In our never-ceasing quest to shock and enlighten the world at large, Terry Bisson and I are releasing a Creative Commons free ebook edition of Terry's incredible collection of tales, sometimes known as Billy's Book, but now transmogrified into Billy's Picture Book, thanks to some painted illos I created for it.

In the same way Ben was served Valis with a meal during his Dharma captivity in season 4, Sayid was given Carlos Castaneda's 1971 mystical memoir along with a sandwich during his Dharma incarceration in the season 5 outing ''He's Our You.'' His highly literate waiter? Why Young Ben, of course, who claimed to have read the book twice. Obviously, the title should be seen as foreshadowing for season 6's Sideways world storyline. Major themes in Castaneda's work include personal responsibility, transformed consciousness, and waiting patiently for life's purpose to manifest itself -- all central to Jack's season 5 spiritual transformation. Of course, Castaneda also was really big on hallucinogenic drugs, which played a role in Sayid's ''He's Our You'' story. Some people believe hallucinogenic drugs played a pivotal role in the Lost writers' room, too.

Ratio

Ruhlman gives readers the ratios behind many basic recipes, and tells you when you should follow them and when you may need to make adjustments or what variations you might want to try. Most of the ratios are related to baking, but also included are some meat-based ratios, stocks and sauces. Knowing and understanding these ratios will ultimately give you great flexibility in the kitchen.

Rating: 8/10

Links:

• Amazon.ca
• LibraryThing
• Goodreads

Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper

Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
by Fuchsia Dunlop.
W. W. Norton & Company, 2008.

Fuchsia Dunlop gives us an entertaining account of how she fell in love with Chinese food and cooking, as well as the surrounding culture and history.

Rating: 9/10

Links:

• Amazon.ca
• LibraryThing
• Goodreads

Related:

• Book: Heat