America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right on the Money: Your Guide to Living Better, Spending Less, and Cashing in on Your Dreams Review

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(More customer reviews)I saw the show. I already had the book. I bought another copy to give to my son. I use the tips in the book and, yes, we DO save money.
Here is the REALITY you have to face before you even buy this book:
To get the full benefit of this book, you do need to be willing to buck certain attitudes that are part of our society. The Economides family is willing to get clothing from the thrift shop. When your child comes to you and asks to have those designer jeans, will you have the courage to say "No" or will you cave in? Can you put off impulse buying? Are you willing to take the steps necessary to stay out of debt? Read the chapter on Attitude and if you think you don't have the guts to commit to a new attitude (and don't fool yourself, it does take guts), the this may not be the time for you to buy this book....just don't wait till you are drowning in debt to see the light. I personally think that one chapter is the MOST valuable one right there.
One MAJOR advantage of this book is that it offers options, depending on your comfort level with saving money. You can opt to be a bit frugal or save every spare penny. If you need to take some baby steps before moving to the next level - or just stick with a certain level of savings - each chapter offers options. Clearly, this family understands that not everyone can commit to their value system and they give a nod to those people. I found that refreshing and different.

It is not an "all or nothing" book, although the family themselves describe how far they'll go to save money. They get by on about 35K a year and have 7 children, so it doesn't take a lot of imagination to figure out that they have to be cutting back in a MAJOR way.
We don't save quite as drastically as they do. Even so, we have learned a lot from this book. One of the most important facets of a longterm savings plan is maintaining the right attitude and not giving in to peer pressure or temptation. When I feel like I'm weakening, I turn to this book and am inspired again.

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A Thousand Days in Venice (Ballantine Reader's Circle) Review

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(More customer reviews)Details, the essence of domesticity, shine in this story. There are the travelogue-esque descriptions of Venice: Napoleon's observation about Piazza San Marco and viewing works of art sequestered in ancient churches. There's a discussion of making house, once in the Midwest in a little house I would love to see and again in the grotty chaos of a bachelor's digs. And throughout are delicious descriptions of food and drink and the ways and places to enjoy them.
Like youth, this book may be somewhat wasted on the young. The small ruminations, the reflections on how we find a place and make a place in life may seem over-wrought. Until the onset of my own middle-age, I felt the same way about such memoirs. Now, I greet writings like this with a mixture of recognition and enthusiasm: recognition of the silly ways we fumble along and enthusiasm for another's discovery that it is not too late to savour what is delicious about life. In that, I find a parable of encouragement.

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The Man Who Ate Everything Review

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(More customer reviews)I would never have bought this book if a friend hadn't insisted that I sit down and read at least the first chapter. I like to eat food, not read about it. But Jeffrey Steingarten is a riveting, funny, argumentative, bloshy, emphatic writer. I laughed my way through this. I bought a copy for myself, then went back for two more to give as gifts. A surprising treat. In the beginning Steingarten writes about how he ate his way all the foods he had convinced himself he was repulsed by. And found some of them surprisingly good (others revolting). I would have argued that a book about food by the food critic for Vogue could only be a stuffy, pompous self-satisfied piece of writing. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. If Steingarten was an item of food I'd convinced myself I couldn't possibly like, I must now go back on myself and say, love it, DELICIOUS.

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The Sriracha Cookbook: 50 "Rooster Sauce" Recipes that Pack a Punch Review

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(More customer reviews)Its a nice book with a humorous voice. It provides a short history of how the sauce came to be ubiquitous (I didn't know it is made in LA with jalepenos - assumed it was imported with more exotic chiles) which you could probably find on wikipedia.
If you already know how to cook you don't really need this book, because its basically a lot of fairly straightforward American dishes with Sriracha sauce added. It is not a Thai cookbook, or a Vietnamese cookbook. The recipes are for dishes like mac and cheese, chili con carne, chicken wings, chowder, hamburgers, cheese logs! etc. There were a few more inventive recipes - esp. the salads and cocktails. My biggest takeaway will likely be Sriracha butter on popcorn.
This book is best suited for someone who isn't a confident cook and loves Sriracha. Or someone who adores Sriracha and is looking for a few new ideas. Or someone who likes quirky cookbooks.

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