Undirected Reading

A generally interesting, readable book that gives an interesting and seemingly well-researched pop history/biography look at Stalin's life before he came to power. My greatest complaint is that the author seems to lean heavily on stereotypes to characterize the people he talks about--the Svanidze sisters are "Rachvelians from Racha, famous for its placid and loving beauties," the reputation of Georgians in general as being passionate and hotheaded, etc. This is fine, in moderation, and does provide some context for the way many of these people would have been seen in an Imperial Russian and, later, a Soviet context--but these stereotypes are invoked with surprising consistency, sometimes resulting in contradictory descriptions of people and places. It's enjoyable, and provides a look at Stalin's early biographical context that may not always feature in more conventional accounts of his time in power. Personally I would have favored both a broader and...

In one sense, I only reading Cristina Vatulescu's Police Aesthetics because the ebook was available on Hoopla Digital through my public library, and I was looking for something interesting to read. The reality is that this is primarily how I discovered it, because in all likelihood if I had learned of its existence otherwise I would have requested it from interlibrary loan and read it anyway. It's exactly the kind of book that would have been very useful to me for various term papers as an undergraduate Russian Studies student, too, so there's almost a nostalgia factor for me when reading books like this. That said, I imagine its appeal to a general American audience is probably somewhat limited. It's a book about the role of the secret police in the literary/film world of the Soviet Union and Communist Romania, among other things, and it's at times a bit dry. But it's also an interesting look into what is (and isn't) to be found in the opened archives of p...

I received this free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is a very readable, well-illustrated book that covers general techniques of wood burning, provides example projects (with clear step-by-step instructions), and really walks the reader through the process from choosing equipment to understanding the options for adding color and various finishes. The example projects provide a taste of the broad range of artistic expression possible with pyrography, including many that never would have occurred to me--from cork trivets to leather to canvas. Unlike many how-to books I've encountered on various crafts, this one offers snippets of advice from a variety of people who work in this medium in addition to the main author--which is a great strength. For those inclined to delve deeper online, many of these advice snippets include the social media handle of the contributor. As I am very much a novice pyrographer, I cannot speak directly to what the book wou...