Gardening with the Gettles

Well, I think I've finally come to the end of my backlog of gardening books with The Heirloom Life Gardener: The Baker Creek Way of Growing Your Own Food Easily and Naturally by Jere and Emily Gettle of Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. It's just as much memoir as gardening book, using Gettle's life-journey as a vehicle for sharing his gardening wisdom. The first four chapters outline Jere Gettle's childhood, and the establishment of his seed company, and, finally, his wanderlust to discover and preserve heirloom varieties in the United States and around the world.

In the fifth chapter, the authors (Jere, his wife Emilee with Meghan Sutherland) finally tell the reader "How to Garden." They dispense general gardening advice--organically oriented--whose most surprising admission is the use, when necessary, of plastic mulch because of its economy.

Mulch is one of the most important tools in your gardening arsenal, and helpful in many different ways.

The second half of the book is an "A to Z Growing Guide" which, in addition to the usual cultivation advice organized by variety, offers techniques for seed saving and even some cooking suggestions.
.

If you've read their Heirloom Gardener magazine, you'd be surprised to know that the term "Frankenfood"--meaning genetically modified organisms--doesn't appear until page 117 while discussing the incursion of GMO corn into the gene pool. The authors are surprisingly mild when discussing GMOs, especially when compared with the magazine, which can be strident, at times. They do make their point, however.

The Heirloom Life Gardener is well-organized by the staff at Hyperion, and colorfully attractive thanks to book designers Shubhani Sarkar and Sunil Manchikanti. Not surprisingly, it was published with sustainability in mind. The Heirloom Life Gardener is an enjoyable, informative read from one of the nation's premier seedsmen.

What about you? What's on your reading table?

Nancy

Richly Entertaining "A Rich Spot of Earth"

Thomas Jefferson, in addition to being President, was, arguably, one of the most famous gardeners in America and his Monticello served as the canvas of his masterwork. I visited the President's aerie a number of years ago, and so ordered Peter J. Hatch's "A Rich Spot of Earth": Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden at Monticello when it was published in 2012. I started it then, as my bookmark attests, but have only now taken the time to finish it. I hope you read it without delay.

Hatch is a renowned author, professional gardener, and historian who spent 35 years as Monticello's Director of Gardens and Grounds, supervising restoration of the grounds and gardens to a condition that Jefferson would recognize. In his book, he tells that story with the historian's mind, but the gardener's heart--so that the reader begins to feel the warmth of Virginia's rich earth. Woven into the story of the restoration is the story of Jefferson's foibles--and growth--as a gardener.

The book is divided into two sections: the story of the restoration and information about the plants grown at Monticello throughout the years. Some varieties are still grown, some are unidentifiable due to Jefferson's surprisingly vague descriptions ("early" & "forwardest"), and some are lost to time.

Thankfully, the story of the restoration of Monticello's gardens is not lost to time; it is engagingly written, beautifully illustrated, and handsomely published. It is a richly entertaining read.

What about you? What's on your reading table?

Nancy

Growing a New Nation with the Founding Gardeners

Barbara de Wilde's jacket perfectly matches the text.

I have no recollection of buying Founding Gardeners, but that happens often when you are a profligate book buyer. I found it when I was reshelving The Founders on the Founders, and packed it in my travel bag for a recent trip. Let me be frank about Founding Gardeners: it is not your typical, light "beach read." Author Andrea Wulf's scholarly writing style requires intellectual engagement, which is just fine with me. While being scholarly, the book is far from distant. Wulf weaves together a fabric which reveals just how much of a role gardening and agriculture played in the founding of our nation, and in the relationships among the founders. Focusing on Washington, Jefferson, John Adams, and Madison, she bids the reader join them on their various garden tours, both domestic and abroad. She reveals to the reader how, in the midst of crises, these great men turned to the earth for solace and inspiration. She shares with the reader their real passion these statesmen held for their gardens and how they used them to express their political ideals.

Very traditionally bound with full-color "plates" bound together.

I must reiterate that this is a scholarly work--of its 350 pages, only 214 are text and the remainder appendices, footnotes (80-odd pages), bibliographies, end matter, and an index. But, for the student of history and of gardening, Wulf's work is that rare work which, as a well-designed garden is multi-sensory, feeds multiple interests simultaneously. I recommend it highly.

What are you reading?

Nancy

Real v. "Reel" History

Real history is far more interesting
than "reel" history!

I have to confess I was really thrilled when I received the first email from the History Channel about its miniseries Sons of Liberty.  They were giving it the full-court press, promoting heavily, creating educator materials.  And then I watched it.  Beautiful, but hardly history.  Now I'm not an historian; I'm just a humble history teacher.  Sons of Liberty should have come with a "based on" disclaimer.  I'm not faulting the actors, the directors, the locations, or any other of the trades who contributed. I did enjoy watching their work, as long as I disassociated it from the actual history.

That dissatisfaction led me to my bookshelf, and, not having time to dive deeply into a biography of one of the founders, I pulled out a large volume that was digestible in small bites:  John P. Kaminski's The Founders on the Founders: Word Portraits from the American Revolutionary Era.  Kaminski is a genuine historian who, in this work, let the founders' own words speak for themselves.

To put it simply, this volume is a curated collection of excerpts from primary source documents.

With only occasional editorial comment, Kaminski serves up delicious entries by and about all the folks you've heard about and several you should have. What emerges is a far more realistic image of both the authors and their subjects which takes them out of the flat engraving and makes them human.

Far from diminishing their heroic efforts toward independence, adding this third dimension makes their accomplishment even more astonishing because so many managed to put aside, or at least work around, competing interests and feelings of intense dislike for one another. It is a lesson which could not be more timely.

The first two First Ladies are also included

What about you?  What real history books can your recommend?  Post them in the comments below!

Nancy

An Epic Tomato Book!

Although I'd promised myself that I would complete reading books I already own before purchasing a new one, I just could not resist buying Epic Tomatoes by the heirloom tomato guru himself--Craig LeHoullier.  Although I could have downloaded it immediately to my Kindle app, a quick look at the free preview showed me that I would want to read it on paper.  The weighty package that arrived in my mailbox a few days later raised my expectations.  One look at the book confirmed my choice.

It is a beautiful book.  Before I get into the nuts and bolts of the book, I must congratulate Storey Publishing, editor Carleen Madigan, and art director/designer Carolyn Eckert.  The cover is joyful, and each page of the book reflects the love of the subject and the teacher's heart the LeHoullier shares.  Wonderfully done, friends.

The subtitle of the book promises much:  "How to Select & Grow the Best Varieties of All Time."  The good news is that the author, whose Twitter handle is @nctomatoman, delivers on that promise.  His chapter titles include

• The Origins of Today's Tomato
• Anatomy of a Tomato
• Planning and Planting
• Growing Maintenance and Care
• Harvest Celebration
• Saving for the Future
• Breed Your Own Tomatoes
• Q&A
• Troubleshooting:  Diseases, Pests, and Other Problems

Interwoven with LeHoullier's story of how he became "tomatoman" is solid information on selecting, starting, and growing your own tomatoes.  His advice is suitable for the casual (1 or 2 plants) through prolific home grower (although commercial growers may glean a bit of insight, too).  He is practical--when his garden wore out and the trees caused too much shade, he began using containers.  He confesses, quite without shame, that he does enjoy a few hybrid varieties, and also that he uses non-organic fertilizers--quite a refreshing contrast to the gardening wars that are often waged.

The book is chock-full of tables of his findings from his gardens, including 250 varieties rated for size, season, color, and taste.  He also shares his favorite 10 varieties, a several yummy-sounding recipes.

The troubleshooting section is especially helpful and includes color photographs for ease of identification as well as remedies which emphasize prevention first.

One of the things I appreciate most about the book is how truthful the author is about yields, size, and about some varieties' less-attractive tendencies.  Even in his photographs, which are beautiful, I find that the varieties which crack for me, seem to have cracked for him!  I cannot express how encouraging that is!

As informative as the book is, it is a quick read, so you have time to squeeze it in before gardening season starts.  You'll be glad you did.

So, thank you, Craig LeHoullier!  Epic Tomatoes is epic indeed.

What's growing in your Savory garden?

Nancy

Devouring A Book on Edible Landscaping

It seems I've been tying up some loose ends, reading-wise.  A year after starting it, I've finally finished Rosalind Creasy's beautiful Edible Landscaping.  In a warm, engaging style, Creasy leads the reader through the design process with chapters like

• The Evolution of Landscaping
• Laying the Groundwork
• Creating a Landscape Plan
• Design Basics
• Designing with Herbs
• Designing with Vegetables
• Designing with Fruits, Berries, and Nuts
• Designing for Small Spaces

Each chapter is beautifully illustrated with color photographs and drawings.  Each "A Gallery of Design Ideas" is an especial delight.

Following these "teaching" chapters is "An Encyclopedia of Edibles" which lists all of the common and most of the uncommon edible annuals and perennials along with cultivation and recipe ideas.

The appendices contain detailed information on "Planting and Maintenance," and "Pests and Diseases," followed by an extensive list of "Sources and Resources."

Even though the emphasis is on design, this is, at heart, a gardening book that is as informative as it is beautiful.  While it is lovely enough to earn a ceremonial place on my coffee table, the truth is that it will be there because I will be reaching for it again and again for information, for inspiration, and for its beauty.

It's a lovely book which will inspire a lovely, edible garden.

What Savory book are reading?

Nancy

Growing My Organic Gardening Library

I had fallen asleep last night, satisfied with my garden to-do list for a balmy January Saturday.  So, you can imagine my dismay when I awoke to black ice warnings from my weather app.  A peek out the window confirmed that yesterday's drizzle had become an ice coating overnight.  So, not wanting to risk another tumble down slick steps, I snoozed for a little while, then reached for the book currently at the top of the stack:  Sustainable Market Farming by Pam Dawling.  It's been in the stack for a while--I started reading it last January (just about the time I started a permaculture class!).

Before we go any further, let me just say it outright:  this is an epic book.

While it is almost epic in length, it is encyclopedic in its information about sustainable practices--pitfalls and all.  Author Dawling has organized the book into two parts:  Techniques and Crops.  It's taken me nearly a year to digest the first part for one excellent reason:  there is so much information.  In the Techniques section, Dawling devotes several chapters each to planning, planting, sustainable crop protection, soil and crop quality, and harvest.  In doing so, she lays a sure foundation for concepts and techniques she references in the second part of the book.

Her writing style is friendly, but quite matter-of-fact, which makes her extremely detailed explanations easier to understand.  She includes many pictures, reference tables, and in-text publication recommendations from numerous university/extension resources.  There is so much information, that you cannot read this book quickly.

Because I needed, at least for a while, something a little lighter, I spent a bit of time reading some of Fortier's The Market Gardener, but abandoned it as I realized that their farm is 12 degrees of latitude higher than mine, and the techniques, like those of Eliot Coleman, would need to be adjusted considerably.  I do plan to finish Fortier at some point, especially to learn about hand-cultivation techniques

So, I returned to Dawling, realizing that, being only 3 degrees of latitude higher, the information in her book was more directly applicable to my garden.  Reading with a renewed enthusiasm, I began to see that Dawling's garden faced many of the same challenges at mine.  I finally finished the first part, then mapped out my plan for attacking the "Crops" section.

Dawling, you see, grows everything.  She has chapters for anything you could possibly want to grow--far more than I am trying to cultivate.  So, I flagged the chapters for my main crops:  brassicas, tomatoes, peppers, cowpeas, summer squash, cucurbits, among others.  I've been working my way through them in the order in which I will start them in the greenhouse--  brassicas, tomatoes, peppers--before reading about the crops I hope to direct-sow--cucurbits, summer squash, cowpeas, corn--again in the order I expect to sow them.  By reading about the plant groups in "planting order," I'm beginning to develop a better sense of how my year will be organized.

Although I really enjoy reading on Kindle, I recommend that you buy a paper copy of the book.  The information is so comprehensive, I can see it traveling with me in my farm truck for several seasons.  It's a heavy book, softcover but good-quality paper, and I've been customizing it to make it my de facto field manual.  I've flagged chapters, and marked the edges of important reference pages with permanent marker so I  can flip right to them.

So, if you're looking for one book which can put together the puzzle of sustainable, intensive, organic gardening practices, this is the one.  You'll mark it up and refer back to it for years to come.

Well, the sun has melted the frost, and I cannot wait to put some of Dawling's recommendations to good use!

What about you?  What Savory books are you reading?

Nancy

Resolve to Read More Frugally!

For Christmas, I was given a plaque of a quote of Thomas Jefferson:

It is so, so, so true.  As you may guess, I have books stacked everywhere.  Usually, I am reading more than one book at a time, which can become cumbersome when commuting.  Reluctantly, I have embraced the e-book evolution and have found that I like it!  Going beyond that, though, is the desire to listen to books when I'm mowing, or riding, or doing things which require hands.  

Amazon has purchased the wonderful Audible, and the cost of the Kindle+Audible combo is often less than the cost of the hardback!  Add in the fact that the apps WhisperSync with each other (Audible will pick up where you left off reading on the Kindle, and vice-versa), I've begun buying both, whenever feasible.

Still, that can become an expensive proposition, especially when I want to read the classics.  While browsing through the Audible "stacks" (and suffering sticker shock in the process) for a recording of Sherlock Holmes, my brain tripped over the memory of one of those jewels of the Internet, LibriVox.

Great audiobooks since 2005!

LibriVox is the audio kin of the beloved Project Gutenberg.  Both make public-domain texts available in digital formats:  Gutenberg is text and LibriVox is audio.  Both rely upon volunteers world-wide to transcribe or read texts.

Since 1971, the world's great books
have been available in digital
format!

The sheer variety available on Gutenberg is mind-boggling.  Interested in browsing the classic Dore Gallery of Bible Illustrations on your Kindle?  Download it for free.  The same for 4 different historic Bible translations.  Ditto for The History of Herodotus in English and Greek.  Plain-text as well as e-reader versions are available for many, and both GoogleCloud and DropBox are supported.  In my opinion, this is an example of the noblest use of the Internet.

Now this is all well and good, but, what about my problem this summer, when I wanted to listen to Sherlock Holmes stories whilst bushhogging?  Well, I could have downloaded the text versions and have some text-to-speech app read them to me but, lo and behold, there they were on LibriVox!

I could have downloaded the MP3s onto my phone (which fits nicely into my shirt pocket) for mobile listening, but, even more felicitously, I found a free app for LibriVox in the Google Play store!  It's well-designed, and works seamlessly.  Although my house is fruitless, Google tells me that there is a free LibriVox app in the iTunes store, too.

Admittedly, the quality of the readers is variable, at times, but, given that all readers are volunteers, they are impressive.  Most of the popular titles have multiple recordings to choose from, and, at times, multiple languages, too.

If two of your New Year's resolutions are to 1)be more frugal, and 2)read more, Gutenberg and LibriVox can make both possible!

What about you?  What, and how, are you reading this year?

Nancy

Digital Devotion

Wow, it's been forever since I've written here, but it's not because I've not been reading.  I have been reading a variety of things, but have been going increasingly digital because, simply, it's just easier to carry a variety of books with me on my minitablet.

I've been surprised at how much I really enjoy reading on it.  The backlight makes the print easier to read.  At 7", it's the size of a paperback, so it fits in my purse.  Highlighting is very easy, and note-taking is relatively simple.

While I had already purchased The Archaeological Study Bible, I went in search of some decent free Kindle Bibles.  Most just felt clunky and awkward, but two seemed to work:  The Jubilee Bible and the Holman Christian Standard Bible.  The Jubilee Bible is paraphrased into very modern language along the line of Peterson's The Message.  It's very accessible, but seems a bit too blithe for me.

So, I turned to the Holman edition and found my free Bible choice.  Easy to navigate, virtually no formatting glitches, red-letter text, good quality translation.  All-in-all, a serviceable edition.

And you can't beat the price.

So, instead of carrying my Bible with me just on Sundays, it's with me all the time.  I like that.

What do you think about digital Bibles?

What Savory books are you reading?

Nancy

Working My Way Through the Stacks

Hi, my name is Nancy and I am a book addict.

There; I've said it, and I feel much, much better.  I enjoy reading them, but my recent purchases far outstrip my reading pace.  While I do read some fiction, by far, I prefer non-fiction, informational texts.  Many of them will become part of the permanent library, but I've decided to pass on most of my books as I read them.  Currently in the stack:

• For Everything a Season
• Jesus Mean & Wild
• Team of Rivals
• Founding Gardeners
• The Heirloom Life Gardener
• Edible Landscaping
• "A Rich Spot of Earth":  Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden at Monticello

I have a lot of reading to do!  For Everything a Season tops the list, and I should finish it this week.  Team of Rivals is entertaining but dense, so it should be digested in shorter bites and will probably last the summer.  I'm thinking that Edible Gardening should follow Season since prime planting season is almost here.  I'll probably tackle The Heirloom Life Gardener after that since Founding Gardeners and "A Rich Spot of Earth" are histories rather than how instructional.  That should be enough to keep me entertained in between weeding and watching for pests.

In addition to the reading stack, a number of books are heading to the Reference shelf:

• The Organic Gardener's Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control:  A Complete Guide to Maintaining a Healthy Garden and Yard the Earth-Friendly Way
• Common Weeds of the United States
• The Gardener's Home Companion:  How to Raise and Propagate More Than 350 Flowers, Herbs, Vegetables, Berries, Shrubs, Vines, and Lawn and Ornamental Grasses
• The Art of the Kitchen Garden
• Gardening with Heirloom Seeds:  Tried-and-True Flowers, Fruits, & Vegetables for a New Generation
• Rodale's Book of Practical Formulas:  Easy-to-Make, Easy-to-Use Recipes for Hundreds of Everyday Activities and Tasks

So, there it is, the current stack.  Perhaps I can make a dent in it before it becomes as tall as Everest.

What about you?  What are you reading?

Nancy

Stressing the Important Things

I remember my 20s.  Puffy hair.  Shoulder pads.  Yikes.  What I remember most is not having someone older to talk to--someone real.  Well, I made it through my 20s, and, now, my daughter is in her 20s.  As much as I'd like to be her older, wiser girlfriend, I realize that's not likely to happen.  When I read the description for Sarah Francis Martin's StressPoint:  Thriving Through Your 20s in a Decade of Drama, I realized this was a book I would have enjoyed during that turbulent decade.  It took me quite a while to get into the book, probably because I'm 30 years to old for it. I found it thoughtful and full of good advice. The formatting was a little too chopped up for these old eyes, but I'm confident it will appeal to my daughter's generation.

Martin's book is straight talk for young women who want to life their faith in a faithless world.  She covers topics like career, body-image (especially good), love/dating, friends and family, money, and spiritual maturity.  Each chapter begins with her introduction, then three "girlfriend" stories, and includes topic and space for journaling within the text of the book.  It's an active, long-term study, useful for the individual or for groups.  In fact, she has videos on her website (www.liveitoutblog.com) to accompany each chapter, which should appeal to her targeted audience.

Do I recommend the book? I do. In fact, I'm recommending it to my daughter. I suggest you do, too.

Save the Books: Willie and Joe Have Lessons To Teach Us

I grew up with Willie and Joe.  Who?  Willie and Joe, the immortal philosophers who wryly chronicled World War II from the perspective of a dogface infantryman.  Created by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin, they provided Americans a decidedly un-rosy lens through which they could view the war.  From the beaches of Italy through the liberation of Europe, Willie and Joe watched each other's backs, tweaked the officers, and tried to make sense of the senseless.

One of my favorites, from Up Front, portrays Willie and Joe pinned down in a firefight with one of them declaring that he could not get any closer to the ground because "me buttons is in the way!"

Mauldin followed his dogfaces home in Back Home, where they faced a recession, unemployment, a housing crunch, and Jim Crow laws.  He was especially hard on the Veterans Administration.  One memorable cartoon shows a young veteran, in pajamas and wheelchair.  Spanish moss-laden trees surround him and his wheelchair sits in several inches of water.  He himself recognizes the irony when he says, "I remember how much my Daddy laughed when he sold the VA this swamp."  Willie and Joe might have become civilians, but Mauldin's pen waged a campaign to ensure that returning veterans would receive the care they deserved.

Mauldin was not one to suffer fools, or injustices, silently and his books reflect that.

Since I already own both Up Front and Back Home, you know how thrilled I was to find a copy of Bill Mauldin's Army in the library discard bin.  Of course, I snatched it up and brought it home for my personal collection.

While I was savoring my find, I was saddened to know that such a jewel was leaving public access.  Too many books are being discarded and many important voices are being forgotten.  We are not burning books; we are discarding them.  And we are poorer for it.

So, help me save the books; time is running out.

What are you reading?

Nancy

Save the Books!

Save the Books!

Libraries across the country are clearing the shelves and emptying the stacks of low-demand books.  It makes sense; why waste expensive "real-estate" on books very few people read?  Why not fill the shelves with high-demand titles?

But there's a problem with that rationale.  It presumes that high-demand is equal to high-quality.  

It is not.

Let's face it:  very little of popular fiction deserves to be called literature.  By its very nature, popular fiction (and non-fiction, for that matter), is disposable.  I say this with all due respect to authors of popular fiction; I'm desperately working on a novel of my own.  But I'm under no illusion that it is great literature.  

So, the libraries are clearing the shelves of low-demand titles, especially non-fiction.  It's a shame, really.  Wonderful books are being discarded to make room for popular titles many of which will be discarded within 5 years (or much less).  With the proliferation of e-readers, many of those titles are not even being read on paper.  Even I have stopped purchasing my own leisure fiction on paper; I read it on my phone or my computer.  Still, many wonderful old titles are being pitched.

Admittedly, much of the subject matter is arcane:  maps of medieval Europe published in the 1920s, anyone?  But these are history.  They provide a snapshot of culture at the time of their printing.  Many are worth saving.  So, I'm starting a campaign to Save the Books!  It is up to us, the readers, to preserve these treasures.

To whet your appetite, here is one I've saved recently:

The granddaddy of them all . . .

Southern Harmony and Musical Companion by William Walker

Much of modern Protestant hymnody is based on the original frontier songbook from the 1850s.  This modern reprint, from University of Kentucky Press, is a treasure which explains the history of the particular text and its usage among the singing Christians on the frontier.  Many of the songs will be familiar, and also are the basis for the Big Singing in Benton, KY.  This book documents the warp on which the weft of modern hymnody is woven.

So, for the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some of my treasures in the hope that you, too, will join the campaign to Save the Books!

The Master's Master Class

The master's master class

The commonest [tool] of all, the bread of writing, is vocabulary.

Stephen King
On Writing:  A Memoir of the Craft

I've never really read a Stephen King novel--perhaps a short story or two; horror is just not my genre.  But you cannot argue with the sheer  volume of his body of work, nor his sales numbers.  So, it's not surprising that Stephen King's autobiography would tell a great story.  There's more to the story than just the story.  Like the teacher that he once was, King's memoir includes a master class on the craft of writing.

Like all good teachers, King demystifies writing.  He admits it is hard work; with hard work, at some point, it becomes craft.  In addition to word choice, King offers advice on grammar, sentence structure, and storytelling.  He lays the foundation for each skill, offers exemplars, then goes onto the next.  By the time you're through, you cannot wait to apply the lessons King has so generously offered.

Just prior to King's memoir, I had read William Zinsser's classic about writing non-fiction:  On Writing Well.  It was an interesting comparison because I found King echoing much of Zinsser's straightforward advice, especially on adverbs--avoid them.  Any writer would do well to consider that, and the rest of their advice.

Do I recommend this book?  Of course.  Buy it.  Keep it.  Mark in it.  Read it again, and again.  Then write.

A Year in a Garden

Why did I not read this book sooner?  Beautifully illustrated, and perceptively written, Montrose:  life in a garden by Nancy Goodwin is a gardener's joy.  More than a botany primer for gardeners, it is a journey of the joys and frustrations experienced by one of America's premier gardeners in one of America's premier gardens.  Goodwin's journal is informative and engaging, and Ippy Patterson's sweet illustrations grace many pages.  It's a beautiful book with a beautiful soul.  It has earned a place on my bookshelf.

Meeting New Old Friends

A good read on any day!

What a fascinating, informative, and entertaining read!  More than just a gardening book, Lynn Coulter's Gardening with Heirloom Seeds tells the stories of Mother Nature's crown jewels before hybridization.

A Book That Makes Me Want to Shout!

Speaking out

Read this book.  Period.  If you deal with introverts on a daily basis, read this book.  If you have a family member who is an introvert, read this book.  The book is Quiet:  The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain.  As a life-long introverted "nerd" (or "geek" or "egghead"--only a few of the intellectual epithets hurtled at me through the years), I have found in this book a strong sense of affirmation, finally, that I'm not weird. I, as well as other introverts, am different from the extroverts who look at introverts as if they're from a different world. We are from a different world; we are nourished by the world that lives in our heads. Extroverts just don't seem to "get it."

For too long, introverts have been characterized as weird and counterproductive in a society that rewards the talker, the shouter, the person with the most Facebook "friends," and the braggart.  This bias has left many introverts either (a) withdrawing permanently from society to a quiet place, or (b) effecting an extrovert facade so they can "pass" in the extrovert world.  If an introvert does (b), they must also do  (a)--at least sometimes-- or face serious health and emotional consquences.

Like the lawyer that she was, Cain builds her case for the legitimazation of introversion as an acceptable personality mode.  She cites new interpretations of existing research, new functional MRI (fMRI) research findings, as well as personal anecdotes in support of her thesis.  As a person whose careers (I'm on my third) required high levels of social interaction, I found the story of Harvard professor Little especially salient (an introvert who teaching style is extroverted).  I, too, am "passing" as an extrovert.  Like Little, I can maintain the extrovert facade for a time, but must have silence to recharge. 

I am left wondering how this does pertain to education.  While anyone who thinks that the purpose of education is to produce industrial workers is just NOT paying attention, the encroachment of business theory into education is undeniable.  Cooperative learning is championed because the "research" affirms the practice and, coincidentally, that's how business is perceived to work.  (It doesn't really work that way in my experience.)  Educators may give lip service to the value of individual achievement, but loud, busy classrooms, coupled with a near-abandonment of homework (hopefully done in a quiet environment), leave the introverted students in a state of frustration.  I do believe in the value of multi-sensory, active learning, but, as an introverted student, I often found myself wishing the teachers and other students would just leave me alone so I could explore, process, and synthesize the subjects at hand.  When can the introverts in the classroom do that???????

As much as I am bolstered by her argument, I find its logic a bit too simplistic in the sense that she ascribes to introverts an intellectual bent that I don't always see.  She claims that introverts seek out intellectual and emotion intimacy, but many seem to have given up hope of finding it.  She also seems to treat extroverts as more shallow than I've experienced.

So, I'm sharing this book with my friends and family.  The introverts need the affirmation, and, maybe the extroverts will finally acknowledge that the introverts actually need the quiet time they so desperately avoid.

See Susan Cain's TED talk here.

A Bounty of Wisdom

Today, women are the fastest-growing group of people buying and operating small farms.  While the number of American farms has dropped 14 percent in the past 25 years, the number of farms operated by women has increased 86 percent!  At this rate, some predict that within another 10 years, women may own as much as 75 percent of the farmland in the United States.
~MaryJane Butters in Women of the Harvest:  Inspiring Stories of Contemporary Farmers

The Divine Miracle of Humanity

An adequate Christology, then, affirms that the Word's becoming flesh refers to more than the single instant of his becoming present in the Virgin's womb.  He continued becoming . . . a particular human life. (28)

Patrick Henry Reardon
The Jesus We Missed:  The Surprising Truth About the Humanity of Christ

Filling in the Blanks

Just when you think all the territory has been covered for Holocaust novels, along comes Ann Clare LeZotte's 2008 poetic novel T4.