A Month of Books :: Those Other Books…

Last updated on 27 February 2017

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Not knowing what the heck to call this post, ‘Those other Books’ is what I landed on, basically because what I mean is the books I have and love that aren’t novels, they aren’t biographies or books about sharks, or books that you would just pick up to flick through to look at the pictures, like an art or photography book. I’m talking about those other books – they books that are pretty and helpful at the same time. The books that you may have on your coffee table, but they aren’t just ‘look at all these pretty birds’, or the TV guide. These are the books that are specific, but varied, pretty but helpful. I have some of these books in my room, and I turn to them when I need a little inspiration, or I don’t want to delve into my next novel straight away. I thought today I’d share with you some of my ‘other books’.

Now this is one of my favourite books ever. I love it. I’m not going to say much on this, as I did an entire post about this awesome book last year sometime. You can leap back to that and have a geez at it.  Make sure you also go and check out their amazing blog.

 

This is a similar book to the A Beautiful Mess book. It’s a collection of 75 different ideas for you and your camera, ranging from photography projects (e.g: The colour challenge, shooting from the hip, Shoot 50 Shots), to framing ideas, to Scanography, to making light graffiti. It’s a really great book for stuck-in-an-inspiration rutt. The ideas in it, while some are all over the net, are really well written and set out, so it makes you feel you can simply pick up your camera and conquer the world.

This young couple, John and Sherry, and their daughter, Clara, and their dog Burger (and currently their baby bump!) live in the States and their blog is full of DIY ideas, house renovation tips and videos, daily life, interior style and colour palettes, and so much more. And their book is just as wonderful. Their first book (I do believe there’s another coming soon!) has “243 ways to paint, craft, update, and show your home some love”. There are so many incredible ideas and how-tos in here that I just wanted to go and buy a house to do up. It’s brilliant, and i often find myself simply flicking through, dreaming of a future home.

 

Is it sad that this is one of my favourite ‘other’ books? I love it because it’s reminds me that I actually went to University and got a degree…but also that Philosophy is not a subject you leave college and jump into a job in. No way. But I loved doing my Philosophy degree, it was a lot of fun, so it is nice to occasionally pick up this great summary book (that I seriously wished I had back when I was actually studying) and remind myself, not only about various philosophers or theories, but how much I enjoyed learning about it…and thinking. This book is super simply put (as the front says: “Big Ideas, Simply Explained”) and done in a way that is appealing to the eye as well as the mind.

So there we have it. Some of my favourite ‘other’ books that I own. I do love books like these – the ones that inspire, and pull you out of creative ruts.