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Net Galley
Monthly Archives: February 2017
Another interesting mystery in the Nan Vining series
Lying Blind: A Nan Vining Mystery (Nan Vining Mysteries Book 6)
By: Dianne Emley
Rating: 5 of 5
I have read a couple of the Nan Vining mysteries and really enjoyed adding “Lying Blind” to my collection of these novels. I do recommend reading this series in order as there are relationships which have developed over time that would be confusing without the prior stories.
In this story, Nan, a homicide detective with the Pasadena Police department, is called to the scene of a murder in the posh area of town. A young woman has been found floating, nude, face down in a swimming pool. It is up to Nan and her crew to figure out who the woman is and how she ended up where she did.
Posted in Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
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Cute Regency romp about a young lady who knows how to run away all too well
Runaway Bride
By: Jane Aiken Hodge
Rating: 4 of 5
Jane Aiken Hodge was an author whose books I read when they were first published years ago. Most of her books have a more gothic feel, but this one is a Regency romance without any the dark brooding characters.
As a Regency romance of the period when it was written, it was a good one. That spanned the range of someone like Barbara Cartland to the master of Regencies (and who, I believe created the genre), Georgette Heyer. Some would try to put Jane Austen in this list but remember that she was writing stories during the Regency period itself and about her contemporaries rather than a made-up world of balls, intrigue, dashing heroes, and plucky heroines.
Posted in Romance
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100 garden designs with a sketchbook feel printed one side of the page
Lang Dreaming In Color Coloring Book by Lisa Kaus (1020102)
By: Lang
Rating: 4 of 5
This is a large format coloring book with 100 designs. The designs are of gardens and plants and have a very sketchbook like quality to them. It is almost as if these were the preliminary sketches to the artist’s final work. Because they are hand-drawn, there are inconsistencies and areas where lines are missing or don’t meet up, etc. The designs are detailed and in some cases intricate.
I am very impressed with the way this book is published. The coloring book has 100 pages and is very well made. I wish most coloring books were made to this level, let alone having so many designs to choose from.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
100 hand-drawn garden designs with a sketchbook feel
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is medium weight, white, slightly rough and perforated
Many designs do cross over the perforations but stop short of the spiral binding. If you remove pages from the book, the edge that you will lose does not contain essential elements of the design.
Spiral Binding with hard covers that help the book lay flat and provide a good coloring table
Alcohol-based markers bled through this paper only slightly. I would still use a blotter of card stock to protect the designs below my working page when using these style of markers.
Water-based markers, gel pens and India ink pens did not bleed through or leave shadows on the back of the page.
Colored pencils worked well with this paper. It has a good tooth and allowed for applying layers of the same color to get rich pigment. I could also layer multiple colors well and I could blend both oil and wax based pencils easily with a pencil style blending stick.
Posted in Adult Color Books
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100 coloring designs by Lisa Kaus in smaller format coloring book printed one side of the page
Wells Street by Lang Embrace The Day Adult Coloring Book by Lisa Kaus, 7.375 x 9.25 inches (6093003)
By: Wells St. by LANG
Rating: 4 of 5
I picked this book up thinking that it would be different from the other Lang coloring book by Lisa Kaus, Dreaming In Color. Turns out the difference is the size of the designs, the paper used, and possibly some slight differences in cropping. While it is nice to have two sizes of books (this one, Embrace the Day, is the smaller of the two), I would not have bought it if I had known that it did not include different artwork.
The designs are of gardens and plants and have a very sketchbook like quality to them. It is almost as if these were the preliminary sketches to the artist’s final work. Because they are hand-drawn, there are inconsistencies and areas where lines are missing or don’t meet up, etc. The designs are detailed and in some cases intricate.
If I had to make a choice between the two books, I would certainly choose Dreaming In Color due to the size of the book, the spiral binding, the hard cover and the better grade of paper used. That doesn’t detract from my review of this book, just a statement of my preference.
I am very impressed with the way this book is published. The coloring book has 100 pages and is very well made. I wish most coloring books were made to this level, let alone having so many designs to choose from.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
100 hand-drawn garden designs by Lisa Kaus
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is fairly thin, white, slightly rough and perforated
The designs do cross over the perforations and disappear into the binding. However, if you remove pages from the book, you will probably not lose anything essential to the design.
Glue Bound
Book is approximately 9.75 x 7.25 x .5 inches. The unbound corners of the book are slightly rounded.
Book can be opened fairly flat for coloring but you must heavily crease or break the spine to do so.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper readily.
Water-based markers, gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. Heavy use of markers and ink pens can cause them to bleed through in spots.
Colored pencils worked well with this paper. It has a good tooth and allowed for applying layers of the same color to get rich pigment. I could also layer multiple colors well and I could blend both oil and wax based pencils easily with a pencil style blending stick. Hard lead pencils can leave dents through the page.
I suggest using a blotter page, such as card stock, below your working page that or remove pages before coloring. This is keep seeping ink and marring dents from damaging the pages below.
Posted in Adult Color Books
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Beautiful and large spiral bound coloring book printed one side of the page
Color Me Your Way 5
By: Pamela Smart
Rating: 5 of 5
Color Me Your Way is the fifth book in a series of coloring books by PJC Smart. It is also noted as her fifth year anniversary book as well. The book is absolutely beautiful with a wide variety of animals included in the designs. There are 24 11 x 16 inch illustrations and a page with two card size designs.
The designs are quite detailed with lots of doodle elements within the various animals. This makes for a wonderful coloring experience with lots of opportunity to play with colors and shading. As the book is quite large, the details are clear and are easy to color with a wide variety of coloring elements.
I’m so pleased with the way the book is published the spiral binding makes it easy to lay the book flat and to get to all corners of the design (which have framing lines at the outer edges to finish off all of the elements for a clean look.) By using larger format, the artist can give us large designs without printing cross a binding. It simply makes coloring easier as well as tremendous fun.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper.
25 pages of detailed animal designs including 24 large format designs and 2 card size designs.
Printed on one side of the page
Paper is heavyweight, white, lightly smooth and perforated.
Spiral bound
Designs stop well before the perforations and spiral binding. Designs have framing lines at the outer edges
Alcohol-based markers bleed through the page. I use card stock or heavy weight paper below my working page if I use this type of medium. It keeps ink from seeping through to the next page. You can always remove pages from the book before coloring as well.
Water-based markers, India ink pens and some gel pens leave a very light shadow on the page.
Colored pencils work really well with this paper. I tested both oil and wax based pencils and could get good pigment on the page. I was able to layer the same and multiple colors easily. Blending with a pencil style blender worked well, too.
Posted in Adult Color Books
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Another fun book in the Hamish Macbeth series
Death of a Ghost (A Hamish Macbeth Mystery)
By: M. C. Beaton
Rating: 4 of 5
I’ve read a number of the Hamish Macbeth books over the years and always enjoy dropping in to see how Hamish is faring. He is still the least ambitious policeman, wanting no more than to stay in his wee apartment at the police station. He is still looking for his soul mate (though he finds an interesting host of reasons why each woman he finds is just not right for him in the end.)
In this story, Hamish is called to the scene of a castle to ferret out the ghostly noises that are scaring the villagers. Of course, he stumbles across a murder scene and the story is off and running.
Posted in Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
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Cute modern day interpretation of Pride and Prejudice
Unleashing Mr. Darcy
By: The Hallmark Channel
Rating: 4 of 5
“Unleashing Mr. Darcy” is one of the latest remakes of Jane Austen’s iconic novel, “Pride and Prejudice”. I’m quite a fan of all of Ms. Austen’s works with “Pride and Prejudice” being one of my favorites. I’ve read many books and seen both movie and television mini-series interpretations and always look forward to seeing a new take on it.
In “Unleashing Mr. Darcy”, the role of Elizabeth Bennet is transformed into Elizabeth Scott (played by Cindy Busby) and Fitzwilliam Darcy becomes Donovan Darcy (played by Ryan Paevey). In the story, recently unemployed (unfairly fired) Elizabeth finds temporary employment as a dog handler and is also able to show her own King Charles Spaniel at a dog show where Darcy is judging the competition.
The two meet in less than stellar circumstances and are left with less than wonderful views of one another. In that sense, the movie follows the book very well. Darcy certainly appears full of pride and Elizabeth is quick to form opinions based on very little face.
Posted in Movies/Television
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Interesting and fast moving Florida Keys diving mystery
Death by Sunken Treasure (A Hayden Kent Mystery) (Volume 2)
By: Kait Carson
Rating: 5 of 5
This is the second book in the Hayden Kent Mysteries by Kait Carson. It is the first book I have read by this author. I often read books out of order in series to see how well they read stand-alone.
I had some difficulties in the first chapter or two as it seemed to continue from the first book without much explanation as to who the characters were and how they interacted. By around the third or fourth chapter, I had caught up and could enjoy the story. While I think the story can be read stand-alone, I recommend reading the series in order so you can understand the back story on the characters which becomes fairly important by the end of the book.
Posted in Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
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Good start to a new series – a little slow but ultimately a good read
Death With an Ocean View (A Kate Kennedy Mystery) (Volume 1)
By: Noreen Wald
Rating: 4 of 5
“Death With an Ocean View” is the first in a series of mysteries about Kate Kennedy. Kate is a new widow; her husband passed away six months prior and right after the couple has moved to Florida for their retirement years. Kate is having a time trying to fit in as a single instead of a couple after so many years of marriage.
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100 coloring designs by Debi Hron in smaller format coloring book printed one side of the page
Wells Street by Lang Simply Grateful Adult Coloring Book by Debi Hron, 7.375 x 9.25 inches (6093004)
By: Wells St. by LANG
Rating: 5 of 5
I picked this book up thinking that it would be different from the other Lang coloring book by Debi Hron, Cheerful Journey. Turns out the difference is the size of the designs, the paper used, and possibly some slight differences in cropping. While it is nice to have two sizes of books (this one, Simply Grateful, is the smaller of the two), I probably would not have bought it if I had known that it did not include different artwork.
I’ve enjoyed Ms. Hron’s artwork over years and the designs in this book are indicative of those I have found in household goods, calendars, Christmas cards and more. There are birds, sunflowers, snowmen, scarecrows, and my favorites, her cute cats.
The designs span through a variety of seasons. Some of them have sayings and quotes and others are solely design focused. They designs appear to be hand-drawn with the wonderful look that one expects from such.
If I had to make a choice between the two books, I would certainly choose Cheerful Journey due to the size of the book, the spiral binding, the hard cover and the better grade of paper used. That doesn’t detract from my review of this book, just a statement of my preference. Judging this book on its own merits, I really like it.
This is what I found while coloring in this book and testing my coloring medium on the paper:
100 Design pages featuring hand-drawn artwork by Debi Hron featuring many of her design series
Designs are printed on one side of the page
Paper is fairly thin, white, slightly rough and perforated
Most designs do cross over the perforations and disappear into the binding. However, if you remove pages from the book, you will probably not lose anything essential to the design.
Glue Bound
Book is approximately 9.75 x 7.25 x .5 inches. The unbound corners of the book are slightly rounded.
Book can be opened fairly flat for coloring but you must heavily crease or break the spine to do so.
Alcohol-based markers bleed through this paper readily.
Water-based markers, gel pens and India ink pens leave colorful shadows on the back of the page. Heavy use of markers and ink pens can cause them to bleed through in spots.
Colored pencils worked well with this paper. It has a good tooth and allowed for applying layers of the same color to get rich pigment. I could also layer multiple colors well and I could blend both oil and wax based pencils easily with a pencil style blending stick. Hard lead pencils can leave dents through the page.
I suggest using a blotter page, such as card stock, below your working page that or remove pages before coloring. This is keep seeping ink and marring dents from damaging the pages below.
Posted in Adult Color Books
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