Category: E-Books

Jemez Mountains

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Swetnam, Thomas W. The Jemez Mountains: a Cultural and Natural History. University of New Mexico Press, 2025.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I get to review really cool books. This is one of them. I chose this book because I have long been fascinated with the Southwest. My sister has big dreams of settling in Taos, New Mexico. Me, I am not so sure.

There is a lot of love and respect in the pages of Jemez Mountains. It is abundantly clear that Swetnam cares deeply for the culture, history, and natural beauty of the region. He will take you to the hot springs that rival Saratoga’s. He will describe the first automobile in Jemez Springs. He will spend a lot of time at the Soda Dam. There are stories of bears, hippies, and abusive priests. He will give you a historical and scientific perspective of land use through the ages with photographs to illustrate each point. He has a serious concern about climate change and the damage it has already done to the region. There is a great deal of information packed in each essay so it was a relief when Swetnam explained that the essays of Jemez Mountains need not be read in sequential order.
As an aside, I felt a huge connection to Jemez Mountains not only because of my previously disclosed love of the Southwest, but because I uncovered other commonalities with the narrative. Swetnam matched photographs taken at the turn of the century with current ones. My hometown did something similar to illustrate how little it has changed in the last one hundred or so years. Swetnam refers to this matching of photographs as “then and now.” Inspired by the photography of my hometown, I put together an art show at my college with old photographs overlaid with current photographs and I called the project “Then and Now.”

Disclaimer: I make comments based on the assumption that special features to a book, like the same photographs, maps, or illustrations will be in the final published copy. That being said, the cover to Jemez Mountains is gorgeous. Swetnam has mentioned that there are more than one hundred photographs, maps, and drawings. My favorite photograph was of a Mack truck coming through one of the Guadalupe Box tunnels. It is impressive.

Book trivia: Jemez Mountains is set to be published in April 2025.

Author fact: Swetnam is a retired University of Arizona professor.

Small music: “O Fair New Mexico”

Their Cruel Lives

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Hart, Alastair MacDonald. Their Cruel Lives. Self Published Kindle Edition, 2024.

Reason read: Every month (or so) I get to review cool books from LibraryThing.

Confessional: in the early pages of Their Cruel Lives I had the feeling I was not supposed to like the protagonist of the story. From the onset I learned that Archibald Hennessy is supposed to be charmless, friendless, and a veritable loner. He is out of work, but not knowing his story, this made me highly suspicious of Hennessy’s intentions. I had no idea know why. I think that is the sign of an accomplished writer. Hart had the ability to make me feel something for the main character almost immediately even though it was not a positive reaction.
But. Back to the plot. Archibald Hennessy lands an overnight janitorial job at a World War I veterans home. His main responsibility is to clean up after the patients. On his very first night he befriends Herbert, a man destined to be a man of God until his father convinced him to go to war. He enjoys talking to Herbert and learning about his life. From there, Archibald meets Arthur, a man with childhood ambitions of being an Olympic athlete until the war took his legs and Norman, a simple farm boy who left home to be a sailor. Each man moved Archibald to consider what would have happened to these men had they not been gravely injured in World War I. He felt it was a travesty that all the men of the Excelsior Institute listlessly sat around without conversation or companionship; they ate barely decent food and didn’t have worthwhile entertainment beyond television. Even though Archibald was not injured in a war or had a limb amputated, he connected with the lost souls of the Excelsior Institute. It became his life’s mission to fix the broken system that did not respect its veterans.
Building upon my previous confessional: I would have loved it if Hart could have had Archibald interview Nurse Jocelyn, the antagonist of the story. Who was she? Why had she worked at the Excelsior Institute for so long and what did she think when it started to decline? I would have thought it would be a great plot twist if Archibald had been able to emotionally connect with Jocelyn and get her to have a change of heart. She could have been the heroine of the story. Also, Hart could have told us more about Archibald Hennessy. Who was he? Where did he come from? What was his story? I think I would have celebrated his successes more if I had connected with him from the beginning.

Please note: I usually love to quote authors when I think they have written something especially brilliant or moving or profound. I will not be sharing anything from Their Cruel Lives due to copyright constraints.

Author fact: Hart has written a bunch of books. None of them are on my Challenge list.

Book trivia: My downloaded version of Their Cruel Lives did not include any cover design.

Playlist: “All Creatures Great and Small”.

Nine Year Cycle

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Jones, Trevor. Nine Year Cycle: a Memoir. Self Published, 2024.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review program for LibraryThing, I get to review amazing books. This is one such book.

If I had to give Nine-Year Cycle a one word review it would be Grace with a capital G. Grace and civility, if I were to add another word to the mix. Trevor Jones writes about a theme everyone can relate to: love or rather the desire to be loved. At face value, Nine-Year Cycle is about Trevor Jones and his two great love affairs, each lasting nine years. Digging deeper, Nine-Year Cycle is a commentary on what it meant to be a gay man at the very start of the AIDS epidemic and later, the unpredictability of online dating. These are two very dangerous ventures for homosexuals.
Jones lost his first great love to AIDS. He handled the tragedy with a considerable about of grace. Thirteen years went by before he tried to find love a second time, this time on the internet. His second relationship was far more complicated, involving immigration and religion. I don’t think it is a spoiler alert to say I was nervous for him when he first met “Angelo”. The entire time I was worried it would be a scam; that Angelo had an ulterior motive. [As an aside, I watched a documentary on a serial killer who preyed on gay men by posing as a potential lover on internet dating sites. Scary stuff.]
Readers who want a happy ending will have to make their own judgement about Nine Year Cycle. Jones is far more forgiving than I could ever be.

Author fact: Jones is known for his theater work, but he has also done movies and television appearances.

Book trivia: because I had the e-book version that I was reading on my phone, I could not see the cover design.

Playlist: Jose Carreras, the Beatles, Duran Duran, Spandeau Ballet, George Michael, Mozart’s Alleluia from Exsultate Jubilate, and Stacey Kent’s “I’m Putting All My Eggs In One Basket”.

Case Closed

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Morgan, Paul. Case Closed: Ian Bailey and the Murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier. Self-published, 2024.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review program for LibraryThing I often review advance reader copies of interesting books. I wish I could say I liked this book more than I actually did.

Paul Morgan wrote Case Closed as a way to bring justice to Sophie Toscan du Plantier. He joins a long line of individuals who have written or speculated about the case. There is even a documentary on Netflix about the murder (which I have yet to see).
This is a murder case chock full of circumstantial evidence most of which pointed directly to Ian Bailey as the guilty party. Here is what we know: it is well documented that Bailey was a very violent man. It is on record that he put his partner in the hospital on more than one occasion. He lived very close to the victim but his whereabouts on the night of the murder cannot be positively confirmed as Bailey told too many versions of his activities on the night in question. Case Closed spends a great deal of time repeatedly sorting out the mountain of lies Bailey told. Morgan calls attention to these lies over 300 times (more than once every page).
By the end of the book readers know not much more than when they started. They know that the timeline of the murder does not make sense. We are told over and over again that the facts and circumstances do not add up. That much is true. The other truth to Case Closed is that it is obvious Morgan is a seething author. For whatever reason, this case is personal for him. He writes with barely contained sarcasm that is borderline unprofessional. He does not take an unbiased look at the facts, but instead repeats his speculations over and over again ad nauseum. The narrative is disorganized and clearly fueled by rage. Case in point, the questions he wants to ask Bailey’s lover. Morgan’s questions start unbiased then dissolve into accusatory and shaming. In all honesty, I would have enjoyed Case Closed if Morgan’s facts were laid out in an organized and unbiased fashion with less repetition.

As an aside, Ian Bailey was found guilty of Sophie’s murder by a French court (in absentia) in 2019. Because he could not be extradited, he never ended up serving time for the crime.
I have to admit, this book gave me pause. Were the people who were investigating this murder crooked? How did it become such a botched case? How does a bloody gate goes missing from evidence? Why were the claims of witness intimidation or evidence tampering not investigated?

Trekking in Shangri-la

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Seward, Daniel K. Trekking in Shangri-la: the Manaslu Circuit. Amazon, 2024.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing, I get to review interesting books. This is one such book.

A mere 90+ pages (including a few full-page color photographs), Trekking in Shangri-La is way too short. Seward could have gone on for a least a few more chapters about his adventures while trekking with his sister and brother in Nepal. Seward writes in such a humorous and honest way I was able to read the entire book in one sitting, but be forewarned – he does not delve too deeply into what he sees or hears along the trek. If you are looking for a serious travel book to learn more about Nepal culture, environment, or people this is definitely not the book for you. The photographs describe more than the narrative. Think of it as the private journal of a well off American experiencing the Himalayas for the first time with his siblings.
Confessional: I would like to know what beer Seward is drinking. 6% abv is nothing when it comes to craft beer! As an aside, I found Seward to be a bit immature. The feeling was strongest when he went looking to see if there would be a territorial squabble between the French and Germans over seats in the dining room, (and was disappointed when there wasn’t). The feeling grew when he was looking for people to bad mouth the French and bonding with them when they did. The entire group was like spoiled brats when they couldn’t get the ice cream that they wanted.

Author fact: Seward used to be a teacher.

Book trivia: Trekking in Shangri-La has some big, beautiful, colorful photographs. I would have liked to see more.

Setlist: Hank Williams’ “Hey, Good Lookin'”, Rihanna, and “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix (confessional: I cringed when I saw Seward’s spelling of the genius’s name: Jimmy Hendricks. Obviously not a fan.).

Ultimate Guide to Rapport

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Ernsund, Stig. The Ultimate Guide to Rapport: How to Enhance Your Communications and Relationships with Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere. Self Published, 2024.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I get to review all sorts of interesting books.

Whole books have been written on the subject of the evolutionary importance of human connection. It has been proven that newborn babies thrive when held and talked to while neglected or ignored children become sickly and even perish. The foundation for the saying, “it takes a village to raise a child” is bonding which enables the community to work together.
The Ultimate Guide to Rapport is a concise twenty-nine pages of how to build a connection when it is “extra useful” or necessary. It promises to deliver the following: a definition of rapport, the theories, neuroscience and psychology of rapport, methods for building forms or levels of rapport, the value of rapport, an strong argument for rapport supported by theories and explanations and examples of added value of rapport. While I do not necessarily think it is the “ultimate” guide to rapport, it is packed with useful information.

Author fact: Stig Ernsund is a Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) Master Practitioner.

Book trivia: Ernsund’s introduction ends with a gentle sales pitch on life coaching and communication counseling.

Would You Rather?

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Tooker, Michelle. Would You Rather?: True Crime Edition. Michelle Tooker, 2024.

Reason read: every now and again I get to review interesting books as part of LibraryThing’s Early Review program. This is one such book.

Would You Rather? True Crime Edition boasts of “1,000 thought-provoking questions and conversation starters on serial killers, mysteries, crimes, supernatural activities and more” and is the “ultimate true crime gift.” All that is true…for the right audience. Tooker knows a great deal about serial killers, unsolved crimes, and unexplained mysteries. Like more than the average person. There were many people (both criminals and victims) I had never heard of before. Some of the Would You Rather questions I couldn’t answer because I didn’t know the case. Thanks to Tooker, I am going to do down a rabbit hole of television shows, documentaries, and true-crime nonfiction to bring myself up to speed!

Book trivia: the illustrations are interesting, a ski mask, dead body…

One Year Without Sugar

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Hamn, Matthew. One Year Without Sugar: Unlocking the Secrets to Weight Loss. Self Published, 2024.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing, I review interesting books.

I have to be honest. I don’t know if I would buy this book if I discovered it and happen to flip through it in a bookstore. The photographs and daily diet journal are somewhat repetitious. I couldn’t identify some of the foods and a couple of the photographs were blurry. If you are not familiar with the wild fit program you will not lose the overall context, but the knowledge would be a nice frame of reference.
Confessional: I am still not finished reading One Year Without Sugar. So far my favorite parts are when Hamn includes interesting facts about himself. In this way he connects with his readers very well. For example, he is sheep herder who goes into the mountains for two to three days at a time and he gained a bit of weight after giving up cigarettes. (That makes total sense because smoking is such an oral activity! As a hand to mouth activity putting food in one’s mouth is a natural substitution for smoking.) I appreciate his personal narrative and his motivation more than the journal of what he ate. His journey is an inspiration! Confessional: I did learn a little bit. For example, the fifty-six different names for sugar. If I ever want to cut out even twenty-five percent of the sugar I consume I now know what to look for in the list of ingredients.

Flashpoint

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Barnes, Linda. Flashpoint. Hyperion, 2001.

Reason read: to continue the series started in October for leaf peeping time.

Flashpoint opens with cop-turned-private-investigator Carlotta Carlyle finding a man in her tub. It’s a kitschy beginning meant to throw the reader off from the true mystery. You think the man in the tub is going to be the problem to solve, but the real case doesn’t reveal itself right away. Here is how it all starts: Carlotta owns a Victorian outside the city of Boston. Oddly enough, this Victorian doesn’t have more than two full bathrooms. Carlotta’s roommate and PI assistant, Roz, has been painting with a man who passes out in Carlotta’s bathtub. Instead of asking Roz to clean up her gentleman friend in her own bathroom, Carlotta goes to the Y to shower. She has a regular game of volleyball with a team. There, she is approached by a volleyball teammate to help an elderly woman with locks on her apartment door. Carlotta knows nothing about teammate Gwen or why she is asking Carlotta help old lady Valentine Phipps with her locks. As a private investigator, I expected Carlotta to be a little more curious or cautious because Ms. Phipps ends up dead a short time later. Here is the real mystery. Did the elderly woman die of a heart attack or was she murdered? All evidence points towards murder since real estate developers are eyeing her apartment building for demolition…if only the old woman would leave.

As an aside, it is nice to have more of an explanation for Carlotta’s relationship with Paolina.

As an aside, Carlotta asks about where to buy black sheets. Times have certainly changed, girlfriend. You now can buy black anything from Amazon. Carlotta made a comment about New England being chilly in October. Newsflash! You can now wear shorts in November.

Author fact: Barnes has written at least eight Carlotta Carlyle mysteries. I am only reading three. This is my penultimate CC mystery.

Playlist: Ray Charles, Chuck Berry’s “Maybelline”, Wilson Pickett, Paul Rishell, Little Anne Raines, Mick Jagger, Bob Dylan, “Atchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe”, and Chris Smither.

BookLust Twist: from More Book Lust in the chapter called “New England Novels” (p 177).

Diane: True Survivor

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Lassoe, Ward V.B. Diane: True Survivor. Koehlerbooks, 2024.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing, I see out interesting books to review. This definitely caught my eye.

Diane might seem like every other uneducated, down-on-her-luck woman who used sex in her early years to get ahead. True, she continuously lashes out, made poor choices in men, and had several abortions as a teenager, but instead of her misguided beginnings, we should see Diane as a determined, courageous, and spiritual woman who tried to do the right thing as she got older. Despite suffering sexual and physical abuse, abandonment, and financial hardships, she is like all of us. All she ever wanted was to be loved and respected. It took her some time to realize that self-worth comes from self-love. Respect will come from within when you truly love yourself. Her strength and capacity for sincere forgiveness was amazing.
It is important to remember that Diane: True Survivor started as an interview with a classmate and friend. Lassoe’s style of writing is not a style at all, but rather the words of Diane echoing back through Lassoe’s writing. Lassoe accomplishes the allusion of a conversation between Diane and the reader because Diane is the one doing all the remembering and Lassoe has kept the narrative honest. Diane’s pain is apparent in every sentence she utters, starting with her early years in foster care and ending with the death of her mother.

Author fact: Lassoe started as a classmate of Diane but in the end could call himself a friend.

Book trivia: Diane: True Survivor includes photographs.

Music: Cliff Richards’ “Congratulations”, “God Save the Queen”, “My Country Tis of Thee”, Isaac Hayes’ “Chocolate Chip”, “Ave Maria” and Tom Jones.

Auntie D’s Recipes

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Ackley-McPhail, Danielle. Auntie D’s Recipes. Paper Phoenix, 2024.

Reason read: an Early Review pick from LibraryThing.

First the facts: Auntie D’s Recipes contains 87 recipes in a 128 page book. There are photographs for nearly every recipe, taken by Danielle herself. The categories of recipes are organized into breakfasts, breads, dips, crockpot specific, side dishes, main dishes, appetizers, sauces, desserts, soups, cookies, and drinks. There are even a few “Uncle Mike” recipes. Unlike typical cookbooks with indices, you won’t be able to search by ingredients, which could be a little inconvenient. There was some attempt to organize the categories, though.
This is not meant to be your Joy of Cooking bible. The recipes are simplistic in terms of ingredients and could even be memorized once you got used to the unconventional measurements and vague instructions. I appreciated the extra information about materials needed but wished there was an explanation for some things like the use of an electric frying pan. Wouldn’t a stove-top frying pan with a tight lid work as well? If Ackley-McPhail really wanted to get fancy, she could have given directions for equipment like air fryers and rice cookers in addition to crockpots and electric frying pans.

Author fact: Ackley-McPhail and her husband, Mike, are science fiction buffs and are cat people.

Side note that I loved: Everyone needs a good cheerleader in their life and Ackley-McPhail found hers in a women named Ruth Freedman. Thank you, Danielle, for naming your hero. Not many people give credit to the people who are the inspiration behind the creation.
Another side note: the very first recipe is for blueberry lemon pancakes yet the blueberries and lemon zest are optional ingredients. Why not have a recipe for plain fluffy pancakes and include optional add-ins like blueberry and lemon or raspberry and almond or bacon and chocolate chip (my personal favorite combination)?

Summit Visions

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Fraser, Graeme. Summit Visions. Self published, 2024.

Reason read: every now and then, I receive a book to read for the Early Review Program from LibraryThing. I never know what I’m going to get…

If you were to think of Summit Visions as a journey, the number of pages would equal the number of miles to travel on said journey. Imagine setting out on this trek of more than five hundred miles and every two miles there is a diversion, a speed bump of superfluous information or comments about something you will read more about later. I wish Fraser kept his examples grounded in the Nashua Millennium Big 5 Challenge instead of delving into diamond mining ventures or the the struggles of being a corporate lawyer. I know I would have enjoyed Summit Visions more if it did not morph into a preachy self-help book. Fraser toggled between his personal career goals as an entrepreneur and lawyer and the athletic goals of an elite athlete. The narrative became unfocused with side stories about the eating habits of the Arsenal team, yacht racing, climbing Thaba Ntlenyana, tax lawyer quotations, information surveillance, what climate change means for the Maldives Islands, a mini memoir about Fraser’s experiences crossing the finish line at every event, lots of disparaging comments about his physique, a plug for reading the Bible, and a myriad of analogies. I lost track of the number of parenthetical statements (there were a lot!). All of the stories are inspiring but a bit longwinded. So much so that I had to chuckle when Fraser cautioned against information overload. His humor was and fascinating stories when on-topic were not enough to keep me engaged. I gave up after 300 pages.

Ordinary Chaos of Being Human

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Richards, Marguerite. The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human: True Stories. Soul-baring Moments. No Apologies. Leave It Better Books, 2024.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review program for LibraryThing, I sometimes get to review interesting and thought-provoking books. This is one such book.

Right off the bat, I have to draw attention to something both Bina Shah and Marguerite Richards wrestled in the beginning of Ordinary Chaos: the conundrum of whether or not to draw attention to the Muslim voice. Between the foreword and introduction the word “Muslim” is written almost forty times and yet Shah toyed with removing it. The concept of being Muslim matters but Shah and Richards were conflicted about its place and purpose within Ordinary Chaos. It is the point of the book despite the contrary challenge put forth to the reader: do not see these authors as one religion or another; see them as human without any other label. I would argue that in order to do that one must tell the story without the identifiers, only reveal them at the end; only then ask if the detail really mattered to the tenor and tone of the message. Otherwise, the connection to a religious or cultural belief does matter to the success of the story. For example, stories such as “Those Eyes of Hers” could be told by anyone. The concept of letting go of a drug that had been a security blanket or a crutch for an ailment that didn’t exist. The human connection is there regardless of religion, gender or sexual orientation, or economic status. When we are taken out of our comfort zones we truly learn about ourselves and that is called growth.
Some of the stories will fill you with nostalgia for an irreplaceable time. Some will leave you inexplicably sad. I could not read Ordinary Chaos for very long. I still have a third of the book to read.

As an aside, do not be overwhelmed by the number of pages of Ordinary Chaos. In the electronic version there was at least a blank page or two between each story. Every story is incredibly short.

Book trivia: before each story Richards provides a short biography. The Ordinary Chaos of Being Human was first published in 2019 by Penguin Random House.

Playlist: Metallica, Michael Jackson, Googoosh, Sin Dios, “Elephant Love Medley”, “Young Folks” by Peter Bjorn & John,

Roadside Confessions

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Feulner, Glen. Roadside Confessions. Glen Feulner, 2024.

Reason read: This is one of my favorite Early Reviews from LibraryThing.

This is fiction. This is fiction. This is fiction. I have to say that to myself over and over again like a mantra because Roadside Confessions is so beautifully believable and I (confessionally), I wanted it to be true. The journey is real. The grief is real. Grief puts people on pedestals and guilt gives them a golden halo. The suicidal tendencies are real (desire to burn by fire; drown in the ocean; hang inches above the dirt; a gun to the temple). What started as a writing exercise for Glen Feulner in 2003 turned into an AI-assisted love story. A man, torn apart by grief and guilt after losing his wife to cancer, makes a California to Maine sojourn to come to terms with his loss. Added to the drama: he might commit suicide along the way. As they say in Maine, hard tellin’ not knowin’.
While Roadside Confessions is a short read (I cracked it open on my lunch break and inhaled it faster than my black bean burrito), the words are powerful and the accompanying photographs are just gorgeous. Speaking of photography, only a handful belong to the author (fourteen, I think) and that was my a-ha moment. They are all beautiful nature shots and not a one is of the deceased beloved wife. But. I digress. Back to the writing.
Feulner sinks down and grinds into what it feels like to mourn deeply. If you have ever listened to Dermot Kennedy’s music and really heard his passionate lyrics, you could make the comparison. Feulner is just as lyrical and emotional. You just have to get over the voice changing from speaking about Allison to speaking to Allison. If you owe the reader nothing, do not assume our expectations. Besides all that, I (obviously) enjoyed every word and when I get over the fact it isn’t a true story I’ll read it again and again.

As an aside, I want to meet Kathleen Jor Hall-Dumont. I like blunt people.

As an another aside, Feulner tells his readers that there is a Roadside Confessions playlist on Spotify that readers can listen to. Maybe I don’t have the right subscription but I couldn’t find it. Bummer. Here is the music mentioned in Roadside Confessions:
The Replacements, Elvis Costello, the Smiths, and Death Cab for Cutie.
Here is another disappointed – this was an AI assisted book.

The Fundamental Pizza Cookbook for Beginners

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Adventurer, Bram Cuisine. The Fundamental Pizza Cookbook for Beginners: Over 1,800 Dietary Recipe Combinations: Guide for Conventional and Woodfire Ovens: Step By Step Instructions – Dough to Tasty Sides, Pizza or Calzone. 2024.

Bram Cuisine Adventurer used ChatGPT to write The Fundamental Pizza Cookbook for Beginners: Over 1,800 Dietary Recipe Combinations: Guide for Conventional and Woodfire Ovens: Step By Step Instructions – Dough to Tasty Sides, Pizza or Calzone and it shows from the title to the conclusion. While there is some great information in The Fundamental Pizza Cookbook for Beginners, it is only 142 pages long and much of the space is taken up with huge font, illustrations, and redundancies. Here are some examples:

  • The header for each section is in a large font and repeated on every page. Same for the footer (page numbers).
  • The introduction reiterates the table of contents; hardly any new information there.
  • The list of tools could include the disposable tools to utilize space and cut down on the repetition of a separate list.
  • Most of the directions are listed twice (example: “Add feta: sprinkle with crumbled feta”).
  • Troubleshooting is listed twice (on pages 22 and 137) with more information being on page 137.
  • Nutrition information could have been listed at the end of each recipe in a smaller font. Easier to find for each dish and would take up less space.

If you take out the sides, calzones, and drinks there are even less pages dedicated to the art and creativity of pizza making. This could be a great book for beginnings, but there were too many missed opportunities. Noted is a lack of information that could have been helpful to novices (since the introduction ensures that even a novice can make a pizza by using this book):

  • There is no explanation of instant versus active yeast or even why that matters. Going a step further, it would have been helpful to explain what happens when yeast, warm water, and sugar are combined; and what to look for after ten minutes or so (foamy and bubbly). Knowing the signs of good yeast can save wasted time and ingredients later.
  • There are inconsistent translations. Quattro Formaggi is translated, but what about Capricciosa or Funghi?
  • What Adventurer does not tell you is that you cannot troubleshoot the dough problems with the dough you just made. For problems like dough not rising or being too tough, for example, for the next time make sure your yeast is fresh, your water is not too hot or cold, or that you knead the dough for too long.
  • This isn’t talked about at all, but using copper mats or grilling your pizza are also good cooking options.