Nonfiction
A Family of Readers
Just finished reading an academic book that I read sections for a course for my Master's degree. Now that I have read the whole book it is a series of articles written by Roger Sutton and Martha V. Parravano, who are editors for 'The Horn Book Magazine'. This is a book that covers children's literature from baby books to young adult books. The pages shaded in gray throughout the book are lists of books for brief synopses of each book for each level of the reader's development. To me the main premise of this academic book is to get children, youth and teens to read books of all kinds and maybe talk about them with other adults.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
The Diary of Clotee, A Slave Girl
Just finished reading a youth book that is entitled 'Dear America A Picture of Freedom- The Diary of Clotee, A Slave Girl. This is the story of a slave girl who learned to read and write while doing her job as a fanner (someone who had a big fan and waved over a person to keep that person cool) living at the Belmont Plantation in the state of Virginia 1859. Clotee had her Aunt Tee and Uncle Heb and a few friends that helped pass the days till freedom came while doing all the Big House chores and just being safe right before the War Between the States. At the end of the book there is a recipe for Sweet Potato Pie, a song 'Go Down Moses' and a few other notes.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
The Art of Unit Testing
'The Art of Unit Testing' written by Roy Osherove and Vladimir Khorikov is a computer book that teaches how to write and use unit testing in forming many kinds of programs and codes to see what passes and/or fails in various programs created. The code chunks were easy to understand and learn from for Roy and Vladimir are writers that teach their subject. You will learn all about stubs and mocks and how they can work together. The main computer language he based this book on was Jest. I reviewed this book as it was being written and I re-read it now and I learned even more.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
Geometry for Programmers
Here is another computer book that I reviewed for manning.com. This one is entitled 'Geometry for Programmers' written by Oleksandr Kaleniuk. So, who remembers their geometry course from high school? To be honest I was a business studies student in high school and did not take geometry, but I do remember other students complaining and it seemed a lot about this course. This book will give a very basic review of the basic and how it fits in with computer programming. The code is easy to understand the author teaches as he writes. There are many mini summaries throughout the chapters as well as at the end each chapter for even better understanding of the subject covered. I am thinking about trying to draw some of the illustrations as artwork that is what to me geometry is all about shapes in many contours and the vocabulary was another way that I may share some ideas, as in Spline.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
Statistics Slam Dunk
Here is a computer book entitled 'Statistics Slam Dunk' written by Gary Sutton. This is a computer book that teaches as you read. The basic premise is to teach you basic statistics through all the facets of pro basketball. To me it was a fun way to learn what could be a boring subject. The reader will learn many statistical tests for the simple t-test to Cohen's D. The code is also easy to read and understand for the author explains it after it is presented. This is also a book I reviewed for manning.com.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
Dr. Spock
Believe it or not as an early childhood educator and even a licensed practical nurse I have never read 'Dr. Spock's Baby and Child Care' book from beginning to end. Guess what I did just that and I found out that I actually did follow the rules that he set for several development stages of growth and development. This is a book that Dr. Spock wrote with another doctor Michael B. Rothenberg, MD. This is a book that starts out describing the parents then working through what is needed for a new baby as well as basic baby and childcare skills like bathing, feeding and dressing, etc. The book also cover the time of life known as adolescence, why schools are important. There are sections dealing with childhood diseases, medications, first aid and CPR and finishing up with various special topics. The illustrations were pencil sketches, but they were kind of cute in a way. Even though some of the ideas may seem far-fetched and outdated who knew that they still worked.
By Mark Graham2 years ago in Critique
Reimagining Geopolitical Landscape: A More Gendered Approach . AI-Generated.
In her book Bananas, Beaches and Bases, Cynthia Enloe suggests, "If you study war, you can't avoid studying women." Similarly, if one studies broader geopolitical aspects, the role of women cannot be ignored.
By Shreshtha Gupta2 years ago in Critique
