Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
My review
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Yet another bizarre trip through the mind of Douglas Adams. This one takes us through time travel, aliens, ghosts, and so on. It's probably another on of those books where I appreciate the humor in it more than others might, so it's probably not for everyone. But I certainly found it to be immensely enjoyable.
Next up is Rooster runner-up, City of Refuge by Tom Piazza.
Win Me a Madsen Bucket Bike
If you've followed me on Twitter, you've seen me rave about the Madsen bucket bike. Very fun concept, it basically sticks a Rubbermaid bin on the back of a bike for storage or transportation. A bit out of my price range though (but I'm still considering one of the "scratched" bikes they have on sale right now), so when I saw they were running a contest to give away two of the bikes, I knew I had to enter.
They are giving away two bikes: one at random to anyone who links to them (check), and one to one of the top twenty referrers over the next couple of months. That's where you come in. I'm not sure how they collect the numbers on referrers, but if you could just visit this here blog and click on the banner (over there on the side) every so often, I'd certainly appreciate it.
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron
Dark, I mean really black, can't see through it. Thin head fades quickly and leaves no lacing behind.
Rich aroma is the best way I can describe it. Trying to figure out what it is under the clear malt aroma that I can't quite place. Vanilla maybe? Could be a hint of the wood, if I knew what Palo Santo wood smelled like.
I was really expecting the alcohol content to have more of an effect on the flavor and mouthfeel here, but it's managed to stay relatively subdued. I actually get a candy-like flavor in here, like toffee, but also a roasted taste of coffee, with some smokiness and slight bitterness (from the wood?).
Not really drinkable beyond one at a time, but that's not what it was intended to be. I could definitely see this as an after-dinner drink to linger over.
Overall rating: 4.1
Founders Dirty Bastard
Good looking beer, nice chestnut color, with a decent head.
Definitely smelling that this beer will have a kick to it, the alcohol is there in the nose, along with rich malt.
First impression when it hits my tongue: Dirty, just like the name. Then the flavors start to sort themselves out: good bit of fruitiness, surprisingly. Good bit of malt plays in the mouth as well. Here now the bitterness of the hops comes through to finish, with, yes, even a spot of chocolate back there.
Very interesting beer. Looking forward to trying more Founders now that they are available in Virginia.
Overall rating: 4.3
Carrie
Carrie by Stephen King
My review
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
It's been a long time since I read this one. Long enough that I really don't remember having read it at all. Well, I read it this time in less than a day. It is just as good as I think I remember it.
We're all familiar now with the iconic image of Sissy Spacek as Carrie on prom night, ready to go bananas on Chamberlain, Maine. But more interesting to me was the influence of the fundamentalist religious mother on Carrie, who helped, along with the teasing girls of high school, push her over the edge. I was pleasantly surprised at how well King did with the character development here.
Definitely worth rereading if you haven't done so in years, like me.
Next up is Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, by Douglas Adams.
In Defense of Food
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan
My review
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In thinking up my final analysis for this book, I couldn't quite bring myself to give it a full five star rating. It just seemed to me there was too much bias early on, when he was ripping nutrition science and their studies to shreds. Still, I enjoyed the overall theme of the book, getting back to eating real food instead of processed goop disguised as food. I've already been a bit shocked at reading the labels on some of my "food" which violate his "five ingredient" rule: my Wegman's wheat bread, fruit Cheerios, and that's just for starters.
Regardless of my quibbles with his biases, it's a fantastic read, especially for my nemesis non-fiction, and I finished it in about a week and a half of dedicated reading. Not bad.
Next up, I revisit Carrie by Stephen King.
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