Tuesday, March 24, 2009

book club fun

My book club has been reading this bookand tonight we are discussing it over a potluck dinner at a local non-profit, educational farm. I can't wait to tell you about it.

Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Kingsolver, along with husband Steven Hopp, and daughter Camille, Barbara Kingsolver tells of her family's one-year adventure to feed themselves with locally produced food, most of it harvested by themselves.

"As the U.S. population made an unprecedented mad dash for the Sun Belt, one carload of us paddled against the tide, heading for the Promised Land where water falls from the sky and green stuff grows all around. We were about to begin the adventure of realigning our lives with our food chain."

"Naturally, our first stop was to buy junk food and fossil fuel. . . ."

Informative, yet humourous, this earnest and entertaining tale unfolds with Kingsolver's classic beautiful prose. The books sizzles with sensuality from vegetable eating in consort with the rhythms of the seasons to turkey sex.

Rick Bass reviews the book for The Boston Globe:
It's a rare book about which it can be said, "It will change your life..." "...this text will fold quietly into the reader's consciousness, with affecting grace and dignity, because of its prose and sensibilities."
"...a profound, graceful, and literary work of philosophy and economics, well tempered for our times, and yet timeless."

Barbara Kingsolver's own website
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle website with recipes and resources Barbara, Steven, Camille, Lily

15 comments:

  1. Book clubs can be so much fun :) I need a magazine club...as I never seem to get a whole book done in time to participate in a club!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It usually takes me the entire month to get through the one book. Sometimes, I have to listen to it at the same time. However, I do "read" many more books because I listen to them! in the car, in my house while cooking or cleaning up the kitchen, or making crafts

    ReplyDelete
  3. I've always wanted to be in a book club but have not found a local one yet. I love to read and this book certainly sounds like an interesting read. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Our local library has a book club, or at least a meeting once a month where a book is discussed. Some book stores also have these.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Barbara -- I finally posted the Sisterhood Award on my blog, linked to your shop, and was just about to leave you a comment telling you I had done so when I found that you beat me to it! :) I wrote the post, and then got up to prepare the last phase of the carrot soup I'm making, got to a good stopping point, and then sat down to write you. You must have amazing powers of telepathy -- either that or Google Alert. :) Thanks for cutting my slack on being a rule breaker. I just found it too hard to pick and didn't want to leave anyone out. We're all sisters! :)

    Thanks again! By the way, I love Barbara Kingsolver, and I always enjoyed reading Eric Carl's books to my kids when they were little. Great psots!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds like an inspiring book...I think this is the way of the future...locally produced goods...everybody with their own vegie patch...and fruit trees...back the way it was maybe 50 years ago...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I have wanted to read this because they live near us (about a 2-hour drive south). I really like Barbara Kingsolver's fiction - especially "The Poisonwood Bible".

    P.S. I'm glad I identified the double orange daylily correctly - I grow them too (some people think they are weeds, but I really like them!)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Growing your own food or getting it from local farms is the best in so many ways, not the least of which is that the food tastes great! Enjoy your potluck, and than you for commenting on the treasury!

    ReplyDelete
  9. sounds like a good book. We usually will grow veges for cooking and salads. Getting that time of year - but it's supposed to SNOW this weekend! Ugh!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh if only I had more time to read! That sounds like a truly delightful time. I can't wait to hear all about it:-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. What is a local non-profit educational farm? That intrigues me:)

    www.akanedesigns.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. I will be answering this in a day or two.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I will have to check this out since it is about the same adventure I am having with my family right now! Thanks for sharing.

    (BTW: Chick, Chick, and Chick will be laying hens for us when they are old enough.)

    ReplyDelete
  14. One of my ALL TIME favorite books, and author! Enjoy! and remember to buy local at your farmer's market this summer, or buy a CSA from a local farm!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I'd be interested in reading this - some other of the people in my group were talking about this book and others. I had never heard of Kingsolver before.

    ReplyDelete

Your comments make my day! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!