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Weirder Than Marshmallows Book of Essays by Dan Fogg

This is the fifth book I have read as part of challenge no. 21 of my 52 things in 52 weeks challenge.

Bet you haven’t ever really thought about what goes into marshmallows, have you?

The ingredients of a marshmallow are fairly simple. Corn syrup, sugar, dextrose, corn starch, water, gelatin, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, artificial and natural flavor, and blue 1. Most of those are self-explanatory. Corn syrup for flavor, sugar because that’s what the marshmallow is, corn starch for shelf-life, water to puff the thing out, gelatin to hold it together. Nobody knows what the compounds are for, and nobody really cares. Because, come on, why would you care what you’re putting in your mouth?

The ingredient I have a question about is the blue 1. Food coloring. Blue food coloring. Now maybe I’m wrong about this, but marshmallows are white, aren’t they? And white is achieved by a lack of color. So what color did those little puffs of sugar have to start out to require the addition of blue to neutralize it?

I’ve only just started to get into chemistry as part of my uni, and a few of our experiments involved the modification of a colour of an item using various other chemicals. Reading this introduction from Dan literally made me stop for a bit, and wonder why blue 1 would be needed. Seriously…anyone know? Did anyone else ever actually stop and look at ingredients for any food item in particular, only to wonder why a particular ingredient was actually necessary?

The rest of the book is a collection of stories ranging from the ponderings of other everyday occurrences that we never stop to really think about, or the bizarre moments in life (being certain you were in a specific place at a particular time, and someone else who was there at that exact same time not ever seeing you). There’s a lot in there that you’ll find that you think “oh yeah – why is that?”

This was the first time I’ve used an e-book in my 52 in 52 challenge, but when an offer was made for me to receive the book for free in exchange for my honest opinion, I definitely wasn’t going to turn that down! Reading an e-book was quite a different experience to be honest. I used my iPhone, and I definitely struggled as it came in a PDF format (on the iPhone you can’t change PDF font sizes using iBooks). However, if you had a dedicated e-book reader with a larger screen (iPad, kindle etc) you wouldn’t have the same problem. In addition, if it came in a format that was a bit more friendly to the iBooks app so that I could change the font size then it would be a lot better. There’s a kindle version so I would expect this problem would be resolved using the Kindle app (it’s only $7.99 USD on the amazon store) instead of the iBooks app, and therefore a lot more iPhone friendly.

Overall the book was quite enjoyable to read, and I found with the portability of the iPhone I was able to read little bits here and there. It’s not a book that will keep you gripped to your phone until you’ve finished it, but it’s still great for those moments when you want something light-hearted that will give you a laugh here and there. There was also one moment in the book where I finished the chapter, sat back and realised how lucky I am. I won’t give it all away, but the writer, Dan, lived his life in a wheelchair and shared a story of one of those moments where he completely relies on others for assistance. It truly made me feel blessed that I have every limb in my body, and my own problems seem greatly insignificant. Sometimes we all need a bit of a wakeup call so we can reevaluate our lives, and realise that most of our problems really are quite small in the grand scheme of things.

But enough of being serious.

Thanks to NightFire Publications, I have been given the opportunity to give a copy of the book to one of my readers (in PDF format still though – sorry). The contest will be open for 2 weeks, and finish at 12pm (EST time – don’t get me started on daylight savings in Australia, honestly). To enter the competition you can do any of the following:

Feel free to enter multiple times, as each entry will be given a specific “entry number”. At the end of the competition a random number generator will be used to determine the winner. So go on, get entering! It’s free, so you have no excuse!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Disclaimer – this is a sponsored post written on behalf of Digital Science Fiction. All opinions are 100% mine. Whilst I have received payment for this post, I wouldn’t recommend a product that I don’t think my readers would find interesting.

If you enjoy reading science fiction books and have an ebook reader, you should check out Digital Science Fiction Anthology 3. It’s a collection of original science ​fiction​ stories (10 in total), between 3500 – 7500 words in length.

Pressure Suite - Digital Science Fiction Anthology 3

I’ve only just gotten into reading e-books, but only on the small screen, aka my iPhone. While it can be a little painful changing pages frequently because of the smaller screen, I do love the portability of being able to take books around with me wherever I go. If you have an iPad or designated ebook reader (like a kindle), I imagine the experience would be even better…once you get over that initial “I’m just staring at a screen” kind of thing. I love that I don’t need to set up a lamp to hover over my bed so I can see at night, and also means I can just lock my phone, put it down and go to sleep (not crawl out of bed to turn off the overhead light or my desk lamp that feels far too far away. If you haven’t tried ebooks yet and you have an iPhone, I definitely recommend giving it a whirl just so you can get a taste for it.

But back to the book.

It’s brand new (only just being first published this month – September 2011, you won’t find these stories anywhere else) and is the third release in the series. Each story has been written by professional writers, rather a novice “hope for the best” kind of book, so it should be an enjoyable read. If you’re interested in finding out more information, you should definitely check out the Digital Science Fiction website. You can read some reviews on the book, as well as find links on where to purchase and download it from. Easy!

While I have been living at my Mum’s house I haven’t had my computer set up, and haven’t really been watching much TV. Instead, I’ve been spending most of my time reading. My sister arrived on the weekend of my birthday with a most welcome and surprising sight – a pile of books. One of the books she gave me was The Tasmanian Babes Fiasco by John Birmingham.

I knew it was going to be a good book when I read the “About the Author” section just inside the front cover. Granted, I never ever read those sections so I have no idea why I looked at this one. But I found myself laughing out loud from it, particularly when I read the line:

He grew up in Ipswich but asks you not to hold that against him.

If you are familiar with Brisbane, or at least South East Queensland of Australia, you will understand why that’s so funny. Indeed, that section was to be the beginning of a hilarious and enjoyable book covering a share house in Brisbane. It almost scared me a bit since I’m currently looking for somewhere to rent, but I keep reminding myself that people aren’t that bad. Surely. God I hope not.

If you’re looking for some light reading that will leave you laughing, this is the book for you. It’s the continuation of the story “He died with a felafel in his hand”, which is also one of my friend’s favourite movies. He truly appreciates Australian comedy, and this book is the Australian sense of humour at it’s finest. Definitely worth a look.

This is the fourth book I have read as part of challenge no. 21 of my 52 things in 52 weeks challenge.

Paths of Glory is a fictional novel based on the real life events of George Mallory, a man suspected of being the first to reach the summit of Mt Everest. If you look at the Amazon page for the novel, comments vary from loving the book to sheer outrage at the number of historical facts that Jeffrey Archer got “wrong”.

Truth be told, I’m not interested in joining the debate of whether it is accurate or not. All I can tell you is that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It’s a feel good book, where you read it wishing for the best for the “hero” of the story. After turning the last page I smiled, and took a moment to ponder what I had just finished reading. It my opinion, that is the best outcome of a novel that you can ever have – a happy, thoughtful reader.

I’m not interested in mountain climbing, but after having read the book, I can tell you that it isn’t a prerequisite. In fact, if you go off the comments on the Amazon page it’s probably better that you don’t know anything about the sport, or George Mallory’s life in fact. Just take the time to enjoy the story, it’s a pleasant read.

Have you seen the movie The Bone Collector starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie? Do you read books (and enjoy mystery books)? Do you like forensic science?

If so, you’re going to really enjoy The Empty Chair by Jeffrey Deaver.

This book is a continuation of the story of Lincoln Rhyme, the quadriplegic forensic scientist, and his sidekick Amelia. A boy is on the loose in a small town, and is considered incredibly dangerous. He has been accused of one murder and two abductions, and is on the run. It’s up to Lincoln and Amelia to find the boy, and uncover the truth.

At the beginning of this post I asked 3 questions. All of them I answered Yes to, but the most important one is whether you read books and enjoy mystery novels. The book is captivating, the detail is incredible, and if you have seen The Bone Collector it certainly makes it easy to put faces to the names and imagine the story in your mind. It also seems like the story could be predictable, but I assure you it’s not. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a bit of a mystery, but it comes with a warning: there may be some parts where you find it difficult to put it down. If you lose sleep, don’t blame me!

This was the second book I have read as part of challenge no. 21 of my 52 things in 52 weeks challenge.