Gotham Books | Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

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The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun by Ken Denmead

August 17, 2011 by Elizabeth A. White •

The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun by Ken Denmead Pssst. Wanna know a secret? You don’t have to be a dad, or even have kids for that matter, to enjoy the hell out of The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun.

The follow up to his book Geek Dad, in The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun author Ken Denmead presents a wide range of activities designed to bring parents and kids together for hours of fun and education.

Each project is clearly broken down with a chart that gives you an idea of cost, difficulty, duration (how long it will take), reusability, and the tools and materials required. And while some projects will require an expenditure, Denmead goes out of his way to structure most around common household items that most will already have readily accessible.

The projects themselves range from educational (Did you know you can measure the speed of light using nothing more than chocolate and a microwave? Sure can.), to cost saving (Tired of spending tons of cabbage on role playing games? Then learn how to make your own combat card games and terrain pieces.), to downright James Bond-esque (Seriously, who wouldn’t want to know how to build a backyard zip line or Nerf dart blowgun?!).

And since the whole idea behind the book is to promote learning through hands-on activity, many of the projects also include a section called “Extra Geeky Ideas” that suggest variations and ideas for further customizing the project or experiment to encourage kids to use their immaginations. Similarly, where applicable there are sidebar boxes called “Quick Science Lesson” to help kids further understand the concepts behind the projects and experiments.

No question about it, The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun is a great book for parents, kids, and those who are still kids at heart. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think there are two trees in the backyard that would work perfectly for that zip line.

The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun is available from Gotham Books (ISBN: 978-1592406449).

Ken Denmead is a husband and father from the San Francisco Bay Area, where he works as a civil engineer. He’s also the editor of GeekDad, the parenting blog for Wired magazine’s online presence, where along with a group of other dedicated, geeky parents he posts projects, book and movie reviews, weekly podcasts, and more about being a parent and being a geek. The Geek Dad’s Guide to Weekend Fun is the follow up to Geek Dad. To learn more about Ken, visit his website.

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Nerd Do Well by Simon Pegg

June 20, 2011 by Elizabeth A. White •

It’s a hell of a thing to meet your heroes, let alone find yourself working with them. – Simon Pegg

So why’s an ardent reader of crime fiction and noir reviewing the autobiography of a comedic actor? Because I absolutely adore Simon Pegg, that’s why.

There are very few television shows or films these days that I actually find amusing, most straying too far into lowbrow high jinks centered around arrested adolescence. Everything of Pegg’s I’ve seen, however, manages to strike just the right balance between intelligent and irreverent, clever and crass.

In Nerd Do Well Pegg gives readers a look at the upbringing and influences that shaped the sense of humor and talent we’ve all come to know and love through his work in films such as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul, and the rebooted Star Trek.

Early on Pegg notes that he doesn’t find it easy to talk about himself and his family, yet he does so in such a candid, disarming way that the book reads much more intimately than I think Pegg believed he was capable of writing. Far from coming across like a stuffy memoir, Nerd Do Well has the feel of a casual conversation held while downing a couple of pints discussing shared experiences and influences. (more…)