Books I read and loved this year
The Lost Words: I discovered this big, beautiful book sticking sideways out of the library’s non-fiction shelf. What a concept! A joint project between a poet and an illustrator, Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris crafted this “spell book” to bring back the words lost when a widely used children’s dictionary ditched words like acorn and wren and replaced them with words like attachment and voice-mail. For a book with relatively few words, it contains layers of meaning. A love letter to the precious lost parts of our world, a gorgeous collection of images, and a bunch of truly fabulous acrostic poems, this book is a feast for the eyes and ears. Reading it out loud is a must! (I did.) https://www.thelostwords.org/book/
Country Grit: Author Scottie Jones and her husband, Greg, were two empty nest professionals living in Phoenix when Greg was in a near-fatal car accident and lost the use of his left hand. He decided they needed a change and — just like that — they quit their jobs, bought a farm, and moved to Oregon. Jones admits their story is not necessarily unique (she calls her book a “farmoir” – a nod to how many of these “back to the land” bios are out there), but there are some neat aspects to it. The author started Farm Stay USA, a website that matches farms with potential guests who want a “experiential” vacation: https://farmstayus.com/
Rough Magic: Lots of superlatives are used to describe the horse race this story is about — longest, toughest, loneliest — but it’s mostly just impressive. This is Lara Prior-Palmer’s account of her time competing in the 2013 Mongol Derby. After finishing Juliana Buhring’s This Road I Ride, I started searching for another female adventurer’s story. Rough Magic showed up on Hereford’s new release shelf soon after. The author’s voice is unique; her descriptions are interesting and engaging. She touches on the history of the race (it recreates Genghis Khan’s horse messenger system) and her rivalry with an overly confident, hot pink and lime green loving Texan. https://www.theadventurists.com/adventures/mongol-derby/
The Ravenmaster: Yeoman Warden Christopher Skaife is a ravenmaster, which sounds like a character career straight out of an epic fantasy, but he and his ravens are very real. They live in the Tower of London and this book is Skaife’s awesome memoir. It’s a wonderful blend of history, ornithology, and his personal story. He joined the British Army when he was 17, so some of the book covers his army life. He also tells readers about all of the ravens, past and present. Legend has it the cunning beauties need to always inhabit the tower or else it, and the kingdom, will fall. https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/whats-on/the-ravens/#gs.lkf9m5
The Wolves at the Door: About local hero, Virginia Hall. Hall grew up on a farm in Parkton where she learned to shoot, navigate, and tend dairy cows. Little did she know how useful her bucolic background would be in wartime. (One of her covers was making and selling homemade cheese.) An adventurous, whip-smart polyglot, her original goal was to become a member of the Foreign Service, but she lost her leg in a hunting accident, which unfairly put an end to that dream. She ended up working for the British SOE, assisting the French Resistance, and hiking the Pyrenees during winter with her prosthetic leg (codename: Cuthbert) to escape from the invading Nazis.
Two books I’d love to finish by year end
The Chesapeake Table: Author Renee Brooks Catacalos is a former regional food magazine publisher. A few years ago, she and a friend decided to eat only food that was grown and made within a 150-mile radius of her home in D.C. for one month. This book details that journey. It also discusses the growing “locavore” movement and, best of all, promises tips on how to affordably eat foods from our Chesapeake Bay region. https://reneeeatslocal.com/
Uncultivated: Years ago, I read Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire. One quarter of that book discussed the apple, which is one of the most cultivated, oldest domesticated plant species in the entire world. Thus began my mild fascination with apples. I expect this book by Andy Brennan to tell me about his experience with apple trees, cider making, and small farming, while also delivering a food activist manifesto and ode to the wild, natural, gnarly world.
The links above are to Better World Books. I don’t receive any compensation for referring you there. It’s just a good place to shop for books. Click here to read about their book donations, literacy grants, sustainability practices, etc.
If BWB is out of a book you want, please check Indie Bound to see which local bookseller stocks it. Buy local! Shop local! 🙂
Windtree Bee 