time in decades has shown me that my appreciation for the material has only grown as I've aged. The stories are just as plausible as they are ridiculous and I think their firm grounding in science and logic is what gives them evergreen appeal. I can't wait to listen to the rest! 

Diary of a Victorian Mouse by Lloyd Richard

lighthearted fast-paced

2.0

I got this at a library book sale several years ago, for the charming illustrations. At least they were charming when I flipped through the book, but now that I've sat down and properly read it, there's something uncanny about them that sours the charm. I think it's that everything is all the same flatness; the shading and highlighting make the images look like they were pressed into a slab of marshmallow. There's no depth, no sense of where the light is coming from, and it makes the scenes difficult to process, visually. The poems were a bit better, but still had a sort of awkwardness to match the illustrations. I don't often give out two-star ratings, but I just can't bring myself to go higher, even though some of the imagery truly is lovely, like the sequential series on the endpapers and most of the portraits. 

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Primary Phase by Douglas Adams

adventurous challenging funny informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

5.0

It's been ages since I last listened to the radio show for Hitchhikers. Like many people, I have fond memories of listening to it on cassette tape, recorded from an original copy and shared friend to friend, family to family. I don't know who got her into it, but it was my mom who first shared those tapes with me, when I was aged only in the single digits. I've remained a die-hard fan ever since.

The show was just as hilarious as I remembered. The jokes still fly today, even when I've already heard them a thousand times. The acting and sound effects come together wonderfully to make you feel like you're right there with the characters. I really loved the extra documentary episode at the end, too. Not only was it interesting learning about what went into the creation of the show, learning that Douglas Adams struggled with procrastination and perfectionism makes me feel less worried about my own creative efforts! 

Marvel Meow by Nao Fuji

adventurous funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

What an adorable, hilarious book! The depictions of the various different Marvel characters were spot on, both in terms of personality and appearance, which is very difficult to pull off convincingly in a Japanese manga art style like we see here. It's expertly done. Similarly, the depictions of Chewie, the Flerken main character who is basically a cat from space, are absolutely perfect (purrfect 😽). As someone who has lived with and adored cats from day one, I can tell that the artist (and anyone else involved in Chewie's direction) REALLY understands what cats are like--their silly quirks, their adorable behaviors, the movements and silhouettes unique to the cat body--and they have the skill to translate all of that onto the page with just a few lines. Furthermore, I loved how this book periodically provided descriptions of the characters that had been shown. It helped to see who the ones I didn't recognize were, and it was exciting to see characters that I know I'm soon going to learn more about in upcoming MCU series and movies!

Gift of the Phoenix by Donna Cook
Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.

I don't give up on books lightly, and I feel unusually guilty this time because I bought this book directly from the author when she was doing a signing event, but it's been six years (nearly to the day) since I last picked this book up, and the thought of trying to finish it now makes reading feel like a chore rather than a joy. I'm currently doing a KonMari Tidying Festival in my studio, which includes my personal library, so that's why it's finally time to say goodbye. I do want to say that I have a higher opinion of this book than most on my DNF list. There were things I really liked about it! But it needed the heavy hand of an experienced editor. I'm going to put my copy in the nearby Little Free Library that I walk by every evening. I hope it finds its way to a reader who can give it the love it deserves! 

Tales of Japan: Traditional Stories of Monsters and Magic (Book of Japanese Mythology, Folk Tales from Japan) by Chronicle Books

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is the second book in Chronicle Books' Tales series that I've read and it lived up to my expectations entirely! That's saying something, since the previous book set the bar very high! Just as with that other book, this one has beautiful illustrations that compliment the stories perfectly; lovely design work that makes the book a pleasure to hold and read; and the stories were wonderfully curated, an excellent selection ranging from heartwarming to spine-chilling to stomach-turning. I was really looking forward to the remarks at the end explaining where the stories were sourced, also. I was very pleased about my guess that Lafcadio Hearn was one of the included authors ☺️ I suppose the only thing I might change about this book would be to standardize the Romanization of the Japanese proper names. Because the stories were taken from late 19th, early 20th century authors, the Romanization was quite inconsistent. But they are also public domain authors, so there should have been no problem editing the names to follow modern standards 🤔 Even with that issue, however, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in Japan or in fairy tales and ghost stories from around the world! 

Uzumaki: Kishimoto Masashi Illustration Book (Naruto) (Uzumaki Kishimoto Masashi Gengashuu) by Masashi Kishimoto

informative inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

3.5

I don't feel sure about how to explain my opinion of this book. The book itself, in terms of physical materials, design, layout, etc., is wonderful and I can find no fault there. But the content itself ended up being a mixed bag for me. Perhaps some of these feelings are coming from my long lost interest in Naruto in general. When the series first came out, I was one of its biggest fans (I even wore my Konohagakure headband in my high school senior photos!) but eventually it dragged on so long that I not only stopped watching/reading, I started feeling annoyed by the series' persistence. In a way, this change of heart makes me feel guilty, but that guilt only adds to my negative feelings, it doesn't ease them. I just got tired of Naruto and I'm still tired of it. So, unfortunately, I wasn't much inspired by the illustrations collected here. I did at least receive a boost of confidence as an illustrator, seeing published examples proving that my images don't have to be perfect to tell a great story that reaches the world. The section at the end with Kishimoto-sensei's illustration process and the notes about the included illustrations were all really interesting and valuable, but overall, I felt so apathetic going through this artbook that I am considering removing it from my library to make space for something that inspires me more. After all, going full otaku mode and getting inspired in my illustration career are the two reasons I even own artbooks. This one didn't let me do the former, and only partially helped me in the latter.

In a less personal view, for anyone who is a Naruto fan, I don't think you could go wrong with this book! It's beautiful, well-made, and has interesting and instructional content at the end. Definitely a worthwhile addition to any Naruto collection. 

Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life by Scott Sonenshein, Marie Kondo

challenging hopeful informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

Wow, even though I already really wanted this book from the beginning (and therefore had high expectations because of how helpful and truly life-changing the previous two books were for me), I was still blown away by how transformative this was! I especially appreciated how the authors wrote with all kinds of work situations in mind, not just the typical 9-5 office worker. It even specifically mentioned some things that I have to tidy in my work, like art supplies! No matter what kind of work you do, if you'd like some practical, useful, easy-to-implement strategies for making it a more emotionally positive experience, read this book and start tidying!