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June 05
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Pablo
gave  to:
Thai Food (Hardcover)
by
David Thompson
bookshelves:
food
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my rating:
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read in June, 2009
Pablo said:
"I never really felt the need to know how to cook thai food. it seemed like a lot of work and it was always so quick and easy an cheap to eat out wherever i was. That is of course until i moved to toronto where, in my three years, i've yet to eat a de...more
I never really felt the need to know how to cook thai food. it seemed like a lot of work and it was always so quick and easy an cheap to eat out wherever i was. That is of course until i moved to toronto where, in my three years, i've yet to eat a decent thai meal. I'm sure there is good stuff to be had somewhere, but i've yet to find anything beyond moderately palatable.
I don't remember where i found a listing about this book, but we got it from the library last summer in the attempts to satiate the never ending desire for thai food. Admittedly, a compendium of thai cooking penned by someone named David Thompson (who i can only presume to not be thai) clothbound in hot pink left me feeling a little skeptical, but flipping through it seemed to reputable and thorough in its information.
I'd really only attempted a couple variation of a penang curry, which turned out pretty magical despite adapting it to be vegetarian and leslie and had written down that recipe to use in the future. I've a lot of ground to cover in the book, but on the whole it seems like an excellent reference for making thai food from fresh ingredients (not the standard asian market prepackaged mae ploy stuff, which i find to be pretty good, but doesn't compare to fresh galangal and lime leaves...)
Obviously thai food is far from vegetarian, so if you're strict, or uncertain about adapting recipes to not use shrimp paste this book is going to be useless. But i find the information about ingredients and techniques to be really insightful.
Oddly enough, we'd written down the recipe for penang curry to use after returning the book. Last weekend when we had a craving i scribbled out a grocery list and headed to the market to pick up supplies. It being a lazy sunday afternoon i of course got sidetracked with my usual weekend route of book/record store stops. Magically, with a hand written recipe in my pocket, i stumble across a used copy and She Said Boom on College. (less)
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May 18
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Pablo
gave  to:
Nebula Awards Showcase 2009 (Nebula Awards Showcase)
by
Ellen Datlow
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my rating:
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read in May, 2009
Pablo said:
"somehow in the flurry of leaving to go out of town at the beginning of the month this is the book that came with me. i have a tendency to take too many books on a trip. you know, to have options. and that coupled with my tendency to purchase hard bou...more
somehow in the flurry of leaving to go out of town at the beginning of the month this is the book that came with me. i have a tendency to take too many books on a trip. you know, to have options. and that coupled with my tendency to purchase hard bound books means i often end up with a bag full of three heavy hard books, two of which i never crack open. so, this is to say that it was somewhat of a nice change of pace to have one book, paperback, in my bag for the couple week jaunt to points on the other side of the atlantic.
I was sitting in a bar reading this in brussels and drinking some beer served to me by some guy from quebec. he was a funny mix of surly and nice at the same time and quizzed me on why i liked La Choufe so he could bring me a beer that i would like just as much, but something that is not exported from Belgium. I don't remember what that was, but i guess that's a moot point as i won't have it again until i am in Belgium.
The whole time this ordering and drinking is going on there a pair of lanky belgian dudes at the table across from me who seem to be staring my way. When I'm nearly done with my beer, one comes over and asks what i am reading. Somewhat dodging the question and trying to give the easiest answer i say, "oh it's a collection of science fiction stories" and briefly flash the cover. At this point it becomes apparent he knew what i was reading, but was asking as a way to break into the conversation as he replies, "Oh yes, I was on Wikipedia looking up the nebula awards just this afternoon. I really love science fiction but wanted to research some new authors that I could get into and thought i should read the list of award winners to get some ideas." he then grills me on what my favorite science fiction authors are, which i am wholly unequipped to answer. I tell him he should read Octavia Butler and Stanislaw Lem, the latter of which piques his interest a bit, but the former he seems skeptical of. I try to sell him some more on Butler and maybe, just maybe, got him interested. Then i try to see if there is any good Belgian sci-fi, to which he promptly says no.
Anyways, ss a collection of stories representing the winners and nominees for the most recent round of Nebula Awards, this book is, as one would expect, full of its ups and downs. On the whole the downs are not too far down, but the ups are never that high up. As a sampling though, i feel like i came away with some names of authors who i would feel compelled to read more from. "Pol Pot’s Beautiful Daughter" by Geoff Ryman was a highlight. the other two that were really strong were the ones by Jennifer Pelland and Nancy Kress. Pelland's being this weird cyborg/captivity sexualized nurse and her patient thing. and then Kress' was a good dystopian future/corporate scheme to make people forever young.
(less)
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March 14
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Pablo
gave  to:
Twilight (Twilight, #1)
by
Stephenie Meyer
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my rating:
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read in March, 2009
Pablo said:
"Leslie and I tried to get through this last week, both of already seeing the movie first (which we saw twice in the theatre), and i don't know if we're going to finish it. honestly... it kinda blows.
I didn't know before reading in her bi...more
Leslie and I tried to get through this last week, both of already seeing the movie first (which we saw twice in the theatre), and i don't know if we're going to finish it. honestly... it kinda blows.
I didn't know before reading in her bio at the back of the book that the writer is a mormon, which really comes through in the book. all of the abstinence undertones in the movie are more like overt overtones in the book. and the relationship between bella and edward is downright frightening in the book. her infatuation of him as the god-like adonis character is totally freaky. and that's most of the book... the vampire stuff is like a backdrop, like it's not even really a part of the story as much as the over the top gross out romance novel aspect of it.
skip the book. see the movie. which i still think is awesome. (less)
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January 25
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Pablo
is currently reading:
Louis Riel: A Comic-Strip Biography (Paperback)
by
Chester Brown
bookshelves:
currently-reading
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my rating:
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December 20, 2008
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November 30, 2008
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Pablo
gave  to:
Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in All Fifty States (P.S.)
by
Pete Jordan
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my rating:
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Pablo
gave to:
Black Sabbath's Master of Reality (33 1/3)
by
John Darnielle
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my rating:
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Pablo said:
"it's like the book version of "The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton." what more could you ask for?
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September 14, 2008
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Pablo
gave to:
The World Without Us (Hardcover)
by
Alan Weisman
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my rating:
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Pablo said:
"i kind of found alan weisman to be not that great of a writer, but still managed to never really want to put this book down. What does that mean? I guess what i feel upon completion is that there were interesting ideas peppered throughout, and that t...more
i kind of found alan weisman to be not that great of a writer, but still managed to never really want to put this book down. What does that mean? I guess what i feel upon completion is that there were interesting ideas peppered throughout, and that though i enjoyed the imaginative spirit of trying to imagine a post-human world, i sort of felt like all of the interviews and viewpoints from everyone never went anywhere. I particularly was annoyed by his ongoing references to what would come of humanities great art and culture. that said, if i came away with anything from this book, it is a new found obsession with the idea of elephants getting introduced into north america. that would rule.(less)
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