The Chicken Coop

Reading List 2010

Fat:  An Appreciation of a Misunderstood Ingredient
Coop:  A Year of Poultry, Pigs, and Parenting
Charcuterie:  The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing
Atchafalaya Houseboat:  My Years in the Swamp You know what I hate about memories, especially “back to the land” type of memoirs?  Not nearly enough detail.  While this book was well written, if you’re looking for something that will take you all of 1 hour to read, it just didn’t hold enough details for me.  I want to know how they built floating chicken coops and how did she plan her garden knowing the water would rise in spring.  She could have skipped the whole section when she worked on the riverboat as a cook, because, really, who cares?  I didn’t pick up the book to see what you cooked for working men months at a time.  I also want to know how could she leave her beloved Calvin and the swamp for a man she barely knew?  Grrr (4/10)
The Art of Simple Foods Great cookbook.  I’m thinking of buying this one.

Cereal Killer:  The Unintended Consequences of the Low Fat Diet:  You can read my review on this book here. (4/10-6/10)

Living Raw Food:  You can read my review on this book here.

An Echo in the Bone:  Ok, I “made” my mom buy this book last year, pre-ordered to make sure we got it early.  Then she read it and gave it to me.  A year later I still hadn’t picked it up.  I blamed my job, but actually I had read so many bad reviews from Jamie Fraser fans that I couldn’t bring myself to read it.  Since it’s summer and it’s a tradition for me to read a Jamie Fraser book every summer, usually Outlander because I love it so, I picked up Echo the first day we went to the pool.  Alrighty then, can I just say I HATE cliffhangers?  I hate them in movies and I hate them in books.  I especially hate cliffhangers that are so outrageous it just pissed you off when you read it.  Is it all about the money now, Diana?  I could have thrown the book across the room, except the kids were across the room and I didn’t want to hit them with an 826 page book.  So now, we have to wait another few years for Diana to put out yet another installment of the Jamie/Claire saga.  Read it at your own risk and be prepared to get annoyed. (6/10)

Day by Day Armageddon:  This book is like a Reese’s Peanutbutter cup, two great tastes that go great together.  We’ve got zombies and we’ve got military survivalist skills.  I love a good zombie novel.  Unfortunately, this book is so short and such a fast read, I read it in 3 hours.  Of course the library does not have the sequel, so should I spend the $$ on the sequel or just hold out and wait?  I think I’ll wait.  I hate to spend $$ on a book I know I’ll read in just a few hours.  Worst thing about this book, besides it being too short, the stupid cliffhanger ending, which I had thought it might be zombies becoming aware as a thinking being, like The Rising, but no, another para-military unit shows up and tries to take over our protagonist’s humble abode.  Predictable.

I do love the fact that J.L. Bourne is an active duty Marine and is fighting the War on Terror.  God love him for that and thanks.  Maybe I will buy the book.  God knows the US doesn’t pay enough for the men and women to risk their lives for us. (6/10)

Patient Zero:  Another book in the line of pandemic viruses turning people into zombies.  Interesting turn on this one in that it’s Al-Qedia developing the mutation and releasing it on the Great Satan.  (6/10)

The Passage: I was anticipating this book since Redd told me about it and I read the first chapter for free on Amazon.  The 1st part of the book, the introduction of “Patient Zero”, “Babcock” and the others along with Amy, the hero of the story, was very well written.  This part of the book moved along at a great pace, I was drawn into the novel and couldn’t wait to turn the pages to finish the story.  Then the second part started and the story sllllloooooowwwwwweeeeeddd way down, almost to the point of being comatose.  I found myself screaming inside my head “Hurry up already and finish”.  I’m one of those people that just about have to finish any novel I start.  I tell ya, it’s like an illness.  In the 3rd part of the book, the story picked back up and became again a survivalist story, then I finished it to yet ANOTHER cliffhanger type of ending.  Redd then told me this is part one in trilogy.  Yay, not.  I wouldn’t recommend this book, but apparently lots of people love it as you can see in the reviews on Amazon. (8/10)

Frankenstein:  Lost Souls: I saw this on the new best sellers shelf at the library and having nothing else to read, I picked it up.  Unfortunately for me, this is part 3 in a series and the way this lame little duck ended, it’s apparent there’s going to be yet another installment.  Is Dean Koontz the Danielle Steele of the horror genre?  Can I just get a book that will NOT end in a cliffhanger?  Honestly though, there were some quirky characters in this novel that did induce a little bit of smiling on my part.  I can safely say I will not go back and read the other 2 nor will I read the next installment. (8/10)

You Can Farm! Joel Salatin is a rock star in the pastured farm animal community.  Reading this book gives me so many ideas to incorporate even into my own small flock.  If by some means, I’m ever able to find a cow pasture to rent, I could possibly make quite a bit of $$ on processed pastured poultry.  Or maybe I’m deluding myself.  Either way, this is a good book full of great information.

Day by Day Armageddon:  Exile: Remember earlier in the summer I read part one of this book, then complained because it ended in a cliffhanger?  Well, the kids have been begging me to buy part two so they can read it.  I looked on Amazon last week and noticed it was published.  Yay, Bourne made it out of Afghanistan in one piece.  Anyway, bought the book and read it again in two days.  Really good, fast paced military type of novel with zombies thrown into the mix.  Of course, ends in another cliffhanger, but it’s possible to end just like he did.  9/10

Under the Tuscan Sun:  I had no idea this was a movie.  I can’t believe how different life and lifestyles are in Italy. 10/10

Salem’s Lot:  This is a re-read.  I wanted to re-read it because Ethan was asking to read it and I couldn’t remember if there were any really perverted parts to it.  Sadly, Ethan’s not reading this one any time soon.  I can remember the first time I read this novel, how frightened I was.  The re-reading was not frightening at all.  In fact, it was rather ho-hum.

Under the Dome: I love King novels, seriously, I really do…..but, why does every novel end up ticking me off at the end?  Does he write these books with so many characters and then his editor tells him to reduce the amounts, but instead of cutting characters, he just shortens the endings? 12/10

Tooth & Nail:  A zombie novel told from a different perspective.  Instead of the protagonist being a survivor of a plague and the resulting zombies, we are in the company of “The Crazy Eights”, a military unit recalled from Iraq to protect a hospital.  Ends up they have to fight Americans who have turned to flesh eaters to protect themselves.  Interesting concept of following the Army as society falls apart around them.  We always see the broken government in these zombie novels/movies, but we never see what happened in the moment.  I read this via the Kindle, which I bought for Rhys for Christmas, but I’m sharing it with him. 12/10

**I need something good to read.  Any suggestions?  Shoot me an email Paula B 52 @ cox dot net**