Booklist Addition: The Viking in the Wheat Field

The Viking in the Wheat Field
A Scientist's Struggle to Preserve the World's Harvest
by Susan Dworkin
Walker & Company, 2010

For thirty years, Danish plant scientist Bent Skovmand served as adviser to dozens of countries and hunted for seeds with genes to resist disease and such environmental stresses as drought, flooding, and global warming.

In an era when multinational corporations often jealously guarded patents on plant breeding, Skovmand fought to keep his seed bank a free, open scientific exchange for breeders and farmers everywhere.

By telling the story of Skovmand and his colleagues, The Viking in the Wheat Field sheds welcome light on an agricultural sector--plant genetic resources--on which our food supply is crucially dependent.

The Viking in the Wheat Field
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Equinox: Life, Love, and Birds of Prey

Equinox: Life, Love, and Birds of Prey
by Dan O'Brien
Bison Books, 2010

Recently republished in paperback, this memoir about falconry is also an evocative immersion into life on the Dakota prairies.

"The heartbreak of western South Dakota is made greater by the country's mystic power to generate optimism," author Dan O'Brien writes. "Even people who have lived here their whole lives - and know better - find themselves counting on a chain of events that is completely beyond their control. Unpredictable weather is the big spoiler."

Set against the backdrop of his fiftieth birthday - a personal "equinox" - O'Brien tells the story of a year spent training hunting falcons. The relationships between man and raptors and hunting dogs are expertly described, providing an insightful look at a little-known sport and a unique way of living.

Glossary terms specific to raptors and falcony, such as "deck feathers" (the middle two feathers in a bird's tail) and "bate" (to fly from the fist or a perch and be brought up short by the leash) are defined in small inserts into the body of the text as they appear.

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Classic Cookbooks: Adventures in Cooking with Health Foods

Adventures in Cooking with Health Foods
by Nancy Sutton
Pyramid, 1972

Food grown naturally and cooked with a gourmet's touch! That's the happy combination offered in this lively, luscious book.

Mrs. Sutton puts together nature's own whole grains and vegetables with the gourmet flavorings of wines, spices and herbs.

She shows in easy-to-follow recipes how to prepare unforgettable dishes - from macadamia nut cheese filling and beets in pomegranate sauce to rose petal sherbet and carob coconut Easter eggs.

If you want to start eating healthier, tastier meals, began by reading this book - and do on to prove in your own kitchen that the natural way with food is the most delicious way..

Adventures in Cooking with Health Foods
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The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook

Best Choice in Meat, Fish & Eggs; Alaskan Wild Salmon

Salmon is an all-around nutritional rock star. High in protein, it is a rich source of selenium, which is critical to your thyroid, and vitamin D, which helps preserve muscle. But the main reason it's my preferred choice of animal protein is its very high level of omega-3 fats. Omega-3s regulate your heart rhythm, decrease blood clotting, dilate your blood vessels, decrease your blood pressure and triglycerides, and fight inflammation. Yu need to eat only two servings of salmon a wek to cut your risk of heart disease dramatically.

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Classic Cookbooks: The Natural Foods Cookbook

The Natural Foods Cookbook
by Beatrice Trum Hunter
Pyramid, 1975

The unique Natural Foods Cookbook is the first book of its kind. Comprehensive and complete, it is filled with easy-to-prepare recipes using only whole natural foods.

Over 2,000 dishes that are different, exciting delicious... for people who want to taste what they eat.

The Natural Foods Cookbook is richly full of foods with the wholesome old-fashioned flavor that comes from using whole, natural foods - the fresh taste that many people yearn for and that many others, whose palates may have been dulled by "modern" foods, will now have the thrill of discovering..

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Classic Cookbooks: Joan Lay's Book of Salads

The best source of vitamins and mineral salts is raw food, and there is no more appetizing way of eating such food than in salads.

This book includes a wide range of exciting vegetables with which to experiment - including salsify, seakale, kohl rabi, fennel, peppers and red cabbage.

Here is an original and varied selection of salads - all vegetarian - including Hors d'Oeuvre, Green and Side Salads, Vegetable and Rice Salads, Salads with Fruit, Blended or Liquidized Salads, and a selection of TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) Salads.

Joan Lay's Book of Salads by Joan Lay
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Nature Stories

Nature Stories
by Jules Renard
The New York Review of Books, 2010

“You can see one there, lying down, stretched out like a lovely noodle” is Jules Renard's single-sentence portrait of a worm, one of about four dozen sketches included in his classic Nature Stories, newly translated from the French by Douglas Parmée.

An early 20th century novelist and playwright, Renard published the first edition of his Histoires naturelles in 1896. Subsequent editions were illustrated by the likes of Toulouse-Latrec and Pierre Bonnard, whose ink-brush images are included in this English edition.

Consisting of mostly short verse and prose poem celebrations of flora and fauna, the collection also includes a couple longer pieces on hunting and fishing, which are not complimentary. Renard deftly anthropomorphizes the plants and animals around him and clearly empathizes with their existences.

Continued at Review: Nature Stories

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Pomodoro!

Pomodoro!
A History of the Tomato in Italy
by David Gentilcore
Columbia University Press, 2010

From its introduction from the New World in the mid-sixteenth century to its prominence in Italian cuisine 300 years later, the tomato as a culinary staple in southern Europe has long and viny history. This book recounts how changes in social values, beliefs and economic condition allowed the fruit to become accepted and eventually dominate Italian cookery.

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Christmas Wishes

Nostalgic Christmas Fireplace

For modern suburban dwellings that did not come with the nostalgia of built-in fireplaces, cardboard replicas were available to provide the suitable hearthside touch. The fake fireplace made a handy place to hang stockings and provided a mantel to decorate, and it usually even came with a bulb and tinfoil reflector to give the impression of a flickering fire.

But unlike the real thing, rather than having to keep it clean, when Christmas was over, it could be folded flat into its storage carton and packed away in the attic or garage for the next eleven months.

from Christmas Wishes: A Catalog of Vintage Holiday Treats
by Tim Hollis


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Nostalgic Fireplace Decoration

Booklist Addition: Ah-Choo!

Ah-Choo!
The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold
by Jennifer Ackerman
Twelve, 2010

In Ah-Choo!, Jennifer Ackerman explains what, exactly, a cold is, how it works, and whether it's really possible to "fight one off." Scientists call this the Golden Age of the Common Cold because Americans suffer up to a billion colds each year, resulting in 40 million days of missed work and school and 100 million doctor visits. They've also learned over the past decade much more about what cold viruses are, what they do to the human body, and how symptoms can be addressed. .

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Pecans: The Story in a Nutshell

Pecans
The Story in a Nutshell
by Jane Manaster
Texas Tech University Press, 2008

From its earliest use by Native Americans to today's pies, candies, condiments and snacks, the story of the nature, cultivation and uses of the pecan is shelled in this slender volume.

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Booklist Addition: Christmas Wishes

Christmas Wishes
A Catalog of Vintage Holiday Treats
by Tim Hollis
Stackpole Books, 2010

From plastic nativity scenes to aluminium trees, Christmas became a major marketing extravaganza in America in the mid-twentieth century.

This book recalls the holiday between 1940 and 1970, courtesy of department stores, five and tens, toy manufacturers, publishing houses, and record companies. Boomers and Gen-Xers will relive memories of special holiday toys and treats, Christmas children's books by Little Golden and Wonder, holiday music released by Peter Pan and Disneyland records, and merchandising characters such as Frosty the Snowman and Montgomery Ward's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

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Review: Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders

Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders
101 Patterns That Go Way Beyond Socks!
by Judith Durant
Storey Publishing, 2010

What can you do with a single skein of yarn besides make a pair of socks? Quite a lot, according to knitting specialist Judith Durant, who proves her case with 101 patterns for hats, gloves, fingerless mitts, scarves, small shawls, kids, doll clothes, bags, and numerous small accessories.

The patterns in this book come from 75 separate designers who have found creative uses for sock yarn. Each pattern is accompanied by at least one color photograph, yarn and needle suggestions, and supply lists.

Charts are included for the more detailed patterns, but most require little more than basic knitting skills.

Each pattern contains a legend for the symbols used. A back-of-the-book glossary explains how to do some of the increases, decreases, and crossed stitches.

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Booklist Addition: Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders

Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders
101 Patterns That Go Way Beyond Socks!
by Judith Durant
Storey Publishing, 2010

Veteran knitter Judith Durant has chosen not simply inventive sock patterns but also more than 5 dozen inspired patterns for other items that can be created from a single skein of sock yarn.

This book offers one-of-a-kind patterns for baby clothes, mittens, scarves, hats, jewelry, cozies, bags . . . even a dog sweater and a lamp shade!

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The Nature Pages: Kentucky's Natural Heritage

Kentucky's Natural Heritage
An Illustrated Guide to Biodiversity
by Greg Abernathy, Deborah White, Ellis L. Laudermilk, and Marc Evans
The University Press of Kentucky, 2010

A confluence of both science and history, this book describes natural areas in Kentucky that have vanished and inventories a long list of threatened and endangered animals, plants and unique habitats in the state that need protection.

Once 90 percent forested, Kentucky is now made up of roughly 46 percent "Large Forest Tracts" and most of it is fragmented and less able to sustain complex communities of animals and plants. Conequently, more than 50 species of animals and plants that once made Kentucky their home can no longer be found. Of the species that remain, 25 percent of the fish, 26 percent of the reptiles and amphibians, 13 percent of the birds and 20 percent of the mammals are endangered, threatened or close to leaving for good.

More than just a chronicle of loss, this is a guide to places where the species and the habitats that remain can be visited and appreciated. These include federally protected areas (national parks, refuges and forests) and 59 state nature preserves.

Illustrated with numerous maps and remarkable photos of surviving species like the dazzling blue-and-orange flame crayfish or the bright magenta limestone flame flower, this book is an accessible reference for both professional biologists and armchair travelers.

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Booklist Addition: Kentucky's Natural Heritage

Kentucky's Natural Heritage
An Illustrated Guide to Biodiversity
by Greg Abernathy, Deborah White, Ellis L. Laudermilk, and Marc Evans
The University Press of Kentucky, 2010

Kentucky's abundance of plant and animal life, from the bottomland swamps in the west to the rich Appalachian forests in the east, is extraordinary as well as beautiful. Glades, prairies, forests, wetlands, rivers, and caves form a biologically diverse patchwork that is unique to the state. Kentucky's Natural Heritage: An Illustrated Guide to Biodiversity provides an essential reference to the remarkable natural history of the commonwealth and is a rallying call for the conservation of this priceless legacy.

Kentucky's ecosystems teem with diverse native species, some of which are found nowhere else in the world. Kentucky's Natural Heritage brings these sometimes elusive creatures into close view, from black-throated green warblers to lizard skin liverworts. The aquatic systems of the state are home to rainbow darters, ghost crayfish, salamander mussels, and an impressive array of other species that constitute some of the greatest levels of freshwater diversity on the planet.

Kentucky's Natural Heritage
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Now Reading: The Philosophy of the Western

The western movie has undeniably influenced the American psyche.

This book examines the philosophical themes in the western genre, investigating issues of nature, ethics, identity, gender, environmentalism, and animal rights.

The Philosophy of the Western by Jennifer L. McMahon and B. Steve Csaki
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Booklist Addition: The Power of Sustainable Thinking

The Power of Sustainable Thinking
How to Create a Positive Future for the Climate the Planet Your Organization and Your Life
by Bob Doppelt
Earthscan Publications Ltd., 2010

Every day we are faced with a myriad of complex, often contradictory choices that have a bearing on the climate and sustainability.

Without a method for understanding our thought processes, we often default to behavior that is destroying the climate, natural environment and social wellbeing.

How can we change our thinking and behaviors to protect the climate and move towards sustainability?

Organizational change specialist Bob Doppelt provides practical methods for transforming our climate-damaging, unsustainable ways into sustainable thinking and behaviors.

The Power of Sustainable Thinking
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This Old Book: Re-Engagement in Later Life

This study sought to bring to public awareness two subjects that were overdue in 1979 as topics of academic research and areas of practical information: re-employment and remarriage of older people. At the time, these topics had barely been explored.
Re-Engagement in Later Life: Re-Employment and Remarriage by Ruth Harriet Jacobs and Barbara H. Vinick
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Good Old Books: Cunning Is Better Than Strong

Lee lived in the country with his father and his mother, his sister and his baby brother and his dog, Pomp. Lee was nine, going on ten, and the two things he wanted most in the world were a possum and a raccoon for pets.

He tried all sorts of ways to catch these animals and his father kept reminding him of the old saying -- cunning is better than strong -- and it was cunning that succeeded in the end.

They would, of course, feel and taste and see these things -- and this is the fascinating story of their two-year voyage, or how Matt and Tim found out what they wanted to do with their lives, of the duties an pleasures of life on board -- of the whaleman's world in all its variety and excitement.

Lee's adventures trying to capture the possum and raccoon are funny and exciting and rather eerie. Virginia Ormsby writes of Lee and his family with sureness and affection and of the Georgia country from first-hand knowledge. The folklore and customs and natural beauty of this area are woven skillfully into a story that holds the reader's attention to the very end.

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Good Old Books: Whaleman's World

It was a beautiful autumn day in 1848 when two young men met on the road to a busy Massachusetts whaling port. By nightfall they had signed on as hands for the whaling bark Polly.

"They had no idea how it felt to be on a sailing ship when it moved. They had never heard the creak of swaying masts or the whistle of wind through rigging. They had never touched ropes so hot they were slimed with tar or so cold they were frozen into steel, never smelled the miserable stink of disturbed bilge water or the lovely perfume of a spice island.

"They had never tasted salt junk or the sweetness of a banana picked from the tree at its exact moment of ripeness. There were hundreds of things they had never seen. An ocean of water so wide that no land touched it in any direction. A wild sea storm. A dead calm. A palm tree. A cannibal. An iceberg. The wonderful Southern Cross. A wandering albatross. And, most important of all, a living whale!"

They would, of course, feel and taste and see these things -- and this is the fascinating story of their two-year voyage, or how Matt and Tim found out what they wanted to do with their lives, of the duties an pleasures of life on board -- of the whaleman's world in all its variety and excitement.

Whaleman's World by Jan Henry
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Booklist Addition: Film Nation

Film Nation
Hollywood Looks at U.S. History
by Robert Burgoyne
University of Minnesota Press, 2010

Events of the past decade have dramatically rewritten the American national narrative, bringing to light an alternate history of nation, marked since the country’s origins by competing geopolitical interests, by mobility and migration, and by contending ethnic and racial groups.

In this revised and expanded edition of Film Nation, Robert Burgoyne analyzes films that give shape to the counternarrative that has emerged since 9/11—one that challenges the traditional myths of the American nation-state.

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