Dear Life by Alice Munro. Anything by Munro will be hard to come by right now as she is the 2013 recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. This title is a collection of short stories which is her forte. I rather compare her to Flannery O’Connor with the exception of O’Connor’s descriptions coming from the South and Munro’s coming from small Canadian towns. They both zero in on character exploration, their inner workings as humans with dark tendencies and paint colorful, detailed settings with lavish yet refined strokes of a brush.
Organic Manifesto by Maria Rodale. Her grandfather began the movement towards more organic, biological gardening back in the 60’s when conventional methods were starting to erode the life and dignity of the farmer. Her father self-published countless articles, books and formed Rodale Press. Maria explains why organic farming works and is our solution. She explains why and how it can save the planet vs. how GMO’s, greed and present practices are poisoning our soil, our lives, our air and our water. We are literally choking, polluting and ravaging the eco systems. She cites data and much research in order to back up her claims. This read will enrage, instruct and change you but mostly it will have you questioning and thinking more provocatively about our hand in the destruction of our own and only habitat, the earth. She also offers answers, hope and actions we, as individuals, can participate in.
On Writing – A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King. When I picked up this book I didn’t even know they were making a remake of Carrie. My son just watched The Shining for the first time and reviewed it favorably. Who hasn’t read a Stephen King novel or watched a movie based on one of his thrillers? In his memoir, he recalls with vivid detail his childhood and his experiences with writing and his passion for writing. He continues to describe his struggle, his early mistakes, rejections and career setbacks. How his very life was saved by writing (common theme amongst most authors). The book is entertaining, conversational and down to earth so far.
The Pocket Muse 2 – Endless Inspiration for Writers by Monica Wood. This is a wonderfully illustrated and insightful book for any writer who needs a new lens to see through or a supportive push.
Eat to Live Cookbook by Dr. Joel Fuhrman, author of Eat to Live. This brand new lifestyle and cookbook was awaiting unexepectedly for me at Costco on a spontaneous trip. My husband told me to browse the books and almost when I was pretty much sure all the titles were useless, I saw this gem. I had gone to Barnes and Nobles that very same day earlier looking for this book and got the next one below instead because they didn’t have ETL (eat to live) in stock. Fuhrman reviews the ETL concept which is vegan based and includes tons of recipes from his own family’s and from various chefs’ that have adopted his nutritarianism.
The Vegan Cheat Sheet by Amy Cramer and Lisa McComsey – Remember two fat ladies cookbook and show? Well, this is two healthy ladies who came to veganism for health reasons, not animal right reasons and wrote this mostly recipe book with 100 very simple and tasty oil free recipes, tips and fun facts.