There are books all over my house I want to read but in the last month I've yet to make it through a single one. I read the first four Wendell Berry essays in The Unsettling of America, Culture & Agriculture. Every third page is folded over with a phrase or idea I want to go back to. I'd read paragraphs two, three, four times, and understand something new each time and then I put the book down. The man is brilliant but reading the essays one after the other was like eating successive meals of nothing but meat. I got too full but I'll go back to it.
I read the introduction to Coming Home to Eat by Gary Nabhan but returned the book to the read later stack until I have time to devour it all at once.
The Tassajara Bread Book by Ed Brown is over due from the library and I've yet to even crack it. I made no knead bread instead.
And Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson is traveling back and forth on the bus with me. I like what I've read but naps and articles keep interfering with any meaningful progress in it.
How about you? Are you finding time to read now that school has started, now that garden harvests are winding down or is it just the opposite; school makes life more hectic and you're racing to put up the last of the summer seasonal food for the cold months?
Let me know if you have a new book not yet on the sidebar or a review you've recently posted and I'll add that to the sidebar too.
In any event, I hope you are well and enjoying the first days of fall.
8 comments:
"Depletion and Abundance" by Sharon Astyk. This is tops on my reading list but like you, I have not had time to get through a single book in nearly 2 months. First school - I am a 4th grade teacher. Then there are the 7 puppies that were born 4 days after we adopted a homeless, stray, abused, starving, and wonderful young Beagle. The pups are 7 weeks old today and will go to a local Beagle rescue group when they are 9weeks old. Maybe after the pups leave I will be able to read again. ?????
Lindy in AZ
HA! I'm reading Depletion and Abundance too. It's very like Sharon's blog and is a fairly quick read.
turtlewoman - I'm aweing simply reading about the puppies although I bet the fourth graders are cute too. I picked up Depletion and Abundance at the bookstore the other day but truthfully I was distracted. I hope you do a review once you have a chance to read it. Maybe Christmas vacation?
I just finished "The Secret History of the War on Cancer" by Devra Davis which has many ramifications for our personal and political lives if we choose to listen to her. Cancer is largely environmental. I posted a review, http://thegamblelife.blogspot.com. The book is heavy and long but worth the investment.
I've just started "Not Buying It" by Judith Levine.
I stayed up late reading Paul Tough's book about Geoffrey Canada, Whatever it Takes. He's got an exciting approach to urban poverty...one that Barack Obama has announced he would like to replicate in 20 cities as President. It's not explicitly about the environment, but as we've seen, local involvement and education are some of the keys ways to reduce violence and improve the world around us. Check it out!
Megan
gb - Oh good. I love it when we have multiple reviews of the same book.
maya - I read your review. Good job. This is a serious read. Thanks for writing about it! It continues to amaze me all the things we or maybe just I don't know about.
megan fix - Thanks for this book. It sounds like a good sequel or prequel to Van Jones book that just came out too. In any event I'm going to check out.
I read about 5 pages a day it seems... eventually I get through books, but it takes forever! I just finished Small Is Possible: life in a local economy. Not sure what I'll read next. I have a few articles and such I want to get through before tackling another book.
PS I know this is a bit TMI, but books like the Wendell Berry essays... these are often the ones we keep in the bathroom, for slow reading a little bit at a time. (Covers her face in embarrassment).
I just posted a couple of book reviews on my blog as one entry on the Planck "Real Food" blog, er, novel, and "The Revolution Will Not Be Microwaved"
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