World Without End

by Ken Follett

This is the follow-up book to Pillars of the Earth, although it is not a direct sequel. It takes place 200 years later. They don't have to be read in order. I would say similar things as I did about Pillars: it's an easy read, despite being over 1000 pages, the characters are interesting, and so forth, but if I were to offer a criticism, it would be that many of the story lines were similar to the other book (evil men in power, smart women who overcome them.)

I enjoyed the character of Caris the most -- her experience as a woman who wants meaningful work drives much of the story.

The Seduction of the Crimson Rose

by Lauren Willig

The latest in the Pink Carnation series, this time focusing on Mary Alsworthy and Lord Vaughn. I highly recommend this series if you like historical fiction, but do start with the first book.

The Abstinence Teacher

by Tom Perotta

This novel intertwines the story of a woman who teaches sex education and is forced to teach an abstinence only curriculum and a man who is a recovering drug addict and evangelical Christian who belongs to a fringe church. Explores the issues of religion in society, most especially the separation of church and state.

I enjoyed it, but have read better books.

The Senator's Wife

By Sue Miller

This book is about the nature of marriage, the compromises we make, the expectations we bring to it and the bargains that we make, implicit and explicit. It is also about a generational divide, and the nature of betrayal.

Worth reading.

Sovereign Ladies: Sex, Sacifice, and Power

By Maureen Waller

This book covers the lives of the six queens regnant of England: Mary I, Elizabeth I, Mary II, Anne, Victoria and Elizabeth II.

I knew very little about Mary II (of William and Mary) and Anne, sisters and daughters of James II.

It's a good overview if you are interested in such things, but I knew more about Mary I and Elizabeth I from both my non-fiction and historical fiction reading than was covered in this volume. I doubt a whole book about just Mary II and Anne would be all that interesting, but it was interesting to learn more about them. I didn't know that Anne would be pregnant more than 15 times, yet die leaving no surviving children.

With the exception of Elizabeth I, there seems to have been an ordinariness about all of them that belies their birth into royalty. As each the monarchy steadily lost power -- only the first two queens were absolute rulers -- the rise of pageantry in direct relation to the decline in real power is one of the most interesting things about a modern monarchy.

I recommend "Sex with Kings which is about royal mistresses.

The Omnivore's Dilemma

By Michael Pollan

I'd read Pollan's Second Nature years ago, so when I saw this one on the Bestseller table at the library, I picked it up, and am grateful that I did.

Pollan does a natural history analysis of 4 meals that he eats: a McDonald's burger, fries, and soda; a chicken dinner complete with out of season white asparagus from Whole Foods; a chicken dinner from a sustainable farm in VA; and a meal that he hunted and foraged for himself.

The McDonald's meal comes from a monoculture of corn -- indeed, those who eat the typical american diet can be thought of as "processed corn, walking." Hybrid corn, which forms the basis of most animal feed (which makes the cattle ill and need anti-biotics), sweetners and myriad other ingredients in most processed foods. These hybrids need lots and lots of patroleum-based fertilizers to grow. It's a highly unsustainable system, which has led in many cases to the decline of the american farm.

As an afficionado(a?) of Whole Foods -- I love that the one and only WFM in my city is within a 5 minute drive from my house -- I had to laugh at the description of the story being told as fitting a genre of "Supermarket Pastoral." (They have lots of books about food, but you won't see this one.) He points out how big organic can have a lot of the same problems as conventional factory farming -- feeding cows corn, albeit organic corn, and even coming up with ingredients like organic high fructose corn syrup.

The most interesting section of the book deals with Pollan's experiences at Polyface farm, a varied, evironmentally sustainable farm, based on pature grasses rather than corn. The cows eat the grass, the chickens eat the bugs that grow in the cow manure, the people eat the chicken and the cows. Repeat. Nothing is wasted -- even the chicken guts are composted. Here Pollan comes face to face with the real omnivore's dilemma -- can he kill a chicken, and then eat it later. Indeed he can and does.

The end of the book deals with Pollan learning to hunt and hunting and eating wild pig -- a domestic animal that was let loose in CA years ago and is now an environmental nightmare. He also forages for wild mushrooms. This meal takes a long time and effort. It's not a way of eating that is realistic for long-term survival.

So what does it mean for this omnivore? Honestly, I don't think I'm going to change all that much. When we can, we buy seasonal produce, but that's only good for half a year. We buy locally raised chicken at the farmer's market. I'll never get my husband to buy less meat -- and more expensive meat at that. And, I have to admit to getting a taste for a Big Mac now and then.

Getting caught up

I thought writing about the books I'm reading would help me to really think about what I read rather than spend time reading mindlessly. I haven't kept up with it.

When my son was born, my next door neighbor said something to me about so many new mothers who give up reading when they have children. I never did that -- but then again, I only have one child. I've found, though, since returning to work last fall, that I've gotten really behind on things I want to read -- I come home mentally exhausted and just want to veg out on TV.

Since coming back from vacation, and the first extended time-off I've taken since starting my job, I'm determined to start over. I really miss reading good books.