Name: Hillarie Jill

Twitter & Instagram: @HillarieJill

Job Title: 

Designer, Bench Jeweler, Social Media Manager

Currently reading: 

“Pool of Two Moons”, Book 2 of the Witches of Eileanan Series by Kate Forsyth. I have read these several times as a kid and through out my life, and have been waiting years for the audio books to release! (Don’t mind me while I make all my witches rings.)

Last book you finished: 

“Wanderers” by Chuck Wendig. If you want to lean into a pandemic reading list, this book should be high on that list.  

Favorite Book/Comic: 

I also don’t know if I could pick one favorite book or comic, but I am currently obsessed with “Bitch Planet” by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine Delandro. 

My love for “Witches of Eileanan” has stayed strong since like 2000. 

I will never stop singing the praises from mountain tops for “Come As You Are” by Emily Nagoski. 

Favorite Series: 

Besides the ones mentioned above, I love the “Iron Druid Chronicles” by Kevin Hearne.

“Locke & Key” by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

Favorite non-fiction:

Again, “Come As You Are.” by Emily Nagoski

“Burnout” by Emily Nagoski and Amelia Nagoski 

Seriously if there are two books I could put in everyone stocking, it would be these two books. “Burnout” should almost be required reading during things like pandemic lockdowns. 

Other literary recs: 

I usually try to recommend books based on people’s interests so:

-If you would like more escapism but with butt jokes and puns, "Kill the Farmboy" by Delilah Dawson and Kevin Hearne is pretty great.

-if you want an entirely different kind of natural disaster with an alternative history flare, then the  "Lady Astronaut" series by Mary Robinette Kowal is perfect for you.

-If you want a biography, "Lady from the Black Lagoon" by Mallory O’Meara is wonderful.

-If you want some eldritch horror but would like more detail than “it was so horrible, I shan’t write about it here,” then you want "Lovecraft Country" by Matt Ruff or "Winter Tide" by Ruthanna Emry.

-if you want some fun adventures in science and learning read "Bonk" or "Spook" by Mary Roach.

-My comic recommendations are "Bitch Planet," "Rat Queens," "Niobe," and "Sex Criminals."

-Want a one off novel? "The Grand Dark" by Richard Kadrey was a trip! 

Favorite Genre: 

You would not have guessed it by everything I have just listed, horror stories are my favorite. I recently listened to "Rosemary’s Baby" by Ira Levin and actually really enjoyed it.

I also devoured "The House of Long Shadows" by Ambrose Ibsen and all the following books because it started with a video blogger flipping a house that happened to be haunted and I was here for it. 

I also recommend the audiobook "Ghost Stories" written and read by Seth Andrews . . .  because his voice is velvet.   

Favorite Book/Series affiliated with Badali: Besides Bitch Planet and Iron Druid, 

"Borden Dispatches" was a bucket of fun and "Wake of Vultures" was great! 

I recently read "Warbreaker" and oh boy, I loved it. 

 Favorite piece of jewelry: 

I am very biased, the Eowyn Shield, the Mistborn Ascendant Warrior pendant, and the entire Bitch Planet Line. 

Also, have you seen Dol Guldur? *swoon* I am still pretty in love with the Necronomicon.

 Favorite piece of jewelry to make:

Hands down Bridge Four pendants. I could make them all day everyday. They might be one of the easiest and stress free pieces we make, followed closely by the Blacken Denari coins from Dresden Files. 

 Other Media Recommends:

Hello From the Magic Tavern (Podcast)

Citation Needed (Podcast)

God Awful Movies (Podcast)

Graveyard Keeper (Video Game)

I might be a smidge biased on this one as well, but I was recently on a podcast to discuss Bitch Planet, check out Comic Trades Monthly here: https://elrastrodemadrid.com/

Go to thing to listen to while making/packing jewelry: 

Horror Podcasts!! The "No Sleep" podcast is wonderful for making me super jumpy when I am alone in the shop! 

Also my new favorite thing is a podcast called "D&D Minus." 

Basically I make jewelry while either having an existential crisis or in tears from laughing, there is no in between. 

#BadaliJewelry #BadaliRecommends #BookRecommendation #BitchPlanet #WitcheOfEileanan #IronDruidChronicle #HelloFromTheMagicTavern  #D&DMinus #LordoftheRings #Eowyn #Mistborn #BridgeFour  #bookstagram #bookish #bookishfashion #bookishjewelry #bookjewelry #bookfashion #booknerd #bookworm #bibliophile #bookobsessed #bookaddict #bookaholic #bookcommunity #booklover #bookgeek #bookrecommends #GodAwfulMoives #ComeAsYouAre

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Links to recommends:

Bitch Planet by Kelly Sue Deconnick and Valentine Delandro:

Bitch Planet (Collected Editions) Series by Kelly Sue DeConnick

Witches of Eileanan by Kate Forsyth:

The Witches of Eileanan Series by Kate Forsyth

Wanderers by Chuck Wendig:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/book/show/32603079-wanderers?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Pw5M25TIF4&rank=2

Come As You Are by Emily Negoski:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/book/show/22609341-come-as-you-are?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=arZsMd6umM&rank=1

Burnout by Emily Negoski and Amelia Negoski:

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski

Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez:

Locke & Key Series by Joe Hill

Iron Druid Chronicle by Kevin Hearne:

The Iron Druid Chronicles Series by Kevin Hearne

Kill the Farmboy by Delilah Dawson and KEvin Hearne:

The Tales of Pell Series by Delilah S. Dawson

Lady Astronaut Series by Mary Robinette Kowal:

Lady Astronaut Series by Mary Robinette Kowal

Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O’Meara:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/book/show/40165912-the-lady-from-the-black-lagoon?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=1bOP8JUJie&rank=1

Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/book/show/25109947-lovecraft-country?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=46DJqiFZNx&rank=1

Rat Queens by Kurtis Wiebe:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/115099-rat-queens

Niobe She is Life by Sebastian A Jones:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/176423-niobe-she-is-life

The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/115498-sex-criminals-collected-editions

Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/book/show/228296.Rosemary_s_Baby?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=KKeGkci6YL&rank=3

The House of Long Shadows by Ambrose Ibsen:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/238404-house-of-souls

Ghost Stories by Seth Andrews:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/book/show/41184990-ghost-stories?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=YEhHg9Inb4&rank=1

Hello from the Magic Tavern Podcast:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/

D&D Minus, Citation Needed, and God Awful Movies by Puzzle in a Thunderstom podcasts @PiatPod :

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/PiatPod?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

No Sleep Podcast:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/

Eowyn Shield:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/middle-earth/products/eowyn-shieldmaiden-medallion

Mistborn Ascendant Warrior Pendant:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/brandon-sanderson/products/the-ascendant-warrior-bronze

Dol Guldur:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/middle-earth/products/rings-of-men-dol-gulur

Necronomicon:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/cthulhu/products/bronze-necronomicon-necklace

Name: Justin

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/justinoates.lmt

Job Title: 

Master Minion, I mean um, Bench Jeweler

Currently reading: 

I'm on about book seven of the Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson. Long live Skippy.

Last book you finished: 

Book six of the Expeditionary Force series... Too obvious? I read the Finishing School series by the lovely Gail Carriger before this current series binge.

Favorite Book/Comic: 

Oh man... That's hard. I can't choose one. 

Favorite Series: 

Okay, I admit there's better written series out there, but for me, it's The Dark Tower by Stephen King. It's just such a cool mix of fantasy, sci-fi, and western. Plus it ties into so many of his other books, and you know what, I like that he goes on wildly descriptive tangents so pfffft!

Favorite non-fiction:

Zombie Survival Guide. Haha, kidding.

No more favorites! It's too hard to choose!

Other literary recs: 

Well, obviously The Dark Tower. Multiple universes, time paradoxes, Spartan-esque cowboy, wizards, robots, insane AI, psychics, monsters... Just go for it. 

World War Z, but don't expect the fast zombies of the movie. Or the cohesive story of just one main character. It's good though.

The Expanse. Some of THE best sci-fi out there.

The Stand. A super flu ravages the world's popu- on second thought, too soon. It's a wild read and I do recommend it but maybe not the best choice while in quarantine. Put it on the list for later. Perhaps much later.

The Nightlord series. Yet another fun mix of sci-fi and fantasy. Multiple universes, vampires, magic and with a nice dash of semi-realistic physics and science for good measure. 

And last but certainly not least.

Ilium and Olympos.

These two books are crazy awesome. Dan Simmons writes some wild books. Plot points to intrigue you: interplanetary travel, biomechanical people on the moons of Jupiter, genetically engineered people who don't age, Earth has a specific herd population of people, and dinosaurs. Now here's where it gets really wild. Olympian gods who oversee the recreation of the Trojan War as depicted in the Iliad. On Mars. I know, it sounds crazy. It is crazy, but seriously, it works and it's so good. 

Favorite Genre: 

Obviously romance. Obviously. 

Favorite Book/Series affiliated with Badali: Stormlight Archives. No wait, Lord of the Rings. No wait! Kingkiller Chronicles. Ugh, why do I have to pick just one??

Favorite piece of jewelry: 

What did I say about favorites? What did I say?! Ugh, I don't know... Im pretty fond of the Nenya actually. The two tracers soldered version is especially pretty. Though, the Umbar is really snazzy too.

Favorite piece of jewelry to make:

Oh, Auri's Gear for sure. Twitch. So... many... gears. Okay in all seriousness I'd have to say Bridge 4.

Other Media Recommends:

TV: Firefly, One Punch Man, The IT Crowd, Black Books

Movies: Scott Pilgrim vs the World, the Alien series, Interstellar, Shaun of the Dead, 28 Days Later, some good ole Marvel shenanigans.

Video games: that's uh, kind of a big question. Most anything, but I don't in much for sports games and I'm a PC gamer primarily. Lately I've been playing XCOM 2... again.

Go to thing to listen to while making/packing jewelry: Audiobooks, then something fast paced and punchy if books aren't doing it for me that day.

Can’t wait for (Book/Movie/Game/etc release):

Half-Life 3. *Sobs uncontrollably*

#BadaliJewelry #BadaliRecommends #BookRecommendation #GailCarriger #BrandonSanderson #ExpeditionaryForce #PatrickRothfuss  #CraigAlanson #LordoftheRings #AurisGear #Nenya #BridgeFour  #bookstagram #bookish #bookishfashion #bookishjewelry #bookjewelry #bookfashion #booknerd #bookworm #bibliophile #bookobsessed #bookaddict #bookaholic #bookcommunity #booklover #bookgeek #bookrecommends #TheDarkTower #Illium

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Links to recommends:

Expeditionary Force series by Craig Alanson:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/185650-expeditionary-force

The Finishing School Series by Gail Carriger:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/58635-finishing-school

The Dark Tower by Stephen King: 

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/40750-the-dark-tower 

World War Z by Max Brooks: 

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/book/show/8908.World_War_Z?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Np1IDpqWEF&rank=1

Ilium Series by Dan Simmons:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/53689-ilium

Nenya by Badali:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/middle-earth/products/nenya-the-ring-of-galadriel

Auri’s Gear by Badali:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/kingkiller-chronicle/products/auris-brazen-gear

Bridge Four: https://elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/brandon-sanderson/products/bridge-four-badge-enameled-bronze 

Name:  Loria Call

Job Title: Events/Website Manager & Bookkeeper

Currently reading:  Alcatraz Vs. The Evil Librarians Book 5: The Shattered Lens by Brandon Sanderson (to my kids) & The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo

Last book you finished: Alcatraz Versus the Knights of Crystallia by Brandon Sanderson

Favorite Book: Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell

Favorite Series: So many - Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson, Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

Favorite Non Fiction: Journal of Best Practices by David Finch

Favorite Fiction: Too many

Other literary recs: Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger

Favorite Genre: Fantasy & Modern Fiction

Favorite Book/Series affiliated with Badali: LOTR

Favorite piece of jewelry: Denna's Ring & Nenya

Other Media Recommends: His Dark Materials on HBO / Dragonwood (Card Game) & Ticket To Ride

Go to thing to listen to while making/packing jewelry: Audiobooks, audiobooks and more audiobooks

Can’t wait for (Book/Movie/Game/etc release): Mulan

#BadaliJewelry #BadaliRecommends #BookRecommendation #GailCarriger #BrandonSanderson #IslandoftheBlueDolphins #PatrickRothfuss  #AlcatrazVersesTheEvilLibrarians #LordoftheRings #DennasRing #Nenya #JournalofBestPractises  #bookstagram #bookish #bookishfashion #bookishjewelry #bookjewelry #bookfashion #booknerd #bookworm #bibliophile #bookobsessed #bookaddict #bookaholic #bookcommunity #booklover #bookgeek #bookrecommends

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Links to recommends:

Alcatraz Vs. The Evil Librarians Series by @BrandSanderson:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/45320-alcatraz-versus-the-evil-librarians

Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/45262-the-kingkiller-chronicle

Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/85182-island-of-the-blue-dolphins

Journal of Best Practices by David Finch:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/book/show/11184532-the-journal-of-best-practices?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=E1uLY1MIoe&rank=1

Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/46888-parasol-protectorate

Ticket to Ride by Days of Wonder: https://elrastrodemadrid.com/tickettoride/en/

Nenya by Badali: https://elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/middle-earth/products/nenya-the-ring-of-galadriel

Denna’s Ring by Badali:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/kingkiller-chronicle/products/dennas-ring

Name:

Paul 'Da Jewela (said with a New Jersey accent); Grand Pooh-bah, Head Muckie-Muck, The Old Man

Job Title:

Founder, President, Chief of latrine logistics

Currently reading:

Billions and billions, by Carl Sagan

Last book you finished:

Sci-Fi trilogy by Stephen Moss; The Fear Saga

Favorite Book/Comic:

Everything Brandon Sanderson

Favorite Series:

The Dresden Files; Jim Butcher

Favorite Non Fiction:

The Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality.  By Don Lincoln, from The Great Courses

Favorite Fiction:

Kingkiller Chronicles; Pat Rothfuss

Other literary recs:

A Sci-fi trilogy I recently enjoyed a lot by A.G. Riddle; Winter World, The Solar War, The Lost Colony.

Favorite Genre:

Sci-fi, Fantasy, Science, Philosophy

Favorite Book/Series that Badali works with:

If you have not read The Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne; you have not yet lived!

Favorite piece of jewelry:

The Engagement Ring of Aragorn and Arwen

Favorite piece of jewelry to make:

All of the custom Rune Rings, Cirth Rune Rings, Court Rings from Kingkiller, Custom Steel Alphabet rings from Mistborn.

Other Media Recommends:

This Is Crazy.  A quirky British series, comedy, drama, Cop show made around 2004 to 2008; 12 seasons:  New Tricks on HULU

Go to thing to listen to while making/packing jewelry:

Audible.  

Next 3 books in line are:  Ancient Civilizations of North America by Edwin Barnhart; 

A Passion for Nature: The Live of John Muir by Donald Worster;

The Spiritual Brain: Science and Religious Experience by Andrew Newberg, from The Great Courses

Favorite Quote:

I ain't grouchy; I just have a low threshold for stupidity! Bonus question: Can you identify the source?

#BadaliJewelry #BadaliRecommends #BookRecommendation #Jeweler #BrandonSanderson #Cosmere #CarlSagan  #BillionsAndBillions #LordoftheRings #Barahir #IronDruidChronicles #TheTheoryOfEverything  #bookstagram #bookish #bookishfashion #bookishjewelry #bookjewelry #bookfashion #booknerd #bookworm #bibliophile #bookobsessed #bookaddict #bookaholic #bookcommunity #booklover #bookgeek #PatrickRothfuss #greatcourses #bookrecommends

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Links to recommends:

Billions and billions, by Carl Sagan: https://elrastrodemadrid.com/book/show/61665.Billions_Billions

Everything @BrandSanderson: https://elrastrodemadrid.com/author/show/38550.Brandon_Sanderson?from_search=true&from_srp=true

The Fear Saga by Stephen Moss:

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/book/show/22171697-fear-the-sky?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=Xm9t5MY3nV&rank=1

Iron Druid Chronicles by @KevinHearne : https://elrastrodemadrid.com/series/52837-the-iron-druid-chronicles

Engagement Ring of Aragorn & Arwen: https://elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/middle-earth/products/engagement-ring-of-aragorn-and-arwen

Custom Rings by Badali: https://elrastrodemadrid.com/search?q=custom+ring

So for the first ever Badali Recommends, we are spotlighting Ryan! 

Job Title:

Sarcasto the magnificent

Ok, Head Jeweler.

Currently reading:

Defying Destiny by Andrew Rowe

 www.goodreads.com/book/show/52509377-defying-destiny

Last book you finished:

Mother of Learning by Nobody103

 www.goodreads.com/book/show/50992902-mother-of-learning?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=xgWRODOrY4&rank=1

Favorite Book/Comic:

Not sure I could pick just one.  I enjoy different things about different books among my favorites, so it's hard to compare them.

Favorite Series:

Same problem.  But I could list several:. The Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson, The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher.  Cradle, by Will Wight. The Wheel of Time, by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. Need to work in Patrick Rothfuss, Andrew Rowe, and a few others as well. There's a *lot* more.  Just typing out a list of favorite series/authors would take wayyyyyyyy too long.

 Stormlight: www.goodreads.com/series/49075-the-stormlight-archive

Dresden Files: www.goodreads.com/series/40346-the-dresden-files

Cradle: www.goodreads.com/series/192821-cradle

Favorite Non Fiction:

I'm not really into non fiction.

Favorite Fiction:

See above.  As I don't really read non fiction, this is identical to previous responses.

Other literary recs:

Arcane Ascension by Andrew Rowe.  It's entertaining, different and plays into my  gaming addiction nicely.

www.goodreads.com/series/201441-arcane-ascension 

Favorite Genre:

Fantasy, or progressive fantasy, LitRPG.  Sorry for the 1 genre and 2 subgenres.

Favorite Book/Series that Badali works with:

Not sure I could pick just one.

Favorite piece of jewelry:

The Dol Guldur ring.  Preferably with a bright Rhodium plate as opposed to the black Ruthenium plating.

elrastrodemadrid.com/collections/middle-earth/products/rings-of-men-dol-gulur

Favorite piece of jewelry to make:

*NOT* Dol Guldur.

Other Media Recommends (TV, Movie, podcast, video games, etc)

I just finished a playthrough of Ori and the Will of the Wisps.  It's a fantastic sequel if you enjoy platformers at all. Now on to RPGs again.

https://elrastrodemadrid.com/

Go to thing to listen to while making/packing jewelry:

Audiobooks

Can’t wait for (Book/Movie/Game/etc release):

Things I can't wait for:

The FFVII remake.

Stormlight Archive book 4

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

And the caffeine to kick in this morning.

We hope you all enjoyed the first edition of Badali Recommends! 

Some suggestions:

What is the story behind each jewelry item, I am particularly interested in finding out the back story to.....

Can we see a video of the shop......

How do I customize my piece of jewelry to make it meaningful and special....

And any other questions you may have.  Start posting and we will start answering, hopefully adding video where we can.

Spring is almost here in Utah!!!!!  Thank you Mother Nature for bringing the green back to our office window views :)

You may be asking your self "Why should I read your blog? I'm already on your website." The answer is; yes, we do have a lovely website but, by having a blog we will be able to offer our fans things that we can't on our regular site.

"What things?", you now ask. We are going to provide you with useful tips, facts and advice that come with a life time of jewelry experience. We will also provide background information on the origins and stories of jewelry items, and up to date information about new products and licenses.

But don't think this is a one sided arrangement. We hope to get something out of this bolg as well. You might ask yourself "What is that mysterious blog master?" In two words, Feed Back.

Blogging gives us the opportunity to have an open dialog with you, something we only get a few days out of the year at conventions. We want to know what you would like to see us make, after all, that is why we do what we do. If you have an idea for a line of jewelry, a book series you want to recommend, questions on how to care for your jewelry or just general feed back, please share it with us. It makes us happy to make you happy.

You will be hearing directly from Janelle and Paul mostly, but we may be able to get the whole crew to make a post every now and then. Please be patience with Janelle, she's never blogged before and it may take her a little while to get a hang of it. ENJOY!