Save the Males:A Kitchen Survival Cookbook

I have posted about this book on my personal Facebook page a couple of times, but I have not yet included it on my Reading List blog. Full Disclosure: Chef Gordon is a long time friend of ours and we have known him since the very early 80's when he first began talking and joking about his Save the Males campaign. He explains this bit of fun in the opening pages.

Save the Males is decidedly geared toward the single male audience, but there is no doubt that many married men who would like to do a bit more of the food prep than throwing burgers on the grill would find this guide highly readable and tremendously informative. It is a nicely designed, no nonsense cookbook with a good balance of basic information, recipes, and advice. Most of the advice is technical and food related, but Chef Gordon sees the culinary arts as closely related to the art of romance, so there is a bit of advice along that line as well.

There are several charts and graphs and tables contained in this cookbook that a cooking novice, as well as seasoned cooks will find useful. Young men are, for the most part, much more likely than their baby boomer fathers to participate in food preparation in a very meaningful way. This would be a great read for any of them, no matter how far along they are in developing their chef skills, and who can't use a little advice about romance?

The book is available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. You can also search for "Save the Males Cookbook" on Facebook and you will get a page that allows you to buy the book, as well as see a few cooking videos and recipes. It's important to add "kitchen" or "cookbook" to your search because there is also another Save the Males book out there, and I can't vouch for that one.

FEAR by Bob Woodward

As soon as this book was released, I put my name on the library queue because, well, he's Bob Woodward. I admit that I have not read everything he has written, but I admire him immensely. He is the dictionary definition of thoughtful and intelligent with quite a bit of courage thrown in for good measure. This is not a tell-all book with salacious details designed to create sales. It is much more serious in it's content and format than several others that attempt to accomplish a similar purpose, namely: to explain our current politics.

It is fascinating to get a more complete and behind the scenes look at events that have been headlines for months or even years. This bit of realism will ring true to even the most seasoned skeptic. But the main draw of the book for me is that it delves into the most basic tenets of complicated foreign policy and economic theory in a way that is highly educational. These two areas are not my strong suits, but I am much more well informed than before I read this book. The reason that these things are explained in such plain language and simple ideas is that Woodward is chronicling the efforts of advisors and White House staff to explain these things to our current president in clear and basic outlines. I hope they are somewhat heartened by the fact that I learned something, because they have had their share of frustration.

I have never seen Woodward as a partisan fellow; he is much too wedded to journalistic integrity to veer in any particular direction. He is the embodiment of what journalists used to be before our dial-a-slant news atmosphere.

I don't imagine that a staunch supporter of this administration would enjoy the book too much, because Woodward does not bend over backward to sanitize the narrative. I do think the information is one of the most truthful and objective sources of information that can be found. It is highly readable and for some of us, highly informative. If you want it right away, you will need to buy it. On the other hand, there is one less person in line for it at the library now!