Draw Something October 2021 – #1

I just saw that Tammie Lee at Beauty Flows started her Inktober for October which sort of reminded me I haven't been drawing. (Inktober is about creating one drawing a day using ink. For more about Inktober, go here.)
       I'm not doing Inktober but I'm going to be (hopefully) drawing the whole month and posting whatever I had created. I'll be drawing on my ipad using the app Procreate and their many brushes. So you might say the ink I'm going to use is digital. Who knows, I may do some actual drawings or two in ink. Also, I'm learning to draw with a electronic pen on a tablet which is definitely a lot harder and it takes a lot of patience.
    I'm calling this Draw Something October challenge or trying to draw when I don't really want to draw but sort of do challenge because that's exactly what it is as I really have a sort of unmotivated mind and often times, I don't quite have the will to draw. Anyway, I'm not going to follow any rules, I'll just be drawing and sharing them once a week or once every two days or whenever I feel like a drawing seems presentable which I can't promise you as you could be seeing just scribbles or lines or sketches that are chicken scratch. And most of them is going to be black and white. Here's the first drawing:

Lala and the Thing

I call this piece Lala and the Thing and it is inspired by the iconic scene in My Neighbor Totoro. No idea if the thing (creature on the right) with her little children is a cat or some other strange being and no, I have no clue why the girl's hair is like that but I call her Lala for some reason. And here's the sketch. (Click on the images for a larger view)

Lala and the Thing - Sketch

Books I Read in September 2021 - Part 2

Here are the rest of the books I read in September.  (Click on the link for info about the book.)

01 | The Care and Feeding of a Pet Black Hole by Michelle Cuevas > link
This reminds me of The Little Prince, similar tone, similar way of writing but it's written in first person (an eleven-year-old Stella) but directed toward her father which is kind of unusual but it seems to work. I enjoyed the beginning but then it just seems a bit slow and you kind of know where it was going. Summary: I like the idea of the story and I kind of want it to be fun and quirky and there were those moments but I guess in the end, it's a book about someone grieving so there's a bit of sadness there that somehow overrides a little of the fun and quirkiness. I enjoyed reading this but a little less at the end. Favorite quote: "I'm too bookish for prison!"

02 | The Last Human by Lee Bacon > link
It was the cover that made me want to read this plus I thought I should read more science fiction and since this involves robots, it made me want to read it. Although I did think the narrator, who is a robot, sounded and behaved too much like a human but maybe that is the point. Summary: This was sort of a familiar read and I sort of know what's going to happen but it was still fun.

03 | Reflection: A Twisted Tale by Elizabeth Lim > link
This is a standalone but if you didn't see the Disney movie Mulan (the animation, not the live action), I'm not sure you would enjoy this as much. But if you know the story of Mulan, then maybe it's enough. They did sort of give you some of the back story about Mulan here and there. The book starts with a scene from the movie and it detours to a new story. I love the movie so I was expecting much of the same thing but with a slightly darker tone as it mostly takes place in the underworld aka diyu (aka hell). There's Mulan, still pretending to be a man, there's Captain Li Shang and some of the soldiers but the story is just Mulan, Shang and Shishi (Shang's guardian) trying to get through diyu so there really isn't much to the storyline but we did get to learn a few things along the way. Summary: This was a good read though I think the challenges Mulan had to face keep piling up and at times, it seems like the book should have ended but it didn't. It has a happy ending which I had expected. This is actually not as twisted as the title implies, more like a light read. I enjoyed this more than I had expected. I think I would read the sequel if there was one.

Books I Read in September 2021 - Part 1

I've read a lot in September and most of them seems to be series. I honestly try not to read book series because I find I don't really like them unless they are short books. Anyway, here are the books that I read in September that are part of a series.  (Click on the link for info about the book.)

01 | A Problematic Paradox and The Unspeakable Unknown (Nikola Kross) by Eliot Sappingfield > link1, link 2
Some reviewers compared this to Harry Potter and yes, there's a school with some things that are almost like magic but this is more science and technology than magic and it's more fun. The classes Nikola attended are a lot of fun, although, the idea that you might get seriously injured might have dampened my thoughts of wanting to attend such school - it's really not for the weak or the dumb. I don't always understand the science and technology talk but I appreciate they are included. Sometimes I forget Nikola wears glasses as they rarely mention this but I really like that she's a bit of a nerd. Summary: This duology are crazy, wacky, slightly creepy, kind of nerdy, fun reads. These are probably the most fun books I had read this year.

Favorite quote from The Unspeakable Unknown, Chapter 17:
"I'm employing tedium and diversion to occupy myself in order to avoid frank consideration of harsh realities. Besides, being murdered tomorrow will pretty much render the issue of long-term emotional development completely moot, so who cares?"