I enjoyed Eldest by Christopher Paolini enough that I decided to go ahead and finish out the series with Brisingr. It was a really good read, maybe even better than the first two, but as I got closer to the end I kept thinking, "How is he possible going to finish this up with so little of the book left?" Well, the answer was that he didn't!!! Apparently, at some point, he decided to turn the Inheritance Trilogy into the Inheritance Cycle and I missed the update. This is totally his prerogative but it would have been nice to know ahead of time! I like to know when a 750 page book is going to be followed by another big book! Ugh! And the worst part is the last book isn't even out yet! Grrr....This is my only real objection to Fantasy, there is always another book you have to wait for to find out what happens to the character you have just gotten really attached to!
Alright, moving on....
Most of those reading this blog know me so it won't come as a surprise to you when I admit to having a bit of a food obsession. I'm not sure when it started, but finding out our youngest child has Celiac Disease definitely kicked it into high gear. As a result, I am often reading several food related books. Right now they include, American Artisanal: Finding the Country's Best Real Food, from Cheese to Chocolate by Rebecca Gray, You Can Farm: the Entrepreneur's Guide to Start and Succeed in a Farming Enterprise by Joel Salatin and How to Grow a School Garden by Bucklin-Sporer and Pringle.
The first book is something I ran across in the cooking section at B&N. They usually have a selection of books about food along with the cook books and I have found several of them to be really interesting. This one covers a different food in each chapter, each one being the best of the best that you can find in the U.S. I like the idea that a food can be specialized in a place because of the place it is grown/cooked/created in. For instance, Michigan blueberries, Alaskan Salmon, etc. Gray is an interesting writer and even makes the history of beef production in Chicago seem interesting. I especially like that I can read a chapter, put the book down for several days, or weeks, and then pick it up again an start a new chapter. It makes it handy for when I have a half hour here or there.
You Can Farm is actually a book recommended to me by my father-in-law who we have been trying to convince to buy a farm we can all someday relocate to. Salatin is the author of several books I have run across on Amazon, and I am finding this one particularly inspirational and entertaining. He is a very opinionated man and spares no ones feelings in telling you exactly how it is. I seem to like this in an author and have no problem ignoring the rants that I don't agree with and accepting whole-heartedly the parts that I do. So far I have loved his philosophy for farming which includes environmentally enhancing agriculture, seasonal production cycles and humane animal husbandry. I also like that he encourages the reader to get off her duff and do something now! Don't wait for when you can afford land which might just be never. Just do what you can to get as much experience as you can right now. Dig up your flower beds and plant veggies, stop mowing your lawn and plant herbs, grow chickens in your backyard! Do what you can and do it now. (Well...not right now when there is three feet of snow on the ground, but soon!) I like his attitude and even if by the end of the book I decide there is no way I would ever make it as a farmer I will have learned a lot about how food is/or should be grown. Which is something I think everyone needs to learn if our children and grandchildren are going to have any chance of thriving in the future.
The last book was prompted by my high hopes of getting a garden started in my oldest daughters elementary school. I realize that this endeavor will probably land squarely on my shoulders, but at least it is something I am passionate about. The book is based in San Francisco so I realize my biggest hurdle might be the Minnesota winter, but I'm determined to figure something out. I think it is worth the time and effort if it means the kids will get the chance to eat something they grew with their own hands, if it means they know french fries come from potatoes and potatoes grow underground, and if it means my kid will get to go outside a little bit more when the weather is nice!
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