your inner farming entrepreneur.

I teach in a very rural community where a lot of my students spend their afternoons working on local farms for extra cash. Many of the boys (although girls work on farms, too) are planning on making a career out of farming. I try to fill my classroom book shelves with books that everyone can enjoy so Farms with a Future by Rebecca Thistlethwaite, was a welcomed addition to my collection.

 

This book revolves around creating and growing a sustainable farm business. My students aren't exactly looking into starting up their own farms, but Farms absolutely solved the "Miss Hagen, you don't have anything interesting to read" problem that I have during study halls with a lot of my male students. Rebecca (her last name is too wild so we are on a first name basis), begins at the beginning. Using Chapter 1 to get you started then moves right on to the best practices used in starting your own small-to-midscale market farm. Market research, marketing and pricing strategies, soil and water management, accounting and finances (yawn, but necessary), right on to the products that will add to the value of your farm, and make it more profitable. Rebecca means business, and covers all of the business management aspects of running a farm, which many books leave out.

Now, all you need to do is decide whether or not you want to take the plunge and start your own farm. OR make your current farm more sustainable. OR you can just go to farmers market's, like me. The choice is yours.

educate yourself in investing.

I know nothing about investing, don't you need money to do that? That's probably why it hasn't crossed my radar yet. When I came across Eric Tyson's Investing in your 20s & 30s for Dummies, I felt like maybe it was time to check out my options. God knows the whole retirement fund option our grandparents cashed in on is not exactly available to our generation.

Tyson begins with Investing 101 - making sense of your options and understanding the terms and concepts. Where to make smart investments and understanding the risks involved. You can potentially lose a lot of money, that's why you need to do your homework, dummie. As someone who is swimming in student loans and hoping to buy a house soon, Chapter 5: Laying Out Your Financial Plans showed me that it may be a better idea to use my extra cash to pay down my current debt before I jump into investing. Many of you twenty and thirty-somethings are ready to start investing your money in preparation for you and your family's future. Now is the time, so educate yourself.

siri in your life.

For the most part I want to punch Siri in the face. Half of the time she doesn't understand what I'm saying, unless I'm asking her where to dump a dead body. She gets that.

Marc Saltzman was kind enough to write Siri for Dummies, which has helped my relationship with Siri greatly. I've decided to give her another chance, and try to speak more clearly during our conversations. Saltzman gives advice on how to make the most of her skills, which she does have a lot of. Siri can basically organize your life if you'll let her. I still have trust issues, but I'm working through them.

 

Siri for Dummies includes step-by-step instructions on how to utilize all that Siri has to offer. Using your voice, Siri can add important dates and meetings to your calendar, she can take notes for you to look at later, she can tell you were the closest gas station is, she can type and send text messages for you. There is a lot Siri can do to make your life easier. She is basically a really fast lady Google that you can talk to. If you have an iPhone 4S or 5, Siri is already fully available to you. Those of you who are still using flip phones, Siri has standards.

pinterest obsession.

Pinterest has become this fantastic phenomena over the past few years. You can put a ton of other peoples awesome cooking, crafting, fashion, fitness, photography (etc.) ideas on personal boards, all nice and organized in one place to return to whenever you need inspiration. I am obsessed. I especially love how you can have secret boards now that no one can see. That way you can plan your future wedding when you're not even engaged (or dating anyone) and not feel silly. Brilliant I tell you.

My next for Dummies book is about how to market your own products or whatever you've got going on, ON Pinterest. You know, so that every girl in the world who is constantly pinning (which all of us are) can easily run into it. Kelby Carr created Pinterest Marketing for Dummies, so that you can build your brand and market your products. I mostly just pin, but I do occasionally buy the products I come across (like the Smash Book I just ordered off Amazon today, saw it on Pinterest). Carr begins the book with instructions on how to use Pinterest, which a lot of us think we already know, but there is always something new to learn. The pinning and repinning process is a little different when you want to market your own product. You want your pin to lead readers right to your website with no issues. Carr also shows how to include price tags (SO necessary) on your pins.

Getting fans, customers and clients to follow you is, in my opinion, the most important aspect of this book. How can you attract followers and spread the word about your product? All covered in Chapter 7.

a week of dummies.

I love anything for Dummies, and I hope you do too because that's what I've got going on here at Kick Ass Book Reviews this week.

First to bat is a crowd favorite, Wine for Dummies by Ed McCarthy and Mary Ewing-Mulligan. Many of you, like me, enjoy the occasional glass of wine - or seven. However, rarely do we take the time to really appreciate the wine we are drinking. This recently updated, 5th edition has everything you want or need to know about your favorite pastime. These authors take your love of wine and turn you into a wine enthusiast, rather than a mild alcoholic.

McCarthy and Mulligan begin with a little Wine 101, where the only prerequisite required is knowledge in bottle opening (just kidding they cover this in Chapter 8). They touch on the differences between red, white and pink wines - stating that you will probably never meet one that is bad, you just need to find your preference. I did find the serving temperatures very helpful, as well as the marrying wine with food chapter. The second half of the book covers where the best wine and champagne comes from all over the world. When I was in Italy, I carried a bottle of Chianti with me everywhere I went. Classy American, party of one. Since I am more of a white wine kind of girl, it was nice to fall in love with a red.

Fishing for money to throw into the Trevi fountain, Chianti in hand.

Wine for Dummies has all of the information you need to make turn wining into a hobby, or just impress your friends at the next dinner party.

where are the four big ideas?

Contrary to popular belief, there are a few smart kids strolling around farm schools like the one I work at, so when a few students in my study hall told me they were looking to ace the AP Bio exam, I knew I had to work my magic. I am the queen of resources, a kid at school is cramming for a final or a crazy hard exam? I've got a book for that.

I typically look to the Princeton Review for help in the book department because they never EVER let me down, but there were a few issues with Cracking the AP Biology Exam, 2013 Edition (Revised) (College Test Preparation). To be honest, this book is missing some key components of the NEW AP Bio exam. It's a great Biology resource, but without the updates, a kid may not get much out of it for the actual exam. Sorry Princeton Review, I have high hopes for the 2014 model!

wait, okay, i think i get it now.

When it comes to computer programming I'm at about a fifth grade level, maybe lower. I'm thinkin' Warren and Carter Sande (father/son combo) had me in mind when they titled their manual Hello World!: Computer Programming for Kids and Other Beginners. The book may be designed for a young audience, but that doesn't mean it has been dumbed down too far to be useful for us computer illiterate adults. The depth and pace of the material is appropriate for anyone who is starting from scratch, and the Sande team teaches programming with A LOT of examples. I love examples, and as a teacher, I love this book. I'm thinking the Sande's worked together to keep the language nice and simple, covering everything from memory, modules, and variables to input, data, and graphics. You'll be thinking and creating like a Python programmer in no time!