Showing posts with label kindle ebook. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kindle ebook. Show all posts

Saturday, 5 September 2026

THE SKILLFUL TEACHER

The Skillful Teacher by Stephen D. Brookfield
Narrated by Jack de Golia
Genre: non-fiction / teaching / education
Format: paperback, ebook, & audiobookAudiobook


Energize your classrooms with these key techniques for college teaching Students say the best teachers get them excited about learning, stretch their thinking, and keep them actively involved in class. But with increasingly diverse classrooms and constantly changing technology, each semester throws up new challenges for engaging students.

Discover how to keep your teaching, and your students, energized with The Skillful Teacher, a practical guide to effective techniques, approaches, and methods for today's college classrooms. Providing insights, reflections, and advice from his four decades of college teaching, Stephen Brookfield now adapts his successful methods to teaching online, working with diverse student populations, and making classrooms truly inclusive. As well as being completely revised, updated, and rewritten, this edition adds six brand new chapters on:

Teaching critical thinking Using play and creativity in the classroom Teaching in teams Helping students take responsibility for learning Teaching about racism Exercising teacher power responsibly Readers will delve into what learning feels like from a student's perspective, as well as absorb the wisdom of veteran college faculty with whom the author has worked. Themes from the bestselling previous editions remain, but are revisited and expanded with the perspective of an additional decade in the classroom. This authoritative guide is now even more comprehensive to better serve teachers looking to improve. Whether you are new to the classroom or are looking to rise to new challenges, The Skillful Teacher will provide answers, expand your repertoire of techniques, and invigorate your teaching and your classrooms.
Source: Info in the "About The Skillful Teacher" was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23059188-the-skillful-teacher on 11/11/2021.


Buy Link(s):
  Audible Books


My Thoughts:
The author has said that the target audience for this book are teachers. College teachers. From the newly minted teacher to the oldest veteran with the hopes of helping them out. Very noble objective. I know for a fact that this book is written for adult teachers because of the language he uses. "Digital immigrant". Polemical. Truculent. I had to look them up to understand some of the words he used, and I am an adult teacher. ...When I encountered "truculent",... cactus and vegetables like spinach came to mind.

The author did succeed in trying to be helpful to teachers like me with this book! Kudos to Stephen D. Brookfield! I also like the honesty and the humour in the story telling quality. Especially when he is trying to explain a concept.

I don't actually know what & how Stephen D. Brookfield sound like, but, now to me he sound Jack de Golia.


Empirical Evaluation:
Writing Style = 4.5
Pace = (9 hrs and 33 mins)
Narration = 5


Overall Rating: 4.5 out of 5 cherries


Meet The Author

About Stephen D. Brookfield:
Since beginning his educational career in 1970, Stephen has worked in England, Canada, and the United States, teaching and consulting in a variety of adult, community, organizational and higher education settings. His overall project is to help people learn to think critically about the dominant ideologies they have internalized and how these can be challenged. He is particularly interested in methodologies of critical thinking, discussion and dialog, critical reflection, leadership, and the exploration of power dynamics, particularly around racial identity and white supremacy. To that end he has written, co-written or edited twenty books on adult learning, teaching, critical thinking, discussion methods, critical theory, leadership and teaching race, six of which have won the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education (in 1986, 1989, 1996, 2005, 2011 and 2012). His academic appointments have included positions at the University of British Columbia, Teachers College Columbia University (New York), Harvard University and the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis-St. Paul. He has consulted with numerous organizations and institutions across the world and delivered multiple workshops and conference keynotes. He is currently part-time Antioch University Distinguished Scholar, Adjunct Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University (New York) and Emeritus Professor at the University of St. Thomas (Minneapolis-St. Paul).

His most recent book - Becoming a White Antiracist: A Practical Guide for Educators, Leaders and Activists (co-authored with Mary Hess) is published by Stylus Publishers.

He also leads a pop punk, rock & roll band - The 99ers - who are currently recording their 7th album. Listen to The 99ers at the99ersband.com and at https://the99ers.bandcamp.com/music. Also on I Tunes, Spotify & other streaming services.

You can find Stephen’s educational Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/BrookfieldWorkshops/

His Wikipedia Entry can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Brookfield


The Narrator

About Jack de Golia:
Jack records in a Gretch-Ken Pro double walled sound isolation booth, using a Studio Projects C1 mic, Scarlett Solo interface, and MacBook Air computer running the Twisted Wave recording app.

A veteran audiobook narrator, e-learning voice, video game actor, and storyteller: Jack will give you winning, ahead-of-schedule voice work for audiobooks, e-learning, political ads, cartoons, commercials and videogames, and anything involving character voices. With a PR & stage-acting career spanning four decades, Jack brings a seasoned and always fresh approach to voiceover work. It’s been said he has the voice of “every man’s man.” While Jack is based in Las Vegas, his studio lets him work all over the world as a male voice actor.



FTC Disclosure:
This book in it's various formats were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Sunday, 5 July 2026

DEATH LESSONS


Death Lessons by James Maxstadt
Book 1 in the Lilly The Necromancer series
Narrated by Jane Alvey Harris
Genre: urban fantasy YA
Format: paperback & audiobookAudiobook


About Death Lessons:
When the dead rise...

...don’t tell anyone it’s your fault.

Lilly is a young child when she helps her first ghost. Turns out, she’s a necromancer. And there’s only one place for a kid like her: The Academy.

From the first carriage ride, Lilly’s life changes. Now, she faces a whole new world of challenges and dangers. And far too often, her greatest enemy is herself.

But if she can stay out of her own way, she just might have a magical seven years.

Lilly’s got a lot of growing up to do...

...as long as she doesn’t end up one of the dead herself.
Source: Info in the "About Death Lessons" was taken from GoodReasds at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51735321-death-lessons on 07/11/2021.

My Thoughts:
I didn't realise at first that this was a YA because the first volley was a scene between a grandmother and her grandson.

In the middle of reading this book I was also listening to Mindset by Dr. Carol Dweck. I realised that Lilly has the kind of mindset that allows for growth and healing. It's the way Lilly views Abigail's responses right at the start. Now, that is something I would like to emulate. Easier said than done. Having said that, it does not mean that it cannot be done! It just means that if one wants a happier life, then one have to work harder for it! Growth mindset...

This is my first James Maxstadt read and I'm glad that I came across this author. I like the way he tells the story! I like Lilly's positivity. And I wonder if we are going to see Kenneth again...

This is my first Jane Alvey Harris listen and I like the way she reads the book. Her voice is also not grating to the ears. Kudos for the narrator!

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4
Character development = 4.5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 4
Ending = 3.5
World building = 4
Cover art = 3.5
Pace = (10 hrs and 32 mins)
Plot = 3.5
Narration = 4.5

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 cherries


Books In The Lilly The Necromancer Series:

Meet The Author

About James Maxstadt:
Author living in NC with his beautiful wife, writing away and trying to learn all this new-fangled social media stuff...


The Narrator

About Jane Alvey Harris:
Ms. Harris has a degree in Humanities from Brigham Young University with emphases in Art History, Italian Language, and Studio Art. She enjoys playing classical piano, painting & sketching, singing & acting, and especially writing poetry & prose.

But her real passion is people. Jane loves to watch and study what makes us tick as human beings. She's definitely a dreamer. Her favorite thing to do is weave together sublime settings and stories for characters to live and learn in...herself included.

Jane currently lives in an enchanted fairy-princess castle in Dallas, Texas, with her three often-adorable children and three seldom-adorable cats. Right now she's working on the last book in the award winning YA psychological fantasy thriller, the My Myth Trilogy.



FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.

Thursday, 5 March 2026

WOLF PACK


Wolf Pack by Craig Zerf
Book 5 in the Project Bloodborn series
Genre: urban fantasy
Format: ebook


Synopses:
The synopsis of the first book, Wolf Man:

Brenner is not a werewolf...

He is the result of a secret US Army experiment. The creation of a government controlled Super Soldier.

And no one asked if he wanted to take part.

So, he escaped. And for the last fifty years has been living in the backroads and the small unknown towns of America. Never aging. Searching for a cure. At the same time avoiding the dark ops experts who are looking for him.

But just because he can become a seven foot, four hundred pound killing machine, it doesn't mean that Brenner is bad. In fact, he sticks to a strict code.

And like the High Plains drifters of old, anyone who crosses the Wolfman's code is sure to suffer.

They took his humanity ... and now it's time for payback.

Synopsis of Wolf Pack:

The adventures of Brenner and Griff continues in this book. A couple of old army buddies. Vietnam veterans. One old and one young. One human, one wolf. Together they fight evil. The bad guys this time is another group of US military group much like the first one. Experimenting. However unlike the first US military group, their experimentation has a new twist. Either way, they are still very bad.
The synopsis of the first book was taken from GoodReads at https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36178703-wolf-man on 14/06/2021. The synopsis of the current book, Wolf Pack, is provided by me.


Buy Link(s):


My Thoughts:
What I want to know is, what happened to Bruno Catalano?! The author just left it there hanging for the reader to fill in the blanks. I do not like that kind of writing. It's like, so he's dead. Then later on in the series he rose to life again! That is really annoying! If the bad guys are to rise back to life again, let him die properly first!! Whether he comes back to life or not, at least give the reader the satisfaction of reading him die! Geez! **grumble grumble**

This is also the book which started to use the "chopped-up" kind of writing where a different thread of the story is told after every other chapter. Like for example, chapter 20 is Brenner. 21 is Solomon. Then 22 is Brenner again. And so on and so forth until the end. I so hate this kind of writing. It disrupts the flow of the story! It yanks you out of the story. When that happens I needed a minute to re-align myself again. Annoying!! So what I do is cheat. I read the book every other chapter and when that thread is done, I go back to the last chapter I skipped and follow that thread until the end. Less annoying that way. However, I sincerely hope that Craig Zerf would go back to his old style of writing and abandon this new-found style!

Same old, same old, MO. Our heroes fight bad guys. Blood and gore! Same tune, different song. And still same enjoyable read.

Another short-ish read (at 237 pages) from this author. Still a violent book, not recommended for young readers.

Empirical Evaluation:
Story telling quality = 4.5
Character development = 5
Story itself = 4
Writing Style = 2.5
Ending = 3.5
World building = 5
Cover art = 4.5
Pace = 4
Plot = 4

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 cherries


Books In Project Bloodborn Series:
Book 1: WOLF MAN Book 2: WOLF SPIRIT Book 3: WOLF KILLER Book 4: WOLF WARRIOR Book 5: WOLF PACK Book 6: WOLF KING Book 7: WOLF GUARDIAN Book 8: WOLF SOLDIER Book 9: WOLF SHEILD Book 10: WOLF MESSENGER


Meet The Author

About Craig Zerf:
Craig Zerf is a full-time writer who has been awarded the Golganooza Gold medal for Fantasy as well as being voted 'Best Read' by radio BBC United Kingdom.

His novels have been translated into French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and German.

Craig has lived in America, Africa and Europe and now resides in England with his wife and two imaginary cats.

His books have reached the number one Best Seller spot in both the United Kingdom and Germany and he reckons that writing is about the most fun that you can have without actually blowing things up!



FTC Disclosure:
The ebook and audiobook were bought with private funds.
No money received for this review.