A year in books (and a brief digression on music)

What did you read in 2009 that you'd recommend--or discommend--to others?

I read almost no fiction last year: a state of affairs I hope to change in the New Year. But judging from my current list of books on hold at MultCoLib, I'm not making particularly good progress on that front.

Yesterday, I picked up my first holds-batch of 2010: The Professional Chef (the core textbook used at the CIA), Gourmet Today: More than 1000 All-New Recipes for the Contemporary Kitchen (which, after the briefest of perusals, I'm thinking I will have to pony up for so I can own it forever), The Best Vegetarian Recipes: From Greens to Grains, from Soups to Salads: 200 Bold Flavored Recipes* (by the incomparable Martha Rose Shulman, whose recipe for Spinach-Potato Soup has become a Schardt-family-wide classic, and who also writes a very fine column on vegetarian cooking at the New York Times)...

...and Dethalbum II by, um, Dethklok. Because I want to encourage Fisher in his budding passion for METAL**, and also because our house was just not complete without a little more Metalocalypse. (Neither is yours. Seriously. Go watch it.)

After a long dry spell of not really acquiring any new music unless I needed it for Quizissippi (which is a whole nother story and will be told a whole nother time), I spent the last couple days in a frenzy of downloading... The Flaming Lips' astonishingly awesome "Embryonic," Rodrigo & Gabriela's [shut up] "11:11" [shut up... it was free and I kind of like it] and...um... Oasis. Yeah.

So what are you reading? What are you listening to?

*What's up with the double colons in the title? Can you do that? I meet this trend with stern disfavor.

**which takes its funniest form in his use of the word "metal" to mean "a thing I personally like," as in "Spaghetti soup is METAL!" and "Catching snowflakes on your tongue is METAL!"

Comments

[Summer]

I am so freaking happy the Pic-Dem is back!!! Now all will be right with my blog world again.
Um, in answer to your query, I'm currently reading nothing but Entertainment Weekly magazine and lamenting my lack of good reading material. Oddly enough, in this weeks Weekly, it compiled a list of books written by people who completed a years-worth long of "something" be it, a Jewish person living like a Christian, or A man and his homely mutt training to win the Agility Dog championships....call me crazy but I might start a year long list to finish all the books on that list. And then of course write a book about it.

[heidikins]

I love that the bulk of your books are somehow related to food--I knew there was a reason we are friends. :o)

Currently reading a small stack of books, "What the Dog Saw" by Malcom Gladwell, "The African Queen" by Forester, and "For One More Day" by Mitch Albom. I'm not sure what that combo says about me, exactly...

xox

[Rooster X]

I can definitely recommend Bright-Sided. And you should be able to finish it before it's due back at the library (unlike Shock Doctrine, which I will have to read 200 pages of tonight if I want to avoid fines (fines will be paid)).

[Mimi]

I've been culling my cookbooks, I'll send you a box.

[Shady Lady]

I'm sensing a trend in your book requests. ;) I'm still hooked on Diana Gabaldon. I'm also reading Knockout, Omnivore's Dilemma and You Can Heal Your Life. Oh wait, there's also Teach Your Own. I know the stack on the nightstand is bigger, but I can't remember any other titles.

[Herm]

Hahaha. Fisher.

[Elizabeth O'Connor]

I was trawling for more soup recipes (found several that I'm definitely going to try) and saw your list of holds. I just read "Denialism" a couple of months ago and definitely recommend it. In fact, I bought it and would be happy to loan it to you if want.