by Staff on August 26, 2011
I have a problem with the word amazing. Also, fantastic. I use them far too often, especially in my book reviews. I’ve tried countless thesauri (or thesauruses, if you prefer), but I still find those bland, over-used adjectives in my sentences, dulling phrases that should be sharp. Imagine my excitement when a customer introduced me to Better Than Great: a Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives, by Arthur Plotnik. (The program I’m writing this on doesn’t recognize two of the words in that title as part of the English language…I’ll let you guess which). Plotnik hates the words amazing, great, and fantastic so much that he launched a revolution against them, which takes the form of a very unique thesaurus containing only superlatives. If you’re feeling skeptical, just look at a few of my recent reviews, before and after I discovered this book:
Before: George R. Martin’s Game of Thrones is amazing, featuring fantastic plotting and scenes of heart-pounding adventure and swordplay.
After: George R. Martin’s Game of Thrones is resplendent, featuring brilliantly dexterous plotting and scenes of blood-bleaching adventure and swordplay.
Before: The Borrower is an odd, beautiful love letter to great books, a novel sure to appeal to teachers, librarians and passionate readers of all stripes.
After: The Borrower is a singular, rhapsodic love letter to great books, a novel sure to appeal to teachers, librarians and obsessive readers of all stripes.
My sentences will never be the same!
—Kat
by Staff on August 3, 2011
We are certainly not the first (nor will we be the last) to laud the incredible cookbooks from Tartine Bakery in San Francisco. (Kendra Baker, co-owner of The Penny Ice Creamery, recently recommended them to our customers as two of her favorite culinary titles.) They are hands-down terrific and will honestly help you recreate the gorgeous bread and baked goods they make at Tartine. (Still, you must promise to visit the bakery the next time you’re in San Francisco. Even if the line is out the door. We swear it’s worth it.)
We know it’s summer and you might not have bread baking on your mind, but our bookseller Holly does! Besides, what could be better than a beautiful baguette or gorgeous sandwich bread for picnics?
When I first encountered Tartine Bread, my initial response was a sort of mental “Aaahhhhggggllluuuuhhhh” sound accompanied by salivation that would have made Pavlov proud. The cover alone was enough to make me more than a little nostalgic for the bread I grew up eating in San Francisco.
When I calmed down and was actually able to read what Chad Robertson wanted me to do to create such irresistible loaves in my very own oven, I balked. I’ve been baking since my childhood, but Robertson’s 26-page recipe overwhelmed me, even if 13 of these pages are artful instructional photos.
I received the book as a gift, however, and thought, what the hell, it couldn’t hurt to at least make a starter. In three days I had a community of wild yeast thriving in a Tupperware on my counter. Inspired, I decided to tackle the recipe, reading and rereading Robertson’s instructions until I had a basic understanding of the technique and the science that would go into making my first loaf of “artisan” bread.
Holly's bread
I won’t claim that creating that ideal loaf of rustic country bread is easy, and it’s certainly not quick (it usually takes about 36 hours, though a lot of that simply involves waiting around for the yeast to proliferate), but it is so worth it. When I tasted that first bite of my very own loaf of Basic Country Bread, my world changed. Finally, I thought, I have found amazing bread in Santa Cruz, and I made in with my own two hands.
—Holly
