Cheese: A Connoisseur’s Guide to the World’s Best

I love a good piece of stinky cheese. I enjoy taking it out of the fridge and letting its nasty old stank peel the paint off my walls, knockout my cat, and make the local children cry. It’s how you know you gots yerself sum quality cheese right there.

Unfortuneatly, I must admit, my cheese knowledge is limited to about, oh, whatever I might have picked up from a cookbook or Food Network. Thank heavens for Max McCalman, may chiors sing his spoiled milk praises! For those who don’t really know this guy, he is the man and fromager (cheese brainiac) who pretty much single handedly spearheaded the idea of presenting true artisinal cheeses, cheese courses, and giving cheese the kind of credit we give to wine here in America. He has become well known for his work in the New York restaurants Picholine and Artisinal, and luckilly for those of us not living shibby in New York, has gone out of his way to create a wonderful guide to the best of the best in his second book, Cheese: A Connoisseur’s Guide to the World’s Best. Read more…

Run for Your Life

James Patterson published his first thriller in 1976 and since then has become one of the best-known and bestselling writers of all time, with more than 140 million copies of his books sold worldwide. He is the author of the two most popular detective series of the past decade, featuring 12 Titles in Alex Cross Series - Cross, Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls, Jack and Jill, Pop Goes the Weasel, Cat and Mouse, Four Blind Mice, Violets Are Blue, Roses Are Red, Mary Mary, Big Bad Wolf, London Bridges and the Complete Women’s Murder Club Series (1st to Die, 2nd Chance, 3rd Degree, 4th of July, 5th Horseman, 6th Target and 7th Heaven, First Edition Hardcovers Volumes 1-7), and he has written numerous other #1 bestsellers.

This is the first James Patterson book that I have read in awhile and I am glad that I waited. This book was a non-stop thrill from start to finish, and I can’t wait to read the rest of his books that have been collecting dust on my bookshelf for too long. Read more…

Building a WordPress Blog People Want to Read

“Building A WordPress Blog People Want To Read” by Scott McNulty is a new book on setting up and running a successful blog. McNulty has written an easy to understand and at times amusing introduction to getting started with what is currently the most popular blogging platform.

Both well written and well illustrated, the book covers everything from downloading and installing the software, to setting up the database, defining system parameters, and selecting a template. What is really excellent about these explanations is that McNulty tells you not only what are the best choices, but what impact those choices will have on your blog in the future. There are many selections you can make when setting up a new WordPress installation that can seriously affect how your blog operates in a year or two when it is getting lots of hits, and McNulty helps you to make well informed decisions. Read more…

How to Make Money While you Sleep: A 7-Step Plan for Starting Your Own ProfitableOnline Business

Brett McFall has been a respected member of the internet marketing fraternity in Australia for many years. Having started his career in copywriting for major corporations, Brett saw the potential to transfer his skills to his own business endeavours then slowly made the transition from employee to full-time internet business owner.

These days Brett doesn’t need to work. His online businesses make a passive income that far exceeds the average national income. You won’t find Brett resting on hi slaurels however, as he is actively involved in teaching his business principles and strategies to others eager to emulate his success. Read more…

Transcending CSS: The Fine Art of Web Design (Voices That Matter)

One of the major decisions one needs to make when starting a website project is how “cutting edge” your site design will be. Will you use only basic HTML or will you also use CSS, JavaScript, Ajax and more? If you do decide to use these other web languages, how much will you use and how will you use them? For a long time, there was only one answer to this question. Those features that were supported by the most popular web browsers represented the limited amount of advanced features that you could add to your site and still be assured that most people would be able to access your site.

In this book the author, Andy Clarke, presents the argument that website design should not be limited in this way. Written from the designer’s point of view, this book has beautiful photography, plentiful screenshots and real-world examples of the author’s approach to web design. The purpose of this book is not to teach you web standards or the popular web languages such as XHTML, CSS and JavaScript but to teach you how to use these tools to create effective and cutting edge websites. Read more…

Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography Boxed Set, Volumes 1 and 2 (Includes The Digital Photography Book Volume 1 and The Digital Photography Book Volume 2)

This book truly has a brilliant premise and here’s how Scott Kelby describes it: “If you & I were out on a shoot & you asked me, `When I use my flash, the background behind the person I’m shooting turns black. How do I fix that?’ I wouldn’t give you a lecture on flash ratios, or start a discussion on flash synchronization and rear curtain synch. I’d just say, ‘Lower your shutter speed to 1/60 of a second. That should do it.’ Well, that’s what this book is all about: you & I out shooting where I answers questions, give you advice, and share the secrets I have learned just as I would a friend-without all the technical explanations and techie photo speak.”

Each page covers a single concept on how to make your photography better. Every time you turn the page, you’ll learn another pro setting, tool, or trick to transform your work from snapshots into gallery prints. If you are tired of taking shots that are “okay,” and if you are tired of looking in photography magazines and thinking, “Why don’t my shots look like that?” then this is the book for you. Read more…

Promises in Death

This is one of the best In Death books so far, in my opinion. The horrible ways in which Eve and Roarke’s relationship could have gone wrong is explored through a proxy couple. Eve’s investigation brings up the different choices that were made at each step and how the sum of all of those choices led to the here and now (or since it is 2059, the there and then). The introspection that both E & R go through is presented so beautifully that at no point does it get boring - no contemplating the navel here.

The humor is intact in spite of the circumstance. That must have been difficult to manage without coming across as absolutely ridiculous. This is further proof of the author’s talent - if anything further were needed. I loved it when Eve found it easier to ‘describe a subject’ than describe a friend. I especially liked the part where Eve flares up at Morris and immediately regrets it - not humorous at all, but very human and very relatable. Read more…

Tuck (King Raven)

Absolutely wonderful. The story is told, in part, from the perspective of Friar Tuck. However, it is still a third-person narrative rather than a first-person like Scarlet. Tuck’s role in this third novel is much more significant. And the idea that a humble priest can have such an impact on the lives of everyone around him, including the King of England is important.

Tuck picks up right where Scarlet leaves off, with Bran and his followers leaving the King, after the King has gone back on his promise of justice and returning Elfael to Bran. Bran vows revenge and he is darker here than he has been in the previous books. He’s angry and not quite as compassionate as he has been before. He kills a bit easier, as he exacts his revenge on the Normans, Sheriff de Glanville and Abbot Hugo, who was given control of Elfael by King William. Read more…

Way of the Turtle: The Secret Methods that Turned Ordinary People into Legendary Traders

Curtis Faith’s Way of the Turtle is a significant contribution to the trading literature. As other reviewers have noted, it works on several levels: It is an engagingly written first-person narrative of one of the most interesting experiments in trading, but it is also a thoughtful presentation of the various ingredients of trading success.

Faith spells out the Turtle trading method in detail, providing a template for a more general approach known as trend following. Most helpful is the way he breaks down the method into components: entry criteria, criteria for adding to positions, position sizing, stops, and exits. A particularly interesting chapter draws upon his Trading Blox software to update trend following research and illustrate the results of several systems in recent markets. Read more…

Designing with Succulents

As a Landscape Architect with almost 30 years of experience designing gardens in Southern California, I have been a longtime fan of the excellent works created by Debra Lee Baldwin. It is no small coincidence that “Designing With Succulents” is well written, concise and wonderfully illustrated with stunning photography. This is a book that everyone from professional designers to home gardeners will want to keep very close to their desks for reference.

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