Michael Ruhlman

I'm going to be honest, I received this book through a Goodreads Giveaway. I went into this book thinking it was going to be very dry. Ruhlman did an amazing job providing recipes with interesting history, and personal stories.

I am an admitted amateur in the realm of cocktails. This book holds true to its title, keeping every recipe simple, reducing them down to their original ratios. From there, Ruhlman gives variations on every drink, giving popular opinions, as well as his own on each recipe. This book has actually helped me understand the reasoning and history behind every concoction. I am currently working my way through the different Manhattan recipes to see what I personally enjoy.

If you are not familiar with the cocktail world like myself, I would highly recommend this book. If you are familiar, I would still recommend it.… (meer)

The fun thing about the Akashic Noir series is seeing the local character present itself through the various stories in each book. I've read a handful of these now, and there a some distinct flavors: Atlanta and Austin bounce around relatively young and rapidly growing cities, with most of the focus on the here and now and the stressors being growth and disparate economic fortunes; Alabama gave some distinctly southern spin to both urban and rural locales, which kept things lively; meanwhile Cleveland joins New Orleans in showcasing cities with pasts perhaps more glamourous than current times, which bleeds into the stories in each book - there are ghosts that haunt these cities and these pages.

The other key feature of these collections (like most anthologies with multiple artists) is that one's mileage may vary in regards to which stories hit home most effectively. For me, there are a few here that feel either unfinished, or as if they were written as part of a larger project. They we're necessarily less enjoyable, but the hint of missing pieces did leave me a little less satisfied with those particular stories. Not necessary to name them specifically (don't want to seem negative here), but worth noting this represents only 2-3 stories out of the whole, so not a big drag for me.

Standouts, on the other hand, do make up 4-6 stories in my opinion. Susan Patrone's "The Silent Partner" was a fun one early in the collection with a tone markedly different from most of the others (which isn't to say that it doesn't feature some of the haunting mentioned earlier). "Bus Stop" by Dana McSwain was a nice creepy number to close out Part I "City Center." D.M. Pulley's "Tremonster" offered a somewhat surprising climax to a gentrification tale, and editors Miesha Wilson Headen and Michael Ruhlman also contributed stories that playfully turned tables on the characters within them.

Overall, another enjoyable stop in a city I am only passingly familiar with, but which I feel I know a bit better after letting these writers give us a tour of the seedier people and/or sides of town.… (meer)

Another entertaining collection in the Akashic noir anthology series. You don't have to know Cleveland to enjoy these "dark love stories" from its varied neighborhoods. From crime drama to black humor to horror, the tales depict themes of desire, loss, morality, racism, alienation, and love, sometimes romantic, often tainted and misplaced. Damaged characters seek to improve their lot in questionable ways. Twist and turns and double-crosses provide surprises to welcome or mourn.

The haves and have-nots, deceivers and the deceived, criminals and victims, even the living and the dead interchange in an amorphous metaphysical grey area. As the protagonist in Paula McLain's "Love Always" says, "No one gets to stay the same." Cleveland Noir is well-written glimpses of one city's humanity.
… (meer)