BOOKIN' IT: Winter 2011

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I'd meant to put this post out on the first of March (or over this last weekend, at the very latest), but alas, stuff came up and my blog suffered once again. Oh well. *shrug* That's life.

Anyway, I thought I would do a seasonal posting of what I've read and a few of my thoughts about the books. Fun!

January and February were EXTREMELY slow reading months for me (perhaps a new low record?), which I'm assuming was due to all the craziness that I was dealing with to start the new year. However, things have settled down tremendously, so I'm hoping to get back into my regular reading groove by spring.

So, here's what I read in JANUARY and FEBRUARY...
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STAR RATINGS CHART
5 : Effing Awesome, Da Shizzle
4 : Pretty Sweet Read, Enjoyable
3 : Meh, Just Average, Forgettable
2 : Ugh, Struggled, Disappointing
1 : Suckass, Trash Can-Adjacent
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The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
The Penguin Press, 2006
415 pages
Read - January 7, 2011
5 Stars

An absolute MUST READ for foodies! In fact, one of my friends recommended it for anyone who eats, so there you go. Michael Pollan really drove home the point to me about being mindful of what you eat. 

I was stunned and appalled at what goes on with and into the food we eat. Ewww. I don't know that I will ever be able to erase some of those images that formed in my head when I was reading about the food industry's practices. Frankly, I was a little scared to eat anything for days. But, I was very glad that I was exposed to that information because it has really helped shape how and what my family eats. 

I really love Pollan's writing style* and look forward to picking up the rest of his books. 

(* My one criticism was his overuse of the word boon in the book. Everything seemed to be a boon. He used it roughly 2 billion times. Please get the man a thesaurus.)


Food Rules: An Eater's Manual by Michael Pollan
Penguin Books, 2009
140 pages
Read - January 7, 2011
4 Stars

A nice companion guide to some of Michael Pollan's books. This contains a lot of the "rules" for what kind of foods to buy and eat...conventional wisdom mixed with some grandmothers' adages. I thought it was a pretty handy guide, but of course, lacks the substance of Pollan's meatier books (hahaha). Plus, there are quite a few exceptions to the "rules" (not that they were meant to be exactly hard and fast anyway).

Anne of Avonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Bantam Books, 1909
277 pages
Read - January 9, 2011
4 Stars

The Anne of Green Gables series was one of my absolute favorites when I was a child. Over the holidays I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I decided to pick up the first in the series, Anne of Green Gables. I laughed, I cried...well, not really, but I DID enjoy revisiting Anne Shirley and all the characters of Avonlea so much that I decided to continue on reading the rest of the series. So far, I've only made it through the second in the series, Anne of Avonlea (where Anne becomes a school teacher), but I do intend to read a few more before year's end and quite possibly even revisit the movies starring Megan Follows (which I also absolutely ADORED). Ahhh...memory lane.

To Buy or Not to Buy Organic: What You Need to Know to Choose the Healthiest, Safest, Most Earth-Friendly Food 
by Cindy Burke
Marlowe & Company, 2007
178 pages
Read - January 10, 2011
4 Stars

Another book in my quest to become as food conscious as possible. Making smart, healthy, safe decisions about food products has become a huge cornerstone of my life, so I thought this book would be of great assistance. Since I've been reading up so much on the subject of buying and eating "beyond organic" (local, sustainable, organic), I didn't get a whole lot of new information from this book. However, I think this would be a great guide for anyone who is just testing the waters with regards to buying local and organic foods. In fact, there is a very cool guide in the back to make your food selection choices that much easier.

The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis
Oxford World's Classics, 1796
442 pages
Read - February 21, 2011
4 Stars

I'm a big fan of Gothic lit and I had been wanting to read The Monk ever since I saw it referenced in my favorite Jane Austen novel, Northanger Abbey. This Gothic romance did not disappoint! Plenty of twists and turns, a lot of monkeying around (haha), a few ghosts and demons, and a fair amount of scandal and general debauchery made this a thrilling tale without being too overwrought. My biggest complaint was that the ending seemed a tad rushed, but I think that was Lewis' idea of an exciting finale...which I have to concede. Bravo!

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WINTER 2011 TOTAL:
5 books

1,452 pages

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Well, it may have been a slow start to the year (for me, anyway), but at least the books have been good so far. Let's hope they stay that way!