Review Tales
Trusted Reviews and Author Features Since 2016
Winter by Marissa Meyer (Book Review # 3)
Winter is Marissa Meyers last book. It is the finale where all of the characters come together. In this book, the author decides to keep you on your toes throughout the whole story. Every page is interesting and full of drama. There is action happening every corner you read. There are sad parts, happy parts, wow parts and much more. I recommend you to purchase this book as it makes all the anticipation and waiting worthwhile.
I am going to mention something here that may or may not benefit the author. That is, if you purchase Winter alone and just read this book, you can still catch up on all you missed and still understand the whole story altogether. On the other hand, if you wish to know all of the “Nitti Gritty” parts and in general just like a smooth read along and then reach to the end of the story then you should start from Cinder. The reason behind what I say is because the author touched base on every character and gave them at least a page describing everything they went through in this book. So if you just picked this up and did not know that there were three books before it, then you won’t be shooting yourself.
The book does focus initially on Winter and her story, her background and how she has been struggling with her situation. Her friendship with Jacin and her secret love was both sweet and intriguing. You never knew how her relationship was going to end or grow. Scarlet is pretty much useless until the end. She is a prisoner and besides her harsh language and angry referencing’s, you do not get to read much about her. Cinder is getting stronger and more determined. Wolf, Cress, and Iko are just the same people trying their best to help Cinder. Prince Kai now knows the secret and has more motivation for save his country from two vital things, the plague and Queen Levana. Torin, Aimery, and Maha have more roles to play in the series, and there are many battles and romance, which is always exciting and helpful.
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Fresh artisan bread made easier than ever! Reviewed by da-AL
Author Jim Lahey with his Sullivan Street Bakery
Surely there’s a place in heaven for bakers who have worked out the kinks of no-knead bread baking, the ones who share their secrets with the rest of us. No-knead recipes are yeasty home baked goodness without the usual bother, and that take a fraction of the time to make.
Jim Lahey’s “My Bread” bumped my no-knead loaves to Everest heights. Bread genius and angel to home bakers that he is, he does the rest of the no-knead cookbooks one better. He does away with the need for pizza stones and steam via his simple radical solution: baking in covered pots.
Recipes, for me, are diving boards to be fiddled with after my first try, not destinations to be rigorously followed. Lahey’s recipes, all easy, forgive unconditionally. A straightforward writer, he encourages innovation!
These two loaves are loose renditions of his “Pane Integrale/Whole Wheat Bread,” the ones he lusciously illustrates and describes on pages 60-62. For brunch last Sunday, I baked them together. The smaller is a whole recipe. The larger one, a double recipe, needed a bit longer to bake thoroughly.
At the beginning of the book, Lahey discusses how long dough should be left to rise. Two hours is the minimum, yet more patience is rewarded with more fermentation. I’ve left my dough out for as long as 24 hours before baking. Every loaf steams with tangy sourdough excellence.
Along with messing with the ingredients (I added oatmeal to the smaller loaf, a whole wheat flour to both of them) my personal innovation is to usually use crock pots in the oven, not the electric part of course, instead of other types of pots. That way, I don’t risk ruining yet another non-metal handle.
Whatever I use, I line with parchment paper to ensure easy extraction. Plus, the paper embosses intriguing creases.
Forget about Wonder Bread or anything akin to grocery store texture. My loaves come out dense and crusty; a handmade delight to be experienced only by the truly fortunate. In the interest of not squashing the lofty goodness when I saw into each loaf, I use an electric carving knife that my mom gifted to my husband. Furthermore, to not risk mangling my already uneven slices, I use scissors for the absolute final bit of cutting.
Initially, when baked at Lahey’s recommended 475º, my oven emitted an offensive metallic odor. An appliance repairman set my qualms to rest. He advised me to run the oven at 500º for a couple of hours. The oven has been odor-free ever since.
Dough, just like bread, can be refrigerated for a week or so, as well as frozen for longer. For best results, allow the dough to come to room temperature before baking.
Written by da-AL
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The Selection Series by Kiera Cass – America’s Tale (Book Review #1)
The Selection series is a 5-novel book about two girls named America & Eadlyn written by Kiera Cass.
I managed to read all five of the books in July and found them very easy to understand and to follow.
“The Selection,” “The Elite,” and “The One” were all written between 2012 and 2014. Without giving too much away for people who have not yet read the book, I would like to give a small description of the whole thing before I comment on my feelings about it.
The tale starts in the future after World War 4. America has been taken over by a country called Illea. The monarchy running the country passes their daughters to other nations in the hope of strengthening their allies, and the prince has to choose one girl from a selection of girls picked after each sector of their lands.
People live in a caste system where if you are a “one,” you are like royalty; a” two,” you are a celebrity; and if you are an “eight,” you are a nobody. Every caste has a category of jobs they can only take as a profession. The girls are to be virgins before marrying, and any marriages between higher castes and lower ranks are not received very well.
I have read many reviews and heard many comparisons to the Hunger Games and The Bachelor regarding this book. However, I was surprised to see that no one mentioned anything close to what I am about to say and review.
The books almost reminded me of Jane Austen and her famous “Pride & Prejudice.” Jane Austen demonstrated people ranked by their status and financial position. In Pride & Prejudice, people were not legally bound by what jobs they had to take or marked by the public with a number representing their status; they still suffered between an invisible line of being degraded and treated with prejudice due to their status. They could not move any higher in status unless marriage was affiliated with them.
While Elizabeth grabbed Darcy’s attention with her gracious behaviour and performed with dignity and pride even though she was of a lower status, America’s personality and behaviour in the selection were almost the opposite.
I found America to be obscene, and I was almost always confused as to what she was doing. She behaved very immaturely toward many important decisions she had to make, yet Kiera managed to make them all sound appealing to the one Prince of Illea. There was no grace, extreme pride, constant snapping or yelling, and almost always insulting the prince. Kiera was excellent in giving us a visual view of the beautiful gowns and scenes, and her skill in writing made you almost cry or gasp at certain moments.
America was pursuing another man in the palace, who happened to be her ex-boyfriend, Aspen, all at the same time. Most of her dates with the prince would end up half-finished due to her temper and attitude, and she was playing with two hearts, trying to decide which one she wanted and which one she wanted to break. I kind of was hoping that once she had reached the palace, she would forget about Aspen or at least America would let him go when she saw him at the palace.
Nevertheless, don’t be alarmed and decide not to read this book as it had many enjoyable parts where, if you dug deeper into the story, you would understand and want to know more. There were politics, history, love, affairs, dramas and many sudden changes to the book that was very refreshing and kept you on your toes, wanting to find out what would happen next. Love is not perfect, and compared to Hollywood stories that seal our minds with images of what we should perceive as romantic and genuine love, the selection series takes you to another level of perception.
Just like anything in life, you start to be confused or even unwilling to participate. You then realize that it isn’t so bad and start finding your true self, understanding that it was what you have been looking for the entire time. You pursue it with all you have and hope wholeheartedly that you succeed. Subsequently, since you never lose until you give up, America did just that, and she won.
Written by Jeyran Main
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Against All Odds by Danielle Steel (Book Review #290)
Bruce Miller’s Thoughts
Some Personal Thoughts on How I Felt About Writing, “I Came, I Saw, I Coffeed: Online Dating: Why Didn’t He Call Me Back? What Goes Through a Man’s Mind on the First Meet? Impressions from a Man Who Had Over 350 First Meetups.”
One beautiful, intelligent single woman told me many women wonder why they didn’t get a call back after having a very nice first meet with a good man. She asked me to write a book about my impressions when she learned that I had spent three years searching for a woman and met over 350 women for coffee or wine.
She wanted to know how other women dressed on the first meet, how they carried themselves, how they acted, what they talked about, and many other things and my impressions of them. And, most importantly, why did I date some women further, and why didn’t I call others back?
I’m just one man with an opinion and my thoughts, of course, don’t exactly match what other men think. But, I think my background is similar to many divorced men. I hadn’t dated for a long time and was thrown into meeting other women after an unexpected and unwanted divorce. There are lots of men who after an unexpected divorce feel like a floundering and lonely fish who missed a tide change and are flapping away and feeling very lonely on the sand. To avoid a lifetime of loneliness, we are forced to throw ourselves back into the sea, not being sure if we could swim again.
Men are under a lot of pressure to provide and make a good living. I thought I was doing the right thing trying to create a successful business. However, my ex-divorced me because I worked too much and didn’t understand women. The pressures of business followed me home every night and made it difficult for me to understand my ex-wife’s feelings. So, I’m thankful for going through three years of dating and talking very personal to many women and finally learning about them and the importance of a women’s feelings.
I hope the women who read, “I Came, I Saw, I Coffeed,” will find it insightful, entertaining, amusing and useful. And, I hope reading it will guide more women to get a callback and not wonder “Why didn’t he call me back.”
Written by Bruce Miller
Bruce Miller is the Author of “I Came, I Saw, I Coffeed”.
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The Status of Antiques in India and their Demands Abroad by Boring Bug
The Status of Antiques in India and their Demands Abroad
The Indian subcontinent has been known for its historical and cultural context. Despite being home to various artifacts dating back centuries, the same remains ignored, unpreserved and neglected. Antiques which are highly valued by the collectors across the world mostly remain in a state of neglect in India.
The rising demand abroad, the lack of awareness and maintenance in India, and the negligent nature has led various fixtures to disappear from the State and appear at international auctions, to routinely fetch high prices.
Antique dealers generally snap up much of the antique furniture and fixtures in junk for as little as US 1 $ per piece, whereas the same is put up in international auction catalog to be bought by the international dealers and art enthusiasts for thousands of dollars.
Despite having caught the attention of several activists who’ve been trying to lobby the same with the respective Government(s) to regulate the sale of such coveted items abroad and in India, there has been a major reluctance on all part. Privy to instances of Indian government intervening in major auctions of Indian artifacts abroad only to be shown the mirror that the same were purchased legally (at junk prices), or were purchased from negligent customers who had left such precious items in a state of deterioration or neglect.
The situation prima facie is the same for many countries, in and around the Indian subcontinent, due to the lack of awareness and absence of bonafide buyers. People consider such items to be junk, since items dating centuries old are a common phenomenon for the public in India, and under such assumption, they fail to realize the artistic and historical importance of the work. The primary example of the same would be my ancestral house. Built roughly 120 years ago with timely modifications to the same, it is still considered a young development in comparison to its surrounding buildings.
Hopefully someday, somewhere, the people around the globe will be educated and made aware enough about their belongings and the rich heritage to understand their true values.
Until then, signing off, while I eat my food with a silver spoon that actually dates back to a few decades. Another common phenomenon I suppose.
-by boringbug
Boringbug is a blogger. His blog can be reached at- www.boringbug.wordpress.com
Milton the Christmas Moose by Steve & Jean Goodwin (Book Review #284)
Milton’s parents are very kind and teach him to give and to be happy with who he is. I found the story to be very appealing to the younger audience. The subject matter of being kind to everyone no matter how bad they treat you back is something worth teaching the youth.
I believe the author has paid special attention to the illustration and the way the story has come along. The images are spread all over each page and are very colorful, creating interest for the youngsters who have short term attention spans.
I recommend this book to parents who are looking for decent children stories.
Written by Jeyran Main
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