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What Are You All Reading?

 
master steward
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Animal, Vegetable, Junk - A history of food, from sustainable to suicidal

by Mark Bittman

Interesting reading about the history of farming in America and how early on it was being treated as an extractive "industry" with total detachment from what is good for the community and the land.  Too often we tend to think of how farming has been damaging since WWII, but this book takes the foundation much farther back to the beginning of Europeans/British arriving in North America.
 
Rusticator
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Daily... my 100+ emails, a long list of blogs, permies, and my bible.
 
Posts: 2035
Location: western NY (Erie County), USA; zone 6a.
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I am currently slowly making my way through Christopher Tolkien's "History of Middle Earth" volumes. I also frequently pick up and reread some stories of his father JRR Tolkien collected in "Tales from the Perilous Realm" and "Tree and Leaf." I cannot recommend enough his stories "Leaf by Niggle" and "Smith of Wootton Major."
 
Jay Angler
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Fibershed by Rebecca Burgess
Do you know where your clothes come from???
 
gardener
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Location: Japan, zone 9a/b, annual rainfall 2550mm, avg temp 1.5-32 C
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I've been trying to read a book I borrowed from the prefectural library, but usually falling asleep instead because I'm always tired these days.

Anyway the book is called "tanoshizo! Hitomukashi Mae no kurashikata" or "It's Fun! Living like we did in the recent past" - my translation.

The author moved into a 150 year old thatched roofed house and decided to live like the people that built it did.

I find it very interesting to look through a window into the past from the point of view of a Japanese person accustomed to city life moving to the country side and living like his recent ancestors.

It's like the perspective I couldn't get until now.
 
steward
Posts: 3461
Location: Maine, zone 5
2020
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I'm just about at the end of "Uncultivated: Wild Apples, Real Cider, and the Complicated Art of Making a Living" by Andy Brennan.  It's really a lovely book about an artist that moves his passion to producing cider from the wild apple trees that grow around him in his part of New York.  Andy really has me inspired to spread millions of apple seeds throughout my land to produce scrappy feral trees that can help continue the regional tradition of cider making here in the northeast.  He's also added to my reading list and has given me multiple places to travel to to sample local cider makers' work.  Very much enjoyed Andy's perspectives.
 
L. Johnson
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Greg Martin wrote:I'm just about at the end of "Uncultivated: Wild Apples, Real Cider, and the Complicated Art of Making a Living" by Andy Brennan.  It's really a lovely book about an artist that moves his passion to producing cider from the wild apple trees that grow around him in his part of New York.  Andy really has me inspired to spread millions of apple seeds throughout my land to produce scrappy feral trees that can help continue the regional tradition of cider making here in the northeast.  He's also added to my reading list and has given me multiple places to travel to to sample local cider makers' work.  Very much enjoyed Andy's perspectives.



I want to read that... but it might make me want to make cider... and I don't have room for that yet!

I'd probably fall asleep trying to read it right now anyway...
 
gardener
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Location: Zone 6b
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An oldie but goodie " The seed-starter's handbook" by Nancy Bubel. A complete guide not only on seed starting but seed saving as well. I also enjoy the hundreds of sketches in the book.
 
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Just picked up Indra Sinha's Animal's People. Just twenty-odd pages in, and it's quite thought-provoking. Reminds me a little of Brave New World, but the similarities are not that distinct. Looking forward to the weekend so I can hopefully finish reading this one.
 
pollinator
Posts: 333
Location: Youngstown, Ohio
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Current Audible: The Last Dog on Earth by Adrian Walker (3rd time around, I love it)
Current pick up and read a little: Words from the Dead, Relevant Readings in the Covid Age by Sean Arthur Joyce (should be good, but I mostly bought it for the cover)
Book of the month: Tree of Power, Ten Essential Arboreal Allies by Akiva Silver
And always: Making Plant Medicine by Richo Cech.
Screenshot_20220612-145207_Brave.jpg
[Thumbnail for Screenshot_20220612-145207_Brave.jpg]
 
Carla Burke
Rusticator
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I'm always dipping my nose into wildcrafting/ foraging books, even more so now, with the economy doing what it's doing. John just brought this one from the mailbox for me, not 10 minutes ago. So, (especially when it's too hot to be outside, like this week's forecast) it will be my daytime reading(on top of the rest of my post above), while my trashy historical romance novels will continue to be my late- night fun reading, before bedtime with my Bible. Incongruous,I know.

Edited to the the link I forgot! https://wildremediesbook.com/
 
Posts: 25
Location: Big Bend area - North Florida (zone 8b)
15
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If you're trying to grow a garden in Florida (and gardening really is different here!), this book might be helpful:

A Cutting Garden for Floridaby Betty Barr Mackey and Monica Moran Brandeis
https://www.amazon.com/Cutting-Garden-Florida-Third/dp/0961633891/ref=asc_df_0961633891/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312170531694&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4883409542622288340&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9011598&hvtargid=pla-571405798258&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=62860524940&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=312170531694&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4883409542622288340&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9011598&hvtargid=pla-571405798258

The title sounds like this is a book only about flower-gardening, but it really provides best practice Florida gardening information applicable to vegetables, herbs, shrubs, and trees. Tender annuals, hardy annuals and biennials, and perennials are covered in depth - with examples for north, central, and south Florida.

I use it as a constant reference. It's helped me to organize my seeds around the Florida growing seasons and has helped me to better understand the delicate treatment Florida soils need.
 
Janet Bailey
Posts: 25
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@ Carla Burke

this one from the mailbox



What are you reading now?
 
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dont answer this question its a trick question. the answer is I AM READING ThIS POST.
dont let him trick you LOL
 
L. Johnson
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Recently I'm reading a lot of journal articles. I just joined an academic association in my field. Now I have incoming up-to-date research to peruse every couple months.

Academic reading encourages learning to speed read!
 
Carla Burke
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Janet Bailey wrote:@ Carla Burke

this one from the mailbox



What are you reading now?



I edited the post to add it, lol. Thank you! https://wildremediesbook.com/
 
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Nourishment by Fred Provenza, The Seed Saver’s Handbook by Nancy Bubel and the Holy Bible are on my bedside table for reading.
 
Posts: 463
Location: Indiana
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Re-reading 'The 12th Planet by Zecharia Sitchen, 1976, Harper Collins. Paperback edition 2007.
This is Book 1 of Zitchen's 'The Earth Chronicals'.

IF you're even somewhat interested in SPACE and EARTH these books open a plethora of possibilities for your imagination and education that Earth has been visited many times in the past and that the 'gods' of the 12th planet produced humans from existing bi-pedal life forms crossed with their own genetics.

To further gain your attention here is a listing of the chapters of this first book in the series.
Author's Note
Prologue: Genesis
About the Sources

 1. The Endless Beginning
 2. The Sudden Civilization
 3. Gods of Heaven and Earth
 4. Sumer: Land of the Gods
 5. The Nefilim: People of the Firey Rockets
 6. The Twelth Planet
 7. The Epic of Creation
 8. Kingship of Heaven
 9. Landing on Planet Earth
10. Cities of teh Gods
11. Mutiny of the Anunnaki
12. The Creation of Man
13. The End of All Flesh
14. When the Gods Fled from Earth
15. Kingship on Earth

Sources
Index

ENJOY THE READ!
 
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"The Forager Chef's Book of Flora,  Recipes and Techniques for Edible Plants from Garden, Fields, and Forest"  by- Alan Bergo
Fascinating and doable recipes from weeds  like Milkweed Bud fettuccine , Spruce Tip syrup  ( I made that one few days ago. Tastes awesome).

"food or War" by Julian Cribb.
The book is scary and exciting, at times depressing. It talks about unsustainable practices of growing foods, mass migration due to war, famine, climate. It offers solutions. Facts backed by sources in footnotes.

 
Posts: 53
Location: Aurora, Colorado zone 5
17
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I just finished reading Never Out Of Season by Rob Dunn. It tells the story about how modern farming is risking the food supply. I thought it was a interesting and sobering read.
 
pollinator
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Location: Northern UK
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Oh, oh, oh. So many books here I need to read. Glad I discovered this as I have been wondering how to find the book "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" when I didn't know the title or author, just a bit of the story remembered from school. Now I know.
I have just finished re-reading The Chrysalids by John Wyndham. I first read it 50 years ago (Oh dear, now I sound old) but it is still worth reading.
 
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Hi, Just finished a book by a French woman who was attacked by a bear in Russia--"  In the eye of the wild" by Nastassja Martin. It was a great read and opens up a lot of questions about man's place in the world and nature and how different cultures view this question. It is a small book but one I want to get my own copy of ( most of what I read comes from the library) as I want to read it again. I highly recommend it.
 
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[If you like the  Viking  / England era historical fiction, might give Rosemary Sutcliffe a try.

And +1 on reasons to go to the library!
 
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I finished The Overstory by Richard Powers last year and am currently reading his next book, Bewilderment.
Both are terrific.  I think most everyone on this forum would appreciate a book like The Overstory.  It touches on so many things regarding the natural world and humanity's place in it.  If you like trees, that's reason enough to check it out!  
 
pollinator
Posts: 223
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Haven't been reading much the last couple months but I'm looking at some books about grief (lost my Dad recently), and I'm starting one today about healing from trauma: When You've Been Wronged by Erwin Lutzer.
 
Carla Burke
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Molly Kay wrote:Haven't been reading much the last couple months but I'm looking at some books about grief (lost my Dad recently), and I'm starting one today about healing from trauma: When You've Been Wronged by Erwin Lutzer.



Molly, I'm so very sorry for your loss.  This is also a rough weekend for many of us. You're in your year of firsts...
 
pollinator
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I just finished The Warwolf by Hermann Löns (an English translation from the original German) about a peasant farmer and his village who pull together as a community for survival during the Thirty Years War as the countryside around them is reduced to misery and desperation. It's a compelling story showing the immense difference community bonds and honor make in the hardest times. It's especially interesting how exactly the story reads like a zombie apocalypse without the science fiction. (Note: it's definitely not for the young or squeamish, as it openly describes war atrocities, violence, and other adult content along with a great deal of religious animosity.)

Currently, I am reading the Utopian Craftsman by Lionel Lambourne, about the Arts and Crafts Movement in England and the United States.
 
pollinator
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I've just finished reading A Garden from a Hundred Packets of Seeds by James Fenton, which I was given at Christmas - it was a nice meander, only about 100 pages long and cheerful, light reading, perfect for reading on the solstice while falling asleep.

And I'm listening to Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig as an audiobook, which I'm enjoying as well.
 
pollinator
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I was touring the country (my yearly bicycle-camping-tour). All of those small camping grounds seemed to have a 'little free library' for the people spending one or more nights there. first I only took small, thin books, easy to read in only an hour or so. So I could put them back where I found them.

But then at one of those 'libraries' I found the famous 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' by Robert M. Pirsig (a Dutch translation from the 1980s). I never read that book, but I knew I had to from all quotes I heard/read from it. So I took it with me! Now I'm home and still not finished reading it (not even halfway).

I knew this book would be a good read, but was never aware it would be thís interesting! I didn't know what it was really about ... Probably it's impossible to explain it. read it if you want to know
 
Jay Angler
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What Your Food Ate: How to heal out land and reclaim our health

David R Montgomery and Anne Bikle

*Very* interesting to read about research, but we permies already figured much of that out just by watching nature! Feed the soil and the soil will feed us!
 
Cris Fellows
pollinator
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World Whisperer by Rachel Devenish Ford series book 6, Crown of Stars just came out!  Woot woot!!!
 
Mark Rainer
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Just picked up Nicholas Kristoff and Sheryl WuDunn's Half the Sky, a nonfiction account of oppression and opportunity for women. Though the book is described as a global work in terms of it concerns and scope, it mainly focuses on the ways in which women experience and opportunity in the "developing world." It would have thus been nice to see more about the different set of structural arrangements that constitute oppression for women in the "developed world." Nonetheless, this is very eye-opening.
 
Jay Angler
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Existential Physics - A scientist's guide to life's biggest questions  
Sabine Hossenfelder

I know a few permies who would likely quite enjoy this book!
 
gardener
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I am currently reading The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells and I'm really enjoying it. I seem to have gotten on a sci-fi kick this year that sorta started with Marissa Meyer's Lunar Chronicles.
 
Jay Angler
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I'm reading, "Tides - The Science and Spirit of the Ocean" by Johnathan White

Ocean's are such an unappreciated force of nature that humans are far more dependent on than people may realize, and the tides really represent that. I'm sure by the time I've done reading it, I will have a *much* better understanding of how tides support life.  
 
gardener
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I really like Anne McCaffrey books (her son is a great writer, too) for fun reading.  Now I'm re-reading Permaculture A Designer's Manual by Bill Mollison and find I understand things much better than when I read it while working on my PD certification.  Since then, I have garnered much more experience with planting, bees, earthworks, forest gardening, etc.  I'm learning even more now that I can apply to my permie life.

I'm also reading Oehler's $50 Underground House book, Mycelium Running, The Forager's Harvest, Perennial Vegetables, and Restoration Agriculture.  These are from my reference library.  I refer back to numerous books frequently.

P.S. I'm going throught this entire thread for great book recommendations!
 
Jay Angler
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The Ice Storm: an historic record in photographs of January 1998  text by Mark Abley

Wow - 26th anniversary of that event which I happened to be in Ottawa for. However, the message it sends about how dependent humans are on modern conveniences and how quickly Mother Nature can trash them, is well worth seeing through this book's pictures and commentary.
 
Watchya got in that poodle gun? Anything for me? Or this tiny ad?
Binge on 17 Seasons of Permaculture Design Monkeys!
http://permaculture-design-course.com
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