Figures in Silk

I wish marketers would realize that most of the historical audience does not find a comparison to Phillipa Gregory a positive. I was actually mocking this book at the breakroom table for it's descriptions of two sisters locked in torrid affairs with powerful men. *Gag*
I decided to take it out with me whilst I smoked a cigarette and was pleasantly surprised. It has more in common with A Conspiracy of Paper, The Coffee Trader or Pillars of the Earth than some bosom heaving costumed romance.
The weft upon which the story is woven is the silk industry in England during the Tudor Plantagenet rivalries, the guild systems, and the Freewomen of London that kept all the posh people sparkly.

The writing style wasn't florid, the research was solid and I truly do love a novel that teaches all kinds of trivia about a industry or art form.

A Companion to Wolves

Any dedicated fantasy reader is familiar with the Bonded to Such and Such Animal Genre...Mostly overdone at this point, usuauly shrug inducing if you aren't 13 since they focus on very whit/black morality or some young person working their way through a horrid childhood and being rewarded with the honor of bonding.
As I said, great when you're a disenfranchised white knight in training.

Companion surprised me, the writing style was similar to George R.R. Martin in it's spare prose style, very few wasted words or descriptions...Once I got into the writing style I realized that if the authors paused to describe anything I'd better pay attention. The two female authors also did a bang up impressive job of having realistic martial male sexuality, lupine social status plays and how a combination of the two might actually work. Kudos also to them having the ballss to not give the wolves human thought, it's all empathy and smells.

The world they set up is based on Dark Ages Norse culture, well done and even includes the Jogun(ice giants) of norse mythololgy.

A free book I was happy with.

Books or new yarn,that is the question

Just started two books, one is definitely getting pushed back for the other... will have reviews up for Lawrence of Arabia, Mirage of a Desert War by Adrian Greaves (so excited about this one)
And The Weight of a Mustard Seed, An Iraqi General's Moral Journey During the Time of Saddam by Wendell Steavenson.

I was actually all revved up for the mustard seed until I found the Lawrence bio at work, I have ever had a serious hero crush on T.E. Lawrence. In junior high when my fellow honors English geek comrades were reading Tolkien I slogged through the Seven Pillars.

But then I also just got some premium hand died yarn for the first time and am obsessed with it...Decisions.

But hey,two reviews in the next 6 days is the goal.

White people smell like dogs when our hair gets wet

God I wanted this to be good, I really,really did. And I slogged through it having to stop every chapter or so and bitch about something to my fiancee...Was it wasted time?
Meh.
I hate it when books could have been so much more. Maybe I'm not framing in the context of when it was written and when the research would have taken place. Book came out in 2000 so we're looking at research in the late 90's. Ok , seeing as my hometown was one of the places she did go to I can see that. Houston did and still does have serious issues with race. But, and I was backed on this by some other people that read it as well, the book was too heavily weighted on african american opinion, very little information was culled from ANY other racial group...Hispanics maybe had three mentions, little or no asian, no middle eastern, carib...I mean if we're talking racial divides let us be fair.
There's definately some headnodders in it, she makes good points and gave me some insight into some behavoirs but ultimately I was unimpressed.
Waste of a good night, I should have crocheted something instead.

Gordon Fucking Ramsey

Total man crush.
Fuck it that he's married, bullocks to his kid...
He's passionate, foul mouthed and watching him baste a steak with butter just makes my panties wet.
(those chef pants? commando. chef's are hot)

Hormonal reactions aside, he's a man I can respect professionally. He eats and breathes passion about food on his table or yours. And if you're not passionate about food stay out of the fucking kitchen.
Food wasn't his first choice, really after reading this the passion obviously didn't come from family influence(drifting,grifting, musician dad...mom abused...living in caravans)
and food wasn't his first passion, soccer was.
I love food memoirs, Kitchen Confidential wasn't a revelation for me...I spent quality time in kitchens and under chefs (Stop right there) and up until I fucked my back up I was putting serious thought into the Culinary Institute of America. And yes, pre-food network most kitchens were just as he described. Dirty, sexy and drug fueled. most still are.

Surprisingly Ramsey wasn't one of the chemical brothers of the knife, nor was Marco Pierre White (raging fucking lunatic, megalomaniac, paranoid and fucking brilliant) Jesus, I can't imagine what Ramsey would have been like if he was a hedonist like Bourdain. (shudder)

So what did I get out of this one? Well, I'm getting rather well versed in British profanity use, for one. But I actually look at this as more of a management book, between reading this and watching some of Kitchen Nightmares I gave myself a real professional kick to the ass. The man is all about accountability plain and simple. No excuses, only reasons. If you aren't passionate enough about something to fight or quality then you need to get the hell out. You don't float or drift in Ramsey's restaurant group, you learn or you leave.

It's a fun read too, pick it up...Makes a great man gift.

Oh, and pick up his cookbooks, they are amazing. Asshole or not, the man gives good instruction.

Cooking and Screaming

Normally I'd be hard pressed to cough up any sympathetic reaction to the memoir of someone who got to go to Berkley, dance without it being on a pole and major in the Arts....But having a massive stroke at 21 that causes paralysis to half your body right before you graduate, that sucks.

(note to self: don't lose the damn books you're trying to review in the apartment,that or make notes...Crap)

Her condition that caused the stroke is pretty spooky to think about, she was walking with a friend to a coffee shop 2 weeks before graduation to go over her thesis, got dizzy, sat down and woke up WEEKS later paralyzed in a hospital.
Heebies,I tell you,heebies.

I think what I enjoyed most is her honesty about where you go in your mind after becoming disabled, the humiliation of dependence, how hard long term physical therapy is.

And the recipes, my god,the recipes!

My poor man had to go through me reading out recipes almost every chapter.

So check it out in February when it comes out.

Cooking and Screaming
Adrienne Kane
ISBN 1-4165-8797-7




Cooking and Screaming was a four hour read for me, the author has a nice little blog Nosherteria.

Cannonball

So i've decided to be a joiner, here I am...
hopefully will have a review up tomorrow on one or two books I read this week