I’ve in a flurry of reading, finishing books left and right, all starting two weeks ago. I spent a Friday home sick which gave me a chance to finally finish Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood. I should thank whatever made me sick that night for giving me something so wonderful to take my mind off of the nausea! Okay, I admit that’s weird, but really it’s a great book but one I find very hard to describe. Aliens arrive on Earth many many years after we’ve wiped ourselves out to resurrect the human race for unknown purposes. There’s a lot going on in the three books with allegories about human’s destructive personalities, nature, female and male relations, etc.

I wanted to follow Octavia Butler with some non-fiction so I started on Deeply Rooted: Unconventional Farmers in the Age of Agribusiness by Lisa Hamilton, coming from Counterpoint in May. You can deny the growth of the farm to table movement but who has written about the farmers themselves? Hamilton profiles three unconventional farmers in different areas of the country. These aren’t used to be corporate but went back to the land for a more fulfilling life people, these are people whose roots are in the land but who recognize that the current agricultural complex does not work. It’s a great read. Hamilton’s skillful profiles show the possibilities of a different system.

Then in what seemed like a week, I read four books! First was Border Songs by Jim Lynch, whom I met at a meet and greet thrown by Random House. Second, the fabulous The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry. Third, I read The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Okagawa based on Junot Diaz’s recommendation–it’s so good! Last, I finished Goat Song by Brad Kessler, which is perfect for someone who has always dreamt about buying a farm to raise goats and make cheese. Perhaps the upcoming vacation is inspiring more reading?