It turned out to be a little macabre for me sometimes. I did learn some interesting (and sometimes disturbing) things, and I laughed a bit, but I think I have determined that cadavers are not for me.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Book 37: Stiff
I read Mary Roach's Packing for Mars last year, and laughed through most of it. I had mixed feelings about reading this one, because I'm not a huge fan of cadavers (I had a run-in with some many years ago) but I like the author's work.
It turned out to be a little macabre for me sometimes. I did learn some interesting (and sometimes disturbing) things, and I laughed a bit, but I think I have determined that cadavers are not for me.
It turned out to be a little macabre for me sometimes. I did learn some interesting (and sometimes disturbing) things, and I laughed a bit, but I think I have determined that cadavers are not for me.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Book 36: The Kitchen Counter Cooking School
If I weren't on the road right now, I'd be making some homemade vegetable broth.
Kathleen Flinn is a le Cordon Bleu graduate and she began giving a series of free classes to a group of volunteer home cooks (or home reconstitutors of dehydrated packaged foods) to increase their ability to cook quality whole foods.
Really, this stuff should all have been pretty obvious, but somehow I (and the volunteers) hadn't figured it out. Food tastes yucky? Maybe you need better-tasting ingredients, like real broth instead of a bouillon cube. Maybe iodized salt isn't very tasty and something else would taste better. Maybe you need to roast your veggies at a higher heat for a shorter amount of time!
I have gotten a bunch of great ideas of things to do to improve my cooking, and I actually want to give them a try.
Kathleen Flinn is a le Cordon Bleu graduate and she began giving a series of free classes to a group of volunteer home cooks (or home reconstitutors of dehydrated packaged foods) to increase their ability to cook quality whole foods.
Really, this stuff should all have been pretty obvious, but somehow I (and the volunteers) hadn't figured it out. Food tastes yucky? Maybe you need better-tasting ingredients, like real broth instead of a bouillon cube. Maybe iodized salt isn't very tasty and something else would taste better. Maybe you need to roast your veggies at a higher heat for a shorter amount of time!
I have gotten a bunch of great ideas of things to do to improve my cooking, and I actually want to give them a try.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Book 35: Fever, 1793
This was a neighborhood book club read. Otherwise, I don't think I would have chosen to read this. I almost never read young adult books.
This one was ok--for a young adult book! But I swear, if I encounter another book about the smart, spunky, slightly awkward and not-that-attractive girl who grows up and turns into a beauty, I . . . won't read it. I have had enough of that formula.
I do love my neighborhood book club, though, so if they choose another YA title about a smart and spunky girl who comes into her own, I suppose I just might end up reading it.
This one was ok--for a young adult book! But I swear, if I encounter another book about the smart, spunky, slightly awkward and not-that-attractive girl who grows up and turns into a beauty, I . . . won't read it. I have had enough of that formula.
I do love my neighborhood book club, though, so if they choose another YA title about a smart and spunky girl who comes into her own, I suppose I just might end up reading it.
Monday, May 20, 2013
Book 34: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
I think I've probably started reading this at various other times in my life, but never finished it. But this time, I had a great Audible recording of it to listen to while digging in the community garden and then driving across the country.
The recording was lovely, and some parts were interesting (the sermon on Hell accompanied my digging in the garden), but a lot of it was kind of dull. Sorry, James. Maybe sometime I'll try Dubliners, but I'm not going to rush out and get a copy tonight.
The recording was lovely, and some parts were interesting (the sermon on Hell accompanied my digging in the garden), but a lot of it was kind of dull. Sorry, James. Maybe sometime I'll try Dubliners, but I'm not going to rush out and get a copy tonight.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Book 33: Moll Flanders
I needed a classic fix this week. Moll Flanders was on my phone, so I gave it a listen. It was a pleasure to listen to.
Oooh la la, that cover is a bit racy, no? Yep, the story was a bit racy, too--for 1722.
The improbability of all these things happening to one person was pretty funny. When my husband asked what I was reading/listening to and I told him, it really sounded a bit like a soap opera.
The genre of the novel has really changed, though, and its place in literature is solidified in a way that it was not in the early 18th century. It's a good reminder even something that seems as basic and timeless as the novel has not always existed in its current form.
Oooh la la, that cover is a bit racy, no? Yep, the story was a bit racy, too--for 1722.
The improbability of all these things happening to one person was pretty funny. When my husband asked what I was reading/listening to and I told him, it really sounded a bit like a soap opera.
The genre of the novel has really changed, though, and its place in literature is solidified in a way that it was not in the early 18th century. It's a good reminder even something that seems as basic and timeless as the novel has not always existed in its current form.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Book 32: Little Princes
This was another unexpected pick, chosen out of a bit of desperation. It turned out to be surprisingly good.
Conor Grennan sounds, at first, like a Gen X-er without much to motivate him except pleasure, but an off-hand decision to volunteer at a Nepali orphanage changes that forever.
Although the book seems simple, it discusses some of the very complicated issues of reuniting trafficked children with their families.
Conor Grennan sounds, at first, like a Gen X-er without much to motivate him except pleasure, but an off-hand decision to volunteer at a Nepali orphanage changes that forever.
Although the book seems simple, it discusses some of the very complicated issues of reuniting trafficked children with their families.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Book 31: Love in the Time of Cholera
This was on display at the library with a bunch of other Latin American literature. I haven't read any other Garcia Marquez, though I started One Hundred Years of Solitude ages ago and didn't get far.
I liked it quite a lot, though I did feel in the middle that the story stalled for a bit. I really enjoyed the inner lives of the characters, which were often sort of puzzling, but that's about how people are, really, as rational as we claim to be.
I liked it quite a lot, though I did feel in the middle that the story stalled for a bit. I really enjoyed the inner lives of the characters, which were often sort of puzzling, but that's about how people are, really, as rational as we claim to be.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Book 30: Mountains Beyond Mountains
I almost didn't pick this to listen to. It was a second choice, after my first choice couldn't be put on an Apple device. I'm so glad that that's how it worked out, because this was amazing.
Dr. Paul Farmer is the founder of Partners in Health (called Zanmi Lasante in Haiti), an organization that provides medical care to the poor. Zanmi Lasante has built a comprehensive health system on the Haitian central plateau. Farmer is an advocate of social justice and liberation theology. He seeks to offer a preferential option to the poor--they receive no less care than those who can pay for treatment.
Kidder recounts that Dr. Farmer often carried two photos with him when he traveled: one of his own toddler daughter, and another of a young child with kwashiorkor. He would show one or the other of those photos to people he met. The message is that one's own child is not more valuable than a poor child; no child is worth more than another.
Dr. Paul Farmer is the founder of Partners in Health (called Zanmi Lasante in Haiti), an organization that provides medical care to the poor. Zanmi Lasante has built a comprehensive health system on the Haitian central plateau. Farmer is an advocate of social justice and liberation theology. He seeks to offer a preferential option to the poor--they receive no less care than those who can pay for treatment.
Kidder recounts that Dr. Farmer often carried two photos with him when he traveled: one of his own toddler daughter, and another of a young child with kwashiorkor. He would show one or the other of those photos to people he met. The message is that one's own child is not more valuable than a poor child; no child is worth more than another.
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