Book Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

So I was thinking that I would reserve every Friday to do a book review.  I love to read and have spent many a long winter night sitting cross-legged in the guest room (also known as my mom's room, or, the hippie room) sipping wine and reading wonderful stories, instructions, and hints for starting a business in farming/gardening. I don't like to give a "grade" to the books however, so I will not rate them - just give a summary and my opinion of what the book emphasized.  I spent too much time teaching college classes, I don't like to give grades.  Too often people look at that alone and don't pay attention to the comments.

So here are my comments about "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver - the most obvious book for me to review first because it is what led me to start growing all of my own veggies.

This book is both beautifully written and emotionally touching.  Ms. Kingsolver is a biologist and while this cannot be the reason that her descriptions of the natural world are so compelling, I am sure it is the reason she sees the natural world so deeply.  It is a moving story of a year with her family living completely off of her husband's family's farm, written with her older daughter.  One of my favorite parts of the book is a description of her younger daughter's exploits with chickens.  Lily loved (loves) chickens.  I still laugh when I think of Ms. Kingsolver commenting that the first thing they had to teach Lily was not to kiss the chickens on the lips!!!  It now reminds me of my granddaughter who puts my daughter's chickens in the coop every night.  She, too, loves chickens.  Lily's exploits with her chickens are funny and moving - and she is bright as a whip! 

The book is informative, it has recipes, and it's a wonderful memoir - but the reason to read this book is because it is written so beautifully.  It draws you in, makes you part of it, connects you with the author, her family, and the natural world.  You will curl up with this book and not want it to end.  Here is a quote, from page 13, just to get you into it, it's from the chapter on spring: "The maple buds glow pink, the forsythia breaks into its bright yellow aria.  These are the days when we can't keep ourselves indoors..."

Today - while it continues to snow and we expect a buildup of 6-8 inches - I can't wait for that spring.