Advanced Bread and Pastry Pt.1

A two dimensional photo of the cover cannot begin to show how HUGE this book is. It's over a thousand rather large pages. Michel Suas is either brilliant or he had a lot of input from outside sources to complete this book. Or both. This book is definitely a text book for the professionally inclined baker. The first chapter goes through the history of baking. The second is about cleanliness and sanitation in the kitchen. Did you know that the croissant was created in Budapest, representing the crescent of the Ottoman flag?
The next few chapters go into great detail about the baking process including more chemistry than I could ever wrap my brain around. I'm not sure how much of this new info is going to stick, but I've already got a better idea of how to make my own bread slightly better.
More to come...

Advanced Digital Black and White Photography

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book by John Beardsworth. I enjoy viewing photography but it's never been a skill that I've picked up or truly studied. I supposed you could say that it's something I'd like to be able to do some day, but it always falls below other priorities.
This book is very advanced. It assumes that the reader already has a grasp of darkroom techniques and photography jargon, as well as digital editing software. Most of the book is made up of step by step instructions to digitally master black and white photos, mainly in Photoshop.
Apart from it being way over my head, it is very well-written and organized. High recommendation for anyone interested in the topic.

Rating - 3

Advanced Autograph Collecting Conclusion

I survived! The second half of this book was slightly more interesting than the first. It started to discuss how to detect forgeries, which is a bit more fun for me, since I work at a bank. The book covers every basic topic necessary for autograph collecting. I'm not exactly sure what makes it "advanced." I got a kick out of one part where Baker suggests America OnLine as a good source to search for new autographs.

So excited to move on to the next book.

Rating - 1

Advanced Autograph Collecting Pt.1

How boring does this sound? I never knew the art of autograph collecting required a manual, let alone "advanced" collecting. I'm still questioning this.

Chapter 1 was frenzied and confusing. Some of it pertained to autographs. Some was more for collecting in general. I think I would have more interest in the book if there weren't so many typos in the first few pages. Chapter 2 deals with how to date and identify autographs, and is much more interesting. Interesting if you like all the details on the progression of writing implements.

More to follow.