#49 - The Book of Tea

102 years old, reprinted countless times by as many publishers The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura is a masterpiece. After the unremarkable time with the Japanese gift box set I had to cleanse my palate with the real deal. This is a book I have owned for over 10 years and have read and re-read often. It is almost equal parts history, philosophy, and tea ceremony. It delves into Taoism, Zen, Teaism, culture, art, and tea and in quite short order... many copies are 80 pages or less. It is centered around Japan and Japanese tea so it is not a great general information resource on tea, but what it does do it does better than any other book out there, which is why it continues to be reprinted 102 years on. Highly Recommended.

#48 - The Japanese Tea Ceremony

This is a gift box type set from Border's Bookstore that I bought a while back and shelved. One of my great passions in life is tea, not your average teabag or flavored concoction but real teas from China, Taiwan, and Japan many hand harvested and processed. The Japanese tea ceremony is a very interesting and educational ritual but I have always found it to be too formal and scripted for my tastes, I do practice "Gong Fu" brewing however which is also a skilled brewing technique.

This box contains a very small pouch of powdered green tea, a bamboo whisk, and a book titled "The Japanese Tea Ceremony." The wares are pretty much garbage with the whisk being the best of the lot but very crude. The tea is abysmal and dark and the bowl is like a terra cotta flowerpot with no resemblance to a proper tea bowl. The book, however, is very nice. It is solely centered around Japanese tea, history, and ceremony but handles it well and seems to be properly researched and as thorough as its small size allows. I'm actually Not Recommending this one as it offers no great value or benefit and there are better books on tea ceremony out there.

#47 - Southern Exposure: A Solo Sea Kayaking Journey Around New Zealand's South Island

I love to kayak and unfortunately I didn't get out at all this past summer due to being so busy with wedding preparations and being Pennsylvania winter is right out for paddling. I love the solitude and exploration it affords even in waters I have either walked, fished, or traveled via motorboat. I caught the bug on my first trip down the Shenandoah River on a summer vacation where we tackled class 2-3 rapids totally unprepared, miles of flatwater, a bald eagle, and huge carp and turtles swimming along with us. Southern Exposure is Chris Duff's account of his journey around New Zealand. It is well written and delves into his head and thoughts on a number of occasions which can be a bit long and tedious but very real in that when alone you live entirely in your own head. It isn't a harrowing tale of survival or exposure, yet it does have moments, so it can seem a bit mundane or boring but I think I related well due to our similarities in personality and thought. I've always wanted to visit New Zealand ever since close family friends moved there and I was enthralled by the stories and sights. This one probably isn't for everyone but I'd still Recommend it.

#46 - Where the Sidewalk Ends

I'll probably upset someone with this one... to be honest this just isn't for me. I had never read "Where the Sidewalk Ends" or had it read to me in my younger years but I figured I'd give it a shot since it is so widely revered. I have a great sense of humor and enjoy silliness, whimsy, and fantasy but this just was not my cup of tea. People see a lot in this book and find great depth and humor and imagination, I found it mostly to be just kiddish absurdity and some silliness that at times works and others where it falls flat. I actually re-read it in a different mindset than the first time and I still couldn't get into it. I did enjoy a few of the pieces, though, and I will admit it is more than likely my sensibilities and humor just not syncing up to the material than anything "wrong" with the work itself. I love smart absurdity such as Monty Python, but not childish absurdity like silly songs or Spongebob. I did enjoy some of the illustration work but even that did not grab me as I had expected from all of the high praise I have heard over the years. Recommended but not a classic in my eyes.

#45 - Hardening Network Security

Another big, bulky computer book... This one also specialized to the networking trade, specifically security practices and information. Networks are something most people know nothing about but use every day. The Internet, an office file share, a central network printer everyone can print to, etc. For many the network is a little jack on the wall they plug a cable into and get Internet access or they flip open their laptop and connect to a wireless access point. To make that happen there are thousands of wires, switches, devices, protocols, configurations, and languages all working hard behind the scenes often jammed in janitor closets or basements. As if that isn't enough there are a million more headaches involved in securing that network to keep unwanted people out, wanted people safe, files protected, and on and on. Unfortunately it only comes up when we learn of another hack that leaks thousands of credit card numbers or personal information to the wrong people. I've worked in very high security positions, such as a bank, and take network security very seriously and that is why I read huge tomes such as this in my spare time to stay informed. This is a bit of an older book by now but it still contains a lot of useful information and insight. Recommended.

#44 - Twisting the Rope

Twisting the Rope is the followup to R. A. MacAvoy's first novel, Tea With the Black Dragon that I recently covered. This one is more of an attempt at a murder mystery novel in addition to some of the suspense created in the first book. On its own I'd have to say it is an average story, after reading the first it is only marginally better. Tea With the Black Dragon was a very quick read and had solid pacing whereas Twisting the Rope tried to be a bit more ambitious and fell short. The two books really aren't connected in any meaningful way so it really isn't a continuation of the first tale, it's worth reading to be complete but not necessary. I'm going to make this my first Neutral Recommendation.

#43 - Eragon

While I was writing the last two entries for The Bartimaeus Trilogy it sparked my memory that I hadn't posted a book I read earlier in the year, Eragon. There is a reason I had forgot... well more like put it out of my memory. Yeah it was written by a kid, Christopher Paolini, yeah it is fantasy-like and has dragons but it is simply an insult to the genre and to the intelligence of any reader. It is a hack, heavily plagiarized, over-hyped piece of trash. Yes, I feel that strongly about it. While The Bartimaeus Trilogy borrowed quite a lot it did so in a smart way and used a number of fantasy cliches and Potterisms to come out with a totally unique world and tale, this was just derivative and pretentious at best. The kid's parents both work in the publishing industry and they did their best to capitalize on every aspect they could. Having heavily read much of the required fantasy canon over the years, each page of Eragon was a pure bastardization of at least two or three classic/groundbreaking works. I never wanted to actually destroy a book before this one and if it hadn't been my wife's book I would have. I struggled to just finish it and I could NOT recommend a book less than this garbage.