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by Ken Denmead, December 4, 2013 12:38 PM
In this special series, we asked writers we admire to share a book they're giving to their friends and family this holiday season. Check back daily to see the books your favorite authors are gifting.÷ ÷ ÷ I came to read (actually first listened to via audio book) Redshirts because I am a lifelong Star Trek geek (my cred goes as deep as the fact that I have personally run a play-by-email Star Trek RPG), and because I'm a fan of both John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton (who reads the audiobook and has been a friend of my site for many years). For anyone who has a deep and abiding love of Star Trek, Redshirts is a hilarious and loving tribute to the most-abused characters in all of science fiction. Scalzi crafts what seems at the beginning to be a breezy satire, but which quickly turns into both an experienced insider's critique of lazy television writing and a love letter to the people who created some of our most beloved entertainment franchises. I spent a huge portion of my earlier years watching these shows, and even more time reading the hundreds of novels written in these universes, and Redshirts at once transports me back to those experiences and then walks me through them with an elbow poking my ribs. And yet, by the end, I can only love them all the more and wipe away the something-in-my-eye that resulted from caring about the characters and being satisfied with how their stories were resolved. I think Redshirts is a great gift for anyone who has that abiding love of Star Trek but also the perspective to be able to recognize the tropes of sci-fi television for what they are, while taking a leap beyond them to appreciate another fan's unique love letter to the
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by Ken Denmead, March 29, 2013 10:00 AM
On Monday, gentle bookstore blog readers, I told you I wanted to evangelize you to a new way of life. Hopefully, if you've read this far, you've seen why I love games and why I work so hard trying to get people — especially families — into gaming. When you have little kids, the simple structured play is a tremendously helpful developmental tool for teaching them how to take turns, play fairly, cooperate, and even start telling stories. Later on, they learn strategy, maybe creative wordplay, and, in some cases, even how to craft a narrative or build a whole world. Tomorrow is International TableTop Day (ITD), the first worldwide celebration of tabletop gaming. It's also a celebration of getting together with friends and family to have fun and interact on a face-to-face level. Yes, I'm a total technology geek, and I am not about to start putting down social networking as not being about "real friendships." But what I do look for, in almost everything I do, is balance. Sure, fragging aliens in online co-op videogame play is fantastic (as is fragging your friends and talking a little smack). But I'd offer that for every hour plugged into a console game, you should be spending an hour sitting at a table with friends or family playing tabletop games. (Maybe also include a third hour, outside, being active — just for the sake of health.) It's a different but equally rewarding experience. So, here's my challenge to the people reading this: up your gaming game. What I mean is, take your gaming up a level. Are you that person who has only played Monopoly and Life? I challenge you to go to an ITD event and find someone to show you Settlers of Catan or Carcassonne. Do you play bridge (and do you have a sense of humor)? Go seek out a game of Munchkin or Fluxx. Are you someone who plays RPGs and first-person shooters on a console? Maybe it's time you tried a "real" RPG and join a game of Pathfinder or Dungeons and Dragons. Or, are you the chess type, all about strategy? Well, maybe Warhammer might pique your interest. Parents, it's time to go to the game store (may we suggest stopping by Powell's at Cedar Hills Crossing tomorrow, Saturday, March 30, between 10:00 a.m. and 7 p.m.?), pick up a few likely games, and start the family game night tradition. Try some cooperative games, like Castle Panic or Pandemic, so everyone is working together and you all share in victory or defeat. Just remember the old adage: the family that plays together stays together. Whatever the games are that you pick up and play, just have fun. Don't be the rules nerd, ruining the fun. Sometimes it's better to let something slide than to make a fuss (especially when folks are just learning how to play). And if you don't know the answer to a rules question, then make up an answer; "house rules" make every game work just a little better (just make sure to write them down for next time!). Happy International TableTop Day. Shall we play a game?
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by Ken Denmead, March 28, 2013 10:00 AM
Sometimes big board games can be a little overwhelming for younger gamers. That's why card games can be so engaging for kids. But after the thousandth game of War, parents may yearn for something a little more interesting. It also wouldn't hurt if you didn't have to go out and buy every last foil-wrapped packet of the latest combat card game to find that one special card. So, in the same vein as my DIY board game project, let me offer you an idea for making your own card game, which can combine the fun and craftiness of designing it together with the satisfying sense of ownership that comes from doing it yourself. The idea for this project came from my good friend "Z," senior editor at GeekDad and longtime podcast partner. It's detailed in my second book, The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun, but I'm happy to outline it here so folks can try it with their families for International TableTop Day. This is a game for 2-4 players using one customized deck of playing cards. If you want to work with a larger group, add additional decks as needed. And if you have experience with combat card games, feel free to expand or alter these rules to make the game more challenging and fun for yourselves. Step 1: Build the Deck | Illustration by Ken Denmead |
Take a standard deck of playing cards and remove the jokers (which may be used later for alternate rules variants). Now separate the face cards from the rest of the deck. Divvy up the face cards among your players and start customizing them. By customizing, I mean drawing on the cards, putting stickers on them, doing whatever you like to make them not just playing cards but COOL COMBAT CARDS. What's the theme for your combat game? Is it robots? Dragons? Animals? Aliens? It's up to you what you put on the cards, just as long as you make sure the suit is still obvious and you don't alter the backs. These customized face cards will become the Character Cards, the warriors battling for supremacy on the Playing Surface. Step 2: Set Up the Game Shuffle the Character Cards and deal two cards to each player, who should then place the cards faceup in a row in front of them. With each player's Character Cards in place, the remaining Character Cards and the Number Cards should be shuffled and placed in a common Draw Deck between the players. Each player should draw a single card from the Draw Deck, then the highest number card drawn will go first, with play progressing clockwise from that player. With the play order now decided, place the used cards facedown to one side of the Draw Deck to begin the Discard Pile. Step 3: Play the Game Each round, a player selects a single card from the Draw Deck. The player then has four options: - Use an Attack Card: The player may use a red Number Card (heart or diamond) to attack an opponent's black Character Card (club, spade) or use a black Number Card to attack a red Character Card, for damage points equal to the attacking Number Card's value. Each Character Card is understood to have 11 Hit Points, and any attached Attack Cards will be stacked faceup below the attacked Character Card to represent damage. After a Character Card has accrued 11 points of damage, its Hit Points have been exhausted, and the card is flipped over to denote that it is out of play (and any attached Attack Cards are placed facedown in the Discard Pile). If at any time a player has no Character Cards in play, he/she is out of the game.
- Use a Buff Card: The player may use a red or black Number Card to buff (or heal) one of his own red or black Character Cards restoring Hit Points equal to the Number Card's value. Buffs may be applied only to damaged Character Cards, and recovered Hit Points — represented by the Buff Cards being stacked faceup above the Character Card — may never exceed the original 11. If a Character Card is taken out of play, these Buff Cards are also placed facedown in the Discard Pile.
- Pass: The player may simply add the drawn card to his/her hand (with the face value concealed from other players), take no further action, and pass clockwise to the next player.
- Call for Reinforcements: Should the player draw or have in hand a Character Card, he/she may place it faceup on the table adjacent to his/her other Character Cards, thus supplementing his/her defenses.
Play continues until only one player has in-play Character Cards remaining, and that player is declared the winner of the Playing Surface. Should game play exhaust the Draw Deck before a winner is determined, the cards from the Discard Pile may be shuffled and recycled as the new Draw Deck. Points of Clarification: - The total Hit Points of a Character Card at any given time is equal to 11 minus the sum of the values of attached Attack Cards, plus the sum of the values of attached Buff Cards.
- Total Hit Points for a Character Card cannot exceed 11 in the standard game.
- Character Cards cannot be brought back into play in the standard game.
Optional Rules: - Jokers may be included and used as Hyper Buffs capable of resurrecting out-of-play Character Cards. Once used, Jokers are treated just like Character Cards in that they are flipped facedown and not returned to the Discard Pile.
- For more advanced play, Character Cards may be healed only by matching suit Buff Cards rather than matching color.
- Alternately, matching suit Buff Cards may be allowed to heal a Character Card above the 11-point limit for a temporary time period (perhaps one or more rounds).
If you and your kids have some experience with how the traditional CCGs work, you can take this game even further, allowing for certain card types to do more damage than others. Or you can have special defense cards that each player hides facedown under a Character Card, which will absorb damage from a specific Attack Card (only even-number hearts, odd-number clubs, prime numbers) or even trigger an out-of-turn attack on another player. The possibilities are as endless as your imaginations.
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by Ken Denmead, March 27, 2013 8:00 AM
I love my board games, and I'm proud to have the great boxes they come in displayed prominently on my living room shelves. Board game art is a fantastic genre in and of itself (I'm proud to know a couple board game artists, who are awesome folks and talented to boot), and obviously those big, brightly illustrated boxes are meant to make games stand out on game store shelves. But those big boxes also make it challenging to travel with your games if you want to take them with you on vacation. Of course, there are travel editions of many more mainstream games, but they're never quite up to snuff. This summer, our family had the chance (thanks to my nonagenarian grandma) to take a cruise to Alaska (if you're ever in Juneau, don't miss Alaska Robotics, the geekiest place in town). Cruises are exciting, but there's also a lot of at-sea time that forces you to take it easy and find things to occupy your time. That's why I wanted to bring a number of our more interesting board games. But stuffing full boxes into our luggage wasn't going to happen (and might end up damaging said boxes). So, I consolidated. Now, this may be rather obvious, but it worked so well that I have to pass it on. If you take all the parts of a board game out of the box, the volume is greatly reduced. Really, most board game boxes are terribly inefficient as storage media. Use sandwich-sized zipper bags for cards, tokens, playing pieces, and dice (each labeled), and then put those bags into a larger gallon-sized bag for full containment (again, labeled). In some cases, the game boards even fold down small enough to fit in the larger bag. If not, put a rubber band around them to keep them together. This will reduce the travel size of any given game by up to 70 percent. I was able to pack a nice selection of our board games for on-ship play. We got a lot of folks standing around when we played Castle Panic in one of the bars and had a lot of fun. So, for your next family trip, whether you're on a cruise, off to Disneyland, or up to a campground or cabin, think about taking more of your games with you by consolidating them down into their component parts, sans boxes. This may also be a great way to store them at home, if space is at a premium. I mean, I'd hate for you to have to forgo those beautiful boxes, but it's better than having no games at all!
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by Ken Denmead, March 26, 2013 10:00 AM
As we build up our anticipation for the first-ever International TableTop Day (ITD) this Saturday, we may get a bit overwhelmed. Like being suddenly placed in the middle of a bustling foreign city, the variety of new game concepts and settings may be more confusing than anything else. What's the best type of game to buy? RPG? German-style board game? Combat card game? There are so many! Hopefully between my blog entries this week and the awesome events happening at Powell's this Saturday, you'll be able to find a few great new games to play with your family. But today I'm going to pitch you a different way to experience gaming with your family: with a DIY game project. I developed "Buildrz" for my first book as a way for families to make the perfect game for themselves, and on the cheap. The idea is that, at least with many of the familiar American board games, there is a generic theme: a journey along a path to reach a destination. So I took some butcher paper, covered our pool table with it, and created a giant generic game board (printable PDF here). Then I worked out a series of generic game cards — the kind that you draw and that let you move forward or back, or take an extra turn. I came up with a generic set of rules for how to play the game to use as a baseline. Then, I encouraged families to take the basic framework and make it their own. Want a sci-fi game? A fantasy game? A medieval game? Well, add the art you want all over your homemade game board. When you create the cards (out of cheap 3x5-inch index cards), add themed explanations for each card based on the setting of your game. Use your favorite toys and action figures as your game pieces, and LEGO bricks or Lincoln Logs for building structures. Need a simpler or more complex game? Then go ahead and modify the rules to suit yourself. MAKE THE GAME YOUR OWN. Now, I'm not saying that it's easy to make a great board game on your own. The games you'll play on ITD and at home with your family have been painstakingly developed, playtested, tweaked, and adjusted to offer balance and challenge play after play. But the point of Buildrz isn't to make a perfect game, at least not the first time around. The point is for you and your family to make a game together, with art and "flavor text" (did you know that's what the words on game cards are called?) and rules created by every member of the family. Your game can evolve over time as everyone gets used to it and learns more about what works and what doesn't. You can even bring in elements from other games you discover. The game will grow with your family and maybe even get handed down to new generations. But it'll be unique and awesome and yours. And that is the stuff that family traditions are made of. Buildrz illustration by Ken Denmead
[Editor's note: Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing is an official host of International TableTop Day. Join us on March 30 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. for a full day of gaming, new game demos, giveaways, and other surprises.]
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by Ken Denmead, March 25, 2013 10:00 AM
I thought that title on a bookstore blog might raise a few eyebrows, and I'll admit I wrote it just to be sensationalistic. Of course, you have to be able to read to play most tabletop games, so there is a hierarchy involved, but the point I hope to make is that playing tabletop games, especially as a family, can be as rewarding as reading to your kids. If you already consider yourself a gamer, I'll probably be preaching to the choir here, but if not, please read on; I'm here to evangelize you toward a new way of life. First, a refresher: I'm Ken Denmead. I run a blog called GeekDad (and am the publisher of GeekMom). I also wrote three books filled with projects for parents and kids to build together, and with two boys of my own, I'm very invested in the realm of figuring out how to have rewarding family experiences. Powell's asked me to do a return-stint as guest blogger this week, as we lead up to the first-ever International TableTop Day (ITD) on March 30, a newly created unholiday intended to celebrate and get the word out about the amazing range and depth of tabletop games that exist these days. ITD is the brainchild of Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day, both popular actors and online personalities. Felicia also runs a YouTube channel called Geek & Sundry, where Wil hosts a show all about tabletop games (indeed, watching the show is a great primer for learning about gaming). The holiday is an expression of both of their passions for gaming. Probably the best place to start for those of you who are reading fans, but not necessarily tabletop gaming fans, is to give you a sense of why ITD is important. For many, many people, if you ask them if they like tabletop games, a common response will be, "Oh, sure, we play Monopoly once in a while and have a good time, but we usually don't finish." Such statements will send a shudder through the passionate gamer and drive them to fumble all over themselves to show you the light. You see, most people's experience with tabletop gaming begins with Candy Land and ends with Monopoly (and boredom or frustration). A large part of the reason is that both of these games depend much more on luck than strategy for a player to succeed, and if you cannot build and execute a strategy, you're far less likely to become invested in a game. Why do you think poker (in all its various forms) or bridge or Risk or chess are games people actually become passionate about? Because the player's understanding of the game and ability to execute a strategy based on the conditions are so much more important to the outcome. Rather than two bad dice rolls landing you on Park Place and Boardwalk in succession, you can put some real thought into playing these games. The goal of ITD is to show people there's a great big world of amazing tabletop games out there waiting to be discovered; games whose depth and potential for fun make Monopoly look like Snakes and Ladders. Settlers of Catan is a good example of a modern tabletop game so good, it's broken through into popular culture and is even being reinterpreted with existing entertainment franchises (Star Trek Catan is a wonderful adaptation). But for family play, cooperative games like Castle Panic can transform a game night. When everyone is working together to fight off the monsters attacking your castle, and failure or success depends upon the family unit acting effectively as a team, then you've taken a huge step up in positive shared experiences. Casual games like Zombie Dice, Fluxx, or Tsuro can be played and enjoyed quickly, so younger players don't have to be expected to sit still for an hour-long session. The bottom line is that the best family time happens when there are enjoyable shared experiences, and tabletop games can provide for some wonderful shared experiences. This week I'll be talking more about the games I love and even a couple I designed (while I empower you to build your own). But most important, I hope I'll light a fire under you to go check out the games here at Powell's or at your own local game store and explore the world of tabletop fun that's waiting for you. [Editor's note: Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing is an official host of International TableTop Day. Join us on March 30 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. for a full day of gaming, new game demos, giveaways, and other surprises.]
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by Ken Denmead, November 4, 2011 11:17 AM
Somewhere around 1987, I and my best friend Michael took a train trip around the U.S. before we headed off to college. We visited relatives back East, saw a show in NYC, and spent a couple days at Disney World. And, I remember vividly, stopped at a rather cool bookstore in downtown Portland while we were there on a layover. That was the first I'd ever heard of Powell's, but the memory stuck with me, and over the years I've become more and more aware of its status as one of the finest independent bookstores in the country. I always hear about great, geeky folks like Wil Wheaton or John Hodgman visiting for a signing, and I picture the place in my head. Last year, when my first book came out, my parents (who are retired) were on an RV trip to the Northwest and stopped by Powell's. My dad, ever impish, went looking for my book, and cheerfully found it on a shelf with a special recommendation note on it by one of the store's staff. He sent me a picture, and I squee'd. Indeed, Powell's has been one of the single largest sources of sales for my books, which blows my mind (not because they shouldn't be, but because it's such a cool bit of connectivity). And now I've had the honor of blogging here on their website for the last week. It means a great deal to me. So, without being too maudlin about it, I'm very glad that I could return to Powell's after 24 years. Much like making it on Broadway is the pinnacle of a theater actor's life, I think making it at Powell's is truly hitting the big time for an author. Thanks so much for having me, and next time I'm up your way, I'll be sure to stop by and say
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by Ken Denmead, November 3, 2011 12:39 PM
This last Tuesday, my third book in 18 months launched. It's been an amazing year and a half, and I still find it strange to call myself an author, let alone being able to add " New York Times Bestselling." It's like getting knighted, or being Prince: You have this title to put in front of your name for the rest of your life, and you can never give it back. It's just a bit surreal. As is launch day. It's surreal because it's a rather disconnected experience. All the work I did on the book was over months ago, and it's been in the hands of the publisher to finally assemble, put through the printing process, and do all the magical sales stuff that gets copies into your local bookstores on a given day. I wrote and delivered 50,000-odd words, and then sent it off to be finished like the teenage daughter of a middle-class Victorian family. And while I've moved onto things like kitchen renovations and planning for the holidays, people I've never met have been adding value to my work doing their own day job responsibilities. How weird is that? And then the day comes — a completely arbitrary day, chosen in some meeting by people with keen eyes and savvy minds for picking the perfect lead-time to get a book into stores close enough to the holidays to get traction, but early enough to generate plenty of publicity. This is where I come back into the tornado, because it's time for the PR engine to turn over. Time for a radio tour. What's a radio tour, I hear you ask? Well, it's kind of like a virtual book tour. Instead of driving from town to town and doing readings at every Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Powell's or indie bookstore, I get to tour the country by radio. You know when you hear interviews with authors on your local radio station? Well, the interesting thing is that, quite often, that wasn't the only interview that author did that day. What happens is that we do a series of interviews, 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there, all scheduled out over a morning. We start on the East Coast (and if you live on the West Coast like me, that means getting up really early), and hit a few stations in the South and New England. Then it's a hop to Central time, and maybe we go to Chicago or Cincinnati. Then onto the Mountain Time Zone, and finally to the West. By the end, you've spoken with so many morning shows, it gets hard to remember them all. But the hosts are all fun and engaging people, so the time really zooms by. After that is when then the compulsion settles in. The compulsion to sit and watch your Amazon book rank and click to refresh every 15 minutes, praying each time that it'll go down a little bit closer. After a while, temporary carpel tunnel settles in. By the end of the day, you're exhausted. You've probably tweeted book updates a hundred times, or thanked a score of folks on Google+ for buying your book, or posted reviews to your book blog as they came in all day. It's kind of like getting married or having a kid, except there's no big payoff at the end of the day, because when you get up the next morning, you'll just start a new, normal day, and it'll be like it never happened. Well, except for the Amazon compulsion. That never really goes away. I've loved to write since I was in high school, and having the chance to be published is amazing. It's not easy. It takes a lot of work, not just the writing part, but all the other stuff you have to put into it to make it go. But like getting married to my wonderful wife, and having two great kids, I have these three books to look at and know that I accomplished something bigger than myself. And like that title, they can never be taken away from
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by Ken Denmead, November 2, 2011 12:05 PM
I am not an educator. I am not a scientist. I'm hardly what you could call an expert in anything. What I know about is being a geek (technology, gaming, obscure references to cult movies), and being a dad, a husband, and an engineer. And yet, stories like this make me sad and nervous: Teachers Have Little Time to Teach Science, Study Shows Intense pressure to meet accountability goals in mathematics and English is limiting time for science, and teachers and schools do not have the infrastructure support needed to consistently provide students with quality science learning opportunities. Forty percent of elementary teachers say they spend just 60 minutes or less teaching science each week. Just one-third of elementary teachers say they feel prepared to teach science, but 85 percent of teachers say they have not received any professional development in science during the last three years. And while nine in ten principals say science education is very important and should start early, less than half of principals (44%) believe it is likely that a student would receive high-quality science instruction in his or her school. My wonderful wife is a 5th grade teacher, and I know how much her district has cut back on science. Every science experiment uses "consumables" which, as the name implies, are usually bought and used up, costing significant money for a day's worth of learning. It's easy to see why these are the low-hanging fruit when it comes time to tightening curriculum budgets. On top of that, many people seem to quarantine science when it comes to education. There's a time for reading, a time for writing, a time for math, and a time for science. And if you cut out science's time, then the things that the government wants test scores improving on get more focus. It really sounds like a mistake to me. One buzzword I hear talks about "integrated curricula" where school work crosses the boundaries between subjects. We all know a bit about that — mathematical word problems are a classic example. And science uses a lot of math, so that crossover is already there. But science also needs good technical writing, and strong critical-thinking skills, all tools that are already part of English/language-arts curricula as well. Why can't there be even more cross-pollination of the subjects, so even without direct lab work, students get exposed to science? Well, I know it does happen, but it really seems like it doesn't happen enough. And if you can't depend upon schools to give your kids a proper, well-rounded education, what else can you do, but do it yourself. When I first came at writing up projects for parents and kids to share together, it was simply from the point of view of trying to give families new and interesting ways to play and learn together. But especially having written this newest book, and hearing how many home-schooling parents have picked up on my books as additions to their DIY lessons, I've become more and more aware of how we as parents have to pick up the slack in our kids' educations. Don't get me wrong: I'm a strong supporter of public education, but by its very nature, it doesn't change quickly, and will never satisfy everyones needs or desires. So my point it this: good parents are active, attentive parents who take part in their kids' educations. As a geeky parent, I think science education is just as important as the "three Rs," and by all accounts the pendulum of educational priorities has swung away from that sentiment when it comes to public schools. So, it comes down to me to make up for it for my kids, and you for yours. Go find a book in the science section here at Powell's and get cracking! (One great recommendation for getting kids interested in reading about science is the "Cartoon Guides" to Physics, Chemistry, and other subjects, by Larry
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by Ken Denmead, November 1, 2011 11:17 AM
If there was ever a sign that the geekpocalypse is nigh, it's the list of new books coming out today. Obviously I'm here on the Powell's blog this week because my new book is hitting the shelves (I'm sure there's a link somewhere on this page to find it), but there's more. Geek culture is in the mainstream (well, maybe dipping its toes on the shore of the mainstream), and many of us poor sods who had our d20s stolen by jocks in high school now have books. It's starting to feel like maybe we weren't as isolated and alone as we thought, and, better than that, there are a lot of us with interesting things to say. So separate from my own endeavors, I'd like to point you towards two other deep geek culture tomes coming out today. The first is The Nerdist Way by Chris Hardwick. Chris is one of the best interviewers around right now (he made a middle-aged geeky parent like me sound... not uncool). He's the host of his own Nerdist podcast, and is quickly building a great, geeky podcasting empire along with his many friends from the stand-up comedy and entertainment industries. He is also, apparently, the go-to guy to host panels at conventions these days. He took his experiences learning how to focus his own borderline-OCD geek tendencies, and worked out a self-improvement guide with equal measures of humor and earnestness. The second is That Is All by John Hodgman. You know who Hodgman is if you've ever seen one of the classic Mac vs. PC television ads, or watched The Daily Show regularly. But he's also a highly literate and extremely funny writer and performer who with this book is wrapping up his trilogy encompassing all the (semi-fictitious) world knowledge you'll ever need to know. And if being the personification of a computer wasn't enough, Hodgman also holds the geek claim-to-fame of having represented the first book by B-movie legend Bruce Campbell, If Chins Could Kill. That is All is Hodgman's humorous countdown to the end of the world which, some say, is coming just next year. Indeed, if you are a serious-minded geek who always wants to be ready for whatever may come, perhaps all three of these books (Chris's, John's, and mine) should be part of your holiday reading. That is All will round out your general education and give you all the history you need to remember once the world ends. My book will teach you all the science and technology you need to take over the post-apocalyptic world as the Mad Scientist-in-chief, and Chris's book will give you the productivity skills to put it all together. And then geek culture truly will be the
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