I don't have any tattoos. To be absolutely honest, I cannot, deep in my heart, understand how anyone could possibly want a tattoo. (So, basically the same attitude that I have towards children.) But I do find myself being really drawn to and impressed by the sight of genuinely artistic ones. (Tattoos, that is, not children.) And the tattoos on display in this book very much qualify. The first half of this volume features short profiles of renowned tattoo artists from around the world, with samples of their work. The second half features a gallery of tattoos arranged by subject matter, including various categories of science and nature, fantasy, pop culture, and other subjects. And while some of the artistic styles are more to my taste than others, they are all very impressive. I might not want any of them on my body, but being able to browse through them in book form is pretty cool. ( )

I love tattoos and while I only have one, I've been considering the acquisition of another for quite a while. I'd love to celebrate my love of literature in the form of a tattoo, but can never settle on a quote or image I love enough to have inked on my body. So it was with high hopes that I picked up a copy of Geek Ink by the creators of Inkstinct.

As the title suggests, it's full of The World's Smartest Tattoos for Rebels, Nerds, Scientists and Intellectuals, so I thought it'd be right up my alley and full of tattoos to fall in love with.

The artist bios in the front were fantastic, although the repeating design on the lead page was a little frustrating given the visual nature of the book and the quality of the artwork and photographs inside.

In my opinion, there wasn't anywhere near enough variety in the style and genre of gallery tattoos. Having said that, if you were looking for a Star Wars or Harry Potter inspired tattoo, you'd be overwhelmed with choices, with a total of 23 Star Wars tattoos and 14 Harry Potter tattoos featured throughout the book.

The primary reason for disappointment though was the complete lack of a section for quotes or script tattoos. There was a Literature chapter that contained only 6 tattoos and there was only one quote tattoo in the entire book. And you guessed it, it was a quote from Star Wars.

Geeks, nerds and intellectuals love their quotes, so to include a tonne of botanical and geometric tattoos to the complete exclusion of the written word was a real let down for me. In fact, the Animals chapter included an entire section for Proboscidea (elephant) tattoos that took up the same amount of space in the book as the entire Literature section.

Geek Ink clearly has a wealth of talent all over the world to choose from, but I'd have preferred more variety in the artwork presented in this collection.

* Copy courtesy of Murdoch Books * ( )

If this book doesn't make you want to run out and get under the ink, you're not a tattoo person. The days of "skulls" and "mom" are out, and personal ink is in!

These tattoos are a tribute to fan culture, science, animals, etc. It is a great book full of ideas for you to take and give to your artist to help you create something just as original. The ink addict in me is already marking pages for my next visit! ( )