I'm enjoying Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver and The Last Free Man in America by Gatewood Galbraith, both Kentucky-born authors.
I've collected a totebag full of new-to-me authors for our trip to the Gulf coast. Thanks for all the suggestions.

I finally got around to going to the library, and so far, I have read "Paths of Desire" by Dominique Browning, and am currently reading "Four Tenths of an Acre" by Laurie Lisle. They are both about gardening.

--J--

I also read "Possum Living," by Dolly Freed (a pseudonym). I had never heard of this book before, but it originally came out in the late 1970's, and the woman who wrote it was 18 when she wrote it. It was about how she and her dad lived cheaply yet well. They grew their own food, hunted, raised chickens and rabbits in the basement, etc., and didn't have to get real jobs. This copy of the book was republished a year or two ago, and she wrote kind of an explanation of a few things in the book that she no longer agreed with. Very interesting story!

--J--

I recently got a free kindle, so I am reading books that are quite old (and free to download). Just finished Far From the Madding Crowd and am now reading the Woodlanders, both by Thomas Hardy, a "rebellious" Victorian author.

Anyone have any suggestions regarding books no longer under copy write, glad to hear them.

I'm in the midst of the Cadfael series by Ellis Peters. When we've finished them we're getting the TV series through Netflix.

I just ordered a kindle...I have been resisting for a long time, but we are running out of space for physical books. I hope I will like it.

I just finished Barbara Kingsolver's "The Lacuna", and both DH and I read "Prodigal Summer" just a few weeks ago. That woman can write!

Anyone read any of Michael Gruber? Another amazing writer.

I have "Mycelium Running" and the rest of "Teaming with Life" on the table, but I am finding it hard to make time to read in this flush of crazed activity...even when we get a rainy day, I am too tuckered to absorb the non-fiction.

Peace

Gail

Kalico… if you want to continue your Kentucky theme, I suggest River of Earth by James Still. (He was a Kentucky poet laureate.)

Peacegarden – what did you think of The Lacuna -- I didn’t care for it much b/c the way the lead character was like Forest Gump – in the thick of too many historical events to be believable – and I thought she spent too much time being preachy about the historical events. I would have preferred more on character and plot development. Much preferred her earlier stuff. But… it made me want to read a biography on Lev Trotsky, so obviously I must have found it good at some level. (If anyone has a suggestion on a good biography on Lev Trotsky, I’m all ears – I haven’t found anything in my public library system, so if I have to shell out cash to read it, I want it to be good.

I want to thank you very much for the reading suggestions. I very much enjoyed The Last Empress: Madame Chiang Kai-shek and the Birth of Modern China. It was exactly what I was looking for. (It took me forever to read b/c I didn’t dare take it with me travelling – thought a book of that heft may be considered a weapon on the airplane ) Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee is still on the hold list at the library; I am very much looking forward to it. (I’ve put it on hold 5 times already – it keeps coming in when I’m out of town. I’m afraid when I finally manage to pick it up, the librarians are going to kill me for causing them so much extra work.)

BTW, Under the Warmth of Other Suns was an excellent book – I highly suggest it.

I just finished “Imperial Cruise”; it was very interesting. It includes a section on the war in the Philippines around 1900. As I read that section, the Battlestar Galactica phrase “All this has happened before and will happen again” kept running through my head. The code words of “benevolent assimilation” and “water cure”, not to mention the high death toll and cost of the war long after the insurrection was declared over was eerily familiar. I won’t go any farther than that because the discussion will become political, but for those of you who want a taste of what I mean, scan chapter 4 Sorry you can’t read the entire chapter – some of the best parts are excluded in the preview, but you should be able to see the song Shouting the Battle Cry of Freedom, which I found particularly disturbing. Note… the book is not as dark as this section. It has enough historical fluff and intrigue in it to keep it an easy read. But a warning… the book may make you upset if you’re a big Teddy Roosevelt fan. (I’m not – The Path Between the Seas knocked him off the pedestal and stomped on him a bit already for me.)

bump...
Last night I read Cedar Fence Rows, a collection of stories about growing up in western Kentucky with a bit of poetry mixed in.

For those who think the kindle is evil - I used to be among your ranks but know this - I love my kindle. I have many, many physical books and have not only run out of room, but out of money, as well. It would cost me a couple hundred a month to satiate my reading habit and then I had all these paperback mystery novels I don't know what to do with. The free books from kindle are limited, true, but there are lots of inexpensive books if I ever go that route.

Here are the pros of reading on the kindle -
downloading books a peace of cake. Search and download on your computer and they are automatically delivered to the kindle.

Kindle very portable and holds a charge through maybe 4 or 5 long books. Charges in 1/2 hour.

Easy to read, standard print about paperback book size. You can turn pages easily. Your last spot is always saved. You only need one finger to turn pages and don't even need to hold it while reading, so could easily do a recipe, for instance, no special page hold needed.

Comments and footnotes are hidden but easily accessible if you want to read them.

You can browse the internet using WiFi! Say something you are reading raises a question - you can research it right there and then.

100's of free books available, not only at Amazon, but for other sights you have to browse using kindle and that isn't as user friendly as the computer as the keyboard is cludgy.

Built in audio function, can play audio books, even translate some I think, and even mp3's while your read I think, but haven't tried everything yet. Can hook up to your computer using usb cable. May be able to transfer books form computer to kindle, need to try that still.

Negatives - text formatting is sometimes messy, but doesn't seem to bother me.

Not backlit so can't read in the dark, but I have heard of a case you can get with a built in book lite that is ideal for reading in bed.

My library doesn't have kindle format books for download, but I bet with Amazon's marketing campaign the pressure will build to get this.

Have read some Haggard, have some Bronte and other gems waiting for me. Reading a Yeats book of Celtic folklore right now - juicy use of language.

Catie: Not only have I read Jim's books, I was fortunate enough to know him and call him a friend. We were introduced by another Kentucky author, Jesse Stuart, a family friend.
Granny: My sister was a classmate of Georgia. I enjoy her work, especially the memories of the labratory school we attended.

I just read Eliot Coleman's daughter Melissa Coleman's book, "This Life is in Your Hands". Very good! She tells about growing up on a back-to-the-land Maine farm in the 1970's.
Has anyone else here read this? What did you think?

I got a copy of The Self-Sufficient Gardener for a dollar at a thrift store. Reading about double-digging.

I'm reading the Game of Thrones series, at the same time as we're watching it on tv. The books help me understand the show, and vice versa.

One book I am slowly reading is "Ecology for Gardeners." It is not particularly organic oriented, although the authors recommend compost frequently and do point out the problems inherent in chemical application. It is very interesting and deals with everything from the fauna system to chemicals and plants. But I am reading slowly so I can actually learn something.

I am watching the Game of Thrones and look foward to each segment. It's been a long time since I looked foward to a series.