#author: robert r. mccammon

[haveyoureadthispoll]

It’s 1964 in idyllic Zephyr, Alabama. People either work for the paper mill up the Tecumseh River, or for the local dairy. It’s a simple life, but it stirs the impressionable imagination of twelve-year-old aspiring writer Cory Mackenson. He’s certain he’s sensed spirits whispering in the churchyard. He’s heard of the weird bootleggers who lurk in the dark outside of town. He’s seen a flood leave Main Street crawling with snakes. Cory thrills to all of it as only a young boy can.   Then one morning, while accompanying his father on his milk route, he sees a car careen off the road and slowly sink into fathomless Saxon’s Lake. His father dives into the icy water to rescue the driver, and finds a beaten corpse, naked and handcuffed to the steering wheel—a copper wire tightened around the stranger’s neck. In time, the townsfolk seem to forget all about the unsolved murder. But Cory and his father can’t.   Their search for the truth is a journey into a world where innocence and evil collide. What lies before them is the stuff of fear and awe, magic and madness, fantasy and reality. As Cory wades into the deep end of Zephyr and all its mysteries, he’ll discover that while the pleasures of childish things fade away, growing up can be a strange and beautiful ride.

[zippocreed501]

AUTHOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

'I don't believe there can be any bad taste in creating a scene, only bad writing in handling it.'

'Many times you will fail. That is the nature of the world, and the truth of life. But when you find your horse again, will you go back or will you go forward?'

'There is nothing more frightening or exciting than a blank piece of paper. Frightening because you're on your own, leaving dark tracks across that snowy plain, and exciting because no one knows your destination but yourself, and even you can't say exactly where you'll end up.'

Author Extraordinaire Robert R McCammon

[llbbl]

Book Recommendations for Fans of the Fallout Series

If you like the Fallout series here are some book recommendations.

”A Canticle for Leibowitz" by Walter M. Miller Jr. - Set in a post-apocalyptic world, this novel follows a Catholic monastery’s efforts to preserve knowledge after a nuclear war.

“The Road” by Cormac McCarthy - This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel tells the story of a father and son’s journey through a post-apocalyptic America.

“Swan Song” by Robert R. McCammon—This novel follows various survivors in post-nuclear war America, including a young girl with mysterious abilities.

“Wool” by Hugh Howey - This dystopian novel is set in a future where the remnants of humanity live in underground silos following an apocalyptic event.

“The Postman” by David Brin—In a post-apocalyptic America, a man takes on the role of a postal worker and helps rebuild civilization. The novel was also adapted into a film starring Kevin Costner.

“Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse,” edited by John Joseph Adams, is an anthology of post-apocalyptic short stories by various authors.

“The Chrysalids” by John Wyndham - Set in a post-nuclear world, this novel explores mutation, intolerance, and survival themes.

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 7.17

Beer Birthdays

James Pawley Dawes (1843)

Anthony Straub (1882)

Joshua Bernstein (1978)

Five Favorite Birthdays

James Cagney; actor (1899)

Erle Stanley Gardner; writer (1889)

Vince Guaraldi; jazz pianist (1928)

Peter Schickele; music comedian, composer (1935)

Donald Sutherland; actor (1934)

Famous Birthdays

Berenice Abbott; photographer (1898)

Shmuel Yosef Agnon; Ukrainian-Israeli writer (1888)

Ron Asheton; guitarist and songwriter (1948)

John Jacob Astor; zillionaire (1763)

Lou Barlow; guitarist and songwriter (1966)

George Barnes; guitarist and songwriter (1921)

Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten; German philosopher (1714)

Luc Bondy; Swiss film director (1948)

Tim Brooke-Taylor; English comedian (1940)

Mark Burnett; television producer (1960)

Geezer Butler; English bass player (1949)

Diahann Carroll; actor (1935)

Niccolò Castiglioni; Italian composer (1932)

Elizabeth Cook; singer and guitarist (1972)

John Cooper; English car designer (1923)

Chris Crutcher; writer (1946)

Spencer Davis; rock musician (1942)

Paul Delaroche; French painter (1797)

Phyllis Diller; comedian (1917)

Cory Doctorow, Canadian author (1971)

Lyonel Feininger;, German-American painter (1871)

Lionel Ferbos; trumpeter (1911)

Wolfgang Flür; German musician (1947)

Wendy Freedman; Canadian-American cosmologist and astronomer (1957)

Elbridge Gerry; politician (1744)

Sergei K. Godunov; Russian mathematician (1929)

Gordon Gould; laser inventor (1920)

David Hasselhoff; actor (1952)

Hermann Huppen; Belgian author and illustrator (1938)

Bruno Jasieński; Polish poet and author (1901)

Scott Johnson; cartoonist (1969)

Darryl Lamonica; Oakland Raiders QB (1941)

Nicolette Larson; singer-songwriter (1952)

Thé Lau; Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist (1952)

Georges Lemaître; Belgian priest, astronomer, and cosmologist (1894)

Art Linkletter; humorist (1912)

Pierre Louis Maupertuis; French mathematician and philosopher (1698)

Robert R. McCammon; author (1952)

Angela Merkel; German chemist and politician (1954)

Craig Morgan; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1965)

Luis Munoz-Rivera; Puerto Rican patriot, poet (1859)

Frank Olson; chemist and microbiologist (1910)

Barbara O'Neil; actor (1910)

Mary Osborne; guitarist (1921)

Quino Spanish-Argentinian cartoonist (1932)

Christiane Rochefort; French author (1917)

Jason Rullo; rock drummer (1972)

Jimmy Scott; jazz singer (1925)

Ephraim Shay, American engineer (1839)

Phoebe Snow; singer (1952)

P.J. Soles; actor (1950)

Red Sovine; country singer (1917)

Christina Stead; Australian author (1902)

J. Michael Straczynski; writer (1954)

Mick Tucker; English rock drummer (1947)

Isaac Watts; English hymnwriter (1674)

Alex Winter; actor (1965)

[thehorrortree]

Submission Window: December 1st, 2023 - January 31st, 2024 Payment: $25 and a contributor's copy Theme: Horror/suspense stories that take place in swamps, bayous, and marshlands The Cellar Door - Issue #5: Marshland Horrors Compiled & Edited by Aric Sundquist Short Story Submission Call: Dec 1, 2023 - Jan 31, 2024 The Cellar Door is a biannual anthology of dark fiction. Each issue will contain 8 to 12 stories based around a specific theme and will include a brand new story from a featured author. The majority of the anthology will be filled from the open submissions. Title: The Cellar Door - Issue #5: Marshland Horrors Theme: Looking for horror/suspense stories that take place in swamps, bayous, and marshlands. Special preference for stories with backwater cults/legends, cryptid monsters, and other slimy creatures lurking just below the water. Type: Creature feature, serial killer, undead/zombies, voodoo/witchcraft, suspense/thriller, cosmic horror. Word Count: 2,000 - 10,000 words. Payment: $25.00 + digital & paperback copy. Featured Author: Scotty Milder Accepted Authors (so far): Cover Art: Mikio Murakami Rights: We are seeking first time rights for 1 year after publication. After that time all rights revert back to the author. The publication will appear in both print and digital formats. Reprints: None. Previously unpublished only. Multiple Submissions: None. Simultaneous Submissions: Yes, but state in your email that it is a simultaneous submission, and please email us immediately if the story is sold elsewhere. Also, be sure to follow the Manuscript Format guidelines below when submitting. File Format: Include your story as an attachment in MS Word, LibreOffice, or Rich Text Format. Manuscript Format: Use the Modern Shunn Format. Include a short bio in the body of your email. Your subject line should read, MH Submission: ("Title") by (Author's Name). For Example, MH Submission: "The Raft" by Stephen King. Attach the story as a separate document. Response Time: 4 weeks after submissions close, if not sooner. Submission Period: Dec 1, 2023 to Jan 31, 2024. Send Submissions to: darkpenpress (at) gmail (dot) com Back to Main Submissions Page: Influential Movies/TV: The Serpent and the Rainbow, Pumpkinhead, Annihilation, Hatchet, The Skeleton Key, Rogue (2007), The Beyond, A House on the Bayou, True Detective (Season 1) Influential writings/series: Man-Thing (Marvel comic series), Swamp Thing (DC comic series), The Call of Cthulhu by HP Lovecraft, Gone South by Robert R. McCammon, Seed by Ania Ahlborn Note on 9-17-23: To get a good sense of what I'm looking for, read the free short story "The Bird is the Werd" by Xariffa Suarez, appearing in Negative Space 2. Good luck! A.S. Via: Dark Peninsula Press.

[rachelkolar]

2022 wasn't as killer a year for books as 2021, but I don't know how it could be; 2021 was my introduction to Clive Barker, Livia Llewellyn, and especially the Kushiel books, which made me wail "Where have you been?!" like Molly Grue. I still had no trouble putting together my top ten first-time reads and a couple of honorable mentions. There are so many good books, y’all!

Alphabetical by author:

Watership Down by Richard Adams, read by Peter Capaldi. This was technically a reread, but it didn't click for me at all when I read it in eighth grade. Boy howdy, it clicked this time. It's a classic for a reason, and Capaldi nails the narration.

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. This is the only time I ever finished a book, flipped back to the beginning, and immediately read it again. I was crying at the end without quite knowing why. Just gorgeous and moving and wonderful.

Die by Kieron Gillen. Basically a hard R graphic novel of the 80s Dungeons & Dragons cartoon with some fascinating meditation on TTRPGS in general. It disappears up its own butt a bit, but it's still terrific.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is everything I wanted AI: Artificial Intelligence to be.

Curse of Dracula by Kathryn Ann Kingsley. This is sort of the catch-all for my discovering Kingsley this year; I read *eight* of her books. She's my exact horror romance sweet spot for when I want a bit of creepiness and a lot of swoon. Sometimes you just want Phantom of the Opera where Eric gets the girl, okay? (Although that's more Impossible Julian Strande than Dracula, but how am I supposed to say no to well-done vampire smut?)

Boys Life by Robert McCammon. I did a trivia special about the Stoker Awards in October, so I read a *lot* of Stoker winners this year, and this was the best. Bradbury-like dark fantasy dripping with nostalgia. I cried twice. (CW: a dog and a child die)

The Call by Peadar O'Guilin. I freaking loved this book. Body horror plus the Wild Hunt? Yes please! Also, while this is coming from someone whose only physical disability is terrible eyesight, Nessa is possibly the best disabled character I've ever read. She has polio, and the book is crystal clear on two points: this *doesn't* mean the Wild Hunt is going to kill her immediately, but it's *horrible* for her chances. We never get any "if she works hard, then by cracky, she may as well not be disabled at all!", but it's always clear that she has a chance and anyone who says otherwise can kiss off.

Kings Rising by C.S. Pacat. When I was on a heavy Thrawn kick last winter, I asked r/romancebooks to recommend a book with a Thrawn-like love interest, and some saint mentioned this. Laurent isn't quite Thrawn–imagine Thrawn's angry teenage brother–but whew, he's close enough. The whole trilogy is good, but the power dynamics are so delicious in the third one that it wins the day. (CW: the first book has noncon, and there's repeated mention of childhood sexual abuse, although none on screen. The villain is into that sort of thing.)

Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse. Black Sun was one of my favorite reads of 2020, and this is a worthy sequel. It even made me like Naranpa!

The Hidden Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab. Just…gorgeous. I loved this one.

Honorable mentions: Starless by Jacqueline Carey (speaking of great disabled characters), Prairie Fires by Caroline Fraser (the true story of Little House on the Prairie), NPCs by Drew Hayes (just a blast), Pride and Protest by Nikki Payne (a fun, spicy modernization that had me laughing out loud), and Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare (a gory romp that dares to ask: what if there were a clown in a cornfield?).

[calidebs]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Swan Song Robert McCammon Pocket Books Paperback 1st 1987 Dystopian Horr….

[gbhbl]

Horror Book Review: Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon

Swan Song is a post apocalyptic horror novel by American author, Robert R. McCammon, that was published on June 1, 1987. Swan Song is a work of post-apocalyptic fiction describing the aftermath of a nuclear war that provokes an evolution and devolution in humankind. Swan Song won the 1987 Bram Stoker award, tying with Stephen King‘s Misery for 1st place and getting the Robert R. McCammon name on…

[onebluebookworm]

April 2022 Book Club Picks

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness: The monster came in the night, as they often do. After Connor had the dream again - the same dream he’s had ever since his mother got sick - there was the monster, staring at him through his bedroom window. Ancient, wild, and powerful, the monster will not leave Connor be until he has heard three important stories about other times when the monster has come walking. And when it is done telling its stories, it expects something from Connor as well - the truth. Warning: this book will make you sob like a baby.

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones: As the eldest child, Sophie Hatter is pretty well doomed to a life of unrealized dreams, working in her father’s hat shop. But one day, Sophie says exactly the wrong thing to the petty and jealous Witch of the Waste, who curses her to take the form a decrepit old woman. Unable to tell anyone about it and desperate for a cure, Sophie seeks out the vain and reclusive Wizard Howl, who lives in magical moving castle that roams the countryside, looking for beautiful young maidens to devour. But when she finally meets Howl himself, she discovers that not everything is as it seems in his fabulous moving castle, not even Howl himself.

Ain’t Burned All the Bright by Jason Reynolds and Jason Griffin: It was 2020, the year where everything seemed to be burning. Riots, death, and uncertainty were everywhere, and Jason Reynolds and his best friend, Jason Griffins, could only hole up in their homes and watch the flames. And from this time of pain and fear came about ten sentences and three hundred pages of art that became this book, following a young man at home, with his family, musing on the chaos around him and the nature of oxygen, in all its meanings.

Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire: Eleanor West tries to provide a home for all the wayward children of the world - children who went on magical adventures in realms that shouldn’t exist, only to find themselves back in their world of origin, usually through no fault of their own. But sometimes she’s not fast enough, or convincing enough, or sometimes, perhaps, the wayward child in question doesn’t want to cope. Rather, they’d like to forget. That’s where the Whitethron Institute comes in, with the mission to help its charges forget their fantastic journeys and live in the real world. But when Cora transfers there out of desperation, she realizes that there’s something far more sinister about Whitethorn, and that it’s doing far more harm than good.

Usher’s Passing by Robert R. McCammon: The Usher family didn’t die out when their lodge sank into the muck. That was just a grotesque story conjured up by that drunken reprobate Poe. The Ushers live on, filthy rich from a fortune in armaments, safely sequestered on their sprawling estate Usherland. All except Rix, the youngest son of Walen Usher, struggling horror author, and vehement anti-war protester. But all that changes when Rix is summoned home to witness his father’s final days and learn who will inherit the vast fortune, the company, and control of the estate. As the days go by, Walen grows sicker, and stranger and stranger things begin to happen around the house. Rix sees lights in the dense forest. He hears stories of local children going missing. And, as he digs deeper into his family history, he realizes that this all may be tied to the mysterious lion’s-head cane that’s been passed down through his family for generations. After all, an Usher can’t survive away from Usherland...

[foreverlostinliterature]

6/17 Book Deals

Hello all and good morning! It’s already Wednesday, so we’re almost halfway through the week. :) I’m finally back to share some books on sale, and it looks like a pretty nice selection today so be sure to have a look if you’re low on reading material! My library still has not reopened even for a curbside situation, so I’m bummed about that, haha, but I understand. Also, sorry for disappearing after my post on Saturday--I still plan to respond to everyone, I just had to take a step back from things for a little while to calm myself and whatnot.

Anyway, I hope you’re all having a wonderful week--happy reading!

Here is the link to find resources on how you can help out with the BLM movement, whether by donating, educating, etc.! Keep the momentum going!

Today’s Deals:

Wilder Girls by Rory Power - https://amzn.to/3fySAz4

The Physician by Noah Gordon - https://amzn.to/2BliBTp

Boy's Life by Robert R. McCammon - https://amzn.to/2BecKPS

Literary Rogues: A Scandalous History of Wayward Authors by Andrew Shaffer - https://amzn.to/3hIXtrh

The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley -  https://amzn.to/30X8bo5

The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E.B. Hudspeth - https://amzn.to/3hC6lik

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron - https://amzn.to/2YEQ03A

The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen - https://amzn.to/3hC73w0

Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore - https://amzn.to/2NjaPMV

Thorn by Initisar Khanani - https://amzn.to/3hByUfI

This Book is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell, Aurelia Durand (illustrator) - https://amzn.to/2N8hdGE

Sex with the Queen by Eleanor Herman - https://amzn.to/2Y7PR9S

A Column of Fire by Ken Follett - https://amzn.to/3dcijLS

Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon by Jeffrey Kluger - https://amzn.to/3deJA09 

When You Disappeared by John Marrs - https://amzn.to/3hEMXAW

NOTE:  I am categorizing these book deals posts under the tag #bookdeals, so if you don’t want to see them then just block that tag and you should be good. I am an Amazon affiliate in addition to a Book Depository affiliate and will receive a small (but very much needed!)  commission on any purchase made through these links.

[mightystargazer]

Readinglist 2020

Another year gone, another (audio)booklist completed! Not as many as past years, but that´s because I watched a lot of series instead.

Here goes!

Stephen Leather The House on Gable Street

Scott Sigler Pandemic

Jennifer McMahon The Invited

Robert R. McCammon Swan Song

Peter James The House on Cold Hill

Michael McBride Subterrestrial

Karl Beecher Interstellar Caveman

Flint Maxwell Dead Haven

Flint Maxwell Dead Hope

Flint Maxwell Dead Nation

Flint Maxwell Dead Coast

Flint Maxwell Dead End

Andrzej Sapkowski The Last Wish

Andrzej Sapkowski Season of Storms

Andrzej Sapkowski Sword of Destiny

Andrzej Sapkowski Blood of Elves

Andrzej Sapkowski Time of Contempt

Andrzej Sapkowski Baptism of Fire

Andrzej Sapkowski The Tower of the Swallow

Andrzej Sapkowski Lady of the Lake

Nicholas Sansbury Smith Extinction Ashes

Jonathan Maberry Rage

T.W. Piperbrook The Reckoning

T.W. Piperbrook The Change

Jeremy Robinson Infinite

Bobby Akart The Shift

Bobby Akart The Pulse

Bobby Akart The Collapse

Chuck Dixon Blooded

Eoin Colfer Highfire

India Hill Brown The Forgotten Girl

Jeff Strand Cyclops Road

Kevin Hearne First Dangle and Other Stories

Douglas Preston Gideon’s Sword

Douglas Preston Gideon’s Corpse

Douglas Preston The Lost Island

Douglas Preston Beyond the Ice Limit

Douglas Preston The Ice Limit

Douglas Preston The Pharaoh Key

Adrienne Lecter Uprising

Adrienne Lecter Retribution

David Morrell Creepers

David Morrell Scavenger

Greig Beck The Void

Greig Beck From Hell

Peter Clines Terminus

James Herbert Moon

Damian Dibben Tomorrow

Dean Koontz Ricochet Joe

Jack Hunt As We Fall

James Herbert The Dark

Jeremy Robinson Tribe

Michael McBride Subhuman

Michael McBride Forsaken

Mark Tufo Asabron

Dean Koontz 77 Shadow Street

George Hill Uprising USA

J R Grey Supervillainy and Other Poor Career Choices

Simone St. James The Sun Down Motel

Mike Evans Origins

Mike Evans Surviving the Turned

Mike Evans Strangers

Mike Evans White Lie

Mike Evans Civil War

Mike Evans Divided

Mike Evans Flight

Keith C. Blackmore Make Me King, Mountain Man

Dean Koontz Darkness Under the Sun

Craig DiLouie One Of Us

Mira Grant Alien Echo

Ambrose Ibsen The Splendor of Fear

Daniel Kraus Bent Heavens

Dean Koontz Watchers

Jack Townsend Tales from the Gas Station 2

Jeff Strand Dead Clown Barbecue

Patrick F. McManus Strange Encounters of the Bird Kind

Scott Cawthon The Silver Eyes

Scott Cawthon The Twisted Ones

Scott Cawthon The Fourth Closet

Eoin Colfer The Fowl Twins

Richard Laymon The Traveling Vampire Show

Peter Meredith The Queen Unthroned

Peter Meredith The Queen Enslaved

Peter Meredith The Queen Unchained

Luke Duffy When There's No More Room in Hell

Larry Levin Oogy

Joseph  Duncan The Oldest Living Vampire

Joseph  Duncan The Oldest Living Vampire on the Prowl

Jeff Strand Sick House

Douglas Adams Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency

Patrick F. McManus Mosquito Bay

Clive Barker Mister B Gone

Jeremy Robinson Tether

James Herbert The Survivor

Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child Thunderhead

Darcy Coates The Carrow Haunt

Adam Nevill The Ritual

Ben Kissel The Last Book on the Left

Craig Robertson The Galaxy According to Giddeon

Kc Wayland We're Alive season 1

Kc Wayland We're Alive season 2

Kc Wayland We're Alive season 3

Kc Wayland We're Alive season 4

Stephen King If It Bleeds

Patric F McManus Scritch's Creek

Luke Duffy The Dead Walk

Jeff VanderMeer Annihilation

Jeff VanderMeer Authority

Jeff VanderMeer Acceptance

Adrian Tchaikovsky The Expert System's Brother

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Days

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Lies

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Hearts

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Games

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Places

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Reapers

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Rites

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Witches

Amanda M. Lee Freaky Fangs

André Alexis Fifteen Dogs

Cherie Priest The Family Plot

Danielle Trussoni The Ancestor

Michael McBride Burial Ground

Mary Roach Stiff

Dean Koontz Devoted

Grady Hendrix The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires

James Herbert The Jonah

Mark Tufo Bitfrost

Robert Bevan 7d6

Scott Carson The Chill

Ambrose Ibsen Beyond

Creepypasta Creepypasta storytime

Darcy Coates Craven Manor

Greg F. Gifune Children of Chaos

Joe Hill Full Throttle

Jonathan Janz Exorcist Falls

Linda S. Godfrey Monsters Among Us

Michael Bray Something in the Dark

Terry Pratchett The Colour of Magic

Terry Pratchett Light Fantastic

Terry Pratchett Equal Rites

Terry Pratchett Mort

Terry Pratchett Sourcery

Terry Pratchett Wyrd Sisters

Terry Pratchett Pyramids

Terry Pratchett Guards Guards

Terry Pratchett Eric

Terry Pratchett Moving Pictures

Terry Pratchett Reaper Man

Terry Pratchett Witches Abroad

Terry Pratchett Small Gods

Terry Pratchett Lords and Ladies

Terry Pratchett Men at Arms

Terry Pratchett Soul Music

Terry Pratchett Intreresting Times

Dean Koontz Breathless

Terry Pratchett Maskerade

Terry Pratchett Feet of Clay

Terry Pratchett Hogfather

Terry Pratchett Jingo

Terry Pratchett The Last Continent

Dean Koontz By the Light Of the Moon

Terry Pratchett Carpe Jugulum

Terry Pratchett The Fifth Elephant

Terry Pratchett The Truth

Terry Pratchett Thief of Time

Terry Pratchett The Last Hero

Dean Koontz After the Last Race

Adrienne Lecter Green Fields Book 12

Dean Koontz Chase

Terry Pratchett The Amazing Maurice

Terry Pratchett Night Watch

Terry Pratchett The Wee Free Men

Terry Pratchett Monstrous Regiment

Terry Pratchett A Hat Full of Sky

Terry Pratchett Going Postal

Terry Pratchett Thud

Terry Pratchett Wintersmith

Terry Pratchett Making Money

Terry Pratchett Unseen Academicals

Terry Pratchett I Shall Wear Midnight

Terry Pratchett Snuff

Terry Pratchett Raising Steam

Terry Pratchett The Shepherds Crown

Dean Koontz Shattered

Terry Pratchett Mrs Bradshaws Handbook

Terry Pratchett The Folklore of Discworld

Terry Pratchett The Science of Discworld I

Terry Pratchett The Science of Discworld II

Terry Pratchett The Science of Discworld III

Terry Pratchett The Science of Discworld IV

Dean Koontz Darkfall

Mark Tufo Hvergelmir

Stephen R. George Nightscape

Alan Dean Foster To the Vanishing Point

Barry J. Hutchison A Lot of Weird Space Shizz

Drew Hayes The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales

Drew Hayes Undeath and Taxes

Drew Hayes Bloody Acquisitions

Drew Hayes The Fangs of Freelance Fred

Drew Hayes Deadly Assessments

Drew Hayes Undeasding Bells Fred

Guillermo del Toro Blackwood Tapes 01

Mark Tufo The Bleed

David Haynes Dead Crow

Alex North The Shadows

Adam Nevill Apartment 16

David Gerrold Hella

DC Alden UFO Down

Rachel Aukes 100 Days in Deadland

Rachel Aukes Deadland's Harvest

Rachel Aukes Deadland Rising

Dean Koontz Nightmare Journey

Mark Tufo The Trembling Path

Drew Hayes Underqualified Advice

Tim Lebbon Eden

Eden

Jeff Strand Wolf Hunt 1

Jeff Strand Wolf Hunt 2

Jeff Strand Wolf Hunt 3

L.G. Estrella Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Army of Golems

Rick Gualtieri Strange Days

Rick Gualtieri Everyday Horrors

Jeff VanderMeer A Peculiar Peril

Dean Koontz The Taking

John Connolly A Book of Bones

John Connolly The Dirty South

Neil Gaiman The Sandman

Greig Beck The Siberian Incident

Robert A. Heinlein Between Planets

TW Brown Zomblog

TW Brown Zomblog II

TW Brown The Final Entry

TW Brown Snoe

TW Brown Snoe's War

TW Brown Snoe's Journey

Adam Nevill The Reddening

Dean Koontz The Darkest Evening Of The Year

Bernard Taylor The Godsend

Carole Stivers The Mother Code

Spencer Quinn A Cat was Involved

Spencer Quinn Tail of Vengeance

Spencer Quinn Dog on It

Spencer Quinn Thereby Hangs a Tail

Spencer Quinn To Fetch a Thief

Spencer Quinn The Dog Who Knew Too Much

Spencer Quinn A Fistful of Collars

Spencer Quinn The Iggy Chronicles

Spencer Quinn The Sounds and the Furry

Spencer Quinn Paw and Order

Spencer Quinn Scents and Sensibilty

Spencer Quinn Heart of Barkness

Spencer Quinn Of Mutts and Men

Mark Tufo United States of Apocalypse

Robert Bevan Critical Failures VIII

Jeremy Robert Johnson The Loop

Nathan Hystad Red Creek

Nathan Hystad Return to Red Creek

Tom Abrahams The Scourge

Gary Small M.D The Naked Lady Who Stood on Her Head

Dean Koontz The Voice Of The Night

Mark Tufo The Spirit Clearing

Robert Paolini To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

Orson Scott Card Treasure Box

Ted Dekker House

Darcy Coates Hunted

Dean Koontz The Vision

Mark Tufo Encounters

Mark Tufo Reckoning

Mark Tufo Conquest

Mark Tufo From the Ashes

Mark Tufo Into the Fire

Mark Tufo Victory's Defeat

Mark Tufo Defeat's Victory

Brandon Sanderson The Original

Dean Koontz Elsewhere

Mike Baron Florida Man

Keith C Blackmore The Majestic 311

L.G. Estrella Two Necromancers a Dragon and a Vampire

L.G. Estrella The Hungry Dragon Cookie Company

L.G. Estrella a Dwarf Kingdom and a Sky City

Bobby Adair Zero Day

Bobby Adair Infected

Bobby Adair Destroyer

Bobby Adair Dead Fire

Bobby Adair Torrent

Bobby Adair Bleed

Bobby Adair City of Stin

Bobby Adair Grind

Bobby Adair Sanctum

Darcy Coates Ghost Camera

Susanna Clarke Piranesi

Marc-Uwe Kling QualityLand

Darcy Coates The Folcroft Ghosts

Charles Stross Dead Lies Dreaming

D.M. Siciliano Inside

Jim C. Hines Tamora Carter

Jamie McFarlane Junkyard Pirate

Yudhanjaya Wijeratne The Salvage Crew

Andy Mulvihill Action Park

Darcy Coates The Haunting of Blackwood House

Luke Arnold Dead Man in a Ditch

Iain Reid Foe

Micaiah Johnson The Space Between Worlds

Richard Kadrey Hollywood Dead

Richard Kadrey Ballistic Kiss

Orson Scott Card Lost and Found

Greig Beck To the Center of the Earth

Jenny Lawson Let's Pretend This Never Happened

Jenny Lawson Furiously Happy

Guy Adams Arkham County

James Patterson The Warning

James S. Murray Don't Move

Neal Asher Dark Intelligence

Luke Arnold The Last Smile in Sunder City

Jeff Menapace Dark Halls

Darcy Coates The Haunting of Rookward House

Laurel Hightower Crossroads

Pierce Brown Red Rising

Bobby Adair The Liar

Erik Henry Vick Demon King

Alister Hodge The Cavern

Linda S. Godfrey Monsters Among Us

Aaron Mahnke Dreadful Places

R. R. Haywood A Town Called Discovery

Kate Alice Marshall Rules for Vanishing

Ted Dekker The Girl Behind the Red Rope

Steve Alten Primal Waters

Steve Alten Hell's Aquarium

Steve Alten Nightstalkers

Steve Alten Generations

Adam Savage Every Tool's a Hammer

Darcy Coates Black Winter

Eoin Colfer Deny All Charges

David Moody Isolation

Jonathan Maberry Ink

Stephen Graham Jones The Only Good Indians

Barry J. Hutchison The Hunt for Reduk Topa

Lily Brooks-Dalton Good Morning, Midnight

[thebookbud]

Big book tag 📚

List the 5 biggest books you’ve read & the 5 biggest books you want to read.

Thanks for the tag @therefugeofbooks sorry it took a bit, been busy this month but I’m excited! 

I actually have an excel list of my whole library of owned books with their page counts. All different kinds of editions so I’ll include that too. Sad to say though, my already read books are mostly the same author. I didn’t really read a lot of longer novels until reading some fantasy...

Read: 

1. The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson (Each book is over 1000 pages and I don’t want Sanderson to be all I have on here so I’m skipping the rest of his books, Warbreaker, Elantris, ect. but here’s how long each book is in his longest series) 

The Way of Kings: Kindle, 1007 pg.

Words of Radiance: Kindle 1087 pg.

Oathbringer: Hardcover, 1243 pg. 

2. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch: Mass Market, 722 pg. 

3. The Truth Circle by Cameron Ayers: Kindle, 567

4. Sayville Tales by Lawrence Jay Switzer: BookSirens/Kindle, 545

5. The Haunting of Lannister Hall by Amy Cross: Kindle, 499

To Be Read: Page counts are according to corresponding edition on Amazon

1. Jerusalem by Alan Moore: Paperback, 1280 pg.

2. The Catholic School by Edoardo Albinati: Kindle, 1256 pg.

3. Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon: Kindle, 929 pg. 

4. Deep River by Karl Marlantes: Hardcover 725 pg.

5. House of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski: Trade Paperback, 705 pg.

Yeah, so I don’t read too many long books, I like quick and too the point generally. Sorry. But hey @dropdeadfemme wanna take a shot? And any one else interested of course!

[tachyonpub]

Lavie Tidhar, Peter Watts, Jo Walton, Jane Yolen, and Tachyon itself are all Locus Award finalists

The finalists for the 2018 Locus Awards were announced. Lavie Tidhar’s  UNHOLY LAND, Peter Watts’ THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION, Jo Walton’s STARLINGS (as well as An Informal History of the Hugos), Jane Yolen’s HOW TO FRACTURE A FAIRY TALE (as well as Mapping the Bones), and Tachyon Publications itself all received nominations. Many Tachyon authors, editors, and artists received notice including John Joseph Adams, Ellen Datlow, Daryl Gregory, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Nancy Kress, John Picacio, Alastair Reynolds, Ann & Jeff VanderMeer, Charles Vess, Michael Whelan, and Sheila Williams.

Congratulations to all the finalists.

SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL

Record of a Spaceborn Few, Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager US; Hodder & Stoughton)

The Calculating Stars, Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor)

If Tomorrow Comes, Nancy Kress (Tor)

Revenant Gun, Yoon Ha Lee (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

Blackfish City, Sam J. Miller (Ecco; Orbit UK)

Embers of War, Gareth L. Powell (Titan US; Titan UK)

Elysium Fire, Alastair Reynolds (Gollancz; Orbit US)

Red Moon, Kim Stanley Robinson (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

UNHOLY LAND, Lavie Tidhar (Tachyon)

Space Opera, Catherynne M. Valente (Saga)

FANTASY NOVEL

Lies Sleeping, Ben Aaronovitch (DAW; Gollancz)

Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett (Crown; Jo Fletcher)

The Monster Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson (Tor)

Deep Roots, Ruthanna Emrys (Tor.com Publishing)

Ahab’s Return, Jeffrey Ford (Morrow)

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman, Theodora Goss (Saga)

The Mere Wife, Maria Dahvana Headley (MCD)

The Wonder Engine, T. Kingfisher (Argyll Productions)

Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik (Del Rey; Macmillan)

Creatures of Want and Ruin, Molly Tanzer (John Joseph Adams)

HORROR NOVEL

In the Night Wood, Dale Bailey (John Joseph Adams)

Unlanguage, Michael Cisco (Eraserhead)

We Sold Our Souls, Grady Hendrix (Quirk)

Coyote Songs, Gabino Iglesias (Broken River)

The Hunger, Alma Katsu (Putnam; Bantam Press UK)

The Outsider, Stephen King (Scribner; Hodder & Stoughton)

The Listener, Robert McCammon (Cemetery Dance)

Cross Her Heart, Sarah Pinborough (HarperCollins UK/Morrow)

The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay (Morrow; Titan UK)

Tide of Stone, Kaaron Warren (Omnium Gatherum)

YOUNG ADULT BOOK

The Gone Away Place, Christopher Barzak (Knopf)

The Cruel Prince, Holly Black (Little, Brown; Hot Key)

The Belles, Dhonielle Clayton (Freeform; Gollancz)

Tess of the Road, Rachel Hartman (Random House)

Dread Nation, Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray)

Cross Fire, Fonda Lee (Scholastic)

The Agony House, Cherie Priest & Tara O’Connor (Levine)

Half-Witch, John Schoffstall (Big Mouth House)

Impostors, Scott Westerfeld (Scholastic US; Scholastic UK)

Mapping the Bones, Jane Yolen (Philomel)

FIRST NOVEL

Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt; Macmillan)

Semiosis, Sue Burke (Tor)

Armed in Her Fashion, Kate Heartfield (ChiZine)

The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager US; Harper Voyager UK)

The Quantum Magician, Derek Künsken (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

Annex, Rich Larson (Orbit US)

Severance, Ling Ma (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)

Witchmark, C.L. Polk (Tor.com Publishing)

Trail of Lightning, Rebecca Roanhorse (Saga)

Empire of Sand, Tasha Suri (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

NOVELLA

The Black God’s Drums, P. Djèlí Clark (Tor.com Publishing)

The Tea Master and the Detective, Aliette de Bodard (Subterranean)

“Umbernight“, Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld 2/18)

Black Helicopters, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Tor.com Publishing)

Time Was, Ian McDonald (Tor.com Publishing)

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach, Kelly Robson (Tor.com Publishing)

THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION, Peter Watts (Tachyon)

Artificial Condition, Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)

Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells (Tor.com Publishing)

The Descent of Monsters, JY Yang (Tor.com Publishing)

NOVELETTE

“The Donner Party”, Dale Bailey (F&SF 1–2/18)

“Okay, Glory”, Elizabeth Bear (Twelve Tomorrows)

“No Flight Without the Shatter“, Brooke Bolander (Tor.com 8/15/18)

The Only Harmless Great Thing, Brooke Bolander (Tor.com Publishing)

“The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections“, Tina Connolly (Tor.com 7/11/18)

“An Agent of Utopia”, Andy Duncan (An Agent of Utopia)

“Queen Lily“, Theodora Goss (Lightspeed 11/18)

“Nine Last Days on Planet Earth“, Daryl Gregory (Tor.com 9/19/18)

“Quality Time”, Ken Liu (Robots vs Fairies)

“How to Swallow the Moon“, Isabel Yap (Uncanny 11–12/18)

SHORT STORY

“The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington“, Phenderson Djèlí Clark (Fireside 2/18)

“The Bookcase Expedition”, Jeffrey Ford (Robots vs Fairies)

“STET“, Sarah Gailey (Fireside 10/18)

“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies“, Alix E. Harrow (Apex 2/6/18)

“Cuisine des Mémoires”, N.K. Jemisin (How Long ’til Black Future Month?)

“The Storyteller’s Replacement”, N.K. Jemisin (How Long ’til Black Future Month?)

“Firelight“, Ursula K. Le Guin (Paris Review Summer ’18)

“The Starship and the Temple Cat“, Yoon Ha Lee (Beneath Ceaseless Skies 2/1/18)

“Mother of Invention“, Nnedi Okorafor (Future Tense)

“The Court Magician“, Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed 1/18)

ANTHOLOGY

The Best Horror of the Year Volume Ten, Ellen Datlow, ed. (Night Shade)

The Book of Magic, Gardner Dozois, ed. (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK)

The Year’s Best Science Fiction: Thirty-fifth Annual Collection, Gardner Dozois, ed. (St. Martin’s Griffin)

Worlds Seen in Passing, Irene Gallo, ed. (Tor.com Publishing)

The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018, N.K. Jemisin & John Joseph Adams, eds. (Mariner)

Robots vs Fairies, Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe, eds. (Saga)

The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of the Year, Volume Twelve, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

Infinity’s End, Jonathan Strahan, ed. (Solaris US; Solaris UK)

The Underwater Ballroom Society, Tiffany Trent & Stephanie Burgis, eds. (Five Fathoms)

The Future Is Female!, Lisa Yaszek, ed. (Library of America)

COLLECTION

The Tangled Lands, Paolo Bacigalupi & Tobias S. Buckell (Saga)

Brief Cases, Jim Butcher (Ace; Orbit UK)

An Agent of Utopia, Andy Duncan (Small Beer)

How Long ’til Black Future Month?, N.K. Jemisin (Orbit US; Orbit UK)

The Dinosaur Tourist, Caitlín R. Kiernan (Subterranean)

Fire & Blood, George R.R. Martin (Bantam; Harper Voyager UK)

All the Fabulous Beasts, Priya Sharma (Undertow)

The Future Is Blue, Catherynne M. Valente (Subterranean)

STARLINGS, Jo Walton (Tachyon)

HOW TO FRACTURE A FAIRY TALE, Jane Yolen (Tachyon)

MAGAZINE

Analog

Asimov’s

Beneath Ceaseless Skies

Clarkesworld

F&SF

Fireside

Lightspeed

Strange Horizons

Tor.com

Uncanny

PUBLISHER

Angry Robot

Baen

DAW

Gollancz

Orbit

Saga

Small Beer

Subterranean

Tachyon

Tor

EDITOR

John Joseph Adams

Neil Clarke

Ellen Datlow

Gardner Dozois

C.C. Finlay

Jonathan Strahan

Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas

Ann & Jeff VanderMeer

Sheila Williams

Navah Wolfe

ARTIST

Kinuko Y. Craft

Galen Dara

Julie Dillon

Leo & Diane Dillon

Bob Eggleton

Victo Ngai

John Picacio

Shaun Tan

Charles Vess

Michael Whelan

NON-FICTION

Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece, Michael Benson (Simon & Schuster)

Sense of Wonder: Short Fiction Reviews (2009-2017), Gardner Dozois (ReAnimus)

Strange Stars, Jason Heller (Melville House)

Dreams Must Explain Themselves: The Selected Non-Fiction of Ursula K. Le Guin, Ursula K. Le Guin (Gollancz)

Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing, Ursula K. Le Guin & David Naimon (Tin House)

Old Futures: Speculative Fiction and Queer Possibility, Alexis Lothian (NYU Press)

Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, Catherine McIlwaine, ed. (Bodleian Library)

Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction, Alec Nevala-Lee (Dey Street)

None of This Is Normal: The Fiction of Jeff VanderMeer, Benjamin J. Robertson (University of Minnesota Press)

An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards, 1953-2000, Jo Walton (Tor)

ART BOOK

Yoshitaka Amano, Yoshitaka Amano: The Illustrated Biography – Beyond the Fantasy, Florent Gorges (Les Éditions Pix’n Love 2015; Dark Horse)

Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, John Fleskes, ed. (Flesk)

John Howe, A Middle-earth Traveler: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; HarperCollins UK)

Jeffrey Alan Love, The Thousand Demon Tree (Flesk)

Simon Stålenhag, The Electric State (Fria Ligan ’17; Skybound)

Shaun Tan, Cicada (Lothian; Levine ’19)

Charles Vess, The Books of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition, Ursula K. Le Guin (Saga)

Michael Whelan, Beyond Science Fiction: The Alternative Realism of Michael Whelan (Baby Tattoo)

Dungeons & Dragons Art and Arcana: A Visual History, Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, & Sam Witwer (Ten Speed)

Lisbeth Zwerger, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, J.K. Rowling (Levine)

For more info on UNHOLY LAND, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Sarah Anne Langton

For more info on THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover by Elizabeth Story

For more info on STARLINGS, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

For more info on HOW TO FRACTURE A FAIRY TALE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 7.17

Beer Birthdays

James Pawley Dawes (1843)

Anthony Straub (1882)

Joshua Bernstein (1978)

Five Favorite Birthdays

James Cagney; actor (1899)

Erle Stanley Gardner; writer (1889)

Vince Guaraldi; jazz pianist (1928)

Peter Schickele; music comedian, composer (1935)

Donald Sutherland; actor (1934)

Famous Birthdays

Berenice Abbott; photographer (1898)

Shmuel Yosef Agnon; Ukrainian-Israeli writer (1888)

Ron Asheton; guitarist and songwriter (1948)

John Jacob Astor; zillionaire (1763)

Lou Barlow; guitarist and songwriter (1966)

George Barnes; guitarist and songwriter (1921)

Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten; German philosopher (1714)

Luc Bondy; Swiss film director (1948)

Tim Brooke-Taylor; English comedian (1940)

Mark Burnett; television producer (1960)

Geezer Butler; English bass player (1949)

Diahann Carroll; actor (1935)

Niccolò Castiglioni; Italian composer (1932)

Elizabeth Cook; singer and guitarist (1972)

John Cooper; English car designer (1923)

Chris Crutcher; writer (1946)

Spencer Davis; rock musician (1942)

Paul Delaroche; French painter (1797)

Phyllis Diller; comedian (1917)

Cory Doctorow, Canadian author (1971)

Lyonel Feininger;, German-American painter (1871)

Lionel Ferbos; trumpeter (1911)

Wolfgang Flür; German musician (1947)

Wendy Freedman; Canadian-American cosmologist and astronomer (1957)

Elbridge Gerry; politician (1744)

Sergei K. Godunov; Russian mathematician (1929)

Gordon Gould; laser inventor (1920)

David Hasselhoff; actor (1952)

Hermann Huppen; Belgian author and illustrator (1938)

Bruno Jasieński; Polish poet and author (1901)

Scott Johnson; cartoonist (1969)

Darryl Lamonica; Oakland Raiders QB (1941)

Nicolette Larson; singer-songwriter (1952)

Thé Lau; Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist (1952)

Georges Lemaître; Belgian priest, astronomer, and cosmologist (1894)

Art Linkletter; humorist (1912)

Pierre Louis Maupertuis; French mathematician and philosopher (1698)

Robert R. McCammon; author (1952)

Angela Merkel; German chemist and politician (1954)

Craig Morgan; singer-songwriter and guitarist (1965)

Luis Munoz-Rivera; Puerto Rican patriot, poet (1859)

Frank Olson; chemist and microbiologist (1910)

Barbara O'Neil; actor (1910)

Mary Osborne; guitarist (1921)

Quino Spanish-Argentinian cartoonist (1932)

Christiane Rochefort; French author (1917)

Jason Rullo; rock drummer (1972)

Jimmy Scott; jazz singer (1925)

Ephraim Shay, American engineer (1839)

Phoebe Snow; singer (1952)

P.J. Soles; actor (1950)

Red Sovine; country singer (1917)

Christina Stead; Australian author (1902)

J. Michael Straczynski; writer (1954)

Mick Tucker; English rock drummer (1947)

Isaac Watts; English hymnwriter (1674)

Alex Winter; actor (1965)

[calidebs]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Swan Song Robert McCammon Pocket Books Paperback 1st 1987 Dystopian Horror VTG.

[msbrittonsblog]

Helpful Resources: Teacher Edition

They always tell you never to start anything with a quote, so instead, I’ll start with the idea that every single day, you always learn something new, even when something doesn't match exactly what you wanted, you can actually learn quite a bit from it. Or, if you don’t receive as much as you were looking for, sometimes less is better. 

After receiving two out of three emails back from my old high school teachers, I was able to look into some of the resources that they gave to me in preparation for becoming a teacher. Some I already was very familiar with such as Kahoot and Quizlet, but I challenged myself to find something new about them that I never once knew before. Some resources were Latin oriented because my old Latin teachers still want me to pursue a career involving Latin as I took it for four years in high school, and I was also a Teacher's Aide for my last two years. Even though they were Latin specific, I tried to see if I could spin it for my concentration, which I will later discuss. I also wanted to look into a book called “Boy’s Life” by Robert R. McCammon, which was recommended to me by my practicum mentor teacher, Mr. Smith. He swears by this book and thinks it is the best book to teach your students, and that it is definitely underappreciated as a resource to use in the classroom as it is his favorite book. Mr. Smith shared with me his story about encountering this book, and I thought it was only fair to dedicate some of my time in order to look into it so maybe one day I can teach it to my students. 

The first resource I started looking into was one given to me by D-Whit, also known as Ms. Whitmore, my old advisor, who was also a Latin teacher. This was a website called “Maine Classics,” where a group of Latin teachers and classics professors run a site dedicated to “spreading the teaching of the classics in Maine.” At first, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to use a lot of the resources found on this site, but I then came across a newsletter called “Clamor.” Each newsletter discusses upcoming events, paraphrases what happened at recent conferences, and also in the March 2018 issue, they stated the top essays that won the recent competition based on a given prompt. The prompt stated was, “to compose a writing based on a quote from Lucretius and how he might respond to a recent report from NASA about three planets 39 light years away that may contain life.” This is where my interest was sparked. Yes, I wasn’t going to be a Latin teacher any time soon, but Latin and English have a wonderful relationship, and the prompt stated in this newsletter was quite engaging and innovative. I think Latin interests a lot of students in school, whether they want to take it or not because the culture is so interesting, and the fact that Latin is referred to as the “dead language,” really peaks people's interests. This site, because it is created by professionals in Latin and the classics, the information provided is very relevant to the subject. I think that as an English concentration, I could spin a lot of Latin prompts into one for English, as long as the Latin itself isn’t too complicated, and as long as I have a translation ready. I could also do prompts similar to this based on the characters of the book I plan on teaching, such as “How would Dr. Frankenstein react towards the recent news outbreak about the Corona Virus?” The prompt is relevant to recent events, and the students must really understand the character and their development throughout the story in order to provide their response. I think that I personally am going to keep track of these newsletters because I feel that doing lessons that cross into other subjects may potentially increase engagement and interest in students. 

The other resources I have looked into were Kahoot and Quizlet. I have used both of these resources before and thought they were both very successful in how they were used. Kahoot, a lot of the time has been used as a fun way to refresh students’ minds on a certain topic being taught. The winner can also be given a prize i.e. the satisfaction of winning, some cool stickers, etc. I did learn that Kahoot can be played at home as they have premade vocabulary sets for many different subjects (English, history, math, science, etc.) as well. Another cool thing about Kahoot is that they have accessibility options that allow those who are “text-to-speech technology users, Braille users, and other users with sensory, cognitive, or other disabilities,” to have the opportunity to use Kahoot and have all the options easily available to them. 

Similar to Kahoot, Quizlet also has premade flashcard sets. This site is used “To help students (and their teachers) practice and master whatever they are learning. Quizlet provides engaging, customizable activities with contributions from people everywhere.” I personally have used this site previously, and it is able to be accessed via an app on your phone (iPad, tablet, etc.) and also your laptop/desktop. I think this is a great option for at-home preparation for any type of memorization. It creates flashcards and offers different games/activities as well such as “learn”, where they increase levels with multiple choice and writing definitions; “write”, where you write definitions that fit the word or vice versa; “spell”, where Quizlet speaks the word/definition out loud and you have to type what you hear; “test”, where they create a mock test that you can choose what sections you would like, whether that be multiple-choice, matching, and/or writing definitions; “match”, a game where you match the word/definition to the correct one; and then the final game being “gravity”, a timed game where you have to drag the correct word to fit the correct definition listed below. I think this respects the multiple different learning types that students and even teachers have because they aren’t stuck using the standard flashcards. Quizlet provides options. And, allowing your students that option to find what best learning strategy works best for them, will help them not only in the future but also in your classroom. 

For my final resource, I looked in the book “Boy’s Life” by Robert R. McCammon like discussed at the beginning of my blog post. My mentor teacher swore by this text, and looking into it (really only reading the first chapter, prologue, and summary so far), I definitely agree. Just reading the book description, I was hooked. Being a huge nerd for books about murder and the supernatural, this book has it all as it is about a boy and his father who see something no one should have seen, and now they are haunted by the traumatic sight until they find out the secrets their town has within. Through reading this book you get to investigate the mysterious murder along with the characters of the novel and “learn more about the meaning of both life and death.” Seen in the description, the opportunities for lessons on symbolism alone seem to be endless as a “green feather” is brought up due to it “leading [the boy] deeper into the mystery.” So far, this description has hooked at least one reader, two if you count Mr. Smith. This book’s genre (murder mystery and supernatural fiction) also seems to be popular amongst the age demographic seen in high school. I personally have not seen many books in this genre taught in English classes because I have really only learned from classic literature myself. Even though the supernatural aspects of the novel may not be real, as a reader, you can still learn a lot from the author’s choices. You can connect supernatural themes into something seen in today’s time if you analyze deep enough. And, if I were to teach this novel, I could turn this lesson into one focusing on reading comprehension and literary analysis in order to have students make connections to plots that may not seem relevant to real-life to something that is. Students are creative, and sometimes it takes something outside of the box to lure in students’ interests. This creativity, I think, could shine with the proper outlines and objectives, especially if you use materials that possibly no teacher has ever been willing to teach before because it is outside of the set curriculum/norm. 

The variety of teaching opportunities that this novel provides is quite large. The first chapter itself practically uses a simile or metaphor every paragraph as the main character really likes to describe things through comparison. The time that this book is set in is also 1964, which was around the time of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. This opens up the chance to collaborate with your colleagues in the social studies concentration because you could do a lesson together (time period recaps, research project, connecting common themes from the book to current/past events, etc.). So far, I am really hooked by the book and I am very interested in reading the whole thing in order to see what I can do with it in the future. I already have many ideas, and this is just from reading the first chapter! 

Sometimes something that may not seem as useful as another thing, it truly is if you dig a little deeper. This connects to all the resources I have received so far from my old high school teachers and now my current mentor teacher. I am continuously learning from my fellow colleagues and mentors, and I do not think that this will ever stop. To conclude this long discussion of teaching resources, I would like to say that each resource has provided me with a helpful tool/tidbit that I will someday be able to use in my own classroom. Whether that be a Kahoot filled with literay terms or quotes, a Quizlet containing a unit/lesson’s taught vocabulary, a newsletter that gives me an idea for a writing prompt, or a book that can have any type of literary/reading analysis learning objectives I can think of. Anything can have at least one take away. 

All the love, 

Ms. Kellsie Britton