I've been waiting to read Braiding Sweetgrass for more than a year until my book club read it together, but the wait was worth it...What a book! RobinI've been waiting to read Braiding Sweetgrass for more than a year until my book club read it together, but the wait was worth it...What a book! Robin Wall Kimmerer uses her Native American traditions and her scientific knowledge of plants to offer up ways for people in the world to step back from our wasteful and destructive ways and to save our planet. And all of this, she tells us, can be done by taking one small step at a time.
Kimmerer focuses on healing through gratitude and reciprocity. I am fascinated with these concepts and I love the idea of applying them to everything we do in the world.
I have so many quotes from this book that I love.
"If we want to grow good citizens, then let us teach reciprocity. If what we aspire to is justice for all, then let it be justice for all of Creation."
'I looked around at the garden and could feel her delight in giving us these beautiful raspberries, squash, basil, potatoes, asparagus, lettuce, kale and beets, broccoli, peppers, brussels sprouts, carrots, dill, onions, leeks, spinach. It reminded me of my little girls’ answer to “How much do I love you?” “Thiiiiiiiis much,” with arms stretched wide, they replied. This is really why I made my daughters learn to garden—so they would always have a mother to love them, long after I am gone.'
"I spend a lot of time thinking about our relationships with land, how we are given so much and what we might give back. I try to work through the equations of reciprocity and responsibility, the whys and wherefores of building sustainable relationships with ecosystems. All in my head. But suddenly there was no intellectualizing, no rationalizing, just the pure sensation of baskets full of mother love. The ultimate reciprocity, loving and being loved in return."
"The old teachings recognized that Windigo nature is in each of us, so the monster was created in stories, that we might learn why we should recoil from the greedy part of ourselves. This is why Anishinaabe elders like Stewart King remind us to always acknowledge the two faces—the light and the dark side of life—in order to understand ourselves. See the dark, recognize its power, but do not feed it."
'We are all complicit. We’ve allowed the “market” to define what we value so that the redefined common good seems to depend on profligate lifestyles that enrich the sellers while impoverishing the soul and the earth.'
"The fear for me is far greater than just acknowledging the Windigo within. The fear for me is that the world has been turned inside out, the dark side made to seem light. Indulgent self-interest that our people once held to be monstrous is now celebrated as success. We are asked to admire what our people viewed as unforgivable."
'“You might not get to be around those other fires very often,” he says, “but there’s fire you must tend to every day. The hardest one to take care of is the one right here,” he says, tapping his finger against his chest. “Your own fire, your spirit. We all carry a piece of that sacred fire within us. We have to honor it and care for it. You are the firekeeper.”'
"...I believe the answer is contained within our teachings of “One Bowl and One Spoon,” which holds that the gifts of the earth are all in one bowl, all to be shared from a single spoon. This is the vision of the economy of the commons, wherein resources fundamental to our well-being, like water and land and forests, are commonly held rather than commodified. Properly managed, the commons approach maintains abundance, not scarcity. These contemporary economic alternatives strongly echo the indigenous worldview in which the earth exists not as private property, but as a commons, to be tended with respect and reciprocity for the benefit of all."
"We are all bound by a covenant of reciprocity: plant breath for animal breath, winter and summer, predator and prey, grass and fire, night and day, living and dying. Water knows this, clouds know this. Soil and rocks know they are dancing in a continuous giveaway of making, unmaking, and making again the earth."
"The moral covenant of reciprocity calls us to honor our responsibilities for all we have been given, for all that we have taken. It’s our turn now, long overdue. Let us hold a giveaway for Mother Earth, spread our blankets out for her and pile them high with gifts of our own making. Imagine the books, the paintings, the poems, the clever machines, the compassionate acts, the transcendent ideas, the perfect tools. The fierce defense of all that has been given. Gifts of mind, hands, heart, voice, and vision all offered up on behalf of the earth. Whatever our gift, we are called to give it and to dance for the renewal of the world. In return for the privilege of breath."
Folktales are old. Folktales arise from an oral tradition. Folktales are good because they are old and because they arise from an oral tradition. No oFolktales are old. Folktales arise from an oral tradition. Folktales are good because they are old and because they arise from an oral tradition. No one retells a story that is not good. Stories get better as they are told more and more.
This is a wonderful collection of folktales from around the world. The stories are about love and old age and trickery and work and families---all the important things---and they are testaments to both the unfailing wickedness and the unfailing redemption available in the world....more
The spiritual gift of discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10) is when seemingly good things can be recognized as sometimeI could have underlined everything.
The spiritual gift of discernment (1 Corinthians 12:10) is when seemingly good things can be recognized as sometimes-bad things, and seemingly bad things can also be seen to bear some good fruit. Discernment has largely been undeveloped among ordinary Christians, except among the Jesuits. It invites people into what I call Yes/And thinking rather than simplistic, either/or thinking. This is the difference between merely having correct information and exhibiting the true spiritual gift of wisdom (1 Corinthians 12:8). Both knowledge and wisdom are good, but wisdom is much better. It demands the maturity of discernment, which is what it takes to develop a truly consistent ethic of life. I admit, the vast majority of people are not there yet. Once you have learned to discern the real and disguised nature of both good and evil, you recognize that everything is broken and fallen, weak and poor—while still being the dwelling place of God: you and me, your country, your children, your marriage, and even your church and mosque and synagogue. That is not a put-down of anybody or anything, but actually creates the freedom to love imperfect things! As Jesus told the rich young man, “God alone is good!” (Mark 10:18). In this, you may have been given the greatest recipe for happiness for the rest of your life. You cannot wait for things to be totally perfect to fall in love with them, or you will never love anything. Now, instead, you can love everything!
When Christians pretend that every line in the Bible is of equal importance and inspiration, they are being very unlike Jesus.
Jesus consistently ignored or even denied exclusionary, punitive, and triumphalistic texts in his own Jewish Bible in favor of passages that emphasized inclusion, mercy, and honesty.
God becomes more a verb than a noun, more a process than a conclusion, more an experience than a dogma, more a personal relationship than an idea. There is Someone dancing with you and you no longer need to prove to anyone that you are right, nor are you afraid of making mistakes. Another word for that is faith.
Literalism is the lowest and least level of meaning in a spiritual text. Willful people use Scripture literally when it serves their purposes and they use it figuratively when it gets in the way of their cultural biases. Willing people let the Scriptures change them instead of using them to change others.
God loves you so that you can change. What empowers change, what makes you desirous of change, is the experience of love and acceptance itself.
You are never holy enough, pure enough, refined enough, or loving enough. Whereas, when you fall into God’s mercy, when you fall into God’s great generosity, you find, seemingly from nowhere, this capacity to change. No one is more surprised than you are. You know it is a total gift.
I believe that we have no real access to who we really are except in God. Only when we rest in God can we find the safety, the spaciousness, and the scary freedom to be who we are, all that we are, more than we are, and less than we are. Only when we live and see through God can everything belong.
I believe that we have no real access to who we really are except in God. Only when we rest in God can we find the safety, the spaciousness, and the scary freedom to be who we are, all that we are, more than we are, and less than we are. Only when we live and see through God can everything belong.
Be still and know that I am God. Be still and know that I am. Be still and know. Be still. Be.
Everything you need to know to bake perfect pies? Everything? Really?
Amazingly, I think the title claim is true. There is literally everything you neEverything you need to know to bake perfect pies? Everything? Really?
Amazingly, I think the title claim is true. There is literally everything you need to know about baking perfect pies in this book. It may be the best single book about pie baking that I have ever read. And I have read a lot of books.
What are some of the things I learned?
Pies bake well in cast-iron skillets. Cream cheese in pie crust adds tanginess. Don’t add sugar to the dough. Instead, add to the top in sweet pies, and add salt to the top in savory ones. Flaky doughs like high temperatures. Colder is always better when pie dough is involved.
I copied down the book’s “All Buttah Pie Dough” which I fully intend to try soon. I also couldn’t resist writing down the nut crust, the crumb crust, and a roll-out cookie crust...I made drawings for myself of various ways to crimp a pie crust...and listed some of the intriguing pies (How about a Birthday Cake Pie? A Rosé Peach Pie? What about a Cardamom Crème Brûlée Pie?) And on and on…
Face it. I just need to buy a copy of this wonderful book. ...more
Pies! No other food brings such rich memories of home baking as pies do for me. My mom was a pie baker. My grandma was a pie baker. And I am a pie bakPies! No other food brings such rich memories of home baking as pies do for me. My mom was a pie baker. My grandma was a pie baker. And I am a pie baker. I remember the table of pies my grandma made for Thanksgiving, for Christmas, for Easter, sometimes just for Sunday dinner. Lemon meringue pie. Cherry pie. Pecan pie. Apple pie. Chocolate pie. Banana pecan pie. When my grandma passed away, it was her box of pie recipes I chose in memory of her.
I am always in search of books about pies. Pie Academy is a perfect book for the new pie baker. Author Ken Haedrich shares all the important information about pies---crusts, fillings, tools, and more---while keeping the art of pie baking accessible for all. Haedrich offers both the if-you-want-to have-the-best-results tips along with the good-enough tips, and that's huge, I think.
Some of my takeaways from this book:
*Making a perfect piecrust, especially cutting in the fat, and keeping everything cold *Turning the piecrust while rolling it out to avoid it sticking *What to do with pastry trimmings *Twenty-five different piecrusts
Pie Academy has lots of recipes I'm interested in trying, especially Pumpkin-Praline Pie; Maple-Pecan Pie; Lemon Chess Pie; Fried Peach Pies; Eggnog Chiffon Pie; and Kahlua Fudge Brownie Pie....more
I knew by January 3 that I was going to love this book. By spring I was starting to dread the turning of pages. In September I hated to think that theI knew by January 3 that I was going to love this book. By spring I was starting to dread the turning of pages. In September I hated to think that the book would be coming to an end.
You know the feeling you have when you wish a book was but the first in a series? That's how I felt about Year of Wonder. I could have gone on reading this book every day forever.
I found a copy of the book at the end of November. I also got a copy of the audiobook, thinking that it would include a bit of each piece, but, no, it did not. I found a playlist on Spotify that included almost all of the pieces in the book, and so my adventure began. Year of Wonder is a compilation of a short writing about a piece of music for each day of the year. I read the daily essay and then listened on Spotify to the musical selection. And I marked each selection that I especially liked and made a playlist of my own on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/52o....
I will look for more from Clemency Burton-Hill....more
Nancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager interview a wide variety of America's best writers about the books that made them who they are.
I love to get suggestionNancy Pearl and Jeff Schwager interview a wide variety of America's best writers about the books that made them who they are.
I love to get suggestions about good books, and who better to suggest books than writers of good books?
This was a library copy, but I liked it so much that I decided to get my own copy of it.
From the interview with Amor Towles, in which he spoke about reading a book called Where Shall Wisdom Be Found? by Harold Bloom: "Bloom's book had a big effect on me. I closed it thinking: I'm turning forty. If I live to eighty and read one book a month carefully---where I underline and reflect upon what I've read and write down my thoughts---that means I've got just 480 books left! Yet I had just spent a year reading a series of contemporary novels that didn't make a mark on me. So I decided that I had to do something different. I decided to focus on reading books that were so accomplished, so rich, you would benefit from reading them at the age of twenty and forty and sixty and eighty."
Where are the best films made in the world? Film critic Roger Ebert says Japan, the US, and France. And what are the best French films? Ebert respondsWhere are the best films made in the world? Film critic Roger Ebert says Japan, the US, and France. And what are the best French films? Ebert responds with a list of twenty-five, with essays about each.
Here is the list: Amélie Au Revoir les Enfants Belle de Jour Breathless Caché Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) Day for Night The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie 400 Blows Grand Illusion Hairdresser's Husband Jean de Florette Jules & Jim La Vie en Rose La Belle Noiseuse Le Boucher Man on the Train Manon of the Spring Mr. Hulot's Holiday My Father's Glory My mother's Castle Rendezvous in Paris Rules of the Game Sunday in the Country Three Colors Trilogy: Blue White Red ...more
Mary Oliver covers it all in her poems---life and death, pain and joy, loss and gain, sacrifice and gift, simplicity and complexity, the human amid naMary Oliver covers it all in her poems---life and death, pain and joy, loss and gain, sacrifice and gift, simplicity and complexity, the human amid nature...everything. She's somehow brilliant without ever seeming to put out any effort toward becoming so. Her poems are some of the wisest poems I've ever read.
This oversized picture book tells the story of the recent extinctions of felines, reptiles, swimmers, birds, amphibians, marsupials, primates, and othThis oversized picture book tells the story of the recent extinctions of felines, reptiles, swimmers, birds, amphibians, marsupials, primates, and other groups of animals, accompanied with drawings of the lost animals that will make your heart wrench with sadness. The text is just perfect for children, with just the right amount of information, and the pictures highlight the fascinating details of the now-extinct animals. This is a book I want to share with my naturalist friends and librarians. ...more
Artist David Hockney and art critic Martin Gayford take readers on a trip through time and space to highlight some of the most wonderful art of all tiArtist David Hockney and art critic Martin Gayford take readers on a trip through time and space to highlight some of the most wonderful art of all time. (Note: There is a heavy concentration of David Hockney's art in the selections.)...more
You don't realize it. This will be a task you will have to take on one day, be you a parent or a granddad or an uncle: you will have to encourage a chYou don't realize it. This will be a task you will have to take on one day, be you a parent or a granddad or an uncle: you will have to encourage a child to become a reader.
So how do you do it?
According to Pamela Paul, it's simple really; you create a culture of books. Share books in every way you can.
What books do you choose?
Pamela Paul is ready to help you there, too. She has excellent lists of contemporary children's books for every age.
What about children who don't want to read?
Patience, grasshopper, patience. Continue on with your culture of books and it will come in time.
Bill Bryson teaches you everything you didn’t know you wanted to know about the human body in this book. Bryson takes on the brain and skin and hair aBill Bryson teaches you everything you didn’t know you wanted to know about the human body in this book. Bryson takes on the brain and skin and hair and the skeleton and the immune system and lungs and food and guts and sleep and birth and nerves and pain and disease and cancer and death. He tells the stories of the scientists behind the discoveries about the body. Everything is backed with science and footnotes, and that’s part of the delight in this book, but the other part are the anecdotes about the body and the people studying the body, and that’s a true joy.
This is the kind of book that (probably) drives everyone else in your family crazy; you read a little and you can’t help yourself from reading parts of it aloud, and then you laugh together and walk away, and you read some more, and then you share some more, and on and on to the end.
I've been reading on this collection of myths for almost a month, and I really didn't want to come up for air. A one sentence summary: these stories aI've been reading on this collection of myths for almost a month, and I really didn't want to come up for air. A one sentence summary: these stories are the best stories of all time. There are stories about every possible theme---death, work, struggle, sadness, love, hate, war, revenge, retribution. Because these stories are deeply embedded in our culture they reverberate through the modern stories we hear.
This is a must-read for everyone.
Cautionary note: Edith Hamilton isn't afraid to share her thoughts about all the sources she draws upon to write these tales; she is wildly opinionated. And several times I was taken aback when she writes statements (the original copyright date is 1942) aimed at her audience of the time which now feel off-putting. ...more
"I believe anyone can make pie, and over the years I have taught thousands to do so."
In her introduction to this fabulous new book about pie making, K"I believe anyone can make pie, and over the years I have taught thousands to do so."
In her introduction to this fabulous new book about pie making, Kate McDermott shares all the pie secrets she's accumulated over the decades she has spent making pies. I love her rules of pie making and life, especially number one: "Keep everything chilled, especially yourself." So wise.
My grandmother was a Pie Maker. Every Sunday we ate Sunday dinner with my grandparents at their home in the country, and my grandmother always made at least three pies for dessert. When she passed away, all of the grandchildren were given the opportunity to pick something of Grandma's to keep for ourselves, and I chose her recipe box. In the box were oodles and oodles of pie recipes. Since she died, more than twenty years ago, I've sought out more pie recipes and more pie books. Pie seems to be in my genes, in my heart, in my soul.
This book is the perfect book for any pie maker, beginner or advanced.
I've now tried out a savory pie recipe, Chicken Pot Pie, and a sweet pie recipe, the Quintessential Apple Pie. I've stretched out the reading of this book for over a month, and I hate to finish it, but I must finally go ahead and write the review and the blog post and share all the wonders of the book with you. Look for a blog post soon....more
Carhenge, a replica of Stonehenge, using junk cars. The Museum of Bad Art, where nine of every ten submissions are rejected for being too good. OzymanCarhenge, a replica of Stonehenge, using junk cars. The Museum of Bad Art, where nine of every ten submissions are rejected for being too good. Ozymandias on the Plains, a hoax sculpture of two legs on the plains outside Amarillo, Texas. These are just a few of the over 600 curious and unusual destinations around the world documented in this book. Even the categories are interesting---urban curiosities, strange architecture, outsider art, bioluminescence, macabre museums, fiery places, and micronations are some included here. A perfect read for anyone who loves Guinness Book of World Records or Ripley's Believe It or Not books....more
Deb (Readerbuzz)
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