Macleod has done a marvelous job of distilling the basics of being successful at being creative.  This is not the same this being monetarily successful at being creative. Like The Happiness Project, Ignore Everybody makes you take a good long look at your perceptions and how outside influences color your desires and definitions of happiness and success.

McLeod covers two main areas of creativity that you rarely hear about. The first is that you should find time and headspace to make your art.  It should be what you want to create and it should not be something you agonize over.  If you are suffering for your art, you’re doing it wrong.  Creating should be a pleasure.

The other aspect that is talked about even less is that creativity is work.  You have to love the process and the doing.  So many people go out into the world saying “I want to be a famous artist” or actor, or writer.  But at the same time, they didn’t want to spend the immense amounts of time and work it takes to become GOOD at these things.  They have no interest in the process of doing, only the perceived glory and rewards at the end.  These dreamers and wanna-bes recoil from the idea of spending 10-12 hours a day in hunched front of a canvas or writing hundreds of stories that will never be read as they find their voice. Creativity should be its own reward and anything else a bonus.

McLeod also points out the foolishness of assuming that expensive tools can make up for skill, passion and practice.  His advice is short, punchy, often painfully truthful and full of the reality-checks that so many creatives need – and will probably ignore.  However, if you are truly serious about creating you should take a gander.  In addition to the sage advice, the book is illustrated with McLeod’s humorous business card cartoons, for which is is justifiably well-known.

The other day, my dad said “This Grafton woman has another book on the NYTimes bestseller list.  She’s up to V.  I wonder if they’re any good.  You should read one and find out.”  And I did.  And they were.  Very, very good. But then again, she IS on the NYTimes bestseller list and has been published from  A is for Alibi right up to  V is for Vendetta.
 
Grafton has that rare gift in that she can write a series around one character without them, or the plots, becoming stale.  Her P.I. Kinsey Milhone is funny, independent, stubborn and rich with personal quirks that make her thoroughly likeable.  Despite having a set group of friends and neighbors that appear in every book, Milhone’s cases, and her involvement, vary wildly.  There are no recycled plot lines, tired retellings or obvious tells in these mysteries.  Each is cleanly and cleverly written.  While each can stand alone, it does help to read them in order. Let’s hope she plans to write more than four more.  There’s always the Greek alphabet, right?

Lesson number one rule  in Yeager’s amusing and instructive books: cheapskate is a GOOD word.  I couldn’t agree more.  Rather than going down the usual money-saving how-to roads, namely the “how to save money by reusing old string and cardboard boxes to make shoes” and the “just stop drinking that triple frappe half-caf latte every morning and you’ll be rich in no time” books, Yeager focuses on helping you find your inner cheapskate.

He lays out the major areas of our lives where people often make poorly informed choices with little forethought. His advice runs the gamut of being below your means, considering the total cost of a purchase (including upkeep, repair, etc), ways of saving money and amount of time you need to devote to it.  Not every option works for every person.  Pick and choose to what suits your lifestyle and plans for the future. Yeager also points out the pitfalls of becoming too focused – such as the coupon clippers that spend hours a week to save on products they may not even want.

Most importantly, he takes a view (which I wholeheartedly agree with) that the most precious commodity of all is free time.  Being careful with your money can help you buy something that no one ever seems to have enough of.  Both books are written in a witty, fun way – rather like having a talk with a favorite irascible uncle.  Check these babies out of the library and save yourself some major dough!

Green’s Nightside series is the perfect read for Neil Gaiman and Jim Butcher fans waiting for their next fix.  The first title, Something from the Nightside, does tend to feel heavily derivative of of Gaiman’s Neverwhere and Butcher’s Dresden Files in places.  However, there are definitely some unique quirks thrown in for texture and variety.  Subsequent books, featuring the gumshoe John Taylor and his girlfriend Suzie Shooter (aka Oh God It’s Her), are increasingly imaginative and exciting. Green pulls his characters from mythology, science fiction, history and his own nightmarish imagination.  His hidden London, the Nightside, is as richly imagined and varied as any Tolkein city.  A creative, addictive and excellent series.

Most people hearing the words “seed beads” probably think of Native American clothing and hippie bracelets. The master beadweavers in this book go far beyond the traditional decorations.  From modern covered vases, kimonos, sculptures , plants, flowers and sea creatures these pieces of art are fantastically detailed and amazing.  All the artists in this book are both immensely skilled technically and wildly creative.  Anyone looking for a creative kickstart of some kind will find it in this collection.

Seaform by Wendy Ellsworth