Book Binge

I've been on a bit of a book buying binge. I think this is an attempt to keep at least some of my brain cells around during the the Great Stackhouse Massacre*.

The Home Creamery. I think I saw this on Angry Chicken -- the possibility of making our own sour cream, cottage cheese and butter proved too irresistible. 'Cos, you know, I need to fill all that free time I have. The book also has a couple of mozzarella recipes, which I have failed at in the past. A friend of ours makes cheese (of all kinds), her feeling is that my failure has to do with the rennet or citric acid I have, so I ordered from her supply house, Leeners (I placed the order on Wednesday and got it yesterday).

Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them. I had heard the author on Fresh Air many months ago and thought this sounded fascinating. I have fairly complex ideas and beliefs about religion in general and Christianity in particular, which I would expand on if this were a different sort of blog, but my interest in this book is more about being a bit of a history geek.

Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss -- and the myths and realities of dieting. I had heard an interview with this author over a year ago and promptly forgot the title and author. I would occasionally think I wanted to read the book but had no idea how to go about finding it (bad librarian!), then last week Sharon left a comment on Valerie's blog with the title. I bought it immediately.

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto. This is one of those books that keeps popping up on my radar and I finally broke down and bought it. Essays on pop culture from my generation.

Dead Star Twilight. This is only available as a download and the only time I've bought this kind of book (aside from a weaving booklet). I've been reading Chez Pazienza's blog for awhile and really like his writing, which is often brutally honest and wickedly funny. Here is a review from Pajiba.

*There is some sort of weird psychological effect going on with these books. I'm almost done with the second one and I'm starting to find her terrible writing kind of endearing. I just thought of another advantage of reading these: one of Len's sisters keeps trying to convince to read the Twilight books -- I will be able to tell her that I have had quite enough of vampire fiction for the foreseeable future (rather than coming off as the snob I really am).