Friday, June 13, 2025

Ghost Circles (Bone #7) by Jeff Smith: Book Review

 (Book Review--Bone Series)


[This is a reread in the sense that I read these same issues before when I read Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic.  However, this is my first time reviewing this volume by itself, so for the purposes of my new review project, I'm going to count this as a video only review.]





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Thursday, June 12, 2025

Old Man's Cave (Bone #6) by Jeff Smith: Book Review

 (Book Review--Bone Series)


[This is a reread in the sense that I read these same issues before when I read Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic.  However, this is my first time reviewing this volume by itself, so for the purposes of my new review project, I'm going to count this as a video only review.]





Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/43IgiVt            (This is an Amazon associate's link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

So, I got this in my inbox this afternoon:



 It was not completely unexpected.  I had known that I didn't have the 3 qualifying purchases, and that my time was running out to get them.  And in fact, I had anticipated this might happen even back in February, as I wrote at the time.

Just in case anyone is curious, for the record it looks like I only got 1 qualifying purchase during my 180 days.  And it actually wasn't even something I had linked to, it was for a piano accessory.  I'm guessing someone must have followed one of my links over to Amazon, and then stayed browsing on Amazon.  Even though they bought something else, it apparently still counted as one of my qualifying purchases.  So thank you, whoever that was.  Because I never got the other two qualifying purchases, I never qualified for the comission, but had I qualified, I would have gotten 43 cents off of that purchase.  Which is, of course, a reminder of just how little money one can expect to make off of a blog, even under the best of circumstances.

In spite of all of this, however, I've decided to go ahead and re-apply and try again.  Because it never hurts to keep trying, because every little bit (potentially) helps, and because, as I wrote back in February, I like the idea of giving my readers a link to Amazon regardlesss--it makes it easy for them to check out whatever it is I'm talking about.

The good news is that it's very easy to just reapply for the Amazon Associate's program.
The bad news is that all of my old Amazon Associate's links are no longer valid.  So if you click on a link from an old blog post, that no longer counts.
At the moment, I've decided I'm not going to bother updating my old links--that's just too big of a project.  So, I've changed the label on all those posts from Contains Amazon Associates Link to Contains Now Defunct Amazon Associates Link.  And I will be deleting the old links in my Amazon Associate's Links index and starting over.

For the record (just for posterity's sake), all of the old defunct links are listed down below.  These links should all "work" in the sense that they will take you to the appropriate product page, but I no longer get a comission off of them.  I present them below just for historical interest.

Books

Comic Books

DVDs

Amazon Prime

Rock Jaw: Master of the Eastern Border (Bone #5) by Jeff Smith: Book Review

 (Book Review--Bone Series)


[This is a reread in the sense that I read these same issues before when I read Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic.  However, this is my first time reviewing this volume by itself, so for the purposes of my new review project, I'm going to count this as a video only review.]





Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

Support me on Patreon: https://patreon.com/JoelSwagman

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Starting: Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model (3rd Edition) by Jana J. Echevarria, MaryEllen J. Vogt, Deborah J. Short

Check out this book on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/43Uvj5r                   (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
Starting: Complete Spanish Step-By-Step by Barbara Bregstein [Premium Second Edition]

Check out this book on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3HBPM7B                   (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)
Revolutions Podcast--The Appendices: Mini-review

As part of my run through of all of Revolutions Podcast, I have now just finished the appendices section.  

Incidentally, it's a bit unclear as to how to even refer to this section.  itunes classifies the appendices as "Season 11" of the show, and I've seen some other websites also refer to the appendices as "Season 11".  Certainly the appendices are long enough to be a whole season on their own--there are 12 appendix episodes, making it longer than the seasons on the July Revolution or the Paris Commune.  But other websites, like Wikipedia, list the fictional Martian Revolution as Season 11.  So I guess it depends who you ask.  But Mike Duncan himself is referring to the Martian Revolution as Season 11, so I guess that's authorative.  

The Appendices originally came out in the fall of 2022.  They are 12 episodes which seek to put an analytical framework on the 10 revolutions that Mike Duncan had covered: What are the commonalities among the 10 revolutions covered?  What have we learned about revolutions over the course of the series? Etc.
I was aware of these when they came out, but I opted not to listen to them at the time.  I'm more of a narrative history guy,  and so when these more analytical episodes started coming out, I figured I'd wait to listen to them.  
It wasn't that I was totally disinterested in them, but at the time I was more concerned with catching up on the backlog of episodes.  (I was still listening to The French Revolution at the time.)  And I knew I'd catch up with the appendices once I did my run through of the whole series.

Well, here are.
The Appendices are very well done.  Mike Duncan has put a lot of thought into them, and he's come up with some very detailed, and also very insightful, analysis on the nature of revolutions.
Now, I much prefer narratives myself, but that's just me.  If I was a more intelligent person, maybe I would enjoy the analytical stuff more.
Actually even as it was, I didn't hate these analytical episodes.  As I did some mindless chores, the episodes stimulated my brain, and gave me that pleasant feeling that you get when you are learning something interesting.  In other words, they tickled my brain a little.  They got me thinking about a few things.
But at the same time, I don't feel the need to listen to them 3 times through, like I did for the other seasons.  Once was enough.

Now, before I finally finish this podcast,  I'm off to listen to the Martian Revolution.  I have a feeling that once will be enough for the Martian Revolution as well.
Started: Essential Vietnamese Grammar by Tri C. Tran

Quizlet Folder HERE

Check out this book on Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3FQY1fq                   (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

The Complete Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy Volume 17: 1956-1957: Book Review

Started: June 6, 2025

(This is my first time reading this book, so according to my new rules, I'm doing this as a video only review.)







The Complete Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy Volume 17: 1956-1957: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOY-0V_l_9x7XNgtBO5FsfRltwOHRbSCW&si=W0SAQc4dV25ODEhB

I was able to read this book thanks to the Michigan statewide state-wide interlibrary loan service called MeLCat, which may be in danger thanks to a Presidential executive order.  If you, like me, enjoy using MeLCat, contact your local representatives and let them know. 

Did you enjoy this review? Consider supporting me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/joelswagman

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Check out this book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4n4RAX0       (This is an Amazon Associate's Link.  If you buy anything through that link, I get a commission.)

Monday, June 09, 2025

FYI: One of my reading projects for the summer is to finish off the Bone series.  Because these books are so short, I've decided I'm not going to make individual Started posts for them, at least not for the remaining books in the series.