Eliza Daley ~ Wordcraft & Musing on Home & Hope
Hogs Are Up: Stories of the Land, with Digressions Wes Jackson (foreword by Robert Jensen) University Press of Kansas, 2021 I picked up a copy of Hogs Are Up believing it might be a narrative of the creation of The Land Institute, by its founder, Wes Jackson. Or perhaps it might be a portrait of… Continue reading Hogs Are Up: Review
The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity David Graeber & David Wengrow Farrer, Straus & Giroux: 2021 The Dawn of Everything was a revelation. The “Everything” from the title may not exactly refer to our past, but it surely may refer to a sweeping revision of how we see ourselves. If so, it… Continue reading The Dawn of Everything: Review
I watched Don’t Look Up the other day. This is an unusual occurrence. I have steadfastly refused to learn how to operate my home entertainment system. Because I don’t find it all that entertaining. Mostly degrading and time-wasting and irritatingly inane. Also because I don’t want to fall into the trap of sitting here alone,… Continue reading Wednesday Word: 12 January
I am reading Sarah Jaffe’s Work Won’t Love You Back. As you can imagine, this is rather like throwing gasoline on a flame. Jaffe’s book is packed with all the things I hate about our working world — or perhaps our not-working world — and she’s put names and vivid life stories with all the… Continue reading The Cult of Busy-ness
Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest Suzanne Simard Alfred A. Knopf, 2021 Note: There are spoilers in this review. This book is a work of non-fiction, but it is also a great narrative. Reading this review may lessen the creative tension in the narrative flow of the book. However, maybe you… Continue reading Finding the Mother Tree: Review
There is an oldish adage among writers that claims that you almost always have to write the book that you want to read. I don’t know how true that is of fiction. I have a very difficult time coming up with narratives that I like and that have not yet been written, and I’ve read… Continue reading How Not to Garden
Ministry for the Future Kim Stanley Robinson Orbit Books, 2020 This is not an exhaustive review of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Ministry for the Future. I don’t feel competent to write such a thing, nor do I think it’s strictly possible to say all that could be said in a review in less than several pages… Continue reading Ministry for the Future: Review
Rooted Lyanda Lynn Haupt Little, Brown Spark: 2021 I discovered Lyanda Lynn Haupt’s book, Rooted, in a new releases list somewhere. Being in a rooted mode these days, I immediately put this book at the top of the reading list. I dove into it a couple days ago, while taking yet another break from Kim… Continue reading Rooted: Review
Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving Celeste Headlee Harmony Books, 2020 There’s a good deal to think about packed into this little book. Its essence is yet another reminder that much of our culture, and especially our work culture, is rather bad for our health. (It’s bad for the planet’s… Continue reading Do Nothing: Review
June! The month of weddings and graduations, strawberries and roses. Lavender and thyme come into bloom and lemonade stands blossom around the neighborhood. But mostly it is a month of slack. This is a between time. Planting time is winding down but harvest is not yet winding up. School is out but summer programs haven’t… Continue reading Summer Reading
By My Solitary Hearth 