Barbara Kingsolver, Steven L. Hopp, Camille Kingsolver - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life

Pros: Non-fiction reads like fiction, memoir inspires, a message that encourages, humor and language, audio-version

Cons: Not long enough, her scale not possible for everyone but there’s something for anyone

In Barbara Kingsolver's world the seasons are defined not by the movement of the moon or sun, but by the activity in the garden and kitchen. This investigative look into the possibility of living within her foodshed turned into an exploration her ...

Pros: True story of family living off the land with recipes and details
Cons: Facts get a little dry and boring

I am a junk food junkie admittedly. I wish that I wasn't. Late nights find me on the couch snacking on stuff that has no nutrients and/or is deep fried and full of cheese. Moving way out away from the stores I knew and loved....things got tough for me. ...

Pros: a powerful message delivered with style, grace, and humor
Cons: this isn't something everyone can do - but then it's not supposed to be

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara KingsolverHave you ever noticed that a cause hasn't made much of a ripple in this world until powerful people start making disparaging remarks about it? That realization struck me not long ...

Pros: Very good description of growing and cooking your own regional food.
Cons: a little long

Barbara Kingsolver, most widely known for her book THE POISONWOOD BIBLE, is 74th worst for America as written in a book a few years ago. Well, she is a liberal from Kentucky, well educated, and now knowledgeable about organic gardening, having taken her ...

Pros: Engagingly written, not preachy, fabulous recipes.
Cons: Having three narrators tends to break up the flow of the story.

I first heard about Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life on NPR, where it had been selected as a summer must-read. As someone who shops organic at local farmer markets, this book struck a chord with me on many levels ...

Pros: An uplifting, heartwarming, humorous and yet educating book.
Cons: If you do not enjoy gardening, nature or green living, go away.

Before I talk about this book, do you know that Barbara Kingsolver was listed as the 74th most dangerous person in the United States?  Now if you have ever read a Barbara Kingsolver book, you are probably already laughing your pants off just as I ...

Pros: Astounding detail; easily digestible.
Cons: The additional two authors' could have been inserted in clean breaks.

This is book is much needed and a great work. Kingsolver is self deprecating at times and freely admits the limitations of her family project. The prose flows in much the same way we've come to expect from her fiction, smooth and intelligent.