The Geekly Reader

With the school year coming to a close my free time for reading greatly increases.  I thought I would take some time to put together a summer reading list so I have some books (or eBooks) ready for the next few months.  So, here is my list (which will not include Fifty Shades of Grey). First, I need to finish my April/May Read of the Month Unwind by Neal Shusterman.   I picked the book up again while waiting at jury duty last week.  I really enjoy the book, I just have very little time in April and May for reading.  I really hate not being able to read this time of year. Next, I want to read Walter Isaacson's biography of former Apple CEO Steve Jobs.   I love my Apple products (although I do not put myself on the level of "crazy fan-boy" status).  I have heard many good things about this biography and I look forward to reading it this summer. I just blogged about the upcoming Great Gatsby film , based upon one of my favorite novels of all time.  Every few years I wil

First, let me apologize for my lack of posts during the month of May.  It is always a crazy time of year for me with track season in full swing as well as Advanced Placement Testing time at Carlson High School.  I have very little free time for writing.  However, track is wrapping up (as well as the school year) so The Geekly Reader should be a little more active. Back in January I wrote about all of the books to film I wanted to see at the movies this year.  Like most movie-goers I already enjoyed The Hunger Games.   I really enjoyed the movie and I would have probably liked it even more if I had not read the book. The reason I write today, the trailer was released for the film based upon what may be my favorite book of all time.  I love The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald .  Some consider it the best American novel of all time.  I even enjoyed the 1974 Robert Redford film version.  On Christmas Day, 2012, Director Baz Luhrmann will release his version staring Leonardo DiCap

Back in January I wrote about the new line of "netbook" computers on the market.   Computer manufacturers are striving to make laptop computers slimmer and faster.  This usually involves removing old style hard drive and replacing it with a Solid State Drive (SSD).  Solid State Drives take up less space and allow the computer to access information must faster than when using a traditional hard disc drive. News broke this week that Apple is ready to update their Macbook Pro Line.   It appears from reading some of the rumors that Apple is attempting to make their Pro Line more netbook like.  Improvements include a Pro Retina Display, USB 3 and Intel's new Ivy Bridge 3 Processors.  Other rumored changes include a SSD storage drive and removal of the Ethernet port and CD/DVD Superdrive.  These changes would result in a faster and slimmer machine. The news of a newly updated Macbook Pro has caught my attention.  As I wrote back in January, my main machine is starting to re

Well, it's that time of year again.  Mother's Day is right around the corner.  This is always a crazy time of year in my house.  My wife's birthday (5/10) is always right around Mother's Day so I am always in a bind looking for multiple gifts.  Throw in the fact that my own mother's birthday is in late April and you can see that I am really on the spot.  To be honest, I am really not a great "gift shopper" to begin with, so when I am on the spot, things get even worse. Thankfully, I stumbled across this humorous piece from Time, "10 Geekly Mother's Day Gifts to Avoid."   I actually got a chuckle reading through some of the gifts.  A pink taser?  The "Dream Man Arm Pillow?"  Would people really think about buying these things for their moms or wives?  Now that I think of it, I'm not that bad of a shopper.  I know better than to buy some of this crazy stuff.  My own mother taught me well and always said a gift for mom should nev

I really started quickly into my April 2012 Read of the Month.   I had no problem jumping into Unwind by Neal Shusterman.  I was moving right along with the book, then April hit me smack in the face.  April (and May for that matter) is always a crazy month.  My track season hits high gear and the end of school year events at Carlson take up a large amount of time.  Throw in the new teaching job at Wayne County Community College and a ton of activities with the kids and family and my reading time has been reduced greatly. For these reasons, my April 2012 Read of the Month will now become my April/May 2012 Read of the Month (this is not the first time this has happened).  Normally, when it takes me a while to finish a book it is because I lose interest; this is clearly not the case regarding Shusterman's novel.  I was really enjoying the book, but just having trouble finding any time to read.  I know some of my friends have the same problem.  They would love to read more, but just