Lizzie Stark

Who'd have thought that the incredible, edible egg has more going for it than its edibleness? The egg is INCREDIBLE as well as EDIBLE! This book looks at eggs throughout history, art, and science. I would never have thought I would ever read a book about eggs and enjoyed it. Yes, there are chapters on eggs as food. There is a chapter on collecting eggs which peaked around the mid-1800's and resulted in the extinction or near extinction of some birds. There is also how eggs have been used in art--paint or performance or decorated. Plus, science comes in as eggs are used to make vaccines and chickens have been used to create RNA or DNA based vaccines (for those who are allergic to egg-based vaccines.) There was also a chapter on eggs used to paint clown faces on resulting in a historic view of famous clowns.

I highly recommend this book. It will certainly liven up conversations when you say you read about eggs and all the places and activities they have been engaged in.… (más)

Leaving Mundania is a wonderful journalistic look at one of my passions, Live Action Role Playing, or LARP. It is rare to see so much effort into researching this often misrepresented hobby. While I did not learn much about LARP that I did not already know from being involved in ti for years, I was so happy to see how Ms. Stark portrayed the most important part of the hobby. LARP is really about community, and her personal interviews and reflections on that aspect were a joy to see. She made an effort to become involved in a number of different LARP communities and show them in a light that we don't get. I would recommend this book to people interested in Role Playing, and gaming communities as a whole, not just LARPers. This book could be a good read for high school students who feel outcast because of their gaming. It can really shed a positive light on what is thought of as the geekiest of hobbies.… (más)