I found I liked dividing up my reading into categories, some of which required no explanations at all, and some of which warranted commentary. I may continue to do that for the foreseeable future. There were a number of other books in the Food and Cooking category (and books about plants, etc.) that I leafed through this month and found wanting, so I don’t include them here. I didn’t care enough to read them carefully, so I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone.

Another mostly non-fiction month. My brain was restless, it wanted to learn again this month, and make project plans, so I read mostly books about cooking and food. Next month I’m thinking you’ll see more of the same but also some more on plants and gardening because I’ve started an indoor herb garden and am gearing up to raise sprouts and microgreens. I’m not sure when I’ll get back to reading fiction on a regular basis. Maybe when my brain calms down a bit. When the gears stop spinning so fast.

Fiction

White Trash Warlock – David R. Slayton — I looked at the title and thought it was going to be one of those weirdly funny urban fantasy books. It’s so not. Weird, yes. Funny, no. And while I enjoyed it while I was reading it, I can remember almost nothing of what I read. There was a creature that had to be destroyed (of course), someone was in danger (of course), someone died (of course) and the end was open for a sequel (of course.) I expect I’ll read the sequel if and when it ever comes out, and I expect I’ll retain about as much information as I did about this one.

And that’s it for fiction.

Science

We Are All Stardust: Scientists Who Shaped Our World Talk about Their Work, Their Lives, and What They Still Want to Know – Stefan Klein — Some really fascinating conversations, and a few dull ones. The one with Jane Goodall was particularly interesting, but on the whole I have to blame Klein for the ones which left me rolling my eyes and hitting fast forward. There were times when he seemed so obtuse that I wanted to slap him.

The Quantum Moment: How Planck, Bohr, Einstein, and Heisenberg Taught Us to Love Uncertainty- Robert P. Crease — More philosophical than scientific, this is a survey of the subatomic world, and how, in spite of still not being wholly understood, it has come to be significant in terms of everyday jargon where phrases such as “quantum leap” and ideas such as “Schrodinger’s cat” have become part of the language in areas as non-scientific as advertising or pop culture. Accessible and informative.

Food and Cooking

Ramen Made Simple: Chris Toy, and Ramen for Beginners: Robin Donovan – I am always up for investigating ramen. These are both pretty good ramen cookbooks.

How to Feed Yourself: When you don’t know what you’re doing. Spoon University — A lifeline.

The Budget-Friendly Vegan Cookbook – Ally Lazare — Just what it says it is. Good enough to buy, IMO.

The Moon Juice Cookbook – Amanda Chantal Bacon — A bit of the woo-woo to this, but it has some nice recipes for things like moon milk which is something I’ve been looking to get into as a sleep aid as well as a general health aid.

Turmeric Tea: Health Benefits and Recipes for Golden Milk and More (Healthy-Living Recipes) – Rachael D’Angelo — What can you do with turmeric? D’Angelo will tell you.

Everything Vegetarian – Wendy Polish, Plant-Based Slow Cooker Cookbook: 100 Whole-Food Recipes Made Simple Felicia Slattery, and College Cooking for One: 75 Easy, Perfectly Portioned Recipes for Student Life – Emily Hu PhD — A trio of books I got for review, all of which are pretty decent and worth looking into. I think they’re all from the same publisher, so the format is roughly the same, and fairly well thought out. Some good, simple recipes here. Nothing too intimidating.

Baked Potato Cookbook – Marla Sobinina — What can you do with a potato? Well…

Bento Power – Sara Kiyo Popowa — Not your usual bento cookbook, many of which are aimed at school lunchbox meals, and the cute factor. Rather Popowa, who comes from a decidedly mixed background (Japanese/Bulgarian, raised in Sweden) makes use of all of her cultural heritage to produce some of the most interesting and innovative meals-in-a-box/bowl I’ve ever seen. This one is a keeper, IMO.

The Everyday Fermentation Handbook – Branden Byers — I was really enthusiastic about the first half of this book which is a down-to-earth explanation and how-to of basic ferments, and a fantastic guide for the beginner. The second half where the recipes live? Meh.

Michael Pollan

Michael P. gets his own section this month.

A Place of My Own: The Architecture of Daydreams – Michael Pollan — Michael Pollan has become one of my favorite authors, and this book is so fascinating that I listen every chance I get. It details the process Pollan went through building his “writing shack” on his new property in Connecticut from the first inspiration through discussions with a local architect, and the process of building it himself with the help of a local carpenter. Along the way, Pollan’s inquiries into the meaning of architecture, the changes wrought in it over the centuries, and how it informs our lives color the narrative in such interesting ways that I found myself hunting down some of the references he turns to — Thoreau’s Walden, Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own, The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio, and In Praise of Shadows by Junichiro Tanizak — to follow up on some of his discourses. I also spent a couple of saved up Audible credits on two more Pollan books. Yes, that’s how good this is. The story about the architect designing a shelter for wood ducks made me incredibly happy, and actually clarified some of the things that I’d been wrestling with.

Cooked – Michael Pollan — I’m putting this here instead of in the Food and Cooking section because it’s an important book, and I adored it, and I don’t want it to get lost in all the other cookbooks. Pollan explores the different methods of transforming raw food into actual meals. In the first section he uses barbeque — the real thing, not just standing over a grill in the backyard — to explain how fire was critical in the evolution of humans. For water, he discusses things like braises and other simmered dishes, and works with Samin Nosrat who was originally his writing student (She ended up producing Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat which has made her a household name.) and who taught Pollan how to cook these very basic, savory dishes. Air is represented by bread-making, and it’s SUCH a great section that if it doesn’t make you want to bake a loaf of bread, you really are a kitchen no-hoper. Every bread baker should read this if they read nothing else by Pollan. Finally Earth covers fermentation which is, at bottom, controlled rot. It’s as much about death and decomposition as it is about life and nourishment. Perfectly wonderful book, which I will keep on my shelf forever.

Less felicitous was The Omnivore’s Dilemma also by Pollan. I found it unbearable and stopped reading when he began to discuss the steer he bought to follow it’s progress from a family farm through the industrial complex that would eventually turn it into steak. Do I think this is an important book? Yes, I absolutely do. Do I think that facing these questions head-on is something we should all do to one degree or another? Also absolutely, though clearly not to the extent Pollan did. Can I bear reading about it? Not right now I can’t. I may go back to it, I may not, but I had to mention it in light of my Michael Pollan binge this month.

I’ve also just used some Audible credits to buy three more of Pollan’s books so look for more of him next month.