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Monday, November 30, 2009

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Wall Street Journal: Finding the Right Book to Give

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal has an article called "Literary Profiling" in which the paper created six profiles and various book experts suggested good titles for these types of readers. For example, one profile is a 28-year-old artist who likes to read since fiction. Another is an 81-year-old retired physician who likes tennis and politics, and reads biography and idea-driven books.

I think someone at the WSJ has been watching too many police programs on television. With the exception of children and teenagers, where paying attention to the reader's age makes sense, I don't agree with the assumptions about age and gender behind this article.

For example, two books from the story are in my current "to read" pile. First, Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, which won the Man Booker Prize. In the WSJ article, this is a book recommended for an 81-year-old man. Now, I recently had a birthday, but am still well distanced from 81, thank you very much. The second was recommended for the artsy, 28-year-old, male science fiction reader: Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, a pair of novellas by Geoff Dyer. Am I interested in art? Yes, but there are a few years between me and 28.

Ah well, age is just a number and with respect to adults, age and gender have little correlation to taste in books, in my opinion. Check out the article, nonetheless. The online version is fun to play around with and you may find some titles in the various categories that appeal to you, or the folks on your holiday gift list.







Friday, November 27, 2009

NPR's 10 Best Cookbooks of 2009

One thing I love about this time of year is the publication of various "10 best of 2009" lists. NPR recently published it's 10 best cookbooks of 2009. Some of these books look intriguing; some, not so much.

Included on the NPR list is Gourmet Today, from the folks at the now defunct Gourmet Magazine. The book is described as "a good go-to reference for basic matters of technique, like making fresh pasta or how to make a roux." Can the market absorb another giant-sized (1024 pages) cookbook such as this? I'm doubtful. And frankly, if there is room on your shelf for such a monster, consider instead picking up either Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything, published in 2008, or his 2007 book, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Both books are excellent.

Three books on NPR's list that did catch my eye are Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every, Savory Baking, and Clean Food. According to the book's description, Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide to Eating Close to the Source with More Than 200 Recipes for a Healthy and Sustainable You focuses on eating "seasonal, unprocessed, and locally-grown foods that are good for us and the environment." These are worthy goals and a new book on this topic might indeed deserve some of our precious shelf space.

Artisan Breads Every Day
sounds appealing both because Peter Reinhart really knows bread and because I'm addicted to baking it. There is nothing like having everyone in the house crowd into the kitchen to wolf down warm, freshly baked bread with butter. If you are thinking about resolutions for 2010, consider adding 'bake more bread' to the list; it's not hard to do. Currently I'm working on testing recipes from Jim Lahey's My Bread: The Revolutionary No-Work, No-Knead Method. I'll add Peter Reinhart's new work to my list of books to read.

Finally, I will check out Savory Baking because while baking sugary treats is fine on occasion, it is more interesting to use herbs, nuts, mushrooms, and cheese. This book promises new recipes to do just that.

So much to read (and eat); so little time. Top 10 lists aren't perfect, but they do assist in separating the wheat from the chaff. As I find more top ten lists for 2009, I'll post about them here.







Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving

An R&B tune to put you into the holiday mood: Be Thankful for What You've Got by William DeVaughn.




Monday, November 23, 2009

Christopher Hitchens on Author Stieg Larsson

From the December Vanity Fair: Christopher Hitchens writes: "Just when Stieg Larsson was about to make his fortune with the mega-selling thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the crusading journalist dropped dead. Now some are asking how much of his fiction–which exposes Sweden’s dark currents of Fascism and sexual predation–is fact." (more)

Friday, November 20, 2009

Weekend





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Confused about Health Care?

The new recommendations on breast cancer screening issued this week were quite a surprise. If you haven't seen it, check out New York Times columnist Gail Collins on-point, and funny, column about this situation.

What does this all mean? My plan is to follow these steps: Stick with a Mediterranean diet and red wine. Get plenty of sleep and some strength training. And no white shoes after Labor Day.

I think these rules will be effective.

Book Snapshots: "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett.

The Help is set in early 1960s Jackson, Mississippi, the deep South. In Kathryn Stockett's novel, a young white woman named Skeeter Phelan is living with her parents on their cotton plantation and adrift after graduating from college without either a job or husband. She has ambitions for a career in publishing, and decides to write the real story about the experiences of black women employed as domestic workers in the homes of the white community.

During this time in Mississippi and the country there is a lot going on: Freedom Riders, sit-ins, assassinations, marches, murders and arson. Skeeter is presented as being aware of these events but focused on her book, her dating life, her friends, and so on. Progress occurs with the book after Skeeter convinces Aibileen, a woman employed by one of Skeeter's friends, to participate in the project. Aibileen, who basically writes her own chapter of Skeeter's book, subsequently recruits other women to participate in the project.

The Help follows Aibileen and her friend Minny, as well as Skeeter and her girlfriends and family during the period in which the book is being written, and then when it is published (anonymously, with names and locations changed). Over the course of the book, Skeeter wakes up to the violence that is going on in her world; and then jets off to live her life elsewhere.

Given the topic and setting of this novel the question must be asked: Is The Help good literature? Is it yet another great work by yet another Southern writer? Well, no. There isn't real intellectual power in Stockett's writing. And there are elements to the story that, when you sit back and think about it, seem pointless. The Help is, however, extremely readable. If you are looking for a book to rip through over a weekend, this is it.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

National Book Awards

Last night the National book award for fiction went to Colum McCann for his novel Let the Great World Spin. Check out the story here.




Monday, November 16, 2009

Music We Like: Rosanne Cash "The List"

While tooling down the highway last week, a slow, cool version of the country classic I'm Moving On came on the radio. Conversation in the car stopped. Who was performing this mesmerizing, hip version of Hank Snow's country classic?

Turns out that the song was done by Rosanne Cash on her new album The List. In Ms. Cash's version, you can actually hear the lyrics:
You were flyin' too high, for my little old sky
So I'm movin' on.
Since hearing I'm Moving On, I've listened to the rest of the The List and really enjoy it. At the moment, my favorite cut is Sea of Heartbreak, a duet with Bruce Springsteen. Also appearing on the album are Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy, and Rufus Wainwright

The List has a definite sound; so much so that there is a certain "sameness" to each song. Some folks might not like this, but it creates a mood - cool, country but also jazzy - that gives the entire recording a clear niche in a music collection. I like The List. I like singing along with Rosanne Cash. And this CD will definitely find its way into a few Christmas stockings this holiday.




Friday, November 13, 2009

Amazing Pictures of the Lepoard Seal at National Geographic

National Geographic's site has an amazing set of pictures by photographer Paul Nicklen of the leopard seal.

Be forewarned: As these photos show, seals are not vegetarian.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Book Snapshots: "A Carrion Death" by Michael Stanley.

My grandmother liked her soap operas. As a little girl, I recall being impressed by the florid opening music and video for her programs, including The Secret Storm and The Edge of Night (This is THE EDGE (dramatic pause) OF NIGHT). Reading A Carrion Death reminded me of those old programs: Slow plot, racy bits, lots of characters, and while not a spellbinding page turner, you stick with the story to find out what happens.

The book, co-authored by Michael Sears and Stanley Trollip, is set in Botswana. The protagonist is David "Kubu" Bengu, a detective with the Botswana Criminal investigation Department. The mystery begins with the finding of the dead body being eaten by a hyena in the desert sands of a remote tourist camp. Kubu, which means hippopotamus in Setswana, investigates. Someone has gone to a great deal of effort to insure that the body cannot be identified. As Kubu tries to solve this first mystery, more bodies accumulate. Soon the crimes begin to link together and point to the goings-on at one of Botswana's largest businesses, the Botswana Cattle and Mining Company.

The involvement of the mining company brings political headaches to Kubu's investigation. And if murder, mining, and political shenanigans aren't enough for one book, the story also sweeps in Bushmen and a witch doctor (forcing my tolerant spouse to put up with a week of me humming Sha Na Na's witch doctor song ("I told the witch doctor I was in love with you, dum dum dum dum. . .")).

Like Sha Na Na's music, the style in which this story is told feels out-of-date. Also, there is a bit of redundancy in the telling; information is provided, and then repeated again on the next page as if this were a scholarly explanation of a problem rather than fictional police procedural. However, despite it's flaws I stuck with A Carrion Death for its entire 462 pages. Kubu is a good character and the setting is interesting. And like soap opera fans who understand that they aren't watching Masterpiece Theater but tune into their program anyway, I'll probably read subsequent books in this new series just to find out what happens next.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Author Jonathan Safran Does Not Like Factory Farms. I Don't Like Them Either.

"Treat me right."

Everything about factory farming disgusts me. And with respect to factory chickens, it is beyond disgusting (to call them "factory 'raised' chickens" is just a gross misrepresentation). The LA Times talked with author Jonathan Safran about his investigation of factory farms. Check out the interview here.

After you've read the article, check out Safran's Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, which is an excellent novel about a unique nine-year-old boy, Oskar, searching New York for the lock that matches a key left by his father, who was killed in the September 11 attacks.

And consider eating meat at most once a day, not at every meal. It would be better for everyone. (Check out also this episode of Bones in which a human is murdered at a chicken factory. Details of the factory "experience" are provided.)



Thursday, November 5, 2009

From the Used Book Stash: "Yellow-Dog Contract" by Ross Thomas.


One genre I enjoy reading is crime fiction. Back in the day, I worked my way through the entire Ross Thomas catalog as fast as I could find them. Thomas, who died in 1995, wrote 25 novels. During his career he won two Edgar Awards and the first Gumshoe Award for Lifetime Achievement.

With brisk plots, witty dialogue, and plenty of suspense, Ross Thomas' books guarantee at a minimum a really good read but more often he delivers something spectacular. I just finished Yellow-Dog Contractwhich was very fun. I think I'll next dig out Chinaman's Chance for a re-read.

If you've never read Ross Thomas, or if it has been a while, check out his work. You are in for a treat.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

A Not-So-Happy Meal: Processed Foods Linked to Depression.

Up-Date: You may also want to reconsider the amount of canned foods you consume. According to a new study many name-brand canned products contain BPA, a chemical used in the production of plastic. BPA may be linked to reproductive abnormalities and an increased risk for breast and prostate cancers, diabetes, and heart disease.

So eat more fresh food; and drink your beer from bottles.

________

The BBC reports today about a study linking depression and processed food. According to the report, ". . . people with a diet high in processed food had a 58% higher risk of depression than those who ate very few processed foods." Read the full article here.

Don't know what to do with a vegetable? Check out these books:





Sunday, November 1, 2009

New Releases

If you are looking for new works from big-name writers, a few are forthcoming:
  • Barbara Kingsolver: The Lacuna. This is a book I'm looking forward to reading. Barbara Kingsolver was a must-read author until Poisonwood Bible, which I did not like at all. But I enjoyed her earlier fiction so much that want I want to believe in her, and thus will definitely give this new book a try.

  • John Irving: Last Night in Twisted River. Mr. Irving is an author I've left behind. Loved Garp and enjoyed Hotel New Hampshire. However, after those two I drifted away; probably forever.
  • Stephen King: Under the Dome. I haven't read a Steven King book since The Shining frightened the heck out of me. This genre isn't for me. Also, recently I've read a number of disappointing books that had a Stephen King blurb on the jacket. I'm now using quotes from Mr. King as a warning to stay away from a publication. Blurbs: They can help or they can hurt.
And finally, from a non-big name author:



Publishers Weeky Top 10 Books of 2009

Although a bunch of new titles are still to come in 2009, Publishers Weekly released its top 10 list for the year. Included on PW's list is one of my favorites, Await Your Reply by Dan Chaon.



Here are the rest of their picks:

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
by Richard Holmes.

Big Machine: A Novel
by Victor LaValle.

Cheever: A Life
by Blake Bailey.

A Fiery Peace in a Cold War: Bernard Schriever and the Ultimate Weapon
by Neil Sheehan.

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
by Daniyal Mueenuddin.

Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi: A Novel
by Geoff Dyer.

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
by David Grann.

Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work
by Matthew B. Crawford.

Stitches: A Memoir
Stitches
by David Small (Norton).