Archive
Book Review: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (Audiobook narrated by Anna Fields)
Summary:
When the world goes through an apocalypse consisting of virulent strains of the flu, lack of food, and nuclear warfare, one wealthy family manages to survive because they saw it coming. Made up of highly intelligent and highly educated people, such as doctors and scientists, the family creates a 200 bed hospital and uses this as their home base. But there is a serious fertility problem, and how they address it just might change the core of humanity.
Review:
I love reading classics of scifi. It’s endlessly fascinating how different people in different times imagine a future (or an apocalypse). This award-winning book had the bonus of being written by a woman, which isn’t always easy to find in older scifi. I also was intrigued by the cloning theme. How would someone in 1977 view something that was, as yet, nowhere near as close to a reality as it is now, with our cloned sheep?
The book starts out incredibly strongly. So strongly, in fact, that I actually had nightmares from it, which never happens to me ever. I am basically a rock of horror and scifi, but this one creeped the bejesus out of me. It’s that creepy combination of incest and cloning. The family are really not people you would want retooling the world. They’re everything that can be (and usually is) bad about the 1%. They’re selfish, self-centered, snobby, and routinely employ nepotism. I found the incest in the first third of the book talking about the first generation of the family to be an interesting metaphor for how the elite can become so backwards and grotesque from sheer isolation. It’s powerful and moving, and a scenario that will remain in my mind.
The second third of the book focuses in on a woman, Molly, from the first generation of clones. This is disturbing in its own way, because they don’t just clone everyone once and have done with it, no. They clone everyone multiple times until there are clusters of the same person at different ages wandering around. They call these clusters “brothers” and “sisters” with the name of the original person as the name of the group, even though the individual ones have their own names. It is profoundly disturbing. This second third looks at the society of clones that the original family unintentionally made. It’s fascinating in its own way and an interesting different way of telling a post-apocalypse story. Often we get only the first generation, but here we get multiple generations.
The last third, unfortunately, didn’t live up to the first two-thirds of the book. Without giving too much away, it looks at a boy who came about by natural methods who gets integrated into the clone society at the age of five. They decide not to clone him and give him brothers for unclear reasons. This last third then looks at his impact on the clone society. I didn’t feel that this worked as well for multiple reasons. For one, it’s almost as if Wilhelm freaked herself out and backed off from the profoundly disturbing story she was telling and went a more conventional direction. That was disappointing. For another, I found it disappointing that she chose to make this game-changer a boy. I expect women scifi authors to be at least a bit cognizant of the need in scifi for more female main characters. In this one, the first third is a man, the second third a woman, and the last third a boy. That is not the best stats from a woman author. I also found certain parts of this to be very boring and slow-moving compared to the first two-thirds. That makes for odd pacing in a book.
Of course, my complaints about the last third backing off, being more conventional, and being rather dull don’t take away from the first two thirds at all. They bring about so many interesting societal questions. For instance, is the incestuous nature of the elite necessarily bad or will it one day save humanity? Will cloning remove something that makes us human, even if they look right? Is it better to cling on to technology at all costs or release it and go back to simpler times? And what about sex? Is monogamy natural and polyamory unnatural? Or is polyamory more welcoming and loving than potentially possessive monogamy? The questions go on and on, which is what is great about scifi.
As for the science itself, it is quite well-done. Wilhelm clearly thought through both keeping a closed-off community alive and cloning and bringing to term embryos. She also put thought into the scientific basis for why clusters of clones would be different from individual humans, touching on psychology and twin studies. I was a bit irritated that she bases the survival of these people on cloning farm animals, when that is not a good use of their limited land resources. Studies have shown many many times that a combination of farming vitamin-rich plants and hunting/gathering are the best use of limited land resources, so this particular element rang a bit of bad science. However, I am not certain how much land usage had been studied in the 1970s, so that could possibly just be a sign of the times.
Now, I did read the audiobook, so I should touch on the narration. Overall, Anna Fields does a very good job. I really enjoyed that they chose a female narrator for a book written by a female author. It let me almost imagine that Kate Wilhelm herself was reading it to me. Fields mostly strikes a good balance of changing voices for different characters without going over the top. The one exception to this is when she narrates children. The voice for that made me cringe, but they mercifully speak only a few times. Mostly, Fields reads smoothly and is easy to follow. She narrates without accidentally putting her own interpretation onto the work, which is ideal for an audiobook.
Overall, then, this is a fascinating classic of scifi. It examines the apocalypse through the lens of the elite, thereby analyzing and critiquing them, but it also looks at possible consequences of cloning and ponders what ultimately makes us human. Although the last third of the book is a bit less creative and more conventional than the first two, it is still a fascinating read. Recommended to scifi fans, particularly those with an interest in group dynamics.
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audible
Friday Fun! (In Which I Take Back Up Counted Cross-Stitching and Blog Tour Updates)
Hello my lovely readers!
I’ve been trying to keep things kind of quiet in my non-work life right now, since work is so busy with the beginning of the medical school academic year. So I don’t have too terribly much to tell you except that I now have something besides cooking and cleaning that I’m doing when listening to audiobooks. I’ve taken back up counted cross-stitching.
I’ve been searching for a crafty/productive hobby for a bit now. Knitting could only progress as far as scarves before things started to get thrown across the room. I couldn’t even learn how to do one stitch in crocheting. I knew I was capable of counted cross-stitching (and embroidery) because it was forced upon me….er, I learned it as a kid. However, I had this perception of it as being something steeped in old lady and overtly religious patterns. And then I saw something on tumblr.
It was a counted cross-stitch that quoted Fight Club saying, “Condoms are the glass slipper of our generation,” and had a glass slipper on the bottom. I about died laughing. And then I discovered the world of punk stitching, which is what the non-traditional stitchers call it. I was immediately excited and intrigued.
So I picked up a cross-stitching kit (before getting into designing my own patterns or buying other homemade patterns) to make sure that I wasn’t misremembering my abilities. After much hunting I found a wintry wolf scene that I thought would go well in my Native American themed bedroom area in my tiny apartment. I completed 400 stitches the first time I sat down. And I was remembering correctly. This is something I am good at! This is something that bafflingly relaxes me! All the counting and organizing that I so adore, and I wind up with prettiness! I am beyond excited about this rediscovered hobby, as my new pinterest board of patterns probably demonstrates. 🙂
In Waiting For Daybreak
From Me To You… had previously reviewed my novella, Ecstatic Evil
The Paperback Pursuer offered up a review stating, “I was blown away by Amanda McNeil’s ability to develop such a unique and troubled character who every reader can relate to on some level.”
Kelsey’s Cluttered Bookshelf has an interview with me up where you can find out things like my future writing goals and advice for other writers. She is also offering a giveaway!
Bookishly Me also has an interview up in which I talk about the research I conducted for the book, among other things.
Last but certainly not least, Fangs for the Fantasy offers up a review from a social justice perspective stating, “But even better than a realistic and well-presented depiction of mental illness, we also have it become a strength in the zombie apocalypse.”
A big thank you again to all of the participants! I’m so glad folks have been enjoying the tour so far.
Happy weekends!
Book Review: The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King (Series, #4.5)
Summary:
There’s a tale we have yet to hear about the ka-tet in the time between facing the man in the green castle and the wolves of the Calla. A time when the ka-tet hunkered down and learned a special billy-bumbler talent, an old tale of Gilead, and the first task Roland faced as a young gunslinger after the events at Mejis.
Review:
When I heard there was going to be a new Dark Tower book, I had basically three reactions. 1) Yay! 2) Shit he better not ruin them. 3) Guess I didn’t actually finish that series after all, did I? May have written the series review a bit too soon…..
But mainly my reaction was a skeptical excitement. I love the world of the Dark Tower and was ecstatic to be able to get more of it (yes, I know there are the young gunslinger comic books, but they feel slightly less the same to me since they are in a different format). However, I was also terrified because well we’ve all been in an instance where we mess with something that was good to the point where it’s not good anymore, right? I was worried King was going to do that to the Dark Tower. I am so so so happy to be able to say that worry was unfounded.
This book goes to show just how clearly the entire world of the Dark Tower series exists in King’s mind. The format is a story within a story within a story. The ka-tet have to hunker down to wait out a storm, so Roland starts to tell them a story from when he was a young gunslinger. Within that story, the young Roland tells someone else an old story of Gilead. The Gilead story wraps up, then the young gunslinger, then the ka-tet. A writer must know his world very well to be able to handle such a structure smoothly without confusing his reader, and King does just that. There was no confusion and each story felt fully told. Or as fully told as anything is in the world of the Dark Tower.
I’ve said before that every book in the series basically is a different genre, which is part of what makes it so fun. So what genre is this one? I’d say it’s fairy tales. Once upon a times. And fairy tales generally have a lesson to be learned within them, so what is it in these three? Well, they vary, but I would say overall it’s about leaving aside childish things and childish ways to become an adult. (And, I might add, that happens much much earlier in the Dark Tower than it does in our particular world).
I will say, although I certainly had the impression that this book was going to be about Jake and Oy, it really isn’t. It isn’t much about the ka-tet at all. It’s about Roland and the role of billy-bumblers in the world. Although, personally I wanted more billy-bumblers, but I *always* want more billy-bumblers, because they are definitely my favorite fantastical creature. I’m still holding out hope that King will write something sometime entirely about Oy or billy-bumblers. But this book is not it.
That said, I was oddly not disappointed to see far less of the ka-tet than I was expecting, because the two stories within the frame of the ka-tet are so strongly told. They are just….wow. Terrifying, horrifying, unpredictable, and hilarious simultaneously.
That’s the thing that makes any Dark Tower book fun. It contains all of those things.
Lines can go from laugh out loud humor (with a touch of truth):
Turn yer ears from their promises and yer eyes from their titties. (page 43)
To the starkly sad truth:
Those were good years, but as we know—from stories and from life—the good years never last long. (page 110)
To the simply universal:
“What if I fail?” Tim cried.
Maerlyn laughed. “Sooner or later, we all do.” (page 255)
*shrugs* I admit I’m a bit of a fan girl of the series, but even a fan girl can be sorely disappointed, and I was really and truly not disappointed at all. I laughed, I nodded, I wondered, I quaked, I wished for an illustration sometime somewhere of billy-bumblers dancing in a clearing in the moonlight. Although, speaking of illustrations, how gorgeous is the US kindle cover?! So fucking gorgeous, that’s how.
Back to the point, I was not disappointed at all. I was ultimately elated and wishing for more. And other fans will be too.
5 out of 5 stars
Source: Amazon
Books in Series:
I’m listing all of the books so you can easily see where The Wind Through the Keyhole
The Gunslinger
The Drawing of the Three
The Waste Lands
Wizard and Glass
The Wind Through the Keyhole
Wolves of the Calla
Song of Susannah
The Dark Tower
Series Review (written before we knew there would be more)
Book Review: The Walking Dead Volume 15 by Robert Kirkman (Series, #8) (Graphic Novel)
Summary:
Everyone’s world was rocked when the zombies got through the community’s fence. Will they respond by banding together or falling apart?
Review:
Ok, before I review, the numberings need a bit of explanation. Comic books are issued very similarly to academic journals. So there are skinny issues that come out every few weeks (generally). A few of these bound together make a volume. A bunch of these bound together make a book (what we call in academia a “bound journal.”) I *was* reading the books of The Walking Dead but then I caught up to the author. I decided I didn’t want to buy issues, because they’re flimsy and you read through them very quickly, so I’m now reading the volumes. I hope that makes some semblance of sense. This will probably be the case throughout the rest of the series, because you have to wait a long time for the books, and I just am too impatient for that. My reviews will then be much shorter, because a book contains a few volumes, and I am now reviewing one volume at a time. Moving right along to the review!
This volume is basically cleaning up the mess from the action of the previous one and prepping for the action of the next one. Classic in-between chapter. What this volume really reminded me of is the infamous “Live together or die alone” speech by Jack in Lost. In fact, this volume sees Rick basically trying to turn into Jack and failing miserably. Long-time readers know I’ve never liked the guy, so personally I got a lot of schadenfreude out of seeing him be so pathetic in this volume.
That said, the survivors are definitely going for a new strategy, which will lend itself well to future fresh storylines, which any long-running series needs.
Fans of the sex will be quite happy with the developments in that area. Drama! Intrigue! Changes of partners!
Overall, it’s an enjoyable entry, if not mind-blowing, that perfectly sets things up for the next volume. Fans won’t be disappointed!
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Newbury Comics
Previous Books in Series:
The Walking Dead, Book One
The Walking Dead, Book Two
The Walking Dead, Book Three
The Walking Dead, Book Four
The Walking Dead, Book Five
The Walking Dead, Book Six
The Walking Dead, Book Seven
Book Review: Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh (Audiobook narrated by Erik Davies)
Summary:
Jasper can’t believe he’s actually homeless, although a lot more people are homeless now than used to be. But still. He got his BA in sociology. He’s worked hard. How did this happen? He’s living with a tribe of other 20-somethings. They keep hoping things will get better, but somehow they just seem to keep getting worse. The economy doesn’t improve. Home-grown terrorists known as Jumpy-jumps start routinely terrorizing people. Driving anywhere, having dependable food, actual working police forces, they’re all a thing of the past. Not all apocalypses happen overnight.
Review:
I actually hesitated over keeping this book on my wishlist, but I’m very glad I did. I found it to be not quite what I was expecting. In a good way.
I think a lot of men in particular will enjoy it, because it kind of reminds me of a Judd Apatow film. There’s this complete and utter loser guy who you entirely hate (and I suspect McIntosh hates too) but who is just so damn funny you keep reading it. A lot of apocalypse books focus in on a strong leader type, but Jasper is actually a coward who just keeps trying to squeak by. On top of that, he claims to be looking for true love, but is actually completely lacking in any understanding of women. One of his “apt” observations, for instance, consists of stating to a guy friend, “Have you noticed that fat women have been getting hotter?” He’s trying to say that the more starvation threatens, the more attracted he is to women who obviously have enough to eat. But he isn’t philosophical about it at all, and that’s kind of hilarious. He also tries to impress a girl at one point by commenting on the fact that she’s reading a book, but he says it in such a way that it’s obvious he himself doesn’t read at all, which is utterly baffling in a world that no longer has electricity or other entertainment. Basically the whole book is laughing at a cowardly dude-bro, and that’s fun.
The apocalypse itself is quite creative. As the title and blurb imply, it’s a slow one. Gradual. Things get bad and just never get better then more things get bad. It’s a creative mix of economics, homegrown terrorist groups, scientists trying to make things better but actually making it worse, and international politics. None of it came across as utterly absurd or ridiculous, which shows that McIntosh did a good job.
There are two scenes that are truly horrific, which of course I loved. There’s a very creative death scene that I think will haunt me for a long time. (Again, that’s a good thing). The plot overall is a bit meandering, but that makes sense since Jasper isn’t the most focused or proactive dude on the planet. I’m a little sad the book ended when it did. I get why McIntosh ended it there, leaving things open-ended for readers, but….I could have read about Jasper much much longer. Yes, he’s a guy I would hate beyond all reason in real life, but I guess that schadenfreude factor is what makes the book so fun.
Now, I did read the audiobook, and I have to say I was very disappointed in the narration by Erik Davies. It does not live up to the content of the book at all. My main problem with him is that he does that awful thing of putting on what he thinks is a woman’s voice every time one of them speaks, but what actually sounds like a small child and nothing like us. I actually had to stop and rewind a couple of times to double-check if I was angry at how the book was portraying women or if the narrator was making it seem like the book was portraying women as childish idiots. Suffice to say, it’s definitely the narration, not the book. Yes, Jasper objectifies women and basically calls any woman who doesn’t fit into his definition of what a woman should be “crazy,” but the whole book is laughing at him, so really the book is showing how ridiculous it is to view women like that. The narrator reading women in this childish voice really messes with that whole presentation. So, definitely don’t get the audiobook.
Overall, then, this is a fun apocalyptic scifi featuring a cowardly loser who is delightful to follow and laugh at. I highly recommend it to scifi fans who also enjoy slacker flicks, but definitely get the print or ebook versions, not the audio.
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Audible
Book Review: The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins (Bottom of TBR Pile Challenge)
Summary:
Christy is a Traveller, what Irish gypsies call themselves, in the 1950s. He’s eleven, and his family is about to stay in one town for a whole 40 days and 40 nights for Lent so he and his cousin, Martin, can get ready for confirmation. Christy has always thought his mam died giving birth to him, but when his grandda dies, he finds a newspaper clipping that shows his mam holding him when he’s months old. Thus begins a quest to find out who he really is.
Review:
The particular copy I read I won on a book blog somewhere (I’m afraid I didn’t write down the name), but I also received an ARC during one of the holiday swaps one year. It’s interesting to me, then, that this book wound up on my tbr pile both because I was interested and because someone else thought I would enjoy it. And of course I did.
It is honestly, immediately abundantly clear that Christy’s mother isn’t a Pavee (a Traveller). I was thus skeptical that the story would hold my interest, since predictable ones don’t tend to. I am pleased to say that I was wrong about this on both counts. Although it’s true that Christy’s mother isn’t a Traveller, everything else about her and Christy’s history is actually quite surprising and moving. I’m glad I stuck with it.
The book examines many different issues, some universal and others specific to Irish history. There of course is the issue of identity. Who we are and what makes us that. Is it nature or nurture? The often tough relationship between fathers and sons during the son’s adolescence is also wonderfully presented. Of course a book about gypsies also addresses prejudice, stereotyping, and the norm. Cummins doesn’t sugar coat things. She shows the positive and negative aspects of Traveller culture, which is as it should be. No culture is all perfect or all bad. What the book does a great job of doing is showing how kids learn prejudice and how multiculturalism can enrich everyone’s lives. Some people are one way and some another, and neither is necessarily bad. The book also touches on the animosity between Protestants and Catholics in Ireland, as well as the very real issue of Irish society stealing babies from single mothers in that time period. I know that sounds like a lot, and honestly I’m surprised now that it’s all listed out at how much was touched upon. Cummins strikes the perfect balance of touching on real issues without ever seeming pushy or forced.
Although the storyline and characters are good, it didn’t 100% draw me in. I think it moves a bit too slowly for me in the first half or so of the book. I also, honestly, struggled to like Christy. I eventually came to understand his viewpoint and choices, but I still find him kind of annoying. His father, on the other hand, is incredibly interesting and wonderful, and I kind of wish we had a book about him instead of about Christy. But, some readers enjoy more slowly paced books and others might relate better to Christy than I did. It just personally is what made it a book I liked but didn’t love.
Overall, this book is an interesting entry in historic Irish fiction. It looks at Ireland in the 1950s through the eyes of a small band of gypsies, which is certainly a unique viewpoint. The writing is fluid, if a bit slow-moving, and the plot is not as predictable as it seems at first. Recommended to fans of historic fiction and works set in Ireland.
4 out of 5 stars
Length: 360 pages – average but on the longer side
Source: Won on a book blog (If it was yours, let me know, and I’ll link to you!)
Buy It
If you found this review helpful, please consider tipping me on ko-fi, checking out my digital items available in my ko-fi shop, buying one of my publications, or using one of my referral/coupon codes. Thank you for your support!
Friday Fun! (Six Books/Six Months Meme and Blog Tour Updates)
Hello my lovely readers!
This week I saw a new meme over on Jessica’s blog, The Bookworm Chronicles, and I immediately knew I’d want to participate. And what better place than in Friday Fun, eh? The Book Jotter created it after realizing we’re actually halfway through the year already (already!), so the theme is answers to the questions/categories in sixes.
Six New Authors to Me:
- S. A. Archer
- Kat Falls
- Steve Vernon
- David Anthony Durham
- Brandon Shire
- Susan Mallery
Six Authors I Have Read Before
- Brian K. Vaughan
- Robert Kirkman
- Joseph Robert Lewis
- Anne Rice
- Margaret Atwood
- Ann Brashares
Six Authors I Am Looking Forward To Reading More Of:
- Tera W. Hunter
- Joann Sfar
- Richelle Mead
- M. J. Rose
- Isaac Marion
- Roger Thurow
Six Books I Have Enjoyed the Most:
- To ‘Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women’s Lives and Labors after the Civil War
by Tera W. Hunter (review)
- Dark Life
by Kat Falls (review)
- Warm Bodies
by Isaac Marion (review)
- Acacia
by David Anthony Durham (review)
- Vegan Vittles
by Jo Stepaniak (review)
- The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change
by Roger Thurow (review)
Six Books I Was Disappointed With:
- The Wolf Gift
by Anne Rice (review)
- Living Cuisine: The Art and Spirit of Raw Foods
by Renee Loux Underkoffler (review)
- Nano House: Innovations for Small Dwellings
by Phyllis Richardson (review)
- The Child Who
by Simon Lelic (review)
- To a Mountain in Tibet
by Colin Thubron (review)
- Robopocalypse
by Daniel H. Wilson (review)
Six Series of Books Read or Started:
- Y: The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan
- Touched by S. A. Archer
- Dark Life by Kat Falls
- The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman
- Georgina Kincaid by Richelle Mead
- The Reincarnationist by M. J. Rose
Phew! That was actually pretty tough to assemble. Super fun though! It’s always interesting to see your reading over a period of time summed up in different types of lists.
Now, it’s time for the Waiting For Daybreak
Earth’s Book Nook hosted a guest post in which I talk about why I made “What is normal?” the theme of the novel and tour. She is also hosting a giveaway!
The Chronicles of an Enamored Soul posted her review, and she said, “The reason it gets FIVE STARS, is because I simply loved how well-realized, and well-developed author McNeil’s characters were, ESPECIALLY Frieda. Amanda writes about mental illness with sensitivity, and yet never fails to make it interesting.”
Tabula Rasa‘s review said, “The book is, on the one hand packed with thrill and action, and on the other, has a very emotional and thought-provoking side. What I really appreciated was how none of it is overdone; I specially liked the subtlety of the relationship between Mike and Frieda.”
Tabula Rasa also hosted an interview! Be sure to check that out to find out everything from whether plot or characters come first in my writing to what my next project is.
Nicki J Markus also interviewed me. Check that out to find out what my favorite zombie book and zombie movie are.
Last but not least, Nicki J Markus is also hosting a giveaway. Two chances to win this week!
Thanks once again to all the participating blogs!
Finally, happy weekends to all my lovely readers! What did you think of the meme? Any surprises or thoughts?
Cookbook Review: Veggie Burgers Every Which Way by Lukas Volger
Summary:
Far more than just your basic veggie burger, this cookbook offers up interesting varieties of veggie burgers plus veg*n versions of everything else you will need at your summer bbq.
Review:
This is such a pretty cookbook! Beyond gorgeous full-color photographs of the food, the recipes themselves are colorful with the numbers in blue and the headings in red or green. It’s not just readable and usable; it’s fun to do both.
This is a vegetarian cookbook, not a vegan one, but there are quite a few vegan recipes, and they are all clearly labeled with a green “V.” There are also some gluten free recipes labeled with a green “GF.” These labels are found in both the contents and on the recipes themselves.
The cookbook is divided into: Introduction, Veggie Burger Basics, Bean Grain and Nut Burgers, Vegetable Burgers, Tofu Seitan and TVP Burgers, Burger Buns, Sides: Salads and Fries, and Condiments and Toppings. I have to say while I was pleased with the inclusion of sides, I was most impressed by the inclusion of the section on burger buns. I also really appreciate the anti-processed food stance in the Introduction. It’s a nice touch, particularly for people who follow a diet that often leaves us wallowing in processed foods at friends’ bbqs, and we can’t complain because, well, they bought us veggie burgers, didn’t they?
One drawback to the cookbook is quite a few of the recipes call for ingredients that are kind of hard to find like: chickpea flour, bulgur, roasted chestnuts, Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP), or arame. If you’re pushing for people to do fresh, whole foods instead of processed, you shouldn’t make the ingredients list so complicated.
I found about three recipes that intrigued me enough to add to my “to try” collection. So far I’ve tried one, Beet and Brown Rice Burgers on page 59. It’s a fairly straight-forward recipe: combine shredded beets with cooked brown rice and mashed up beans, along with a few spices. I made them all at once then froze them. I also added in vital wheat gluten, which Volger oddly doesn’t use in a lot of his recipes in spite of its binding qualities and protein content. I’m glad I did because the burger still had some issues staying together even with it in there. However, the flavor and textures are different from other veggie burgers I’ve made, so it was definitely worth the effort. I still think the recipes in the book in general need a bit of tweaking, particularly for flavor and stay-togetherness (shhh that is so a word). The burger was good but not great. It’s almost there….I do intend to try it out again and tweak it a bit.
So….out of the whole book I found 3ish recipes, have made one, it was different and interesting but needs some tweaking. Not exactly a result that would make me encourage others to purchase. I do suggest you borrow it or check it out from a library if my review has intrigued you at all. You may find it more useful than I did or perhaps enjoy the flavor combinations more or even just have more easily accessible oddball ingredients in your town.
3 out of 5 stars
Source: Public Library
Cookbook Review: Eat Vegan on $4.00 a Day by Ellen Jaffe Jones
Summary:
This cookbook is a response to the myth that eating vegan must be expensive. Jones offers up recipes and a 7 day meal-plan where each day costs $4 or less.
Review:
The idea of this book is great, but the execution is poor, particularly compared to other eat cheap vegan cookbooks such as Vegan on the Cheap
The book features an interesting introduction on why veggies and fruits don’t get ad space, followed by chapters on financial planning for grocery shopping and veggie nutrition and cooking. Both of these chapters are kind of common sense, but I am fully aware a lot of adults, particularly young adults, are completely lacking in this common sense, so these chapters are good to have.
The recipes are divided into: breakfasts, soups, salads, salad dressings, entrees, spreads and sides, and desserts and snacks. Now, I have nothing against soups or salads, but to have three chapters really devoted to those two things (I mean, a whole chapter of salad dressings? Come on!) is not offering up much variety or doing anything to dispel the myth that vegans just eat salad. To top it off, the entree chapter starts with a chili and a stew, which are basically chunkier soups.
I also feel that a lot of the recipes are pure common sense. There is a recipe titled rice and beans. COME ON NOW. You make rice, stir-fry up some beans and veggies, boom, rice and beans. If you’re offering up a book on eating vegan on the cheap, don’t offer up recipes that we all already know anyway and that are commonly thought of as a poor man’s food. What a person looking at this cookbook wants is creative, cheap, delicious vegan recipes. What we are offered is basic stir fries, basic pasta and sauce, basic salad, etc… For instance, the salad “recipe” on page 50 just offers up a list of veggies and nuts then says “combine any five of these ingredients.” Gee, thanks, I had no idea that a salad is made up of a combination of veggies. What a help!
Now, I did try making a recipe in the cookbook, “Sweet Potato Muffins” on page 35. The pros: it was cheap and edible. The cons: it was barely edible and I felt like I was having hockey pucks for breakfast. There has got to be a better way to make vegan sweet potato muffins. There just has to be. And, side-note, I’ve been cooking long enough to know that when a recipe fails this badly, it is most likely not my fault. Particularly when I try it a second time, and it still fails.
So overall I suppose if you are an absolute complete beginner in cooking and wanting to eat plant-based, you might find this book moderately useful. I’d recommend to you that you get Vegetarian Cooking For Dummies
2 out of 5 stars
Source: Public Library
Mini Movie Reviews #1
I feel like I generally don’t have quite as much to say about movies as I do about books. Perhaps that’s because they only take an hour or two of my time, whereas books you live with for several hours, even days or weeks. In any case, although I really don’t watch much tv (and when I do, it tends to be nonfiction like cooking shows), I do periodically watch movies. Some of them popular, some of them older or documentaries you might not know about. After having seen mini reviews on other folks’ pages, I decided this format would be ideal for my movie reviews. A movie will periodically get a fully fleshed-out review if I have a lot to say about it.
So here we go, in the order in which I watched them.
The Shunning
USA
2011
Not Rated
Contemporary Drama
4 out of 5 stars
I read the original bonnet books back when I was in middle school, which started with The Shunning. I was happy to see it pop up on my Netflix. (I believe it was a made for tv movie, possibly for the Hallmark channel?) This isn’t your typical bonnet romance. Katie Lapp is struggling with the idea of her marriage to a man she doesn’t love after the death of her first love. She also likes playing guitar and singing, which is frowned upon in the Amish community. When she learns that she is adopted, her whole world is rocked. It’s a great film both to see Amish life and to consider issues of identity and adoption. I can think of quite a few of my friends and followers who would enjoy it
Unspeakable Acts
USA
1990
Not Rated
Docudrama
3 out of 5 stars
It’s odd, I generally don’t go for courtroom drama books, but the movies sometimes work for me. This one from 1990 is about the daycare child abuse scare that happened in the 1980s and looks at the groundbreaking case that made certain aspects of children testifying easier in court. One fun thing, one of the mothers is Bebe Neuwirth (Lilith from Frasier), and it was pretty….odd seeing her in a loving mother role. This docudrama addresses the controversial methods of questioning toddlers about situations at daycares. The movie falls solidly on the pro-questioning side. I enjoyed it. It was a bit slow-moving and sometimes the acting was a bit over-the-top, but it does a good job encouraging parents to be communicative with each other and to actually bother to ask their kids questions like they are real people (which indeed they are). Some viewers might be disturbed by the graphic descriptions of child abuse.
Creature From the Black Lagoon
USA
1954
Not Rated
Horror
4 out of 5 stars
I’ve been working my way through the 100 Horror Movies to See Before You Die, starting with the ones available on Netflix. This one is about a group of scientists who think they’ve discovered an artifact of the missing link in human evolution deep in the Amazon. They get there and of course discover that the missing link is actually a living creature. Let me just say upfront, yes it is abundantly obvious that this is one of those movies about white guys being scared of non-white guys stealing their women. Bare that in mind when watching this, and you will come away with a totally different viewing than those who don’t. It’s easy to see why it became a classic. The underwater shots are absolutely incredible. There are in particular these scenes wherein the woman is swimming in a gorgeous pure white swimsuit (I know, I know), and the creature is swimming underneath her in tandem. How they pulled that off in the 1950s, I don’t know. It is a highly watchable film and a great way to start a discussion of the racism in the 1950s. Perhaps even to try to convince those who would say otherwise that the good old days weren’t really so good. Side-note: there is a great scene where the woman scientist and the dude she’s dating are asked when they are gonna get married. It’s been a while. Only to find out they’ve been dating 6 months. 
Reel Injun
USA
2009
Not Rated
Documentary
5 out of 5 stars
This documentary looks at the stereotypes and use of Native Americans in American cinema as a lens for considering Native identity and the American Indian Movement (AIM, the name for the Native American civil rights movement). The documentary eloquently moves decade by decade, presenting clips and interviewing actors, directors, and AIM activists. It completely blew my mind. For instance, I didn’t know that during the silent movie era there was a strong group of Native filmmakers who made their own, powerful movies. It was when the talkies came that the cowboy and Indian trope came about and also when every Native everywhere was re-written as a Plains Indian. For ease. Then in the 1970s and 1980s after the civil rights era, we started to get the ass-kicking Natives as a reflection of the anger in the movement. It’s impossible to come even close to telling you all everything I learned or how powerful the movie was for me. I will say, though, that I found the part about how Marlon Brando turned down his Oscar due to the treatment of Natives in cinema by sending Sacheen Littlefeather up in full Apache clothing to turn it down for him completely shocking. I had no idea that such a movement exists in Hollywood, but it does, as is also evidenced by Clint Eastwood’s involvement in this documentary. It’s encouraging to hear that not everyone in Hollywood sits by while this shit goes down. In any case, a powerful documentary and a great starting point for getting your feet wet in the Native American civil rights movement.
The Invisible Man
USA
1933
Not Rated
Horror
2 out of 5 stars
Another entry in the 100 Horror Movies to See Before You Die. A scientist manages to make himself invisible but doesn’t have an antidote ready. Also he goes crazy. Allow me to say, yes I realize this is super-old and they still managed to do the slowly revealing the invisible dude scenes, which is an amazing achievement in cinema. Watch clips of those parts on youtube. The storyline itself is super boring and not well structured, and the science is rather shoddily done. It was good for a few laughs. For the first 55 minutes. The rest was suffering and wanting to rip my hair out. I think one of my live tweets from watching it sums it up best, “The best part of this movie is the knowledge that this dude is running around nekkid.” Because his clothes are visible, you see.
That’s about a month’s worth of movies. Stay tuned for more quick thoughts next month!
Source: Unless otherwise noted, all movies watched via Netflix.
This work by Amanda Nevius is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Opinions of a Wolf 