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Brief review. The Twelfth Department by William Ryan

The Twelfth Department by William Ryan Set in Stalinist Moscow an engaging mystery where suspicions are more powerful than deeds in some cases. Good characters and suspense.

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2014 12 01 ernie Comments (0)

Brief review. The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living by Mark Bittman

The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living by Mark Bittman A Bittman cook book containing recipes that are in concert with his thoughts in “Food Matters.” Minimizing meat and emphasizing whole wheat. Made the pumpkin and coconut muffins this morning and have loaf of pumpkin whole-wheat bread ready to go into the […]

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2014 11 16 ernie Uncategorized Comments (0)

Brief review. Sun Storm by Asa Larsson

Sun Storm by Asa Larsson I had a hard time putting this one down and read it in three days. Just fascinating. A mystery that explores different personalities and the interplay between them. Murder, mutilation, manipulation, co-dependence, dominance, and self reliance that wins out. I am anxiously waiting for the next of her novels to […]

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2014 11 16 ernie Comments (0)

Brief review. The Execution of Noa P. Singleton: A Novel by Elizabeth J. Silver

The Execution of Noa P. Singleton: A Novel by Elizabeth J. Silver Set on Death Row with flashbacks to the events that brought Noa there. An interesting uncovering of several lives and contrasting ways of living and getting what one wants from life or death as the case may be. The characters stay with me. […]

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2014 11 14 ernie Comments (0)

Brief review. Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein’s Brain by Michael Paterniti

Driving Mr. Albert: A Trip Across America with Einstein’s Brain by Michael Paterniti A story, mostly true I suppose, of Michael driving Thomas Harvey across the US in a Buick Skylark. The unusual thing here is that Dr. Harvey was the pathologist who performed an autopsy on Albert Einstein and removed Mr. Albert’s brain. Also, […]

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2014 11 14 ernie Comments (0)

Brief review. History of Food in 100 Recipes by WIlliam Sitwell

History of Food in 100 Recipes by William Sitwell by William Sitwell. An excellent exposition of the history of food and the way it is prepared through a collection of recipes dating from ancient Egypt to the present day. The author is British and the recipes are typically from Europe or the United States. Reading […]

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2014 11 14 ernie food
Recipes Comments (0)

Brief review. Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers’ Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm by Forrest Pritchard

Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers’ Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm by Forrest Pritchard A well-written story about the transformation of a farm and the people who chose to live on it from dead-end industrial farming to a sustaining natural and organically managed farm. A thoroughly enjoyable read. “We buried my father […]

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2014 11 07 ernie Comments (0)

Obituary average age. November 2, 2014: 80.64

The average age of those listed in the fifteen obituaries in the November 2, 2014 Free Lance-Star was 80.64. The median was 83 with a sample standard deviation of 11.49. The ages ranged from 56 to 9992. This is the thirteenth day I’ve been collecting this data. The mean of  obituary average ages  using {77.375,64,74.143, 62.5, 55,66.8333, 74.11,71.27,68.82, 76.92,63,76.71} at Wolfram alpha is […]

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2014 11 02 ernie Commentary Comments (0)

Brief review: The Forgiven by Lawrence Osborne

The Forgiven: A Novel by Lawrence Osborne. Life changing events sometimes need forgiveness. If you experience a life-changing event, do you need to be forgiven? Are you responsible? Osborne gives such a full and rich description of an opulent 3-day weekend party in Morocco, you can feel the heat. You’re irritated by the sand. He […]

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2014 10 30 ernie Comments (0)

Brief review: Walks With Men by Ann Beattie

Walks With Men by Ann Beattie. Novella. Interesting, but some parts seem undeveloped which is sometimes characteristic of a novella. That is understandable, but, still I felt like I was left in a situation that needed more explanation in  order for me to make sense of it.

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2014 10 30 ernie Comments (0)