Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany
 

Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany

by Bill Buford

Bill Buford's funny and engaging book Heat offers readers a rare glimpse behind the scenes in Mario Batali's kitchen. Who better to review the book for Amazon.com, than Anthony Bourdain, the man who first introduced readers to the wide array of lusty and colorful characters in the restaurant business? We asked Anthony Bourdain to read Heat and give us his take. We loved it. So did he. Check... (read more)

Top tags: foodmemoirnonfictioncookingnon-fiction (all tags)

Overview: Groups

Shelfari Discussion 377 books / 1744 members / 5189 posts This group is about everything Shelfari. Let's talk about site improvements, issues encountered, and the next great feature we should build.

If you have questions about how to use Shelfari, check out the Shelfari Questions group: http://www.shelfari.com/groups/15217/about

NOTE: Please don't post topics not related to Shelfari features and requests in this group . They will be deleted.
Cook's Books 341 books / 583 members / 3134 posts This is for cooks who like books. What cookbooks do you love, what inspires your cooking, what are some of the books you've read that made you want to cook the food in them. Anyone who enjoys food is welcome here.

CONTEST WINNER FOR JULY/AUGUST: Firefly_1824 Congratulations!

CONTEST WINNER FOR SEPTEMBER: AIMEESUE Congratulations!
Armchair Travel 216 books / 98 members / 65 posts This group is for anyone who loves to travel - and anyone who loves to read about it...
Travel Narratives 189 books / 139 members / 60 posts Books that help you see the world through another's eyes. These memoirs recount the cross-cultural differences that travelers overcome as they meet people and see places that others dream about (or that others haven't even considered visiting). Wanderlust lovers and armchair travelers unite. (Not for guidebooks!)
A series of unfortunate choices 24 books / 47 members / 126 posts Okay, so what's your biggest, latest disappointment with a book that looked or sounded great, or with a book suggested by someone who you really really respect that turned out to be a dog, or maybe just your favorite bad book of all time....?

My latest letdown was "Special Topics in Calamity Physics," which was way too clever in an exhausting way, but which my friend Sue forced me to buy. Still, it paid off in that now there are people at work who after seeing me with the book think I enjoy particle physics as a hobby. So there's that.

And my favorite bad book of all time is "The Thorn Birds." 'Nuff said.
Travel 67 books / 74 members / 103 posts A group dedicated to books that really capture a country's culture. ---Michael
50 Book Challenge! 2929 books / 2898 members / 16523 posts When asked about the new Amazon Kindle product, Steve Jobs CEO of Apple computer had this to say:

“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

Welcome to the the 50 Book Challenge, where we fly in the face of Steve Jobs.

Basically .... the challenge is to read 50 books in one year. OR ... establish a goal for yourself more or less, it's up to you, just because we say 50 books doesn't mean that has to be your goal too.

Start a thread, WITH YOUR NAME IN THE SUBJECT OF YOUR ORIGINAL POST, and log your books. It is a very good idea to bookmark (when in your post, add it to your internet browser's favorites) your post for easy location for future updates. Things move quickly around here.

If you haven't been keeping track of the books you've read, start when you join.


Thanks for being here and have fun. If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to contact me.

The books we loved in 2007:

1. Harry Potter the final - 15 votes
2. The Kite Runner - 12 votes
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns - 11 votes
4. Twilight - 5 votes
4. The Thirteenth Tale - 5 votes

With 4 votes each:
Water For Elephants, The Road, The Red Tent, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Middlesex, Eat, Pray, Love

With 3 votes each:
Eclipse, My Sister's Keeper, Suite Francaise, Shadow of the Wind, The Lovely Bones, Jane Eyre, His Dark Materials (plus 3 honorable mentions), The Glass Castle, Girl With the Pearl Earring, Darkly Dreaming Dexter

With 2 votes each:
19 Minutes, Black Swan Green, Dogs of Babel, Heart-Shaped Box, In the Woods, Into the Wild, Kafka on the Shore, On Chesil Beach, The Book Thief, The Memory Keepers Daughter, The Stolen Child, No Country for Old Men, Marley and Me, New Moon
"Non-Fiction" 380 books / 341 members / 136 posts A place to find, recommend, and discuss all things non-fiction.
24 Book Challenge + Chat 650 books / 100 members / 2291 posts The 24 Book Challenge group is currently at full capacity; thank you for your interest.



"In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.", Mortimer Adler

*This is a group for book lovers who prefer to take an under-promise and over-deliver approach to their reading. It's also for those of us who quake at the thought of "committing" to read 50 books in a twelve month period.

The challenge: Set a goal for yourself to read and enjoy 2 books each month.(If 1 would be a s-t-r-e-t-c-h goal for you, that's great too! If you crave more than 2, go for it. It's your challenge :-)

If you have been keeping track of all that you've read since January 2008, feel free to include those books towards your goal. If you haven't been keeping track, simply begin now.

How it works: Put your name in the subject line of a new post, and start to add your book list. From that point on you can add to your list by replying to the first post in your thread. If you prefer to keep your thread free of others' questions or comments then you may want to include this request in your original post title (e.g. "No comments please"). If you would like questions or comments within your thread, why not include "Comments welcome" in the title? If you feel inspired to write mini-reviews or comments on any book in your list, please do. Whatever feels right for you!

The group shelf:You are also invited to add your 24 + books to the group shelf. If you did write a comment or review please also add this to your book on the shelf. In an effort to keep things simple, we're only using the "Books We've Read" shelf.


Please drop us a note if you have any questions or suggestions for improving the group. We'd love to hear from you!
Readers In Thongs 226 books / 260 members / 4438 posts *Note* Want the basics so you know how to jump into the current challenge? For an overview of the current RIT challenge, the RIT FAQ site is: http://ritsfaqs.wordpress.com

RIT is the Home Of: *The Weight Loss Reading Challenge
*The Amazing Page Race Reading Challenge
*The Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

*TBR Makeover Challenge

So, just how big is your TBR pile? Or do you have more than one TBR pile? Or even better, do you have a place where you stash those books away from the eyes of those who may not totally understand your reading obsession.

Readers In Thongs have huge TBR piles. They either own them outright or bring them home from the library. Some books slip further and further down those TBR piles until they are almost forgotten. Or at least they were until Readers In Thongs began reading challenges based strictly upon each person's own personal treasure of To-Be-Read books. Every challenge here is based on books you already own or can borrow. There is no need to ever buy a book for this reading group if you don't want to. The Challenges are built around themes such as weight loss or number of pages read. You can participate as much or as little as you want. The point is to read what you want when you want, share those good reads you find with others in the group, and have fun.


Visit us at: http://readersinthongs.blogspot.com for our reviews and other group news.



Readers In Thongs lost a combined weight of 158 pounds, 5 ounces as of December 31, 2007 in the Weight Loss Reading Challenge


Readers In Thongs read a combined total of 190,845 pages (bonus pages included) during The Amazing Page Race Book Challenge.

(Our group settings are arranged so that only members can see our discussions and our shelves. You don't need a special invitation to join the group; just click on "join" and you'll be able to participate in all our activities.)
DCAreaBookClub 20 books / 37 members / 10 posts Washington DC Area Book Club.
Diggins Family Book Club 5 books / 10 members / 18 posts You must somehow be invited by a once or future Diggins or related branches. If you are not related to any of the Diggins, then you have won the gene pool lottery in a big way. If you married into the family, then you deserve what you get.

What Are You Reading?...Version 2.0 15 books / 10 members / 40 posts The original group "What Are You Reading?" disappeared when the administrator left Shelfari. Some of us were very sorry to see it go--and thought it would be a good idea to continue on with another version--hence the 2.0 in the title.


This group is a place to chat about what you are reading now, what you have read and loved, or if you are looking for new suggestions and etc.


I hope you enjoy it and that you come back often!! Happy reading my friends!
Merion's Book Club 21 books / 10 members / 25 posts General book club for friends and friends of friends
Holly Hills Book Club 13 books / 10 members / 5 posts Fabulous, Amazing Women who get together every other month to socialize and to discuss a book of interest.
IB Teachers of A2 21 books / 7 members / 12 posts This is a group for all those stressed out teachers who also like to read for themselves. We became English teachers because we like to read, so let's have some fun talking about our favourite books and learning a little about each other at the same time, away from the confines of the OCC.
DFBC Archive 3 books / 8 members / 10 posts Diggins Family Book Club can use this archive to enter their comments on finished books. Comments may not be entered until the first day of the following month. Thus, for August, 2008, the comments may be entered on September 1, 2008. All comments must be 56 words or fewer, as I have demonstrated with this entry.
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