Author Archives: Iiiireader

Good story with an easily solved whodunnit

The Adventuress: A Lady Emily Mystery (Lady Emily Mysteries)

By: Tasha Alexander

Rating: 4 of 5

theadventuressThis is the first of the Lady Emily series that I have read, though there are a number of books in the series. I often read a book out of order to see if it can be enjoyed as a stand-alone book. In this case, “The Adventuress” does rely considerably on the prior books for the basis of many of the key characters and a number of references were not understandable without having read the prior books. Even so, I was able to read and enjoy this book without having read the rest of the series.

The story is set in two time periods for part of the book and from two different perspectives throughout the book. As a plot device, that worked well for me as it gave me back history without having to read through many pages. Unfortunately, it also gave me enough clues for me to figure out the whodunnit very early on. While the whydunnit remained a mystery until the end (and could not be solved without information provided in the latter part of the book), solving the mystery early made some of the book a little tedious to read.

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Cities Coloring Book in a large format book with 3D color way instructions (and glasses)

3D Coloring Cities

By: Emma Segal

Rating: 5 of 5

This book has many city designs which are recognizable as such. There are also a number of motif and architectural designs that I don’t associate with a specific city. This is a large format book at approximately 9.7 x 13.5 inches. The pictures are quite large compared to most coloring books that I own. I enjoy Hannah Davies art style (from other coloring books I have) and really like these too.

While this is being sold as a 3D book (and includes inexpensive cardboard glasses), it is really a coloring book that relies on the way you color the designs to give a 3D impression. I actually have no-depth perception in my vision, which means I cannot see 3D, so I will be treating this as a regular coloring book. There are several pages of directions on the methods by which you can achieve the best 3D feel to your coloring.

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Large format Animal Coloring Book with 3D color way instructions (and glasses)

3D Coloring Animals

By: Emma Segal

Rating: 5 of 5

While this is being sold as a 3D book (and includes inexpensive cardboard glasses), it is really a coloring book that relies on the way you color the designs to give a 3D impression. I actually have no-depth perception in my vision, which means I cannot see 3D, so I will be treating this as a regular coloring book. There are several pages of directions on the methods by which you can achieve the best 3D feel to your coloring.

This is a large format book at approximately 9.7 x 13.5 inches. The pictures are quite large compared to most coloring books that I own. I enjoy Hannah Davies art style (from other coloring books I have) and really like these too. There are many animals in the book, from land to sea to sky. Each animals has great patterns drawn into them so it will be a great coloring experience. For me, the artwork more than makes up for the issues that I will discuss below.

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48 Sweet and funny coloring designs

The Coloring Cafe-Volume One: A Coloring Book for Grown-Up Girls

By: Ronnie Walter

Rating: 5 of 5

This is a really fun coloring book with lots of variety in coloring options. I purchased this one slightly out of order in that I have already bought volumes 2, 3, and 4 (which I highly recommend!) I just love the way this Ronnie Walter looks at life. There are adorable little animals, collages, mandalas, hearts, flowers, tea pot and cups, fashions, fun and inspirational sayings, and so much more. The designs are all hand-drawn which provides me with a more personal coloring experience.

There are 48 designs in this book and each one is printed on one side of the white page with the back side left blank (except for a short title on the lower right hand side which introduces the following design.)

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Light on actual mystery

Candy Corn Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery)

By: Leslie Meier

Rating: 3 of 5

candycanemurderThis is the first book I have read by Leslie Meier though it is the latest in a long standing series. The series features Lucy Stone who is a reporter for a local weekly newspaper, a wife, mother, and grandmother.

The town is getting ready for a Halloween Pumpkin festive that is being expanded from what has happened in years past. With many added features, including a giant pumpkin weigh-in, a pumpkin catapult, and other fall happenings, there seems to be a secret and concerted effort to bring the festival to a halt.

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Very Imaginative and Intricate Designs for Coloring Fun

Doodle Invasion: Zifflin’s Coloring Book (Volume 1)

By: Zifflin

Rating: 5 of 5

Doodle Fusion is a really interesting coloring book. It is based on the line artwork of artist Kerby Rosanes. The Zifflin’s color books seem to be exploring the far edge of coloring opportunities. I recently got the US version of Mr. Rosanes Animorphia which had a lot of publishing issues with the book. I can assure you that that is not a problem with this book. This set of designs is well published without missing parts of images, etc.

The 50 pages of designs in this book are made up of a multitude of small hand drawn images of all sorts of things (though mostly little goblin like characters.) In some cases, the little characters are used to create a design of something else and in other cases, the little guys are crawling around, in and out of some other item. For someone who really likes to color small and elaborate designs and wants something really different, this line of books, and this one in particular may be perfect.

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70 visually interesting designs printed on both sides of page in small format

Optical Illusions: 70 designs to help you de-stress (Coloring for Mindfulness)

By: Hamlyn

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a book of optical illusion designs. The pages are printed in gray rather than black as most coloring books. While I like the concept and the designs are quite different, I think that the light gray makes it difficult to color. If it had been printed in black, I could use light or dark colors without any problems. With the lighter tone, my bright colors overwhelm the page.

The format of this is smaller than most coloring books at approximately 8 x 8 inches. The binding is a type of rubbery glue that is located at the top of the book. It makes getting to all sides of the design much easier and now that I have experienced it, I wish more coloring books had top binding (as do many art books). My only concern is that if I remove a page, it may break the binding at that point and take more than the one page off. The back of the book is a heavy cardboard that keeps the book stable, especially if you are working in-hand instead of on a hard surface.

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70 Cute and Fun Cat designs printed on both sides of page in small format

Cats: 70 designs to help you de-stress (Coloring for Mindfulness)

By: Hamlyn

Rating: 4 of 5

This is a cute and funny set of 70 cat designs. The designs are all fairly intricate with many small details. It will take very thin pencil or pen nibs to get into all of the nooks and crannies of these designs.

The format of this is smaller than most coloring books at approximately 8 x 8 inches. The binding is a type of rubbery glue that is located at the top of the book. It makes getting to all sides of the design much easier and now that I have experienced it, I wish more coloring books had top binding (as do many art books). My only concern is that if I remove a page, it may break the binding at that point and take more than the one page off. The back of the book is a heavy cardboard that keeps the book stable, especially if you are working in-hand instead of on a hard surface.

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50 Intricate and Lovely Mandalas for hours of coloring relaxation

Breathe (Angie’s Extreme Stress Menders Volume 3)

By: Angie Grace

Rating: 5 of 5

This book contains 50 mandala designs. This is my first coloring book from Angie Grace but it is the third in her Extreme Stress Menders series. The designs are a series of flowing and graceful mandalas. Coloring them will be a fun experience with lots of choices of colors to make some lines pop and some to recede. I’m looking forward to them and to picking up future books by this artist as well.

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Beautiful Coloring Book filled with Mandala and Mandala inspired Hand-drawn Designs

The Artful Mandala Coloring Book: Creative Designs for Fun and Meditation

By: Cher Kaufmann

Rating: 5 of 5

This is my first coloring book by Cher Kaufmann and it will not be my last. The smaller format book is filled with designs that will provide me with many hours of coloring fun and relaxation. While many coloring books are created from computer generated artwork (and I enjoy those, too), this book has 100 hand-drawn designs from the beginning to the end. They are not all mandalas but those that are not are certainly influenced by the artwork associated with mandalas. I really appreciate the wide range of choices in this book.

In addition to the designs, the artist has included interesting suggestions on how and where to color. Also, she has included explanations of what the various colors mean as far as what you may be expressing when you wear (or color with) a particular color, e.g., gold means wealth, elegance, abundance, and success.

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