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book reviews

Cold Tuscan Stone

Under the Tuscan Stone Author: David Wagner To be quite honest, I’m not a huge fan of mysteries (other than cozy mysteries with silly titles, of course). But a mystery novel that’s really a travelogue in disguise? Now we’re talking. In Cold Tuscan Stone, murders and abductions often take a back seat to a detailed description of a really fine meal — which is just fine with this carb-hungry reader. Rick Montoya, American-born but of Italian descent, has just relocated to Rome to work as a translator. Despite the profound cultural differences, he’s enjoying his new surroundings when his old [...]

2016-12-31T17:55:48-07:00November 8th, 2013|Tags: , , , |

Disaster Artist, The: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made

What a Story, Mark! Author: Greg Sestero Ten years after its cinematic debut, The Room is popularly considered one of the worst movies ever made; it was famously dubbed “the Citizen Kane of bad movies” by Entertainment Weekly. Now, Greg Sestero (the actor who played Mark) has penned a tell-all about the making of a $6 million train wreck, and his curious, complex, vampiric friendship with the enigmatic man behind the movie, Tommy Wiseau. Note: If you haven’t seen the movie, I STRONGLY recommend that you do so before reading this book. Many of the infamously cringe-worthy scenes and shots [...]

2016-12-31T17:55:48-07:00November 8th, 2013|Tags: , , , , |

Pretty Good Number One: An American Family Eats Tokyo

A Pretty Good Tour of Tokyo Author: Matthew Amster-Burton In theory, I want to go to Japan. It’s always seemed like an exotic and interesting destination, and I have a personal connection: my mom is Japanese and was born there. But the double linguistic whammy of a foreign language and a foreign alphabet, plus a national diet of all the scariest, most unidentifiable brown stringy things in my grandma’s fridge, was… intimidating, to say the least. If nothing else, I owe food writer and fellow Seattleite Matthew Amster-Burton a great debt for making Japan sound navigable, friendly, and downright tasty [...]

2016-12-31T17:55:50-07:00October 29th, 2013|Tags: , , , , , , , |
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