Recent Reading

I've taken up reading over the past few months. I had lost the habit while in college, but gained it back since having my own house. Over the last week or two, I've read three good books.

The first was called "Friend of the Earth" by T.C. Boyle.
I had been given this book for my college graduation by a favorite professor. I tried to get into it once, but couldn't. The second time around worked much better. This book is somewhat post-apocalyptic. We've ruined the environment, but the world is not the arid desert one would expect. It rains all the time, and just about the only meat available is catfish. The book bounces back and forth from their present day (2025-ish) to the narrator's past (2000-ish). In present day, the narrator keeps exotic animals - lions, Patagonian foxes, hyenas, etc. In the past, he was an eco-terrorist, sabotaging big business.

The second book I read was "Black and Blue" by Anna Quindlen.
This was a whole different story. In this book, a woman gets up the courage to leave her physically abusive husband with her young son. It really reminded me of "Sleeping with the Enemy." It's a VERY fast read - I read it all at one shot.

The final book I read was my favorite - "See You in a Hundred Years" by Logan Ward. I literally JUST finished it. Unlike the other two, this was non-fiction. The author chronicles his family's experiences when they leave New York City to live a 1900's life in the Shenandoah Valley. Ward was inspired by a PBS show - the 1900s house - that I absolutely adored. This book details a dream of mine, to live off the land. I don't know if I would carry on after the end of the experiment. Aside from writing about the hardships of that kind of life, which he does, Ward also goes into depth on family life, community, and happiness. I absolutely adore this book. Though it's a library book, I might just go buy a copy to read again.