All posts by NerdPie

Books, Things & Travel

Crank Palace: The Latest Edition to The Maze Runner Fandom

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I was sent a new novella to review called Crank Palace. This is set during the third book of The Maze Runner series by James Dashner. It is an interesting look into the complex world that Dashner has built for his characters. I enjoyed reading this novella but I would say that it really isn’t written for people that haven’t read the rest of the book series.

This novella delves far into the disease-ridden dystopia that Dashner has built for this series and how it has affected ordinary citizens. It also deals with the topic of found family and loss in a very compelling way. Because this novella is placed in the middle of the third and final book in The Maze Runner series there isn’t much that I can tell you about the lot or the characters that aren’t major spoilers for the series itself but it was a fun little read.

The Maze Runner series has a huge following and three movies under its belt and this novella is a great new expansion to the universe, but if you hadn’t gotten into this series yet this book probably isn’t for you. As someone who never really got into this fandom, I still enjoyed reading this novella but I wouldn’t really recommend it unless you were are already invested in these characters. Have you read this yet or are you going to read it?

Let me know in the comments below! I would also love to know your take on novella additions to book series, do you go looking for them or just read the main series. Let me know and I will see you next time!

Nerdpie

Homeschool Hangout, Books, education, Educational, Homeschooling, Homeschoooling, Reading

Artemis Fowl: The Series

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I have found one of the best books series’ for kids I think is around so I thought I’d share it with you guys. It’s called Artemis Fowl. These books are about a Maniacal Sociopath who is a major criminal. He has stolen and earned through shady deals over 2 million dollars. Did I mention he is 11 years old? One of the reasons I thought it was a good time to write about this book series is that there is a movie coming out in June! On June 12th Artemis Fowl is coming to Disney+ and I am super excited!

This book series is all about this kid who discovered that fairies are real and they have been living underneath us this whole time. Thousands of years ago there was a great war between the Mud men (us) and the fairies and instead of getting wiped out they went underground and were forgotten by history. Until Artemis Fowl decide he was going to prove they were real and rob them blind.

I love these books because they are an excellent mix of fantasy and science fiction that I love. The only thing cooler than a race of fairies that have awesome magic is a race of fairies with magic that are so technologically advanced that you can buy a nuclear power source that lasts forever and is smaller than a battery. 

I love this book series because of its incredible blend of many different genres and the way that it does it seamlessly.

Movies, NerdFamily Things, Things & Travel

Frozen 2

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Disney is going through a round of sequels and I think that Frozen 2 might have surpassed them all. This movie was simply incredible and I hope you all consider watching it soon. I think that this is the next must-see of 2019 and I hope you all see it as fast as you can.

I know that a feeling a lot of my friends had about the first movie was that it was a good movie but it became too popular to the point that everyone got sick of it. So I know that I was worried if this was just to ride on Frozen’s coattails or be an actually good film. But my worst fears were unfounded because this was an amazing movie in its own right.

One thing that I did want to put out there is that this movie isn’t as child-friendly (at least to me) as the first one. In the first movie, there are a few scary bits that could seem quite alarming especially whenever Marshmallow is on screen but there is also quite a bit of thematic climax like when we see Anna freeze. In this movie, There is nothing quite as visually scary as Marshmallow but there are quite a few climactic scenes that are not for the faint of heart.

Think that is is a movie for an older audience more than the first one. Kristen Bell (Anna) said in an interview “This movie has matured along with its audience.” This was a movie that was full of character development and an ever-changing plot and that is something that is much more enjoyable to an older audience. Because of how much of the screen time was put into plot development I think that younger children will get bored and have a hard time following the movie.

In conclusion, this is an amazing movie and I think that everyone should watch it. The graphics were amazing, the music was incredible, and the plot was well developed. Comment below if you have seen it and what you thought of it and if you haven’t, well what are you waiting for go watch it! Also, let me know in the comments what you want to hear from me next about. I am trying to get back into writing and I would love to hear your feedback about what I should be writing.

Nerdpie

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Dawn Chandler

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There is a new author in town and her name is Eliza. My friend Eliza is releasing her first book on May 13th and Y’all should check it out. The books name is Dawn Chandler and it is written for 10 to 12-year-old girls primarily but Nerdster and Myself loved it and I would recommend it to anyone looking for their next book. if you want to pre-order it, click here and if you want to meet the author you can check out her blog here.

This story is a beautifully written story of a young girl who is moving away from all that she has known. As she gets to know all the people in her new town she starts to realize that moving might not be the worst thing to do. If you have read any of the American Girl books you will love Dawn Chandler. The greatest part of this novel for me is the way that Eliza is able to weave Christianity and a good story together so effortlessly

Nerdpud feels that this book is very relatable to her own experiences. And I loved this book because of how well it is able to get a young girls struggles and emotions across. Nerdster says that it was nice reading a girl story that wasn’t a love story.

If y’all want to meet Eliza she is doing a book signing on Saturday, May 18th and I hope you guys will be able to make it. It is at Majesty Bible and Gifts, Fresno. The Nerdfamily will be stopping by during the event and I hope to see y’all there. Comment below if you are interested and if you have any good book recommendations for me








Things & Travel, Holidays, Movies

Nutcracker and The Four Realms

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I was so excited to get to go to a preview with my mom and see this movie because I have been a fan of the Nutcracker ever since I was little. We would watch it every year before Christmas. And this movie exceeds my expectations very well. It was neither cheesy nor overdone and it was amazing. My only problem was that there was not enough dancing or Misty Copeland but other than that it was incredible.

The great thing about this movie is home it took its inspiration from the different originals. The realms are inspired by the tour of the fairyland that Clara takes with her prince. They did a good job of the picking and choosing what should go into it and what should be left out.

I think that the music was my favorite part. They stuck to the music score we all know and love and set it to a whirlwind of different scenes. They had a Ballet with the starring role played by Misty Copeland that was exquisite and of course, it was set to the original music but the truly incredible part is the way that they added the music to almost every scene without making it seem forced, it was truly a work of art.

I have already been asked by others “Was it scary?” and “Would you say that children can see it?” and I would say that it was just a touch scary but no more so than the original. I know that I used to be scared of the scene where Clara faces the Mouse King and it would frighten me but then I would always laugh when Clara would hit the Mouse King with her shoe.

This is definitely going to be added to our watch list for Christmases to come. I am very excited to show the rest of my family this movie. I would definitely recommend this movie to anyone whether they are huge fans of the Nutcracker or have never seen it. This movie has that something special for everyone. Once you have seen it let me know down in the comments how you liked it and what your favorite part was.

NerdPie

 

(Disclosure: I watched the movie courtesy of Disney but all opinions and thoughts are mine.)








Things & Travel, Movies

Incredibles: The Wait Ends

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Well, I am calling it, the wait for Incredibles 2 was totally worth it. Disney generously let my mom, my sister, and I to attend a preview this week and it made me so happy. It was a great family movie and we got to see each of the characters really grow in this movie. There was lots of humor in this movie but it didn’t feel like it was forced in. I loved the balance between the humor (of which there were loads) and the fight scenes.

One thing that thrilled me about this movie was that with the restraints the creators put in the original world, all of the events that take place feel like they were natural progression instead of events forced to create drama. A lot of movies including Marvel movies, have those moments where you are just like you could have done this and none of this would have happened.

I love that in the Incredibles universe it deals with the actual legal problems there would be if we had superheroes in the real world. And this movie continued in that line very well. It was the perfect mix of humor and action and I can strongly recommend it to everyone. 

One of the things that this movie really hit home for me was Jack-Jack. I loved the baby and all of his antics.  This baby looks like my friend’s son that I love, and I couldn’t stop seeing his antics in all of Jack-Jack hilarity. This baby is such an adorable baby even while he is getting up to regular baby hijinks. All I want for the next Incredibles movie is 2 hours of Jack-Jack just being a baby. 

In conclusion, Incredibles Two lives up to all the hype and was definitely worth the wait. There is nothing in this movie that would dissuade me from recommending it to all of my friends, and I hope you all get a chance to see it soon Let me know in the comments what you are most looking forward to in this movie and once you have seen it let me know who was your favorite character.

Nerdpie

(Disclosure: I did see the movie for free but all words, thoughts, and opinions are mine and mine alone.)








Minecraft

Minecraft Tapestry: What To Do With Your Minecraft Wool

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Today I am going to tell you all about what you can do with wool. Wool is a very helpful item because you can make a bunch of decorations out of it. You can get it from shearing a sheep or from killing it. If you shear the sheep you can get 1 to 3 pieces of wool and it grows back, but if you kill the sheep to will get 1 piece and some mutton and it never grows back.

The most common use of wool is for making beds. The recipe for a bed is wood planks on the bottom ow and wool blocks on the middle row of the crafting table. A bed is used to sleep in though that might be a foreign concept to you. You will sleep until morning when you right click on it.

Did you know that you can dye wool? Because it is really helpful if you are using wool to decorate to have some color in it. You can dye a block of wool whatever color or you can dye a sheep and all wool that is produced by that sheep will be that color until it is redyed. And when you breed 2 sheep that are the same color the lamb will be that color.

One of my favorite ways to use wool is to make carpet. If you can make the dye you can make that color carpet. The recipe is wool in the middle left and middle and in the bottom left and middle on the crafting table interface. You can make a floating block by placing something over a piece of carpet. The carpet is seen as one full block so it appears to float in the air.

The last thing I am going to tell you about is pictures. These are great pieces to put on blank walls. The recipe is a wool block in the middle middle and sticks in every other spot in the crafting interface 

I hope that this gets you in the decorating mood.

Nerdpie








Games, Minecraft

Nerdpie’s Guide to Minecraft Meat

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nerdpies-guide-to-minecraft-meat

Minecraft has a wide variety of meat products that you can eat. I like to eat all of them. If you want you can farm different animals in the same pit or in different pits if you want. If you eat your meat raw  then it might make you sick. If you are sick you can drink milk to get rid of the sickness.Otherwise it will reduce you to having 1 health point until you regenerate the rest.

Mutton

Mutton is a newer meat only put out in 1.9. You get mutton from sheep. Sheep is a great animal to farm because you can shear wool from it and you get meat so it is a win win situation. Mutton is 2 food points when raw but when you cook it in a furnace mutton becomes 6 food points.

Beef

This might be the most used meat in Minecraft because cows are really helpful. You can milk them with a bucket. And when you kill them you will get leather and beef. When you eat beef you will get 3 food points and when you cook beef you will get steak which is 8 food points.

Porkchop

This might be the least used meat in Minecraft because pigs only give you porkchops, nothing else. If you want them to follow you, you have to have a carrot in your hand. Porkchops give you 3 food points if raw and  8 food points if cooked.

Rotten Flesh

While this isn’t exactly meat it is somewhere in that region. You get it from zombies when they die and isn’t really helpful. If you eat it you will probably get sick and you can’t cook the sickness out of it. One piece of rotting flesh is 4 food points

I hope that this helps you decide what you are going to farm animal wise.

Nerdpie








Minecraft

The Liquids of Minecraft

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minecraft-liquids

I am going to tell you all about the liquids of Minecraft because they are really interesting yet you could live without them. Like you do not need to drink any thing throughout the enter game which is really cool yet scary because then there is nothing that can tie us to a place because of water.

Water

This is the most common liquid because it is in lakes and oceans all around and no water can get dirty. All water is the same in Minecraft no matter where you find it. Water is used as the base of all potions and can be traveled over using a boat.

Lava

This is a really cool resource because it will destroy a lot of different things like plants or you. If you touch lava you will be lit on fire and with stane lots of damage from it. If you are in the lava you will most likely die. Lava is a good barrier for keeping out the monsters from your fortress. I suggest you make some way to get over it though. Unless you like swimming in lava

Potions

These are really helpful but I am not going to go into them in great detail. You can make a fire resistance potion to help with the aforementioned lava swimming. You can also make a water breathing potion to help with the actual swimming.

Milk

This liquid is very helpful as it combats poison. There are a couple of different ways to get poison but all of them give you the same effect. The most often way is eating raw meat. It won’t always give you poison. And there is a potion of poison witches will throw at you.

I hope that this gives you a thirst for knowledge about Minecraft liquids.

Nerdpie








Minecraft

Minecraft Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

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Dessert Week. Today I’m going to teach you how to make Minecraft desserts. I love to make Minecraft desserts they look so cool. I sometimes stumped to find the ingredients but when I am able to make desserts I am always glad. I have 3 desserts to show you how to make and I bet you will use them a lot.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

These aren’t exactly your mama’s Chocolate Chip Cookies but I bet you will like them just as much. They are super good for your guy as they use less resources than wheat per food point. The recipe is Wheat in the middle left and right and Cacao beans in the middle middle. You will get 8 cookies for consumption which is scrumdiddlyumptious. It restores 2 food points. 

Pumpkin Pie 

This is Nerdster’s fave dessert on Minecraft because it is really cheap on resources and really good on food points. The recipe is a Pumpkin a sugar and an egg anywhere on the crafting table. Pumpkin pie is really good for you because you can get 8 food points from it. And you can stack to 64 so you can carry a weeks worth in one spot.

Cake

This is the most complicated dessert but it is very rewarding. The recipe is milk buckets in the top row (don’t worry after you craft it they will stay on the crafting table as empty buckets), sugar in the middle left and right, an egg in the middle middle, and wheat across the bottom. Cake is actually set down as a block before eating and is eaten in slices. You right click on it and you eat a slice. One slice is 2 food points making the whole cake 14 food points, You can’t stack more than on cake making them hard to lug around but they are great to have at home because all of the ingredients can be found around the farm.

I hope that this will help you to start your own confectionary business around Minecraft. Have fun with it!

Nerdpie