Ketch's Book Nook

Hello, everyone! Hope you are well. I'm new here to Tumblr. I'm looking to make my little blog a place to post about the books I read, the artwork I draw, and the crochet projects I work on.

For book reviews, my rating system is basically:

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 - Brilliant! I loved the characters, plotline, and pretty much everything about the book.

🌟🌟🌟🌟 - Great! The writing is well done, but not as captivating as a five star book.

🌟🌟🌟 - Good! The writing is well done, but the characters, plotline, or other aspects didn't really pull me into the book.

Note: A ⭐ represents half a star in post text. Also, I do not publicly rate and/or review books under 3 stars. And I am not open to review requests.

As for my artwork and crochet projects, these are my hobbies. I am not open to commissions.

This week, I was just not feeling it. I'm not tired of my novel or of editing it. In fact, I'm looking forward to self-publishing next year. But last week, I had finished the edits of another book (a second edition); after which, I was exhausted, grumpy, and not feeling well. So, I decided to give myself a break.

This past week, I woke up at 3:30 AM instead of my usual 3:15 AM (not that extra 15 minutes a day helped my sleep deficit), put on some music (either Mediterranean instrumentals or the soundtrack from Medicine Man) and drew for a half hour to an hour.

To start, I finished my pizza art, which came out beautiful, in my opinion. I have more food topics lined up, including fish and chips and simit with Turkish coffee. But I felt like creating an art piece for my Tumblr header, first. Though I love purple, my current header just feels very plain.

Given this blog space is meant for my reading and other hobbies, I sketched out a few books and a tea cup (inspired by a tea cup I've had for as long as I can remember). I recently finished the alcohol marker base and started the felt tip outline.

In addition, I ended up nursing a migraine Tuesday afternoon and through most of Wednesday, forcing me to stay home. But by late afternoon on Wednesday, I was feeling okay enough to crochet a little more of my Rick O'Connell doll. Now he has two arms and a leg. I'll try to get to his other leg this weekend. Also, I'll start reading and editing my novel again on Monday.

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Though I greatly enjoyed The Iron Flower, it was unsettling how much the events reflect current affairs. From new mage rules that suppress the masses further to soldiers attacking unarmed civilians, the Gardnerians’ authoritative rule has now fully consumed the western half of Erthia. However, despite major obstacles and some very nasty blows to the rebellion, I admire how the characters continued to fight the Mage Council the best way they knew how. During the dark times we find ourselves in, I found this book inspiring and keeping my hope alive.

Finally finished the white granny squares for the dream blanket I'm working on. This should be the last batch I need. After I block the squares, I will lay them out to measure. I'm hoping to fit a queen size bed.

In the meantime, I'm going back to the doll I started. Below is a little hint of who I'm basing the doll on. 🥰

Each Sunday, I will select a random book from my bookshelf, take a photograph, and post it.

Today's book is Spellcaster by Jaymin Eve.

I love drawing tomatoes and onions. I don't know why. 😂 Now, all that's left is the mozzarella and text, and I'll be finished with my pizza drawing.

I have a wonderful 2003 Subaru Forester that has been with me since I started driving. And just to make clear now, I will never give her up.

Over the past couple of years, I've become addicted to listening to audio CD books. It's a great way to kill time as I commute back and forth from work. Unfortunately, finding audio CDs is becoming harder, and the few I do find are MP3-CDs, which my car's CD player can't read.

So, I bought an affordable, portable CD player, which sort of reminds me of my childhood. Except it's much larger (probably due to the built in speakers). Also, being new technology, I feel I need a pilot license to operate all the buttons and options.

I gave the portable CD player a go this Thursday with my audio CD of Clanlands: Whisky, Warfare, and a Scottish Adventure Like No Other. So far, so good. Though, it does have disadvantages, like trying to find a place for it to sit (settled with the front passenger seat) or trying to hit the pause button (after it slipped to the other side of the seat). But I will figure it out.

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Another five stars, of course! I just love Maomao’s and Jinshi’s interactions with each other. And the mysteries in this volume are always captivating. My favorite one being the mystery of the inherited workshop, cabinet, and fishbowl. But I’m getting anxious to get to a point in the story where I don’t already know the plot by heart (since I’ve already read all the available manga). I’m hoping I reach that point by the end of Volume 3, but I have a feeling it will be within Volume 4.

Each Sunday, I will select a random book from my bookshelf, take a photograph, and post it.

Today's book is For No Mortal Creature by Keshe Chow.

Today, I dared something a little different. For my colored pencil portion of my pizza artwork, I decided to try color theory (using the opposing color for shadowing). I've only completed the basil and garlic, but I'm amazed at the depth it provides. Particularly with the basil; though, it doesn't show as well in the photograph.

Happy 4th of July to those celebrating!

- Waypoints: My Scottish Journey (Non-fiction, Memoir)

- The Weight of Souls (Young Adult, Fantasy)

- The Star-Touched Queen (Young Adult, Fantasy)

- The Sphinx's Queen (Young Adult, Historical Fiction)

- The Apothecary Diaries (Young Adult, Drama, Mystery)

I decided to take my crocheting outside, this morning. I'm trying to finish a blanket I started back in 2022 (I think--every year after 2019 seems to blend together). That's my fault. I tend to take on projects, then drop them for new ones after a while. A common Scorpio trait, or so I'm told. This should be the last set of granny squares I need to make. I'll be laying out the squares to see if it's queen size (my final goal).

It was nice sitting in the backyard. Though, both Litten (my cat) and I were a bit distracted by the wild rabbits chasing each other.