Hey all! Late spring/early summer is getting the best of me - gardening, biking, and storm watching! Last night's storm was a great edition of the "Theater of the sky." Lightning! Thunder! Action!
As a result, I'm late to getting to my monthly posting. But that doesn't mean I haven't been reading...
I just finished "Proust was a neuroscientist" by Jonah Lehrer - it's a great look at how artists such as Walt Whitman, Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf all perceived things about how we think, see and speak well before scientists came up with similar discoveries. Quite compelling!
Next up is a book from the '70s called "Small is Beautiful" - it's about designing businesses for small-scale economies, rather than trying to grow, grow, grow... I've heard the author quoted and referenced a few times lately, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
If my month goes REALLY well, I'll get to Wendell Berry. Since he's mention by both Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver in the books I read last month, it feels like a natural progression.
What about you? What are you reading this month? Seeing any themes developping in your choices? Mine is all about the land right now... perhaps because I'm having so much fun in the garden?
Let me know what you're reading, and more importantly - what you think of it!
Cheers,
Marianne
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Comments: 18
I just finished "The Yiddish Policeman's Union" by Michael Chabon. That's not strictly SF but is set in an alternative present in which instead of Israel, the Jewish homeland is Alaska.
I'm currently reading "The Scar" by China Tom Mieville.
I recently read "In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto" by Michael Pollan, and although I'm not reading it in one sitting, I'm regularly visiting "The Splendid Table's 'How to Eat Supper' " for recipe ideas.
I just finished Scarlett, by Alexandra Ripley and Texas, By James Michener, which I started before sumer. Texas took a long time for me to read but was definitely worth the effort.
I plan to read next The Bathsheba Deadline and Indecent Proposal, both by Jack Engelhard.
In something bigger than yourself
You can follow the flag forever"
[from FOLLOW THE FLAG, Lyrics and music: Randy Newman]
Recommended listening and reading for this Flag Day, June 14, 2008.
Newman's song lyrics honor flag symbolism and question flag symbolism without ridicule. His musical orchestration is sparse and precise.
A couple of recent excellent reads include "The Gift of Rain" by Tan Twan Eng, and "The Gargoyle" by Andrew Davidson which I have reviewed here.
I hope to read "Taking on the Trust" as well as Suzi McGregor's beautiful book, Living Homes: Sustainable Architecture and Design.
Elizabeth - please let us know how you liked Child44. It has gotten a lot of press and is being hailed as a great debut.
A stone-wall builder and I will meet today to draw out a plan for raised bed stonework gardens in a 300 sq.ft. (+/-) area for gardening from wheelchairs.
Garden baskets, hanging from metal posts, provide another opportunity for gardening from a wheelchair.
Any suggestions, plans, or photographs of gardens for gardening from a wheelchair?
Check this site: www.onestopgardens.com for interesting tools (and a pneumatic chair!)
I found these plans on the internet, but they look a little complicated. (See photos here.)
Thanks.
I use raised beds for my garden - 4'wx4'l, which are a great length for moving around and reaching over. I have seen higher versions of my beds used to make them more accessible from a sitting position, both for people in wheelchairs and for people who need to sit and rest often. The book that really spawned this style of gardening is called "Square Foot Gardening" - it's mainly oriented toward vegetable gardening, but it can also be used for creating a cutting garden for flowers.
Hope this helps!
What a great review of "The Gargoyle!" I love the image of Marianne Engel carving gargoyles out of stone - giving light to something dark - which I gather from your writing is also what she's doing to the main character?
Now I can't wait to read it! A great review....
Thanks. In a few minutes I will leave to ride my bike to a farmer's market. Later today I will post a photograph - maybe a few photographs - of a garden I planted and tended in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Be well.