ezloan

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Book reviews for "ezloan" sorted by average review score:
Sticks & Stones: The Art of Grilling on Plank, Vine and Stone (The Game & Fish Mastery Library)
Published in Hardcover by Willow Creek Press (April, 1999)
Authors: Ted Reader and Kathleen Sloan
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Does not rate five stars!
Very disappointed. The 2 lead recipes used in the TV cooking demo as well as in the book are very good. That's it. Many ingredients are either difficult to find or unobtainable which makes some recipes practically useless, if you want to follow it for the correct results. Other recipes include the use of store-bought BBQ sauces, which can alter the taste completely, depending on what brand used. BBQ sauce recipes should have been included. Certainly not worth [the money spent on it]! Don't waste your money. Go to the BBQ or Food.tv websites for not only free, but much better results.

The Sticks & Stones Cookbook
This cookbook has shown me a whole new way of grilling. I'd never planked before and this cookbook told me how and let me know what to expect. Grilling and smoking at the same time - what great flavor and simple to do. You just have to make sure your planks are well soaked as the instructions point out.
I've used recipes from this book to entertain friends and has it ever made me look good. Several have even gone out and purchased the book.
This book proves you don't have to eat out to have fabulous meals.

Salmon recipe on cover is to-die-for!
Everyone who loves salmon or who loves to barbecue needs to read this book; it's amazing what a wood plank can do to a fish! We weren't sure at first if Reader was nuts, or a genius. He's a genius! We didn't have exactly what we needed (a cedar plank instead of alder, a Copper River Coho instead of Chinook), but the results were incredibly delicious! The combination of the wood smoke and the marinade ingredients made for an exotic, but simple and fast way to prepare an entire fish. Four of us did our best to devour a 10+ lb fish in one sitting. We didn't succeed, but had a good time trying.

We are eager to try other recipes, but are at the wood-gathering stage. We wish the book had a guide to different woods and the foods they work well with so we'd feel more comfortable with our own experimenting (cooking this way is expensive if you have to go to the lumber yard for wood). We live near orchard country and have access to a variety of fruit woods in addition to apple, and aren't too far from both coastal and interior forests where different types of trees grow.

Folks who are lucky enough to figure out what to do with a few salmon every year need to try this cooking method.

Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Published in Paperback by Four Walls Eight Windows (October, 2002)
Authors: Sloan Wilson and Jonathan Franzen
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The man in the gray flannel suit
Being young as I am it's difficult to imagine a time prior to one I currently live. The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit gives vivid portrayal of a time sterotyped so much it's true image is blurred beyond actual recognition. Wilson overcomes this splendidly and shows sides of the fifties that is often forgot. This is due to his actual experience of the subject, and not to mention he wrote it then and not decades after. I really enjoyed the character Ralph Hopkins, Tom's boss. He was so hardworking and misunderstood. The technique of showing the story from several points of view (the worker, the housewife, the boss, ect...) adds a lot more depth, it gives you several angles of the time without seeming like too much info. This book has become one of my favorites, mainly due to it's perfect mirror image of our time (if some more modern updates were made), it really is a reminder of how history repeats itself. It also contains a subject that I'm quite fond of, psychology. Every character has his or her own special reasons for doing what they do, it really is interesting...

Solid, purposeful, successful
It's always a bit challenging reviewing a book which spawned a memorable, but altogether different in feel, movie, as this book did. One is more apt to run into the movie on cable than to run across the book. Although I like the movie, I liked the book much, much better. The movie features sweeping plot turns, while the book is a matter of simple, credible steps. The theme is the aftermath of World War II, and recovering one's civic sense after dealing with it. In modern terms, it might be called the sequel to Saving Private Ryan, in which the captain returns to civilian life.

We pick up the plot in medias res--the hero has stumbled, uninspired through a few years of peacetime which hold none of the promise that seemed evident prior to the war. The author does a good job of plugging us into this man-and-his-family plot without either the soap suds or a preachy tone taking over. Nothing in the book is a particular revelation--there are no real gasps in the plot. But the enterprise is carried off in a competent, undecorated style which keeps one hooked right through to the end. There's a world of metaphor here, but these characters feel real, and the metaphoric situations that the hero and his family must endure to find a place in a changed world come off more live than memorex. A domestic drama can indeed be written without losing the reader or drenching the reader in soap.

This is one of those good rainy afternoon reads. It won't save your soul, but it might help you slog through another cloudy day.

This A changing society
Tom Rath was a war veteran who lived in two different world, one before the war and another at the conclusion. I think that Sloan Wilson did an admirable job in creating a story that held together the readers train of thought, however, it was a book without a lot of depth. A major theme throughtout was to not be so cynical, beleive in yourself. On the issue of conformity, Tom Rath, the main character, finds that he is going to find happiness in things like family and time.., not fame and fortune. Overall, a good read.

Stiff News
Published in Hardcover by St. Martin's Press (January, 1999)
Author: Catherine Aird
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Clever and Sharp
As in all her books, this one is cleverly and wittingly written. No one quite has Ms. Aird's style. It is truly unique in the genre of British detective fiction. She has sharp dialogue and carefully drawn characters, and her books almost make the reader feel they are partaking of a guilty pleasure because of her sly wit and slightly naughty "tongue-in-cheek" writing. In this book Sloan and Crosby are called out to a Senior's manor. No one seems surprised that a sick old lady has died, except the lady herself. She had made arrangements to have a letter sent to her son saying that she was afraid of dying not a natural death. By the time Sloan and Crosby are on site at the manor it appears that something very wrong has been going on there. It's one of the most puzzling cases of Sloan's career, and he finds that he has to delve into the past to unmask the murderer.

Not her best stuff
I welcomed the return of C.D. Sloan and even the lead-footed Crosby, and I was quite intrigued by the mystery; however, the thread seemed to fizzle out and the denouement left me cold. It all seemed much ado about nothing. An enjoyable read for fans of this sleuth, but newcomers to Aird should read some of her older books. My personal favorite is "A Most Contagious Game". It does not feature C.D. Sloan, although it is laid in Calleshire and mixes a delightful historical mystery with a modern one in masterful fashion.

Fans will welcome the return of of C.D. Sloan

No one would expect murder to occur to any of the residents of the Almstone Manor rest home for the Fearnshire regiment and their families. Anyone living at the home already suffers from bad health and death would be from natural causes. This holds true for Gertrude Powell until her son receives a posthumous letter from her, stating that someone has been trying to kill her.

Callehsire Detective Inspector Christopher Dennis "C.D." Sloan and Detective Constable Crosby begin to investigate Gertrude's missive by trying to halt her funeral. The two law enforcement officials soon learn that the residents of Almstone have known each since W.W.II. Though it initially appears to be the ramblings of a very sick elderly person, five-decade old grudges remain, but are they strong enough to push someone into committing murder?

Catherine Aird is renowned for her witty, British police procedurals starring Sloan (see A GOING CONCERN). However, her current entry, STIFF NEWS, seems to fall short of her previous tales as the story line takes too long before finding its rhythm and the secondary cast never evolves into real characters. Still, Ms. Aird's ability to write keeps her novel from total collapse and Sloan remains an interesting protagonist. The news on this book is that it is a bit stiff, leaving readers who want Ms. Aird at her best to try any of her previous works. Sloan fans will both enjoy and be disappointed by Sloan's latest case.

Harriet Klausner

What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery (Sloan Foundation Science)
Published in Paperback by Basic Books (June, 1990)
Author: Francis Crick
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People behind the discovery
I've always been interested in the stories and scientists behind grand scientific discoveries. Everything seems so glamorous and magical on the news and in the textbooks. I know from experience that no science is as easy as it seems. Here, I read about how people in the different labs competed and worked together, got along and didn't get along, and discovered the structure of DNA as a side project. I was so amused by the anecdote about the RNA tie club that I actually laughed out loud. Each member was to receive a tiepin of one of the amino acids (so of course there could only be 20 members). Crick says he was to be tyr, but he never received his pin. There are even pictures of some of the members with there ties on. I am even more amused now that I'm in graduate school where we really do have an RNA club, but unfortunately no amino acid tiepins. The end of the book tries to get into the science and implications of the DNA structure discovery, but it is too quickly done and in the wrong context to really try to give textbook like information.

Insights from a great scientist
At first, I was reluctant about reading this book. What on earth could Francis Crick add to the story of the discovery of the double helix, that had not yet been told by his colleague, James Watson, in his famous book "The Double Helix"? A lot, as it turns out. In fact, the two books rarely overlap. Whereas Watson's book mainly relates his experiences as they worked their way towards discovery, Crick does what he does best: making comments. Also, Crick's book doesn't stop at the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, as Watson's book does, but continues with the cracking of the genetic code.

Crick's book was written twenty years after Watson's book, and it shows. Watson's book contains a fresh story, the raw material out of which history is shaped. Crick's tale is a digested one: written after all the confusion of the moment had cleared up.

An amazing travel in science
I am a graduate student in neuroscience and a book by crick was not without any expectations for me. I feel that the book is totally up to my expectations to feel the diversity of a scientific journey from physics to behavior neuroscience through a mile stone achievement in molecular biology.. In the starting Crick gets little stuck in discussion of existance of God which confuses a bit , but later on it is worth of reading in one go. A bonus point of this book is to know other great scientists of that time and their way of thinking , and an excellent capability of crick to pass the meassages of those souls to the reader in a very readable way.

Crystal Fire: The Invention of the Transistor and the Birth of the Information Age (Sloan Technology Series)
Published in Paperback by W.W. Norton & Company (December, 1998)
Authors: Michael Riordan and Lillian Hoddeson
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The microchip at the heart of your computer is a complex device, but its historical origins go back to one crude-looking little gadget made up of a wedge of plastic, a strip of gold foil, a rough-hewn slab of crystallized germanium, some wires, and a bent-up paper clip. Slapped together by two Bell Labs experimenters on December 16, 1947, this invention later came to be known as the transistor, and it is the ancestor of every microchip in operation today.

Crystal Fire tells the story of the creation and development of that gadget, demonstrating that very little about the transistor's invention was as simple it seemed. The device put together on that December day was no idle experiment, but the product of decades of high-level research--and the first major practical application of the esoteric quantum mechanics that had emerged from European particle physics at the beginning of the century.

Just as fascinating as the scientific background, though, is the story of the brains and events behind the invention of the transistor. The collaboration and rivalry of the three men credited with the invention--the brilliant John Bardeen, the likable Walter Brattain, and the appallingly driven William Shockley--hold center stage. However, authors Riordan and Hoddeson make it clear that the unique organizational resources of Bell Labs, the furious course of the war effort, and the random twists and turns of historical accident played equally important roles. The saga makes for a gripping read and a crash course in the dizzying complexity of information-age invention. --Julian Dibbell

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A Must Read for Engineers
This is an excellent book on the history of the transistor. Not exactly light reading, but still an enjoyable read. As an engineer it is wonderful to learn the history of the one of the most important inventions of recent times. Really a well written book.

Solid state is not a reference to California.
Who invented the transitor? The answer to this question is in the book. What is the transitor? The answer is in the book. Understanding the answer is another, more personal, matter. Why was the transitor invented in the US, when it was? This facinating question is well explored in the book. One may be surprised to see the names of Hitler, Einstein, Salvador Dali and Picasso mentioned in the same breath with the inventors. Which co-inventor of the transistor went on to win a second Noble prize for superconductivity? The book does not play favorites among the three co-inventors but the work of John Bardine on the transistor and superconductivity is reason enough for the biography fan to read this book instead of watching the biography of the "Hamburger Barrons" on TV. The story is not an "easy read." But cheer up, there are great pictures.

His burial too
Published in Unknown Binding by Collins (1973)
Author: Catherine Aird
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A Classic Locked-Room Mystery.
Ms. Aird's version of a "locked-room" mystery is an intriguing one. Her dry wit and intelligent writing make it an excellent example of thie genre. Not only that, but the book in its entirety takes place during the space of one day. It can't get much tighter than that. It all begins when an arm is seen amongst several tons of broken plaster in a locked church bell tower. This sets Inspector Sloan on the track of a murderer. But its her characters that make the story so special - the enigmatic Sloane, the bumbling Sergeant Crosby and the colourful Superintendent Leeyes. Ms Aird is a master craftsman of the the cozy mystery formula.

Classic British Locked Room Murder Mystery
Once again, Catherine Aird has taken a classic idea, the locked room mystery, and given it her own ingenious spin. In this, the sixth book in her Inspector Sloan series, the body of a murdered man is found buried under the rubble of a fallen monument in the bell tower of a church. No one can get into the room because the rubble is blocking the only door.

So how was he murdered? The unfolding of the story includes love, lust, religion, science, big business, greed and misunderstandings. All done in a very British way, of course.

Poor Inspector Sloan is saddled, as usual, with the young, brash and brainless Constable Crosby, who provides a light touch to Catherine Aird's prose. If you like Ellis Peter's Detective George Felse series, you'll really enjoy Catherine Aird.

The Painted Furniture Sourcebook
Published in Hardcover by Rizzoli (15 September, 1998)
Author: Annie Sloan
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The tradition of decorative painting has a long and rich history, spanning many countries and many styles, from the straightforward, large-scale designs of Sweden and the bold motifs of Pennsylvania Dutch to the intricate classicism of England's Robert Adam and the free-flowing brushwork of the Bloomsbury group. This guided tour of outstanding embodiments of the art form collects extraordinary walls, ceilings, beds, chests, cabinets, and other examples, grouping them by motif (fruits and flowers, figures and animals, classical, and abstract and geometric) and offering a very brief glimpse of the techniques used. A 16-page section at book's end breaks out some of the major motifs for those wishing to try this at home. Unless you're quite experienced in the field already, you're better off with one of Sloan's other books to learn the nitty-gritty; if you've already got a good dose of confidence in your painting ability, this is a nice reference for general inspiration. --Amy Handy
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well done
interesting even if the ideas and techniques are not for beginners

This book is beautiful
Sloan has put together beautiful photographs of a wide range of decorative styles and made her book that more interesting by approaching her subject from the point of view of a present-day practitioner of this (underappreciated!) art form. It will be interesting to the craftsperson but also to anyone who appreciates the beauty of decorative painting and its extraordinary variety thoughout different cultures and throughout the ages.

After Effects
Published in Hardcover by Chivers North Amer (June, 1997)
Author: Catherine Aird
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Medical Mystery a la Catherine Aird
It was a joy to read a medical mystery by the incomparable Ms. Aird. She is a "dab hand" at all types of mysteries, and in this book she turns her attention to an English medical thriller. As with all her books, this one is sharp, clear and concise. Her sense of humour and her excellent mastery of the English language are both apparent in this book. The book is about a series of medical deaths (not that surprising since the patients were elderly and quite sick), but then one of the doctor's is found murdered. Sloan and Crosby follow a whole bunch of sub plots and threads before they can unmask the killer, but before they do that more people seem to die. This is a lively and intelligent book.

Amendment of Life: A Mystery
Published in Hardcover by St. Martin's Minotaur (January, 2003)
Author: Catherine Aird
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Murder in a maze!
Catherine Aird's longevity in the mystery writing genre is explained by this book. She's been writing her CD Sloan mysteries for years, and in this, her most recent addition to the series, she still has all her skills intact. She write mysteries that intelligent, erudite and slyly funny. In this one a body of a woman is found dead in front of a statue right smack in the middle of a maze. Sloan and Crosby first have to determine whether she died by her own hand or did someone else speed her to her death? Then they have to figure out how she could have been brought into the middle of this very difficult maze. And how do a dead rabbit and a missing goat from quite a few mile away tie in with their mystery? I am a huge fan of Catherine Aird, and this book is as elegant and mischievious as any of the the preceeding books in her Sloan/Crosby series.

The Art of the Hamburger
Published in Hardcover by Book Sales (November, 1996)
Authors: Will Steeds, Lisa Dyer, Chrissie Sloan, Elizabeth Wolf-Cohen, and L. Wolf-Cohen
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You'll drool over the pictures
This book gives you the history of the hamburger as well as about 75 recipes from the various regions of the United States. A lot of the pictures will make you salivate. :) If this book was bigger it would have gotten the 5th star.

Related Subjects: european
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