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Net Galley
Monthly Archives: April 2018
35 Detailed and Fun to Color Rainforest Inspired designs (with hidden pictures) – printed one side of the page
Tropical Rainforest
By: Angela Porter
Rating: 5 of 5
I really enjoy Angela Porter’s style of design. I find her illustrations to be detailed and fun to color. Until now, her coloring books that I have purchased have not only been detailed but also extremely intricate with lots of tiny spots to color. I do enjoy those books and designs but was really pleased to see her do a book where the design elements are larger.
The book is being marketed to tweens but I think it is a great book for adults as well. It is also a good way for individuals who may not have been able to color her previous books due to the complexity to buy and color in a book that has her fun style. The designs are still quite detailed but definitely larger and with less elements than her previous books have been.
The designs in this book are focused on the tropical rainforest with lots of plants, flowers, birds and animals. An extra fun part of coloring these designs are the hidden pictures (really more elements) that you can look for on the various pages. There are only four different elements in this book, which are: ladybugs, snails, hearts, and stars. Some are larger and some are smaller. What especially like is that they are not obtrusive and out of place as I have found with a few other hidden picture designs.
At the time I am writing this review, the product description mentions 44 designs in this book. There are only 35 so hopefully the publisher will get this error fixed in the future.
Posted in Adult Color Books
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31 Adorable Animal in Cozy Clothing designs – printed one side of the page
Cozy Creatures Coloring Book – Creative Haven
By: Jessica Mazurkiewicz
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a really cute coloring book of designs by Jessica Mazurkiewicz. She has dressed a wide variety of animals in some fun cozy clothing. There are dogs, cats, llamas, tigers, turtles, koalas and even an octopus garbed in (mostly) sweaters. Each design is more adorable than the last and should make for fun coloring during the cold months of winter when I am wearing by cozy clothes as well.
The drawings in this book are detailed but not what I consider intricate or difficult to color. I especially like that the animals are placed in scenes rather than simply having a dog or cat dressed in a sweater and no background. The cute backgrounds give context to the designs.
I’ve noticed that the paper quality over the last few months seems to change quite frequently on the Creative Haven line. Because of that, if you buy one of these books, it may be slightly smooth or slightly rough depending on when and where it was printed.
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31 Fun to color designs inspired by The Wizard of Oz – printed by sides of the page
Wizard of Oz Coloring Book (Creative Haven)
By: Marty Noble
Rating: 5 of 5
I always look forward to a lovely new coloring book by Marty Noble. I’m also a huge fan of The Wizard of Oz in coloring book as well. That made this book an easy one to pre-order. I knew, without even seeing the book, that it would be one that I would enjoy.
The designs are in Ms. Noble’s signature style with lots of flowing elements and mandala pages. The portions of the story I most like are well covered in the book. This coloring book is not a storybook at all. It is designs which are inspired by the story. I like both formats but find that I actually prefer the storybook style I have seen by other artists.
I’ve noticed that the paper quality over the last few months seems to change quite frequently on the Creative Haven line. Because of that, if you buy one of these books, it may be slightly smooth or slightly rough depending on when and where it was printed. I’ve found that coloring medium, including pencils, work similarly with both slightly rough and slightly smooth paper from Creative Haven. In this case, my coloring book pages are slightly rough.
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Beautiful and well-made animal inspired coloring book – printed both sides of the page
Into the Wild: An Exotic Woodland Coloring Book
By: Daisy Fletcher
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a really beautiful and different coloring book. Unlike Daisy Fletcher’s last coloring book (“Birdtopia”), this book does not use pre-colored elements. However, the pages are tinted a distinct yellow ivory (the same as shown on the cover of the book), so your palette will need to work around that. I must say I am pleased with the change as the pre-colored portions of “Birdtopia” were the reason I returned that book.
This coloring book focuses on animals and flowers in the wild. There are gorgeous little foxes, deer, rabbits, wolves and more. The flowers are very lovely as well. At the back of the book, the artist has included thumbnails of the designs along with the names of the animals and flowers on each page. There is a fantastic four-page spread at the back of the book which provides a beautiful and detailed coloring experience.
There are pages with lots of detail and some with a simple single flower or animal. Some of the designs do have small and intricate areas to color.
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Funny and fun to solve mystery in this great series
Farewell, My Cuckoo: A Birds of a Feather Mystery
By: Marty Wingate
Rating: 5 of 5
This is another fun entry in the A Birds of a Feather Mystery series. I’ve enjoyed all of the books in this series though I thought the last entry (prior to this one) was a little off course. With “Farewell My Cuckoo”, Marty Wingate has brought out, what I feel, is the best of the series thus far.
Julia Lanchester is the manager of the TIC, Tourist Information Center, at Fotheringham Estate. She and her boyfriend Michael have just attended a dear friend’s wedding. Julia has the distinct feeling that marriage (or at least a proposal) may be in her immediate future, too. However, when she and Michael return home from the wedding, Michael’s sister Pammy has shown up to stay overnight (camped out on the sofa.) When overnight turns to two days and then a week and then Pammy starts buying groceries and doing chores around the house, Julia is concerned that Pammy has moved in for good.
Then Willow, one of Julia’s dear friends, stumbles (literally) over a corpse. Julia is determined to stay out of the investigation of the murder of That Poor Man (what she calls him as no one knows who he is) but she is pulled in almost against her will.
Posted in Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
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Great 1950’s style designs – printed on one side of the page
Fashionable 50s: The 1950s Coloring Book
By: LightBurst Media
Rating: 5 of 5
This is a fabulous coloring book inspired by the fashions and society of the 1950’s. I haven’t really seen anything like it before and was captured by the cover page and bought it sight unseen otherwise. It turns out that it is part of a series that (currently) includes the 1970’s, 1980’s and 1990’s.
The book includes everything from a sock hop to a singer who is more than slightly reminiscent of Elvis. I love the design with the young woman and the typewriters as I learned to type on an old mechanical typewriter. The design with the young girl and the forty-fives reminded me of my older sister, though she listened to music on that style of record player in the 1960s.
The designs are definitely detailed but do not include tiny and intricate areas to color. The designs have full backgrounds. My only nit with the book is that the designs simply stop at a certain point. I wish that the artist/publisher had included a framing line at the outer edges for a more polished look.
I hope that they plan on doing a sixties version (from Jackie Kennedy to hippies and Sargent Pepper style psychedelic fashions.) How cool would that be. ETA – apparently the company has published a sixties issue which I will be picking up soon!
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100 Bird and Birdhouse designs – printed one side of the page
Lang Reflections Coloring Book
By: Tim Coffey
Rating: 4 of 5
This is a lovely book of bird and birdhouse designs. The designs are quite detailed though not what I would consider intricate with small areas to color. Tim Coffey’s designs are fairly open with easy to color spaces.
My only issue with the book is that all of the designs extend to the edges of the paper on all four sides (including past the perforations and spiral binding on the bound side.) This makes it difficult to color.
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. It is an extremely well published book (as are all of the spiral bound Lang books.)
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25 separate design (2 each) island theme designs – printed one side of the page
Island Paradise
By: Jade Summer
Rating: 5 of 5
The designs in this coloring book make me think of my various vacations to tropical islands, especially to different islands in Hawaii. In addition to scenes which have a vacation feel, there are designs of flora and fauna (including many fish) that bring up an island feel. The designs are very detailed with lots of additional lines so you can use a huge number of colors if you wish. Coloring in the book makes me yearn to plan another tropical vacation in the near future.
While you can have access to .PDFs when you purchase this book, my review is based on the book as it is received from Amazon. That way you will know what the pages look like and how they accept color. I like that the publisher provides the digital version as well so you can choose the paper you wish to use and/or to color the pictures as many times as you choose.
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25 Elegant fairy and fantasy designs – printed one side of the page
A Fairy Realm Coloring Book
By: Molly Harrison
Rating: 4 of 5
This is a lovely book of fairy and fantasy designs by Molly Harrison. I’ve enjoyed her designs for years and was pleased to find another one that piqued my interest. The designs are mostly fairies but do include fantasy and mermaid designs as well. While I like her style, the designs have become a little predictable. I wish that Ms. Harrison would explore other aspects of coloring designs. I’ve seen her grayscale books and love the style of her actual artwork. It is just when it is interpreted in line art that it all begins to look a little similar.
In this book, the fairies et all are all adults. Ms. Harrison has another series which features adorable little children and I enjoy and purchase those books as well.
Here, the fairies and fantasy creatures are in striking poses. Some are simply standing/sitting by themselves and others are set into background designs. That way, you can get both simpler designs and more detailed designs in the same book.
If you do not like the CreateSpace paper Ms. Harrison’s books are printed on, you can find .PDF coloring books are her website at www.mollyharrisonart.com
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Intriguing start in a new series in the Pitt family novels
Twenty-one Days: A Daniel Pitt Novel
By: Anne Perry
Rating: 5 of 5
I am fairly new to the mysteries by Anne Perry. This is only the second book I have read in the Pitt series (though the first was really a one-off Christmas book.) I’m intrigued and well-pleased with Ms. Perry’s writing style. She has intellectual characters who use their wits and knowledge to solve the whodunnit.
In this book, Daniel Pitt (the son of Charlotte and Thomas Pitt), is a grown man working as a new lawyer in a prestigious firm. Daniel is called on to assist one of the bright stars of the firm in defending a man against the charge of murdering his own wife.
Posted in Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
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