on the subject of recurring subjects: books i read

Its been a year since I co-oped in Boston and made frequent blog posts called 'Carly's Boston Book Club.' At the time, I was reading a book a week during my commute to and from work (what a luxury!) Now that school is a thing of the past, I am back to reading. It keeps me fresh and interested, and stokes ideas that can seem completely unrelated to design (but more often than not end up coming back around in unexpected ways.) My most recent book (just finished yesterday) is The Ungarnished Truth by Ellie Mathews.

Ellie won the Pillsbury Bake-Off in 1998, and the book recounts many of her experiences with the competition and the results of winning the grand (1 million dollar) prize. It's an in-depth peek behind the scenes both at America's biggest novice cooking contest and Ms. Mathews, an unassuming and pleasant 'normal' cook.

I would recommend this book to anyone. It's well-written and covers intensely interesting subject matter. I like Mathew's 'outsider' point of view through much of the book; it seems to provide a more honest account than a fanatic could. My biggest take-away: it doesn't hurt to try. I am going to be working on gathering interest about my thesis this week (applying for grants and entering contests,) and keeping the 'just do it' perspective is sure to make things rosier.