What are you reading now?

[Forest Nymph]

Joyful Militancy: Building Thriving Resistance in Toxic Times

I think this is the most helpful of my assigned readings this semester. I'm not saying I haven't learned from or enjoyed others, but this book delves into the real talk. Of how people remain complacent or self-destruct instead of actively building community when faced with oppression or painful injustice, how activists find their real power in friendships and community rather than ideology, and how the rigid radical has become a trope, the constant criticizing of self and others for not living up to the perfect ideology or "should."

I can't help but think of DXE while reading this, and the way they're trying to stay away from the vegan label (despite technically being vegans) to reject this perfectionistic, angry rigidity in favor of building community and stay focused on the ethical action of animal liberation rather than the personal morality of veganism. I'm learning a lot through this personal example because I am so much the grumpy-warrior-cool rigid radical described in the book (for whom it is obviously written).

I love their approach because they're rigid radicals themselves so are quick to point out this isn't about becoming "polite" or "nice" or putting to rest our radical or anarchist views, because the world is in desperate need of change, but living fully and joyfully in the paradox of active resistance while being loving and creative. This is stated again and again as being accomplished through community-building where ethics are favored over personal morality. Which brings me back to "animal liberation" (ethics with a real world effect) vs. "vegan" (personal morality based in ideology). It's not about being "anti-vegan" or even wholly rejecting the word vegan (which I'm never gonna do), but understanding greater fulfillment, greater existence in something beyond myself and deeper joy will be found in building a community of fidelity and ethics rather than angrily isolating oneself in perfectionist morality.

 

[Nekodaiden]

Sepp Holzer's Permaculture
Roots demystified
Ruth Stout's No work garden book

At the moment I'm reading all 3 in tandem trying to get a better idea of how to work with my soil, different ways to improve it including what to plant and general info related to it. I don't have any background in agriculture and knew that what I wanted were natural low/no cost ways of dealing with it instead of the information which business promotes in order to sell to the lay public and which also happens to be taught in certified courses here undoubtedly with the same aim.

For pleasure I'm reading Dean Koontz's Seize the Night.

 

[Sax]

The Wandering Earth, a collection of short sci-fi stories by Cixin Liu. The title story was turned into a movie...total garbage unfortunately. Typical spend all the money on CGI and set pieces, skip all character development and replace exposition with explosions kind of adaptation.

 

[Sax]

The Last Place on Earth, about the race between the Scott and Amundsen expeditions to be the first to ever reach the south pole. Scott's expedition famously ended in tragedy so I expect it to get pretty grim. So far it's largely biographical, and being about the last major achievement of early polar exploration provides a decent overview of earlier efforts on the poles and Northwest Passage.

 

[Emma JC]

Picked up Dr Greger's latest How Not to Diet from the library and just started it.

So far I am just in the first part that is talking about why we are all so obese and that is interesting. I found some stats there like BMI and waist/height ratios that are interesing. I need to lose about 15 - 20 pounds and a couple of inches from my waist. BTW the ratio of waist/height should be 50% or less.... my honey needs to lose a few more pounds and inches....

I am so looking forward to getting further into it as he has found a number of tricks to increase health and decrease weight like 'when to eat' etc.

Here is a review from GoodReads:




How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy, Permanent Weight Loss

by
Michael Greger (Goodreads Author)


Every month seems to bring a trendy new diet or weight loss fad—and yet obesity rates continue to rise, and with it a growing number of diseases and health problems. It’s time for a different approach.

Enter Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of Nutritionfacts.org. Author of the mega bestselling HOW NOT TO DIE, Dr. Greger now turns his attention to the latest research on the leading causes—and remedies—of obesity.

Dr. Greger hones in on the optimal criteria to enable weight loss, while considering how these foods actually affect our health and longevity. He lays out the key ingredients of the ideal weight-loss diet — factors such as calorie density, the insulin index, and the impact of foods on our gut microbiome—showing how plant-based eating is crucial to our success.

But HOW NOT TO DIET goes beyond food to identify twenty-one weight-loss accelerators available to our bodies, incorporating the latest discoveries in cutting-edge areas like chronobiology to reveal the factors that maximize our natural fat-burning capabilities. Dr. Greger builds the ultimate weight loss guide from the ground up, taking a timeless, proactive approach that can stand up to any new trend.

Chock full of actionable advice and groundbreaking dietary research, HOW NOT TO DIET will put an end to dieting—and replace those constant weight-loss struggles with a simple, healthy, sustainable lifestyle.
-----

Emma JC

 

[Poppy]

My book club picked Julia Child's "My Life in France" for this month. I had no idea it would be SO full of meat, cheese and butter - Lol. I guess I should have. I don't know that I will get through it.

 

[Lou]

The Leviathan
by James Corey

I just started this book and I'm really liking it. It's the first novel in the Expanse Series which was made into a TV show. I may watch the show when I get done with this first novel.

 

[Emma JC]

The Leviathan
by James Corey

I just started this book and I'm really liking it. It's the first novel in the Expanse Series which was made into a TV show. I may watch the show when I get done with this first novel.

"he" really likes the Expanse.... me, not so much

Emma JC

 

[Sax]

I'm reading In the Kingdom of Ice by Hampton Sides, about the Jeanette expedition.

 

[shyvas]

My book club picked Julia Child's "My Life in France" for this month. I had no idea it would be SO full of meat, cheese and butter - Lol. I guess I should have. I don't know that I will get through it.

Didn't you see the movie Julie & Julia ? The recipes that Julie cooked were all full of meat and dairy. That is exactly in the way that the French eat.

 

[Emma JC]

Picked up Dr Greger's latest How Not to Diet from the library and just started it.

So far I am just in the first part that is talking about why we are all so obese and that is interesting. I found some stats there like BMI and waist/height ratios that are interesing. I need to lose about 15 - 20 pounds and a couple of inches from my waist. BTW the ratio of waist/height should be 50% or less.... my honey needs to lose a few more pounds and inches....

I am so looking forward to getting further into it as he has found a number of tricks to increase health and decrease weight like 'when to eat' etc.

Here is a review from GoodReads:




How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy, Permanent Weight Loss

by
Michael Greger (Goodreads Author)


Every month seems to bring a trendy new diet or weight loss fad—and yet obesity rates continue to rise, and with it a growing number of diseases and health problems. It’s time for a different approach.

Enter Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of Nutritionfacts.org. Author of the mega bestselling HOW NOT TO DIE, Dr. Greger now turns his attention to the latest research on the leading causes—and remedies—of obesity.

Dr. Greger hones in on the optimal criteria to enable weight loss, while considering how these foods actually affect our health and longevity. He lays out the key ingredients of the ideal weight-loss diet — factors such as calorie density, the insulin index, and the impact of foods on our gut microbiome—showing how plant-based eating is crucial to our success.

But HOW NOT TO DIET goes beyond food to identify twenty-one weight-loss accelerators available to our bodies, incorporating the latest discoveries in cutting-edge areas like chronobiology to reveal the factors that maximize our natural fat-burning capabilities. Dr. Greger builds the ultimate weight loss guide from the ground up, taking a timeless, proactive approach that can stand up to any new trend.

Chock full of actionable advice and groundbreaking dietary research, HOW NOT TO DIET will put an end to dieting—and replace those constant weight-loss struggles with a simple, healthy, sustainable lifestyle.
-----

Emma JC

so many interesting paragraphs of info - especially the anti-flammatory and inflammatory foods and the fibre rich foods and how they protect us - sorry folks, oils are inflammatory....

Emma JC

 

[Poppy]

Didn't you see the movie Julie & Julia ? The recipes that Julie cooked were all full of meat and dairy. That is exactly in the way that the French eat.

I did see it, but that was so long ago. That movie was apparently based on this book.

 

[Forest Nymph]

I needed a break from non-fiction and anything related to veganism or animal rights. But even paperback mysteries weren't cutting it because some of my favorite trashy authors are mildly sexist men and I haven't been in the mood to overlook it.

So I finally found this great escapist novel called Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield. It's set in the 19th century English countryside and is half realism, half fairy tale. It draws upon the Christ-child narrative except the child is a unknown little girl who revives from the dead on the pagan winter solstice. It also contains other folklore. Interestingly it does have an animal welfare angle and an "animal whisperer" character, but it's not at all vegan - it's easier to tolerate in a non-vegan context though, than some other approaches might be, because it happens in the 1800s among rural people.

I'm about 3/4 through it. I'd like to see it as a film.

 

[Emma JC]

so many interesting paragraphs of info - especially the anti-flammatory and inflammatory foods and the fibre rich foods and how they protect us - sorry folks, oils are inflammatory....

Emma JC

We are finding this book so interesting that I am going to order it immediately as it is due back at the library tomorrow and I have barely scratched the surface of the amazing information in it. And I thought I knew just about all there was to know about eating a plant-based diet. ha, that'll teach me

It really is amazing the little tidbits and large swaths of info that Dr Greger has compiled in the book. Simple things like, not rinsing your dishes properly can lead to weight gain, eating a variety of foods instead of sticking to a less varied diet can lead to weight gain, how a calorie isn't just a calorie depending on which food that calorie is in and what you eat it with, and so on.

I highly recommend How Not to Diet by Dr Greger!

Emma JC

 

[Lou]

Nothing to See Here
by Kevin Wilson


I just finished this book. it was terrific.

" Nothing to See Here is an original and delightfully bizarre tale of unlikely friendship. Equal parts hilarious and compassionate, it is the perfect summer read and completely unputdownable."

 

[Emma JC]

Nothing to See Here
by Kevin Wilson


I just finished this book. it was terrific.

" Nothing to See Here is an original and delightfully bizarre tale of unlikely friendship. Equal parts hilarious and compassionate, it is the perfect summer read and completely unputdownable."

I have just put it on Hold at the library. TY for the referral.

Emma JC

 

[Poppy]

I've just started Beneath a Scarlet Sky bu Mark Sullivan

 

[Emma JC]

I've just started Beneath a Scarlet Sky bu Mark Sullivan

and ordered at the library too, ty for the referral

Emma JC

 

[Deleted member 3018]

Currently I'm re-watching the Netflix series Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, so was naturally thrilled to find her book from the library. I think it is this one in english: https://www.adlibris.com/fi/kirja/s...rt-of-organizing-and-tidying-up-9781607749721
This is the book in finnish: https://www.adlibris.com/fi/kirja/konmari-9789522794710
I can't remember exactly the english version and I'm too lazy to figure out which one it was so I'll just go with this information. Argh.

• I loved how she emphasized that the idea is not necessarily to merely get rid of, but also and more importantly, what to save. Keep those things that spark joy.
• Also loved the question, and also used alot while decluttering: Do I want this item in my future?
• And the examples in form of illustrations, that were cute but also made it more clear to understand what she wanted to explain.

It was time for sprig cleaning for me. Around the time of Imbolc the impulse of getting rid of the things that no longer serve me, grows too strong to resist. I don't usually accumulate much, since I'm a frugal minimalist, but about every two years it's definitely time to declutter once again.
Wiccans seem to be very much into cleansing everything. And I feel like de-cluttered space also helps with making the space cleased from unwanted energy. Especially when you de-clutter with love and grattitude towards your things.
And the things you decide to keep, you should love and appreciate. Marie Kondo shows everyday love towards her clothes by folding them with care, and to me, that seems reasonable.

What I didn't get was decourating your home with furniture and other stuff, because I'm a minimalist, and very frugal as well. But I tried, in my own small way, and decided to place a picture of my cat on the wall, to spark joy when ever I see the picture. The picture represents well how crazy and utterly adorable she is.
I also placed my favourite books at display instead of hiding them away in the closet.
Some of them include:
Illustrated Book of Myths by Neil Philip. I got it when I was a small child from my godmother and have read it multiple times. I'm so grateful to have the most wonderful and intelligent godmother.
What is Wicca? By Titus Hjelm.
Awareness by Anthony de Mello. Another book that my godmother gave me. I started reading this when I was deeply depressed, and had been mentally ill for over ten years and this book made me angry and sad, but I kept reading. The book helpt me see things differently, even if I don't fully agree with everything he is saying. But then again, I don't think he wanted people to agree with him.
Songs of the Gorilla Nation. My Journey Though Autism by Dawn Prince-Hughes.
A Street Cat Named Bob by James Bowen.
Vegan Freak: being vegan in a non-vegan world by Bob and Jenna Torres.
Enough by John Naish
The Moneyless Man by Mark Boyle himself
And of course The Lord of The Rings.
Now I can have all these precious books at hand if I ever want to read them again, displayed beaytifully.

To be honest, decluttered mainly books. Books that I was "supposed" to be interested of, but will never be, and interestingly enough, after The Book Purge I have read much more than ever before... and enjoyed the journey of reading more as well. I don't have to own many books, I can borrow from the library, and if it turns out to be uninteresting, letting go is much more easier. ( I don't have to be interested of many things, it's okay to be only one human that has limited amount of time and energy.) And then, I can swich on to another book, that with any luck, turns out to be interesting and enriches my otherwise mundane existence.

The pressure of owning is gone, and I can just relax and enjoy.

But then again, about decorating your space... I did like the idea of having plants as in means of brightening up the space. If I would have the money, I probably would get one Calathea Makoyana, Asplenium scolopendrium... and Chlorophytum comosum (often called spider plant).

But I don't, I'm not that rich. Also I wouldn't have the energy to take care of all of those. I get alot of joy from my cat and orchid (the plant was a chistmas present). I'm also planting basillica and barley this spring. To all of these I spend my love, time, energy and money. It's crucially important to prioritize, that is how you are rich, if not economically, you are definitely rich from experience, love and happiness.

Take care of what you've got and make do without.

 

[elizzaparker]

Hi, Right now I am reading https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/books-best-greatest-read-before-you-die-classic-novels-literature-austen-orwell-dickens-mantel-a9255191.html