Books, Readers and Beyond: #52 What to Read

Read-a-likes
Exercise 1

The first exercise involved finding a read-a-like for a title by an author of my choosing and conducting a search with 3 website sources.


After making an initial read-a-like search on NoveList Plus for author Robert Ludlum, I received the following recommendations:


Andy McNab's Remote Control

Vince Flynn's Transfer of Power

Philip Shelby's Days of Drums

Jon Land Ben Kamal & Danielle Barnea's Walls of Jericho


I was also provided with a brief introduction to each character. Robert Ludlum was placed into the spy & political thriller genres.
http://web.ebscohost.com/novp/search?vid=1&hid=105&sid=34e11b5e-aa8f-45da-a977-6d5543b65f4c%40sessionmgr108



After trying the Library Booklists website, I was presented with approximately 70 other authors. These were all in the thrillers/adventure genres. Some of the authors were: Ken Follet, Clive Cussler, & Mary Higgins Clark. Non of the authors matched the ones I found on NoveList Plus.

http://librarybooklists.org/



My third attempt was even less successful. Using the what should I read next website, I was given several recommendations for foreign history related books. http://whatshouldireadnext.com/search



NoveList Plus was very accurate. Library Booklists more or less lumped several adventure writers together, and that's a widespread. What should I read next was totally off base. However, I after trying some searches for children's books on the last two websites mentioned, I was more successful.

Exercise 2

This exercise involved finding 2 books each for a 4th grader who is interested in animals and for her 13 year old brother who likes ghost stories. I used NoveList Plus and found the following books:

For the 4th grader

The Cricket in Times Square by Selden, George

Down Girl and Sit by Nolan, Lucy

For the 13 year old

Restless by Wallace, Rich

Vintage by Berman, Steve

Exercise 3

Exercise 3 requires one to use two website resources to find three read-a-like authors for Dean Koontz.

Using what should I read next, I was presented some choices. The following are three that I picked out:

Iris Johansen

F. Paul Wilson

Linda Medley

NoveList Plus provided the following authors:

Robert McCammon

Charles Grant

John Saul

Exercise 4

In exercise 4, one must use a website resource to find the series title, order & title of books found in the series, and resource used for the book Alanna: the first adventure by Tamora Pierce.

Using NoveList Plus, I found the following information:

Series: Song of the lioness

Author: Pierce, Tamora

Book 1 - Alanna: the first adventure

Book2 - In the hand of the goddess

Book 3 - The woman who rides like a man

Book 4 - Lioness rampant

Potluck #51 Holidays and Cooking and Recipes - Oh My!

I love Paula Deen's southern style cooking. I've tried another one of her pound cake recipes. It's sooo good. I decided to convert this new one I've found from her on the Food Network web site. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paulas-party/sour-cream-pound-cake-recipe/index.html

The original recipe is as follows:

Sour Cream Pound Cake
Recipe courtesy of Paula Deen, 2008

Ingredients
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the sour cream and mix until incorporated. Sift the baking soda and flour together. Add to the creamed mixture alternating with eggs, beating in each egg 1 at a time. Add vanilla.
Pour the mixture into a greased and floured loaf pan. Bake for 40 minutes to 1 hour or until toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Yield
6 to 8 servings

My downward conversion of Paula's recipe is as follows:

1/2 stick butter, room temperature
3/4 cup or 6 ounces of sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup or 6 ounces of all-purpose flour
1 1/2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

I plan to test this recipe this weekend. I will then post an approximate bake time. The recipe should serve 3 to 4 people. Please note: I usually add 2-3 times more vanilla extract than recommended in recipes. The flavor is so much richer.

I used That's My Home Recipe Converter web site to downsize Paula's recipe. http://www.thatsmyhome.com/recipes/converter.htm

Spring Cleaning: Email

I had forgotten that I could create folders in webmail. Once I rediscovered this, I tackled my overgrown email account with a vengeance, deleting some of them and organizing the rest. I realized that I am able to refer back to information quicker now that I have them arranged into categories. I plan to retain this tidy mindset. I will reply, delete, forward, or file!

Spring Cleaning: Uitilizing GTD

GTD provides some practical solutions for organizing tasks. I will use the 2 minute rule daily at work. The rule allows one to be more efficient and to reduce pile up of tasks and clutter. I will also use organizational tools such as the Ta-da list and the Google calendar. I've experimented with making simple lists with Ta-da. I made one for work, but I can see creating lists for every aspect of life such as school assignments, shopping, car maintenance, healthy living, and personal appointments. I like the fact that I can share my lists with others and prevent them from being edited if I choose to do so. I also found the Google calendar quite helpful. I am a visual person so viewing tasks at a glance are beneficial to me. However, I must say that this would only help when used sparingly. I don't have extra time to spend on creating an exhaustive calendar. Finally, I can see using the tickler file sometime in the future. Especially, when I have more pressing responsibility.

My Learning Style

I am the typical audio learner. I learn from listening to lectures, speeches, or through verbal interaction. I am able to maximize my learning capabilities by combining audio learning with visual aids, such as handouts or video clips, and following with practicing what I've just learned.