nonfiction

Queen in Comics! / Emmanuel Marie, Sophie Blitman

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
Queen in Comics!
By: Emmanuel Marie, Sophie Blitman
Genre: Graphic Novel
Number of Pages: 176
Published: May 3, 2023
Publisher: NBM Publishing
Dates Read: May 2, 2023 - May 3, 2023
Format: ARC / eBook

The history and making of the world famous band, Queen, in graphic novel form.

This is a great graphic novel about the highlights of the band Queen’s journey.

I enjoyed having bits in graphic novels and then covers in regular text format – it allowed me to read and get more about the band than one tends to get while reading a graphic novel.

Queen is one of my mom’s favorite bands, so it was nice to kind of read up on them more to see their history. Freddie Mercury is a legend.

*Thank you NBM Publishing for an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Satisfying Stitches: Learn Simple Embroidery Techniques and Embrace the Joys of Stitching by Hand / Hope Brasfield

/ Alisha Helms / Leave a comment 
Satisfying Stitches: Learn Simple Embroidery Techniques and Embrace the Joys of Stitching by Hand
By: Hope Brasfield
Genre: Nonfiction, Crafts
Number of Pages: 128
Published: November 15, 2022
Publisher: Quarry Books
Dates Read: March 1, 2023
Format: Library Book / Paperback

I started dabbling in embroidery during Covid lockdown – that was my picked up craft thanks to my sister getting me set up and started with a kit. I still love doing it, but I’ve found a lot of my designs that I’ve wanted to do are a little more tedious than I originally thought and therefore, I get a bit bored doing it.

There are a variety of designs that include things such as florals, butterflies, fish, landscapes, and my favorites: houseplants and mushrooms. The stitches featured in this book are super easy, but also super cute and range from levels 1-3. They’re smaller designs, but I can see myself putting these onto clothing items and not just hoops.

The instructions are clear and step-by-step with photos.

One of the other things I enjoyed about this book is that the author gives the colors of the threads with a decent size circle so you can match the thread colors. I don’t always have the exact number that’s given in some books, and if there is a color example given with it, it’s super small and you can’t match the threads very well.

I can’t wait to get started on some of these designs!

– Quick note, the author’s website is different than the one listed in the book, it’s now https://www.hopebroidery.com/