William Shakespeare’s Star Wars
by Ian Doescher
Genre: Science Fiction / Classics
Publisher: Quirk Books
Publish Date: July 2, 2013
Format: Hardcover | 176 pages
Publisher’s Synopsis:
Inspired by one of the greatest creative minds in the English language-and William Shakespeare-here is an officially licensed retelling of George Lucas’s epic Star Wars in the style of the immortal Bard of Avon. The saga of a wise (Jedi) knight and an evil (Sith) lord, of a beautiful princess held captive and a young hero coming of age, Star Wars abounds with all the valor and villainy of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. ’Tis a tale told by fretful droids, full of faithful Wookiees and fearstome Stormtroopers, signifying … pretty much everything.
Reimagined in glorious iambic pentameter—and complete with twenty gorgeous Elizabethan illustrations–William Shakespeare’s Star Wars will astound and edify Rebels and Imperials alike. Zounds! This is the book you’re looking for
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May the verse be with you!
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Source: Review copy courtesy of Quirk Books.
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
The Black-crowned Night-Heron is a medium-sized, stocky heron that is found throughout a large part of the world including North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa. In my area they are summer residents and migrate to the southern US and Mexico for the winter.
Although the Night-Heron is a fairly common bird, I rarely see them and almost missed spotting this one who was blending in nicely with some dead branches hanging over a river bank. I tried to get closer but the bird flew off to the other side of the river. Apparently I was disturbing his hunt for breakfast.
Night-Herons, as their name would imply, are most active at dusk and at night but can occasionally be seen in the early morning. They are patient hunters who will sit and wait for prey to swim past. They eat fish, crustaceans, frogs and small mammals.
Saturday Snapshot was originated by Alyce at At Home With Books. For the summer it will be hosted by Melinda of West Metro Mommy. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation
by Michael Pollan
Narrated by Michael Pollan
Genre: Food, Science
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publish Date: April 23, 2013
Format: Audio, 13 hours | 25 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Easy
Rating: 3½ of 5
Publisher’s Synopsis:
In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements — fire, water, air, and earth — to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer.
My Thoughts:
What is cooking? To some people it means putting a frozen pizza in the oven or opening a packet of dried ingredients and adding water. To others, it’s not cooking unless it starts with all fresh ingredients. Over the past few decades, surveys show the meaning of the word has changed. Ironically, people love to spend time watching cooking shows but don’t often cook. Perhaps it’s because we have become so disconnected from our food. Cooking is now entertainment or a hobby.
Cooked is divided into four sections, fire, water, air, and earth. In each section the author attempts to master one recipe with the help of an expert. He provides a wealth of information and goes into great detail, sometimes too much, and risks boring the listener by becoming repetitive at times.
This is not a cookbook but more a book about our relationship with food and cooking and how the American food system is not healthy. He mentions multiple times that people need to take back control of cooking as a first step in their own health. I agree, but I don’t think the book presented people with options other than to gather all the ingredients and make the dish from scratch or buy chemical laden pre-made food from the grocery store, ie Wonder Bread.
The message I got, right or wrong, was all or nothing. Make your own yeast starter? Hand chop all the vegetables? I love my little food processor. I can’t believe onions would taste that much better if I hand chopped them. Occasionally in my own kitchen I have found a few things are best done by hand, grinding basil for pesto using a mortar and pestle for example, but those exceptions are few and far between. And I have resorted to food processed pesto and no one noticed except me!
I especially enjoyed the parts on the ‘biology’ or science behind the foods. The why/what makes processed foods so bad for us, the bacteria and why it’s good for us in the fermentation process and why we shouldn’t be afraid of a little dirt and not 100% sanitary conditions.
The audio production was narrated by the author with even pacing, a pleasant voice and a lot of enthusiasm for the topic. A pdf file is included on the last disc of the audiobook with the recipes based on each of the four transformations talked about in the book plus a short list of recommended cookbooks. I love when important information is included on the CD, one of my pet peeves when it is missing. The recipes are: Fire: a pork shoulder slow cooked over a fire; Water: a sugo (or Bolognese sauce) cooked in a pot; Air:a whole-grain bread; Earth: a sauerkraut.
This was the first book I’ve read by Michael Pollen and while I wasn’t crazy about it, I did enjoy his writing style and the subject. This is one of the rare cases where I might have liked the book better in print.
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Source: Review copy
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Almost wordless: While out monitoring birds in the prairie last week this large, beautiful dragonfly landed right in front of me. His wings were a shimmery gold and silver in the morning sun. I looked him up in the bug guide and determined that this is a juvenile male.
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More Wordless Wednesday. © 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Hen of the Woods & Other Wild Foods and Medicines
by Steve Brill
Narrated by Steve Brill
Genre: Nature
Publisher: AudioGO
Publish Date: April 16, 2013
Format: Audio, 2 hours | 37 minutes
Audio Listening Level: Easy
Rating: 3 of 5
Publisher’s Synopsis:
A living legend, “Wildman” Steve Brill, leads us on a lively and entertaining tour through the Northeastern United States as he shares tips on foraging in densely populated areas like New York’s Central Park and rural areas throughout New England.
The “Wildman” will teach the home cook at any level how to use these foraged foods in everyday meals, whether sprinkled on a salad or baked into a delicious dessert. And perhaps most importantly, you’ll never pay $7.99 for cherries again once you learn to locate them in the wild to pick yourself.
My Thoughts:
In the early 1980s Steve Brill began taking small groups on nature walks through the parks of New York. He would point out various edible plants and berries and encourage his group to try foraging. He coexisted peacefully with the park district until undercover park rangers infiltrated his tour. He was arrested for removing vegetation from the park, that is, he ate a dandelion. The media got hold of his story and it spread like wildfire hitting the national news in days and landing Steve on local and national talk shows. Within two weeks the city dropped the charges and Steve has been conducting tours ever since. And all this before YouTube and going viral!
Hen of the Woods is narrated by the author and is more of a commentary than a book. In a very entertaining style he talks about the many edible foods growing in the wild, gives the listener a little history on how he became interested in foraging and tells the story of his arrest for eating weeds which, ultimately, turned out to be fantastic publicity.
Much of the book is live and narrated while in the field on a foraging tour. He points out plants and answers participants questions and tells entertaining tales. This is not a polished studio production but instead a real-time walk in the park. It had the feel of a podcast rather than a finished book. The author imparts too much good information for audio only. To be useful as more than just an entertaining few hours, the book needs text and photos for reference, none of which are included. The author does sell a Wild Edibles app which is available for Android and Apple.
While I enjoyed the book, it had the feel of an intro for the author’s wild food tours which are held throughout the Northeastern US. Is not a foraging guide. I would never forage on my own without the ability to identify the plants but I would love to learn how and after listening to Hen of the Woods, and know I would enjoy a tour.
For those interested in nature and foraging, this gives you a feel for what you can find growing in your local park.
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Source: Review copy
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Mailbox Monday was created by The Printed Page. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their home last week.
Mailbox Monday is currently on tour, hosted by a different blog each month. The July host is Tasha @ Book Obsessed
Here’s what arrived last week.
Print Books:
The Returned by Jason Mott from Harlequin MIRA
Jacob was time out of sync, time more perfect than it had been. He was life the way it was supposed to be all those years ago. That’s what all the Returned were.
Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain from St. Martin’s Press
Bestselling author Diane Chamberlain delivers a breakout book about a small southern town fifty years ago, and the darkest—and most hopeful—places in the human heart.
Shorecliff by Ursula DeYoung from Little, Brown
Spending the summer of 1928 in a big house on the Maine coast with his 10 older cousins and a gaggle of aunts and uncles seems like a dream come true to lonely 13-year-old Richard.
Goat Mountain by David Vann from Harper
In David Vann’s searing novel Goat Mountain, an 11-year-old boy at his family’s annual deer hunt is eager to make his first kill. His father discovers a poacher on the land, a 640-acre ranch in Northern California, and shows him to the boy through the scope of his rifle. With this simple gesture, tragedy erupts, shattering lives irrevocably.
What are you reading?
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© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
The Great Egret is a large all white Heron slightly smaller than the Great Blue Heron, with yellow eyes and black legs. They can often be seen along rivers, ponds and in marshy areas. They are an impressive sight when they fly, soaring slowly through the sky.
The Great Egret is a summer resident in my area. I saw this bird a few blocks from my house at a small pond. They are very shy and usually fly away before I can get in camera range. This bird let me get close enough for a photo shoot and then provided a beautiful soaring takeoff when he departed.
The Egret has a fairly wide range spending its winters in South and Central America and migrating into the US in the summer. According to the range map Chicago is on the edge of their breeding zone but I see them throughout the summer.
Interesting Notes
- The Great Egret was almost hunted to extinction for it’s beautiful feathers. Today it is the symbol of the National Audubon Society, an environmental organization which was founded to protect birds.
- Southern Florida is home to a similar looking species, a white morph of the Great Blue Heron, also called the Great White Heron. They are larger and have flesh-colored legs rather than the Great Egret’s black legs.
Saturday Snapshot was originated by Alyce at At Home With Books. For the summer it will be hosted by Melinda of West Metro Mommy. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
© 2013 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
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