![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
June's Book List
Jul. 2nd, 2010 08:44 am27. In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan. 201pp
Everyone interested in health and food needs to read this book. Actually, I think everyone should read it regardless. It is so plain and simple and full of common sense, and really balances out a lot of things.
Dan has always been (at least since I've known him) big on buying local and shopping in the periphery of the grocery store. We both spend a lot of time reading ingredient labels, so some of what Pollan writes about we already know and practise. But there was a lot that was new to me as well.
It's late and I'm not doing the book justice.
28. Prophets and Kings, Ellen White. 733pp
I have to admit, this one was really a lot harder for me to get into than the others I've read in the Conflict of the Ages series. I enjoyed it but didn't get that overwhelming amazement and emotional connection I've had with the others. The accompanying Bible reading plan for this one was a bit daunting (huge chunks of Scripture often accompanied each chapter) and I'm wondering if that might have been a factor.
29. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, Bill Bryson. 268 pp
A tad too much time spent on sex-related topics for my liking, but aside from that, it was a grand, fun excursion into growing up in the 50s. The part where he discusses Dick and Jane was priceless. He talks about how much he loved the books and brought them home from school, and then writes:
There was just one very odd thing about the Dick and Jane books. Whenever any of the characters spoke, they didn't sound like humans.
"Here we are at the farm," says Father in a typical passage as he bounds from the car (dressed, not incidentally, in a brown suit), then adds a touch robotically: "Hello, Grandmother. Here we are at the farm."
"Hello," responds Grandmother. "See who is here. It is my family. Look, look! Here is my family."
"Oh, look! Here we are at the farm," adds Dick, equally amazed to find himself in a rural setting inhabited by loved ones. He, too, seems to have a kind of mental stuck needle. "Here we are at the farm," he goes on. "Here is Grandfather, too! Here we are at the farm."
It was like this on every page. Every character talked exactly like people whose brains had been taken away. At which point he draws comparisons to Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
30. Thursday's Child, Noel Streatfeild. 275pp
There was something about this one that just... didn't sit well with me. It was well-written, but the main character was really annoying thinking she was somebody so special and deserving of all kinds of attention.
Everyone interested in health and food needs to read this book. Actually, I think everyone should read it regardless. It is so plain and simple and full of common sense, and really balances out a lot of things.
Dan has always been (at least since I've known him) big on buying local and shopping in the periphery of the grocery store. We both spend a lot of time reading ingredient labels, so some of what Pollan writes about we already know and practise. But there was a lot that was new to me as well.
It's late and I'm not doing the book justice.
28. Prophets and Kings, Ellen White. 733pp
I have to admit, this one was really a lot harder for me to get into than the others I've read in the Conflict of the Ages series. I enjoyed it but didn't get that overwhelming amazement and emotional connection I've had with the others. The accompanying Bible reading plan for this one was a bit daunting (huge chunks of Scripture often accompanied each chapter) and I'm wondering if that might have been a factor.
29. The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid, Bill Bryson. 268 pp
A tad too much time spent on sex-related topics for my liking, but aside from that, it was a grand, fun excursion into growing up in the 50s. The part where he discusses Dick and Jane was priceless. He talks about how much he loved the books and brought them home from school, and then writes:
There was just one very odd thing about the Dick and Jane books. Whenever any of the characters spoke, they didn't sound like humans.
"Here we are at the farm," says Father in a typical passage as he bounds from the car (dressed, not incidentally, in a brown suit), then adds a touch robotically: "Hello, Grandmother. Here we are at the farm."
"Hello," responds Grandmother. "See who is here. It is my family. Look, look! Here is my family."
"Oh, look! Here we are at the farm," adds Dick, equally amazed to find himself in a rural setting inhabited by loved ones. He, too, seems to have a kind of mental stuck needle. "Here we are at the farm," he goes on. "Here is Grandfather, too! Here we are at the farm."
It was like this on every page. Every character talked exactly like people whose brains had been taken away. At which point he draws comparisons to Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
30. Thursday's Child, Noel Streatfeild. 275pp
There was something about this one that just... didn't sit well with me. It was well-written, but the main character was really annoying thinking she was somebody so special and deserving of all kinds of attention.