Monthly Archives: June 2008

I have just re-read this Barbara Kingsolver novel and could read it a third time with equal pleasure because she weaves such a rich tapestry of flora and fauna, wildlife lore and ecological information into her three intertwined stories. The … Continue reading →

This historical fiction by North Carolina  Appalachian  Civil War descendant Sharyn McCrumb combines glimpses of ghostly raiders with present day re-enacters, 19th century mountain folk divided between union and confederacy with contemporary retirees. She fleshes out the true story of … Continue reading →

John Grisham always manages to friehgten me with the amount of criminal, behind-the-scenes money-making that goes unchecked in our society. This fictional but very representational story shows how big business can buy  judges in states that still elect their supreme … Continue reading →

Natalie Bober has written a very readable account of an American 18th century wife’s experiences managing a large family and running several farms while her husband serves with little or no pay on his fledgling country’s first political bodies and … Continue reading →

Michael Pollan confirms what biochemist Margaret Enig and the West Price Foundation early warned us about: the dangers of transfats and the exaggerated avoidance of good quality natural fats. The bunch of fresh Romaine on the cover pictures the real … Continue reading →

Or The Impact of the Highly Improbable. Nassim Taleb shakes up all our expectations with this cogent and humorous description of how social and economic events are swayed more by herd influences and fadism than by random chance. He cites … Continue reading →

This was the most liberating book I can remember reading. Although I have been  a Unitarian for years and accepted as myths the Christian as well as all other god stories, I have still been haunted by the sense of … Continue reading →