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lostinfrance's review against another edition
5.0
This book is inspiring. I think I shall be giving up all non-free range meat...if I can. And I shall try to shop primarily at the farmer's markets....wow.
miakhirsch's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
sarahastrid3's review
1.0
I think I only want to like Kingslover because she lived in Tucson. I read Bean Trees in high school and owned Tow the line and Hight Tide in Tucson. This book was utter BS. As soon as I got to her daughter's essay on how she felt sorry for people who buy their produce at a grocer I was done. How entitled to think everyone has the time energy and resources to grow their own food. I always think of the joke that growing your own tomatoes is 3 months of your life to save 3 dollars. Don't get me wrong I love organic gardening, but the white privilege of this book seems to have left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth. I was expecting an informative, yet pleasant narrative, not a we're better than you because we live in the sticks where we can produce our own food.
tinlizzyd08's review
5.0
I’m not a fan of nonfiction, particularly the educational or self-help variety. I typically get bored even if the content is truly helpful. And I certainly don’t like to be preached to and made to feel bad for something I didn’t know better about. So I understand why some folks found this book judgy and didn’t finish it. I saw lots of mixed reviews. Personally, I had quite a different response. I read it voraciously and felt like it was a real eye-opener in the best kind of way. Maybe it was just the right time and place for me as I’ve been feeling agitated and unfulfilled about my own convenience eating that I haven’t been enjoying and I feel is sapping my energy and ruining my health. And I’m increasingly concerned about how my family would fare if national or global disasters like the pandemic or war occur again, which they likely will. I’m a fan of Kingsolver’s, and it was actually her fiction that made me notice this book, about 15 years after the fact of it’s original publication. I’m late to the party but right on time for me.
Truly, I didn’t find it hard to read or preachy at all. As a fiction lover, I crave a hero’s journey and a compelling story arc! Imma need some relatable characters and a little drama to keep me from cutting to Netflix! Kingsolver gave me all that with her family’s epic quest to eat local and grow as much of their own food as possible for an entire year. As something I could barely conceive of, I feel like this is a solid and fantastical story plot. I read it like I would a book about aliens from another galaxy because growing your own food and eating it in season is that foreign to me. As for characters, I fell in love with her family, her two sweet daughters who jumped right on board with the big plan, Kingsolver’s steady, bread-baking husband, their dubious yet supportive friends and helpful neighbors, and even the turkeys who had personalities and their own share of hijinks.
Apart from story, there are educational and political elements to call you to action mixed in, more so at the beginning of the book. That honestly probably didn’t help those who felt judged early on when they picked up this book. As the book goes on there’s less of the educational tone and more of the storytelling. I truly think the storytelling is more powerful than the polemic and that’s what I responded to. As a Gen X kid who grew up feeding myself canned tuna, Kraft Mac and Cheese and Little Debbie’s, I was excited to put what I read into action and while still reading I began Googling Farmer’s Markets straightaway. By the time I was turning the final pages, I’d already stopped in at my first Saturday local market and was steadily nibbling on some local lamb salami and crackers I’d procured over the weekend. How’s that for speedy implementation? I’m probably not ready to grow my own garden or even sure how I feel about spending large parts of my life fighting weeds and bugs, but I sure will be buying the wares of local folks who farm or garden. And I’m excited to try some new recipes and maybe save just a tiny little bit of the planet and my own waistline.
Truly, I didn’t find it hard to read or preachy at all. As a fiction lover, I crave a hero’s journey and a compelling story arc! Imma need some relatable characters and a little drama to keep me from cutting to Netflix! Kingsolver gave me all that with her family’s epic quest to eat local and grow as much of their own food as possible for an entire year. As something I could barely conceive of, I feel like this is a solid and fantastical story plot. I read it like I would a book about aliens from another galaxy because growing your own food and eating it in season is that foreign to me. As for characters, I fell in love with her family, her two sweet daughters who jumped right on board with the big plan, Kingsolver’s steady, bread-baking husband, their dubious yet supportive friends and helpful neighbors, and even the turkeys who had personalities and their own share of hijinks.
Apart from story, there are educational and political elements to call you to action mixed in, more so at the beginning of the book. That honestly probably didn’t help those who felt judged early on when they picked up this book. As the book goes on there’s less of the educational tone and more of the storytelling. I truly think the storytelling is more powerful than the polemic and that’s what I responded to. As a Gen X kid who grew up feeding myself canned tuna, Kraft Mac and Cheese and Little Debbie’s, I was excited to put what I read into action and while still reading I began Googling Farmer’s Markets straightaway. By the time I was turning the final pages, I’d already stopped in at my first Saturday local market and was steadily nibbling on some local lamb salami and crackers I’d procured over the weekend. How’s that for speedy implementation? I’m probably not ready to grow my own garden or even sure how I feel about spending large parts of my life fighting weeds and bugs, but I sure will be buying the wares of local folks who farm or garden. And I’m excited to try some new recipes and maybe save just a tiny little bit of the planet and my own waistline.
marieannb's review against another edition
Was a 2nd read & other books were more enticing
malvord27's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
deschatjes's review
3.0
Ambiguous about this one. I love Kingsolvers writing and this was a fascinating year of being closer to nature and food - a little smug. Very interesting view on Appalachian life / could be paired with hill-billy elegy. Does leave one feeling pretty guilty by the end.