The Golden Compass
The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A little bit late for Banned Books Week, but that's why I read it. So I suppose that I understand why religious defenders would be upset about this book. It's certainly not appreciative of religion in general, and more specifically religious leadership. But if you read the book for the sake of enjoying a book, like I do, rather than try to read meanings into it, it's very entertaining. I was definitely caught up in the story and found myself turning the pages quickly more often than not. And I'm hooked in to reading the remaining two books of the trilogy as well.
Next up is Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby.
Founders Breakfast Stout
At some point, I will have a taste-off of my favorite stouts, and this will certainly be among them.
None of my pours so far have yielded much of a head to speak of, but the thin one that does show up laced the glass fully. The color is dark as night, deliciously chocolate.
What an aroma! Coffee and dark chocolate. Mocha beer!
I could go on for days describing the fine nuances of the flavor of this beer. Coffee, of course. Dark roasted malt. Dark chocolate. I really don't notice the alcohol coming through, though there is a hint of something like what I get from a bourbon stout. But this one needs no help from anything like a barrel, it stands on its own.
Thick but not to the point of being chewy. And, as I mentioned before, the alcohol is hard to detect, so I could drink these for a while.
Awesome, awesome beer.
Overall rating: 4.75 (New stout record! It beats Bell's Kalamazoo and Dogfish Head World Wide Stout.)
The Lost Symbol
The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I don't think anyone will be surprised to learn that this book follows the Dan Brown Formula: fast-paced, short chapters, utterly non-sensical conspiracy theories culminating in the good guys "winning." That said, while I enjoyed Angels and Demons and The DaVinci Code, I did not enjoy this one nearly as much.
I live in the DC area. From the beginning, I was disappointed in his interpretation of the city. He drove across the Memorial Bridge from Dulles? And looked to his left to see the Jefferson Memorial? Basic stuff that a guy who put so much effort into explaining his symbology should have been able to correct. And then there was the whole Noetic Science angle, and the weighing the human soul thing. Frankly, Mr. Brown just went off the deep end a bit on this one, trying to top himself. Too bad.
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