2010 Book Challenge

While searching around LibraryThing for my EDI399 class, I found a really great book challenge idea. So, for the remainder of 2010 I'll try to finish this challenge. I'll update this periodically as I read...

Challenge #1: Read a Book by an Author with a Long Last Name
Challenge #2: Read a book that's Not Quite Horror -
Challenge #3: Read the book that Won the Pulitzer Prize the Year You Were Born
Challenge #4: Read an old-fashioned type of children's story -
Challenge #5: Read a book published in 1970
Challenge #6: Read a book by an author that died in 2010
Challenge #7: Read a book released in the 21st Century -
Challenge #8: Read a book about police work -
Challenge #9: Read a book whose title has only single-syllable words.
Challenge #10: Read a book set in Prague or containing a golem-
Challenge #11: Read a book about sex -Challenge #12: Read a book with a song reference
Challenge #13: Read a book recommended by Stasia and with a title starting with a letter from A to L -
Challenge #14: Read a book that has been previously read by at least two readers for TIOLI.
Challenge #15: Read a Book with a Superlative in the Title
Challenge #16: Read a Book by Jane Austen 

The Way the Cookie Crumbles

In my last post, I talked a bit about information literacy and standards. This week, to help confirm my understanding, I've been challenged to create a set of standards to judge a chocolate chip cookie and then I will buy one and  evaluate it based on my standards.

So, what makes a good chocolate chip cookie? Is it crunchy? Chewy? Extra chocolatey? Of course, this is highly subjective, but here are my standards for the perfect chocolate chip cookie:

1. Chocolate- How much chocolate is in the cookie? Is the chocolate in chip or chunk form? Is there a good chocolate chip to cookie ratio? Are the chips gooey enough? The chocolate should be in good proportion with the rest of the cookie and should preferably be in chunks.

2. Taste- Does the cookie taste "good"? Is it sweet enough? Is it salty enough? For me, the cookie shouldn't be too sweet and should have a bit of saltiness.

3. Texture- Is the chewy crunchy? Is it chewy? Is the texture good, or is it grainy? Do the chips meld well with the rest of the cookie? The texture should be crunchy, but not hard.
4. Freshness- Is the cookie fresh? Of course, the cookie should taste as fresh as possible.
5. Packaging- Is the cookie's packaging attractive? Is it "green"? Does it give an good idea of the cookie?


For the second half of this assignment, I purchased a cookie from the coffee shop in the library. To be honest, it was a pretty gross cookie. The first issue I had with this cookie was the chocolate chips. The chocolate chips somehow remained somewhat crunchy during the baking process, something I thought was impossible. There were a lot of chips in the cookie and they were distributed pretty evenly, but I think there was too much chocolate in the cookie. The taste of the cookie was not very good either. While I admit I am partial to a savory-sweet cookie, the cookie was far too sweet for even the biggest sweet tooth. I think a large part of this was due to the extreme amount of chocolate, but in any case, the cookie was not salty enough and much too sweet. The texture of this cookie was terrible. Eating it was reminiscent of gnawing on an old boot. It was not chewy enough to be classified as a good cookie either. The cookie tasted really stale, which probably lent to its awful texture. Finally, the wrapping of the cookie was simple, clear cellophane with a sticker. I don't think it was green, but it was attractive and you could see the cookie. It was really loud, however, so I got some dirty looks while trying to open it in class.


All-in-all, this cookie was not good. I would suggest running the opposite direction when you near one. But what's your perfect cookie?