From One Barbara to Another

I am still on a Kingsolver kick (will start Animal Dreams tonight, after finishing The Bean Trees and Pigs in Heaven), but squeezed in a quick, surprisingly good read: The Lost Recipe for Happiness by Barbara O'Neal. I do not remember where I first heard of this book, but am sooo happy I decided to read it. What a great book to read over the Thanksgiving holiday, perfect for reminding me that what I really need to be thankful for is the love in my life and to be ever vigilant for the love, THE LOVE, in whatever form it takes, that could be powerful enough to heal wounds and strengthen my spirit.
I look forward to reading her latest as well.

Views in to Words

I just finished the old Barbara Kingsolver book, The Bean Trees, and will start Pigs in Heaven today. Most of her other books have really spoken to me and I can honestly say that Animal, Vegetable, Miracle changed my whole thought process on food. Still, I was unprepared to read a book that so eloquently described the muddle of feelings in my heart pertaining to "illegal" immigrants, especially those fleeing unimaginable horrors in their homeland. This blog is not the place to get political, but I do find that the older I get, with a child, some views of mine become harder, more set in stone, while others become more fluid, like water over a rock. Life, I guess...
Hoping everyone has a holiday weekend full of reading and eating!

Spreading the Gospel

I am always telling people about my love of Indian focused books (currently am loving Dreaming in Hindi and wishing I had the time to devote to learning that language). I have searched for a blog, a list, anything to recommend authors or books written by Indians, or dealing with India, but no luck. Anyone know of anything? If not, I'll have to keep mailing out Divakaruni and Lahiri books as holiday gifts...;-)

Must See TV

The PBS documentary of Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire turned what I thought was his more plodding book into a very watchable show. While I thought The Omnivore's Dilemma was the most relevant to my lifestyle, I am changing my mind after learning more about the dangers of farming monocultures. Beautifully shot, insightful commentary made this a great program.

It seems that Michael Pollan and the success of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle have helped to breed a new genre of popular non fiction focused on educating the public to the benefits of sustainable agriculture, organic farming, etc. and hoping to generate change rather than the previous method sometimes used of shaming one into making important life changes. In that vein, I found Farm City by Nigella Lawson very funny and timely, and cannot wait to read Coop by Michael Perry.

When the Spirit Moves You

Just finished Audrey Niffenegger's Her Fearful Symmetry and am so sad that the book had to end. I wanted to read it forever. While I have heard some poor reviews, I think it may have been, perhaps, even better than The Time-Traveler's Wife. Beautifully, wonderfully good.

Weekly Library Therapy

I wonder how many other people get their therapy from a library or bookstore. I get giddy at all the books at my fingertips (for free!) and that pleasant overwhelming feeling that I could never read them all. I have noticed that my weekly haul for Noa seems to be getting bigger and bigger (thus stretching bedtime slightly later and later...). Among my proudest Mommy moments is hearing Noa ask to go to the library to read and play puzzles. I know that every week we will get to learn new things (gardening, dinosaurs, dragons, farm animals, and the occasional Maisy book) and have some quality time.

Today's take included:

Harold and the Purple Crayon (amazingly, I have never read this before!)

some silly pink princess book, Posey Paints a Princess

a book featuring dinosaurs, our current favorite (I think the little Princess may be a T-Rex for Halloween!), Harry and the Dinosaurs at the Museum

two kiddie books for Mommy: Swamp Angel and Jon Scieszka's Alice in Wonderland

and, in homage to what my own mother used to recite to my sister,

There was a Little Girl, She Had a Little Curl.

Left over from last week's trip, we kept Slugs in Love and Barn Dance.

Anyone have any adult or kiddie recommendations? I will crack open the new Dan Brown soon....

Thank goodness for libraries!

Getting a few things off my (ample) chest

I know I've been gone awhile. I tried Facebook (don't love it) and I tried to journal down my bookish thoughts [(I think I play better to a wider audience;-)]. So, let's play a game of catch up. I will mention some books I have read that I think are worth reading and why, and others not so much, and then hopefully we will be back to our old selves soon.

1. Testimony by Anita Shreve: I put it down after skimming through the book. Too much sensationalism, too much disturbia for me (although, I admit) I did not read it cover to cover. I really think I like her older stuff much better than the stuff she has churned out the past couple of years.

2. a shout out to some great kids books I've come across lately: anything by Graeme Base, Zinnia's Flower Garden, and The Cat in the Hat Came Back have all been recent favorites

3. I really enjoyed the whole series of books by Tasha Alexander. Interesting historical period, nice three dimensional characters, and lush descriptions throughout. In the harmless mystery vein, I also liked Emyl Jenkins' Stealing with Style and am looking forward to her latest.

4. Totally out of my comfort zone and more graphic than I would normally care for, I really did like Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I have the second one on the bookshelf, just waiting to gird my loins for it

5. Still on my food porn kick, I devoured Eat My Globe (and have become a Top Chef fan).

and lastly, though I reserve the right to remember and add more later,

6. As a beginning gardener (and a lazy one, at that), I liked Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart, even if I am afraid of my own yard now.

Hope everyone has been well and I look forward to appearing more regularly.