Next time I have a spare moment, I want to check out Slightly Foxed, a book-review magazine that sounds pretty good, at least based on this Bookslut review.
I'm all for a non-generic book mag; if you know of any others, let me know. I have a hard time finding anything but the usual boring ones in town.
(Whatever happened to Bookslut's blog, anyway? I used to spend lots of time following links there.)
Monday, November 22, 2004
box full of paper
I've narrowed my magazine subscriptions down. I have dropped/am dropping In Style, Lucky, Real Simple, and Marie Claire, because they just made me want to buy things. Dropping Self because I get Health, and it gets sort of repetitive after a while. After a lot of debating, I dropped Entertainment Weekly because it just wasn't that enjoyable for me anymore, and I'm trying to concentrate more on real life and less on screens (although I already miss Dalton Ross). I dropped Giant Robot because it's one of those magazines that sit around for a month before I get to it.
And I'm dropping Kitchen Sink after my sub expires because each time I've ordered something from their website (my first issue, then Volume 1), I've had to e-mail to find out where it's at. In the case of Volume 1, I waited two and a half months with no luck, then e-mailed and got a "I know I sent it!" response and a promise for a resend and a couple of extra issues for my trouble. I got the resend, but no extra issues, and not even a note inside with a quick "Sorry!" -- that's one of my (maybe unfair) pet peeves. If you're gonna promise something, deliver or apologize. Anyway, between that and the typos (it's such a nice-looking publication and so smart, but the typos make it unreadable for me), I've given up on this one. That doesn't mean you should, though! Maybe you have better KS luck.
I'm keeping Cooking Light and Everyday Food, although I may stop CL after this year and just buy the collected recipes, since I usually end up buying them anyway. I can't imagine giving up Everyday Food, though, with its fantastic and simple recipes. Also keeping: MS Kids (I get so many ideas from it), Venus, and BUST (god, the Dec/Jan issue kicked ass, especially the crafty section).
Bitch is on the verge of being knocked off the list. The last few issues just haven't interested me that much, and I don't get hyped up when I see it in the mailbox anymore.
Man, I used to get so effing many magazines. Of course, now my mailbox gets filled up with stupid mail-order catalogues instead. One day I will figure out how to stop that from happening, and that will be a happy day.
And I'm dropping Kitchen Sink after my sub expires because each time I've ordered something from their website (my first issue, then Volume 1), I've had to e-mail to find out where it's at. In the case of Volume 1, I waited two and a half months with no luck, then e-mailed and got a "I know I sent it!" response and a promise for a resend and a couple of extra issues for my trouble. I got the resend, but no extra issues, and not even a note inside with a quick "Sorry!" -- that's one of my (maybe unfair) pet peeves. If you're gonna promise something, deliver or apologize. Anyway, between that and the typos (it's such a nice-looking publication and so smart, but the typos make it unreadable for me), I've given up on this one. That doesn't mean you should, though! Maybe you have better KS luck.
I'm keeping Cooking Light and Everyday Food, although I may stop CL after this year and just buy the collected recipes, since I usually end up buying them anyway. I can't imagine giving up Everyday Food, though, with its fantastic and simple recipes. Also keeping: MS Kids (I get so many ideas from it), Venus, and BUST (god, the Dec/Jan issue kicked ass, especially the crafty section).
Bitch is on the verge of being knocked off the list. The last few issues just haven't interested me that much, and I don't get hyped up when I see it in the mailbox anymore.
Man, I used to get so effing many magazines. Of course, now my mailbox gets filled up with stupid mail-order catalogues instead. One day I will figure out how to stop that from happening, and that will be a happy day.
gasp!
I haven't read any actual books lately (no rest for the relocating), but I did receive a great cookbook the other day, so let's talk about that.
To explain, I'm signed up for The Good Cook book club, mostly because I'm drawn to the siren call of cheap pretty cookbooks, and their opening offer was a good one. (And I can never bring myself to pay full price in an actual bookstore, but I'm okay with paying the slightly lower club price by mail. Strangeness.) They have, of course, their little cards that you get each month and have to return or they automatically ship you their selection of the month. Apparently they never received my card last month, and they shipped me Patrick O'Connell's Refined American Cuisine. I was going to just return it, but I looked up a few reviews, and it sounded like something I might like. So I decided to keep it.
Yesterday I looked through it, marking the recipes I wanted to try, and damn, I love this book. Chef Patrick O'Connell co-created The Inn at Little Washington, a place I will probably never be able to visit but can still appreciate. The recipes are almost all slightly glamourous but still accessible (they actually seem do-able), and the pictures are gorgeous. The best part is that O'Connell is a great writer, throwing little anecdotes in and not being too Important Chef serious, so the book ends up being fairly light-hearted and fun to read. There are pictures of my beloved Virginia here and there (The Inn's located near the Blue Ridge Mountains), which of course makes me love the book more because I'm a horrible biased reviewer.
I'm afraid I'm not that great at reviewing cookbooks. Here: this is a splendid cookbook. It has beautiful recipes that are easy to follow. I've marked about a quarter of the pages with my "to try" bookmarks. I was so excited about it that I talked to my husband for ten minutes about the thing, even as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. And, bonus, it's not snobby. The end.
To explain, I'm signed up for The Good Cook book club, mostly because I'm drawn to the siren call of cheap pretty cookbooks, and their opening offer was a good one. (And I can never bring myself to pay full price in an actual bookstore, but I'm okay with paying the slightly lower club price by mail. Strangeness.) They have, of course, their little cards that you get each month and have to return or they automatically ship you their selection of the month. Apparently they never received my card last month, and they shipped me Patrick O'Connell's Refined American Cuisine. I was going to just return it, but I looked up a few reviews, and it sounded like something I might like. So I decided to keep it.
Yesterday I looked through it, marking the recipes I wanted to try, and damn, I love this book. Chef Patrick O'Connell co-created The Inn at Little Washington, a place I will probably never be able to visit but can still appreciate. The recipes are almost all slightly glamourous but still accessible (they actually seem do-able), and the pictures are gorgeous. The best part is that O'Connell is a great writer, throwing little anecdotes in and not being too Important Chef serious, so the book ends up being fairly light-hearted and fun to read. There are pictures of my beloved Virginia here and there (The Inn's located near the Blue Ridge Mountains), which of course makes me love the book more because I'm a horrible biased reviewer.
I'm afraid I'm not that great at reviewing cookbooks. Here: this is a splendid cookbook. It has beautiful recipes that are easy to follow. I've marked about a quarter of the pages with my "to try" bookmarks. I was so excited about it that I talked to my husband for ten minutes about the thing, even as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. And, bonus, it's not snobby. The end.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
in case of boredom . . .
I'm loving the never-ending bookworm thread on getcrafty.com right now. It's fun to see what other people are reading, and there are some great suggestions in there, too.
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
bumbling fools and bumblebees
Yes, I suppose it is pointless to have a book log if you never get around to reading books, but whatever. I just got back from "vacation" and damned if I didn't get to read THREE books. Also, I hated the name of this site, so I changed it to something I liked. To celebrate, I will now subject you to the following exchange:
Ms. Calendar: "You're here again? You kids really dig the library, don't you?"
Buffy: "We're literary."
Xander: "To read makes our speaking English good."
Ah, the glorious Buffy days of yore.
Summer and basement living conspire to keep me from updating this site, but I'll try to post reviewlets of vacation books sometime soon.
In the meantime, I will point you to four decent magazines I discovered while on said vacation: Look-Look (I hate their website, though), mental_floss, NYLON, and Utne, which was called The Utne Reader last time I read it, and which seems a lot less boring now than it did then.
Ms. Calendar: "You're here again? You kids really dig the library, don't you?"
Buffy: "We're literary."
Xander: "To read makes our speaking English good."
Ah, the glorious Buffy days of yore.
Summer and basement living conspire to keep me from updating this site, but I'll try to post reviewlets of vacation books sometime soon.
In the meantime, I will point you to four decent magazines I discovered while on said vacation: Look-Look (I hate their website, though), mental_floss, NYLON, and Utne, which was called The Utne Reader last time I read it, and which seems a lot less boring now than it did then.
Wednesday, March 17, 2004
an explanation
This is buttercup's sister site. It will house my little tiny unprofessional book reviews and be sort of a book log, like the library's summer book club without the flamingo-shaped pen.
I don't expect you to read it, really, though you're welcome to do so.
I don't expect you to read it, really, though you're welcome to do so.
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