Silence

Thing have been silent around here for quite a while. First for a good reason – I went to Kenya and Tanzania and it was awesome.

Then for a bad reason – the election in the US has hit me hard. Like really hard. I am completely disillusioned with the world. I haven’t read anything non-political since Tuesday and I can’t write.

I’m reading Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit and hoping that will do the trick.

 

Girl Up by Laura Bates

For those of you who don’t know, Laura Bates is the brains behind the Everyday Sexism Project and book of the same title. It catalogs all the incidents of sexism we encounter everyday, from the seemingly most innocuous to the more violent and offensive. The Everyday Sexism Project is a wake up call that is both painful and necessary to take a look at. The book, which is now available in North America, is such a powerful and terrifying read.

The Path of Modern Yoga by Elliott Goldberg

My current obsession with yoga continues, so The Path of Modern Yoga by Elliott Goldberg seemed like a natural fit for my reading right now. I studied South Asian religion and philosophy in university, and I always knew that the ancient roots of yoga in India bore little resemblance to the LuluLemon yoga practice of today. In The Path of Modern Yoga, Elliott Goldberg shows how we got from there to where we are now by focusing on a few key yoga innovators.

Peace and Parsnips by Lee Watson

Whenever I see a new vegan cookbook, especially one with a gorgeous cover, I get a little excited. We eat vegan 95% of the time, and even though our diet and cooking repertoire is amazingly varied, sometimes you need something to kick start your creativity again. To get you out of your rut. All cooks need this.

The Hotel on Place Vendome by Tilar J Mazzeo

I was going to Paris and wanted to read something set there to get me in the mood, so what better book than The Hotel on Place Vendome? The hotel being referred to is, of course, The Ritz and the book focuses primarily on The Ritz during the German occupation of Paris in World War II.

Hell-Bent by Benjamin Lorr

I’ve recently gotten back into doing yoga. And the thing that nobody ever tells you about yoga is that it becomes kind of addictive. So when I walked into my library and saw Hell-Bent I had to pick it up. It is a compelling and revealing memoir about one man’s descent into Bikram yoga, a bit of a take down of Bikram himself by a practitioner and a look at the darker side of what yoga has to offer. Oh, and it’s un-put-downable.

A Queer and Pleasant Danger by Kate Bronstein

Yes, it’s true, the title – A Queer and Pleasant Danger had me hooked before I had even opened the book. But come on, word play like that? you know the whole book is going to be well-written if nothing else. And it’s by Kate Bornstein, the original gender outlaw. And it’s got its fair share of Scientology in it. I may as well stop my review here because this book ticked all my boxes. I loved it.

Kimjongilia by Victor Fox

I’m on a bit of a North Korea kick right now, so I grabbed Kimjongilia by Victor Fox when I saw it. The fact that many publishers felt it was too risky to publish this book after the North Korean Sony hack made it even more appealing. It purports to be a true story, though i’d put it in the ‘based on a true story’ category.

Better Than The Book? The Podcast Edition

If there are two things i do consistently, they are read and listen to podcasts. Which is why I love it when a book crosses over into the podcast realm. Yeah, like books that get made into movies, mini-series or TV shows – only better.

I can really only think of two examples where this has been done really well. In fact, i prefer the podcasts to the books!

• Freakonomics Radio based on the book of the same title.
• Happier with Gretchen Rubin, which I guess is based on Better Than Before but combines elements of all her books.

Are there other podcasts out there based on books? Which ones do you recommend?

Without You, There is No Us by Suki Kim (audio)

I don’t listen to audio books very frequently. So often they just don’t ‘sound’ right to me. But I’ve had a head cold and a massive headache and did not read for 5 days. This is almost unheard of in my life. The one thing that saved me was the audio version of Without You, There Is No Us by Suki Kim.