Second Nature Readings: Taste Matters

The human tongue has somewhere up to eight thousand taste buds to inform us when something is sweet, salty, sour, or bitter—or as we usually think of it—delicious or revolting. Tastes differ from one region to the next, and no two people’s seem to be the same. But why is it that some people think maple syrup is too sweet, while others can’t get enough?

What makes certain people love Roquefort cheese and others think it smells like feet?

Why do some people think cilantro tastes like soap?

John Prescott tackles this conundrum in Taste Matters, an absorbing exploration of why we eat and seek out the foods that we do.

Taste Matters

Why We Like the Foods We Do

by John Prescott

Reaktion Books, 2012

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Now Cooking with Forks Over Knives

What if one simple change could save you from heart disease, diabetes, and cancer? For decades, that question has fascinated a small circle of impassioned doctors and researchers.

Their answer?

Eat a whole-foods, plant-based diet — it could save your life.

Forks Over Knives

The Plant-Based Way to Health

by Gene Stone

The Experiment, 2011

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Review: Windfall

Environmental historian Robert W. Righter follows up his 2003 report on Wind Energy in America, which detailed the struggles of wind-derived energy developments gaining acceptance, with WindFall at a time just a decade later when wind is suddenly the world’s fastest-growing source of energy.

"With so much activity in the industry, it became apparent that I had to do more than update an old book. I needed to write more on the contemporary situation, much more," Richter explains. "Who would have thought in the 1990s that giant wind turbine 'farms' would be radiating across the country, creating a scourge for some, a blessing for others? Whether welcome or not, wind developments are coming on line and being planned faster than American, Japanese, and European manufacturers can produce the turbines."

In a surprisingly short amount of time, skepticism about the feasibility of wind farming has been eclipsed by objections to the environmental and aesthetic impacts of industrial-size wind turbines on rural landscapes and visual corridors.

As a work of history, Windfall effectively documents the major issues and developments in wind energy up to 2009, from debates about role of government and the location of wind farms to questions about the efficacy of wind turbines and their role in addressing future energy needs.

Windfall

Wind Energy in America Today

by Robert W. Righter

University of Oklahoma Press, 2012

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Farm and Garden Picks: The Long-Legged House

First published in 1969 and out of print for more than twenty-five years, The Long-Legged House was Wendell Berry's first collection of essays, the inaugural work introducing many of the central issues that have occupied him over the course of his career.

As he later wrote, “What I stand for is what I stand on,” and here we see him beginning the acts of rediscovery and resettling..

The Long-Legged House

by Wendell Berry

Counterpoint, 2012

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Now Cooking with Pure Steak

When three outstanding steak lovers get together to prepare their favorite steaks, it is not just the well-known classics that end up on the plate.

Star cook Stefan Marquard, meat expert Stephan Otto, and German grillmaster Steffen Eichhorn present 39 extraordinary steak recipes.

Pure Steak
by Steffen Eichorn, Stefan Marquard, and Stephan Otto
Schiffer Publishing, Ltd, 2012

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Farm and Garden Book List Addition: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Seed Saving and Starting

Mouthwatering heirlooms, exciting hybrids, sensational herbs, colorful flowers - you dream of a garden overflowing with vibrant, healthy plants. Turn your dream garden into reality with seeds you save and start yourself.

With easy ideas on harvesting, storing, sowing, and nurturing your seeds into flourishing plants, this helpful guide gives you a sure path from start to success.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Seed Saving and Starting

by Sheri Ann Richerson

Alpha, 2012

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Now Reading: The Aleppo Codex

As defined by the author, an Associated Press correspondent living in Jerusalem, the "Aleppo Codex" is the most perfect copy of the Hebrew Bible -- "the singluar and authoritative version, for believing Jews, of God's word as it was sent into the world of men in their language."

When he discovered a copy of The Aleppo Codex in Israel's national museum, Matti Friedman wrote a story about how the manuscript was "hidden for centuries in the great synagogue of Aleppo, Syria, where it became known as the Crown of Aleppo...

"It was damaged by a fire set by Arab rioters in 1947, concealed, smuggled to the new state of Israel by the Jews of Aleppo as their community disappeared, and entrusted in 1958 to the country's president...

"This bound volume of parchment folios - a codex - had been kept intact for many hundreds of years, but a large number of leaves had mysteriously gone missing at the time of the synagogue fire. This hindered a quest by scholars to re-create the perfect text of the Bible, as the Crown had never been photographed and there were no known copies."

Friedman spent four years and traveled across three continents seeking the truth about how the codex was smuggled into Israel and what happed to the missing pages.

The Aleppo Codex: 

The True Story of Obesession, Faith, and the International Pursuit of an Ancient Bible 

by Matti Friedman

Algonquin Books, 2012

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