reading notes, entry 10...

I am having a fair bit of trouble concentrating lately. And a fair bit of trouble stringing together words in a sensible manner. Feeling rather, I don't know the right word--flighty? unfocused? Anyway, I just haven't felt like I was up to writing reviews (there's a fair bit of lazy in that feeling as well) of the last few books I've finished. But just to give my future self the briefest of reminders about my reading experiences with these books, I thought I'd just throw them all together here with just a few sentences on each.

*The Other Side of Dawn by John Marsden. Yep, Max and I finished up the series. While it really was time for the series to come to a close, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't saddened by the fact that it's over. I will miss these characters so. damn. much! It's pretty much impossible to say much about this book without slipping into spoiler mode for previous books. I can say that the epilogue broke my heart a bit, but seemed about as realistic as it could be. I know there's a sequel series (The Ellie Chronicles), but I haven't decided whether or not to read them. Have any of you read them? Do they stand up to The Tomorrow series?

*Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. Ummm, wow. This book. Yeah. My heart ached, deeply ached, through nearly every one of its 582 pages. It was a dizzying ride. It was both gritty and beautiful. And I loved it. So very, very much.

*The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Oh goodness. I thought this book was simply gorgeous. Sad, frightening, and oh so gorgeous. Magical. Touch your heart and leave a permanent mark sort of magical.

*Hero by Perry Moore. This book surprised the heck out of me. It's not that I didn't expect to like it--with Ana's and Chris's recommendations, I knew I couldn't go wrong. But I loved this book sooooooo much more than I would have guessed. There are probably literally hundreds of things to love about this book (see Ana's and Chris's reviews for many of them), but I think the one thing that I personally loved most was the reminder that everyone has a story. And everyone has pain, and everyone struggles to get through stuff. And we can't possibly know what a person is going through unless they share it. So whenever possible, be ever kinder, be ever more patient, give the benefit of the doubt.

*Strawberry Panic: The Complete Manga Collection by Sakurako Kimino. By "complete manga collection," they mean it collects the two volumes that were written into one. Unfortunately, there is a final third to the story that was never finished in a manga version. Originally, the overall story was written as a series of short stories, and then became so popular that it was made into English translation mangas and light novels. I don't know why the manga series wasn't finished. Annie encouraged me to read this book, and she did warn me that it wasn't "finished." I honestly didn't think I would become so invested in the story that I'd mind...but I was wrong--I want to know what happens! Luckily, the light novel series was finished and Annie owns it as well. So Annie--why the hell didn't you recommend I read that instead???? :P  A few words about the story: exclusive girls' school, lesbians, sweet yet odd, secrets, pretty art.

*Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. Chose this to be one of Gray's lit reads for school this upcoming year--didn't know anything about it really, it just came recommended by a friend. It ended up being one of those books that caught me off guard. As in I was reading along, enjoying it okay but not being overly impressed. And then, it just went from being an "okay" book to being an "I love" book in the last quarter of the book. I'm always amazed, and obviously pleasantly surprised, at how some books can do that.

*****
And because I didn't feel like gathering these books back up to take photos, I'll just throw in a gratuitous kitty picture instead:

*****
Soooo Debi...what happened to your themed reading months? Doesn't appear that you managed to stick to July's theme of "finishing previously unfinished books" here.

Doesn't appear that way because I didn't. I just wasn't excited about it, so I took the month off. And I don't feel one little iota of guilt over it either! But for August, I'm back on theme with "nature and the environment" month, and I am very much looking forward to it! So many books in this house to choose from for this category, and I know that I won't be able to read even a small fraction of those I'd like to...but all is well, as I know I shall quite an enjoyable month of reading. :)

reading notes, entry 9...

A Delicate Balance: Living Successfully with Chronic Illness by Susan Milstrey Wells.

It's been a while since I've had a reading entry. I've actually been reading a lot...but finishing little. Yep, lots of books on the go right now.

The title of this book, A Delicate Balance, refers to the delicate balances that people with chronic illnesses must find. The balance between medical treatment and self-care. The balance between acceptance and giving in or giving up. The balance between being productive and taking care of oneself. All of us in this life have to find balance in numerous ways--some of us seem to master it more easily, but I think it's something that we all deal with. This book deals with the particular issues that people with chronic illness face.

Anyway, I'm not quite sure why it took me so long to finish this one. My dear friend Eva recommended it to me, and I immediately put a hold on it at the library...and then it took me all my renewals to actually finish it. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy it, because for the most part I did. But I'm guessing that with any sort of book like this, some parts will be more relevant to oneself than others. Honestly, there were some bits that annoyed my cranky, skeptical side. Not annoyed enough to want to throw the book across the room or anything (thank goodness, as it is a library copy), as I do understand that she wanted to include a broad range of people's experiences, but annoyed enough to set down the book for days at a time before diving back in again.

Thing is, the parts that were relevant, well, they made up for the rest. I don't think anyone would deny how much it can mean to simply feel understood. There is great comfort, and sometimes, great empowerment, in that feeling. And even if this book had nothing else to offer, for that alone I'd recommend it anyone trying to learn to live with chronic illness.

And for me, there were other benefits. I had a breakthrough of sorts. As one woman put it, "...I believed it intellectually, but on an emotional level, I did not accept what the diagnosis meant for me. I went on trying to live like a normal person." While I don't like the use of the word "normal," the point of this section of the book is that so many people with chronic illness try to pretend to the outside world that they are still the healthy person they were before. Hell, not just to the outside world but to themselves as well. Unfortunately, while the act can be maintained to a greater or lesser degree for a period of time, clinging to that act is only making things worse. I'd sort of been coming around to realizing this on my own in the last few months, but it was really helpful to read this right now. Ever since I was diagnosed, I've been able to tell people I have fibromyalgia and I've been able to admit to the pain and the fatigue and the cognitive issues...yes, intellectually I got it. But I have consistently refused to admit that I need to adjust my life. Or even when I could admit that I needed to, I couldn't actually *do* it. I'm hoping this book will help me don a brave, but not false, face and make some changes.

Maybe my favorite aspect of this book was its ultimate positive outlook, while not ignoring or minimizing the sucktacular aspects of chronic illness. And my favorite line, a quote by Edith Wharton from the beginning of the final chapter:

In spite of illness...one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways. 

I think that is the way I'd like to live, chronic illness or no.

guest post 2...

Yep, pulling in the reinforcements again as I try to get my act back together for this blogging thing. (Wait, I just implied that I once had my act together, which of course, isn't really true. But whatever.) Thanks again, Annie!

*****
This time I'll be discussing Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. Bad Science is a popular science book, so it's fairly accessible and easy to understand - but there's no dumbing down here, either. There's not an abundance of medical jargon, thankfully, but Goldacre is a writer as much as he's a doctor - he knows what he's going to say, and he says it. Bad Science, in the author's words, "follows a natural crescendo, from the foolishness of quacks, via the credence they are given in the mainstream media, through the tricks of the £30 billion food supplements industry, the evils of the £300 billion pharmaceuticals industry, the tragedy of science reporting, and on to cases where people have wound up in prison, derided, or dead, simply through the poor understanding of statistics and evidence that pervades our society." The opening chapter is a short discussion of detox foot baths that claim to draw out "toxins" from one's body, turning the water a murky brown. With a simple experiment and some investigation, Goldacre quickly debunks this claim, showing that the simple natural process of rusting is what's really causing this brown coloration, and not the presence of the ambivalently-worded "toxins," whatever those might actually be. This sets the tone for the rest of the book, where Goldacre moves from tackling fairly minor, more obvious quack products to larger threats to science and society such as self-branded nutritional therapists and alternative medicine proponents advocating against the use of AIDS drugs. 

The book is British, as one can probably tell from the quote, so non-British readers may not be entirely familiar with some of the people Goldacre mentions, like Patrick Holford and Gillian McKeith. However, there are surely equivalents of these people wherever the reader may live - nutritionists (not the academic kind, those who study the actual science of nutrition, but the ones who market food supplements with their faces plastered across the packaging and have PhDs from suspicious colleges) are pervasive and have far too much power in our society. Goldacre's book, though not overly simplified, is accessible for any reader with a basic understanding of how science works. Even for those well-versed in science it's sure to be informative, as many people are unaware of how truly pervasive bad science and statistics are in the media, medicine, and everywhere else.

elsewhere...

5 people + 1 small car + 14 hours round trip + 5-6-ish hours driving in crazy city traffic + 2 days of relentless rain + 1 day of gorgeous weather + 1 museum + 1 zoo + 1 bookstore -------> megatons of exhaustion + lots of fun
(Our largely unplanned trip to NYC, in a nutshell.)


Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. Andrea (aka more rain).



American Museum of Natural History.



The Bronx Zoo.

reading notes, entry 7...

*Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed My Life by Stephanie Staal.

Why I read this now:

Okay, so I've wanted to read this ever since reading Ana's review. Then even more when Ana gave it to me.

But I hesitated. Because I was afraid much of it would be lost on me due to the fact that I haven't read any of the great books of feminism and know little of feminist theory.

Ah, but then when Annie and I were trying to decide what classes she would take at MCC next year and what she would study at home, she asked if we could study feminism. This is both seriously awesome and seriously daunting for me. Awesome--I get to read and discuss feminists writings with my intelligent, insightful daughter. Daunting--where the hell do I begin in planning this class?!! Yeah, enter this book...you know, along with pestering my dear friend Ana. :)

Random thoughts:

*Okay, I'm not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this. I wasn't expecting this book to feel so personal. I wasn't expecting to cry, for heaven's sake! Ha--and it's not even like Staal's story and mine are all that similar. And yet there's no denying I could relate all too well with her feelings.  LOL--and I'm only on page 8.

*Waaaahhh!!! I still love this book. I do. But want to pout for a moment, because it just completely spoiled The Awakening for me. I know, I know, what I have expected from a book subtitled "How the Great Books of Feminism Change My Life," right? But still...waaaaaaahhhhh.

*I'm sorry to say that that's were my random notes came to an end. Not because there wasn't plenty more I wanted to write down, but I was just so sucked into the book, and my thoughts were often conflicting, and well, I just didn't get around to jotting anything down. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure I would have shared many of my thoughts anyway. At this point they're a bit of a confused jumble, and are definitely too personal. Not too personal to *ever* share, but more just the kind of things that I need time with myself to untangle and tease out. I can say that I enjoyed this book A LOT. And that it made me even more excited to have this reading adventure with Annie on the horizon.


Quotes:

The act of rereading, as I have learned over the years, is an especially revealing one; in its capacity to conjure up our previous selves.... Books may appear as so many words on a page, static, when actually they are ever changing--shifting, a palimpsest onto which the narrative of the reader's life is continually taking form." (p. 10)

Mary Wollstonecraft is an imperfect heroine, but I find her all the more compelling for the weaknesses braided into her strengths, the spectacular failures alongside her many triumphs. When Wollstonecraft found herself living her worst fear as an unwed mother, desolate enough to try to take her own life, she nevertheless managed to survive--to thrive even, and to love again. She took full charge of her destiny, and in that respect, she was the best inspiration I had come across in a long time, a much needed reminder that rejecting marriage and motherhood was not the only way to be a revolutionary, but simply the most obvious. (p. 76)

Of course, since ancient times, women have been the targets of discrimination and denigration--and indeed, still are--but these women perceived a historical moment in which it was incumbent upon them to stand up and protest. The moment did not last long, but its reputation of infamy certainly has--which speaks volumes to our cultural discomfort with rebellious women. (p. 162)

They understood that housework is largely about power and respect--not all the time, but often enough. Consider the way housework becomes a public slur, a weapon leveled against the woman who enters the public sphere and is told to iron some man's shirt or some other form of "get back in the kitchen, where you belong." While cooking and cleaning can sometimes be soothing, satisfying even, this is not about the triumphs of the occasional spring cleaning or the pleasure of a home-cooked meal; this is about housework being presented as some sort of genetic destiny. (p. 177) 

Words I had to look up:

prurient--having or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters


Stuff I am now eager to read:

*Adam, Eve, and the Serpent by Elaine Pagels (Ha! And if anyone had told me I'd want to read this book before now, I'd have laughed--hopefully not to their face, but inside my head anyway.)
*"The Politics of Housework" by Pat Mainard
*The Fear of Flying by Erica Jong
*Baghdad Burning by Riverbend


Quote postcards sent:

Chris: 1 with "melancholy"

reading notes, entry 6...

*The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years by Sonia Shah.

Why I read it now:

It came very highly recommended by Eva, and it fit into the medical/psychological issues theme month, and it was sitting right there on the library shelf taunting me.


Overall thoughts:

I loved this book! It was not only well-written and completely accessible, it was fascinating as hell. Nothing about malaria is uncomplicated. Every facet of the story is complex, from the continual evolution of Plasmodia to the pharmacologic efforts to stop it to the differing views of those who live day-to-day with malaria and those in the Western world who are so determined to wipe it out. Malaria has played major roles in world history, as well as major roles in personal histories. And Sonia Shah does a wonderful job relating all these facets of this much-feared disease.

I'd like to say that this is a hopeful book, but it's not. But what Sonia Shah produced with this book is a well-rounded and realistic look at malaria on this planet of ours.


Just a few of the interesting tidbits contained in its pages:

*Plasmodium has seven different forms during its life cycle.

*Once a mosquito is sated with blood, she flies to a vertical surface and spends 45 minutes excreting all the water from the blood so she is once again light enough to fly unburdened.

*While I already knew of malaria's connection to sickle cell, I had never before heard of its connection to favism. Actually, I don't believe I'd ever even heard of favism before at all.

*The Romans had some interesting "cures" for malaria. Being a vegetarian, I wold have had to choose the honeysuckle dissolved in wine over the liver of a seven-year-old mouse or the bedbugs eaten with eggs and wine.


New-to-me words:

transmogrify--to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely

impluvia--a cistern or tank in Roman dwellings set in the atrium to receive water from the roof


Quote postcards sent:

Heather: 1 with "capricious"

reading notes, entry 1...and some really cool news...

I made an executive decision. It's my blog so I can do that. In fact, it's pretty much the only place I can, so why not take advantage of that power, huh? :P Yeah, anyway...it's no secret that I pretty much suck at anything remotely bordering the lands of book reviewing. And because I feel that way, it's really not a lot of fun. BUT! I do love books, and reading, and talking about books and reading. So what's a person to do? Well, I'm going to try a little experiment. I may find out that I hate it, in which case it too will go to the wayside where so many of my other experiments have gone. No biggie.

Reading notes. Yep, as in the kind of notes I write down in little notebooks while I'm reading when I'm not feeling too lazy. (Unfortunately, I feel too lazy a lot.) But I've decided to use my blog as my little notebook. Now let me warn you, these are *not* deep thoughts we're talking about here. More just my observations, reactions, quotes, ponderings and wonderings. Or the "how frickin' cool is that?!!" stuff I learn. That's what today's entry is (though I fully understand that I may be the only person to rate it as such).

A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer.

Okay, so I didn't even realize there were viruses in ocean. But hey, until less than twenty years ago, scientists thought marine viruses were fairly rare, so I don't feel so bad about my ignorance. Turns out viruses in the ocean are rather abundant (understatement alert).

Yep, a graduate student, Lita Proctor, decided to look more closely, and what she found astounded scientists. Her finding were replicated by other researchers, and scientists now generally agree that there are 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 viruses in the sea. (That number is one nonillion--I had to look it up.)

It is hard to find a point of comparison to make sense of such a large number. Viruses outnumber all other residents of the ocean by about fifteen to one. If you put all the viruses of the oceans on a scale, they would equal the weight of seventy-five million blue whales. And if you lined up all the viruses in the ocean end to end, they would stretch out past the nearest sixty galaxies.

My mind is officially boggled.

*******************
OMG OMG OMG!!! This has absolutely *nothing* to do with the above, but I just had to share because it's just so damn exciting!!! Ms. Annie got some incredible news today!!! She had entered the college's annual writing contest. I'm not sure how big the English department is, but the college itself has between 17,000 and 18,000 students, so it's not a tiny school. Anyway, there were five categories, and Annie entered a piece in three of them--poetry, short story, and literary essay. She came in first place in the literary essay category and second place in the short story category. The professor who called to let her know made it point to tell her that it's a rare event when someone places in more than one category. To say she is over-the-moon happy would not be an exaggeration. :D The only downside--she has to speak at the awards dinner, and she is definitely not looking forward to that. But I'm pretty sure it doesn't really put that big a dent in her current elation. Another little bit of awesomeness--the literary essay she wrote was on Sarah Water's Tipping the Velvet. (Read the damn book already, Debra Anne!)

LOL--you know, in a way this does sort of tie in to what I was saying above. Here I am, can't even write a book review worth squat to save my life...and the kiddo is here winning an award for a literary essay. Switched at birth perhaps?

Annie, I know this was evident from the screaming I did over the phone when you called to tell me, but sweetie, I am SO. DAMN. HAPPY. for you!!! Way to go, Sugar...you are so awesome in so many ways!!!

lately...

~~~in the reading room~~~
Just finished up Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor. Awesome, unique, YA fantasy. Loved it. Hoping to pick up her book Who Fears Death tonight at the library. Still working my way through Philip Pullman's Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm, and still enjoying it immensely. Lots of haphazard reading for school, as in reading chapters here and there for certain subjects/topics. Max and I are about three-quarters of the way through Burning for Revenge, the fifth book in the Tomorrow series. Major adrenaline pumping, I tell you. Note to self: Get sixth book soon! Gray and I are making slow progress through the first book of the Pendragon series, The Merchant of Death. Not really far enough to make a judgment yet, but we're both certainly enjoying it enough to continue. Super excited about Dewey's Read-a-Thon though I can't quite believe it's barely over a week away--April, where the hell have you gone?!!


~~~in the classroom~~~
School, obviously. :P Actually today Gray went to school with Rich, as its the day Rich takes his environmental science class to the wastewater treatment facility. Informative, if pungent, field trip for the young man. Mostly this week Gray has been finishing up a bunch of projects and assignments on his own for the third quarter. (Fourth quarter starts next Monday.) I've spent many, many hours preparing for our final quarter over the last couple weeks, and will spend many, many more before all is said and done. But my immediate future is reserved for writing up quarterly reports for the third quarter, which are due Monday. I've nearly finished Annie's, and will soon move on to Gray's. So don't like this particular task.


~~~in the yard and garden~~~
Okay, so there are no plants actually in the food gardens yet. But I've got seedlings galore started inside. And *really* need to get more going--poor neglected tomato seeds. Rich has made some progress in the preparations for putting in our new garden areas though. He tore apart an old rotting wooden playground piece, saving the bottom portion to become the fencing area of our soon-to-be strawberry patch. He got it moved into place, but hasn't prepared the soil or added the wire fencing to keep out the bunnies and groundhogs. I've been spending a few minutes every morning (while Max and I have our vehicle counting competition before the bus comes) dealing with the mess that is our flower garden. If I keep at it, maybe it will be ready by the time things start blooming. Yeah, probably not. :P


~~~in blogland~~~
I've given up stressing out about blogging. As in posting, that is. Period. But I am rather frustrated about reading blogs. After the announcement about google reader going away, I tried to figure out a few other readers, but gave up rather quickly. Decided to just give up google reader cold turkey and add a blogroll back on my blog. But *enormous sigh* it just doesn't feel like it's working. Not only is it a pain, but much worse I feel like I'm missing soooo many posts. I mean like even posts by people on my blogroll. *more sighs* I don't know--it's time I either try with another reader again or just learn to accept that I'm going to miss posts sometimes.

~~~in the craft room~~~
Project Life and I, well we just aren't getting on all too well these days. Honestly, it's not PL's fault; it's mine. I just haven't been in the mood. PL, I do still love you. I promise I do. But we just need a little time apart. One of these days though, if you'll still have me, we'll have a joyous reunion and hopefully I'll learn to treat you a little better from then on. And then there's Annie's birthday sweater. Hmmmm, Annie's birthday has come and gone...and said birthday sweater still isn't finished. If I finish it before month's end that should be good...I mean who doesn't love a surprise late birthday gift, right? The thing I've spent the most time on lately is my t-shirt rug, though even it has loooong way to go before it's finished.


~~~in the health arena~~~
Had routine bloodwork done recently. Got possibly good news. I'm still vitamin D deficient despite the daily supplements, and I'm still severely anemic despite the daily iron supplements. So mega-doses of vitamin D and up the iron supplements. Why this is good news is that both could potentially be reasons why I've been feeling so craptacular lately. Vitamin D deficiency can cause muscle pain and of course anemia causes fatigue...so it could be that my fibro is not actually worsening after all but just feels that way because of these other problems. Problems that *should* be remedied fairly easily. *fingers crossed*

~~~in the kitchen~~~
My bread machine's been getting a workout this week. And my crockpot was put to use to loading up the freezer with homemade veggie broth. Oooh, and I tried a delicious new recipe called Chewy Granola Bars. Big hit. Think they'll go into heavy rotation. In fact, I could see making a batch every week to have them around for breakfasts. Though honestly, they taste damn near desertlike. :)

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor...random thoughts....

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor.

On the cover of this book, there's a blurb by Ursula K. Le Guin:

There's more vivid imagination in a page of Nnedi Okorafor's work than in whole volumes of ordinary fantasy epics.

Being a relative newbie to fantasy, especially in terms of quantity and breadth of reading, I can't really say if I agree with Le Guin's statement, but I'm totally going to take her at her word. What I can say from my own experience is that Akata Witch felt completely fresh and unique. While it's embarrassing to admit my complete ignorance of Nigerian cultures, I must because I suspect reading this book with more cultural awareness would make it all the more wonderful an experience. Though in a sense, that also seems impossible, because truly wonderful it was.

It is the story of Sunny, born in America to Igbo parents. Her family moves back to Nigeria when Sunny is nine years old. This fact alone gives Sunny's classmates reason to tease her, call her "akata witch," a derogatory term for foreign-born blacks. Add to that the fact that Sunny is albino, and well, let's just say that Sunny isn't exactly the most popular girl in school. Sunny is intelligent, loves to read, and has awesome foot skills with a soccer ball (though she can only play with her brothers in the evening because of her albinism).

Sunny eventually realizes something else about herself thanks to some new friends, Orlu a boy who befriends her at school and his out-of-school friend Chichi. What they suspect and help Sunny prove is that she's got magical powers. Orlu and Chichi do as well, though they've known this all their lives as they come from Leopard bloodlines. (Leopard People are those with magical powers.) Sunny, on the other hand, is what is called a free agent. Sort of like a muggle-born in Harry Potter's world, I suppose. Leopard People live both in the magical world and in the world of the Lambs (those without magical powers). But the Lambs know nothing of the Leopard world. This makes life difficult for Sunny, as she has to keep her "Leopard life" secret from her family. And soon Sunny is attending Leopard School twice a week (Wed. nights at midnight and Saturdays) with Orlu, Chichi, and another boy from America named Sasha. Attending two schools, learning about two worlds, living two lives...it's both exhausting and exhilarating for Sunny.

I don't want to tell much more about the story...oh, but there is a serial killer...so yeah, this book definitely has its dark moments. But I want to talk about how I felt about the book. Did I mention yet that I loved it? If I didn't, I should be flogged. Because love it, I did! There is a richness to the world Nnedi Okorafor creates, a richness you can almost feel viscerally. It's mysterious, vivid, and yes, frightening at times. It somehow manages to feel simultaneously fantastical and real. And the characters...oh my, I love these kids. Four very different personalities. They fight and tease and disagree, all within these friendships that become strong and powerful. (I totally admit it--I'm a sucker for those sort of friendships that might seem, if not exactly improbable at least a bit unlikely on the surface.)

If I had one complaint about the book, it would be with "the big climactic scene" (I put that phrase in quotes because it's a little too simplistic but I can't really explain without spoilers). Anyway, I felt that things went a little too quickly, a little too easily. BUT...I also have this nagging feeling that the reason I feel that way is because I missed something. I don't know why I have that feeling, but I do. In fact, I really ought to go back and read the last few chapters again. Ha--I just did, but still am left in the same boat.

This is a book I got out from the library...but it's a book that I will now be buying to have a copy of my very own. And yes, I am definitely looking forward to reading Nnedi Okorafor's other books. :)

a month of food and gardening reads...

Food and gardening theme month flew by just as quickly as the previous ones. As predicted I only managed to read five theme books (the last of which I actually finished up here on this first morning of April), and while I would have loved to read many more, I'm for the most part pleased with my selections. It did make me more anxious than ever to get the garden going, but the snow flying outside my window attests to the fact that those days are still a ways off. Anyway, here's a short look at what I read this month (with each mini review written when I finished the book):

*Food: The New Gold by Kathlyn Gay.

When I was at the library last time, I decided to see what I might be able to find in the way of food ethics books for Gray. After all, it would be nice to have another buddy join me for food and gardening month. And Gray is very interested in the topic. He loves movies like Food, Inc. and King Corn, and one of his favorite books is Chew On This, which he's now read three or four times. I managed to find this book that looked as if it fit my "basic yet broad" criteria.

Having just read it, I must admit I'm disappointed. NOT because it's a bad book. It definitely isn't. But because it fit my criteria too well. :P It covered a wide variety of issues under the whole food ethics umbrella. Not everything, but then how could any book (especially one of this short length) cover everything--poverty, class inequality, corporate greed, bad government policies, the myriad of environmental issues, etc. etc. etc. My disappointment stems from the fact that it was too basic. So yeah, *my* bad. Not the book's fault.

So while this book may not have been the book for Gray, who already has his feet wet, I do think it would make a great introduction for kids who are totally new to the subject. It talked about food insecurity and factory farming and agribusiness and monoculture and the effects of global warming on food production and GMOs and politics and many other things...it just didn't go into much depth on anything.

*****
Full Planet, Empty Plates: The New Geopolitics of Food Scarcity by Lester R. Brown.

For the second time this year, I've come across an "Everyone NEEDS to Read This Book" book. I don't often feel that way, really...I realize that people tastes differ and whatnot. But this book is not a matter of taste, it's a matter of importance. It's not a book that is going to make anyone smile, but its a book that ought to make everyone think.

This paragraph from the last chapter in the book, gives one a good overview of the book itself:

Scientists and many other concerned individuals have long sensed that the world economy had moved onto an environmentally unsustainable path. This has been evident to anyone who tracks trends such as deforestation, soil erosion, aquifer depletion, collapsing fisheries, and the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. What was not so clear was exactly where this unsustainable path would lead. It now seems that the most imminent effect will be tightening supplies of food. Food is the weak link in our modern civilization--just as it was for the Sumerians, Mayans, and many other civilizations that have come and gone. They could not separate their fate from that of their food supply. Nor can we.

The issues in this book were not, for the most part, new to me, yet I was still somewhat staggered reading these up-to-date findings. Scary stuff. Made scarier still by the recent political maneuverings and land grabs being made around the world.

Full Planet, Empty Plates is a very quick read...both because it's only 120 odd pages long and because it's so compelling you won't want to put it down.

*****

*Homegrown Honey Bees: An Absolute Beginner's Guide to Beekeeping Your First Year, from Hiving to Honey Harvest by Alethea Morrison.

Rich and I would really like to enter the world of beekeeping. Not this summer, probably not even next summer, as there are just so. many. things. that still need done around this place. And we know that beekeeping will take time and dedication. But even though this endeavor is a few years in the future, I wanted to start doing some research and learning now. And Homegrown Honey Bees was a perfect place to start. The "An Absolute Beginner's Guide" part of the title was dead-on accurate. There was a lot of information on bees themselves that I already knew, but I can't hold that against the author...because I was completely ignorant when it came to most of the things she covered. The author carefully walked through all the facets of beekeeping in your first year. Though I'm sure we'll be doing a lot more reading as well, I can see this book becoming a go-to source when we finally decide the time is right.

In addition to all the information contained in this book (from the various ways to purchase bees to the necessary equipment to inspecting your hive to harvesting honey and so so so so so much more), the book was loaded with wonderful photography by the author's husband, Mars Vilaubi. In addition to oodles of photographs to help illustrate the process of various beekeeping practices, there are truly stunning macro photographs of bees themselves.

*****
Wicked Plants: The Weed that Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart.

Wicked Plants was a fascinating and utterly fun read. In the introduction, Steward writes:

I confess that I am enchanted by the plant kingdom's criminal element. I love a good good villian... There is something beguiling about sharing their dark little secrets. And these secrets don't just lurk in a remote jungle. They're in our own backyards.

And I must confess that I was equally enchanted by reading these dark little secrets she shared.

If I have one regret about my experience with this book, it would be that I read it too quickly. There is so much information in this book and I devoured it too quickly to let much of it truly soak in and take up residence in my memory. I see a reread in my future, a much slower, more leisurely read, probably with lots of note-taking.

Stewart orders the entries alphabetically and each plant receives a label at the top: deadly, illegal, intoxicating, dangerous, painful, destructive, or offensive. Contained in each entry are bits of scientific, historical, social, and cultural information. Oh yeah, and lots of references to literature. I smiled on the very first page of the introduction when she spoke of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "Rappaccini's Daughter," a short story I adore.

Adding to the pure delight of this book are the beautiful etchings of Briony Morrow-Cribbs. I'm seriously tempted to buy another copy of this book to cut out and frame some of its stunning art.

I will definitely be reading more of Stewart's books (including The Drunken Botanist, which I gave Rich for his Easter present), but I guess they will have to wait as food and gardening theme month has come to an end.

*****
I also read Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon and talked about it here.

Plenty...random thoughts...

*Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and J.B. MacKinnon.

Plenty falls in that category of books one might call "food memoirs." In Lu's recent review of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle (which I still have not read--bad me), she noted that is some ways the book already felt dated, as today many more people have again begun paying attention to where their food is coming from. This book was published in the same year (2007), so I'm sure that the same point could be raised here. But that in no way took away from my enjoyment in reading this book. And I still learned from it.

Alisa and James came across as real as real can be. I adored them both. They wrote this book with an honesty that captured my heart. James is one of those people who when he comes up with an idea, he commits to it wholeheartedly. So when he proposed that he and Alisa should spend an entire year eating only foods produced within a 100-mile radius of their apartment in Vancouver, British Columbia, Alisa knew that is she agreed it would not be some half-assed effort. Still she agreed, and the 100-mile diet was born.

James and Alisa write the book in alternating chapters, each chapter encompassing a month of their experience. We get glimpses of their respective childhood's and how their relations with family and food intersect. We witness the stress of this venture exacerbate a rocky period in Alisa's and Jame's relationship. But mostly we hear about their adventures in finding local food. And through them, meet other interesting folks--fishermen, beekeepers, walnut farmers, and the list goes on.

James and Alisa do sometimes talk about the state of the environment and agribusiness and the like, but that is not the focus of this book. It is a memoir, a story of their experiment. I never felt a tone of condescension in their words. And they certainly don't claim that everyone can, in terms of their life situation, eat a purely local diet. (Believe me, they don't sugarcoat their experience or try to make it sound easy even for people sharing their class advantages.)

You know, on a personal level, I tend to stress myself out quite a bit over things like this. The only way I've been able to find some sort of peace within myself is to consistently tell myself that every action I make has consequences. (This applies to much more than eating locally.) And I just try to continually up the number of "good" choices I make. (And yes, "good" is in quotations because it is infinitely more complicated than that.) When it comes to the issue of eating locally--yes, we have a garden that we expand yearly, we can and freeze and dry in season foods to use throughout the year, we shop at local farmers' markets, etc. BUT try as I might I have yet to able to give up coffee (not to mention spices, citrus fruit, etc. etc. etc.), we have by no means cut processed foods entirely from our diet, I have not mastered the art of replacing all our sugar with honey...seriously, this list could go on forever. And you know, even if everyone who was in a position to make better food choices (and so many people simply aren't) did so, it wouldn't come close to fixing all the things that are wrong in our food systems anyway. Doesn't mean I should quit doing what I can do though.

Anyway, like I said, that's not what this book is--the authors do not claim to have all the answers. Instead they tell a personal story with charm, humor, and heart.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that they included a recipe with each month. And OMG--how I want to try the one for Maple Walnut Crepes. Sheesh, I'm drooling all over again just thinking about it.

(This was originally intended to be part of my food/gardening themed reading wrap-up, but it seems I got a bit chatty, so I figured I ought to just give it its own post.)

Huck Finn, and how it led me to do something I never thought I'd do...

*The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

Oh my. Seems I have to confirm my heathen status yet again. I just didn't love this book. Which isn't the same as saying I wish I hadn't read it, of course. So no, I would not go as far as saying that I'm sorry that I chose it for one of our homeschool reads this year.

Why didn't I love it? Mostly I think it's that I'm generally not thrilled with episodic type books. And frankly, I didn't find some of the "adventures" all that interesting. Honestly, there were times when all I could think was, "Can't we just move along here?!!" But the overall story of Huck and Jim and their relationship--that I did enjoy. And I loved the way we got to watch Huck wrestle with his conflicted notions between what he grew up learning was right and what he just somehow felt was right.

But dammit...I did something that I never ever ever thought I would do in a million years. I censored a book for my kiddo. :/ See, I literally took a Sharpie to it and blacked out a sentence:


I don't feel good about it, and we'll definitely be having another discussion on censorship...though do I now have as much credibility when I tell him how emphatically I still disagree with it? It's not that I want the line stricken from the book--it's that I don't want this particular child to read it. Because I know how it would affect him. It would devastate him and send him into a state that it would take days for him to come out of. In case you're interested, here's the sentence (but to warn you, the reason is because of animal cruelty...so skip the quote if you choose):

There wasn't anything that could wake them up all over, and make them happy all over, like a dog-fight--unless it might be putting turpentine on a stray dog and setting fire to him, or tying a tin pan to his tail and see him run himself to death.

The sentence had nothing at all to do with the story. It felt completely gratuitous, and I just couldn't stomach the idea of that one damn sentence ruining not only the book for Gray, but the following few days of his life. Yes, my mega-sensitive child will have to, already does have to, face things which upset him immensely. This world is not always a pretty place. But this time, I just had to save him from the tears and the trouble sleeping that this would bring. I had to.

*sigh* It's not that I regret my actions, but I do admit it leaves me feeling a bit conflicted. Slippery slopes and all that.

in which I get all navel-gazerly...

It's no secret that I've been having trouble, oh for the past decade or so, achieving balance in my life. Goodness knows I've whined about it enough here. I eventually came to the conclusion that balance was an illusion, that it was unattainable. And I tried to just accept that. To a certain extent I have--after all, there is always going to be the unpredictable, or at least the unpredicted, monkey wrench thrown in to temporarily throw off any balance I do achieve. So after taking many, many months of soul searching and experimentation to reach this point, I found that lack of balance wasn't really the root of my problem anyway. More of a symptom, maybe.

So what the bloody heck is my problem?!!

Overall, I'm actually a fairly happy person most of the time. Hell, I ought to be--I have a roof over my head, our table always has food on it when mealtime rolls around, I could ask for no better partner in all the world to be sharing this life journey with, and the list goes on. So why do I so often feel like something needs fixed? More soul-searching led to the fact that it's definitely an internal problem, not an external one. Which seems sort of obvious, I suppose, but it took me some time to put that into words. And having done so has helped me move forward.

Realizing that it was something in my thinking, in my choices, in my actions, well--that finally led me to just sit down and assess what it is I want out of life. I imagine everyone's shaking their heads and thinking, "What kind of an idiot is she?!!" Because yeah, it seems pretty damn basic when you get down to it. But honestly, I think I've been going on autopilot for so damn long that it didn't occur to me that maybe my life goals need a reassessment.

Okay, so where did that lead me? At first nowhere. I kept trying to come up with some single major goal for my life, you know like a career path or something. Like I said, nowhere. It felt like an exercise in frustration. So I gave up, feeling like a pathetic loser--knowing that my life is well past its halfway point and I've yet to figure out what the I hell I want from it these days. But I let it go. And as soon as I did, as soon as I stopped trying to force myself into some specific mold with clear-cut boundaries, the answers just started appearing.

What do I want to do with my life? Well...

*I want to live a loving life.

*I want to live a sustainable life.

*I want to live an informed life.

*I want to live a creative life.

*I want to live an appreciative life.

When I was able to put these things into words, I was able to see how much of my life was spent on things that didn't work towards those goals. Oh sure, I often enjoyed those "extra" things, but I've been thinking that maybe those are the things that I need to let go in order for me to focus on the things that I believe will leave me feeling most fulfilled. I figure it's worth a try anyway, right?

I know that there is no achieving perfection in any one of those areas, but perfection is overrated anyway. I love having this focus when it comes to choices I make now--"will such-and-such help me live a loving, sustainable, informed, creative, and/or appreciative life?" If the answer is "yes!" then it sounds like a worthwhile way to spend my time. This means I'll be saying "Goodbye" to some things, but I hope I'll be saying "Hello" and "It's nice to have you here" and "It's nice to be spending more time with you, old friend" to others.

We'll see how it goes...