Animal Vegetable Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver

I had forgotten that I read this a few months ago until I posted about Poisonwood...there's something so satisfying about personal nonfiction work from one of your favorite writers. Got to be with her for a year, peer into her life - and loved every minute. A tale of her family's effort to exclusively eat locally for a year, it's incredibly interesting and informative without ever veering into preachy. (+)

The Blind Side, Michael Lewis

I know - I'm Michael obsessed (Lewis, Pollan, Chabon) but his writing is so amazing I want to eat it.

Amazing story - even better storytelling. Keep writing please - lots more. (+)

The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver

OK - so I've read it before. I was actually nervous to read it again. When the book first came out and I devoured it, it instantly became one of those novels that actually changed my worldview. Now, 10 years later, would it still hold up? Or would it be disappointing and one of those many things that don't stand the test of time - better left in the original memory. (Seriously - watch Less Than Zero again...I mean, really??)

A few things changed...I cried in different parts and some of the historical pieces resounded more now than when I was younger. But overall - this is the book that remains a fundamental influence on my way of thinking.

Barbara Kingsolver is amazing and one of those writers that underlines for me that some people are so truly, wonderfully gifted, we are just blessed to be recipients of their work.

P.S. - I love Adah. (+)

The Center Cannot Hold, Elyn R. Saks

I'd almost forgotten about this one until my mother rummaged through my room to find the copy for 'Book Club'. She jokingly...or perhaps not so...told me she was thinking about calling up Elyn to 'see how she was'. Um...please don't mom. Please don't.

Anyway...even as a Psychology major (just a Bachelor's but still...), schizophrenia has remained such an awful, mysterious thing to me. Even those of us who know better than to conflate it with Multiple Personality Disorder still cringe from the severity and devastation it can bring (Um...hello I Know This Much is True!....severed hand!!!). What makes this book so amazing is Saks' sharp and logical recollection of her own beginnings with the disease as well as vivid depictions of some the worst incidences that it brought. Even more amazing was her ability to overcome all of this to become a tenured law professor at USC.

Back to mom....she works with many affected adults and it opened me up to her world. I still don't know the answers, although it does put another tickmark in the 'pro-medication' column for me. Dr. Saks gave up her practice to write this book - the least we can do is read the thing. (+)

Second Nature, Michael Pollan

You know anything he writes I'm gonna love, right? So no surprises here...although it's nice to see some of the stuff he was writing before he had that pressure of being who he is now. Makes me want to plant a tree. (+)

The Help, Kathryn Stockett

Read this a few months ago...couldn't put it down at the time. Totally worth reading, but you don't have to put it at the top of your list. (0)

The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger

meh. I only started reading it because the previews for the movie were so freaking cute. But honestly, I know there are people who have read it a bazillion times...but really? meh. (-)