What are you reading? (Patreon)

Hey y’all! Maybe it’s the earl grey talking, but I’m really excited about my reading stack right now. Not a lot of fiction or poetry on it, but everything is pretty appealing.

1. Seed Savers Exchange Catalog. It is that time of year. The time to think about the garden, to make spreadsheets, to check my stockpile of seeds and to plan this year's garden. I get most of my seeds from Seed Savers, but also my bestie Cali frequently starts plants for her loved ones, of which I am lucky to be one.

2. Birds of Minnesota. A stocking stuffer, and exciting little thing to bring with me when we go to the river or go camping or hang out in parks?

3. Extra Vegan Za. I got this one from my local Buy Nothing list, and it's kind of all over the place thematically, but the recipes are right up my alley. Some tasty sounding soups and salads, and a whole pile of cakes that include flavors that I've been searching for for years. Stay tuned.

4. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling. This is a very old book that was culled from my high school library. I don't see a publish date in it and the cover and contents have marks, definitely, but includes stuff like How the First Letter was Written, and How the Alphabet was Made, and The Beginning of Armadillos. Stay tuned! It may be amazing, it may be cringey, it is DEFINITELY of another time.

5. An Immense World by Ed Yong. I received this as a gift this year from Charlie's mom, Barb. It looked intriguing, but today when I logged into the Discord for a writer/reporter/podcaster whose work I admire, they're co-reading/book-clubbing this one later this winter/early spring. The timing is pretty great.

6. A Spindle Splintered. Charlie got this for me as a gift (I do adore book gifts) and it seems like a really good fit for me. Bent fairytale, but fairly short, so that I don't feel overwhelmed by my reading list.

7. The Family Firm by Emily Oster. We read Expecting Better and Crib Sheet, and found the advice really actionable and reasonable. I'm one chapter in, and I admire how Oster sets expectations right off the bat. This isn't going to tell you everything you need to do with your family, but will help how we approach decisions.

8. The Bread and Salt Between Us. Another Buy Nothing List score- this is by a Syrian refugee, and it seems like a lot of the recipes are a little like Turkish recipes. I love to iterate on recipes from that part of the world, and learn what is the same and what is different, knowing too that these recipes vary from family to family as much as they might from country to country.

9. An Indigenous People's History of the United States for Young People (not pictured, as I nabbed it on the library's app on my phone). My anti-racist book club* is reading this one, and I'm pretty excited. I find that reading history from perspectives that are under (or un)represented in media is really stimulating, and reminds me to question how current events are represented too. I'm certain that I'll know some things and other things be surprised by. I love love love this in particular, because "American" history frequently doesn't go back as far as it could.

*a group of friends who meet every other week via zoom to read books or discuss media that works on our self-education. We've read lots of heavy shit, poetry, sci-fi, done reports on historical figures for each other, watched drunken history episodes, and co-watched a documentary.

So how about you? What are you reading?