No Ordinary Apple: A Story About Eating Mindfully, by Sara Marlowe (illustrated by Philip Pascuzzo)

No Ordinary Apple:

A Story About Eating Mindfully

Author: Sara Marlowe

Illustrator: Philip Pascuzzo

Publisher: Wisdom Publications

Publication Date: June 11, 2013

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I had to do an exercise in college similar to the one described in this book. I was studying Buddhism or meditation practices or something and our professor had us all eat raisins slowly. Really slowly. We had to look at them, smell them and talk about them before taking even the smallest bite. I think it took 15 minutes. In the end I was salivating over the deliciousness of the raisin--and I don't even like raisins. I vowed to eat all my food mindfully from then on. I'd take two hour lunches! I'd eat less and appreciate it more! Raisins were awesome! But I forgot about it almost immediately and went back to normal.

This book is pretty much describing that experience, except with an apple. A child is taught to eat an apple mindfully by a neighbour and vows to eat everything slowly from now on. I don't know. Maybe fictional kid in the book will do better than I did with it.

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birutė Galdikas, by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks

Primates:

The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birutė Galdikas

Authors: Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks

Publisher: First Second

Publication Date: June 11, 2013

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I'm not even going to debate with myself about whether or not I would have loved this comic-book-style biography as a child. I know I would have. I had the Mother Theresa comic book as a child! I was a little surprised by how much I enjoyed Primates as an adult though. It was like Persepolis with primates. (I feel like I've made that comparison before. Oh yeah, here. Can you tell I don't read a lot of comics?)

But seriously, y'all. Did you know about "Leaky's Angels"? I thought I knew a little about Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey but obviously I knew nothing because I didn't even realize that their entire careers with primates (chimpanzees for Goodall and gorillas for Fossey--I knew that much at least) started when they were hired by the famous Louis and Mary Leakey to do field work. They've been working on grants set up by the Leakeys all this time! Well, I'm sure Jane Goodall has her own funding now, and Dian Fossey is sadly dead.

And what about Birutė Galdikas? I hadn't even heard about her! Apparently she does the same thing, except with orangutans.

Point Your Face at This: Drawings, by Demetri Martin

Point Your Face at This:

Drawings

Author: Demetri Martin

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Publication Date: March 19, 2013

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I think the copy I got from Net Galley must have been one of those "uncorrected proofs" that reviewers often get. Usually that just means there may or may not be a typo here or there, or the table of contents is blank or something like that. Rarely does it actually mean that the content of the book is vastly different from what the finished product will look like. But in this case, I can only assume that the final product will be quite different. Many of the drawings were repeated (sometimes more than once), some didn't have captions (and therefore made no sense), some were repeated with different captions. It was odd. But again, I can only assume that this was an uncorrected proof and that the final book won't be like this.

Having said that, the drawings that I did see were a little disappointing. I'm a fan of Demetri Martin (my partner Mike is a HUGE fan) and I've enjoyed his TV specials and his short-running show, "Important Things With Demetri Martin." He often does sketchpad humour, in which he draws simple line drawings and makes jokes, either by changing the sketches slightly or by making funny observations about them. He's a funny guy. That's why I thought I'd like this book.

And I did like it. Mostly. A lot of the jokes seemed a little bitter, like they were coming from someone who had just been through an ugly divorce. So that was weird.

Overall it was okay. But not more than that. Shame.

Knitting Classic Style: 35 Modern Designs Inspired by Fashion's Archives, by Veronik Avery

Knitting Classic Style: 

35 Modern Designs Inspired by Fashion's Archives

Author: Veronik Avery

Photographer: Sara Cameron

Publisher: Abrams

Publication Date: October 30, 2012

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So a few weeks ago I decided to learn to knit. Well, decided might be too strong a word. Mike was learning to knit and I thought I might try it too, since I had done a little knitting as a child and figured I'd pick it right back up. I didn't. It was a disaster. I hated it. But, more importantly, I felt that knitting had defeated me and I couldn't have that (YOU WON'T BE ME, KNITTING!). So I kept at it, almost 100% out of spite. Who was the spite directed at? I dunno...the needles? It didn't matter. Eventually I got better. Sort of.

It didn't take long before spite turned into cockiness. I could knit anything! I was well on my way to being a knitting master! I had knit! I had purled! I had cast on AND bound off (binded off?). What more did I need? I was officially a Beginner Knitter, I assumed.

So when I saw this book that claimed to be "aimed at both beginning and more advanced knitters" I thought, "Aha! I'm totally ready for this!" I was wrong. So, so wrong.

Turns out knitting is like its own language, and reading a knitting pattern is like reading music. You have to know what you're looking at and really understand how it relates to what you're supposed to be doing with your hands. Knowing how to do a purl stitch really isn't enough to be able to follow a "beginner" pattern any more than knowing how to bang your fingers on a piano is enough to be able to read--and play--a piece of sheet music. This book had me feeling in over my head pretty quickly.

As cute as some of the sweaters in this book are (and some are very cute, though others just look dated and old-fashioned, if I'm honest), you really have to think about how you define "beginner" before attempting them. If you're completely fine with using patterns--and by patterns I mean a series of abbreviations and code that knitters use, not step-by-step directions--you might want to try some of these. If, like me, you would like more tutelage, you're probably not ready for this book. All but one of the photos are of the finished products; none of them (save one) are of the process itself. If this book is for beginners, I am clearly nowhere near "beginner" status.

Farmyard Knits, by Fiona Goble

Farmyard Knits

Author: Fiona Goble

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Publication Date: April 23, 2013

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WOW! Can I do this? Like, right now? Look at all the little farm animals she made! Look at the l'il tractor! OMG! Honestly, I don't think I'm ready to make any of these since I just started knitting, like, a second ago. But I think I'm going to try to get better so I can work towards this!

The book shows you how to make everything shown on the cover (including the tractor!), which you can then use as toys or as set pieces for little farm scenes. There is a warning at the beginning of the book saying that the projects described are not intended to be used as toys for small children, something about small parts and choking and what have you. So maybe technically they're supposed to be used in the latter capacity. (BUT JUST TRY TO STOP ME FROM PLAYING WITH THEM!)

Oh you know what it would be great for? Illustrating a children's book about farm animals! OMG I HAVE TO GET BETTER AT KNITTING RIGHT NOW!!

Keep reading to see more pictures from inside the book, including the knit animals in action.

Topsy-Turvy Inside-Out Knit Toys: Magical Two-in-One Reversible Projects, by Susan B. Anderson

Topsy-Turvy Inside-Out Knit Toys:

Magical Two-in-One Reversible Projects

Author: Susan B. Anderson

Publisher: Artisan

Publication Date: March 19, 2013

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Squeee! I want to make all of these right now, right now, RIGHT NOW!! Unfortunately, I don't think I'm anywhere near ready for these projects, but maybe I will be soon if I learn a little bit more about knitting basics. The projects are so adorable it'll be worth doing a little work to learn how to make them, and the instructions in this book seem pretty accessible. It's not just a book of patterns and abbreviations with no explanations. There are step-by-step instructions and a lot of photos and diagrams of work in progress. So I think I'll be able to figure it out.

And I hope I do because the toys in the book are ah-MAAAAZING! They are all two toys in one (like the title suggests). There's a doghouse that you flip over and it turns into a dog. There's a crocodile that folds into its own egg. There's a bunny that you turn inside out and it becomes a lamb. It's hard to describe.

Here, just hit the jump to watch a video of the reversible toys in action:

Canada's Road: A Journey on the Trans-Canada Highway from St. John's to Victoria, by Mark Richardson

Canada's Road:

A Journey on the Trans-Canada Highway from St. John's to Victoria

Author: Mark Richardson

Publisher: Dundurn

Publication Date: April 1, 2013

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It's not often I get to say this about a book, let alone say it and mean it as a compliment, but this book was exactly what I expected. I hoped, based on the cover and description, that this would be a travel memoir about driving across country on the Trans-Canada Highway ("the TCH"),an informative book about the history of the road and the country, with a few pictures and colourful anecdotes thrown in. I hoped it would make me want to travel the TCH myself, or at least feel like I had. I was even hoping it would make me feel more Canadian somehow, and that I would learn a thing or two. Honestly, it was all of those things. Mark Richardson delivered exactly what I was hoping for in this book and the only thing I regret is that I only have the ebook edition instead a coffee table book hardcover (does it come in that? I couldn't tell based on the Amazon product page).

Plus, he's from Cobourg, Ontario, home Alan Bradley, creator of everyone's favourite chemistry-obsessed preteen amateur sleuth, Flavia de Luce. So bonus points for that! 

You can also read more about Mark's journey cross country here.