Reviewing my reading of last year I see that non-fiction has been the number-one-player. But, you know, I really enjoy fiction.
This year, I'll read more fiction.
Much of my non-fiction reading has been influenced by Sharon Astyk's blog. Sharon's book "Depletion and Abundance" ecapsulates many of her blog posts. The book is excellent for those interested in peak oil, sustainability (environmental, household, global). I really enjoyed it - I'm reading it a second time!
Reading Sharon's blog has introduced me to other authors: Dmitry Orlov Reinventing Collapse (he's a good writer, it's engaging and funny), Alisa Smith & JB Mackinnon The 100 Mile Diet (I really enjoyed this, for the food seeking, their far-off house in the woods, and certain insights from Alisa that resonated with me), Michael Pollan The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, Rebecca Huntley Eating Between the Lines: Food and Equality in Australia, John Michael Greer The Long Descent.
The Best Gardening Book 2008 goes to One Magic Square by Lolo Houbein. This has to be one of the best Australian gardening books published for a long time. It makes gardening achievable for the beginner and the space, and time, constrained. One square metre is the beginning, you can advance to as many square metres as you desire (or can manage).It's very accessible, plans for the plots, tips and tricks, towards food self-sufficiency, information on food plants, I've used many ideas from this book.
The revised edition of Jackie French's The Wilderness Garden was also a highlight. I hope this has introduced a new generation of gardeners to Jackie's easygoing Australian gardening philosophy. This lady has enormously influenced me. I think my garden would be much less productive without her ideas.
Biography has featured strongly in 2008. Siobhan O'Brien's A Life By Design (bio. of Florence Broadhurst), The Dressmaker's Daughter autobiography of Kate Llewellyn, Caroline Knapp's Drinking: A Love Story, Valerie Grove's Laurie Lee: A Well-Loved Stranger - can't now reconcile the man with his lyrical writing. Two Women by Laurie Lee was lovely...but, after reading the bio. I 'm cool towards this man.
Fiction. Adult fiction first. I read young adult fiction and magazines when I can't concentrate on anything.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - bleak, but I like bleak. Tim Winton's Breathe, sigh...he writes so beautifully, this is not a favourite though. I'm not really interested in surfing. However, I imagine an immense sense of freedom out there on the board. Giles surfs whenever he can...if only I could get him to read as well. I think he'd like Breathe.
Helen Garner is one of my favourite authors, from waaay back when I wanted a Monkey Grip lifestyle. I was seventeen and wanted to, um, experience life. Ah, but I was already kind of bound up. Anyway, The Spare Room certainly lived up to my expectations.
Linsey and I went to see Rosalie Gascoigne and Rennie Ellis at the Ian Potter Centre last Sunday (day trip for me, she was going to the Big Day Out the following day). Rennie Ellis made a lovely portrait of Helen Garner (about 1975, I think). And Rosalie Gascoigne is pretty much my favourite artist right now. Not least because she didn't really get going until she was in her fifties. However, she did "make things" and practice Ikebana flower arranging (very sculptural) for years before.
So, back to books. Loved Bel Canto (Ann Patchett). Recommendation courtesy of suse. In my fiction endeavours I want to read more of Ann Patchett's work.
Did you read Year of Wonders? I really enjoyed it. Geraldine Brooks' second book March, a good read too. Now, this year, I want to read The People of the Book.
A splendid laugh/cry book was Debra Adelaide's The Household Guide To Dying. I read it on the train on my first Bendigo trip - I did laugh, and I shed quiet tears, some parts were achingly sad.
I'm not sure where Into the Wild (John Krakauer, oh did you read Into Thin Air, that was chilling) slots in, it's kind of fiction , but based on a true story. The author's current form of writing, actually. I'm glad Krakauer acknowledged his character had some skill in wilderness survival (as well as shortcomings, often deliberate, eg: not taking any maps). The film isn't really like the book.
Young adult fiction now, for a tired adult mind.
Finding Grace by Alyssa Brugman. Feel good with a moral: caring for others means you can find yourself. I enjoyed it, and wanted to pass it on to Leah. It's not cool to read books in her peer group. Shit. She was an avid reader, once. It pains me because I think it's a very important form of information and escape.
Best Mate by Michael Morpurgo (I think it's been published with a different title recently). The main character is a greyhound...what can I say. I loved it.
Cruel Nest by Gary Crew. I'm a fan of Gary Crew. Are they really YA, or short adult novels? Complex and disturbing. I was really taken by The Blue Feather a couple of years ago.
Other books that don't fit into a particular catedory:
Those Tracks on My Face by Barbara Holborow - recollectins of well-known children's court magistrate. An op-shop buy that I found quite moving.
Trading in Memories: Travels Through a Scavenger's Favourite Places (Barbara Hodgson). An impulse buy online, I don't think I'd have bought it had I perused it in a proper bookshop. It was lovely, I liked her descriptions of fossicking in far away places - researching novels etc.. Well, it just didn't resonate. Barbara's interest in old documents, photos and the like - yes, I can relate, but...
The Unthinkable by Amanda Ripley. Subtitled Who Survives When Disaster Strikes - and Why. I bought this for my husband thinking it would be a magazine-style read (well suited to him), and it is, but quite a complex one. I found it really interesting, well researched, with a lovely human element.
Not Buying It: My Year Without Shopping (Judith Levine). Professional middle-class couple, very well-off, examine wants vs. needs, and decide not to buy for a year.. Not a how-to guide by any means. Just try-hard rich people. Disappointing for me, fortunately a library book.
Barbara Kingsolver's High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never. More non-fiction from an author I enjoy and admire. This is an oldie, but a goodie. Goodness, is such a term still used?
Two "health" books: The Big Fat Conspiracy by Melissa Sweet. A family health book, I like the author's surname! Second Good Health in the 21st Century by Dr Carol Hungerford. Found this one really interesting. So much so that I now take a multivitamin, a magnesium/selenium/zinc/chromium and a flaxseed oil omega 3,6,9 one each daily. The book is subtitled A Family Doctor's Unconventional Guide, and that it is. I doubt any of the doctors in this town would have the time for this approach, they are so strapped as it is. My original family GP, whom I had for all my babies, is too hard to get an appointmant with. Two months away? Doesn't work. Often it's three or four months. The GP I've been going to recently is now getting hard to visit - three weeks, six weeks? I find it really hard because my medical records are quite complex - it's a chore to go through it all with a new GP, as well as trying to forge a new relationship.
Now, Iv'e made inroads in the Read Fiction 2009 endeavour, thanks to the Bendigo trip and a train trip to Melbourne for Rosalie Gascoigne and Rennie Ellis, both on at Ian Potter now. You'll have to wait to hear of these excellent novels in 2010!
