April 11th, part two. The food is better than the book.
Review of Gordon Dahlquist’s Glass books of the dream eaters. Not a bad book, but not particularly good either. If you were stuck on a desert island with nothing to do, it would be a good, long, book to have.
The Passover cooking is going strong, read on for recipes for a spicy north African Beef Stew, deliciously light Chocolate Walnut cookies, and Zuchini & Tomato gratin.
Moroccan Beef Stew (adapted from Faye Levy’s 1000 Jewish Recipes)
2 lbs cubed stewing beef
2-3 tbsp oil
1 large onion, chopped
Up to 3 cups water
4 tbsp minced garlic
Good pinch hot pepper flakes (or more, to taste)
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
Salt & pepper
2 lbs red potatoes
1 large (or two small) sweet pepper peppers, chopped
3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
Heat oil in large dutch oven over medium high heat, and brown beef on all sides. Remove beef, and add the onions to the pan. Cook onion till softened, 5-7 minutes. Add beef back to pan, stir in garlic, hot pepper, cumin, paprika and salt & pepper. Add enough water to barely cover the beef, stir, and bring to a boil. Simmer over low-medium heat for 90 minutes, adding more water if needed. Cube potatoes, and add to stew, pushing them down into the liquid. Simmer another 30 minuets, then stir in sweet peppers, cooking into they soften, 5-10 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.
Chocolate Walnut Cookies off the interwebs, somewhere.
2 1/2 cups walnuts
3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup unsweeted baking cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
4 egg whites
1 tbsp vanilla extract
preheat oven to 350, and line baking sheets with parchment paper. finely chop the walnuts. if you are using a food processor, be careful because you don't want them pulverized, just chopped. toast the walnuts in the oven for about 7-8 minutes, and let cool. in a large bowl mix sugar, cocoa and salt. stir in walnuts. fold in vanilla and egg whites, stiring until the mixture has moistened, and darkened. do not beat or overmix, you just want it blended. Drop batter by teaspoonful onto baking sheets, and bake for 12-15 minutes, until tops are glossy and begins to crackle. let cool on baking sheets, then remove to racks. makes about 3 dozen cookies.
i was afraid these cookies would be overly rich and heavy. Nope. light, airy, and a nice balance of bitter chocolate to sweetness.
Zucchini & Tomato Gratin
I think I made this last year. it's from my French Provincial cookbook.
2lbs zuchini
salt
3-4 tbsp butter or oil
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
2-3 tbsp basil
1 cup matzah meal or breadcrums
4-5 tbsp grated Greyere, Danish Fontina, Swiss, or other swiss-like firm white oily cheese
Slice zucchini thinly, and layer in a colander with generous sprinkles of salt between each layer. don't be chinsy with the salt, it's important because it leeches the moisture out of the zucchini, and you'll be washing the salt off later anyways. Let zucchini sit for 1 hour, then rinse with cool water, and dry the slices on paper towels. Taste a peice. see? not as salty as you'd expect, and crispier and crunchier than unsalted zucchini.
Preheat oven to 400, heat the butter/oil in a skillet over medium heat. in batches, sautee the zuchini until browned. remove the zucchini from the skillet. add the tomatoes, garlic, basil and salt and pepper, and bring mixture to a boil. simmer for 5-10 minutes, until it has thickened a bit. Stir the zuchhini back into the skillet, and mix everything together. Pour into a baking dish. in a small bowl blend the matzah meal and the cheese, and sprinkle it over the zuchhini. dot with butter, and bake for 25 minutes.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
April 11th part 1: the joy is back.
I’ve decided to split today’s post into 2 parts, otherwise it would be annoyingly long, even for longwinded me.
I remember a conversation I had with my Dad when I was maybe 12 years old I’d just discovered astronomy, and had found some basic books that were on my reading level. I was giving my Dad a run down on all my cool astronomy knowledge (this is was a super nova is, this is how you find the big and small dipper, etc). I told him that everytime I learned something new, I came up with a few more questions that led me to find the answers to those questions and thus learn more. He welcomed me to the world of knowledge, and said he was proud of me.
A simple, inconsequential conversation that I never forgot. But over the years, I did forget the joy of learning, the joy of discovering, the joy of finding the questions never end, and that finding the answers are just as satisfying as forming the questions.
I am thrilled to say that I have rediscovered that joy. Just not in the way I expected. About a year ago, I got interested in Law. If you’ve been following this blog, you know I found a few introduction books, some books that focuses on different cases, I just went nuts at the library as things looked interesting. The joy of learning was slowing returning.
“Marbury v Madison”. If you are a law student, you know what that is. If you are not a law student, suffice to say reading about that causes a supernova of learning joy to blossom within me. Now I was to learn everything I can about John Adams (who strikes me as an aristocratic prick) and Thomas Jefferson and what the framers really thought, everything I can about the continental congress, and which factions wanted what, and who had who in whose pockets. Because politics hasn’t changed a bit. I want to get the “Landmark Supreme Count Descisions” book from the library. I want to learn what all the latin words I don’t know means. I want to learn about history and philosophy of Law. I’ve never read To Kill a Mockingbird, and now I want to.
The joy is back. And it feels great.
I remember a conversation I had with my Dad when I was maybe 12 years old I’d just discovered astronomy, and had found some basic books that were on my reading level. I was giving my Dad a run down on all my cool astronomy knowledge (this is was a super nova is, this is how you find the big and small dipper, etc). I told him that everytime I learned something new, I came up with a few more questions that led me to find the answers to those questions and thus learn more. He welcomed me to the world of knowledge, and said he was proud of me.
A simple, inconsequential conversation that I never forgot. But over the years, I did forget the joy of learning, the joy of discovering, the joy of finding the questions never end, and that finding the answers are just as satisfying as forming the questions.
I am thrilled to say that I have rediscovered that joy. Just not in the way I expected. About a year ago, I got interested in Law. If you’ve been following this blog, you know I found a few introduction books, some books that focuses on different cases, I just went nuts at the library as things looked interesting. The joy of learning was slowing returning.
“Marbury v Madison”. If you are a law student, you know what that is. If you are not a law student, suffice to say reading about that causes a supernova of learning joy to blossom within me. Now I was to learn everything I can about John Adams (who strikes me as an aristocratic prick) and Thomas Jefferson and what the framers really thought, everything I can about the continental congress, and which factions wanted what, and who had who in whose pockets. Because politics hasn’t changed a bit. I want to get the “Landmark Supreme Count Descisions” book from the library. I want to learn what all the latin words I don’t know means. I want to learn about history and philosophy of Law. I’ve never read To Kill a Mockingbird, and now I want to.
The joy is back. And it feels great.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Pre-Passover Bread
Passover is only a few days away, and the planning and plotting has begun! to prepare for a week withouth delicious yeasty bread, i felt the need to be as bready as possible this weekend. and give up some yeasty bready secrets to making challah and bagels, the two most Jewish breads that you can't have during Passover. I'm pretty sure i've posted both of these recipes in some fashion or another before, and they are both adapted from The Book of Jewish Food, by Claudia Roden.
Challah (makes two braided loaves)
1 pgk yeast
1 1/8 cup warm water
little bit of honey
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs + 1 egg for later
1/2 tbsp salt
1/4 cup oil
4 to 5 cups flour (have 5 cups ready, you probably won't use it all)
for dough that doesn't need as much flour (and thus is moister), start a pot of water to boil on the stove. you're not going to use this water for anything, it's just to get additional moisture into the air, and really makes a difference in the winter when the air is drier.
dissolve the yeast in the warm water with a little bit of honey. wisk well, and leave for 10 minutes. it should get foamy. in a very large bowl, beat the eggs, then mix in the salt, sugar and oil. add the yeast mixture and beat again. slowly add the flour in, about a cup at a time, until you have a soft, kneadable dough. do not feel like you need to use all the flour, in fact, the less flour you use, the better. dip your palms in flour, and knead for 10-12 minutes, until the dough is soft and elastic. Pour a few drops of oil in the bottom of the bowl and roll the dough around to grease it. cover, and let rise for 2 and a half hours in a warm place, such as near the pot of boiling water.
after it's risen, punch down and knead a few more times. divide dough into 2 even peices, and divide each one of those into 3 peices. roll out into 6 ropes to make two braided loaves. let these rise for one hour on a greased cookie sheet for one hour. preheat the oven to 350, and brush the loaves with egg. bake for 30 minutes, and let cool on racks.
yummy!!!
not in the mood for Challah? How about bagels? they are more fun to make, and make a great gift.
Bagels (makes 10-12)
3 1/2 cups flour
1 pkg yeast
1/2 tbsp salt
1 large egg (or 2 small) beaten
1 1/2 tbsp oil
3/4 cups warm water (you may not use all of it)
1 egg white
In the challah recipe, you add flour to wet ingredients, this recipe is the opposite, where you are adding water to dry ingredients. so you may not use all the water, or you may need more, depending on the moisture content of the flour and of your kitchen.
in large bowl, mix flour, sugar, yeast and salt. fold in egg and oil. it will be a very dry dough, this is okay! now add the water a little at a time until you get a pliable, yet heavy dough. if you've ever made pasta dough, this will feel a little like that. knead for 10-12 minutes or until soft and elastic (this dough will never get as elastic as challah dough, so try not to knead it past 12 or 13 minutes or it will just get tough). put a little oil in the bottom of the bowl and coat the ball of dough. cover at let rise in a warm place for 2 hours.
after 2 hours, punch down and knead a few more times. divide dough into ten or twelve dough balls, as equally sizes as possible. take each dough ball and punch a hole in the center with your thumb, then form it into a bracelet. you just made your first bagel!! make the bracelets a little bigger than you expect, as the dough will spring back some. form all your bagels, and let rise on a greased cookie sheet for an hour and a half.
preheat the oven to 375get a big pot of water boiling on the stove, and once it's at a boil, boil the bagels three or four at a time for 2-4 minutes each, flipping them over every so often. if you've got a slotted large spatula, that works great for this. after the bagels have been in the water bath, let them dry a bit on parchment paper, wax paper, or some cheese cloth.
brush the bagels with egg white, then press into a plate of any toppings you want, like sesame seeds or fried onion. bake on a greased cookie sheet for 15 to 18 minutes at 375. they should be slightly browned and getting crispy on the outside when they come out. let cool on wire racks.
these bagels are nothing like panera or big apple bagels. they remind me a little off Brueger's bagels in detroit, but i don't know if that chain exists anymore. they are chewy, fluffy, and still have some weight to them.
have fun!
Challah (makes two braided loaves)
1 pgk yeast
1 1/8 cup warm water
little bit of honey
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs + 1 egg for later
1/2 tbsp salt
1/4 cup oil
4 to 5 cups flour (have 5 cups ready, you probably won't use it all)
for dough that doesn't need as much flour (and thus is moister), start a pot of water to boil on the stove. you're not going to use this water for anything, it's just to get additional moisture into the air, and really makes a difference in the winter when the air is drier.
dissolve the yeast in the warm water with a little bit of honey. wisk well, and leave for 10 minutes. it should get foamy. in a very large bowl, beat the eggs, then mix in the salt, sugar and oil. add the yeast mixture and beat again. slowly add the flour in, about a cup at a time, until you have a soft, kneadable dough. do not feel like you need to use all the flour, in fact, the less flour you use, the better. dip your palms in flour, and knead for 10-12 minutes, until the dough is soft and elastic. Pour a few drops of oil in the bottom of the bowl and roll the dough around to grease it. cover, and let rise for 2 and a half hours in a warm place, such as near the pot of boiling water.
after it's risen, punch down and knead a few more times. divide dough into 2 even peices, and divide each one of those into 3 peices. roll out into 6 ropes to make two braided loaves. let these rise for one hour on a greased cookie sheet for one hour. preheat the oven to 350, and brush the loaves with egg. bake for 30 minutes, and let cool on racks.
yummy!!!
not in the mood for Challah? How about bagels? they are more fun to make, and make a great gift.
Bagels (makes 10-12)
3 1/2 cups flour
1 pkg yeast
1/2 tbsp salt
1 large egg (or 2 small) beaten
1 1/2 tbsp oil
3/4 cups warm water (you may not use all of it)
1 egg white
In the challah recipe, you add flour to wet ingredients, this recipe is the opposite, where you are adding water to dry ingredients. so you may not use all the water, or you may need more, depending on the moisture content of the flour and of your kitchen.
in large bowl, mix flour, sugar, yeast and salt. fold in egg and oil. it will be a very dry dough, this is okay! now add the water a little at a time until you get a pliable, yet heavy dough. if you've ever made pasta dough, this will feel a little like that. knead for 10-12 minutes or until soft and elastic (this dough will never get as elastic as challah dough, so try not to knead it past 12 or 13 minutes or it will just get tough). put a little oil in the bottom of the bowl and coat the ball of dough. cover at let rise in a warm place for 2 hours.
after 2 hours, punch down and knead a few more times. divide dough into ten or twelve dough balls, as equally sizes as possible. take each dough ball and punch a hole in the center with your thumb, then form it into a bracelet. you just made your first bagel!! make the bracelets a little bigger than you expect, as the dough will spring back some. form all your bagels, and let rise on a greased cookie sheet for an hour and a half.
preheat the oven to 375get a big pot of water boiling on the stove, and once it's at a boil, boil the bagels three or four at a time for 2-4 minutes each, flipping them over every so often. if you've got a slotted large spatula, that works great for this. after the bagels have been in the water bath, let them dry a bit on parchment paper, wax paper, or some cheese cloth.
brush the bagels with egg white, then press into a plate of any toppings you want, like sesame seeds or fried onion. bake on a greased cookie sheet for 15 to 18 minutes at 375. they should be slightly browned and getting crispy on the outside when they come out. let cool on wire racks.
these bagels are nothing like panera or big apple bagels. they remind me a little off Brueger's bagels in detroit, but i don't know if that chain exists anymore. they are chewy, fluffy, and still have some weight to them.
have fun!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Constitutional Law is totally fraking awesome.
Lesson learned from Fienman's Law 101? Constitutional law is as fascinating as contract law is boring.
Lesson learned from the case against Philip Harvey's Adam & Eve company, as chronicled in The Government vs Erotica? Constitutional Law is totally fraking awesome, it makes me feel all and warm and fuzzy and empowered n'stuff. I have this urge to look up a bunch of first amendment lawyers and randomly send them thank you cards.
Finished Silverberg's Valentine Pontifex. An excellent book, but my least favorite of the trilogy. My order of favorites equals the order in which they were written. Each book focuses on something very different, which is nice and refreshing, I just enjoyed most the focus of the first book. Was a little funny, I finished Pontifex the same day my copy of Silverberg's Dying Inside arrived. Silverberg's writing style reminds me a little of the dreamy style of M. John Harrison's, as found in his Viriconium stories, and this is a good thing.
On the recommendation of a friend, I picked up Gordon Dahlquist's The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters at the library. Holy crap is this book heavy! In pure tare weight and prose! Dahlquist sure loves his details, from the laces on green boots and trim on robes to mysterious facial scaring, and the sounds the road makes under a carriage. This Victorian adventure is beautifully rendered, well paced, and loaded with characters both cruel and intriguing. Romantic and sexy in the original senses, it'll be a sad ending if there isn't a single romantic hook up. Weight of prose wise, the novel lands half way between George R R Martin Song of Ice and Fire novels (obscenely long, but so good you don't care) and Stephenson's Cryptonomicon (obscenely, needlessly long and rambling and in dire need of some severe editing). I believe Dahlquist is a playwright for his dayjob, I have to wonder if his plays run 6+ hours?
Lesson learned from the case against Philip Harvey's Adam & Eve company, as chronicled in The Government vs Erotica? Constitutional Law is totally fraking awesome, it makes me feel all and warm and fuzzy and empowered n'stuff. I have this urge to look up a bunch of first amendment lawyers and randomly send them thank you cards.
Finished Silverberg's Valentine Pontifex. An excellent book, but my least favorite of the trilogy. My order of favorites equals the order in which they were written. Each book focuses on something very different, which is nice and refreshing, I just enjoyed most the focus of the first book. Was a little funny, I finished Pontifex the same day my copy of Silverberg's Dying Inside arrived. Silverberg's writing style reminds me a little of the dreamy style of M. John Harrison's, as found in his Viriconium stories, and this is a good thing.
On the recommendation of a friend, I picked up Gordon Dahlquist's The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters at the library. Holy crap is this book heavy! In pure tare weight and prose! Dahlquist sure loves his details, from the laces on green boots and trim on robes to mysterious facial scaring, and the sounds the road makes under a carriage. This Victorian adventure is beautifully rendered, well paced, and loaded with characters both cruel and intriguing. Romantic and sexy in the original senses, it'll be a sad ending if there isn't a single romantic hook up. Weight of prose wise, the novel lands half way between George R R Martin Song of Ice and Fire novels (obscenely long, but so good you don't care) and Stephenson's Cryptonomicon (obscenely, needlessly long and rambling and in dire need of some severe editing). I believe Dahlquist is a playwright for his dayjob, I have to wonder if his plays run 6+ hours?
Saturday, March 21, 2009
"boring books", good books, and good food
how's that for a vague post title? well, I've been reading what i like to call my "boring books, and been reading "good books", and been eating lots of of good food, so it's perfectly descriptive.
Book review is up for Sergei Lukyanenko's Nightwatch. I'm quite sure there are more books in this series, and now I've got to track them down!
I finished reading Robert Silverberg's Majipoor Chronicles, which is the second book in the Lord Valentine series. Chronicles follows Labyrinth urchin Hissune as he gains access to the Record of Souls. Hissune lives a few hours as early colonists of the planet, dreamspeakers, coronals, soldiers, and others. This shapes his education in a way no other experience could, and sets him up to be Valentine's heir apparents, much to the dismay of the princes on the Castle Mount. Lord Valentine's Castle gives the foundation of getting to know the multitude of cultures on Majipoor, and Chronicles gives the history and the details. So now I'm on to Valentine Pontifex, and i'm find that I'm avoiding it for the same reason I was avoiding finished LVC - I don't want it to end!
In the land of boring books (anything non-fiction), I'm still slogging through Fienman's Law 101. I'm picking up a lot of needed terminology, and learning that Contract Law is really, really boring. I couldn't resist a book entitled The Government vs Erotica, by Philip Harvey, the owner of Adam and Eve, a mail order "adult products" company. The government went after him with all it's might for distributing obscene materials, and Harvey and his company fought back. This book is funny, scary, and passionate. I can't put it down. Distorting the Law is going back to the library unfinished, it is too over my head. Never in a million years did I ever believe I'd be reading a book about tort law (other than John Grisham), and at least now I can say that I've never finished one.
Foodwise, i'm already starting to test drive recipes for Passover, which is only a few weeks away! Okay, so this isn't quite kosher, and it isn't quite kosher for passover, but it's only a few easy to substitute ingrediets away from both.
Mushroom & Potato casserole
2 lbs potatoes
olive oil
1 lb mushrooms
2 tbsp lemon juice
a few ounces thinly sliced salami
2/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
few tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350. slice mushrooms into 1/4" slices. clean and slice mushrooms, and sprinkle them with the lemon juice. in a small bowl, blend parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and parsley. generously oil a large baking dish, and put a layer of potatoes to cover the bottom. follow this with a layer of mushrooms, a layer of salami, and a layer of the cheese breadcrumbs mixture. season with salt & pepper (go easy on the salt if your salami is salty). keep layering in this manner until you run out of ingredients. Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil over the caserole, and bake until potatoes are cooked through, about 60-75 mintues.
Book review is up for Sergei Lukyanenko's Nightwatch. I'm quite sure there are more books in this series, and now I've got to track them down!
I finished reading Robert Silverberg's Majipoor Chronicles, which is the second book in the Lord Valentine series. Chronicles follows Labyrinth urchin Hissune as he gains access to the Record of Souls. Hissune lives a few hours as early colonists of the planet, dreamspeakers, coronals, soldiers, and others. This shapes his education in a way no other experience could, and sets him up to be Valentine's heir apparents, much to the dismay of the princes on the Castle Mount. Lord Valentine's Castle gives the foundation of getting to know the multitude of cultures on Majipoor, and Chronicles gives the history and the details. So now I'm on to Valentine Pontifex, and i'm find that I'm avoiding it for the same reason I was avoiding finished LVC - I don't want it to end!
In the land of boring books (anything non-fiction), I'm still slogging through Fienman's Law 101. I'm picking up a lot of needed terminology, and learning that Contract Law is really, really boring. I couldn't resist a book entitled The Government vs Erotica, by Philip Harvey, the owner of Adam and Eve, a mail order "adult products" company. The government went after him with all it's might for distributing obscene materials, and Harvey and his company fought back. This book is funny, scary, and passionate. I can't put it down. Distorting the Law is going back to the library unfinished, it is too over my head. Never in a million years did I ever believe I'd be reading a book about tort law (other than John Grisham), and at least now I can say that I've never finished one.
Foodwise, i'm already starting to test drive recipes for Passover, which is only a few weeks away! Okay, so this isn't quite kosher, and it isn't quite kosher for passover, but it's only a few easy to substitute ingrediets away from both.
Mushroom & Potato casserole
2 lbs potatoes
olive oil
1 lb mushrooms
2 tbsp lemon juice
a few ounces thinly sliced salami
2/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
few tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
salt & pepper
Preheat oven to 350. slice mushrooms into 1/4" slices. clean and slice mushrooms, and sprinkle them with the lemon juice. in a small bowl, blend parmesan cheese, breadcrumbs, and parsley. generously oil a large baking dish, and put a layer of potatoes to cover the bottom. follow this with a layer of mushrooms, a layer of salami, and a layer of the cheese breadcrumbs mixture. season with salt & pepper (go easy on the salt if your salami is salty). keep layering in this manner until you run out of ingredients. Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil over the caserole, and bake until potatoes are cooked through, about 60-75 mintues.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Lord Valentine & Stranger Tides Reviews up
must write reviews! books are due at the library! and my "books to be read" pile is getting out of control, as usual.
New reviews up:
Lord Valentine's Castle, by Robert Silverberg (he's my new obsession.)
On Stranger Tides, by Tim Powers
In boring book news, i picked up something called Distorting the Law, by William Halton and Michael McCann. It's basically about the media sensationalization of tort law, and the need for tort reform. for example, remember the woman who sued because getting a CAT scan took away her psychic powers? yeah, big joke. before the Cat scan, she said she was allergic to the dye they were going to inject her with. They injected it anyway and did the scan. Her allergic reaction causes pain and debilitating headaches. Regardless of her claim of psychic powers before or after the Cat Scan, they injected her with something she was allergic to, and part of her lawsuit was medical malpractice and pain and suffering. the jury awarded her a boatload of money, the judge lowered the amount, and on appeal the whole thing was reversed. medical malpractive or no, "psychic" or no, she never saw a penny and it became a perfect example of how the media has allowed tort cases to be spun out of control. Would people have thought different of the case if she had never mentioned her profession was psychic medium? A dry but interesting book, i'm only understanding about half of it, because of my lack of education in law/tort/media/etc. back to the library for Law 101: Everything you need to know about the American Legal System, by Jay Fienman. Okay, so it's certainly not everything, but it's many steps up from some Law for Dummies type thing. Fienman keeps everything in words I can understand, with real world examples, and a few made up ones. Now everyone at work thinks I'm a law student, which i'm not.
New reviews up:
Lord Valentine's Castle, by Robert Silverberg (he's my new obsession.)
On Stranger Tides, by Tim Powers
In boring book news, i picked up something called Distorting the Law, by William Halton and Michael McCann. It's basically about the media sensationalization of tort law, and the need for tort reform. for example, remember the woman who sued because getting a CAT scan took away her psychic powers? yeah, big joke. before the Cat scan, she said she was allergic to the dye they were going to inject her with. They injected it anyway and did the scan. Her allergic reaction causes pain and debilitating headaches. Regardless of her claim of psychic powers before or after the Cat Scan, they injected her with something she was allergic to, and part of her lawsuit was medical malpractice and pain and suffering. the jury awarded her a boatload of money, the judge lowered the amount, and on appeal the whole thing was reversed. medical malpractive or no, "psychic" or no, she never saw a penny and it became a perfect example of how the media has allowed tort cases to be spun out of control. Would people have thought different of the case if she had never mentioned her profession was psychic medium? A dry but interesting book, i'm only understanding about half of it, because of my lack of education in law/tort/media/etc. back to the library for Law 101: Everything you need to know about the American Legal System, by Jay Fienman. Okay, so it's certainly not everything, but it's many steps up from some Law for Dummies type thing. Fienman keeps everything in words I can understand, with real world examples, and a few made up ones. Now everyone at work thinks I'm a law student, which i'm not.
Monday, March 9, 2009
two new reviews up
Yay, new book reviews have been posted on SFRevu! and even better, these were actually good books! if you'll forgive the lack of grammar check. . .
Duke Elric volume 4, by Michael Moorcock. This is the new printing, with spiffy new artwork, a handful of essay/short stories at the end, and as usual in the universe of Michael Moorcock, highly satisfying. i can't say enough good things about his Elric.
Prophets, book 1, by S. Andrew Swann. I thought it had a rough start, but the book gets much better as it goes along. it would have helped if i'd read the handful of Swann books that take place before this one. but still, it was a good time.
hmmm. . . more updates later, i promise.
Duke Elric volume 4, by Michael Moorcock. This is the new printing, with spiffy new artwork, a handful of essay/short stories at the end, and as usual in the universe of Michael Moorcock, highly satisfying. i can't say enough good things about his Elric.
Prophets, book 1, by S. Andrew Swann. I thought it had a rough start, but the book gets much better as it goes along. it would have helped if i'd read the handful of Swann books that take place before this one. but still, it was a good time.
hmmm. . . more updates later, i promise.
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