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iseefeelings's reviews
322 reviews
Illustrating Children's Books: Creating Pictures for Publication by Martin Salisbury
4.0
Even though this book was published in the early 2000s, it still covers a wide range of invaluable information for children's book illustrators. I jotted down many helpful notes while reading, there are some techniques/ the process of book-making that I'd never heard of.
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My favourite chapter is the making of novelties and pop-ups, what an interesting challenge! You can surely find a lot of these things on the internet but the book serves as a good checklist to review all the basic skills and a good overview of all the possibilities you have as a book illustrator.
•
My favourite chapter is the making of novelties and pop-ups, what an interesting challenge! You can surely find a lot of these things on the internet but the book serves as a good checklist to review all the basic skills and a good overview of all the possibilities you have as a book illustrator.
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
5.0
While reading Anne of Green Gables, I can’t help but think about purchasing a whole box set for this lovely Canadian literature’s treasure. It has been so so long since the last time I got hooked on a book series like this. I didn’t know it feels that good and refreshing to have a book which brings me back to the little me I once was and eases the harshness in life.
I was so afraid that any dramatic incident would come to Anne but after all, the book is just like a mellow song; it soothes my wounded heart and lifts up my poor soul. Life suddenly becomes a little bit brighter, dreamier to me. I miss the little me who was daydreaming all the time. But I’m not Anne, I don’t have the fearless spirit like her. I love how she has her flaws but never hesitates to improve herself; she enjoys little moments in life with such a dear young heart. I just want to be her kindred spirit somehow.
_
(236)"I've been making mistakes, and each mistake has helped to cure me of some great shortcoming."
(237)" 'Don't give up all your romance, Anne,' he whispered shyly, 'a little of it is a good thing - not too much, of course - but keep a little of it, Anne, keep a little of it.' "
(312)"When Matthew was here he liked to hear you laugh and he liked to know that you found pleasure in the pleasant things around you,' said Mrs Allan gently. 'He is just away now; and he likes to know it just the same. I am sure we should not shut our hearts against the healing influences that nature offers us. But I understand your feeling. I think we all experience the same thing. We resent the thought that anything can please us when someone we love is no longer here to share the pleasure with us, and we almost feel as if we were unfaithful to our sorrow when we find our interest in life returning to us.'"
(319)"'When I left Queen's my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla. I wonder how the road beyond it goes - what there is of green glory and soft, chequered light and shadows - what new landscapes - what new beauties - what curves and hills and valleys farther on.'"
I was so afraid that any dramatic incident would come to Anne but after all, the book is just like a mellow song; it soothes my wounded heart and lifts up my poor soul. Life suddenly becomes a little bit brighter, dreamier to me. I miss the little me who was daydreaming all the time. But I’m not Anne, I don’t have the fearless spirit like her. I love how she has her flaws but never hesitates to improve herself; she enjoys little moments in life with such a dear young heart. I just want to be her kindred spirit somehow.
_
(236)"I've been making mistakes, and each mistake has helped to cure me of some great shortcoming."
(237)" 'Don't give up all your romance, Anne,' he whispered shyly, 'a little of it is a good thing - not too much, of course - but keep a little of it, Anne, keep a little of it.' "
(312)"When Matthew was here he liked to hear you laugh and he liked to know that you found pleasure in the pleasant things around you,' said Mrs Allan gently. 'He is just away now; and he likes to know it just the same. I am sure we should not shut our hearts against the healing influences that nature offers us. But I understand your feeling. I think we all experience the same thing. We resent the thought that anything can please us when someone we love is no longer here to share the pleasure with us, and we almost feel as if we were unfaithful to our sorrow when we find our interest in life returning to us.'"
(319)"'When I left Queen's my future seemed to stretch out before me like a straight road. I thought I could see along it for many a milestone. Now there is a bend in it. I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does. It has a fascination of its own, that bend, Marilla. I wonder how the road beyond it goes - what there is of green glory and soft, chequered light and shadows - what new landscapes - what new beauties - what curves and hills and valleys farther on.'"
Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen
4.0
Charming watercoloured illustrations by Lisbeth Zwerger caught my eyes and her work has a dear place in my heart now.
I love how Andersen described the grasshopper in The Rose Tree Regiment:
"[...]We were blessed and told to go forth and multiply. We live on roses, we die in roses; our whole life is poetry. Don't call us by that disgusting, nasty name - I won't say it, I absolutely will not utter the word! Call us the ant's cows, the rose tree regiment, the little green ones!"
or the way he re-imagined the image of Death in The Sandman:
"[..] he has silver braid on his coat and wears a very fine military uniform, with a black velvet cape flying out behind him and his horse".
I love how Andersen described the grasshopper in The Rose Tree Regiment:
"[...]We were blessed and told to go forth and multiply. We live on roses, we die in roses; our whole life is poetry. Don't call us by that disgusting, nasty name - I won't say it, I absolutely will not utter the word! Call us the ant's cows, the rose tree regiment, the little green ones!"
or the way he re-imagined the image of Death in The Sandman:
"[..] he has silver braid on his coat and wears a very fine military uniform, with a black velvet cape flying out behind him and his horse".
Bone: The Complete Edition by Jeff Smith
5.0
A fantastically told and beautifully illustrated graphic novel that worths to be one of the greatest of all time
The Life of Anne Frank by Menno Metselaar
5.0
For whoever already read Anne Frank's diary, this book may complete your experience into the world she once lived in. Anne Frank - a young German girl who fled to the Netherlands with her family to find a hiding place from the Nazis yet was later murdered by them near the end of World War II - is the one who evokes my curiosity and an odd interest in the great war, especially the Holocaust. (I highly recommend the movie - Son of Saul (2015) - for this topic.)
This book describes really well the timeline of Anne's life with precious photos, extracting her moving words in the diary, such as these:
"We long for Saturdays because that means books (...) Ordinary people don't know how much books can mean to someone who's copped up. Our only diversions are reading, studying and listening to the wireless." (11 July 1943)
"When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived! But, and that's a big question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or writer? I hope so, oh, I hope so very much, because writing allows me to record everything, all my thoughts, ideals and fantasies." (5 April 1944)
"(...) Sleep makes the silence and the terrible fear go by more quickly, helps pass the time, since it's impossible to kill it." (29 October 1943)
Reading about Anne and other people in the Secret Annexe after being arrested broke my heart. They almost made it, almost had the freedom that they had always dreamt about. Just imagine that each of them was condemned to death hurts me truly. Only Otto Frank was 'lucky' enough to be alive but I don't know if it is the right word to say. Besides, I'm moved and inspired by everyone who helped those people in hiding, as how Anne Frank acknowledged the risks they may face,
"It's amazing how much these generous and unselfish people do, risking their own lives to help and to save others. The best example of this is our own helpers (...) Never have they uttered a single word about the burden we must be, never have they complained that we're too much trouble." (28 January 1944)
Lastly,
would it feel more intimate if I could read her diary in Dutch?
I wonder.
This book describes really well the timeline of Anne's life with precious photos, extracting her moving words in the diary, such as these:
"We long for Saturdays because that means books (...) Ordinary people don't know how much books can mean to someone who's copped up. Our only diversions are reading, studying and listening to the wireless." (11 July 1943)
"When I write I can shake off all my cares. My sorrow disappears, my spirits are revived! But, and that's a big question, will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or writer? I hope so, oh, I hope so very much, because writing allows me to record everything, all my thoughts, ideals and fantasies." (5 April 1944)
"(...) Sleep makes the silence and the terrible fear go by more quickly, helps pass the time, since it's impossible to kill it." (29 October 1943)
Reading about Anne and other people in the Secret Annexe after being arrested broke my heart. They almost made it, almost had the freedom that they had always dreamt about. Just imagine that each of them was condemned to death hurts me truly. Only Otto Frank was 'lucky' enough to be alive but I don't know if it is the right word to say. Besides, I'm moved and inspired by everyone who helped those people in hiding, as how Anne Frank acknowledged the risks they may face,
"It's amazing how much these generous and unselfish people do, risking their own lives to help and to save others. The best example of this is our own helpers (...) Never have they uttered a single word about the burden we must be, never have they complained that we're too much trouble." (28 January 1944)
Lastly,
would it feel more intimate if I could read her diary in Dutch?
I wonder.
Hiểu về sự chết: Phân tích khoa học về chương cuối đời người by Sherwin B. Nuland, Sherwin B. Nuland
5.0
[updated 2020 /english review]
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I just realised I didn’t write an English review for this book after reading it almost two years ago but believe me, if I can recommend you only one book, this is the one.
Through the eyes of American surgeon Sherwin B. Nuland, the book examines the current state of healthcare (first published in 1994 but most of what he mentioned in the book is still applicable), analyses the moments when his patients walk on the thin string between life and death scientifically (his anecdote and narrative are both mesmerising and haunting), suggests how we can take control the final days of ourselves and our loved ones.
My deep dark fear for death does not be blown away after finishing this book but it has been altered since then, less fear but more acceptance, gratitude and self-improvement.
I read the Vietnamese edition (which has some minor errors in spelling and repetitive phrases) but I can't deny how impactful this book is to me, which is one of the very few books I can confidently say so.
___
[2019]
Cái chết luôn là một nỗi sợ hãi thường trực đầy ẩn khuất đối với riêng mình. Đến khi đọc quyển sách này, bản thân lại có một góc nhìn khoa học hơn, phần nào đó, mang tính chấp nhận và nguôi ngoai hơn.
Tác giả không chỉ chứng tỏ sự thông thái (và khiêm nhường) của một người xuất sắc trong ngành y mà còn ở cách viết còn vô cùng cuốn hút. Mình vô cùng hứng thú bởi các ví dụ được đưa ra. Thậm chí có một ví dụ về bé gái bị một gã xa lạ đâm chết cứ ám ảnh mình tới tận mấy hôm sau... Hơn cả, bác tác giả có một sự nhạy cảm mà khi đọc, không cần hô hào nhưng vẫn cảm giác được cái trăn trở làm nghề.
Mình cũng tự hỏi, không biết các sinh viên hay người làm lâu trong ngành y có biết gì về quyển này không? Vì nó thật sự đáng trong danh sách phải đọc. Có những điều, ví dụ như cứu chữa cật lực, chưa chắc đã là chuyện nên làm. Hơn 400 trang nhưng thật sự mình cứ chỉ muốn nó dày hơn nữa.
Tuy vậy, bản thân khi đọc sách dịch vẫn khó chịu ở các lỗi không đáng có. Dù quyển này dịch rất ổn nhưng lỗi chính tả ít nhưng vẫn rải rác; lỗi lặp từ thì cứ liên tục, nhất là vào chương cuối và câu cú vẫn dài loằng ngoằng.
Rating tuyệt đối cốt là để bày tỏ sự tôn trọng cho bản gốc của tác giả và lâu lâu đọc được sách y khoa hay thì sướng thật sự.
-
I just realised I didn’t write an English review for this book after reading it almost two years ago but believe me, if I can recommend you only one book, this is the one.
Through the eyes of American surgeon Sherwin B. Nuland, the book examines the current state of healthcare (first published in 1994 but most of what he mentioned in the book is still applicable), analyses the moments when his patients walk on the thin string between life and death scientifically (his anecdote and narrative are both mesmerising and haunting), suggests how we can take control the final days of ourselves and our loved ones.
My deep dark fear for death does not be blown away after finishing this book but it has been altered since then, less fear but more acceptance, gratitude and self-improvement.
I read the Vietnamese edition (which has some minor errors in spelling and repetitive phrases) but I can't deny how impactful this book is to me, which is one of the very few books I can confidently say so.
___
[2019]
Cái chết luôn là một nỗi sợ hãi thường trực đầy ẩn khuất đối với riêng mình. Đến khi đọc quyển sách này, bản thân lại có một góc nhìn khoa học hơn, phần nào đó, mang tính chấp nhận và nguôi ngoai hơn.
Tác giả không chỉ chứng tỏ sự thông thái (và khiêm nhường) của một người xuất sắc trong ngành y mà còn ở cách viết còn vô cùng cuốn hút. Mình vô cùng hứng thú bởi các ví dụ được đưa ra. Thậm chí có một ví dụ về bé gái bị một gã xa lạ đâm chết cứ ám ảnh mình tới tận mấy hôm sau... Hơn cả, bác tác giả có một sự nhạy cảm mà khi đọc, không cần hô hào nhưng vẫn cảm giác được cái trăn trở làm nghề.
Mình cũng tự hỏi, không biết các sinh viên hay người làm lâu trong ngành y có biết gì về quyển này không? Vì nó thật sự đáng trong danh sách phải đọc. Có những điều, ví dụ như cứu chữa cật lực, chưa chắc đã là chuyện nên làm. Hơn 400 trang nhưng thật sự mình cứ chỉ muốn nó dày hơn nữa.
Tuy vậy, bản thân khi đọc sách dịch vẫn khó chịu ở các lỗi không đáng có. Dù quyển này dịch rất ổn nhưng lỗi chính tả ít nhưng vẫn rải rác; lỗi lặp từ thì cứ liên tục, nhất là vào chương cuối và câu cú vẫn dài loằng ngoằng.
Rating tuyệt đối cốt là để bày tỏ sự tôn trọng cho bản gốc của tác giả và lâu lâu đọc được sách y khoa hay thì sướng thật sự.
Backyard Fairies by Phoebe Wahl
5.0
I've always loved Phoebe Wahl's work!! Her collage illustrations are both skilful and whimsical with my favourite earthy colour palette. Her works often bring me back to all the tales of fairies and forest I once read as a child. This book truly shows off her intricate illustrations, it also can be a fun activity for kids to find the little fairies hiding away from our heroine :)