Tag Archive | technology

A to Z Challenge? Why not? (you should blog all April, too)

Feb10

logo of AprilAtoZ ChallengeEvery year, I wonder – should I blog AtoZ or not?

Twenty-six posts in just a month? Crazy!
Forcing my posts into alphabetical arrangement A to Z? Like a straitjacket!
Getting a couple of dozen books deserving a review off my TBR shelf and out to y’all? Priceless…

So… I said yes. And there I am as #507 on the April AtoZ Challenge sign-up list.

If you are a blogger (or want to become one), give the AtoZ Challenge a try – 26 posts on your subject of choice, going from A to Z during April (Sundays off, thankfully). You also have a ready-made list of active and interesting blogs to visit (the challenge folks suggest visiting 5 daily and leaving an encouraging comment – you may find new favorites that you want to follow long-term)

There’s a new 2015 AtoZ logo, loads of single-letter badges, banners, even a calendar to set as your desktop so you remember what letter goes on which day – all free here.

My advice after a few years of April AtoZing: Schedule posts in advance, feel free to phonetically pronounce your post title on that darn X day, and include the #AtoZChallenge hashtag and @AprilA2Z Twitter ID when you Tweet out link to your daily post.

See y’all more frequently in April! Let me know if I should be visiting your AtoZ posts then, too.
**kmm

Of Metal and Wishes, by Sarah Fine (book review) – ghost in the machine?

Jan20

book cover Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine published by Margaret McElderry BooksAltar offerings to the Ghost are mere superstition,
surely we can free ourselves without its aid…

Wen never thought she could find love within the horrific factory complex where her educated father is compelled to run a clinic, but now her heart is torn between two who demand her loyalty and affection.

This adventure-romance set in an alternative perhaps-China echoes themes found in Phantom of the Opera with a steampunk twist and will be followed by Of Dreams and Rust in August 2015.

Would you trust your very life to a whispered promise?
**kmm

Book info: Of Metal and Wishes / Sarah Fine. Margaret McElderry Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: In the slaughterhouse, Wen and her father fight ever-present death at his medical clinic, but an omnipresent ghost bent on revenge may tip the scales forever.

Migrant workers in the slaughterhouse’s guts, machinists in its metalwork shops, her own educated father – no one can get out of debt to the company, yet the 16 year old tries to find a way, not relying on the gossips’ claim of a ‘ghost’ in the factory who grants wishes.

When her murmured plea for an offensive worker to leave her alone results in a terrible accident, Wen realizes that there is something or someone with eyes and ears everywhere in the factory. When she begins helping the migrant workers whose underground leader Melik talks of overthrowing the bosses, the Ghost’s whispered promises to keep her safe from all harm become shackles instead of security.

Accidents, secrets, revenge, family history – as the factory becomes an ever more dangerous place in this possible China, Wen must decide whether to trust the Ghost or trust Melik – but can she trust her own heart? (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

In the multiverse, A Thousand Pieces of You seeking me; by Claudia Gray (book review)

Nov4

book cover of A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray published by HarperTeenEach choice you make creates a fork in time,
a new path in the multiverse through history –
Which dimension holds Meg’s happiness? Read more about this new book

Be a Changemaker: How to Start Something That Matters, by Laurie Ann Thompson (book review)

Sep30

book cover of Be a Changemaker by Laurie Ann Thompson published by Beyond Words Simon PulseUnfair things bother you, a lot.
It’s time to do something about it!
But how to make it happen?

If you have an idea for fixing the world, jumpstart it by getting this book at your local library or favorite independent bookstore, and visit the Be a Changemaker website to share your stories and questions.

How are YOU going to change our world for the better?
**kmm

Book info: Be a Changemaker: How to Start Something That Matters / Laurie Ann Thompson. Beyond Words/Simon Pulse, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Ever gotten so angry about something that you vowed to make it right? Started a great helping project, but run out of ideas or enthusiasm? Get good advice on making a difference in the world from those who’ve tried, failed, and then succeeded so that you can devote your energies to your cause.

Each chapter begins by profiling a youth-led nonprofit group along with their challenges and successes. Be sure that you think through your passions, skills, and the problem that’s bothering you before jumping into your venture. Learn how to work the media, plan a stellar event, and avoid burnout so that your idea goes the distance.

With good research, a dream team and adult mentor who share your vision, and savvy planning, you can truly Be a Changemaker  and make positive things happen with the tools and tips in this book.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Dirt Bike, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly, by Conrad Wesselhoeft (book review) – grief, honor & gaming

Sep12

book cover of Dirt Bikes Drones and Other Ways to Fly by Conrad Wesselhoeft published by Houghton MifflinPlaying chicken with big trucks on the highway,
joysticking into the Drone Zone,
adrenaline removes Arlo’s grief…for a while.

Trying to cope with Mom’s murder, Siouxsie’s progressive neurological disease, Dad’s retreat into the bottle – Arlo keeps his dirt bike running, scrounges change to play Drone Fighter at his tiny town’s online cafe, but then what? One early morning phone call changes things (but not everything).

Traveling recently through bone-dry northern New Mexico where the author strands this small town, I can see why anyone there would want to find a way to get away, even if it means trading the make-believe of gaming for real drone piloting and its violent consequences.

Read this April 2014 book now – right now!
**kmm

Book info: Dirt Bikes, Drones, and Other Ways to Fly / Conrad Wesselhoeft. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers, 2014. [author blog]  [publisher site]  Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Arlo’s gaming skills could pay his sister’s huge medical bills, his dirt bike prowess could salvage his reputation in their small New Mexico town, but it’ll take something more to rescue his family from their endless grieving for Mom.

When the US Air Force wants Arlo to fly real reconnaissance drones over Pakistan from their base at White Sands, based solely on his Drone Fighter video game world ranking, the 17-year-old’s journalist dad is skeptical – until the Colonel erases their debts for Siouxsie’s treatments.

When gorgeous Lee slides into dusty Orphan County to stay with her aunt until her dad returns from his Afghanistan deployment, Arlo thinks she’ll scorn scruffy dirt bikes after leaving her smooth Harley in Seattle – until she helps his Evel Kneivel-style jump go higher and farther.

Zooming down I-25 from the New Mexico-Colorado borderlands whenever the Colonel phones, Arlo has too much time to think on his way to White Sands. Even if he can discover the most-wanted terrorist’s whereabouts with his drone, how can he recover what his family lost when Mom was murdered?

Mountain vistas, Mom’s ashes spread atop the mesa, small-town football as seen from the snack bar, and a moto-stunt for the ages fill this don’t-miss novel about love, grief, and honor.

Pawn, by Aimee Carter (book review) – doomed or destined by the Test?

Aug5

book cover of Pawn by Aimee Carter published by Harlequin TeenOne chance to rise above poverty,
one Test determines your life,
and all the rules are a lie!

In this future America, the Hart family’s dictatorship is unbreakable, anyone over 60 is sent Elsewhere, and only Kitty’s unique eye color saves her from poverty – at a steep price that’s too dangerous to refuse!

Read the first chapter of Pawn  here, then find book 1 of the Blackcoat Rebellion series today at your local library or independent bookstore – Captive arrives on November 25th.

**kmm

Book info: Pawn (Blackcoat Rebellion, book 1) / Aimee Carter. Harlequin Teen, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Kitty can trade a lifetime of servitude for wealth and luxury – if she can successfully masquerade as the USA prime minister’s niece and stop the rebellion which Lila began!

Doomed – dyslexic orphan Kitty Doe just failed the Test and is tattooed as level III, sentenced to menial labor in a city far from her beloved boyfriend Benji.

Destined – her contract purchased by Prime Minister Hart, her body Masked and remade to replicate his popular niece, even Lila’s mother and fiance help Kitty become the wealthy level VII teen for her adoring public.

Determined – as Kitty learns more about outspoken Lila’s desire to help common folks, she dares to contact the Blackcoat rebels – but can she risk losing Benji forever?

First of a trilogy set in a future USA where one Test determines everything and some folks aren’t playing by their own rules. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Now You Tell Me! 12 College Students Give the Best Advice They Never Got, by Sheridan Scott, Nancy Allen, Anya Settle (book review)

Jul5

book cover of Now You Tell Me! 12 College Students Give the Best Advice They Never Got by Sheridan Scott, Nancy Allen & Anya Settle published by ArundelGet up,
show up,
keep up!
Yes, classes are the main reason you go to college!

Great advice from real students who survived and thrived at college fills this book: get to know future classmates before you arrive on campus, try new things (but not everything!), stay hydrated, stay healthy, and remember that the dorm staff is there to help you.

You should be able to find this 2012 release at your favorite local library or independent bookstore – its advice is timeless! Download a free excerpt here.

What advice would you share with someone going to college or another new situation?
**kmm

Book info: Now You Tell Me! 12 College Students Give the Best Advice They Never Got / Sheridan Scott, Nancy Allen, and Anya Settle. Arundle Publishing, 2012.   [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Who better to tell you the real story about college life than recent graduates? This Now You Tell Me title can help you enjoy the good life at college while avoiding major pitfalls.

Whether at a small college or large university, several folks recommend waiting until the end of your first semester (or first year) to declare a major.

Read on for advice about dealing with difficult professors, your roommate’s dating and housekeeping habits, and other common situations of college life.

A dozen different experiences fill this book, so it’s no surprise that some advice contradicts what someone else earlier (join/don’t join a sorority/fraternity, etc.).

So put back half of the stuff you’d planned to take, bring your adventurous spirit, and learn from these 12 varied experience to make your college time the best it can be.

The Jedi Doth Return! by Ian Doescher (book review) – Shakespeare parses the Force, dark and light

Jul1

book cover of William Shakespeare's The Jedi Doth Return by Ian Doescher published by Quirk BooksRescuer disguised, a comrade to free,
Jabba of the Hutt wouldst kill them all!
Luke will not from his Force-dark’nd father flee,
but seeks to free him from th’Emperor’s thrall.

O, rebel band, stay strong and share the Force
with Ewoks small, yet mighty in the fray!
A second Death Star bids to blast their world
and hidden base where freedom fighters stay.

Today marks the natal day of this final tale in Shakespeare’s Star Wars saga – seek for it at thine local library or a-favored independent bookstore.

Certes, thou hast already perused William Shakespeare’s Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope (in discussion here) and well as The Empire Striketh Back (more here) – such classic stories from a galaxy far, far away…

**kmm

Book info: William Shakespeare’s The Jedi Doth Return (Star Wars Part the Sixth) / Ian Doescher; inspired by the work of George Lucas and William Shakespeare. Quirk Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Amid daring rescues, new allies, and the dark Emperor himself targeting attacks on the Rebellion, the Jedi Doth Return  to win Star Wars in the Bard’s own style or perish forever!

Evil Jabba of the Hutt will soon regret his refusal to release carbonite-encased Han Solo to Luke Skywalker as this iambic pentametered tale begins on  desert Tatooine.

Luke, Han, and Leia’s stealth mission on Endor’s forest moon may gain the Ewoks as new allies, but may also imperil the Rebellion’s fight against the dark Empire, as Darth Vader uses the Force to sense his son’s whereabouts.

Will Luke be swayed to the dark side of the Force by Vader’s soliloquies?
Shall Lando of Calrissian join the Rebels or stand aside?
And what of the past shared by Luke and Leia?

Do read aloud the Ewoks’ speeches and you’ll hear the almost-English of the middle 2 lines of their AABA-rhymed communications.

The concluding volume of Doescher’s epically Shakespearean take on George Lucas’ classic space opera can stand alone (especially for hardcore Star Wars devotees), but is even more enjoyable after reading William Shakespeare’s Verily, a New Hope  (Star Wars Part the Fourth) and The Empire Striketh Back  (Part the Fifth). May the verse be with you!  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Sunrise, by Mike Mullin (book review) – bandits outside the walls, challenges within

Jun24

book cover of Sunrise by Mike Mullin published by TanglewoodLeadership is needed,
Hope is required,
Young people must prevail or die.

The final volume in the Ashfall Trilogy is a blockbuster! Alex and Darla have survived cannibals, bandits, the US government, and near-starvation in Ashfall  (my review here) and Ashen Winter (my review here).

Now they must organize citizens against an oncoming threat or decide to leave the townspeople to their own fate… what a burden for kids just old enough to drive.

Full disclosure: I’ve been eagerly awaiting this book since I won the right to name a character in it through the Authors for Henryville auction which raised money to rebuild school libraries after the 2012 tornado there. The character who shares my husband’s name in Sunrise is somewhat like him (not always the case where naming rights are involved – thank you, Mike); no spoiler to tell you that he dies, because many, many people die in the perpetual winter brought on by the Yellowstone supervolcano eruption, so I’m tangentially in the book as his widow.

I just discovered Darla’s Story eBook,  told from her point of view,  paralleling Alex’s narrative in Ashfall  from the supervolcano eruption to their meeting on her Iowa farm under perilous circumstances (makes this a trilogy with 3.5 books).

How well would you survive a frozen future?
**kmm

Book info: Sunrise (Ashfall Trilogy, book 3) / Mike Mullin. Tanglewood Press, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk:  After a year of perpetual winter, Alex and Darla face tough choices when his uncle’s farm suddenly fills with townspeople who think the armed bandit attack is a one-time problem.

Everyone is tired of subsisting on kale and frozen pork, but when refugees flood Uncle Paul’s Illinois farm after renegades attack the nearby town, it’s up to young people like Alex and Darla to find medical supplies and more food (and maybe retaliate against the aggressors).

When folks move back to town but refuse to post guards against the bloodthirsty psychopath’s brigands, Alex and Darla lead another group to establish a safer settlement, complete with greenhouses and electricity from a repurposed wind turbine.

Why is Mom staying in town instead of with Alex?
Why won’t the Mayor post guards against the next attack?
Will Alex and Darla stay alive long enough to make their love a true commitment?

This final volume in the Ashfall Trilogy pits short-sighted leaders against vicious villains, the need for community against the will to go your own way, and the unforgiving brutality of volcanic winter against the hope of love and the possibility of springtime. (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Stuff Every College Student Should Know, by Blair Thornburgh (book review) – handy advice for living

Jun22

book cover of Stuff Every College Student Should Know by Blair Thornburgh published by Quirk Books Do you know how to…
Cook without a microwave?
Take care of yourself when you’re sick?
Request a faculty recommendation letter?

No one gets to college knowing how to do everything, so Blair has compiled great hints and advice to get you through everything from roommates to homesickness.

Check out this handy, pocket-sized hardback book at your local library for your own personal education, or buy it at an independent bookstore for a graduation present or gift of encouragement to a current student.

What life skill tops your list of things to know?

**kmm

Book info: Stuff Every College Student Should Know / Blair Thornburgh. Quirk Books, 2014.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [author interview podcast] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: College brings new challenges and opportunities, but how can you learn the best way to accomplish things? This pocket guide gives you concise information about all aspects of your campus experience – from dorm living and personal care to academics and social life to money and the real world.

You can be a better roommate, cook without a microwave (yes, it’s possible), form a useful study group, and pass a test that you forgot to study for.

Learn how to deal with a long-distance relationship, stress, or homesickness. Know how to be smart with your first credit card and why you should interview the landlord of any apartment that you’re considering renting.

Scan through all the many entries, including how to pack for Spring Break, avoid going broke on textbooks, and good verbs to use on your resume, and you’ll be ready for many of the new situations that college life brings.