Book Reviews and More: December 2012

Monday, 31 December 2012

Top Ten Reading Goals 2012 Recap

I think it is good to have reading goals but last year I met less than half of mine. My reading habits and interests change often I go through periods or trends. So these are more hopeful expectations as we begin this new reading year. (Nope did not happen just wishful thinking, but then only read about a dozen novels in the second half of the year because of changes at work.

1. Read all 6 book in the Duncton series by William Horwood.
(Nope did not even get started)
2. Read the rest of the books in The Gardians of Ga'Hoole Series.
(Nope)
3. Read all book by Barry Lyga and review.
(All but one amazing books!)
4. Read all books by N.D. Wilson and review.
(Closer but not all.)
5. Try and hit 100 novels read this year.
Nope only about 65)
6. Create a top ten list each quarter for fiction, and at end of year for fiction, non-fiction and picture books. (1st Quarter, 2nd Quarter, 3rd Quarter, 4th Quarter and Top Ten Book of 2012.)
(Yes)7. Review every book read in 2012
(Yep)
8. Finish reading at least one book by every contributor in Geektastic.
Have not touched yet. Still a priority.
9. TBD
10. TBD

Statistics Books Read By Year:
176 - 2012
163 - 2011
302 - 2010
142 - 2009
98 - 2008
83 - 2007
191 - 2006
151 - 2005
60 - 2004
52 - 2003
97 - 2002
50 - 2001
41 - 2000
71 - 1999
73 - 1998
131 - 1997
101 - 1996

Relates Posts:
Top 10 Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2010
Top 10 Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2010
Top 10 Reading Goals for 2010
Top 10 Fiction Books 3rd Quarter 2010
Top 10 Fiction Books 4th Quarter 2010
Top Ten Reading Goals For 2010 - Recap
Top 10 Fiction Books 2010
Top 10 Picture Books of 2010
Top 10 Non-Fiction Books of 2010
Top 10 Graphic Novels for 2010
Top Ten Reading Goals For 2011
Top Ten Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2011
Top Ten Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2011
Top Ten Reading Goals for 2011 Update
Top Ten Fiction Books 3rd Quarter 2011
Top Ten Fictions Books 4th Quarter 2011
Top Ten Fiction Books 2011
Top Ten Reading Goals 2011 - Recap
Top Ten Reading Goals 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 3rd Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 4th Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 2012
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2012
Top Ten Reading Goals 2012 - Recap
Top Ten Reading Goals 2013
Top 10 Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2013
Top 10 Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2013
Top 10 Books Second Half 2013
Top Ten Fiction Books 2013
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2013
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2014
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2014
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2014
Top Ten Books Fourth Quarter 2014
Top Ten Fiction Books 2014
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2014
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2015
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2015
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2015

All Top Ten Lists on Book Reviews and More

Peace and Strength!
Yours, learning to be
Steven R. McEvoy

http://mcevoysmusings.ca My Homepage
http://bookreviewsandmore.ca My Blog
http://www.linkedin.com/in/srmcevoy LinkedIN
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CompTIA IT PRO, A+ ITT, A+ DT, A+ RST, Network+, Security+
Microsoft MCSE, MCSA, MCP, MCTS, MCITP, MOS
Apple ACSP, ACA

"The only reason for being a professional writer is that you can't help it."
- Leo Rosten

Sunday, 30 December 2012

Top Ten Fiction Books 2012

Top Ten Fiction Books 2012

1. I Hunt Killers - Barry Lyga
2. The Dead I Know - Scot Gardner
3. Son - The Worlds Book 4 - Lois Lowry
4. Firegirl - Tony Abbott
5. Toppling - Sally Murphy
6. Megiddo's Shadow - Arthur Slade
7. Brookdale High Books - Barry Lyga
Hero-Type - Boy Toy - The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl
8. Such Wicked Intent - Kenneth Oppel
9. (you) set me on fire - Mariko Tamaki
10. Unspoken - Henry Cole
11. Judy Moody Books & Stink Moody Books - Megan McDonald & Peter H. Reynolds

Relates Posts:
Top 10 Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2010
Top 10 Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2010
Top 10 Reading Goals for 2010
Top 10 Fiction Books 3rd Quarter 2010
Top 10 Fiction Books 4th Quarter 2010
Top Ten Reading Goals For 2010 - Recap
Top 10 Fiction Books 2010
Top 10 Picture Books of 2010
Top 10 Non-Fiction Books of 2010
Top 10 Graphic Novels for 2010
Top Ten Reading Goals For 2011
Top Ten Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2011
Top Ten Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2011
Top Ten Reading Goals for 2011 Update
Top Ten Fiction Books 3rd Quarter 2011
Top Ten Fictions Books 4th Quarter 2011
Top Ten Fiction Books 2011
Top Ten Reading Goals 2011 - Recap
Top Ten Reading Goals 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 3rd Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 4th Quarter 2012
Top Ten Fiction Books 2012
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2012
Top Ten Reading Goals 2012 - Recap
Top Ten Reading Goals 2013
Top 10 Fiction Books 1st Quarter 2013
Top 10 Fiction Books 2nd Quarter 2013
Top 10 Books Second Half 2013
Top Ten Fiction Books 2013
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2013
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2014
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2014
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2014
Top Ten Books Fourth Quarter 2014
Top Ten Fiction Books 2014
Top Ten Non-Fiction Books 2014
Top Ten Books First Quarter 2015
Top Ten Books Second Quarter 2015
Top Ten Books Third Quarter 2015

All Top Ten Lists on Book Reviews and More

Statistics Books Read By Year:
176- 2012
163 - 2011
302 - 2010
142 - 2009
98 - 2008
83 - 2007
191 - 2006
151 - 2005
60 - 2004
52 - 2003
97 - 2002
50 - 2001
41 - 2000
71 - 1999
73 - 1998
131 - 1997
101 - 1996

Saturday, 29 December 2012

Top 10 Fiction Books of the 4th Quarter 2012

Top 10 Fiction Books of the 4th Quarter 2012

Friday, 28 December 2012

Outdoor Adventures - BOB Books - Lynn Maslen Kertell and Sue Hendra

Outdoor Adventures
BOB Books
Lynn Maslen Kertell (Author)
Sue Hendra (Illustrator)
Scholastic
ISBN 9780545382717

These leveled readers really keep children's attention. They progress as the child's ability to read does also. These are great books and the BOB Books readers and packs are great resources for parents or teachers alike.

Jack and Anna from Cupcake Surprise are back in this new adventure. This time they spend a day hiking with their father. They pack a picnic, drive a long way and hike until the sun starts going down. The next day they want to do it again and get up early and pack a lunch, only to find out they cannot. So they go to the back yard and use their imagination to have a daylong adventure again. And what a great fun adventure it is. But be warned, children you read it to might just want to go on a hike with you the next day!

About the Level Readers
The Leveled readers from Scholastic are a great way to introduce your child to reading. The levels are:

Pre1: ABC's & First Words
Level 1: Sight words, words to sound out and simple sentences.
Level 2: New vocabulary and longer sentences.
Level 3: Reading for inspiration and information.
Each book has a level rating, a grade level, a reading level, a lexile level and a word count on the back.

Wednesday, 26 December 2012

Certification Career Path

Microsoft Learning's Server 2012 Matrix.
Windows Server Certification and Career Paths

Tuesday, 25 December 2012

Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas

From Book Reviews and More.

Hope you have a blessed holiday season, and may you find many good books under the tree, or sent to you device for eReading.

Monday, 24 December 2012

Inner Geek Updated - December 2012

It has been a year since I updated this thread. And man has a lot happened. Couple of role changes at work and then responsibility changes a few more times. I am now primary for support for a number of Oracle products and back up for some others. This year I earned 3 new designations, the first two without even writing an exam. Thanks to Microsoft's bringing return to MCSA and MCSE, now they stand for Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate and Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert. But that is a big part of what I love about working in IT things are always changing and always new.

The certification's I have earned are:

Exams Written:

Upgrading your MCSA to Windows Server 2012 - Exam 70-417
Apple Certified Technical Coordinator - Exam 9L0-510
Apple Certified Support Professional - Exam 9L0-403
Mac Integration Basics - Exam 9L0-263

MCITP - Windows 7 Desktop Administrator - Exam 070-686

Pro: MS SQL Server 2008 Design, Optimize and Maintain - Exam 070-450

MCITP - Windows Server 2008 Server Administrator - Exam 072-646

MCITP Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Administrator - 070-647

CompTIA Security+ - Exam JKO-015

MCITP Windows 7 Enterprise Desktop Support Technician - EXAM 071-685

MCTS Windows 7 Configuration - Exam 070-680

Implementing Security in MS Win Server 2003 - Exam 70-299

MCTS System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Configuration - Exam 70-403

MCTS Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Implementation & Maintenance - Exam 70-431

MCTS Upgrading MCSE on Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008- Exam 70-649

MCTS Implementing & Managing MS Exchange Server 2003 - Exam 70-284

Security 2003 Server - Exam 70-298

Active Directory 2003 - Exam 70-294

Maintaining Server 2003 - Exam 70-293

Server 2003 Infrastructure - Exam 70-291

Server 2003 - Exam 70-290

MCTS Deploying & Maintaining Vista Client Office System - Exam 070-624

MCITP Desktop Support Consumer Support - 070-623

CompTIA Network+ 2007 - JK0-012 JK0-010

MCTS Windows Vista Client Configuaration - Exam 072-620 & 070-622

MCITP Desktop Support - Exam 072-622

CompTIA A+ Depot Technician - Exam 220-602

CompTIA A+ Remote Support Technician - Exam 220-603

CompTIA A+ IT Technician - Exam JK0-601 220-602

CompTIA A+ Essentials - Exam JK0-601

Microsoft PowerPoint - Exam 810

Microsoft Outlook - Exam 813

Microsoft Access - Exam 807

Microsoft Excel - Exam 804

Microsoft Word - Exam 801

My Updated Certification Schedule is now a focus on Oracle product Support, Hyperion, ODI, OBIEE ... and SQL Server 2012. My goal is in 2013 to achieve MCSE on both Server 2012 and SQL 2012. But i am also going to do the Windows 8 MCSA upgrade exam just for fun and to keep it current.

Articles in this Series:

Unleashing the Inner Geek

MOS Microsoft Office Specialist

Playing with Multi-OS's

Inner Geek - Validated

Inner Geek - On My Way

Inner Geek - Validated February 2008

Inner Geek - Validated September 2008

The Changing face of BRAM

Inner Geek - Updated February 2009

Windows 7 Beta Review

Inner Geek - Updated April 2009

Inner Geek - Updated July 2009

Inner Geek - Updated November 2009

Inner Geek - Updated December 2010
Mac VS PC an It Guys Perspective
Inner Geek - Updated June 2011
Inner Geek - Updated December 2011
Inner Geek - Updated December 2012

These exams were written either at a Prometric Testing Center or at a Certiport Testing Center for the Office exams. The Exams names that have links link to reviews of the books I used to prepare for those exams. These exams are a mix of CompTIA, Microsoft Exams and Apple certification exams.