Book Talk Tuesday - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

by: Barbara Kingsolver

OK.  I am going to preface this book review with a little bit.  I love to read horitcultural/farming/self reliance type books.  I really love them!  So, when I had this on hold at my library I was going to be reading it to see if it was going to be added to my library of reference books. 

It isn't. 

I did mostly enjoy the book.  I read 3/4 of it.  I finally put it down and didn't finish it.  This is why.

The information is wonderful.  There are lots of little facts, hints and tips in the book.  Steven (her co-author and husband) has some nice little essays in the book with facts that are well researched.  Camille (her daughter) also has some essays on how this affected her and some recipes.  There are fun little stories and aplicable things that Barbara shares as well.

I also enjoyed the premise behind the book.  Living off the land for a full year...?  Sold!  :)  This is a goal our family has and I wanted to see how another family had done it. 

I enjoyed how each chapter had been broken down into seasons and what happens in each month.  What grows, what is producing, what is going to be eaten.  They only ate what was in season, so I was interested in how they achieved that.  (except later when they ate what they preserved.)

The reason I will not be adding this to my personal library is this:

There are long rambling parts to the book.  I would rather just get the information, not rambling stories interjected with other stories, interjected with other stories, then back to the first story...it was a bit confusing and a little off-putting for me.

The other thing was the sex talk.  I know I am not perfect, and I know that sometimes there is a sexual reference that I will laugh at in conversation, or I will even unintentionally make one...but there is alot of sexual references in this book.  Most of the time it will start out as an example of how plants reproduce (which I am OK with...afterall, that is what my schooling is in!) but then it degenerates into talking about humans and ideals.  I know not everyone feels as I do, that sexual intercorse is for married people, or that children are taught appropriate for their age...but this book bordered on inappropriate for me (in both of those areas).  This is why I stopped reading it actually.  I hit one to many of these "situations" where she started out with an example and all of a sudden it turned sexual.  Too many to be unintentional or innocent.  (one such example is when she is talking about asparagus, then compared it to being slightly titillating how it was  similar to a man's genitalia)

I was impressed with the information contained, but I could not in good concience tell others to read it.  (especially after not finishing it myself)  I think there are better books out there, and better information as well.

(also sorry if there is spelling problems...for some reason spell check doesn't like me...)

Cheers

Book Talk Tuesday - He Restoreth My Soul

For this book talk I have a guest that is a dear friend of mine.  She sent me a link to a book she thought I would enjoy...well, sorry if you do that to me because I made her write me a guest post!  :)  Being the wonderful person she is, I got one that very day. 

This is a book that as adults I am sure we could all benefit from.  In her own words, here is Jocelyn:

By Donald L Hilton Jr. MD

Almost a year ago we had a high councilor speak to us about the dangers of pornography in sacrament meeting. He spoke of how he and his wife read this book as a couple and felt that anyone who had children should read this book. I ordered it and then it got delayed and when it finally got there, I got nervous to read it. Why? I don't really know other than I am reading it at the appropriate time in my life. I have been prepared for it and am grateful I was prepared to read it. It is NOT an easy read. For me, it was a mentally hard read. It took me over 1 month to read it. Yes, I could fly through it if I wanted to, but I wanted to be sure I was understanding what I was reading and what I could do to help my family.

One of the things in the book that struck me was when he talked about it not being a matter of IF our kids see pornography, it's a matter of WHEN and how we deal with it when they do. That has always scared me. I do all I can to protect my children but I know that pornography is out there in ways that are so "acceptable" by society. Like the other day when I was driving down a road and there was a sign of a lady in a string bikini. The lady in the bikini had NOTHING to do with what the advertisement was, just more to get people's attention to the sign. And how to society, this is "ok" but to me it is not. The book also gave me a clear understanding of how it can begin and what I can do to help my children.

While pornography is a difficult subject to talk about, this book gave me hope. It talks about the addiction of pornography and how it is stronger than any addiction out there. It also gives me hope. There is some case studies in the book that help me realize that with our Heavenly Father, prayer and a wonderful 12 step program, pornography addiction CAN be beaten. Will it be easy? No. But like with all addictions that one chooses to beat, it will be worth it.

Before I read the book, I felt daunted in the task of talking to my children about the dangers of pornography. I was so terrified about even bringing up the subject of in-appropriate dress to them. I know, sad eh? But this book helped me to realize that for my boys, there is a very real possibility that one or both of them could deal with this addiction and how I as a mother could help them. It helped me to be more compassionate to them as they came and talked to me about simple things (ie: Pokemon) I know, how does Pokemon tie in with pornography. Well, it does not really unless you look at it this way. I am hoping that by sitting down and taking the time to talk to my boys about what is important to them, Pokemon, then hopefully when they have more important issues come up that they will feel comfortable to come and talk to me. I would much rather have one of my sons come and say, "You know what mom? I saw a picture today that made me feel uncomfortable" than for them to think that maybe that picture made them feel different and then they went looking for more pictures and then before we knew it, they could be involved in pornography.

This is a book that I will happily lend out to people to read (as long as I get it back so I can keep lending it out!). I want this book in my library so that I can reference it constantly. I will read it many more times as my sons are growing up. I would recommend this to anyone who has a child, who is thinking of having a child and especially couples. I have wondered if I should recommend it to someone who is battling a pornography addiction and I don't really know. Why? I worry that if someone is in pornography recovery and they are not strong enough in their recovery if this could be a trigger for them or set them back. (Sorry, I could not think of any other way to word it.) My only suggestion for someone who is in pornography recovery who is wanting to read this book would be to talk to their therapist about this or if they are not in therapy but attend a 12 step program would be to ask a facilitator if this would be a book they would recommend. I would never want to recommend this to someone and have them set back.

Hi! I am Jocelyn. I am a SAHM to 3 wonderful blessings in my life and get to cater to my husband! Life as a mom has not come easy for me. The getting pregnant part was simple, but the learning to appreciate my children for who they are was not an easy process. Thank-fully I have children who are extremely forgiving and are patient with me as I learn to parent them. I detest cooking and cleaning! I know what you are thinking, "Why does she stay home then?" Maybe it's because I have I have been cooking the same recipes over and over for 11 years. I am up for trying a new recipes that are not too complicated.


I live in southern Alberta and am SO ready for summer to come. Last summer was such a wet summer and it didn't really feel like a real summer. I am ready for some sunshine! I love to garden and love to can. It's my time that I can use to prepare for my family. My family loves to benefit from my canning and hopefully healthier food.

I blog over at My Crazy Life  feel free to pop by. I am not a super great blogger but I am trying to make better efforts!

As always, if you want to be a guest poster and do a review for me, drop me a line... kgm3boysATgmailDOTcom, I would love to hear from you!