Settle Down With a Good Book This Holiday

Education
Settle Down With a Good Book This Holiday

Editor's Top Picks in the MakerShed

There’s nothing like curling up in front of an open fire with a blanket, a mug of hot chocolate—maybe with some floating marshmallows—and a good book. Especially at Christmas time, with the snow settling outside, and something appropriately festive playing in the background.

For me it’s especially good at Christmas because the stress of present-giving is at last over and done with, as I don’t find giving presents an easy task. It’s something I struggle with every year… and usually fail to do well.

I’m especially bad a stocking stuffers, those little gifts that—perhaps more so than the big things—tell your loved ones that you actually know them well. Stocking stuffers are tricky, they have to be small, compact and reasonably cheap.

A book is an easy stocking stuffer, especially if you can get one that fits well with your loved one’s interests, and this year I’ll be using what I—to the amusement of some of the other MAKE staff—call the “blue series of books” as stocking stuffers. Officially called the “Project Book” series, these thin—around 60 to 80 page—books are cheap, fast reads, covering everything from how to build an Arduino-compatible micro-controller on a breadboard, to how to build and launch a satellite.

They’re also cheap enough that you can order one for yourself without too much guilt, and settle down afterwards in front of that open fire with your hot chocolate.

See all of our Shed picks here.

8 thoughts on “Settle Down With a Good Book This Holiday

  1. SaluteSettle Down con un buon libro Questo Holiday | Salute says:

    […] Questi libri sono economici, veloci legge, che copre tutto, da come costruire un micro-controller compatibile Arduino su un tagliere, di come costruire e lanciare un satellite, e farà ottimi stuffers calza questo Natale. […]

  2. MB says:

    I really like the Maker “Project Book” series (along with their “Getting Started with” series), but am a little disappointed by the handful that have been announced, but never appeared. Whenever one is announced, I would add it to my “Want List” at Amazon, only to see a few sit there forever and never appear.

    1. Brian Jepson says:

      MB, sorry to have disappointed you on those books. In some cases, the authors have fallen behind and either failed to complete their book, or are moving slowly due to personal reasons or changes in the technology they are writing about. Let me know which ones you are wondering about, and I’ll let you know what is happening with them.

      1. MB says:

        Well, since you asked.

        Under the “Project Books”, ones that seemed to drop into limbo include Codebox, Android & Arduino, and Sensor Interfaces for Arduino. Seems that the Arduino Drawbot & Ultimate Microcontroller project ones have been delayed till next year.

        Under the “Getting Started with”, the one for Propeller seems to be replaced with an upcoming one with Parallax Propeller, and the Reprap one will come out sometime next year too.

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

Alasdair Allan is a scientist, author, hacker and tinkerer, who is spending a lot of his time thinking about the Internet of Things. In the past he has mesh networked the Moscone Center, caused a U.S. Senate hearing, and contributed to the detection of what was—at the time—the most distant object yet discovered.

View more articles by Alasdair Allan

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK