Your Neighborhood Gives Me the Creeps by Adam Selzer

Your Neighborhood Gives Me The Creeps tells about the wayward adventures of Adam Selzer, self proclaimed nerd, Ghost Hunter, Paranormal investigator, and skeptic. Adam’s scientific approach and healthy skepticism, along with his good hearted ability to keep quiet and not spoil anyone’s fun (Dude. That picture you just took that you think is a ghost? That’s actually a reflection of your ear) make this an interesting read. If you are at all worried about ghosts, reading this book will make you feel a thousand times better.

Original Spooky Amusing Historical schadenfreude.

Stitches: A Memoir by David Small

Stitches is a beautifully illustrated autobiographical graphic novel that tells the story of David Small’s illness and how his dysfunctional family dealt with it. As a child and teen growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, he lives in a silent, angry family that represses all emotions. From an early age he has “sinus problems” that his dad, a doctor, regularly X-rays to monitor. His mother is a pinched woman who takes her rage out on the pots and pans she washes. When he has an operation to remove a “cyst” growing on the side of his neck, one of his vocal cords is removed, leaving him mute. Only later does he find out that he had actually had throat cancer, and that nobody had thought to tell him about it.

Blending dream, imagination, and reality, this book is perfectly illustrated, with surreal excursions into his mind. Small has an innovative way of portraying what his younger self feels and thinks in stark, lovely black-and-white. One of my favorite panels is the one where David sees the stitches all along his throat for the first time. It is also a brilliant portrait of the ’60s. Truthful without being resentful, sad and slightly satirical, it’s a very quick and interesting read. The only thing is that I wish Small had gone more into his life after he left his family, as it seems to wrap things up quickly after age 16. That’s probably because the focus is on his life growing up with his family, but I feel it departs from the tone and style of the previous story a little.

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

I should probably start this review by saying I am not a Christian. I am a self-proclaimed “Neo-pluralist” and I don’t know what it means either.

I do have a healthy curiosity about Christianity, but every time I try to satisfy this curiosity, I am bombarded on all sides with so much contradictory information that I can’t even think straight. So, I picked up The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs with high hopes. Thankfully, I was not let down.

The author is actually a non-practicing jew at the start of the book, and brings a “Complete Idiots Guide” style introduction to both Judaism and Christianity in a humorous way that is somehow funny and entertaining without being too disrespectful, which continues throughout the book as he attempts to follow every rule in the bible as literally as possible.

He speaks to a number of specialists from various religions, including a man who makes it his job to analyze closets for “mixed fiber clothing”, since the bible forbids wearing such things, but he gets most of his information from the bible itself.

I think this is a fantastic read for anyone even moderately interested in Christianity, or what the bible *really* has to say on a lot of different subjects. It’s a fun experiment of boiling the most popular book of all time back down to its original context with as little bias as possible, something that’s damn near impossible to find anywhere. And Mr. Jacobs, if this review comes up in a Google search of yourself (you can’t deny them, we all know now), I just want to say – Good job.

One man’s attempt to follow the bible as literally as possible.

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1 edition (October 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743291476

Chow Hound by Eve Adamson

Perhaps this is an odd book to review here.  I believe that this is the first non-fiction book review  posted on iEATbooks.  Oh well.

Last Christmas I received Chow Hound: Wholesome Home Cooking for Your Doggie by Eve Andamson.  Last Saturday morning I cracked it open for the first time and put together a little something for the dogs.

Before you get to the recipes, there’s some good information on why you should bake for your dog, the basics of cooking for your pets, and a list of foods you should never feed a dog.

Did you know that dogs shouldn’t eat:

• Alcoholic beverages (duh)
• Avocado
• Chocolate (especially baking chocolate)
• Coffee (the caffeine can be deadly)
• Fruit seeds and pits (especially from apples, cherries, peaches, pears, plums, or apricots)
• Garlic (fresh)
• Grapes and raisins
• Mushrooms
• Nutmeg (don’t be tempted to add it to your baked goods!)
• Nuts (especially walnuts and macadamias)
• Onions
• Sugarless gum or candy (the artificial sweetener xylitol is the culprit)
• Tea
• Tomatoes
• Uncooked dough

I do wish this book had more small dry treat recipes.  It has many recipes for bigger treats…muffins, pies, breads, cookies, etc.

I decided to make one called Here Kitty, Kitty Tuna Pie. I picked this recipe simply because I had all the ingredients in the house.  I’m going to share the recipe and process with you here.

Start by pulling together all the ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 2 Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
• 2 cans of tuna
• 2 tablespoons of dried parsley
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Coat a 9-inch pie plate with olive oil.

In a medium-sized bowl, beat together the eggs and the chicken broth.

Throw in the tuna.  If you’re using chunky (like I did), I’d suggest you break it up with a fork.

Mix in the parsley.

If you’re doing it right, your dogs will be drooling at your feet.

Pour the mixture into the pie plate and sprinkle the bread crumbs evenly over the top.

Bake the pie for 45 minutes, or until the eggs are set and the bread crumbs turn golden brown.

Remove the pie from the oven and allow it to cool on a rack for 30 minutes to an hour before serving.  Serve warm or at room temperature.  Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or sealed in an airtight container for up to 1 month in the freezer.

Is baking for your dog a little obsessive? Absolutely not.

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Sterling Innovation; 1 edition (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 140275566X