The Geekly Reader

I finished Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw last week and any fans of his television program, No Reservations on the Travel Channel should enjoy this book.  The book covers many topics, including his "heroes and villains" in the food industry (one of my favorite chapters).  You may have to be a real "food geek" to enjoy the entire book.  Some chapters go on and on about various restaurants and/or menus.  I had no problem with the book, because another one of my loves besides reading and technology is eating!  Fair warning, if vulgar language turns you off in a book, this title may not be for you! Also, interesting story in The Detroit News today.  Has the Internet  killed the printed Oxford Dictionary?   With the development of spell check, dictionary phone applications and Internet dictionary sites this comes as no surprise.  I mean, who really wants to lug around a huge book to check definitions or spelling?  I rarely purchase reference titles for my library

Well, summer is over and it is time to head back to work for the Gibraltar School District.  I look forward to another great school year.  I am very thankful to continue in my position as Teacher Librarian.  This year I am also responsible for Shumate Middle School, so this will be a challenge.  I still do not even know how I am going to be able provide library services for nearly two thousand students.  I have heard some rumblings at recent school board meetings that my former colleague may be reinstated back at Shumate.  I hope this is the case.  She did a wonderful job at Shumate Middle School! It will be an exciting year either way.  Both libraries have new computer labs and it appears I will have a book budget to purchase new selections for the libraries.  Buying new books is one of the best parts of my job.  I try to get feedback and input from the students.  While I try to keep up on what kids are reading, my best recommendations come from my students.  It has been encouraging

As I mentioned in an early post, I sold my text book back to Amazon.com last week.  I shipped the book out last Tuesday (8/17) via the United States Postal Service (paid for by Amazon, I did provide the box).  The item was received on Saturday (8/21) and by mid day Monday (8/23) the full amount was credited to my Amazon.com gift card account.  It worked perfectly.  What a great way to sell back the old book.  I did not have to deal with Paypal or travel downtown to sell the book back at the bookstore. I am still waiting to sell my iPhone, as I have to purchase the new model first.  However, a loyal reader contacted me to point out that he was selling a video camera back through  Gazelle.com .  They were shipping him the pre-paid postage box, all he has to do is ship it back, and a check will be mailed!  I am curious to see how well this all works.  I plan to sell my iPhone 3g to either Amazon or Gazelle (depending on their offer).  I am nearly finished with  Anthony Bourdain'

The other day I received an email from my Wayne State email list regarding buying used textbooks.  I thought of selling mine through the list but really did not want to have to deal with a private sale.  I searched Amazon.com just to see what price the title was going for (at the used rate) when I noticed that Amazon was willing to buy the book back for about $36 (in credit on an Amazon gift card).  Amazon pays for the shipping, I just have to provide a box and drop it off at either a UPS location or ship it through the United State Postal Service.  I thought I would give it a try.  It sounds really easy,  plus I do not have to worry about some stranger ripping me off.  I dropped off the book this week, so I will be sure to update once I hear from Amazon.  Video games and DVDs are also accepted for trade. After sending my old textbook off, I started to think about my current iPhone3g and how I want to replace it so badly.  The phone is in great shape (I took great care of it) and I

Well, I was able to finish Sh*t My Dad Says in three days.  It was entertaining and amusing, however I must warn you, it is filled with vulgar language (as you could not tell that from the title).  If that is the kind of thing that you find offensive, you may want to avoid this title.  It was actually a nice piece about the author's experiences growing up with his father.  I am a big fan of father/son relationships so this made the book entertaining.  This book was a very quick and entertaining read.  I plan to move onto Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw next.  I should be able to squeeze two books in this month, since my first read was so short. In other book news, while browsing through books at Target, something I find myself doing every time I pop into that store, I noticed a new book my Nelson DeMille .  The Lion looks very good, and I may have to pick it up in September.  However, I also like to pick out a book from the Carlson Library to start each school year.  There a

After debating for ten days I finally decided on a book for my August Read of the Month.  I actually ordered two books yesterday and thanks to my Amazon Prime membership they will be here early on Thursday.  I ordered Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern and Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People That Cook by Anthony Bourdain.  Both books look very good.  I have read previous works by Bourdain and I love his program No Reservations on the Travel Chanel.  Halpern's book is based upon his Twitter feed.  A new sitcom will premier this fall on CBS based upon the Twitter feed.  There is some furor over the title of the program as the Parents Television Council is not pleased with the title of the program and has asked sponsors to boycott.  Of course all this means is even more people will watch the sitcom.  I love "Parent Groups" that try to do my job as a parent, thanks so much "Parents Television Council" do you mind coming over and

Wow, where did July go?  It just seemed to disappear.  In a way, I am excited about going back to work later this month.  I know most in the education business love their time off in the summer, but usually by August I am ready to go back to work.  I should not make excuses for being late with my August read, but I have to be honest, the last few days have been quite busy here at the Pehote house.  Plus another one of my Geekly Loves is politics, so I have been online reading about the election results.  So my goal is to find a book by the weekend.  I mentioned earlier I may try the sequel to The Lion's Game , but I may save that for a later date.  Not sure how I feel about reading the books back to back.  I may have to read a classic or education based work to get me in back to school mode.  Hope everyone is having a great summer.  Let me know if you have a good recommendations.