I'm A Bookworm

I am so excited. Green Bean is hosting a book party for the month of May and has invited everyone to read a 'green' book and write about it.

I've made a stack of all my 'green' books so I could write about all of them.

I'm starting the month reading Uncertain Peril - Generic Engineering and the Future of Seeds by Claire Hope Cummings who I saw speak last night in Pt. Reyes with Percy Cummings, a Canadian farmer who won a court case against Monsanto.

I was not going to buy this book. The title was off putting. Good for a scientist, I reasoned, but not a book I would enjoy. I was wrong. I am loving this book.

And a slew of writers I respect or adore either blurbed the book or are acknowledged in the back, including the biggest surprise, Anne Lamott, who I'm a crazy fan of.

Here's my stack of already read (or in some cases not read) green reads in no particular order but how they stacked up --

Undoing the Silence - Six Tools for Social Change Writing by Louise Dunlap

I haven't read this book but I did a workshop with her that was quite moving. I intend on reading the book. Someday.

Foodfight - The Citizen's Guide to a Food and Farm Bill by Daniel Imhoff

Reading this was like driving in another state without a map. Not everything was unfamiliar but I had no idea where in the hell I was. What I learned is that the Farm Bill is impossible to put into a box. Or on a map.

Tassajara Cooking by Edward Espe Brown

This book is from 1973, the days when books only had one title and was given to me by a friend untouched after 35 years on her shelf. The recipes are honest, simple, forgiving.

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan

My expectations were too high to really appreciate this book.

real food - What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck

I saw her speak and bought the book. She was lovely, inspiring, smart. I've never cracked the book.

What to Eat by Marion Nestle

I love Marion Nestle because she has such big compassion for everyone that eats. And I love hearing her voice on the radio. I had great enthusiasm to read this cover to cover but only made it to the section on milk.

Eating Fossil Fuels - Oil, Food and the Coming Crisis in Agriculture by Dale Allen Pfeiffer

Dire title and I've never opened the book. The goods news - it's a small book.

Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

I've read everything by Ms. Kingsolver except the book about miners in Arizona or something. This book propelled and convinced me to eat local to cut my carbon bite. It's a keeper and the Friday night pizza recipe is delicious.

California Home Cooking by Michelle Anna Jordan

This was a surprise gift during the September Eat Local Challenge. The book is dog eared, familiar and completely without pretension. Just seeing it in the kitchen makes me happy.

Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan

This was the first so called green book I read. And it changed my life in terms of how I eat and think about food in the world. And consequently how I think about everything else in the world too.

An Unreasonable Woman - A True Story of Shrimpers Politicos Polluters and the Fight for Seasdrift, Texas by Diane Wilson

I loved this book. The Cute Guy loved this book. I love Diane Wilson.

Deep Economy - The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben

I finished this book three days ago. After the middle section where the author ate local for a year in Vermont I was reluctant to keep going but always enjoyed what I read once I got the book open. Bill McKibben is as warm hearted as he is intelligent.

Earth Democracy - Justice, Sustainability and Peace by Vandana Shiva

I saw Vandana speak last week in San Francisco. I was on fire after hearing her and ready to follow her around the world. I bought the book and have no connection with it whatsoever. I'm so disappointed because I know she has a lot to say.

Plenty - One Man, One Woman and A Raucous Year of Eating Locally by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon

The authors are present day pioneers not to mention a bit kooky and I routed for them with with every turn of the page. It's with fondness that I remember thier dresser drawer full with potatoes and the bugs they studiously picked from locally found flour.

If you aren't participating in the bookworm party at Green Beans but reading something green I'd love to know about it. I'm always on the look out for a good read.

And now I've got to get back to my book.