Lucy Burningham's tale of her journey to become a Certified Cicerone is as engaging and relatable a story as any out there in the beer-reading world. Lucy Burningham's tale of her journey to become a Certified Cicerone is as engaging and relatable a story as any out there in the beer-reading world. Her prose is conversational, detailed, and evocative. She's a great storyteller, and uses that skill well to tell not only about beer, but about the feelings and thoughts that lead us to quests like these, and the work we put in to achieve those goals.
(A little extra context here: I read this while I was about two-thirds of the way through my own beer quest -- to become a certified BJCP judge. So yeah... this story was super-relevant for my interests.)
FOOTNOTE: Her editor missed a couple of spots where a word was missing or transposed. No biggie -- you can still decipher the sentences just... something I noticed.
---
2024 UPDATE: Having now gone through my own journey on the road to Cicerone, I'm not ashamed to admit that I cried a little bit at the end when she got her results and couldn't believe that she'd passed. It's A LOT of material to learn (beyond what I needed to learn for BJCP's Certified or even National exams) and the exam itself is a crucible....more
I almost didn’t finish this novel. I believe if I had read it 10 years earlier, that would not have been the case. As is characteristic of a StephensoI almost didn’t finish this novel. I believe if I had read it 10 years earlier, that would not have been the case. As is characteristic of a Stephenson novel, this one is delightfully tedious — thoroughly researched, full of period stylistic flourishes, and oft labyrinthine prose. And there is totally a time and place for that. But at this point I’ve read enough of his novels to know better, to know what was happening (stylistically speaking) as it unfolded, and while this did make me smile, it was a nostalgic one. In many ways, the novel’s period setting becomes a clever (and, quite honestly, rather involved) conceit which provides the excuse for writing prose and dialogue with the peculiar spellings, oblique and veiled metaphors, &c.
It’s by no means a bad book. I just feeling like I’ve visited this stylistic and thematic soil before.
TL;DR: how many times can you write a novel about the invention of the computer?...more
In a nutshell: a great history of the bière de garden and saison styles, and lots of interesting information about both historical and modern brewing In a nutshell: a great history of the bière de garden and saison styles, and lots of interesting information about both historical and modern brewing ingredients and techniques, and I feel pretty confident saying that it may have changed the way I think about brewing....more
Like with true 2017 fashion, this is what I get for letting my 5 year old randomly pick books for me from the library. I'll be gracious and leave off Like with true 2017 fashion, this is what I get for letting my 5 year old randomly pick books for me from the library. I'll be gracious and leave off any rating here. Needless to say, I'm flagging as abandoned for a reason.
I will say this: I've read plenty of trashy sci-fi in my day. And even most of the trashy sci-fi sequels that I read could stand on their own in at least a minimal capacity. This one was an obvious sequel from the first page, and was consequently stillborn in my eyes....more
Aggregate score of individually rated stories... 3.5 (rounding down because of how many were marked "DNF"). I'd like to return to this one some day, fAggregate score of individually rated stories... 3.5 (rounding down because of how many were marked "DNF"). I'd like to return to this one some day, finish off the stories that I didn't get to, and give another (more patient) attempt at those I abandoned.
DNF = Did Not Finish DNS = Did Not Start
• Paul McAuley: "GENE WARS" ★★★☆☆ • Greg Egan: "WANG'S CARPETS" ★★★★☆ • Poul Anderson: "GENESIS" DNF • Kim Stanley Robinson: "ARTHUR STERNBACH BRINGS THE CURVEBALL TO MARS" ★★★★★ • Stephen Baxter: "ON THE ORION LINE" ★★★☆☆ • Nancy Kress: "BEGGARS IN SPAIN" (skipped) • Gregory Benford: "MATTER'S END" ★★★☆☆ • Arthur C. Clarke: "THE HAMMER OF GOD" ★★★★★ • James Patrick Kelly: "THINK LIKE A DINOSAUR" ★★★☆☆ • Ben Bova: "MOUNT OLYMPUS" ★★★☆☆ • Robert Reed: "MARROW" DNF • Joan Slonczewski: "MICROBE" ★★★★☆ • Charles Sheffield: "THE LADY VANISHES" ★★★★☆ • Bruce Sterling: "BICYCLE REPAIRMAN" ★★★★★ • David Brin: "AN EVER-REDDENING GLOW" ★★★★☆ • Kim Stanley Robinson: "SEXUAL DIMORPHISM" ★★☆☆☆ • G. David Nprdley: "INTO THE MIRANDA RIFT" DNF • Robert J. Sawyer: "THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS" ★★★☆☆ • Geoffrey A. Landis: "A WALK IN THE SUN" ★★★☆☆ • Joe Haldeman: "FOR WHITE HILL" DNF • Brian Stableford: "A CAREER IN SEXUAL CHEMISTRY" DNS • Paul McAuley: "REEF" DNS • Hal Clement: "EXCHANGE RATE" DNS • Greg Egan: "REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL" DNS • Michael Swanwick: "GRIFFIN'S EGG" DNS • Alastair Reynolds: "GREAT WALL OF MARS" DNS • Peter Watts: "A NICHE" DNS • Stephen Baxter: "GOSSAMER" DNS • James P. Hogan: "MADAM BUTTERFLY" DNS • Ted Chiang: "UNDERSTAND" DNS • Karl Schroeder: "HALO" DNS • David Langford: "DIFFERENT KINDS OF DARKNESS" DNS • Vernor Vinge: "FAST TIMES AT FAIRMONT HIGH" DNS • David Brin: "REALITY CHECK" DNS • Paul Levinson: "THE MENDELIAN LAMP CASE" DNS • Sarah Zettel: "KINDS OF STRANGERS" DNS • Alien Steele: "THE GOOD RAT" DNS • Michael Flynn: "BUILT UPON THE SANDS OF TIME" DNS • Bruce Sterling: "TAKLAMAKAN" DNS • Frederik Pohl: "HATCHING THE PHOENIX" DNS • Gregory Benford: "IMMERSION" DNS
As an aside: I need to re-read the introduction; each story opened with a little editorial note that seemed to circle the drain around a variety of political implications with "Hard SF". This was weird to me because my (admittedly naïve?) opinion about "Hard SF" before reading this book was that it was all about the science, and thus those authors did their best to divorce their stories from political implications. Granted, that's an effectively-impossible task for anyone, at any time, in any field -- but I suppose I had a strong fantasy going there. Regardless, of the stories I did read (and finish!) I felt like both ends of the political spectrum (and the flavors in between) were well-represented. But that puts the whole exercise (of reading this anthology) into a different light....more
Clever conceits, delightful prose, and/but/so a bit tedious at times. A threadbare plot; more like a series of parables and vignettes. The characters Clever conceits, delightful prose, and/but/so a bit tedious at times. A threadbare plot; more like a series of parables and vignettes. The characters are a treat though, and the story just begs to be read aloud....more
I read several (mostly early) parts of it, and skimmed much of the rest. There's a lot of very good material in here, particularly about the broad styI read several (mostly early) parts of it, and skimmed much of the rest. There's a lot of very good material in here, particularly about the broad styles of beer, the history of beer-making in different regions (especially in Europe), and profiles of different breweries. The edition I'd read (borrowed from the library) was older (1993) and I suspect that I'll seek out a newer edition at some point and give it another go....more
I normally enjoy Banks' novels but I had a hard time getting into this one. I suspect it was starting to get good by the time I put it down… but I wasI normally enjoy Banks' novels but I had a hard time getting into this one. I suspect it was starting to get good by the time I put it down… but I was at least half way by then. I didn't feel particularly interested in the characters, wasn't drawn into the setting, and didn't discern any plot thread to follow.
Soft core disguised as romance disguised as murder fantasies disguised as sci-fi. Abandoned when it felt like the scenes were largely repeating themseSoft core disguised as romance disguised as murder fantasies disguised as sci-fi. Abandoned when it felt like the scenes were largely repeating themselves. Not that there weren't enjoyable parts (though the… prurient parts were also pretty juvenile [maybe I just didn't get to the good stuff?]) but when it started to felt tedious, I closed the covers....more
As advertised, this book is more about gardening than it is about homebrewing. That being said, everything that it does discuss about gardening is in As advertised, this book is more about gardening than it is about homebrewing. That being said, everything that it does discuss about gardening is in the service of homebrewing, whether that is the growing of ingredients, harvesting them, preparing them, or incorporating them into homebrew formulations. Beers, wines and country wines, ciders and perries, liqueurs (though meads are notably absent!) -- all of them get some at-least-satisfactory treatment....more
The hot take... the short-short version: The thing about this novel that was so chilling was just how banal the setting wound up feeling. I think it wThe hot take... the short-short version: The thing about this novel that was so chilling was just how banal the setting wound up feeling. I think it was telling that, when The Big Twist came at the end, I wasn't gasping about that, but at how plausible all the minute details were, how believable it felt that things could so easily have gone that way instead.
But it also took me more than a month to finish this book. And part of that just happens to be an unfortunate coincidence of choosing to work through both Stranger Things 2 and season 7 of Game of Thrones at the same time -- but that's it's own sort of giveaway right there. (Esp. w/r/t/ to the former; i.e., that I'd even bother finishing ST2 when I had this waiting for me on my bedside.)
But (and this isn't to vacillate) that's how I wound up at 4 stars here and not 3. While I wasn't sucked into this book in the sense that I couldn't put it down, I was sucked in w/r/t/ the sense that I didn't want to go back there, but I felt like I needed to. That the United States depicted in this novel was so palpably believable made it uncomfortable. And that's why I needed to finish it. I couldn't abandon Victor/Brother.
The novel is an interesting thought experiment, and well worth reading. But from my perspective, while Underground Airlines will get certain wheels turning, best to pair it with a book like The Intuitionist....more
A more thorough review is pending but, short-short version: great solar sci-fi that leans space opera (w/o the interstellar aspect) and several fun meA more thorough review is pending but, short-short version: great solar sci-fi that leans space opera (w/o the interstellar aspect) and several fun memorable characters, and while it makes good use of a few genre tropes I really could have done w/o the grey goo zombie panspermia thing. But now we are not-picking?...more
Maybe I didn't have the patience for this book? I abandoned it about a quarter of the way through. I didn't feel a connection to the characters; its sMaybe I didn't have the patience for this book? I abandoned it about a quarter of the way through. I didn't feel a connection to the characters; its sense of place was muddled and confusing; the central conflict was ambiguous at best. Just couldn't get into it; wasn't feeling it....more
Feels tedious to a minor degree, but only part of the time. The rest of the time it sways between a mundane Phildickianness and something that flirts Feels tedious to a minor degree, but only part of the time. The rest of the time it sways between a mundane Phildickianness and something that flirts with (but never quite consummates) the Kafkaesque. Surreal at times, miserably prosaic at others.
Mostly I'm frustrated that this guy is my age and it just conjures up jealousy for The Craft.
Loading...
