Sara's reading log

I am a book hoarder and reader. My main genre is SF, but I also love magic realism, fantasy and general fiction. Favorite authors are Iain M. Banks, Ursula K. LeGuin, Haruki Murakami, José Saramago, Isaac Asimov, Ben Aaronovitch and more. My rating system is based on five stars. I rate books based on my expectations and what a books aims to be. This means that the brilliant 'Fahrenheit 451' gets five stars because I thought it would be good, people said it was good, and it was good, but 'A Closed and Common Orbit' also gets five stars because in its series, in its style, I really enjoyed it and was not disappointed.

Wabi-Sabi Sewing by Karen Lewis

  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ***–
  • Genre(s): Craft

Note: I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.

I like crafting. Mainly crochet and cross stitching, but also knitting and sewing. My problem is that I am a perfectionist, and I am not very good at sewing. I don’t have the right tools for some things (cutting the fabric) and just can’t get some other things right (thread tension will be the dead of me.) The projects I attempt are probably a bit too difficult, but they look so nice… Anyway, when I saw Wabi-Sabi Sewing by Karen Lewis up for review, with a tagline for “perfectly imperfect projects”, I couldn’t resist. Also, the combination with it being Japanese (-style) made it extra interesting.

To be honest, the book itself was a bit of a let-down. Most patterns have some form of quilting, something I find way too difficult and too much work. It seems the “perfectly imperfect” is mainly in the combination of fabrics and the manner of quilting. The Japanese is mainly in the philosophy of combining and planning, and in the fabric style. The projects are nice, but not very special, and the instructions look a bit too meager for me, a beginner.

The book is nicely designed, the pictures are very pretty and the designs look nice. They just aren’t for me, and aren’t for a beginner. For me I’d say this is a three out of five star book.

  • Read in: English
  • Rating: ***–
  • Genre(s): Craft

Note: I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.

I like crafting. Mainly crochet and cross stitching, but also knitting and sewing. My problem is that I am a perfectionist, and I am not very good at sewing. I don’t have the right tools for some things (cutting the fabric) and just can’t get some other things right (thread tension will be the dead of me.) The projects I attempt are probably a bit too difficult, but they look so nice… Anyway, when I saw Wabi-Sabi Sewing by Karen Lewis up for review, with a tagline for “perfectly imperfect projects”, I couldn’t resist. Also, the combination with it being Japanese (-style) made it extra interesting.

To be honest, the book itself was a bit of a let-down. Most patterns have some form of quilting, something I find way too difficult and too much work. It seems the “perfectly imperfect” is mainly in the combination of fabrics and the manner of quilting. The Japanese is mainly in the philosophy of combining and planning, and in the fabric style. The projects are nice, but not very special, and the instructions look a bit too meager for me, a beginner.

The book is nicely designed, the pictures are very pretty and the designs look nice. They just aren’t for me, and aren’t for a beginner. For me I’d say this is a three out of five star book.