Not enough time to go through this since it was due back at the library, but I’ll try to get into it again sometime in the future.

Finally, I took the time to locate a recipe for this incredible soup, which I have ordered in restaurants several times in the past. I’ve tried it at Walzwerk restaurant in San Francisco, Pomegranate in San Diego, Veselka in New York, and Gorki Park cafe in Berlin, and loved it every time.

You can read the wiki entry for Soljanka here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solyanka

The recipe I used was a riff on the one found here: http://loykee.blogspot.com/2005/02/solyanka.html

In a pinch, I used bacon and frozen meatballs instead of ham and bottom round beef. I also added carrots. Next time, I’d skip the meatballs.

My first foray into the worlds of Mr. Murakami’s fertile mind. Since I first read this book at least a decade ago, I have sought out the rest of his works that have been translated. Tonally perfect in creating a sense of uneasy love and horror, balanced with a mix of the mundane and fantastic. An eastern setting with a western sentiment.

well written, and exhaustively detailed. Pretty much reenforced what I already know, but definitely added some eye opening details, and wrapped it all up with real statistics. I think this should be required reading in our schools. The general populace needs to know what is going on here.

Great so far. Reading the PDA version, so I’m a little slower than usual. Groovy story, great concept.
(upon completion: great book, fun to read, excellent expansion upon much of the tech today.)

Excellent. Great anti-establishment tone, splashed with pop-culture references.

A plunge back into one of my favorite genres; the fantastic horror of HP Lovecraft.

excellent!