Finally! Finally, we got the Kindles to work for my students. You have no idea how much time, effort, and energy it took for me and my boss to get these Kindles to the school, attach them to a proper Amazon account, and make sure that we could download the books they wanted onto their Kindle. Let me tell me more about everything…
I’ve been back in Nanchang for a while now. However, I got back to work last Wednesday. Well…technically my first day back was on Monday because I had several meetings to attend along with my colleagues. Then, I had one more meeting where I had to sit down with my boss to do some last-minute preparation for my school’s first-ever “Independent Reading Program”. You have no idea how excited I am about that. That among other things…
Celtic Mythology by Philip Freeman
(Disclaimer: this will be a short review!)
As I stressed in a previous post, research is very important in writing stories, especially in video games. Furthermore, I was instructed to read Celtic mythology after expressing my desire to add a personal touch to it. Why Celtic? Well, most of my friends have Irish ancestry in them and I have some British ancestry. And it’s a good thing I did, too, because it was a wonderful read.
Folsom Untold: The Strange True Story of Johnny Cash’s Greatest Album
(Disclaimer: this will be a short review!)
Full disclosure, I know nothing about Johnny Cash. Never listened to any of his songs. Never seen his shows. Hell, I didn’t even know what he looked like up until now. I have a wiki search while listening to this Audible Original because I feel totally out of the loop. But I found that to be a good thing after it was all said and done.
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
So, the number one rule in writing for an RPG game is that research is almost always a necessity. Hell, that’s a pretty big rule in writing, anyway. But, in the realm of game writing, you can’t write a story AND create a world for that story without drawing inspiration. And, since most inspiration comes from lore…you can see where this is going, right? So, I started with Norse Mythology.
Who in the World is Carmen Sandiego by Rebecca Tinker
You have no idea how excited I was when I heard that they were creating a Netflix series starring the most famous fictional art thief. In the 1990s, I was only about to learn geography by playing this game due to my ADHD. Right! So, I tend to focus and learn things a lot easier when I’m hands-on and turning it into a game. Even still, I got the privilege of reading this Audible Original that came out around the same time as the series.
Einstein’s Dream by Alan Lightman
Being a nerd can be a little difficult in my sales job which why I’m thankful for my boss. My boss is just as big of a nerd as I am. Nooo, he’s the bigger one because he was the one who put this book in front of me. We love about the various field of nerdism and he suggested that I give this book a read. His reason was pretty simple: “It’s sci-fi, Justin. Right up your alley.”
Wonder Woman Psychology by Travis Langley
I’m not an avid Woman Wonder reader. Actually, come to think about it, I’m not an avid comic reader as a whole. So, why am I reading this installment of Dr. Travis Langley’s Popular Culture Psychology series if I’ve never read any of her comics. Simple answer? I’m a feminist and she, along with her creator, William Moulton Marston, were some of the earliest inspiration for feminism so I was instantly drawn to it. So, let’s see what this Amazonian brought to the table for women.
Get Rich(er) Sleeping – Investing 101 by Jaspreet Singh
Full Disclosure: This is going to be the shortest review to date because this will be the first time I’m coming across a topic I don’t really care about.
Conversational Hypnosis: A Manual of Indirect Suggestion by Carol Sommer
Have you ever noticed in a salesman’s job that they know how to meticulous when speaking? It’s like they’re choosing words very carefully for the most desirable outcome. What about therapists? If you spoke to a therapist, you may notice that they are really good at putting their patients in a state of calm, or complacently. Even better, have you ever read a book and can’t seem to put it down. There’s a reason for that and pretty interesting as it can be summed up to two words: conversational hypnosis.