22. The Time Machine

by H.G. Wells (120 pgs)

Rating: 3

The time traveller travels into the distant future and returns to recount his experiences to his astonished friends after a dinner party. His tale is of a dichotomous society degenerating as a result of an inherent imbalance. As proof, he has only a couple of crumpled flowers and a few scars on his hands. Touching at times, and stereotypical of works written in the same period, The Time Machine is a intellectual musing of the distant future of man kind.



It's a fast read and probably deserves its status as a science fiction classic. The commentary on human nature and where Well's sees it leading us is interesting although I don't necessarily agree with his conclusion. The themes make it apparent that it is coming out of the onset of the industrial age.

Generally recommended. It's short and it's a classic...what do you have to lose?

21. The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing 2nd ed. (NF)

By Charles Papazian (398 pgs)



Rating: 4


Everything you need to get started brewing beer at home, well almost everything. You still need a huge brew pot and a great big bucket, as well as a number of other sundry items, but certainly everything you need to know to start brewing. The second edition is split into three sections: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. The beginner section runs the reader through the brewing of a very basic beer. The intermediate section gets into the 'whys' of how the process works and includes more involved recipes. The advanced section...is scary ;)

The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing is a reasonably well written manual. There are a couple of details that could use a bit more treatment but the information is all there if one looks for it. The third edition came out a couple of years ago and I suspect that many of the unclear details were resolved in that edition.

Recommended to beer lovers even if you'd never attempt to brew beer yourself.