Books.
Yes, I read them, though not nearly as often as I used to or should. Honestly, I don't have a lot of kids-free down time and when I do, I'm usually so burned out on words that I don't want to look at them.
Anyway, I've read a couple lately, and I'm finally getting around to reviewing them. (I was trying to stick them under a cut, but LJ doesn't like me right now. So, sorry for the lengthy post.)
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. This non-fiction work by the terrific Ms. Kingsolver (with added bits from her husband and eldest daughter, Camille) details the year her family spent eating nothing they couldn't grow or acquire locally. The family moved from Tucson to Kingsolver's second husband's farm on a mostly wooded slope of acreage in the Appalachians. They raised chickens and turkeys, grew an enormous garden, bought milk and meat from neighboring farms and wheat from a nearby grain mill. They frequented the local farmers market and learned how to make their own cheese. It's an interesting idea, but it's clear that one must have time, funds and location on their side in order to pull something like this off. There are plenty of fascinating - and sometimes scary - facts about the evolution of the American diet into it's current state of disgrace, about the state of small farms in our country and about our government's not-so-subtle investment in helping Corporate America make us all fat.
I capitalized that C & A for a reason - Kingsolver has a self-admitted evangelical bent when it comes to eating locally, for both personal and environmental health reasons. So, if you can't get past that, don't read the book. You might end up hurling it across the room. Honestly, there's not a lot in the book that was new or uncomfortable to me, though I did learn a heck of a lot about asparagus, and I'm sorely tempted to dig up some lawn and plant a bed of it now.
It was a heroic and successful endeavor on the part of the Kingsolver family, and I did enjoy the read. It was also a chance for me to practice non-flagellation, since my ideals of how we eat don't always mesh with the reality. I don't buy peaches off season (because yuck!) but I'm not giving up bananas and the occasional pineapple if I don't have to. I buy what I can as locally and organically as possible - its pretty easy here in California - and forgive myself for the rest. In the end, I think all the baby steps add up.
And now, for something completely different.
Fade, by Lisa McMann. Fade is the sequel to McMann's NYT Bestselling YA novel Wake. She doesn't waste time recapping, which made me sorry that I hadn't reread the first book first. It took me a chapter or two to remember who was who and what was going on, and by then I was so sucked in it didn't really matter. The stories center on Janie, who is a Dream Catcher. If she's in the vicinity of a sleeping person, she gets pulled into their dreams. She's trying to learn to control it, because it has some unfortunate consequences - including making her a serious hazard on the road. It isn't easy, but her boyfriend Cabel, who's a "relationship builder" - he makes connections, builds trust and gets people to admit things they never would otherwise - is helping her deal with the physical side affects. They're both working undercover at their highschool, using their unique abilities to help the local police.
It's a fascinating premise and I love that it's written in third person present. It lets you get in both of their heads, but still keeps things imminent. McMann breaks pretty much all the writing rules and I love her for it. Her prose is spartan, her dialogue sharp and real - and peppered with plenty o' F bombs. This time, the subject of their investigation is a sexual predator, and Janie gets put in a very bad situation, but the self-defense class and her weightlifting with Cabe had her flooring her attackers in a way that made me cheer out loud. The book flap says "14 and up", despite some heavy sensuality, direct sexual description, and sexual violence. I did love that McMann describes the process of making roofies, shows how they can be slipped into anything with liquid (like the sauce on meatballs), explains that there are pocket sized test kits that anyone can get (and GODS, what a world we live in that such a thing should have a place alongside a condom and money for a cab home on a safe date) and takes every chance to say that no matter what you're told - anything that happens to you when you're drugged is Not. Your. Fault. Period. Unfortunately, times being what they are, this is information every young girl should probably have. (And a self-defense class isn't a bad idea either.)
Overall, an awesome read. I'm going to give both books to my 15-year-old neice, but not until next year, when she turns 16. They're pretty intense reads, and her folks might not be happy with me if I gave them to her now. Maybe I'll sign us both up for a self-defense class at the local dojo in the meantime. =)
Anyway, I've read a couple lately, and I'm finally getting around to reviewing them. (I was trying to stick them under a cut, but LJ doesn't like me right now. So, sorry for the lengthy post.)
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. This non-fiction work by the terrific Ms. Kingsolver (with added bits from her husband and eldest daughter, Camille) details the year her family spent eating nothing they couldn't grow or acquire locally. The family moved from Tucson to Kingsolver's second husband's farm on a mostly wooded slope of acreage in the Appalachians. They raised chickens and turkeys, grew an enormous garden, bought milk and meat from neighboring farms and wheat from a nearby grain mill. They frequented the local farmers market and learned how to make their own cheese. It's an interesting idea, but it's clear that one must have time, funds and location on their side in order to pull something like this off. There are plenty of fascinating - and sometimes scary - facts about the evolution of the American diet into it's current state of disgrace, about the state of small farms in our country and about our government's not-so-subtle investment in helping Corporate America make us all fat.
I capitalized that C & A for a reason - Kingsolver has a self-admitted evangelical bent when it comes to eating locally, for both personal and environmental health reasons. So, if you can't get past that, don't read the book. You might end up hurling it across the room. Honestly, there's not a lot in the book that was new or uncomfortable to me, though I did learn a heck of a lot about asparagus, and I'm sorely tempted to dig up some lawn and plant a bed of it now.
It was a heroic and successful endeavor on the part of the Kingsolver family, and I did enjoy the read. It was also a chance for me to practice non-flagellation, since my ideals of how we eat don't always mesh with the reality. I don't buy peaches off season (because yuck!) but I'm not giving up bananas and the occasional pineapple if I don't have to. I buy what I can as locally and organically as possible - its pretty easy here in California - and forgive myself for the rest. In the end, I think all the baby steps add up.
And now, for something completely different.
Fade, by Lisa McMann. Fade is the sequel to McMann's NYT Bestselling YA novel Wake. She doesn't waste time recapping, which made me sorry that I hadn't reread the first book first. It took me a chapter or two to remember who was who and what was going on, and by then I was so sucked in it didn't really matter. The stories center on Janie, who is a Dream Catcher. If she's in the vicinity of a sleeping person, she gets pulled into their dreams. She's trying to learn to control it, because it has some unfortunate consequences - including making her a serious hazard on the road. It isn't easy, but her boyfriend Cabel, who's a "relationship builder" - he makes connections, builds trust and gets people to admit things they never would otherwise - is helping her deal with the physical side affects. They're both working undercover at their highschool, using their unique abilities to help the local police.
It's a fascinating premise and I love that it's written in third person present. It lets you get in both of their heads, but still keeps things imminent. McMann breaks pretty much all the writing rules and I love her for it. Her prose is spartan, her dialogue sharp and real - and peppered with plenty o' F bombs. This time, the subject of their investigation is a sexual predator, and Janie gets put in a very bad situation, but the self-defense class and her weightlifting with Cabe had her flooring her attackers in a way that made me cheer out loud. The book flap says "14 and up", despite some heavy sensuality, direct sexual description, and sexual violence. I did love that McMann describes the process of making roofies, shows how they can be slipped into anything with liquid (like the sauce on meatballs), explains that there are pocket sized test kits that anyone can get (and GODS, what a world we live in that such a thing should have a place alongside a condom and money for a cab home on a safe date) and takes every chance to say that no matter what you're told - anything that happens to you when you're drugged is Not. Your. Fault. Period. Unfortunately, times being what they are, this is information every young girl should probably have. (And a self-defense class isn't a bad idea either.)
Overall, an awesome read. I'm going to give both books to my 15-year-old neice, but not until next year, when she turns 16. They're pretty intense reads, and her folks might not be happy with me if I gave them to her now. Maybe I'll sign us both up for a self-defense class at the local dojo in the meantime. =)