Because of the very limited time I have to devote to sitting down and reading I decided I could listen to CDs about gardening while driving around for my job. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver is about a family who sought to live for 1 year off of mostly local and home-grown food in the Appalachian area. Other than the author’s somewhat irritated agnostic views on the religious, her ability to border on becoming preachy, and her extremely long-winded descriptions of her thoughts about her experiences, this book was alright. The book includes fascinating descriptions of how Kingsolver’s family grew a large garden, gathered food, and how they raised livestock for their own consumption. I greatly enjoyed descriptions of her family – especially the excitement that her youngest daughter had for the miracle of life. The one animal this book describes in detail is the turkey, and the text would be most helpful for anyone who would like to raise turkeys for themselves.
 |
| Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was occasionally interesting. |
From time to time, the book becomes quite preachy – though occasionally the facts are a little interesting. Looking back on my experience with Animal, Vegetable, Miracle I would say that this book is not for everyone. At times the book can really drag and I would not recommend it to anyone who possesses no interest in how a family could live for a year off of locally-produced food. If you are planning on buying a farm that you plan to live off of or if you would like to create a self-sustaining colony of turkeys, then this book might be for you.
Jay - Thanks for your honest assessment of this boo.
ReplyDeleteBarbara is definitely not for everyone but I think I still may read the book as I find the whole idea interesting...I appreciate honest assessments of books so thanks for yours Jay!
ReplyDeleteI've read Barbara Kingsolver. The Bean Trees was quite good and I listened to The Poisonwood Bible-- which was REALLY good. I think you might like that one actually. I can see your point on her antagonistic views of religion in that book as well, but it seems more justified in the context of The Poisonwood Bible. I started Prodigal Summer but didn't like it. I'd recommend you listen to The Poisonwood Bible-- I'd be interested to see what you think.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you told us about this book because I hadn't but now I may do just that!
Wow April - I had no idea you were such an avid reader! I'll definitely look into the book you recommended.
Delete-Jay