Teens at Random. That is a great name of a website!
Of course, it is called that due to being presented by Random House. But still. Made me chuckle.
First off the bat, I'm not that impressed by the way the site looks. It reminds me of some of those early 90s websites. But, I will note, those early 90s websites were very easy to navigate. Maybe that is their intention? I guess I'll find out.
Huh. Is Eragon still a thing? I thought that was over.
Love, Stargirl!?! Wow. Now I am feeling old. I'm pretty sure I read that in middle school. About 10 years ago.
Oh. That explains it. I think this site hasn't been updated since 2012. The most recent year in the date-of-birth selector is 2007. Meaning they're targeting 8 and up? I guess.
I guess they must still be updating it. Some of the popular post-apocalyptic wasteland movie tie-in books are on there. Most notably The Scorch Trials.
I got to say. Not impressed by this site. It reminds me of something from my childhood for good reason. Would not recommend.
3/10
Harlequin Teen? That sounds...dangerous.
I've never given much thought to teen romance.
I guess it would probably have less...raunchy writing.
Okay, so right off the bat it turns out that Harlequin doesn't do just romance. I never thought about that either. I guess it makes sense though. A publisher should diversify their holdings.
There are plenty of books here that look to inhabit the current grunge sort of look. Lots of grey metallics and filigree.
This is definitely a more simplistic way of viewing the teens materials. Just a straight up listing. No search function within the teen overworld, but that' okay. It might take you a while to find what you're looking for. But! It shows everything. All subgenres are intermingled. You might find something else you like on the way to the book you're actually looking for. Not bad.
7/10
Showing posts with label creature of habit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creature of habit. Show all posts
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
5/3
Okay, I chose a book to write about from Amazon's best of science fiction and fantasy list. Because that's my bread and butter. It's what I'm comfortable with. What did I choose?
The Martian.
This book has been HUGELY popular and the movie staring Matt Damon is coming out soon. What is so fantastic about this book? The details, mainly. Andy Weir is a former particle engineer. He wrote this book in his spare time wondering how a person would be able to survive on Mars on their own with an approximation of today's technology. Weir details how to grow crops in soil that has never grown crops before. One of the more disgusting yet informative pieces of information he gives is about why exactly it is that human waste, while full of the things needed for plant growth, is not generally considered a fertilizer while at the same time explaining that those issues don't matter when you're consuming plants grown with your own manure. Most importantly, Weir make the reader feel for the main character. You bond with Mark Watney as he works to survive and escape Mars so that he can come home. You feel every bump and bruise he takes. And you also feel for those who accidentally left him behind and those who are working around the clock to make sure he comes home. It is a stunning book full of detail, a dangerous and yet not frightening setting, and a main character whose irreverent attitude toward, well, everything, keeps the pace up. The movie has a lot to live up to.
So the question is why does it appeal and to whom? Well there's the human aspect of the story. It is a pretty important aspect. Mark Watney is a man trapped alone on another planet all by himself. If this were to actually happen, he would be the most isolated person ever. Alone with no one to talk to for over a year but himself. And yet, he manages to stay sane. Well, as sane as an astronaut can be. What makes it appealing to virtually everybody is not just how technically correct it is, but also how it makes you think what would happen to you in that situation. Or any situation where you are trapped alone by yourself. How would you cope? The broad appeal comes from the fact that everyone can relate to it, even if they've never been to Mars.
The Martian.
This book has been HUGELY popular and the movie staring Matt Damon is coming out soon. What is so fantastic about this book? The details, mainly. Andy Weir is a former particle engineer. He wrote this book in his spare time wondering how a person would be able to survive on Mars on their own with an approximation of today's technology. Weir details how to grow crops in soil that has never grown crops before. One of the more disgusting yet informative pieces of information he gives is about why exactly it is that human waste, while full of the things needed for plant growth, is not generally considered a fertilizer while at the same time explaining that those issues don't matter when you're consuming plants grown with your own manure. Most importantly, Weir make the reader feel for the main character. You bond with Mark Watney as he works to survive and escape Mars so that he can come home. You feel every bump and bruise he takes. And you also feel for those who accidentally left him behind and those who are working around the clock to make sure he comes home. It is a stunning book full of detail, a dangerous and yet not frightening setting, and a main character whose irreverent attitude toward, well, everything, keeps the pace up. The movie has a lot to live up to.
So the question is why does it appeal and to whom? Well there's the human aspect of the story. It is a pretty important aspect. Mark Watney is a man trapped alone on another planet all by himself. If this were to actually happen, he would be the most isolated person ever. Alone with no one to talk to for over a year but himself. And yet, he manages to stay sane. Well, as sane as an astronaut can be. What makes it appealing to virtually everybody is not just how technically correct it is, but also how it makes you think what would happen to you in that situation. Or any situation where you are trapped alone by yourself. How would you cope? The broad appeal comes from the fact that everyone can relate to it, even if they've never been to Mars.
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
FOUR!
I don't know if the golf reference came through in that title or not. Anyway....
I love Goodreads! It is a fantastic thing. I have often described it to others as Facebook with books. And I feel like that really is the best way to describe it.
Right off the bat, I've got some of these objectives finished. Since I've been a Goodreads member for a while, I alreayd have some bookshelves. Okay, I've only made one shelf of my own, the rest were already present thanks to the site. The one shelve I have made is a listing of the books I have on my kindle. Though it isn't that up to date. I should fix that...later. I have a post to get through!
That is one of the great advantages of Goodreads. Thanks to a (relatively) recent update to my kindle, Goodreads already know what books I've bought from Amazon.com on my kindle. Or, at least, it should. I think it still does....
I've already made friends on Goodreads with a number of colleagues, including some of those who are doing this training with me right now! How handy. Now to make some recommendations....
Recommendation 1
"Okay Kristy. I am actually surprised you haven't read this. Though it is possible you've read it and just haven't added it. In any case, I think you would LOVE this book. It is very much in your taste given that I know you love Star Trek. Well guess what. This book is based on Star Trek. That's right! We've got the (almost) Enterprise. We've got the (almost) Capt. Kirk. But best of all: We've got the red-shirts. That's right, the expendable characters are actually the main characters of this story. And in this story, they're using the future knowledge to figure out why so many of them keep dying. It is pretty well paced and, if you take my advice, give the audiobook a try. Wil Wheaton reads it adding even more irony to the story."
Recommendation 2
Doug! A book! For you! I don't know how much of Kim Stanley Robinson you've read, but he is a fantastic sci-fi writer. He wrote a really great trilogy years back about the colonization and eventual terraforming of Mars. This book is a fun alternate history book involving the plague. A series of smaller stores discuss what would have happened if the Black Death had killed off 90% of Europe's population instead of the 30% it actually did. An interesting thought, no? It is set in the same places we know and love, but radically changed. There is no Baltimore or New York. Instead, the Chinese eventually colonized North America and had interactions with Native Americans. Wars were different. Countries are different. Art and music are different. I highly recommend this book!
Ah, Goodreads. They have great reviews too!
I love Goodreads! It is a fantastic thing. I have often described it to others as Facebook with books. And I feel like that really is the best way to describe it.
Right off the bat, I've got some of these objectives finished. Since I've been a Goodreads member for a while, I alreayd have some bookshelves. Okay, I've only made one shelf of my own, the rest were already present thanks to the site. The one shelve I have made is a listing of the books I have on my kindle. Though it isn't that up to date. I should fix that...later. I have a post to get through!
That is one of the great advantages of Goodreads. Thanks to a (relatively) recent update to my kindle, Goodreads already know what books I've bought from Amazon.com on my kindle. Or, at least, it should. I think it still does....
I've already made friends on Goodreads with a number of colleagues, including some of those who are doing this training with me right now! How handy. Now to make some recommendations....
Recommendation 1
"Okay Kristy. I am actually surprised you haven't read this. Though it is possible you've read it and just haven't added it. In any case, I think you would LOVE this book. It is very much in your taste given that I know you love Star Trek. Well guess what. This book is based on Star Trek. That's right! We've got the (almost) Enterprise. We've got the (almost) Capt. Kirk. But best of all: We've got the red-shirts. That's right, the expendable characters are actually the main characters of this story. And in this story, they're using the future knowledge to figure out why so many of them keep dying. It is pretty well paced and, if you take my advice, give the audiobook a try. Wil Wheaton reads it adding even more irony to the story."
Recommendation 2
Doug! A book! For you! I don't know how much of Kim Stanley Robinson you've read, but he is a fantastic sci-fi writer. He wrote a really great trilogy years back about the colonization and eventual terraforming of Mars. This book is a fun alternate history book involving the plague. A series of smaller stores discuss what would have happened if the Black Death had killed off 90% of Europe's population instead of the 30% it actually did. An interesting thought, no? It is set in the same places we know and love, but radically changed. There is no Baltimore or New York. Instead, the Chinese eventually colonized North America and had interactions with Native Americans. Wars were different. Countries are different. Art and music are different. I highly recommend this book!
Ah, Goodreads. They have great reviews too!
Thursday, August 6, 2015
Week, the first: assignment, the fifth!
I guess this isn't exactly an assignment. Just something fun. I liked it. It reminded me a lot of myself. Some would say that's narcissistic, but others would say that's because I'm really a six-year-old in the body of a twenty-eight-year-old. Meh.
Week, the first: assignment, the forth!
Wow. So that didn't really work out the way I wanted it to. But that's okay. I'm back! And I have a plan! (And I promise I'm not a Cylon...that you can prove.)
So for this assignment we have to choose some of the resources on the sidebar to make use of for the coming assignments. I will admit, I am an NPR junkie, so I think I will definitely be checking that fairly frequently. And I should be checking Goodreads more often. Hey, there's nothing to say we can't do more than one.
Reasonings!: NPR is a highly trusted and authoritative news source. Much like the New York Times, they have various review departments that contribute to the overall mission of educating the public. And I've been listening to NPR and their various reviews since forever. I like their style. I like their holds-no-bar attitude toward reviewing. I think I can seriously get into it.
Goodreads is like the facebook of readers. It really is. There are great reviews. There are bad reviews. There are extremely mediocre reviews (I will admit to writing this style of review. I'm really not as good as I would like to be.) Also, it links to your Amazon.com account so all the books I buy from them show up there! How handy. Maybe I can review more books on Goodreads and get better at it....
As for the genre choices, there is only one I would be "excluded" from reading on a regular basis: sci-fi. This is because I don't read many of the other genres listed. it is usually sci-fi and non-fiction. So with that in mind, I think I'll do one from each of the three categories in question: Stop You're Killing Me, Heroes and Heartbreakers, and Street Fiction.
Reasonings!: Honestly, mostly it is because of the names. I know. I'm being cliche. I'm judging books (blogs) by their covers (names). But I don't care! I think they're going to be fun! They certainly sound like it. And isn't that the point? Instant interest, that's what a fun title implies. And I am going to trust in that marketing strategy.
So for this assignment we have to choose some of the resources on the sidebar to make use of for the coming assignments. I will admit, I am an NPR junkie, so I think I will definitely be checking that fairly frequently. And I should be checking Goodreads more often. Hey, there's nothing to say we can't do more than one.
Reasonings!: NPR is a highly trusted and authoritative news source. Much like the New York Times, they have various review departments that contribute to the overall mission of educating the public. And I've been listening to NPR and their various reviews since forever. I like their style. I like their holds-no-bar attitude toward reviewing. I think I can seriously get into it.
Goodreads is like the facebook of readers. It really is. There are great reviews. There are bad reviews. There are extremely mediocre reviews (I will admit to writing this style of review. I'm really not as good as I would like to be.) Also, it links to your Amazon.com account so all the books I buy from them show up there! How handy. Maybe I can review more books on Goodreads and get better at it....
As for the genre choices, there is only one I would be "excluded" from reading on a regular basis: sci-fi. This is because I don't read many of the other genres listed. it is usually sci-fi and non-fiction. So with that in mind, I think I'll do one from each of the three categories in question: Stop You're Killing Me, Heroes and Heartbreakers, and Street Fiction.
Reasonings!: Honestly, mostly it is because of the names. I know. I'm being cliche. I'm judging books (blogs) by their covers (names). But I don't care! I think they're going to be fun! They certainly sound like it. And isn't that the point? Instant interest, that's what a fun title implies. And I am going to trust in that marketing strategy.
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