Levin Thumps and the Gateway to Foo by Obert Skye

Thirsty for juvenile fantasy while you're waiting for Harry Potter and the Last Hurrah? Levin Thumps may not slake that thirst, but it will entertain you for an afternoon. The story revolves around young Levin, left in the care of his boringly cruel aunt and uncle who treat him like an indentured servant. Fate has other plans, however. Unbeknownst to Levin, he was born in a far away land called Foo and has the power of an Offing, which is like being able to influence which lottery ball is pulled out of the bin - only more exciting. Along the way to finding the Gateway to Foo Levin meets much more competent people than himself, namely a sentient toothpick named Geth, a wicked nit named Sabine who can control shadows, a friendly nit who can freeze the world, and Clover the Sycophant who has been secretly watching Levin all his life and now must help Levin make it to Foo alive.

My eleven year old has been begging me to read this book for a year or so and I finally got around to it last month. I'm afraid I didn't enjoy it as much as she did. I was not impressed when Obert Skye lifted from Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone from the first page, thank you very much. Perhaps because I enjoyed J.K. Rowling's first page so much I found this homage more irritating than flattering. Fortunately, the stylistic imitation ended quickly, but the story dragged for me because I felt Levin was a whiner who would become a hero no matter what he did. He was fated to win, after all

Why you should read this book: You love beautifully illustrated (Ben Sowards) and descriptively written children's fantasy, you have children who enjoy life and death adventure commented on by a cheeky mascot, you enjoy tales of exaggerated silliness in the vein of Roald Dahl, and you find the machinations of Fate comforting

Why you shouldn't read this book: You hate Fate. I cannot even begin to describe how important a role Fate has in this book. Everyone was proactive about their life except Levin who more or less schluffed moodily about letting Fate guide him towards Foo. Geth, the great warrior of the book, reincarnated as a tree, decided "Hey, I've got to help Levin so I better let myself get cut down and be made into a toothpick! I'll leave it to Fate! Weeee!" The story describes in morbid detail Geth's transformation from oral hygiene instrument to something that reminded me of the Extra Gum Guy. It was too much for me because I don't have a very good relationship with Fate, but then I'm not the target audience. My daughter, on the other hand, assures me that was a good part. And I'm just a grumpy old geezer, so she probably was right.

technorati tags: levin, thumps, fantasy, juvenile, fiction, obert, skye

The One-Hour Watercolorist by Patrick Seslar

Timesaving tips and exercises to make the most of your painting sessions. Don’t think you have enough time to paint, but you spend hours on the web being browsey or watching the boob tube? Then you have time to paint. The problem is you think you need hours available in order to begin. Patrick Seslar shows you how to break projects into tiny steps using his and other watercolorist’s portfolios. He’ll show you how to start with one-hour paintings then apply those techniques to much larger projects by breaking them down into one hour steps.

Why you should read this book: This book is an AD/HDer’s or procrastinator’s dream with its small chapters and non-linear progression. Do you waste time doing absolutely nothing instead of drawing or painting? Then get this book. It has various art styles and twelve different demonstrations to teach you how to organize your art time into manageable steps. I found some of the advice transformative because it embodies the adage “Begin with the end in mind.”

If you aren’t an artist, or use another medium, this book is worth borrowing from the library just to get some tips on time management for large projects. All organized people follow these steps without really thinking about it. Guys like Stephen R. Covey organize their garage, run multi-national conglomerates, and paint masterpieces in their sleep. For the rest of us we need it spelled out.

Favorite chapters: 4, 6, 8, and 12. Favorite artists: Janet Rogers, Robert O’Conner, and Luke Buck.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: I suppose this book would be a bit of a bore if you didn’t watercolor, liked wasting time aimlessly spinning in place, or just got the biggest kick out of full fledged procrastination. Another reason you might not like this book is if you didn’t enjoy reading long lists of supplies like “Bob used an off-white 3-ply sheet of Framistonian paper 5.342” x 7.456½, then spattered Bluvian Grey with a ¾” left-handed, imported Squirrel tail...” I found those passages tedious, but then I’m not a novice painter. I also didn’t enjoy Patrick Seslar’s work. His subject matter didn’t really inspire me. In fact, I found myself thinking over and over, “How’d this guy get a book deal? If he can do it, so can I!” Just wait for my “The One-Hour Napkin Scribbler” to hit stands soon. It’ll change your life.