It’s been awhile! This is on me. I started a new full-time job in October and guess what, that sorta stuff keeps ya busy!
So, I must admit that while I do fully intend to keep this project alive, it’ll be far less frequent then it has ever been before.
HOWEVER, a few things in this issue.
A book review of Dustin Brady’s World’s Worst Time Machine
I will be working on an upcoming new column in The Pop Culture Guide on vinyl reviews, many from Vinyl Me, Please (save $ with this link) who I recently resubscribed to in the Essentials Track.
F off Twitter, I’m on Notes now!
Review: World’s Worst Time Machine
My son (8-years-old) has been following Dustin Brady as a writer now for the past few years. When he was 6, his older cousins suggested he read the Trapped In A Video Game series. He got the whole series for Christmas and quickly plowed through them, then begging for Escape From A Video Game, the follow-up that was written like a Choose Your Own Adventure story.
He admitted that this book what a challenge for him - the puzzles and codebreaking required to advance in the story were hard for him. However, he was still engaged and really happy.
Around the time that he was reading the TIAVG series, I started to follow Dustin Brady and then joined his email list. In fact, we actually emailed back and forth a few times talking about writing. I knew early when Dustin announced to his email list that a new book was coming out, and I pre-ordered it immediately.
So, when the book arrived, it's safe to say that my son was THRILLED. He read it in just a few days. When I asked him what he thought, this is what he said:
WHAT AN 8-YEAR-OLD THINKS ABOUT THIS BOOK
I liked the Nikola Tesla part a lot. It took me only a few days to read, I was really into it. It’s a lot like Trapped In A Video Game series which I really like too. My parents made me stop reading so I’d go to bed!
---
Admittedly, I was hoping to get a bit more out of him regarding his take so I could add to this review, but let's be honest, that's about as good of a review out of the target market as you could hope!
WHAT AN ADULT THINKS OF THE BOOK
Dustin knows his audience. But he doesn’t pander to them. Its clear he respects his readers and he approaches his style in such a way. The style uses simple structure to convey his story clearly, present his characters with realistic conversation, and most uniquely for this book, educate his reader.
While he plays with the characters a bit, as one would imagine in a work of fiction, he does so carefully. It helps that he’s a parent (in the About the Author section, it says he has 3 kids), so he understands how certain language dynamics best work for certain audiences.
If you’re looking to read this as an adult - you’ll enjoy it! But, it isn’t written for you, it’s for young readers, and it’s written to entertain and educate.
Dustin provides a useful appendix to explain a bit more historically about some of the cast of characters from the book, including Alvin Karpis and the Barker Boys.
I appreciate books like this a lot as a parent, books that engage my young readers, and inspire them to think, talk about what they read, and be excited. Excitement and desire to read more is the joy I get from reading and writing, so to see that translated to my kids is a real joy.
So, credit to Dustin Brady for creating another engaging story that captured my son and kept him so engaged that my wife and I had to tell him to stop reading and go to sleep.
Regardless of what any adult would say, I think that’s the biggest win an author for young readers could hope for.
NOTES!
I been playing around with the new Substack Notes, and would love for you to join me there!
Notes is a new space on Substack for us to share links, short posts, quotes, photos, and more. I plan to use it for things that don’t fit in the newsletter, like work-in-progress or quick questions.
How to join
Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber to Designedly Miscellaneous, you’ll automatically see my notes. Feel free to like, reply, or share them around!
You can also share notes of your own. I hope this becomes a space where every reader of Designedly Miscellaneous can share thoughts, ideas, and interesting quotes from the things we're reading on Substack and beyond.
Why Substack Notes
Fellow writers and readers are spending time in Notes for a variety of reasons.
Ted Gioia sees Notes as a forum for dialogue.
The idea behind Notes is simple. Millions of people now participate in Substack as writers and readers—but much of this is built on long articles and essays. We now have a forum for dialoguing and sharing shorter posts.
Chris Ryan is drawn to Substack as an alternative for legacy social media.
One of my main reasons for joining Substack was to wean myself off exploitative social media platforms. I’m hoping this is going to help move us along on that journey!
Sherman Alexie wants to create a kind and creative new space in Notes.
I’m going to focus on being positive, with my own thoughts and photos and by linking to songs, stories, poems from around the web and from other Substacks.
If you encounter any issues, you can always refer to the Notes FAQ for assistance. Looking forward to seeing you there!