The Plaid Pladd Blog

2018: The Ugly

January 1st, 2019 by pladd

Time to make fun of all the ugly book covers I read this year! A bunch of these already showed up on The Bad list(^), but one is from The Good(*)! You can’t judge a book by its cover, I guess. But I will still judge these covers themselves hardcore. Here they are in the order I read them:

Kodiak’s Claim (Kodiak Point #1) by Eve Langlais

Grizzly bear shapeshifter romance novel!!

Outfoxed by Love (Kodiak Point #2) by Eve Langlais

This romance novel is about A MOOSE SHAPESHIFTER!!! Dreams come true

Polar Bared (Kodiak Point #3) by Eve Langlais

Polar bear shapeshifters seem kind of whatever after the moose one, right? Don’t worry, next up:

Caribou’s Gift (Kodiak Point #3.5) by Eve Langlais

CARIBOU SHAPESHIFTER CHRISTMAS ROMANCE NOVEL!

Nearly Dead by Brendan P. Myers

^A satellite image of the setting? Try harder, Brendan. Read the rest of this entry »

Tagged: 2018 books

Posted in Book Reviews |

2018: The Bad

January 1st, 2019 by pladd

This year I only rated 13 books 1 star! The worst book I read this year, by a wide margin, was:

Darker by ELJames

This series has so many problems I started a separate blog to discuss them all in detail.

The other terrible books I read mostly fell into these categories:

Bad Romance Novels
You kind of expect these to be terrible, right?

The Winter King (Weathermages of Mystral #1) by C.L.Wilson

This book was basically Frozen 2: Your Brother Is Mad You Have Weather Powers And All He Can Do Is Talk to Birds

Dragon Pact by Mac Flynn

This plot-hole ridden ride is about a dragon vampire, as you do.

The Geek Girl and the Scandalous Earl by Gina Lamm

This time traveling romance is somehow even dumber than the cover makes it seem. And yet I still read the sequel:

Geek Girls Don’t Date Dukes by Gina Lamm

Another time traveling idiot finds love instead of being burned as a witch or immediately getting typhoid.

Love Finds You in Humble Texas by Anita Higman

This book was not reflective of my time in Humble, Texas. No one went to Sonic? No one spent forever in traffic? At one point, a character falls asleep outside and doesn’t wake up covered in mosquito bites and sun burn? Okay

My Wild Irish Dragon by Ashlyn Chase

This book is about two supernatural shapeshifting fire fighters, a dragon and a phoenix, finding love.

Other Books That Did What They Set Out To Do
It’s really my own fault for reading these

Nearly Dead by Brendan P. Myers

This is about zombies attacking my hometown of St. Petersburg, Florida. I was hoping it would be hilariously bad, but it was just normal bad. I wrote that on my GoodReads review too, and the author liked it. So maybe he agrees.

By Book or By Crook by Eva Gates

Cozy mysteries are just not for me, gang. I just can’t suspend my disbelief enough. Plus, this one was about a library, so there were a lot of setting details to gripe about.

Color Me Murder by Krista Davis

This one REALLY pissed me off because I ordered it thinking it was a coloring book. I was so disappointed to just get a shitty cozy mystery about a coloring book designer instead.

The Battle Begins: The Story of Creation by Caleb Seeling

This one was actually pretty hilarious.

True Disappointments

Unpunished by Charlotte Gilman

I wanted to like this mystery because of its place in early feminist history, but, like a lot of early feminism, it is hella racist. Plus the mystery story was very boring.

The Space Between Us by Brenna Yovanoff

This book is a YA romance about star crossed lovers: a human boy and THE DAUGHTER OF SATAN. That has so much potential, but inconsistent world-building just made it frustrating.

Previously: 2018: The Good
Next: 2018: The Ugly

Tagged: 2018 books

Posted in Book Reviews |

2018: The Good

January 1st, 2019 by pladd

I read 177 books this year, and 31 of them I marked 5 stars! My top pick for 2018 is:

A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge

Frances Hardinge is one of my favorite authors, so it’s no surprise that this book was amazing. It’s set in an underground city where talented craftsmen can make wine that erases memories and perfume that makes you trust the wearer even while they’re stabbing you. There’s Medici-style politics, class warfare, and a heroine who isn’t taking any shit. I love it.

The rest:
Nonfiction

A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman

This narrowly avoided being my top pick for the year! It was so good! A history of the 14th century that reads as easily as a novel.

Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of 80s and 90s Teen Fiction by Gabrielle Moss

This book was a great nostalgia trip, and also hilarious.

The Lexicographer’s Dilemma: The Evolution of “Proper” English from Shakespeare to South Park by Jack Lynch

I’ve read a lot of history of language books, but I still learned somethings from this one about where how the “rules” for our language developed.

The Gossamer Years: The Diary of a Noblewoman of Heian Japan

This autobiography was written around 974 in feudal Japan, and the author is so extra I LOVE HER. Most written communication happens through poetry, and girl attaches a mean poem to A DEAD FLOWER to send to her neglectful lover. Plus once she moves without telling him.

Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

I feel like I highlighted this entire book.

Atlas of a Lost World: Travels in Ice Age America by Craig Childs

This book was a really interesting look at what we know and don’t know about the earliest people to live in the Americas. The author travels to different archaeological sites and talks about how the land would have looked different back then.

Asking For It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture and What We Can Do About It by Kate Harding

This book was depressing as fuck, but important and well-researched.

Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse who Became a Hero by Patricia McCormick

This horse is more badass than most humans.

Fiction

The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett

I finally read this, the last Discworld book, this year after rereading the entire series. I was scared it wouldn’t be a fitting end to my favorite series, because Raising Steam really kind of sucked? But, no, it was perfect.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This book was like the lovechild of Isabel Allende and Umberto Eco, and I am here for that.

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

A teen ghost fighting agency!!!

The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

Hard to read, but amazing.

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

Another third wave girl power book which I really wish had been around when I was in high school.

Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson

Epistolary novels are my jam

My Lady’s Choosing by Kitty Curan

A CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE REGENCY ROMANCE NOVEL! RUN! DON’T FUCKING WALK!

Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende

This book was about Haiti, and is the first Allende novel I’ve read that I think rivals House of the Spirits.

A Blink of the Screen by Terry Pratchett

A collection of Terry Pratchett short fiction I read for the first time during my giant Discworld reread.

…And the Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer

I had to read a book over 1000 pages, and I’m really glad I picked this one. It reminded me of Edward Rutherford, but on a much smaller scale.

Graphic Novels and Comics

The Stone Heart by Faith Erin Hicks

The sequel to The Nameless City, about the friendship between a street urchin girl and a boy from the ruling caste foiling an assassination attempt, politics get even more murky here. The art style is beautiful too!

Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection by Kate Beaton

I’m slowly building up my Kate Beaton collection.

Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch

This was a pretty funny D&D parody universe.

Piper by Jay Asher

A retelling of the Pied Piper folk tale, following a deaf girl who lives in the town and is therefore the only one immune to the piper’s powers. The art style is beautiful.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson

A super-villain and his shapeshifting sidekick!

Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham

Fairy tale characters trying to make it in the modern world

Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff

Delilah Dirk is my idol

Delilah Dirk and the King’s Shilling by Tony Cliff

Delilah Dirk gets revenge and tea continues to be a plot point

Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules by Tony Cliff

Delilah Dirk goes full Indiana Jones

Check, Please!: #Hockey, Vol. 1 by Ngozi Ukazu

Hockey! Romance! Baking!

Other

The Compleat Discworld Atlas

Beautifully done, another Discworld reread addition

The witch doesn’t burn in this one by Amanda Lovelace

A poetry collection that pulls no punches. “Burn anyone who tries to burn you”

Next: 2018: The Bad
Previously: 2017: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (and the Pretty)

Tagged: 2018 books

Posted in Book Reviews |

Baby Got Back: The Illuminated Codex

August 26th, 2018 by pladd

A while ago I took a Coursera course on medieval manuscripts, covering both their history and construction. It was super interesting! The (optional) assignments revolved around making your OWN medieval manuscript using whatever text you wanted. It seemed like my classmates picked poems or Bible chapters, but I obviously chose the lyrics to “Baby Got Back” by Sir Mix-A-Lot. It was my gut reaction when told to submit ideas, and I didn’t even question it. Here is a step-by-step look at the process.

Part 1: Making “parchment”

The first step was making our own “parchment” leaves by painting posterboard with a mixture of coffee, water, and vinegar. After drying, they were stained and kind of curly, sort of like the real treated skins would be:

We were also encouraged to “deface” them with holes, cuts, random vein lines etc because a lot of medieval parchment would have similar inconsistencies depending on the quality of the hide used.

I cut a big old hole in one

The way medieval manuscript makers dealt with such holes is pretty cool. Some incorporated them into the illustrations of their text like this rad illustrations of a dude looking through a telescope:

Or others would repair the hole with colorful embroidery thread:

I already know how to embroider so I was pumped to try this

Spoilers: my plans were for naught because I didn’t realize how I would need to fold and trim the parchment for use, so the holes I made never were in the middle of a page in the finish manuscript.

Part 2: Parchment to Quires

Next it was time to fold the parchment into quires. One big sheet makes what will be 8 leaves:

They alternate “hair” side vs. “flesh” side

The quires are kept together with chords (I used embroidery thread), and marked for the order they are to be used in faintly at the bottom:

Part 3: Mise-en-Page
Next a medieval copyist would have prepared the quires for writing by setting up margins, blocking off areas for text and illustrations, deciding how many columns of text to use etc. There are A LOT of different ways of doing this, depending on things like text length and parchment area, but also things like which mystical numbers were most favorable. I wanted to try out something called THE SECRET CANON, because obviously. It has a lot to do with Pythagorean ratios.

G E O M E T R Y

Like many monks of old, I used a compass to mark off the distance between lines of text:

A fancy compass

Read the rest of this entry »

Tagged: manuscript

Posted in Art, Things I've Made |

2018 Goals: 2/3 of the Way There???

August 26th, 2018 by pladd

I didn’t make a post halfway through the year about my goals like I normally do, but time is a meaningless human construct, so I’m making one now.

1. Hike every trail in Umstead Park: 43%

I haven’t done much this summer since it’s been so hot, but I plan on getting back into hiking in a big way once it cools down a little.

I also hiked about 5 miles of trails I’d previously hiked since my last update, including this spot

2. Learn to juggle: 10%
Literally have not practiced this since the last time I updated. It’s a shame because I really would like to be a person who knows how to juggle, but not sure I’m going to achieve it at my current rate.

3. Review every book I read on GoodReads: 100%
I’ve gotten into a routine with this now, so I’m pretty confident this is a thing I will not only complete with 100% this year, but continue even after 2018. I’ve read and reviewed 129 books so far this year, average star rating: 3.29.

4. Send everyone in my penpal club a birthday postcard: 58%
I gave this up after July. Even with the restrictions I put on it, it was too much to keep track of and too much for postage. Overall I sent out 184 postcards, though!

5. Give to a different charity every month: 67%
This one I have kept up with, but I have also been counting a few things that maybe weren’t official 501C3s and just me helping out people. But whatever, I’m following THE SPIRIT of the goal if not the letter. Some notable charities I have given to in the past few months are: Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary, who have THE BEST facebook page of happy senior dogs living their lives, and RUFF animal rescue, where we got Olivia!

Can’t put a price on that

6. Cook or discard everything in my recipe binder: 91%
I have tossed a lot of these that sounded good but that in reality I’m never going to make. Like homemade pita bread, for instance. Why? When I live so close to Neomonde Mediterranean Bakery? It’s good to be realistic about these things.

7. Make Pageapalooza a success!: 100%!
It rained for most of the day, but that actually meant it wasn’t as hot. We still had a cornhole tournament, trivia contest, too much food, and a rad cake.

Publix Bakery knows what’s up

Plus awesome t-shirts!

Shout out to James Fox for the awesome design!

The t-shirts were definitely the most successful. The shift I’m on wears them every Thursday for page solidarity.

Total: 67%

Kind of surprising considering how many I’ve already given up on!

Previously: Quarter Quell

Tagged: 2018 goals, books, hiking, James Fox, olivia

Posted in 2018 Goals |

2018 Goals: Quarter Quell

April 3rd, 2018 by pladd

2018 is already 1/4 over!! I feel like I’ve been doing great on my goals so far, but let’s check the spreadsheet to make sure.

1. Hike Every Trail in Umstead State Park: 29.58%
So far this year I’ve hiked about 10 of the 33.8 miles of trails:

Here’s some proof:

A secret pond on the Loblolly trail!

Me waiting for an annoying hiking family group to pass by

2. Learn to juggle: 20%
Finding practice time on this where Olivia isn’t lurking around ready to snatch up anything I drop is a problem. I’m up to 2 balls, but I need to increase my consistency with them before I try 3.

3. Review every book I read on GoodReads: 100%

This one was difficult to get into the habit of at first, but now I’ve got the hang of it. I’ve read 47 books so far this year (average star rating: 3.2) and reviewed them all with at least one sentence. My favorite so far is probably Frances Hardinge’s A Face Like Glass:

4. Send everyone in my penpal club a birthday postcard: 25% (with reservations)
Soooooo… I’ve already kind of given up on this one. I’m doing a modified version of my original goal, because holy crap, guys, international stamps are $1.15 each even for postcards. So in March I started sending birthday postcards to all the US members of my penpal club and SOME international members, mostly those who live in countries I’ve never sent mail to (sorry, Canada and the UK). There are more than 500 members of this club, so I honestly don’t know what I was thinking with this one. Here’s how many I’ve sent so far:

I’ve gotten a grand total of ONE response! A postcard thanking me from Sweden! So that’s pretty cool.

5. Give to a different charity every month: 25%
I’ve been over thinking this one, of course, but I have kept up with it! In January I gave to Heart to Heart International, specifically their fund earmarked for Puerto Rico hurricane relief. In February I gave twice as much as I intended to NARAL because their donate page is really confusing. Whatever, it’s a cause I believe in, but also get some better web design, please. In March I donated to RAINN the same day I finished The Nowhere Girls because the realness of the rape and rape culture in that book made me so angry.

6. Cook or discard everything in my recipe binder: 66%
This number is so high because I have discarded like 20 recipes. But that’s allowed–the point is to decide one way or the other. I’ve also cooked a lot of them! But I’ve taken approximately 0 pictures.

7. Make Pageapalooza a success!: 0%
Of course I’ve been working on this one, but I’m not giving myself any points for it until I actually do it.

Total: 38%!

Previously: 2018 Goals
Next: 2/3 of the way

Posted in 2018 Goals |

2018 Goals

January 4th, 2018 by pladd

It’s my favorite time of year! Time to start some new goals!

1. Hike every trail in Umstead State Park

This park is a 5 minute drive from my house, and has about 34 miles of trails. I got some hiking boots for Christmas, and Olivia and I are ready to rock! … Once the temperature gets above freezing.

2. Learn to Juggle

I’ve always wanted to be able to juggle. Maybe this is the year my dreams come true!

3. Review every book I read on GoodReads

I’m meticulous about recording every book I read on GoodReads, to better be able to answer the question “What is the absolute worst book I read this year?”. But I almost always only give them a star rating and move on. This year I’m going to TRY to write actual sentences explaining my rating. I’ve read 2 books so far, and both have seemed like a struggle, so this is the one I’m most worried about completing.

4. Send everyone in my penpal club a birthday postcard
There are 500 people in my penpal club, so this is kind of an insane goal! Not everyone has their address available though, so I’ll probs be sending out less than that. I’ve already mailed 2 batches for people whose birthdays are in the first two weeks of January!

5. Give to a different charity every month
I give to charity fairly frequently, but it’s pretty haphazard and happens mainly when the opportunity is shoved in my face or something pisses me off. I want to be more diligent about researching which non-profits address the issues I care about, especially in my local community. Although, not going to lie, January is probably going to be all about helping Puerto Rico because WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK why is everyone ignoring how messed up a part of our country still is

6. Cook or discard everything in my recipe binder
I keep a binder of recipes I pull out of magazines and such. I need to either cook them and decide they’re good/bad or admit that I’m never going to cook them and throw them out. Just the prospect of this goal made me examine the binder more closely, so right now I only have 61 more recipes to cook. A disproportionate number of them maay be cupcakes. I’ve already started this one, actually. Yesterday I made everything bagel-seasoned scones:

With oats!

7. Make Pageapalooza a success!
This is a party I’m planning for all the library pages. Shirts! Games! Food! Peanut butter pretzels! I’m hoping it’ll be a fun time.

So there it is. I’ll update you in April.

Previously: 2017 goals

Tagged: 2018 goals

Posted in 2018 Goals |

2017 Goals: Wrap Up

January 4th, 2018 by pladd

All things considered, I did pretty well on my goals this year. I didn’t get 100% but I’m not going to beat myself up about it. Some of them were kind of a reach anyway, and I tried my best. In the end, I got to 90% complete. Not as good as last year (96%) but still better than 2014 (68%).

1. Write a New Beginner’s Guide Once A Month: 92%

December was too busy for me to do tackle a new project, but it’s the only month I failed at this one. Here’s what I did the rest of the year, with updates:

Yay!

January: Weaving
This was my favorite thing I tried in 2017, probably because I did it at the John C. Campbell Folk School, which is magical. I won’t be using it ever again, but it was fun to learn.

February: Calligraphy
Probably the most useful thing I learned all year was the cheater calligraphy I learned for this post!

March: Cross Stitch
I finally finished the cross stitch I started this month, but I have yet to frame it. I’ll probably be doing some cross stitch again sometime.

April: Gardening
Yeah, they all died. I’m probably not going to be trying to tackle this again.

May: Make up
I already knew when I wrote this post that make up is not for me. Sorry, friends, you’re stuck with my face as is.

June: Bullet Journaling
Probably the one I will be using the most from here on! I kept it up for the rest of the year, although I definitely changed the format some to suit me better.

July: Candy Making
I mean, I’ll definitely make fudge again. But anything with a candy thermometer? Nah

August: Free Motion Quilting
I bet I’ll be doing this again, but even after learning all about it for this post, it kind of intimidates me.

GO TEAM

September: Pole Dancing
This one was both the hardest and most fun thing I tried this year! I won’t be doing it again because I don’t got those skills, but it was fun to try!

Inside it’s Halloween funfetti

October: Cake Decorating
Omg no, I lied before, making my cupcakes look like they were made by a competent adult was the most useful thing I learned this year.

November: Soap Making
This one was pretty boring and messy, tbh

2. Sew Something New Once a Month: 83%
Another goal I didn’t get to in December, plus I already missed one in May, so there you go. In October I sewed my Halloween costume, Captain Crunch:

Can’t take credit for Steven’s style, though

And in November I sewed this quilt top. It’s made of lots of different fabrics I had around, and I’m hoping to get to the quilting part soon:

The best is the fried egg fabric

3. Write in my Journal once a week: 100%!

Bullet journaling really helped out with this one.

4. Make one new recipe every week: 87%
I wish I’d been better at documenting this one, but alas. Here is the only one I bothered taking pictures of in the past three months:

Hot cocoa cookies!

These were the favorite of all the Christmas cookies I made. You add hot chocolate mix to the dough.

5. Keep my nails painted for 30 days: 100%
It was a struggle.

6. Finish a coloring book: 100%

I finished this goal so long ago, I’ve already forgotten about it.

7. Be active every day: 56%

I know, pathetic. To be fair, I didn’t count all my walks with Olivia unless they were particularly strenuous for some reason. But that’s still more than half, which is okay by me.

8. Read all of The Dictionary of Imaginary Places: 100%!

800 pages of small font!

I’m really proud of this one, because it definitely seems like the one I would slack off and fail at. Remember when I tried to read all of Brewer’s? But I crushed this. And in the process learned that there have been so many books about societies that live inside the earth. Most of them are racist as shit.

Total: 90%

Previously: 2017 Almost There
Next: 2018 Goals!!!

Tagged: 2017 goals

Posted in 2017 TO THE MAX |