The Weekly Write-Up #25

As promised, today I’m announcing something pretty big that I’ve been working on for a while and that has taken a lot of work! Well, actually it is two things. First, I have renamed two of the sections of my newsletter! I have done this to better reflect what I actually talk about in the section and to make the titles a little more creative. Second, I have created something that will enhance my readers’ experience with my newsletters. In the Wild Card section, I have explained the new feature and why I created it, so be sure to read that!

In this newsletter…

• A series that I recently finished that is similar to Harry Potter!

• The best YouTube channel for learning how to play board games!

• A comparison of music apps, and introducing...Apple Music Classical!

• What big project have I been working on for this newsletter?

Literary Picks

MILLIE MAVEN

Last week, I discussed the 4 books that I’m reading, and the Millie Mavenseries was one of those that I mentioned. Wait...I said that I was toward the end of the first book, and now I’m saying that I’m done with the series? Yes, I read this series rapidly! I read all 603 pages in just under 2 weeks! I guess that means that this was an excellent series, but I do actually have some critiques of this series. I am going to try not to be too harsh since this series is more under my age level than I realized when I picked it up. Let’s just say, it was an easy read, and that is why I finished it so fast!

Millie Maven, written by Ted Dekker and Rachelle Dekker, is the story of a poor orphan girl, Millie, who is mistreated by her aunt and uncle. Until she is visited by Aggie, who tells her that she is loved by the Great Teacher and can have a new way of life. She chooses to get transported to the world of FIGS (FarPointe Institute for Gifted Students). In this series, Millie goes through many trials to work together with friends and enemies to discover the love of the Great Teacher. Through these trials and her time at FIGS, she discovers that she isn’t like the other students.

The concept of this series is great, and I think the series is worth reading. I obviously really enjoyed it just because of how fast I read the series! It is also a really great series because it teaches kids (and adults) many great values of life, like courage, love, and kindness. Even non-Christians can appreciate these values presented in these books. I think this aspect of the book is great! But I do have some critiques of this series that I would like to share, both concerning the plot. First, the plot was very predictable! I just about knew within the first few chapters what would happen in the rest of the series. Let’s just say that I was right, and nothing that happened surprised me! Now, like I have already said, this series was below my age level, so it may have been easier for me to discern what was going to happen. My second critique, which may seem silly, is that it was far too similar to Harry Potter. It was basically a shorter and Christian version of Harry Potter. I mean, this could be a good thing. If you have younger children who want to read Harry Potter, I would definitelyrecommend this book because it is very similar! Having read both series, I found countless comparisons between the two series. If I hadn’t read Harry Potter already, I may have enjoyed this series more. Besides these two critiques (the second being personal preference), this series was great in all other aspects.

Overall, I found both good and disappointing aspects of this series. While I wouldn’t recommend it to people my age, I would mostly recommend it to kids 8-12 (especially if they want to read Harry Potter), as it fits that age level much better. I will say that it was nice to have an easier text to read since I’ve been reading some harder texts recently. Really, I wish I had read it a few years ago because I would have enjoyed it much more! So really, if you (or your kid) wants a series like Harry Potter, but without as much violence, magic, etc., then this series is perfect! You can buy this series at teddekker.com, where it is $25 off right now!

Watchlist Wonders

WATCH IT PLAYED

I have talked a lot about board games in this newsletter (just check out my to-be-announced-below project and you will see)! What I haven’t done is tell you how to play them because that would make for a long article if I explained all the rules of the game. Well, luckily there is a YouTube channel that can already do that. Watch it Played is a YouTube channel that includes game tutorials, play-throughs, and more! My family has been using this channel for years to learn how to play games like Wingspan, Terraforming Mars, and many others!

Are the tutorials quality, and do they actually teach how to play the game? Yes, I think that these tutorials are great! They are concise, well-done, and teach you how to play the game. Normally, my family has one person read the rulebook. That way, they know the ins-and-outs of all the rules. Then everyone watches the Watch it Played video, rather than having the one person who read the rulebook explain everything (but they can answer questions as needed). This gives you an idea of how you could potentially use this channel. I know this YouTube channel has been very helpful in my family’s game nights because it is concise, but explains everything clearly. The videos usually aren’t very long (10-20min), but in that time they cover most of the rules that you need to know.

I honestly think the Watch it Played videos are really great tutorials, and they are videos that my family uses all the time! So, if you have a new board game that you want to play or teach to some friends (perhaps even one that I have recommended), Watch it Played is a great YouTube channel to learn how to play these games! See the channel here.

Tech Thoughts

APPLE MUSIC AND APPLE MUSIC CLASSICAL

In this article, I’m going to do three different things that all relate to Apple Music:

1) Discuss Apple Music and its capabilities, etc.

2) Compare Apple Music to Spotify and Amazon Music

3) Mention Apple Music Classical

Apple Music: First off, what is Apple Music? Well, it is precisely what it sounds like: a music app created by Apple. Apple Music has a huge collection of songs from numerous artists! I have been using Apple Music for years as part of my family’s Apple One Subscription (to be talked about in a future newsletter). Like most music apps, you can play songs, create playlists, watch music videos, find artists, download music, queue songs, view lyrics, and so on! The interface is user-friendly and allows you to browse and play songs with ease. Apple Music continues to get better, and I think it is a fantastic music app! Download it on the App Store.

The Comparison: I’ve already touched on how Apple Music is similar to Spotify and Amazon Music, but how are they different, and which one is the best? I think when talking about interface and how the apps work, I would say that Apple Music is the best as for how it works and functions (and I think it looks the best). The interface for Spotify and Amazon Music are both still great, and you shouldn’t have any trouble at all with them. Songs are the second criteria to examine. I expected Spotify to have the most, but in reality, all 3 music services have a similar number of songs (over 100 million). So, when it comes to song selection, all 3 music services actually tie, which is quite surprising! Finally, pricing must be considered. Apple Music can only be accessed with a subscription. In other words, there are no free plans, although you can play songs you have purchased with iTunes. Spotify has a free plan that anyone can use, but has ads, only allows you to play in shuffle, limits the number of skips you can use, and a few other restrictions. Finally, Amazon Music can only be accessed if you have an Amazon Prime subscription. Even if you have a Prime subscription, you still have to pay extra for Amazon Music Unlimited (I didn’t know this until recently)! If you want to play any song without it being shuffled or listen offline, you have to pay $11.99 per month. So, all three apps make you pay a little differently to access everything. Overall, if I had to rank the three apps, I would say Apple Music is the best, Spotify is second, and Amazon Music takes third place. In reality, with all three apps you are going to get an easy-to-use interface, a collection of 100 million+ songs to choose from, and a great music app! It truly depends on how you want to pay and what your preferences are. (Check this article for some great study music from all three of these music services!)

Apple Music Classical: Finally, this week, Apple announced Apple Music Classical, which is a new app that is going to come out on March 28. It is basically Apple Music, but with a focus on classical music. The app sounds really cool! It has a HUGE selection of classical music! It also has composer profiles, playlists, and the music is all in high quality. It honestly sounds awesome, but I don't understand why Apple didn’t just include these features with Apple Music. It is even included in your Apple Music subscription, so it seems weird that they made it a different app. Nonetheless, it sounds really cool, and I can’t wait to check it out! You can preorder the app here!

Wild Card

HYPERLINK INDEX

As I have already teased, I have been working on something pretty big over the past few weeks, and today is when this project is being released to the public! No, it is actually not that my newsletter is going to have a paid subscription…yet! The project I have been working on for the past few weeks will enhance my newsletter and level up your access to great books, movies, tech, and so much more! Introducing, Hyperlink Index! What exactly is Hyperlink Index? Well, I’m glad you asked! Hyperlink Index is a page that can be found on my website and lists everything I have talked about in every newsletter! I mean, EVERYTHING! Every book, books series, newsletter, movie, TV show, tech product, app, restaurant, amusement park, and board game that I’ve reviewed! Everything is organized in the ‘index’ and sorted in alphabetical order (you’re welcome). This makes it straightforward to find exactly what you are looking for! All the items in Hyperlink Index are linked back to the article where I mentioned or elaborated on them.

Why would I go into all the work of creating this? Well, there are two reasons. The main reason being that it is a tool for all of my readers to be able to find where I mentioned different topics in one of my newsletters. This is great for if you know I talked about something (say, Harry Potter), but you couldn’t remember which newsletter I talked about it in. You can look in the Hyperlink Index and easily find and jump straight to the newsletter where I talked about it. This can be very useful! The second reason is for my own personal use. Whenever I want to link to one of my previous newsletters in a new newsletter, I have to hunt to find what I’m looking for. With Hyperlink Index, this will be so much easier! It is also really cool to be able to see all the books, movies, etc. that I have reviewed!

So, please be sure to check out Hyperlink Index (it took me a really long time to create)! It will be posted onto my website as soon as this newsletter is posted, so you can check it out now! I hope that you can use this as a tool to enhance your search for finding great books, movies, tech, restaurants, board games, and so much more!