I ended my half-year reading round-up with Liam Callanan's Paris by the Book; between that title and the titles I mentioned in my last post, I've failed to record some fifteen or so books. Too bad, because many of these deserve a recommendation. So let's see if I can catch up quickly as I post about my more recent reading.
I've just finished Sonia Choquette's Waking Up in Paris: Overcoming Darkness in the City of Light. If you're a fan or follower of Choquette and her work as a spiritual advisor, you will probably enjoy this as a narrative of re-making a life (in her case, after a painful divorce) by trusting one's intuition. I'll admit that Paris (or travel, at least) has always been my back-pocket plan for dealing with potential marital trauma -- anyone else think alike? Sure, I might have to rely overly on my charge card, but what's a little debt when the heart's breaking? (Okay, yeah, dangerous thinking. . . )
Years ago, at the height of my Parisophilia, I loved Suzie Gershman's memoir, C'est la Vie, about moving to Paris after the death of her husband -- and honestly, I think it's the stronger of the two memoirs (I remember reading a passage from Gershman's memoir out loud to Pater through tears). But I'm a sucker for this genre and I enjoyed Choquette's iteration well enough. Five or ten years ago, I'd happily have paid for my own copy, hardback even. My recommendation for you now would probably be to borrow it from your library, as I did.
Catch-up Title for Today:
Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. This is such a rich and rewarding collection of essays by a Distinguished Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology at SUNY who draws on her heritage as Potawatomi as well as on her commitments and concerns as a mother to show us ways that humanity can contribute positively to the environment, to a sustainable ecology. She does this by telling stories that entertain and illustrate and educate -- and reveal what plants can teach us. I posted a photo of the book on Instagram some time ago, along with a comment about the book (which, in turn, drew some interesting comments from others): I was hooked by "the fascinating narratives of pecan propagation—do these trees synchronize their mast fruiting by talking to each other? Indigenous wisdom held this but was scoffed at by scientists who now are acknowledging possibilities that such conversation might happen on the winds or underground."
This is one I highly recommend -- it lays out a daunting situation, yes, but it offers hope that we might contribute to productive re-wilding of the planet -- and while I was pleased to be able to get a copy from the library (I waited and waited, having put it on hold months ago -- a long waiting list, this one's popular!), I find myself wishing I had my own copy to go back and reread, or to share with others. . .
I've just finished Sonia Choquette's Waking Up in Paris: Overcoming Darkness in the City of Light. If you're a fan or follower of Choquette and her work as a spiritual advisor, you will probably enjoy this as a narrative of re-making a life (in her case, after a painful divorce) by trusting one's intuition. I'll admit that Paris (or travel, at least) has always been my back-pocket plan for dealing with potential marital trauma -- anyone else think alike? Sure, I might have to rely overly on my charge card, but what's a little debt when the heart's breaking? (Okay, yeah, dangerous thinking. . . )
Years ago, at the height of my Parisophilia, I loved Suzie Gershman's memoir, C'est la Vie, about moving to Paris after the death of her husband -- and honestly, I think it's the stronger of the two memoirs (I remember reading a passage from Gershman's memoir out loud to Pater through tears). But I'm a sucker for this genre and I enjoyed Choquette's iteration well enough. Five or ten years ago, I'd happily have paid for my own copy, hardback even. My recommendation for you now would probably be to borrow it from your library, as I did.
Catch-up Title for Today:
Robin Wall Kimmerer's Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants. This is such a rich and rewarding collection of essays by a Distinguished Professor of Environmental and Forest Biology at SUNY who draws on her heritage as Potawatomi as well as on her commitments and concerns as a mother to show us ways that humanity can contribute positively to the environment, to a sustainable ecology. She does this by telling stories that entertain and illustrate and educate -- and reveal what plants can teach us. I posted a photo of the book on Instagram some time ago, along with a comment about the book (which, in turn, drew some interesting comments from others): I was hooked by "the fascinating narratives of pecan propagation—do these trees synchronize their mast fruiting by talking to each other? Indigenous wisdom held this but was scoffed at by scientists who now are acknowledging possibilities that such conversation might happen on the winds or underground."
This is one I highly recommend -- it lays out a daunting situation, yes, but it offers hope that we might contribute to productive re-wilding of the planet -- and while I was pleased to be able to get a copy from the library (I waited and waited, having put it on hold months ago -- a long waiting list, this one's popular!), I find myself wishing I had my own copy to go back and reread, or to share with others. . .