Meanwhile, I am still reading.
- Better Off by Eric Brende: The idea of chucking all the gizmos and time stealing gadgetry out of my house and living "off the land" is very seductive to me. Granted, not seductive enough to actually do it. I think I have a different idea of leaving technology than Mr Brende does. I tend to limit technology to cell phones, computers, kindles (on which, ironically, I read this book.) In short: entertaining gadgetry. Mr Brende writes of "technology" in the sense of the machinery and processes meant to save us time and effort. Machinery and processes that have exploded since the dawn of the Industrial revolution. In that time, Mr Brende posits, we have slavishly devoted ourselves to them and in the process lost something: namely time and each other. He joins a "Minimite" group (a word he invented to describe the Amish/Mennonite hybrid community) and lives with them for 18 months. He and his wife work to be self-sufficient with essentially 19th century technology. The book, for me, often read like philosophy. Even after the experiment he, his wife and growing family choose to live as minimally as possible. For me the book was quite inspiring and I would love to use less and less technology, but I'm not sure now possible it is. (Nor am I sure if I'm just making excuses or if it really is damn near impossible in my town to live with less.)
- Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder: Obviously, this choice was inspired by Better Off. I am ashamed to admit that I never read these books as a child (I think I've admitted that before.) Even as an adult I enjoy them. I am often struck by how content the family seems with so little. I wish we could get back to that (myself definitely included.)
- 21 Day Weightloss Kickstart by Neal Barnard: Recently I'd fallen into the vegan junk-food trap. Pretty much a steady diet of potato chips, Fritos, Dr Pepper and Tofurky frozen pizza. My pants have let me know that it wouldn't hurt if I cut out the junk and eat a little better so I read this for a little inspiration.
I'm also sort of working on The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan (still) and Little House on the Prairie.
Offspring suggested a mother/daughter read-along and chose The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I am really enjoying it so far, but it is sure to be a sad tale. I read the Great Gatsby in high school, but I was young and foolish and didn't appreciate the author's beautiful way with words. It's a book I am savoring, though at first I struggled a bit because I was in a "this is a 'classic' every word must be fraught with meaning" mentality. Then I took a deep breath and changed my tactic to "this is a good book about Anthony and Gloria...nothing more." I liked it much better after that.
Aaaand I'm dipping into Goddesses in Everywoman ...another Offspring suggestion.
