Primordial Soup

Average customer rating:

Stick to the Script

Primordial Soup
Rob Grant , and Doug Naylor
Manufacturer: Penguin Books Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Screenplays | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Last Human (Red Dwarf)

Red Dwarf Omnibus

Backwards (Red Dwarf)

ASIN: 0140178864

Customer Reviews:

Stick to the Script.......2003-07-22

Someone may ask you what the point is of owning the "Red Dwarf" scripts if you've seen the TV episodes. It's a fair question. You may even own the video tapes. But imagine this nightmare scenario:

You're sitting at home watching your favourite "Red Dwarf" episode, laughing along, when all of a sudden a power blackout leaves you sitting in the dark. "What am I going to do?" you cry in despair. "What's going to make me laugh now?" Tears begin to flow.

However, in a parallel universe there is another version of you who happens to own a copy of the "Red Dwarf" scripts: Primordial Soup. All is not lost. With a copy of the scripts and the aid of a torch you can simply pick up from where the characters were cut off in mid-sentence. The book even contains photographs in the middle section to help you remember what the characters look like. Life isn't so cruel after all.

In this book Rob Grant and Doug Naylor have chosen what they consider to be "the least worst" of the "Red Dwarf" scripts. There are six episodes altogether: "Polymorph", "Marooned", "Dimension Jump" (my favourite), "Justice", "Back to Reality" and "Psirens".

It doesn't need to be said that the ideas used in "Red Dwarf" are clever and funny. The episodes chosen here are from the first five years of "Red Dwarf", before the budget became too extravagant, making it possible for these episodes to be "remastered". You can read these scripts and still laugh while your other self discovers there are no batteries for the torch either. Enjoy the lunacy.

Average customer rating:
Primordial Soup
Christine Leunens
Manufacturer: Dedalus Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1873982194

Book Description

A light comic novel with a bizarre, unforgettable ending. An American girl with an eccentric Lithuanian mother develops strange ideas about food and sex and the connection between the two. When she invites lusty college professors to dinner, they don't realize it's their own bits that are on the menu.

Book Description

Mysterious aliens, ruthless terrorists, androids with attitude, genetic manipulation, punch-ups with lasers and giant spaceships! What more do you want?

Customer Reviews:

Asher's Old Stuff is Pretty Good!.......2007-03-18

"The Engineer Reconditioned" is mostly a collection of Neal Asher's earlier stories, with about 90 pages taken up by the title story- "the Engineer." Like Julie Czerneda, Asher can produce fascinating aliens with weird biological twists at the drop of a hat, and the Jain in the first story are a classic example. Certainly his alien life forms are very well characterized and have sufficient interest in themselves.

Several of the stories are related to his full length (and riveting) novel "The Skinner" and his other stories are just as full of bizarre life forms, strange planets or weird situations, all masterfully handled in ways that keep one reading. As a professional biologist I like my science fiction to have some biological sense, and I am amazed at the number of life forms and weird life cycles (many of which can be found on a different scale here on earth) Asher has invented or altered.

These are science fiction stories for hard core sci fi aficionados. Until Asher and Czerneda showed up I was beginning to think that the art had died (or at least been crippled) with the death of Isaac Asimov and the rise of novels associated with "Star Trek" or "Star Wars."

This is a very good read and I heartily recommend it!

A Wonderful Collection of Stories.......2006-05-16

Well, I have been ranting and raving about how great Neal Asher is for some time now but I must admit I approached this short story collection with some trepidation. This was not due to any perceived shortcoming of the author, but rather that I have had a bias against short story collections for many years. I haven't truly analyzed my prejudice but I think it mostly stems from the fact that when a story is great you want it to go on and on, which definitely doesn't happen with a short story. Asher's collection, and a collection of short stories from Karl Schroeder, have made me seriously question my previous reservation. This book is wonderful and is chock-full of the trademark Asher icons we love and expect: fearsome and fantastical creatures, crazed religious cults, crazier terrorist organizations, artificial intelligences, crafty and devious humans, exotic locales, sentient machines, designer drugs, and struggling protagonists who must contend with all of the above in adrenaline fueled, blood-spattered, tension-ratcheting stories that leave you panting for more. Asher is simply a ripping good story-teller and in this book you get a dozen great stories under one cover.

Many of these short stories are set in his Polity universe and add welcome bits of information for fleshing out that world and fans of his Polity series will definitely want to devour these. There are also a few stories here that are not Polity based....but they are so good that I found myself hoping that Mr. Asher might develop some novels around them. No, wait, I didn't say that!! I love the Polity novels too much! Maybe if Mr. Asher could clone himself as happens in some of his stories?

I devoured this book during a five hour flight last week and it truly made for a wonderfully enjoyable, and very quick, flight if you can imagine that in this day and age. I highly recommend this book for both current followers of Mr. Asher and for those who may not have read him before. This would be a wonderful introduction to Mr. Asher's work and I am sure it would leave new readers wanting more.

Careful, this is a reprint with some minor additions!.......2006-03-26

I really enjoy Neal Asher's work. He can develop atmosphere, characters and plot quickly and believably with incredible imagination. The short story, The Engineer, is no exception, and is my favorite Asher work. However, I was quite disappointed that this release of short stories, The Engineer Reconditioned, is nothing more than an update of the The Engineer published under a different label in 1998. I was expecting a full novel continuing the premise of the earlier work. Instead I received the same short story under a new name with some slight revisions. Amazon needs to make this clear so people don't waste their money on something they have already read. However, if you have not read it, it is a great read, brissling with great concepts and intrigue.

Good Polity story and..........2006-03-19

Some other stuff I just couldn't get into.

The first story is around 100 pages, the rest are shorts. I have enjoyed most of Asher's books set in the Polity universe (except Brass Man), and this story is pretty interesting. Despite being under 100 pages he introduces some cool tech, interesting characters and throws a few nice plot twists in.

The other stuff fell flat for me after that. There's a paperback version available now for $10 and I would recommend that over the HC version.

Amazon.com

Akiko to the rescue again! On her way home from school one day, the intrepid fifth grader is picked up in a space ship masquerading as a police car by her alien friends Mr. Beeba, Spuckler, and Gax. Quickly they explain: their friend Poog was recently called back to his planet, Toog, which apparently is in grave danger. But Poog hasn't returned, and his buddies are concerned. So off they all go, in spite of Akiko's misgivings: "We were heading to a planet none of us had ever been to before--a place where we were apparently not the least bit welcome--to deal with some sort of terrible threat that we knew absolutely nothing about. It sounded like an excellent recipe for total disaster." But Akiko has faced danger before, and has always made it through in one piece (Akiko and the Intergalactic Zoo , Akiko on the Planet Smoo , etc.). Surely she can save little purple Poog and make it home in time to relieve her replacement robot on Earth before another school day…

Mark Crilley's Japanese anime-inspired Akiko series offers plenty of intergalactic adventure and a spunky, likable heroine who is surprisingly down-to-earth for being so often in outer space. (Ages 8 to 12) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

“Poog’s in trouble.” Just three simple words, but they’re enough to launch fifth-grade Akiko and the rest of her crew—Spuckler Boach, Mr. Beeba, and Gax—on their next mission. And it just might be their most important mission yet: To save the planet Toog, home of their good friend Poog.

Someone’s out to destroy Toog, and only Akiko and the gang can stop them. But first they have to escape from a Toogolian jail cell, zoom through a barrage of exploding drobe mines, and enlist the help of Spuckler’s old friend Fluggly Ragstubble—who’s anything but helpful. The clock is ticking and every second counts. Will they win the race against time and save Poog’s home planet?

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Great stuff.......2007-01-27

I got this for my 9-year old daughter. She was feeling isolated in school, and I wanted to find a new world for her that she could enjoy. Akiko is now her (fictional) sister. My daughter got so excited reading this that every few paragraphs she would stop and hug the book to her chest.

Journey to Toog A Thrilling Ride.......2003-09-27

AKIKO AND THE JOURNEY TO TOOG

What a thrilling read! Although she may be a pretty average fifth grader, in a pretty average town, Akikoýs extremely dull life turns almost instantly into one of the most exciting adventures anybody could have.

Mark Crilley, the author and illustrator, combines sparkling humor with thrills and chills as he leads Akiko and the rest of her crew---Spuckler, Gax, Mr. Beeba (and later Poog) in taking on the dreaded Toogolians.

Whether itýs the deliciously-funny Mr. Beeba trying to speak Toogolian, or Poog swearing heýs never seen his dear friends before in his life, the reader is soon caught up with the heart-pounding twists and turns of discovering drobe mines, watching Ragstubble eating disgusting slimy, green and alive little wormy things, finding a way into the interior of the fearsome Core eater, doing battle with the well-armed Tri-Yarm sentries, watching with terrifying fascination as Poog is trapped in an enormous block of yellowish ice and Gax is rendered into a virtual pile of worthless junk.

I canýt give away the ending, of course, but talk about a roller-coaster ride of emotions! Akiko is at her courageous best as she uses her skills, wisdom, imagination and boundless energy to confront the dreaded Zeem monster.

Itýs a page-turner alright. But do you know what? When I got to Chapter five I said to myself, ýIf I donýt limit myself to reading just one chapter a day, Iým going to finish this book in one sitting! So from then on I disciplined myself to reading only one chapter a day.

I like being glued to the pages of a book I donýt want to end! And this one gave me almost three weekýs worth of exhilarating fun!

Average customer rating:
Akiko and the Journey to Toog

Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 1417677821

Average customer rating:

Barefoot Contessa Parties

Ina rocks!

Good Party Ideas, Good Party Philosophy

Party Lady

I Love Ina, BUT...

Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun
Ina Garten
Manufacturer: Clarkson Potter
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | U.S. Regional | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Special Occasions | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Party Planning | Special Occasions | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Etiquette | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook

Barefoot Contessa Family Style: Easy Ideas and Recipes That Make Everyone Feel Like Family

Barefoot Contessa at Home: Everyday Recipes You'll Make Over and Over Again

Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Make at Home

Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Desserts (Potter Style)

ASIN: 0609606441
Release Date: 2001-03-27

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

"A good party is not about the food," says Ina Garten, "it's about the people." That may be true, but her Barefoot Contessa Parties! will ensure that your next party is a fabulous one, regardless of your guest list. Garten, author of The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook and a monthly column in Martha Stewart Living, has been catering since 1978. So who better to put together a collection of entertaining theme parties? She's included everything from drinks and hors d'oeuvres to dessert and coffee, as well as notes about what "surprises," atmospheres, venues, and table decorations lend themselves to each. Because she likes to attend her own parties (and who doesn't?), almost every recipe is make-ahead and remarkably uncomplicated.

From casual get-togethers, such as the Pizza Party--which includes recipes for Caesar Salad with Pancetta, California Pizzas that your guests can assemble themselves, and Ice-Cream Sodas--to the elegant Academy Awards dinner--where your guests will enjoy Raspberry Vodka, Rori's Potato Chips with Caviar Dip, Smoked Salmon with Mesclun, Filet of Beef with Gorgonzola Sauce, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes, Garlic Roasted Potatoes, and Chocolate Ganache Cake--Garten's parties are well thought out and well organized. Divided by season, you'll look forward to Summer's Outdoor Grill, which starts with Real Margaritas, followed by Endive and Avocado Salad, Grilled Herb Shrimp with Mango Salsa, Spaghettoni al Pesto, Tomato Fennel Salad, and Peach Raspberry Shortcakes for dessert. Autumn brings beautiful menus like the one where you cook with your guests and end up with a feast of Potato Pancakes with Caviar, Salad with Warm Goat Cheese, Rack of Lamb, Orzo with Roasted Vegetables, and Apple Crostata. Winter's menus bring soul-warming food, such as Seafood Chowder, Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, and a recipe for possibly the world's best Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Spring offers menus such as the Sunday Breakfast, with a main course of Roasted Asparagus with Scrambled Eggs, and the Jewish Holiday Party, with Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls.

Filled with funny party anecdotes, a bit of Ina Garten history, and clever hints and tips to help guarantee the success of these recipes, this collection, subtitled "Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun," delivers on every count. --Leora Y. Bloom

Book Description

After more than twenty years of running Barefoot Contessa, the acclaimed specialty food store, Ina Garten published her first collection of recipes. The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook was an overnight sensation, but it's the kind of success that can only be grounded in years of experience. In it, Ina shared her ideas for familiar food but with outstanding flavor and -- most important of all -- recipes that really work.

Now, with Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ina shares secrets she has gleaned from her years not only as a caterer but as a dedicated party giver. The keyword here is fun. Ina's parties are easy to prepare and fun for everyone, including the host. Forget those boring Saturday-night dinners that just won't end. With Ina's advice, you're certain to have all your friends saying, "Wasn't that fun!"

Ina has packed Barefoot Contessa Parties! with plans for pulling off parties like a pro, stories about her own parties, and tips on assembling food (rather than cooking everything) and organizing like a caterer. In the spring you can invite your friends to a party where they all make their own pizzas. Come summer, it's into the garden for a lunch with grilled lamb and pita sandwiches that guests assemble themselves. In the autumn, when it's not Thanksgiving, Ina roasts a fresh turkey, which her friends enjoy with popovers and a creamy spinach gratin. And on a snowy winter's day, everyone is invited for a lunch buffet with seafood chowder and butternut squash and apple soup.

Ever since Ina published her first book, people write, e-mail, and stop her on the street to say how much they love the food. She's reached new heights here with recipes like sour cream coffee cake--the ultimate breakfast treat. Salads? The red lettuce, balsamic onions, and blue cheese; Chinese chicken salad; and panzanella may be the best you've ever tasted. Filet of beef is easy to make for a fancy dinner with oh-so-good gorgonzola sauce, or sliced into sandwiches and served with lobster rolls for a Superbowl party. And fans of The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook will be delighted to find the recipe for the Lemon Cake they drooled over but only saw pictured, right here in this book.

With so many great ideas and recipes in these pages for you to use, your friends will start to wonder why your parties are always so much fun.

Customer Reviews:

Barefoot Contessa Parties.......2007-10-04

Ina Garten cooks the food I like to cook. It's uncomplicated to prepare and delicious to eat. Barefoot Contessa Parties has been a really useful addition to my very large cook book collection. I have used it mainly for everyday meals rather than specifically for 'parties'. The ingredients are generally readily available (in Australia) and the instructions are clear. I like that Ina has included some of the more basic recipes such as pesto for instance. I must have over 10 recipes for pesto but this one is the best (although I never add oil to the pasta water I've been told that the sauce slides off rather than clings to the pasta).

Ina rocks!.......2007-09-08

I love all things Barefoot Contessa so I am prejudiced, but I made the
apple crostada this morning and it is fabulous! I usually make 2-3 of
her recipes every week. Love all her books-

Good Party Ideas, Good Party Philosophy.......2007-04-04

Party foods are different than the foods you expect to find in a normal cookbook. As Ms. Garten says, you want foods you can prepare in advance and join the party yourself. But, it is also a good thing to do some of the cooking while the party is going on. Perhaps she has higher class parties than I do, but I find that parties seem to break into smaller groups, one of which is in the kitchen. And to cook something - like fresh baked bread while the party is going on is a good thing to do. If nothing else it puts out such good smells.

I also find some of her dishes would be just as suitable for use with a regular meal. I'm going to try her Spinach Gratin tonight. I like spinach anyway, and perhaps it's just the picture, but it looks and sounds so good.

If the weather were just a bit warmer, I'd also prepare the Vanilla Armagnac Ice Cream. But I think I'll wait a few weeks.

Any way, here are some very good ideas, and that's why you buy cookbooks.

Party Lady.......2007-03-08

Love this book, along with the rest of the Contessa Books. The fish stew is excellent, a little bit of work, but it freezes well so I just double it and freeze half!

I Love Ina, BUT..........2007-02-20

I love Ina's cooking style and I am always in awe of someone that can throw a party wherein they make everything themselves and still entertain the masses.
However, I have noticed that there are problems with some of the recipes themselves. I made the chinese chicken salad and it was *extremely* salty and greasy, even though I cut down the oil because I thought 1 cup of oil was way too much. The recipe will need some serious tweaking for the home kitchen.
The other recipe(s) that put me off were for the chocolate chip and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. The recipes cannot be right! I thought it might just be a typo, but all three (there is one for chocolate chocolate chip cookies which I haven't tried because the other two were really terrible) are written with practically the same instructions. I have made a lot of cookies in my day and I've never had any cookies come out as badly as these did. There is no way you're going to bake tablespoons of cookie dough at 350 for 15 minutes and not have them come out burnt to a crisp! Mine were burnt on the outside and raw in the middle, and I took them out early. If you look at the picture where she is scooping out the cookie dough she's clearly using a very large cookie scoop for her cookies...so I'm wondering if someone made a mistake in the editing? Those recipes frustrated me to no end. I finally gave up after making the carrot cake cupcakes. They just weren't that great...they were bland and kind of dry.
I love Ina. I want to trust Ina! But I think the recipes in this book are hit and miss. I don't want to go out on a bad note so I will say that the recipes for the lemon cake and orange chocolate chunk cake are worth the price of admission for me. (Those are my favorites that I've tried so far...I need a break from this book after the disappointing recipes.) Maybe the recipes don't all translate right when they're scaled down from large bakery size batches? I hope that's what it is.

Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun

Average customer rating:

Barefoot Contessa Parties! Ideas and Recipes for Easy Parties That Are Really Fun
Ina Garten
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MU6OE4

Book Description

Diabetics rejoice! No more forbidden foods! Current research shows that diabetics may enjoy one serving of sweets daily. Ragone, a registered dietitian and food expert, has compiled mouthwatering recipes for a wide range of treats-made without use of sugar substitutes or artificial ingredients. The whole family will love them. Her introduction includes instruction on how to change home cooking methods to support a healthier lifestyle for the management of diabetes, plus all the latest information on how diabetics may incorporate sweets into their diets. Individual chapters cover all the delectable treat categories: quick breads and cakes, pies and tarts, cobblers and crisps, cookies and bars, puddings and mousses, and smoothies and shakes. Delectable treats such as Chocolate Almond Cake, Cornmeal Cake with Blueberry and Red Wine Sauce, Summer Fruit Compote, and Fresh Berry Shortcakes will make mouths water!

Customer Reviews:

"Kitchen cook friendly" with easy-to-understand directions.......2003-09-15

In Prevention's Decadent Desserts For Diabetics, Regina Ragone draws upon her professional experience and expertise as the Food Editor for Prevention Magazine to present 125 desserts that are as delicious as they are "diabetic friendly". From Coconut Cream Bundt Cake; Pear and Cranberry Crisp; Apple Crumble with Toasted-Oat Topping; and Chocolate Mousse; to Spiced Molasses Cookies; Lemon Bars; Coffee Cup Souffles; and Strawberry Shortcakes, Prevention's Decadent Desserts For Diabetics showcases individual dishes that are made with wholesome ingredients (no sugar substitutes or artificial ingredients are needed) and come with a complete nutritional analysis. Enhanced with colorful photography, each selection comprising this very highly recommended addition to the cookbook collection of anyone having to deal with diabetes is thoroughly "kitchen cook friendly" with easy-to-understand directions.

Mediocre marvel at best.......2003-03-22

I really wanted to like this book but was disappointed with the contents. All the recipes are the same "run of the mill" foods that you'll find in any "Better Homes and Gardens" cookbook. Apple strudel, chocolate layer cake, and brownies (to name a few). They still use white and brown sugar to make the food but the amount of sugar is cut back a bit. Big deal! I do that already! I guess I was expecting more fruit juice sweetened recipes so that I could get away from all the white sugar that fills our products. Regina's guidelines to healthier eating consists of replacing whole milk with fat free, 1% or 2% milk. Replace full fat cream cheese with low fat counterparts and eat your fruits and veggies. Sorry gang, this is old news!!

Average customer rating:
Book of a Thousand Thimbles
Myrtle Lundquist
Manufacturer: WALLACE HOMESTEAD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000WD0UL4

Average customer rating:
The Book of a thousand thimbles
M. Lundquist
Manufacturer: Editions by Wallace-Homestead Book, Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KMRT5C

Average customer rating:
Book of a Thousand Thimbles
M. Lundquist
Manufacturer: Wallace-Homestead Book Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Antiques & Collectibles | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Thimbles & Thimble Cases (Shire Book S.)

Zalkins Handbook of Thimbles and Sewing Implements: A Complete Collector's Guide With Current Prices

The Story of the Thimble: An Illustratied Guide for Collectors (Schiffer Book for Collectors)

ASIN: 0870690086

Book Description

Comfortable, livable, and beautiful, with scaled-down possessions and the clutter eliminated: that's simple style. Hidden underneath all the books, magazines, computer equipment, toys, gadgets, and knick-knacks scattered around your house, there's wonderful design potential struggling to get out. Uncover the possibilities through these lavish photographs of warm, inviting interiors and smart suggestions for shelving, furniture, soft furnishings, and more. Room by room, from the bathroom to the home office, you'll see how carefully planned and what a calm retreat it's supposed to be. With great storage solutions (like an armoire that cleverly hides a TV, VCR, and more than a few other appliances), a wise use of corners, ideas for creating unity through color, striking ways of enlivening dead spaces, and fabulous lighting fixtures, every inch will look perfect!

Customer Reviews:

A sterling book........1998-10-21

"Simple Style" is a sterling guide to creating a graceful and uncluttered home. Thankfully, Lisa Skolnik and Rima A Suqi don't cater to cold, minimalistic decorative ideas. For them, if a room--no matter how elegantly uncluttered--doesn't have warmth, something is missing. In concise and inviting prose, the authors detail the various way in which a room can be practical and welcoming, without being fussy. Their innovative ideas include allowing no single element (be it an elaborate bedstead or a tapestry-covered chair) to overwhelm a room, and using intricate architectual deails and subtle colors on furnishings to gracefully "tie" several items in a room together. Skolnik and Suqi cover every room in the house--from living room and kitchen to closet and home office. They even show you how porches, foyers, patios, and exterior doors can make stronger first impressions. The photographs are simply matchless. They are, at once, large, sharp, colorful, and instructive. And they fill every page in this thoroughly-laudable volume.

Book Description

The Osbournes--Bleeped is a fact-packed, rack-sized biography of the most unlikely lovable mack daddy ever--rock-metal icon Ozzy Osbourne--and his foible-filled, expletive-bleeped, highly functional family. Written especially for 8-14 year olds, The Osbournes Bleeped spotlights Kelly and Jack, the kids in the clan, and what it's like to grow up in a home like theirs. Dotted with "Truth or Dare" sidebars, punchy pop-ups and headline head-scratchers, The Osbournes-Bleeped is a safe, seriously funny choice for curious kids and fans of all ages.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books