On My Wishlist (47)

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where I list all the books I desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming. If you want to know more click here.

High Voltage Tattoo by Kat Von D

High Voltage Tattoo is a graphic perspective on today's global tattoo culture by Kat Von D, star of The Learning Channel's L.A. Ink and one of the most talented and popular artists working today. Designed in a style that is reminiscent of a handmade Gothic journal with its red padded cover, ornate typography, and parchmentlike pages, it throws the door wide open to tattooing culture in the way only an insider like Kat can.

High Voltage Tattoo traces Kat's career as an artist, from early childhood influences to recent work, along with examples of what inspires her, information about the show and her shop, her sketches, and personal tattoos. The book goes deep into tattoo process and culture: readers can see up close the pigments, the tools, and the making of complex, even collaborative, tattoos.

With a foreword by Mötley Crüe's Nikki Sixx, the book features images and stories about celebrities, rockers, pro skaters, and everyday citizens, including Slayer's Kerry King, Anthrax's Scott Ian, Margaret Cho,Jackass' Bam Margera, David Letterman, and many others. It profiles and showcases the work of artists Kat has selected from all over the world, her interviews with people who have compelling tattoos and stories, and amazing images of extraordinary tattoo work. Numerous portfolios throughout the book showcase a range of relevant subjects, from the black and gray portrait work for which Kat is famous to a popular tattoo theme, such as the rose or biblical images. There is a knockout ten-page full-body spread of Kat—clad in a yellow bikini and seven-inch, rhinestone-studded red stilettos—that catalogs in detail all her personal tattoos on her front, back, left, and right sides—even her hands and head.

The Tattoo Chronicles by Kat Von D

Kat Von D's followup to her "New York Times" bestseller "High Voltage Tattoo" offers an intimate look at a pivotal year in her personal and professional life through an illustrated diary that begins in spring 2008 and ends in summer 2009. When Kat does a tattoo, she writes about it and draws sketches in a journal, creating an entry for each piece. She has hundreds of ledgers of these entries in her own writing which reflect not only upon the significance of the tattoo for the person who is receiving it (their story), but also how the experience of creating this tattoo affects her personally. In these entries - some poignant, some hilarious, some serious - she lays it on the line about how doing these tattoos affects her life and her art. Here are the highs and the lows, the good, bad, and the ugly - including her feelings about her fame, her family, her boyfriend (Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue), her friends, and fans. Visually stunning, this graphically compelling diary is jam-packed with tons of Kat's sketches, candid photographs, images of a variety of amazing finished tattoos and her many unusual personal collections - all shot by Kat herself. Fans will love the array of clients featured here, including Metallica's Kirk Hammett, guitarist Dave Navarro, and Motorhead's Lemmy Kilmister, as much as they will love seeing new photographs of Kat that were taken specifically for the book. Here's the real Kat Von D - unscripted and uncensored - and her fans are going to go wild for it.

I didn’t even know Kat Von D had written a book, let alone two. I was watching an episode of LA Ink (not a show I usually watch but if I catch it on I’ll watch it), the one where she was doing final edits to The Tattoo Chronicles. I find her to be an interesting person so I definitely want to read her two books.

Saving Sky by Diane Stanley

The country is at war, terrorists strike at random, widespread rationing is in effect, and the power grid is down. But thirteen-year-old Sky Brightman is remarkably untouched by it all. She lives off the grid on sixty acres of rural New Mexico ranch land with chores to do and horses to ride and no television or internet to bring disturbing news into her family's adobe house. Sky's schoolmates think she's a little weird.

Then a string of mysterious arrests begins, and her new friend, Kareem, becomes a target. Sky is finally forced to confront the world in all its complexity. Summoning her considerable courage and ingenuity, she takes a stand against injustice. With humor, hope, and fierce determination, she proves that even a child can change the world.

This one sounds like a moving and touching story. Someone had recommend this book to me and I didn’t note it down. (Tara, was it you?)

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Who is Jenna Fox?

Seventeen-year-old Jenna has been told that is her name. She has just awoken from a year-long coma, and she's still recovering from the terrible accident that caused it. Her parents show her home movies of her life, her memories, but she has no recollection. Is she really the same girl she sees on the screen?

Little by little, Jenna begins to remember. Along with the memories come questions—questions no one wants to answer for her. What really happened after the accident?

In this fascinating novel, acclaimed author Mary E. Pearson presents an unforgettable look at one human life and a glimpse into a possible future that may be closer than we think.

A girl with amnesia who regains some of her memories? Sounds interesting, mysterious and possibly thought-provoking.

What’s on your wishlist?