GeekDad

Wrapped in Plastic: A Revealing Look at Twin Peaks

February 6, 2015December 13, 2017Sophie Brown

If it’s been a long time since your last visit to Twin Peaks, or you’d just like to explore the town in a little more depth, then Andy Burns’ new book Wrapped in Plastic might be perfect for you.

Carmelo the Science Fellow Goes Crazy for Science!

February 5, 2015December 13, 2017James Floyd Kelly

So, did you sign up to teach a bunch of summer science and tech summer camps without knowing what to write about, like me? Lucky this cool book showed up!

Shaping A Life In The Sculptor

February 1, 2015December 13, 2017Rebecca Angel

David makes a deal with Death for his art, but will he figure out his life before time runs out?

Chuck Wendig’s Atlanta Burns Raises Some Eyebrows

January 28, 2015December 13, 2017Melanie Meadors1

Chuck Wendig’s latest young adult novel, Atlanta Burns, is causing a bit of a stir around the interwebs.

We Are All The Bad Mother

January 24, 2015December 13, 2017Sophie Brown

“I am a bad mother.” It’s a thought that has gone through all of our heads at least once, possibly daily. In the era of picture-perfect Pinterest parenting, the feelings of inadequacy come easily.

Sherlock Holmes Book Collection Review

November 12, 2014December 13, 2017James Floyd Kelly

The surge in interest for Sherlock Holmes stories isn’t slowing down, and a peek at upcoming books has me a bit depressed as there simply isn’t enough time in my life to read everything that grabs my attention. But I do try…

You Are Here by Chris Hadfield. Image credit: Little, Brown and Company.

You Are Here: A New Book From Astronaut Chris Hadfield

October 31, 2014December 13, 2017Ariane Coffin1

From astronaut Chris Hadfield is a new book showing us what we all have in common, our home. This is planet Earth as seen from the ISS, one picture at a time.

My Summer 2014 Eclectic Reading List – Part 2

October 21, 2014November 23, 2017James Floyd Kelly

Summer is over and school is well under way, and my book stack is slowly dwindling again. But it’s not quite back to a reasonable 3-4 titles that I can typically handle in a week. And new books continue to come in! I had considered declaring Book Bankruptcy and starting from zero again, but I just can’t do that… there are just too many good books to share.

This Book Just Ate My Dog!

October 16, 2014December 13, 2017Rebecca Angel2

Interactive and silly, This Book Just Ate My Dog! will be a winner for a younger read aloud.

My Summer 2014 Eclectic Reading List – Part 1

September 25, 2014December 13, 2017James Floyd Kelly

Now that summer has ended, I’m staring at a stack of books that I’ve finished at various times and need to share with GeekDad readers. I read a LOT more books this summer, but not all of them grabbed my attention or were even finished. One of the problems I have reviewing books for GeekDad is the sheer volume of books that show up in my box. I wish I had time to read them all. I wish all of them appealed to me. And I certainly wish I could devote lengthier discussions to all of them. But I’m a geek dad… meaning I have two boys who are now putting a much higher demand on my time. This means less time for me to read MY books, and even less time to write them up in a timely fashion.

Drift: A Unique Summer Read

July 27, 2014December 14, 2017Rebecca Angel

The new YA novel makes you paint an entirely new universe in your mind; one that has battles, magic, and love, all on the back of a giant turtle.

Tinkerlab: A Hands-On Guide for Little Inventors

July 12, 2014December 13, 2017Ariane Coffin

Put together by a blog of the same name, Tinkerlab is a book of activities that encourage little kids to get making.

Book Reviews: Four for the Fourth!

June 30, 2014December 13, 2017James Floyd Kelly

With the Fourth of July holiday coming up, I wanted to give GeekDad readers a few book possibilities to entertain them before the fireworks and afterwards. These four are in no particular order — I enjoyed each and every one of them. Have a safe and fun Fourth of July to those celebrating this coming weekend!

Read This Post? Turn to Page 53. Skip It? Turn to Page 71.

June 23, 2014December 13, 2017James Floyd Kelly9

If this post’s title doesn’t quite make sense, then you’re probably unfamiliar with the Choose Your Own Adventure (CYOA) book series that started a phenomenon back in the 80s for young readers. Other book series that follow its format exist (or have come and gone), but the CYOA brand, now over 30 years old, continues to find new young readers as parents discover not just reprints of the older titles on bookstore shelves but new titles as well.

Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls © University of Iowa Press

Fangasm: The Curious Case of The Supernatural Fangirl

June 21, 2014December 13, 2017Sophie Brown

Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls is the story of two university professors, Lynn S. Zubernis and Katherine Larsen who also happen to be devoted Supernatural fans. The book follows them as they attend multiple conventions across the US and Canada, indulging in their passion whilst researching the subject with the intention of writing a book on fandom.

The Robot Uprising Continues in Daniel H. Wilson’s Robogenesis

June 10, 2014January 2, 2018James Floyd Kelly

Robogenesis, while a sequel, is both a retelling of the events in Robopocalypse as well as the fallout. The entire novel is broken into three parts, with each part focusing primarily on one of the major characters from the first book. I have to be careful here, because there’s a huge spoiler opportunity that looms… just know that the New War may be over, but there’s a True War that has also been raging in the background, with two parties vying for control of planet Earth.

The Expanse Series Moves Further Outward — Cibola Burn

June 9, 2014December 13, 2017James Floyd Kelly2

Cibola Burn, the fourth book (of six) in The Expanse series from James S.A. Corey (pen name for authors Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck) is out.

It’s outstanding.

Scale of 1 to 10? That dial needs to be upgraded to 11.
(Haven’t read the first trilogy? Congrats — you’ve now got four books, averaging about 600 pages each, to add to your reading list.)

Superb plotting.
One-more-chapter, nail biting tension.
Scoundrel heroes versus law-abiding villains.
Political intrigue that’s not annoying.
Space-travel discussions that don’t bog you down.
Technology that you’ll believe will be available (and needed) in a few hundred years.

Reading Joss Whedon © Syracuse University Press

Why You Should Consider Reading Joss Whedon

May 26, 2014Sophie Brown

For anyone interested in the concept of Whedon Studies and wanting to delve deeper into the Whedonverse, Reading Joss Whedon might just be the book you’re looking for.

Edda: A Little Valkyrie's First Day of School

May 22, 2014December 13, 2017Rebecca Angel1

The first day of school can be daunting, but what if you’re the littlest Valkyrie, just hoping to make a friend? Check out Edda: A Little Valkyrie’s First Day of School.

Everyone Should Meet The Shadow Hero

May 15, 2014December 14, 2017Rebecca Angel1

The Shadow Hero is a graphic novel with ties to the history of comics, racism, and the duality of first generation Americans, in an entertaining format that young YA and up will enjoy.

When I First Held You — 22 Dads, 22 Essays On Being A Dad

May 6, 2014December 13, 2017James Floyd Kelly2

My oldest son turns 7 in two weeks. Where did the time go? And my youngest is just a few weeks after that, with him approaching the big 4. As birthday parties are being planned and requests for birthday gift ideas are made, I find myself sitting alone in my office, contemplating the job I’ve done as a dad and what waits for me in the years ahead. The reason for this contemplation is that I’ve been enjoying reading a series of 22 essays from a number of popular dad writers, all collected in a new book titled When I First Held You, and edited by Brian Gresko.

Hey, GeekDad — Whatcha Reading?

April 30, 2014December 13, 2017James Floyd Kelly

We GeekDad writers often find ourselves buried in piles of books and games and software/apps – sometimes all three (looking at you, Jonathan Liu). Between the stuff we buy and the stuff we request for review and the stuff we did NOT request but absolutely love anyway, we sometimes get a bit behind in what we want to share with our readers.

Below you’ll find some books that one of our staff has finished or is close to finishing and needs to clear off the TO REVIEW list.

The Enceladus Crisis — Alchemy Meets Hard SciFi

April 29, 2014December 13, 2017James Floyd Kelly

Imagine two universes: one where British sailing ships in 1798 are able to leave Earth using the wonders of alchemy to sail between the planets, and another where astronauts in the year 2134 hitch rides on fusion-powered spaceships to explore the moons of Saturn. Got it? Now toss in an ancient alien warlord attempting to open a doorway to conquer both worlds and you’ve got the general idea of Michael J. Martinez’s follow-up novel, The Enceladus Crisis, in his Daedalus series of novels.

Women of Steel and Stone. Image Chicago Review Press.

Book Review: Women of Steel and Stone

April 20, 2014December 13, 2017Ariane Coffin

This book contains the inspiring stories of 22 women architects, engineers, and landscape designers during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

When the World Ends, You’ll Need The Knowledge

April 17, 2014December 13, 2017James Floyd Kelly

I’m not a sky-is-falling kind of guy. I don’t have a bunker behind my house and a decade’s worth of food stocked away for my family (although I do sometimes think about it). Every generation has had its concerns about the world ending, but I’m one of those optimists that hopes we’ll be able to solve our problems — water shortages, global warming, pandemics — and not be despised by our great-great-grandkids.

But who really knows? Asteroids are flying around our universe with sufficient mass and speed. New and scarier viruses seem to pop up every few years. So many countries seem to want their own nuclear bombs these days. Experts seem to think a major financial collapse lurks around the corner. Just how prepared are we if the world we know it stopped functioning normally for an extended period of time? How long would we last without the modern conveniences of electricity, medicine, clothing, food, and clean water?

11-Year-Old Writes a Book About Space – and It’s Good!

April 12, 2014Rachel Cericola

Walter Levin’s The Kid Who Went to the Moon fulfills every kid’s fantasy in more ways than one.

This One Summer: Beauty in Realism

April 2, 2014December 14, 2017Rebecca Angel

This One Summer is a new graphic novel by Mariko and Jillian Tamaki. It is a YA book that transcends the genre into where most adult novelists wish they could go: honest and nuanced characters in that familiar world you forgot to cherish. The details of a summer beach town, and two girls on the brink of teen, may not be your memories, but the yearnings, confusion, and relationships certainly will reveal half-buried reminisces.