In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

One of the non-fiction books that I am currently reading is Micahel Pollan's In Defense of Food. In this book he takes on the question of what we should eat to be healthy. He starts with a short answer: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Of course things quickly get complex as he examines how we got to where we are today with what real foods and not quite real foods are available today. He looks closely at what exactly is food. What does he mean by food? One qualification is that your great-grandmother would recognize it. He goes into more detail and really gets me thinking about what I eat in different ways. Due in large part to the influence of the food industry and the proponents of "nutritionism" (as opposed to nutrition), what we eat often does not meet his definition of food.

I haven't finished it yet. As I often do with non-narrative non-fiction, I have read the beginning and now am jumping around some, not reading it every day. Definitely another book by Pollan with a lot of food for thought.

Search the Dark by Charles Todd

I just finished Search the Dark by Charles Todd. It is the third in a series of mysteries featuring Inspector Ian Rutledge. I read the first two mysteries in this series several months ago after reading a positive review of the latest in the Raleigh News & Observer. I like finding a series that draws me in, as I can look forward to enjoying more than just the book I am reading. I found much to like in the first two books. I approached the third with both hope and worry. Sometimes a series run out of steam.

Fortunately that was not the case here and I liked Search the Dark even better than the first two books. These books are set in Post World War I England. The protagonist is a man whose life has been wrenched around by his experiences in that war. The war over, he has returned to his previous work at Scotland Yard. As he tries to move forward he realizes that, for him, the war is not really over. A fascinating (at least in terms of plot) remnant of the war is the voice in his head of a man, Hamish, whose death weighs on him. My hope is that over time Hamish will develop as much as the Inspector himself does as a character. The war and its effect on both the Inspector and others in the stories are major parts of the stories. The plot and its mystery are complex enough without being so intricate I get lost. I think what I love best is the fascinating characters whose motives I am constantly second-guessing as the story plays out.

I have read that the author is really a mother and son team. They certainly have developed a successful collaboration.

The Graveyard Book- Nobody's story

Neil Gaiman won out last weekend. I knew I could count on him to provide me with a real story that would feed my need for story. So I picked up the copy of The Graveyard Book that Aaron and Abby gave me for Christmas.

It is designated "juvenile fiction," but I find that some works in this genre are more compelling than a lot of adult fiction. What matters to me is that is an enjoyable story with interesting characters and both depths and surprises to it. It follows a toddler who escapes death at the hands of a determined killer when the ghostly inhabitants of a graveyard take him in. A couple who never had a child become his parents and a non-living, non-dead gentleman takes the role of guardian.

The book is episodic, looking in on the child at different ages as he learns from the dead around him as well as an occasional living person. The ghosts are varied as they come from different eras of history. Nobody is an appealing child, vulnerable, curious, daring, sweet, and rebellious. How he is at various ages is consistent with children of those ages. He is quite a typical child, if you leave aside that he lives in a graveyard and learns from ghosts and other mystical creatures. But you can't leave that aside and that is what makes the story intriguing. This is a coming of age tale with a definite fantastic bent. It has suspense, horror, yearning, mystery, and a bittersweet ending. Or is it an end? I would love to see the adventures of Nobody Owens as he explores the wider world.

Starved for Story

It has been hectic lately. A lot of time/energy spent preparing for parent-teacher conferences. It's also basketball season, so there have been some games to watch (Go, Duke!) I don't watch a lot of T.V. but it seems several of my favorite shows are up and running new episodes at the same time: Lost, Heroes, and Top Chef. So I realized today that I have not been reading any fiction for a couple of weeks. And I am missing it. The power of Story to refresh me, to invigorate me, to get me to think and feel, and to give me an escape from hectic times, is amazing. When I go for a while without reading fiction, I start missing it with increasing intensity. And I feel duller.

Well I finished up conferences today, so now I'm ready. The only problem is deciding what to dive int0: Shall I finally dive into Neal Stephenson's latest (Anathem)? Would a mystery be lighter fare I would enjoy after working my brain hard? What about the new Neil Gaiman (The Graveyard Book) that Aaron & Abby gave me for Christmas? Or should I start rereading the Orson Scott Card Ender books, as I have been wanting to after listening to the first part of an audio adaptation of Ender's Game?

The Stuff that Dreams are made...on?

My husband Henry writes poetry (http://henryspoetry.blogspot.com/). Recently he wrote a poem that made a reference to a line from The Tempest: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on." When he read the poem to me, I had a sense that it was not exactly right. Isn't it "stuff as dreams are made of?" He proved his point with Google. Of course he was right. He was in a production of The Tempest when he was a teenager and as a Middle School teacher he has produced several versions of it over the years.

So why was it stuck so clearly in my mind as "of?" I've seen the play a number of times over the years. I can usually rely on my memory for things like that. So I wanted to see why I had it wrong in my head.

First I went to my collection of Sandman comics for the issue that focused on the writing of The Tempest, with William Shakespeare as a character. But of course Neil Gaiman got it right. I closed my eyes to see what came to mind. Very clearly I saw Humphery Bogart in The Maltese Falcon, "the stuff that dreams are made of." He was responding to a question of what the Maltese Falcon was. I googled it and sure enough he said "of" rather than "on." I'm not sure if I should be chagrined or not that I remember a Shakespeare line based on how it was misquoted in a movie!

Mysteries

I love a good mystery. Of course, I have my own idea of what a good mystery is. I like a complex puzzle, but I also like interesting and, at times, surprising characters. I like some suspense but not so much it completely overshadows the story. Too much horror or graphic gore can turn me off. And while I can enjoy some humor as part of a mystery, too flip a tone also puts me off. (I tried those "cat" mysteries a while back, and they were not my cup of tea.)

I am always looking for a new series I would enjoy. I find there is some comfort in the familiar detective around whom a new story and new characters develop. I use the term detective broadly, as some are professionals and some are not. Some of my favorites: Miss Marple, Adam Dalgleish & Kate Miskin, Alan Banks, Spencer Arrowood, Kate Martinelli, Inspector Wexford, Richard Jury, Jim Chee & Joe Leaphorn, and Kate Fansler (in not too large a dose.) So there are often mysteries on my shelf. Some are recent reads waiting for a home on one of the bookshelves throughout our house. Some are waiting to be read. What a delight to have a lineup of promising books calling out to be read. Too little time!

Eat, Pray, Love- Finale (possible spoilers)

I finished Eat, Pray, Love recently. Overall I enjoyed the book and found things in it worth considering. The last section on her time in Indonesia was involving. I was looking forward to it especially after reading the title for that section: "36 Tales about the Pursuit of Balance." Balance is something that I am focusing on in my own life: balance between school life and personal life, balance in where I put my energies at school, balance in terms of being centered and thoughtful in my life. The balance the author is seeking is between pleasure and spirit, or as she put it "what I want to learn is how to live in this world and enjoy its delights, but also devote myself to God." While she seems to find some sense of this by the end of the book, I found a sense of let down as I finished it. In part I found the focus of her quest distracted by romantic developments (will she or won't she), though that is certainly one form of enjoying the world's delights. I also would have enjoyed more at the end about her return to her "regular" life. Pursuing pleasure in Italy and God in an ashram in India are one thing (or two?), but bringing what she learns back to modern day life in our culture would be quite another.