Local Food Heals Communities

Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement Is Changing the Way We Eat by Tanya Cobb Denckla
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

#Food #UrbanFarming #CommunityGardens #LocalFood

“Reclaiming Our Food: How the Grassroots Food Movement Is Changing the Way We Eat” by Tanya Cobb Denckla (@ReclaimingOurFood) is a textbook for anyone who wants to create social and community change through food. This is so much more than just a book about how to start a community garden, though if that is something you want to do, GO GET THIS BOOK! It’s a must read for anyone that wants to start a community garden or urban farm.

I am not looking to start a community garden or build an urban farm any time soon, but I am interested in how community gardens and the like affect the community. This book is full of examples of the restorative power that gardens and fresh food have on a community. It is amazing how something so small as a raised garden bed can transform the people that eat from it. From preserving cultural growing conditions and traditions, to healing superfund sites with raised beds, this book describes how to succeed. It covers everything from the practical details of starting a community garden, to how to build a permaculture farm. If you have ever wanted to start something green in your community but didn’t know where to start, this is the book for you. And if, like me, you are interested in the phenomenon of feeding communities more locally and sustainably, this book will open your eyes to far more possibilities than you knew were available. Furthermore, there is an excellent resources section in the back of the book to get you started on your project.

I recommend this book to anyone who has any interest at all in local food. Even if you have no desire to start your own urban farm or community garden, you will get tons of useful information and inspiration from this book. It will definitely give you hope for the future.


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Outlaw Marriages: The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples by Rodger Streitmatter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

#bookreview #nonfiction #history

“Outlaw Marriages: The Hidden Histories of Fifteen Extraordinary Same-Sex Couples” by Rodger Streitmatter caught my eye because it offered insight into the private life of Gertrude Stein, whom I have always been interested in. But this book is a whole lot more than just a few literary lives. It spotlights couples that were instrumental in social change, education, art, interior decorating, journalism, and a whole lot more. Aside from their outlaw marriages, the couples in this book are simply fascinating. I really enjoyed reading about how these people developed and became leaders in their fields.

Sadly, the partnerships that helped to create these amazing careers have gone unsung until now. A central theme to this book was that it took both members of the partnership to create amazing lives. Over and over again the book details how each partner encouraged, inspired, and enabled the other to accomplish great things. Truly, we all build our lives with the help of our friends, lovers, and families, and this book brings that lesson home.


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Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I want everyone I know to read this book.

Frequently, I found myself laughing out loud while reading, "Let's Pretend This Never Happened", sometimes waking my boyfriend in the middle of the night. Then I would have to explain to him that I couldn't get the image of an OCD, JAMS-wearing, raccoon named Rambo, frantically trying to wash a bar of soap in the bathroom sink until his little raccoon fingers turn pruney. This is the sort conversation you will have with others while reading this book.

Aside from the rollicking hilarity that fills the pages of Lawson's memoir, she also writes candidly about her anxiety disorder and her struggle living with RA. Lawson writes intimately about her inner monologue and how it frequently becomes her outer monologue, about becoming a mother, and about her relationship with her husband, Victor.

Lawson's memoir is a quick read, but it is generous with humor and honesty. By the end of the book you'll feel like you've become friends with Jenny, and if you follow her on Twitter and her blog, you really are.


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The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really enjoyed this book. It has a little bit of everything: history, murder, ambition, art, spectacle, and much, much more. It was well-paced and never dwelt on any one topic for too long before bringing the reader back to a new, interesting event or person. It is full of fun and wonderful details and personalities. It brings the struggle and glory of the Chicago World's Fair to life, and made me wish I could have seen it myself.

Seriously, put it on your "to read" list. You won't be sorry.




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Wilder's French War Fantasy

My French Whore by Gene Wilder

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This novelette started of quaint and sweet. The language was simple, but the characters had depth and charm. The story took a turn when the hero began playing himself off as a German spy. It was a little suspenseful, but ultimately still felt like a charming lark. Which is why the abrupt ending was so unnerving for me. I felt like I had been on a happy little carousel ride that ended in the steep drop of a roller coaster.


"My French Whore" was entertaining light reading. It would be a great beach/vacation book, or something to distract on the plane.



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Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers by Robert M. Sapolsky

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Robert Sapolsky is one of my favorite science writers. I generally find his work engaging, informative, and conversational, and “Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers” is no exception. This book is dense! It is jam packed with information on how your body reacts to and copes with stress. By the end of it, I found my self wondering if there was anything that glucocorticoids couldn't screw up. Though parts of it did drag a bit (for me), on the whole I found the chapters in this book to be interesting and full of useful information. I was a bit disappointed with the last chapter, however. I was hoping for more concrete suggestions on how to deal with and lessen stress. But perhaps that was an impractical expectation on my part.



I would recommend this book to anyone who worries about what effect their stressful life might be having on their mind and body. This book will clearly lay out those effects in detail, and knowing what's going on (why you aren't sleeping, why you are gaining weight, for example) is the first step to stopping it.



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"A Long Way Down" Felt Like a Long Way To Nowhere

A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


This book was a struggle to get through from the beginning. Generally, I consider myself a fan of Nick Hornby. I don't think he's God's gift to literature or anything, but his novels are usually entertaining and satisfying like a particularly well constructed romantic comedy movie.



"A Long Way Down" however lacked charm, substance, and narrative arc. It went nowhere, slowly. I kept waiting for the characters to develop into people I could give a shit about, but that never happened. In fact, I found them so boring and unlikeable that I hoped that they would all just jump off of that rooftop and end the misery for all of us.



Only my dogged tenacity and hope that Hornby would somehow redeem the story in the end kept me reading. It turns ou, that there was no payoff in finishing this mind-numbing, nose-picking, navel-gazing slop. I would not recommend it to anyone.



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