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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
Started reading in the middle of winter, hence was a little difficult to get into...but one I became efficiently enthused, I was engrossed.
I loved the format of all the writers contributions. Light hearted, realistic and amusing.
The book has left me in a world of questions, menu commitments and a keenness to furthering my already established local and/or organic lifestyle. Great work!...just the inspiration and push I've been looking for...
I loved the format of all the writers contributions. Light hearted, realistic and amusing.
The book has left me in a world of questions, menu commitments and a keenness to furthering my already established local and/or organic lifestyle. Great work!...just the inspiration and push I've been looking for...
There's one chapter with a cringe-worthy discussion of class that uses some insensitive language invoking slavery. There are some contentious claims, especially with regard to raw milk, that have not dated well, but overall an informative and enjoyable read.
Enjoyed this approachable and humorous account of the author's family farming and eating locally for a year. As with every time I read a book about sustainable/organic/local consumption, I am inspired to do better in my own shopping/eating habits, although the family-farm situation presented in the book was also somewhat discouraging for a renter in the suburbs who can never hope to attain that sort of self-sufficiency. A few sections got into the statistics and politics of food production (granted, it had to), which I feel like I've read about a zillion times before and lost my interest a bit, but for the most part the book was the personal and heartfelt story of the family's experience and was an entertaining read.
informative
slow-paced
Appetizing, illuminating, funny, mindful & joyful exploration of Kingsolver and her family's adventures eating
local and growing their own food for a year. Not preachy and wonderfully written. I believe I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.
local and growing their own food for a year. Not preachy and wonderfully written. I believe I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.
I love Barbara Kingsolver. This book was not easy to read.
If you want to be floored and appalled approximately every eight minutes, this is the book for you! It is certainly an excellent kick in the pants to eat more locally and to think more mindfully about food, culture, agriculture, life, and priorities.
If you want to be floored and appalled approximately every eight minutes, this is the book for you! It is certainly an excellent kick in the pants to eat more locally and to think more mindfully about food, culture, agriculture, life, and priorities.
brb divorcing my husband so I can marry someone who already has farmland in Appalachia that will allow me to leave my entire life behind and become incredibly preachy about how others should do the same.
Really though, Kingsolver can write, so so well and in such an engaging way, but holy moly is this book condescending. I really wanted to enjoy the actual subject this is about but laced throughout the book is Kingsolver, her husband, and eldest daughter seemingly shaming the reader for being lesser than if you don't live the way they do. Honestly, the level of condescension is unreal and I'm probably going to be turned off of Kingsolver's novels for a while because I won't be able to stop thinking about the tone of this book. There are many other things I bristled at (farmers being upheld as the paragon of humanity regardless of who they are as actual people, the urban vs rural discussions and general descriptions of city dwellers, hardly any acknowledgement of the privilege inherent in the book's premise, an explanation of rural communities in the south having suffered at the hands of a type of 'colonialism' without any mention of Native communities especially in terms of sustainable agriculture?????) but really, all anyone needs to know is this is a great premise and the writing is great but it's basically a lecture on how terrible you are and great this family is.
Really though, Kingsolver can write, so so well and in such an engaging way, but holy moly is this book condescending. I really wanted to enjoy the actual subject this is about but laced throughout the book is Kingsolver, her husband, and eldest daughter seemingly shaming the reader for being lesser than if you don't live the way they do. Honestly, the level of condescension is unreal and I'm probably going to be turned off of Kingsolver's novels for a while because I won't be able to stop thinking about the tone of this book. There are many other things I bristled at (farmers being upheld as the paragon of humanity regardless of who they are as actual people, the urban vs rural discussions and general descriptions of city dwellers, hardly any acknowledgement of the privilege inherent in the book's premise, an explanation of rural communities in the south having suffered at the hands of a type of 'colonialism' without any mention of Native communities especially in terms of sustainable agriculture?????) but really, all anyone needs to know is this is a great premise and the writing is great but it's basically a lecture on how terrible you are and great this family is.
This book was excellent. Though the idea of eating local and then writing about it isn't exactly original, Kingsolver kicks it up a notch by planting an enormous garden, raising turkeys (and slaughtering them), and including super informative mini-essays by her husband and daughter. Plus, there are recipes! I have seriously shifted my food buying habits over the past year, and this book has only served to strengthen my belief in local/organic. Even though this was a library read, I plan to go out and buy a copy because I want to have it on hand for reference--and to read again!
I listened to the audio version of this book on a 12-hour drive. This book is beautifully written, narrated by the author, and has moments of beautiful humor. It is a very interesting, informational, and inspiring piece of non-fiction writing about local food and the U.S. food industry. I appreciated all the factual asides written by the author's husband (a professor of biology) to lend a bit more credit to the family narrative. This book made me think twice about what I eat, when I eat it, and how to reduce my resource consumption. My housemates and I are probably going to start a garden in a few weeks, and I'm going to try to limit my purchases of exotic foods out of season.
However... the entire book reads kind of like a "this is the ideal to strive for" tale. People without a very comfortable income, a farm, gardening and animal husbandry experience, a book deal, and plenty of free time are NOT going to be able to emulate the author's behavior. I kept thinking how I can try this one day when I finally settle down in my own house where I plan to live for more than a few years... but certainly not now. Sure I can plant a garden, but realistically I'll only be able to enjoy its products for one season. I can't feasibly raise chickens in the city (although some do... ahem, rooster that crows at 3am), and I frankly don't have the money and can't/won't take the time to buy local foods and preserve them for the off-season.
It's alarming how well this family got along, how they all agreed on the project, didn't seem to complain, how everything pretty much worked out in the end, and all that. But, despite being somewhat annoyed by the perfection of it all, it did inspire me.
However... the entire book reads kind of like a "this is the ideal to strive for" tale. People without a very comfortable income, a farm, gardening and animal husbandry experience, a book deal, and plenty of free time are NOT going to be able to emulate the author's behavior. I kept thinking how I can try this one day when I finally settle down in my own house where I plan to live for more than a few years... but certainly not now. Sure I can plant a garden, but realistically I'll only be able to enjoy its products for one season. I can't feasibly raise chickens in the city (although some do... ahem, rooster that crows at 3am), and I frankly don't have the money and can't/won't take the time to buy local foods and preserve them for the off-season.
It's alarming how well this family got along, how they all agreed on the project, didn't seem to complain, how everything pretty much worked out in the end, and all that. But, despite being somewhat annoyed by the perfection of it all, it did inspire me.
I enjoyed this book a great deal and found it to be quite inspirational as well as educational. Kingsolver has a wonderful way with words and paints funny, very human portraits of their life. She crunches some numbers at the end and includes a cost analysis of the experiment--a real eye opener.
I was a bit put off at first by the introduction, which unexpectedly dove right into editorializing that seemed a bit in-your-face. But I enjoyed the rest of the book quite a lot. Hearing from Camille and Stephen periodically was also a nice way to switch things up, and provided some different and very practical ways of looking at the issues.
I was a bit put off at first by the introduction, which unexpectedly dove right into editorializing that seemed a bit in-your-face. But I enjoyed the rest of the book quite a lot. Hearing from Camille and Stephen periodically was also a nice way to switch things up, and provided some different and very practical ways of looking at the issues.