The 52 Book Club 2022 Challenge Prompt: 40. A book with photographs inside

Other Possible Prompts: 5. Chapters have titles, 6. Household object on the cover, 8. Involving the art world, 11. A book with less than 2022 Goodreads ratings, 23. Author with an X, Y, or Z in their name, 24. Addresses a specific topic, 31. Technology-themed, 42. An indie read, 46. A job title in the title

Uggghhhhhhhhh. I can’t say that I’ve ever been so disappointed by a crafting book, even when it was intended for old ladies or something.

Cricut Maker: 5 Books in 1 includes what amounts to five of the *exact same book* but just slightly adjusted for the several machines currently on the market. But I’m not even in to my feedback yet. To summarize, this book takes you through unboxing the machine, using Design Space, and some project ideas…five separate times.

It’s really unfortunate that I read the way that I do (obsessive, from beginning to end with zero flexibility) because I think *perhaps* bits and pieces of this book might be useful to some people. And there were approximately three tips throughout all 264 pages that I will take on to my future work, with my own Cricut Explore Air 2 (come to think of it, the typo on the cover should have clued me in). This is the basics of all basics. If you figured out how to turn the machine on yourself, there really is no need to purchase this (surprisingly expensive) volume.

Additionally, there is not a single ounce of business-related tips in here. Not one. I run an Etsy shop, so that is one of the things I was seeking books for…and this is false advertising.

I feel kind of badly because this was given to me as a gift…which is another reason I was unable to quit it like I should have.

As many other reviewers have mentioned, I don’t think English was the first language of the writer. Normally, I wouldn’t give a shit. Honestly. But absolutely no one has edited this book, and it shows. If there was a grammar mistake here and there, but the content was good, it would be easier to swallow, but often the grammar mistakes are encompassed by a bunch of nonsense that didn’t need to be in this book. See here:

A dual tool holder is that has 2 clamps attached to it. One could be used for cutting, and the other can be used for writing. The biggest advantage of this function is that it saves too much time. It’s possible to cut and write at the exact time.

Hendry 172

And no, I did not add those typos myself.

I don’t share this to be an asshole, but it made the entire experience of reading it absolutely grueling. This is just *one* example of about 100 while reading that are not only not helpful or relevant, but so, so difficult to read because of the stunted language.

It reads like an AI system was asked to scour the internet for crafting blogs, and then write a book on each. Actually, it reads like someone copied and pasted Jennifer Hendry’s crafting blogs, then published it as a book. It is wildly repetitive and uninformative.

At least this, my 52nd book of the year – thus fulfilling my Goodreads challenge for 2022 – is complete.

I wish I had better news to report, since I don’t read crafting books all that often, but this one is a no-go!

I hope you all have a lovely rest of your week.