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 January host is Alyce of
At Home With Books.
Ever since I read Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal Vegetable Miracle, I’ve been reading more about what happens to our food before it gets to the grocery store. So I was happy to get an early copy of The Taste of Tomorrow for review. I also received a couple of historical fiction books, one a win and one for review.
From the publisher for review:
Restoration
by Olaf Olafsson
Raised within a cosseted circle of British ex-pats in Florence, Alice shocked her family and friends when she married Claudio. Despite the protests of both families, they found a crumbling villa on a windy Tuscan hilltop, called San Martino, and they poured themselves into the house and the land–and what they built together bound them together. They had a son. They finished the house. They were happy. But away from her family and the ease of life to which she was accustomed, Alice begins to slip into a vast and encompassing loneliness. more.
From AmazonVine for review:
The Taste of Tomorrow:
Dispatches from the Future of Food
by Josh Schonwald
For fans of Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman, TheGreenFoodTechie.org’s Josh Schonwald delivers a fascinating investigation into the trends and technologies that are transforming the world of food before our very eyes—from Alice Waters’s micro farm to nanotechnology and beyond. Building upon the knowledge base we have gained from such books as The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Schonwald takes our contemporary conversation about food a step further, debunking myths, clarifying controversies (such as the current storm over GMOs, or genetically modified organisms), and exploring the wild possibilities that food science and chemical engineering are making realities today—from food pills to new species of scratch-built fish.
A win from Nise’ of Under the Boardwalk::
Madame Tussaud
by Michelle Moran
The world knows Madame Tussaud as a wax artist extraordinaire . . . but who was this woman who became one of the most famous sculptresses of all time? In these pages, her tumultuous and amazing story comes to life as only Michelle Moran can tell it. The year is 1788, and a revolution is about to begin.
Spanning five years, from the budding revolution to the Reign of Terror, Madame Tussaud brings us into the world of an incredible heroine whose talent for wax modeling saved her life and preserved the faces of a vanished kingdom.
How was your week?
Secrets of Backyard Bird Feeding
by Deborah L. Martin
Genre: Science, Birds
Publisher: Rodale Press, Inc.
Publish Date: August 31, 2011
Format: Paperback | 352 pages
Absolutely everything you ever wanted to know about attracting wild birds to your backyard can be found in this comprehensive book on bird feeding. There are chapters on many of the food types birds prefer from seeds to suet, fruit, nectar and bugs. There is even a section on home cooking with recipes for making your own bird treats and suet cakes, a chapter on various types of feeders, how to care for them and instructions on how to create your own inexpensive feeders.
A chapter that I was interested in was what kinds of plants and shrubs I should put in my garden to provide natural food for birds. I also wanted to know how to get rid of squirrels, but the advice was the same as what I already tried. They are impossible to get rid of and I end up feeding them in another part of the yard in an effort to keep them from disturb the birds.
Scattered throughout the book are lots of gorgeous photos and sidebars with tips and helpful tidbits of information. Such as, Myth or Truth: Does throwing rice at a wedding harm birds? Short answer, no it doesn’t. Some of the sidebars are in the form of charts, which I find easy to read, plus there are a series of informative quotes and other notes in highlighted boxes scattered among the text. This volume is much more visually pleasing than the previous edition of this book published a few years earlier.
The last chapter, which comprises the second half of the book, is a reference section including photos and profiles of about 100 of the most common feeder birds with information on what type of foods they eat, what part of the continent they can be found on and during what seasons of the year.
There is so much more in this book, I’m barely putting a dent in describing it. It is a great resource for anyone who wants to start a backyard feeding station, improve the one they have, or just make their yard more attractive to wild birds.
Peanut Butter Suet Recipe
The book includes an assortment of recipes and has a chapter called Kitchen Castoffs and Home Cooking, all for the birds. One of the recipes is the same one that I have used for my suet and I can guarantee that the birds love it. I serve this during the winter months when it’s cold and the ingredients won’t spoil in the sun. Other times of the year I use the no-melt store-bought variety.
Ingredients:
2 cups crunchy peanut butter
2 cup lard
4 cups plain yellow cornmeal
4 cups quick oats
2 cups flour
⅔ cup white sugar
1 cup hulled sunflower seed chips
12 x 8 baking pan
Preparation:
- Melt the peanut butter and lard. (Can be done in a large bowl in the microwave or a large pot on the stove). Use a low flame on the stove. In the microwave start with one minute increments on high, stir, and continue with 30 second increments until melted.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients
- Spread in a 12 x 8 baking pan and cool
- Cut into a 4×3 blocks, wrap in wax paper, place in storage container and keep in the freezer.
I refill the plastic suet containers that I save from the store-bought suet instead of using the 12 x 8 pan. Then I put each suet cake into a sandwich baggie before placing in the refrigerator or freezer.
Yield: 8 suet cakes
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Source: Library copy.
Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads. Participation is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs.
It’s still 51 days until spring but our weather has been anything but winter-like. I’m not complaining. On the contrary, this is exactly how I would like winter to be: sunny days, mild temperatures, and small amounts of snow followed by a warm spell.
Yesterday was one of those warm sunny days so I wandered over to the nature park. I have been trying to walk at least one mile a day as part of my stay-fit plan. The paths were mostly clear, the creek was flowing and there was still a light cover of icy snow. It was actually pretty.
I noticed a group of Robins kicking around in the leaf litter. This one was looking in the water. I don’t know if he was contemplating a drink or looking at his reflection. Robins hang out in groups during the winter and some will stay in the area as long as they can find food. There are a lot of trees with berries in this park so I usually see Robins here.
I like the look of the bare trees against the winter sky. Something about the texture of the bark, it’s as if we can see the bones of the trees.
Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Visit her blog to see more great photos or add your own.
The Devil’s Elixir (Templar #3)
by Raymond Khoury
Read by: Richard Ferrone
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publish Date: December 22, 2011
Format: Audio CD | 12 hours
Rating: 4 of 5
I didn’t realize that The Devil’s Elixir was book three in the Templar series, probably because it didn’t have ‘templar’ in the title like the previous two books. The only connection it seems to have to the first two are the same main characters, FBI agent Sean Reilly and his girlfriend Tess Chaykin. It is not necessary to have read the first two books to enjoy this novel. It works well as a stand alone. The author sets the stage and gives us the necessary background information.
The story opens with a few brief vignettes, one in 1700s Mexico, and the second, a drug bust Sean was a part of 5 years ago. Eventually we will understand the connection to these events. Fast forward to the present and Sean had just received a phone call from an old girlfriend. Someone has broken into her home. She escaped with her young son but knows they are still after her and she doesn’t know why. Events quickly escalate and we encounter drug dealers, nasty bad guys and some violence.
Although I read a fair amount of crime novels and had heard of the previous Templer books, this was the first book I’ve read by Raymond Khoury. What I found was an entertaining, action-packed thriller with complex interesting characters. It was fast-paced with a lot of plot twists, including one towards the end of the story that I didn’t see coming. Always more enjoyable when I am unable to accurately predict the outcome.
Richard Ferrone demonstrates what a versatile narrator he is. He does a great job with the voice of Sean Reilly. I had no trouble imagining him as a hardened FBI Agent who thought he’d seen it all. His voices for the other characters were distinct and the female and child characters were very good. (That is one of my annoyances in audio, when the narrator cannot vocalize a believable version of the opposite sex.)
Fans of crime fiction will enjoy this one and anyone new to the genre or the author will find this is a good place to jump in with a likeable main character and exciting plot.
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Source: Review copy.
Are You Smart Enough to Work at Google?
by William Poundstone
Genre: Business
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Publish Date: January 4, 2012
Format: Hardback | 304 pages
Are You Smart Enough To Work At Google? guides readers through the surprising solutions to dozens of the most challenging interview questions. The book covers the importance of creative thinking, ways to get a leg up on the competition, what your Facebook page says about you, and much more. Are You Smart Enough To Work At Google? is a must read for anyone who wants to succeed in today’s job market.
The first part of the book is an entertaining, inside look at how many of today’s major companies go about choosing new hires. The author delves into their background and hiring practices and examines what information the interviewer is seeking from job candidates. Actual questions are discussed and analyzed, and some of them are real doozies. Companies may be looking for creativity or logic or common sense, but often the questions seem completely unrelated.
One of my favorites was how Nordstroms screens female applicants. A simple three-part test:
• Is the applicant wearing black?
• Is she wearing heels?
• Is she wearing a watch?
The answer to all three should be yes. This screens out 90% of the applicants. It’s arbitrary, but since there are so many applicants they feel there is little reason to hire anyone who doesn’t know their secret dress code. Moral of that story, research the company before you go on your interview.
At the end of each chapter are some sample questions. The second half of the book are the answers to each of these questions by chapter. The author points out what would be a good answer, a bad answer, and why there’s a difference. Tips and advice are offered on how to answer questions and how to salvage an interview that appears to be doomed to failure.
This is much more than a guide on interviewing techniques. It was a fun read and now I know I’m not smart enough to work at Google.
About the Author
William Poundstone is the author of twelve books, including How Would You Move Mount Fuji? and Fortune’s Formula, which was Amazon Editors’ pick for the #1 nonfiction book of the year in 2005. He has written for the New York Times, Harper’s, Harvard Business Review, and the Village Voice, among other publications. He lives in Los Angeles.
Giveaway Information
The publisher has generously offered two copies for giveaway. If there are more than 30 entries I will add another copy.
- Contest is open to those with an address in the US or Canada.
- To enter leave a comment. It is not necessary to be a subscriber or follower to enter but new subscribers are always welcome.
- The deadline for entry is Sunday, February 12th. Winners will be chosen by a random drawing, contacted by email and will have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address.
Contest is now closed.
Almost Wordless: I have an endless fascination with Milkweed. I took this in a prairie near my house a few weeks ago.
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More Wordless Wednesday.
HTML & CSS
Design and build websites
by Jon Duckett
Genre: Self-Help, Computer
Publisher: Wiley Books
Publish Date: November 8, 2011
Format: Paperbackback | 512 pages
Rating: 4 of 5
From the Back Cover
Whether you want to design and build websites from scratch or take more control over an existing site, this book will help you create attractive, user-friendly web content. We understand that code can be intimidating, but take a look inside and you will see how this guide differs from many traditional programming books.
The first thing I noticed when I opened the book was how it looked. It is visually stunning with full color, glossy pages and large, easy to read type. Examples of code are placed next to a picture of what it will look like when viewed in a web browser making it easy for the reader to visualize.
The book begins at an introductory level and is targeted at the beginner or user who has some basic knowledge and wants to learn to build a website from scratch using a text editor such as notepad. (Although, if you are serious about writing code I would use one of the notepad replacement editors such as NoteTab or UltraEdit as notepad does not have the features needed to make coding easy.)
The first section is an introduction to HTML and the basic structure of a web page. The presentation is clear and the instruction is easy to understand. In the first half of the book the reader goes through the process of creating a page using HTML. The second half of the book introduces CSS, what it does and how it works. CSS controls the design of the web page, makes it more attractive and visually appealing.
This book is also a great reference manual for those who already know a little HTML and want to have more control over the appearance of their webpage or blog. This is what I want to learn from this book. I’ve taken a few online tutorials and know enough to make basic changes but I would like to do more with design and create my own stylesheets.
I am also learning more about making some simple modifications in appearance here on my blog. I am using a standard template and there are some things I would like to change. For example, I am able to increase and decrease font sizes and change border colors or remove them altogether by using the “style” attribute. I used the ‘abbr’ element to add a definition of CSS. Hover over it and you will see the words “Cascading Style Sheets”. All this is done using the HTML Editor instead of the visual editor and the book shows you how to do it.
Online support is available and examples of code can be downloaded. There are also video demos, tutorials, and reference tools. Whether you are a beginner or already have a blog or webpage and want to change or update its appearance, this book would be a useful resource.
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Source: Review copy.
Under My Apple Tree 