Books and Needlepoint

Friday, April 30, 2010

BLOGMANIA IS HERE! WIN - WIN - WIN!

Shared by Kristi

WELCOME TO BLOGMANIA!!

My blog is #50 of 123!

You’ve arrived at exactly the right time to explore lots of new blogs, all of which, ARE GIVING AWAY A VERY SPECIAL BLOGMANIA GIVEAWAY (For One Day Only – April 30th) . (Don't forget to come back the next day though to sign up for my other giveaways on going in the right sidebar! - all g/a ending april 29 will be extended through the weekend!)

We’ve done all the work for you. No hunting or surfing. Each blog will have a number and each new blog link will have a number. These numbers will allow you to keep track of which blogs you’ve visited and how many are left to visit. Why not take a moment to make a list of blog numbers 1-123 and check off the blogs as you go.

I know you’ll want to visit as many blogs today as you can. So, if you see something that interests you on any of our participating blogs, why not bookmark that site. Later, when you have more time, you can discover all its fabulous treasures.

CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!

MY GIVEAWAY and RULES:

From the list of books below 2 winners will be able to choose as many books as I can get to fit into one of these boxes.

This will be limited to U.S. only - I am sorry that I don't have the funds to ship a box of books like this elsewhere. This giveaway will end tonight - April 30th - at midnight CST.

All you have to do to enter is ~~tell me how wonderful I am~~ leave a comment WITH your email address. You don't even have to follow me - but if you already do, or decide to - leave me another comment and you can have another entry. That's it! Easy!

To keep you rolling along - there are a few blogs listed below - each blog should give you some links to continue on - but if you should get lost, overwhelmed, kidnapped by pygmies, or have to stop to feed the kids - just check back here to pick up another link and get rolling again.

(Blog- 1 – HOST OF BLOGMANIA) Between The Pages
(Blog -2 – CO-HOST OF BLOGMANIA) The Black Sheep Dances
(Blog-43 - CO-HOST OF BLOGMANIA) Books, Books Everywhere
(Blog-101) Sarah's Blog of Fun
(Blog -89) Crush
(Blog-15) Survey Junkie
(Blog-44) The Neverending Shelf
(Blog-17) Tairon’s Image
(Blog-115) The Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network
(Blog-24) Shelley’s Swag

Now - for the list of books! (I may add more before the contest is over. . .)

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Everybody Needs a Piece of Pi

Shared by Kristi

Math you say? But this is mainly a book blog. Well, I hate to tell you - but math was my absolute favorite class in school - hands down. So I feel privileged to share this post with you from Jamie Buchan - the author of Easy as Pi: The Countless Ways We Use Numbers Every Day.

Brushing Up on Math is Easy as Pi

By Jamie Buchan,

"World War II? I don't know much about it. You've lost me. I'm sorry, I was always terrible at history. I just don't have the brain for it!"

Few people would willingly admit to this level of ignorance about key events that shaped the world. But when it comes to math -- which shapes not only the world but the entire universe -- many otherwise highly intelligent and educated people will happily proclaim ignorance. In many cases, there's the implication that math is boring and difficult -- the exclusive domain of the severely geeky.

This may seem merely frustrating for mathematicians and scientists in social settings, but it has serious and wide-ranging consequences. On an everyday level, a lack of confidence about math makes it hard to split a bill, work on a spreadsheet, or help a child with homework (and this can easily become a vicious circle, since anxiety about math can be passed on to the next generation).

If you feel like you're math averse, be not afraid: the book Easy as Pi can help. Math itself is based on a limited number of very logical rules and, whether we like it or not, it surrounds us in everything we do. As Pythagoras (the guy behind the famous Theorem) remarked: "Number is the ruler of forms and ideas, and the cause of gods and demons." The head of a sunflower has evolved with mathematical precision into a double-spiral pattern that packs the most seeds into the smallest available space. The computer on which you're reading this, and every electronic device -- from cheap digital watches counting seconds and minutes to NASA's Columbia supercomputer, which simulates the collisions of entire galaxies -- is powered by a vastly complex system of ones and zeros, which only works at all because they can be interpreted mathematically.

Just like our explorations of science, humanity's understanding of math has advanced amazingly since we were counting how many mammoth hides it takes to wallpaper a cave. The concept of zero -- a number representing nothing -- is taken for granted today (apart from anything else, how could all that electronics work otherwise?). However, for centuries it was a thorny philosophical and mathematical question. Roman numerals stopped being used in Europe when medieval Italians learned the zero from the Arabs, who in turn had picked it up from India. The ancient Greeks gave us much of our understanding of geometry, and the Romans put it into practice with structural engineering. We've come a long way. The Pirahã tribe, a few hundred people living in a remote area of Brazil, reminds us just how far -- with almost no contact with outside cultures, their math is limited to counting "one, two, many."

Numbers have also slipped into our language and culture in various ways -- the third degree, the fourth estate, and fifth columnists spring to mind. And have you ever been asked to "deep six" something? Intelligence agencies use "numbers stations" -- radio stations broadcasting strings of numbers -- to communicate in code with spies in other countries. And they've gained a cult following of fascinated civilian listeners. The controversial conviction of the Cuban Five came after FBI agents found a decryption program for a Cuban numbers station on their computers.

The influence of numbers in our everyday life also seeps into our superstitions. The number 666 -- still feared by many people as the "number of the beast" -- is believed to be based on gematria, a form of numerically encoding Hebrew words, which is also at the root of claims about a "Bible code." Math anxiety and ignorance allows people who practice numerology and astrology to make a lot of money by claiming to imbue numbers with a spiritual and cosmic significance. Not only is this completely unproven, it masks the far greater beauty of a mathematically ordered universe.

To sum it all up, math and numbers are everywhere, and they are embedded in our lives in every respect. Anxiety about them is really worth trying to overcome. The benefits they bring us are countless.

© 2010 Jamie Buchan, author of Easy as Pi: The Countless Ways We Use Numbers Every Day

Author Bio

Jamie Buchan was educated at Westminster School and is completing a Master of Arts degree in Architectural Studies at the University of Edinburgh. Many of his family members are involved in books: his great-grandfather John Buchan is the prolific novelist famous for The Thirty-Nine Steps; his grandfather D.J. Enright is a well-known Movement poet; and his uncle James Buchan is an award-winning novelist and historical writer. Both of his parents work in publishing.

For more information, please visit http://www.rdtradepublishing.com/ .

How Do You Tuck in a Superhero? by Rachel Balducci - Blog Tour and Book Review

Shared by Kristi

Title: How Do You Tuck in a Superhero?
Author: Rachel Balducci
Publisher: Baker (Revell)

Synopsis: When Rachel Balducci looks for material for her writing, she doesn't have to look far. Her subject matter can be found climbing through the window, hanging on to the edge of the roof, and rummaging through the refrigerator. Here she chronicles the exuberant, awesome life of boys through bizarre conversations overheard, unbelievable rules she's been forced to make, and the many episodes of boy behavior that continue to mystify mothers worldwide. From the care and feeding of her team, to travels out in public, to their wide-eyed adoration of Chuck Norris, this laugh-out-loud celebration joyfully explores the sweetly wild side of boyhood.

My thoughts: What a entertaining book this was! Rachel's love for her family and her boys shines through in every story that she tells, from the list of things she never thought she would say (What do you mean you accidentally kicked your brother in the lip?) to the list of rules posted in her kitchen. I like her list of "unpublished" rules that she adds to daily - like "no beating the tops of trucks with bats".

Rather than curb her boys' zest for life, she embraces it - embraces the fact that they are boys and that God made them with their own personalities - even though she sometimes thinks they are clones of her husband. Having only one boy myself (the 2 teen girls bring enough drama!) I could relate - just not on the level that she deals with. My boy is definitely different that my girls, but from the sounds of Rachel's life - mine would definitely fit right in.

I would recommend this book to anyone raising sons, grandsons, nephews - or anyone who wants to commiserate with mom's who do.

Available April 2010 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

~I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my review.~

How Do You Tuck in a Superhero?
Publisher/Publication Date: Revell, Apr 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8007-3372-8
203 pages

Waiting on Wednesday: Frankenstein: Lost Souls

Shared by Kristi

This week's pre-publication "can't-wait-to-read" selection is:

Frankenstein: lost souls

by Dean Koontz

Publication Date: June 15, 2010

#1 New York Times bestselling author Dean Koontz brings his fertile imagination and unparalleled storytelling abilities to one of the most timeless—and terrifying—creations in all of fiction: the legend of Frankenstein.

In Lost Souls, Koontz puts a singular twist on this classic tale of ambition and science gone wrong, and forges a new legend uniquely suited to our times—a story of revenge, redemption, and the razor thin line that separates humanity from inhumanity as we consider a new invitation to apocalypse.

The work of creation has begun again. Only now things will be different. Victor Leben, once Frankenstein, has not only seen the future—he’s ready to populate it. Using stem cells, “organic” silicon circuitry, and nanotechnology, he will engender a race of superhumans—the perfect melding of flesh and machine. With a powerful, enigmatic backer eager to see his dream come to fruition and a secret location where the enemies of progress can’t find him, Victor is certain that this time nothing and no one can stop him.

It is up to five people to prove him wrong. In their hands rests nothing less than the survival of humanity itself. They are drawn together in different ways, by omens sinister and wondrous, to the same shattering conclusion: Two years after they saw him die, the man they knew as Victor Helios lives on. Detectives Carson O’Connor and Michael Maddison, Victor’s engineered wife, Erika 5 and her companion Jocko, and the original Victor’s first creation, the tormented Deucalion, have all arrived at a small Montana town where their old alliance will be renewed, as well astested, by forces from within and without, and where the dangers they face will eclipse any they have yet encountered. Yet in the midst of their peril, love will blossom, and joy, and they will discover sources of strength and perseverance they have not imagined.

They will need all these resources, and more. For a monumental battle is about to commence that will require all their ingenuity and courage, as it defines what we are to be . . . and if we are to be at all. (synopsis from Barnes and Noble)

Waiting on Wednesdays is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

What are you waiting for?

Frankenstein: lost souls

Publisher/Publication Date: Random House, June 15, 2010

ISBN: 9780553808018

368 pages