Summer 2009 Recommended Reading

from the editor of gg.org

Each summer I try to gather seven or eight books that I know I will dive into and stay throughout the duration. For me, that's a challenge. If I get bored, then I'm out of there.

Truth be told, I trend toward nonfiction. In fact, friends, family members, and our crack local library staff have tried over the years to get me to read fiction. Just cannot do it. No time for entertainment. Just want to be enriched. Not a flaw, just my inherent character.

Summer World by Bernd Heinrich. 2009, Ecco Press. This is a fabulous book that continues his Winter World book. As a budding naturalist myself, I am amazed at the level of detail Heinrich grasps on his everyday walks through his northern Vermont world and the forests of western Maine. Every chapter is a new topic and new mico-world of nature, explained in strong enough detail to get it, to enjoy it, and to leave the chapter having learned something interesting. Pick it up and put it down, and you have not missed a thing. It's one of those types of books.

Postcards from Ed, Dispatches and Salvos from an American Iconoclast, edited by David Peterson. 2006, Milkweed Editions. I love reading Edward Abbey's work, thinking about his life in the American desert, and wondering how the folks of his day reacted. He lit academic fires, as an incendiary and insightful thinker. "Cactus Ed" as he was known continues from the grave as one of America's authentic voices of wisdom in the wild. As Abbey has said, "Those who fear death most are those who enjoy life least."

A Table in the Tarn: Living, Eating, and Cooking in Rural France, Orlando Murrin, 2009, Stewart Tabori & Chang. Oh, take me back to my culinary days in southern France, please. Two Englishmen leave their upper crust lifestyles in London for the challenges of purchasing, restoring, renovating, and building up a luxury small guest home and restaurant in rural France. This fun book weaves the challenges and delights together with delicious recipes for food and decorating, leaving no small character living in town out of the story! The photos by Jonathan Buckley are worth the price of admission.

Wandering Home, Bill McKibben, 2005, Crown Journeys. Why did it take me this long to read this short, but illuminating story about Bill's (he'd be OK with me calling him that, I'm sure) walk from his Vermont home to his Adirondack backyard--the wilderness across the great Lake Champlain where two worlds intersect in ways that only McKibben can so eloquently describe? This is a short book (only 156 pages) and yet, you want it to go on and on and on... I will re-read it every summer!

Our Life in Gardens, Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd, 2009, FSG. Two Vermonters have taken me through a journey of their landscaped home, plant by plant, story by story, and micoclimate by microclimate. From their daffodil grove to looking forward to pea season, the calm balance of science and art with nature's challenges and interacting with different people make me laugh, bemuse, and learn all at the same time.

and my cookbook suggestion for this summer...

New Flavors for Soups, Classic Recipes Redefined, Williams Sonoma, 2009, Oxmoor House. Don't you love it when you are challenged? When you finally think you have a recipe for your faborite Japanese soup down pat--nothing possibly could enhance it?!? Then...something comes along and sparks an idea, provides some small little insight, or completely changes your perception of a dish.

Cookbooks are hard to write. Most of them on the market at junk. Maybe five percent are worth reading, let alone purchasing. That's my take.

But when one comes along that blends the milky yet briney diver sea scallop with spicy watercress and earthy soba noodles in a fine, clear fish broth, you stand up and pay attention.

My favorite: a creamy egg-lemon soup, much like the Greek soups I've had in Athens, with fava beans and fried garlic chips. Delicate, buttery fava beans bring an air of spring to this spry (not too many ingredients) soup, inspired by a Greek grandmother's rendition of avgolemono. The tartness of lemons balances the rich eggs, while nutty basmati rice and fried garlic add intrigue.

 

and this summer...don't forget to read some good poetry!