Forget Wordless Wednesday. At least for my cartoons. I rarely like silent cartoons, and what’s the point, anyway? :) In fact, I once redesigned my stationary, back when people used it, to read, “because pictures speak louder with words.”

Here are more words, some books for you, but all of them have pix.

My Home, My Money Pit: Your Guide to Every Home Improvement Adventure by Tom Kraeutler & Leslie Segrete. Apparently they do some radio show, but I’ve never heard it. Large size softcover, with many colorful little bars and pockets of tips, secrets, and anecdotes show they do know good design! I’d call this a starter book for home improvement. Mostly I read the chapters on Bathrooms and Kitchens. No new ideas for me, and no examples of finished projects, which is a bummer, but I did enjoy reading them. (I used to be addicted to Pardon Our Dust when the LA Times ran that column! Alas, gone now.) Also the chapters on Curb Appeal and 50 design projects for under $50 were good.

Also, they say TWICE that good landscaping adds 15% of the property value to the home, which is why LA should sue the DWP and Street Service lowlife unlicensed tree trimmers that ruin both our air and the value of our properties.

Dream Big by Ian Falconer. This is part of the series of books about Olivia the pig that you’ve seen all over the place for a few years. Stupendous.

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Today I have to check out the author’s section of the cartoons in Gocomics, to see who has written a bio,  displays their book, or blog, or whatever. Uclick has given us (the cartoonists) instructions on what we can and can’t put in our author column on the right. Problem is, I don’t like their pre-done widgets, so not sure what to put there… Anyway, while I’m finding out what the other cartoonists have done in their column (if anything) I thought you might like my take on the cartoons, as well.

I decided to review the Comics instead of the Editorial Cartoons as I’m a little biased in that category. (My cartoon on Gocomics is Donna Barstow Editorial Cartoons. Snappy, huh?) And since, sadly, we only get paid by hits, I’m helping all the other guys by visiting their pages! Spread the hits!

I’ll only review the cartoons that I have some familiarity with or get an instant reaction to. (Sorry for grammar – this is a blog.)

This is an...interesting layout. Argyle Sweater, by Scott Hilburn.

Also, I rarely read cartoons one by one, so it’s not really fair to either me or the cartoonist if I can’t see a bunch of them. If I like a strip I like to devour it, and I much prefer reading them in book form, if at all possible. The cartoon book, if any, after my comment.

Adam@Home is drawn by a different artist now, no likey. It used to be one of my favorites. Adam looks dumb now and has a weak chin – so do all the other characters. Artist is unnamed – that’s the spirit, Universal!  Daily Cartoonist reports on it, with a lot of feedback, but he’s closed comments there, due to his silly rule of asking for real names. Lots of cartoonists defend the new artist there, which is not exactly unbiased, so take from it what you will. If you want to change the artist, people, IT’S NOT THE SAME CARTOON. Dumbbells. Book by the original cartoonist: Life Begins At 6:40 (An Adam Collection)

Argyle Sweater. Can’t read the lettering, so I don’t read it. Marty Murphy used to start screaming every time he talked about the panel. It’s very popular though, and Gocomics is always pimping it. Book:  The Argyle Sweater: A Cartoon Collection

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I’m a very very very busy person. You may be, too. Books are great, yeah, and fark Google, too, right? Live books are the real deal. But time is precious, gotta hurry on. So here’s all you need to know about these books. Amazon will give you more opinions by readers.

But I really don’t think you’ll need them.

1960s Fashion Print: A Sourcebook
by Marnie Fogg. Flower Power up close. Beautifully designed, with embossing on the cover and semi-matte pages inside. The comments on the fabrics were interesting, though repetitive, and I liked knowing more about fabrics and how they’re designed. I love fabric, and collect way too much of it when I’m in a store or see some at a yard sale. It’s very heavy, and takes up too much room! But honestly? Wish I had the 1950’s or 1930’s fabrics instead. [/pout]

Made from Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life
The chapters on living on the land – well, they aren’t.  The author was a web designer who lived a year in a rented house in Idaho, and pretended she had a farm! Still, she did try beekeeping, rabbits, chickens. And she sold the book, didn’t she? Totally worth it. And I like web designers. Somehow, she made these little experiments suspenseful. As she tried each new husbandry or skill I had to read to the end to see what happened.

Furry Logic Laugh at Life
The illustrations by Jane Seabrook are a kind of botanical drawing/cartoon of the animals. There are hundreds of little pen strokes for the fur ~ the animals have an expression, like people animals. Ugh. There is a (not funny) line of text or quote opposite each drawing. I’m not wild about the colors in here. This book didn’t make me feel good.

Check back later for more one-minute book reviews!