(no subject)
I finally finished the book Alana gave me for Christmas: The Omnivore's Dilemma: a Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. He takes four meals and describes the entire process that gave rise to them. The first is the industrial meal, the second industrial organic, the third sustainably grown, and the final is a meal he hunted and gathered all himself. The author has definite opinions about the way we should eat, but presents them without moralizing and with humor. I gained a lot of insight from reading it, and it probably gave me the last nudge I needed to actually try community-supported agriculture this year. Also I want to go out into the woods with my mom and see what we can gather to eat. Now she's reading it, and I'm interested in her thoughts about it, since she's particularly knowledgeable about the topic already.
Then in the last week or so I read Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon. It's everything science fiction should be- exciting, and insightful with respect to society and human nature. The protagonist is an old woman who illegally stays behind when her colony is removed from the planet it's on, because she just wants to be left alone. In ways it reminded me of The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell (an incredibly written, thrilling, but abysmally dark and disturbing, book I apparently never managed to write a review on), but without the dark and disturbing part.
I feel like it's been a few months since I read something that really spoke to me (actually I think The Sparrow was probably the last such book), but these both did- I found my thoughts wandering to each of them during the day.
Then in the last week or so I read Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon. It's everything science fiction should be- exciting, and insightful with respect to society and human nature. The protagonist is an old woman who illegally stays behind when her colony is removed from the planet it's on, because she just wants to be left alone. In ways it reminded me of The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell (an incredibly written, thrilling, but abysmally dark and disturbing, book I apparently never managed to write a review on), but without the dark and disturbing part.
I feel like it's been a few months since I read something that really spoke to me (actually I think The Sparrow was probably the last such book), but these both did- I found my thoughts wandering to each of them during the day.