ArmchairBEA Day 2: Aesthetic Concerns- Books And Blogs

Welcome to Day 2! I decided to copy the agenda from the Armchair BEA blog because it perfectly captures the essence of todays post:

Thursday, May 12, 2016:  Aesthetic Concerns - Books & Blogs

Today is all about aesthetics! The first part of this topic is concerned specifically with the books, the second with our blogs. Here are some guiding questions to get you started!

The Books: How often do you judge a book by its cover?

I judge a book by it's cover a lot because I'm always on the look out for books with diverse protagonists, so the cover is important in reading the type of books I want to support:

 How often are you surprised by what you find? 

I'm rarely suprised or disappointed if the cover shows diversity prominently.

Do you strategize and make sure every book in your series has the same cover design (as far as you are able to) and type?

I do with series that I collect. For example I got all three of Brandon Sanderson the Reckoners series in hardcover because I like how they look.

How important is it for the visual art on the outside of the book to match or coordinate with the literature art on the inside?

It's not too important for me, though I do like the characters to match their descriptions on the cover because I can visualize them better while reading.




The Blog: As a book blogger, in whatever form that takes, branding is important. Your colors, your fonts, your style of review, all of these things come together to make the "brand" of your blog - something that makes your reviews and posts and websites, all your various content, immediately recognizable to the people looking for you. What do you do to create a brand on your site? Do you think about these things?

One of the best things I did over four years ago was to pay for a blog design by PArajunkee Designs. She really captured the look I wanted for my blog. The avatar reflects my race and my love of yoga as well as books:

Almost 5 years later and I still get comments on my blog layout.

Childrens Book Round Up: April

I Read some wonderful Children's books last month :

The First Step

This is the story of the Robert's family who filed a lawsuit against the school district once she was removed from her school that was deemed white only. It was a fascinating read About a case I never heard about.

                                    Willy's Stories

       I really loved the art in this book. in this book we meet Willy who loves to read. He gives us clues about the books he reads through costume changes and dilogue from other books. A really nice read.

Wait 

        Wait is a beautiful little picture book about a little boy that is living in the moment by constantly stopping his mother to look

at flowers, puppies and butterflies.

Marvelous Cornelius 

This is a sweet little fable about a true resident of New Orleans  who did his work as a santitaion worker with joy in his heart. This book also refrences Hurricaine Katrina and how the residents pulled together to  rebuild the city.

Review: Her Universe & Kohl's Workout Wear

I was so excited when I heard about the Her Universe workout wear! When I visited the Her Universe booth at Wondercon I got a $10.00 off coupon so I ran to Kohl's the following Monday and found this incredible display:

So the first thing you need to know about Kohl's is that although they have been making some wonderful fangirl merchandise they are making them mostly in Junior sizes. The good news is that because this line is in partnership with Her Universe there are plus size items, but you will need to go online:

This upset a lot of Her universe fans, and there were many talking about this on Facebook, but I feel this is Kohl's decision. All the great Star Wars leggings and shirts I got from Khols last December in conjunction with the Force Awakens were in the juniors section. Because I have recently lost weight I was able to get into them and I love them!!

One solution I heard on facebook was to have the items you order online be shipped to your local Kohl's that way you can try them on and then get an immediate refund if they don't fit.

So now lets talk about the clothes! My store had the Captain America and Black Widow items:

As someone who is usually several different sizes depending on where clothings are produced I took a stack of different sizes into the dressing room. Unfortunately none of the Widow items worked for me. I was really disappointed. It was more due to the cut of the clothes than the quality. 

Unfortunately most companies that make workout wear don't consider the Before aspects of their clients. They create clothes for those who have already reached their goals, not for those in a transitional phase toward their health goals. The widow shirts are awkward for those who are a bit busty. I recently dropped several inches in my bust but the cut of the shirts  were not flattering. The same with the Widow leggings.

I had much better luck with the Cap line. I brought the leggings pictured above and they are great! As someone who is larger I always avoided leggings until I tried the Her Universe ones. I love the Cap leggings and the words Be A Hero are very motivating to see while I'm working out. 

The Cap line (and I assume the Widow) are very easy to work out in and have great moisture wicking so you could easily go from the gym  to running errands without feeling sweaty. I'm so hapy these clothes exist! I went back a week later to find the display completely sold out so I will be getting more online.

I really suggest if you buy these clothes  tweet a picture to Kohl's also send them a friendly message letting them know you would like to see more Her Universe and fandom clothing in adult sizing.

I give this line an A+! Yes there are some pieces that wont work for everyone but its worth it to find an outfit that works for you.