Cure Tooth Decay

Although the information in this book is highly valuable, I have a hard time recommended it simply because I found it very hard to read. Repetitious and choppy, the writing is interspersed with distracting esoteric ideas and references completely counterintuitive to the science that informed the rest of the work.

If you have serious dental issues or doubt that proper nutrition can actually have a significant impact on dental health then it might be worth actually reading this yourself.

Otherwise, I recommend that simply accept as proven fact that a proper and complete traditional diet will radically improve your all over health and dental health specifically. Read more user friendly books like Eat Fat, Lose Fat and Nourishing Traditions for the how-to guidelines and skip this one this altogether.

Twinkie, Deconstructed

The theory behind this book was sound; sadly, the execution was much less so. Despite a clear, organized plan for exploring what goes into a Twinkie and where those ingredients originate the writing is scattered and hard to follow. Historical notes, plant visits, useless descriptions of unimportant details, related thoughts and other miscellanies jostle each other in chaotic paragraphs with no clear train of thought or progression. Chapter transitions are blatant and elementary, tacked on like afterthoughts in a freshman lit paper.

Two other aspects of this book were perpetually frustrating.

First was the incessant cheerfulness the author expressed about each ingredient's role in making Twinkies the wonderful product that he considers them, regardless of how terrible that given product may be for human consumption. The fact that hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup are highly damaging to human health was generally irrelevant compared to their miraculous ability to give Twinkies their unique texture.

Second was the severe redaction of information. To be fair, Ettlinger opens his book with a disclaimer: recipe changes, company mergers and ingredient production processes change so frequently and without notice that what he writes may well have become inaccurate or obsolete by the time it reaches readers. Unfortunately, the specifics one might expect to find so carefully covered by such a clause are nowhere to be found. We learn more pointless details about the non-descript buildings and innumerable trucks involved in the industrial processes than we do about the actual ingredients or their creation.

All in all, I was thoroughly disappointed in this book and recommend skipping it in favor of any number of better alternatives.

The Monster of Florence

Possibly it's bad form to bring an audio book with you to the gym instead of music - instead of jogging along on the gerbil gym in upbeat silence, you may become prone to exclaiming aloud or laughing maniacally at random intervals. That said, having something fascinating to occupy your mind will certainly inspire you to stay put and keep working out so that you don't have to stop listening! In that event, allow me to suggest the following title.

Proof positive that truth is stranger than fiction, and an indelible reminder that real life mysteries often resist the tidy resolutions of cinema and crime novels to which the modern world has become accustomed, The Monster of Florence is a literary masterpiece not to missed.

Authors Preston and Spezi flood their pages with their shared passion for Florence, vividly bringing to life the place, its people and the history that envelopes and shapes their everyday lives. The first half of the book is a recounting of the Monster of Florence case, in which a serial killer (rare in Italy) murders 16 people over the course of twenty years as the police and journalists muddle their way through sickening crime scenes, a convoluted web of suspects and informants, and mountains of questionable and contradictory evidence. Fascinating twists, unbelievable turns and torrents of questions, answers and lies - all true and documented - capture and hold your attention from start to finish.

Possibly even stranger is the second half of the book, in which the authors find themselves sucked in to the very story they sought to write about - interrogated, arrested and defamed as accessories to the very crimes chronicled in the preceding pages. Escaping the trap they have fallen into becomes its own adventure, leaving readers with a great deal to reflect on and their own conclusions to draw. Although true crime is not a standard part of my repertoire, I was mesmerized by this story, and highly recommend picking up a copy for yourself.

Kitchen Literacy

There is no aspect of our lives with which food does not intersect, and it rare to find a work that can weave those many divergent threads into a single cohesive and articulate piece; Ms. Vileisis masterfully does exactly that.

Her work is both vindicating and challenging; though readers will already be aware how much less current generations about food and the culinary arts than our predecessors, few realize how far back in our nation's history that knowledge started to erode or the full spectrum of instigative causes. The detailed research and moving insight applied to succeeding generations of Americans as they struggled with progress, change and the growing integration of technology and psychology in their food systems were fascinating to explore.

The author presents an admirably balanced view of history, condemning and belittling neither industry nor consumers as their roles in producing, procuring and preparing food shifted and adapted over time. Most appreciatively, Ms. Vileisis filled her work with incidents, trends and characters rarely addressed, bringing fresh content to the table and offering unique ideas to enrich the discussion of our nation's foodways - past, present and future.

Do Hard Things

Though the teenage authors specifically target their peers with their disarmingly elementary but profound message, this book carries a wake up call parents, youth leaders and pastors would be just as wise to heed.

In a marketplace rife with books lamenting the laziness, uselessness and ignorance of modern teens and the younger generations this one stands out for the astounding simple reason that it offers a viable, credible and trial-tested solution. In fact, it is a solution that every adult in this nation needs to hear and take to heart, because we have a vital role to play in the saving of ourselves and our youth.

Written in a straightforward fashion by twin brothers to their generation, the book lays a solid Biblical and historical foundation for each of its tenets before giving practical modern examples of how teens can – and already are – living these ideas out in real life. Well organized, articulately laid out and consistently realistic this book far outstripped my expectations for its potential – a fitting irony considering the author's key message.

Regardless of where you are in life or what you think about your generation and the ones rising up after it, you need to read this book – you will not be disappointed.

Food Supply Related Terrorist Threats

I'm not much on watching the news, but I did see coverage this morning of the planned terror attack on hotel/restaurant food supplies.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, which is not the intention, I find the uproar over this discovery exasperating to say the least. Evidence of the deplorable condition and precarious safety of America's food production and supply chains has been mounting for the last twenty years to the point where one must be purposefully blind and deaf to avoid be clobbered over the head with it. The screaming headlines of proliferating of food borne illnesses and mass incidents of contamination over the past twenty years alone should have made it obvious that our foodshed hangs on to stability by fragile thread, likely to snap at any time from the slightest provocation.

That terrorists have waited this long to exploit such a weakness is a miracle in itself. I am sufficiently cynical towards our government and large scale food manufacturers that I do not believe even this highly public threat will prompt viable corrective action on their part.

So it is my humble suggestion that as we consider what our new year's resolutions are to be that we each quietly add to our list a determination to become personally responsible for the food security of ourselves and our families. Restaurants and hotels may be high profile targets, eagerly covered by the news, but they are by no means the most vulnerable or efficient targets for terrorists. It would take precious little to bring our current capricious system to its knees, unleashing panic, chaos and starvation.

The good news amidst this looming darkness is that underneath the tide of commercial food-ways most of American retains the roots of it's localized foodsheds, many of them freshly re-developing in the wake of recent organic and locavore movements. The framework for a safer, more stable food supply exists within reach of each of us if we will simply open our eyes, extend our hands and take hold.

Guess What?!

Preparedness Pantry has posted one of the guest blogs I submitted on their webpage! How wild is that?!