all books all the time

The Sons of Heaven - Kage Baker. ( Read more... )

Stepping Lightly: Simplicity for People and the Planet - Mark A. Burch. ( Read more... )

Being Vegan: Living with Conscience, Conviction, and Compassion - Joanne Stepaniak. ( Read more... )

Arrows of Rain - Okey Ndibe. ( Read more... )

Rain without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement - Gary L. Francione. ( Read more... )

The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World without Losing Your Way - Hillary Rettig. ( Read more... )

Choose Peace and Happiness: A 52-Week Guide - Susyn Reeve. ( Read more... )

Living Among Meat Eaters - Carol J. Adams. Re-read, in preparation for a stressful upcoming family weekend. I found Adams' pieces of advice as pithy as the first time I read them; I only wish I could remember them better when I needed them (must practice, ha).

She says that, in dealing w/meat eaters, we should act as if they are all blocked vegetarians; this will make dealing w/them a lot less stressful & conflict-ridden. I think this is good advice; like she says, even if someone ISN'T blocked, acting as though they were will make things less confrontational. And I believe, anyway, that an awful lot of meat-eaters are, actually, blocked vegetarians--I can see that happening when I hear the stories of folks who have gone veg*n, & I can see that in some of the more unpleasant reactions I've had in my life w/meat-eaters. There are probably some folks who aren't blocked vegetarians--like I can totally see George W. Bush gleefully meeting the eyes of a cow, w/full knowledge & awareness, & then holding a pistol to its head & shooting it point blank. And then anointing himself w/the gore, or something. But again, it makes sense to act like this is not true. Otherwise being around meat-eaters can get pretty stressful.

I also liked the recipes in the back of the book; I've tried some of them before & enjoyed them, & there are a few more that caught my eye this time.

Graceful Simplicity: The Philosophy and Politics of the Alternative American Dream - Jerome M. Segal. The premise of this book is interesting: that too many books on simple living focus on the individual--what you can do to reduce consumption in your own life--w/o taking into account the need for a political change in the way we, as a society, look at working hours, vacation, necessities, etc.

Unfortunately, I found this book really dull to read. There's a lot of recapping of what various philosophers, like Aristotle, thought about money & work. Mostly I found that stuff boring. There's also a lot of discussion about ways for Americans to reduce the work week on a large scale--not just for the lucky few who can negotiate a part-time deal w/their current employer, etc. Anyway, good ideas, worthy of pondering, but this book was so hard to get through. Yawn.

The Great American Detox Diet - Alex Jamieson. Vegan chef Jamieson is the partner of Morgan Spurlock, he of Super Size Me fame. She took over Spurlock's diet after he became severely ill doing his 30-day McDonald's-only experiment. Her book runs along the same lines; it's nothing that I haven't heard before, but I do like reading about how to eat healthy & stuff. It's accessible & fairly simple, & probably will be useful for folks thinking about this stuff for the first time. There are a lot of yummy-looking recipes in the back too.

I had two small complaints. One: she talks about how important it is to drink lots of water, & that the 8-10 glasses a day idea is a good one, but she never clarifies how big a "glass" is. 8 ounces? 16? More? Two: she talks about a quick way to get a vague idea (not a definitive diagnosis, she's clear on that) on whether or not you're sensitive to certain grains. She says to eat a small bowl of the grain first thing in the morning. Plain, no condiments, & before you even drink anything like coffee or tea. Then you're supposed to monitor yourself for a few hours. Do you feel tired? Foggy? Have a headache? If so, you might be sensitive to the grain. Except I kind of think if you take a typical caffeine addict & keep them from their drug in the morning, they'll feel tired & have a headache. There ought to only be one independent variable, thanks.