Clare-Dragonfly

Cradle to Cradle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart

This book sets forth the principles of eco-effectiveness. Basically, the authors argue that being less bad is not enough: we must create products and buildings that are actively good for the environment, people's lives, and businesses as well. Instead of following a traditional cradle-to-grave paradigm, in which products are designed to last until they are worn out and then thrown "away," products should be designed to go from cradle to cradle. All components should not only be safe, they should be food: either biological or technical nutrients--recoverable in such a way that they can either be used to nourish the earth or can be upcycled, used to create products of the same or better quality as their previous incarnations.

This book simultaneously makes me really happy and makes me really sad. The former is because I love these concepts and they sound like a great, viable way to stop and even reverse the harm we've been doing to our environment. The latter is because I don't think they'll ever be widely adopted. One that seems particularly useless is the idea of products of service, which is having people sort of lease items like carpets, televisions, and solar panels, so that they can be returned to the company and their components recovered. It's a great idea in theory, but people like to own things. I can't imagine that any but the most environmentally conscious will do this. Some principles are obviously (from their examples) being adopted by some companies, which is great, but what about all the others? The authors can't innovate for every company out there. Can anyone else do it and will they be willing to try?

There's also the fact that I feel rather helpless. I don't see what I can do to help. I wish I was an architect, an engineer, or a chemist... but I'm not, and I have no idea how to apply these principles. All I can think of to do within my vocation--writing--is to write stories set in a utopia in which all of these concepts are in effect, and even then, I think I'd have to be pretty vague about it. (I guess I could also go for a dystopia in which we've destroyed our environment. That's something I could probably do real research for.) At least I was a bit affirmed by the end, in which the language strongly implies that the book is intended for business owners and others who can do something, and not necessarily for ordinary people like me to read.

I guess the one concrete thing I can do is to get my sister to read this book. She's a business student, and she cares about the environment. Maybe she'll get some ideas out of it, and maybe she'll pass it on to her friends.

This is for an Environmental Reading Group on campus, so I may have more to say after the discussion.

Bone by Jeff Smith

I read a few pages of the beginning of this comic when they were in Disney Adventures magazine. I really liked it then, and had been hoping to find a copy of the book for some time. Well, now I have, and I have to say--wow! It's so much more than I expected it to be. Like with webcomics and other serially published stories, I have to wonder how much the author knew or planned from the beginning. Was this sweeping fantasy epic in the works when I read about three cousins run out of Boneville and met a talking leaf bug and a cow-racing grandmother, or did it evolve as Smith wrote? Either way, it is extremely successful at moving from humble beginnings to a world-changing tale. Sometimes, with such things as the "lost princess" theme, it does seem a bit stereotypical, but the characters and the storytelling make up for it.

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean

In the ballad of Tam Lin, the daring Janet is warned not to go to Carterhaugh (which she or her father owns) but does anyway. There she meets Tam Lin, who takes the promised pledge and leaves her with child. She learns that he is to be a sacrifice of the Faerie Queen, but she can and does rescue him.

Pamela Dean's retelling of this classic story is set in a small college in the Midwest in the early seventies. The role of the novel's main character is clear: her name, after all, is Janet Carter. The rest of the story, however, unfolds with intriguing slowness. She does meet a boy named Thomas Lane, but they are both dating other people, and her relationship with Nick Tooley seems so perfectly ordinary it's hard to question. Other things aren't so perfectly ordinary, such as the mysterious Fourth Ericson ghost, the strange behavior of many members of the Classics department, and the fact that Janet can't seem to think about them when she's on campus. The plot, moving through the four years of Janet's college attendance, moves so slowly that at times it seems not to be moving at all, but the characters and situations are so wonderful that it doesn't matter.

Finally, in the fall of Janet's senior year, everything falls into pace. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that everything I expected to happen does happen, in a perfectly wonderful and wholly unpredictable way. The verdict? An exquisite book that every lover of fantasy and English major should read ASAP. I'll certainly be rereading it when I get a chance.

Darkhenge by Catherine Fisher

Some fantasy authors seem to rely too much on their readers not knowing the myths that inspire their stories. This one seemed to have promise--the back matter made me think that the main character Rob's comatose younger sister Chloe had gone into Faerie, and I got even more excited when the novel opened with the term "The Cauldron-Born" and a quote from The Book of Taliesin. That was the high point, though. Taliesin shows up, but doesn't seem especially trustworthy. This impression makes me want even more to root for his antagonist, Clare, who is also the goddess Ceridwen. But she doesn't seem very trustworthy, either; in fact, the only person who does is the priest, Mac, Rob's godfather. He seems to know more than he should, and this is never explained--in fact, a lot is never explained, from how Rob (the POV character) suddenly knows Dr. Kavanagh's first name to, despite repeated hints that it is significant, the identity of the King of the Unworld. Returning to my original point, the author also seems to take strange liberties with the Taliesin legend and stories of the Underworld. So much, in fact, that I think I would have enjoyed it more were it stripped of its mythological references. I just don't understand the point of having them if you're barely going to use them. I also would have been more content if I only vaguely knew the myths and didn't expect anything based on them. So overall, not an awful book, but one I certainly wouldn't recommend.

Heirloom Knitting by Sharon Miller

This book is a true classic of lace knitting, and with good reason. It's chock-full of useful, interesting information about Shetland lace knitting, in addition to the patterns. I kind of skimmed over the sections on wool, but was pleased to see that it had information on other fibers as well. Lots of fun lace patterns--projects as well as motifs--and help for creating one's own. I can't wait to knit some of the patterns from this book. I love lace!

The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks

As always, Terry Brooks delivers. He's my favorite fantasy author for many reasons: intriguing, varied, abundantly realized characters; interesting and creative plots; and above all, masterful suspense. I can sometimes predict what's going to happen, but only because I know his style well--and even then, I'm never sure, because Brooks is so skilled at managing expectations and bringing surprises (the best kind--ones you should have predicted). The Elves of Cintra is the second in the Genesis of Shannara set, and it's really exciting! He has three series--the Shannara series, the Word and Void series, and the Magic Kingdom of Landover series. I've known that the first two were connected, the fantasy world of Shannara being what emerges from the collapse of the modern world of the Word and Void. This set connects the two--the modern world in chaos and dying, demons out of hiding, fantasy creatures evolving... the King of the Silver River, a faerie as old as the world, even makes an appearance, guiding a character in this book as he does so many of the series' heroes. The Elves are here too, in hiding now, but that will change soon. The end of this book was completely unsatisfying--I can hardly wait for the next one!

The Mabinogion translated by Charlotte Guest

Considering how obsessed I am with Welsh language and culture, it certainly took me long enough to read this! Of course, I'm glad I did. It's a collection of medieval Welsh hero tales--many of them are quite a bit older than that, of course, but they're first found written down in the twelfth century. It's actually fairly obvious which only survive in more recent forms, between the Europeanization and the Christianization. The first four, I think, are the most interesting. They are the least Christian, feel the most Welsh, and certainly have the best female characters (plus, they're the only ones in which the term "mabinogi" actually appears). This translation also includes part of the tale of Taliesin, which was fun to read, but unfortunately in a very Christianized version--Ceridwen is represented as an evil hag and Taliesin is always talking about how he serves God and Jesus. I also had a slight issue with the translation of the whole thing--many of the names seem to be partially Anglicized, so that I can't really tell how they're properly spelled or pronounced.

The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi

What a delightful little series! I'm a huge fan of Holly Black, and as usual she didn't disappoint, with a thrilling tale of true-to-life (and -legend) faeries and children. I was delighted that they took a classic story, unhappy kids moving into a strange new house, and--well, didn't exactly turn it on its head, but created an engaging and original tale. The protagonist, Jared Grace, is a well-drawn and very sympathetic little boy whose parents' divorce has led to anger issues as well as a move to a house owned by his Great-Aunt Lucinda, where hides a very special book. His twin brother Simon and their older sister Mallory are also unique and fun characters, and the interactions between the siblings are quite believable--they squabble a lot, but when it's important (and when they have to hide things from their mother) they stick together. The story is also populated by faeries of all types and sizes--a brownie, some goblins (and one hobgoblin, thank you very much), a griffin, a phooka, elves, and more. I was happily surprised b y some of the story's twists and gleefully predicted others. I really look forward to the movie. Of course, it will be lacking Tony DeTerlizzi's delightful illustrations, but I'm sure it will be wonderful anyway.

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

This was my second reading of this book, and it was very different this time around. The first time I decided to read it was partially because it is Arthurian, but mostly because I was deeply infatuated with a girl who identified with Morgaine and urged me to read it. This time was because it is pagan and I was doing an online pagan book group (that promptly went kerflop). I remember the first time thinking that their way of worship was very nice, but it wasn't for me. This time, I know that it is.

After two days of trying to write this review properly, I give up. I guess it's just too personal and a lot of my feelings are indefinable. One thing I can say is that it's really interesting and different reading the story of King Arthur from the perspective of the women, so that the major battles and quests are only peripheral events. I will also say--with fervor--that this is a novel everyone should read.

Now that I've read through the whole book, time for a more in-depth review!

Vive Le* Vegan by Dreena Burton

While I admit to not having much basis for comparison, it's my opinion that this cookbook is perfect for people like me who are new to vegan cooking and want easy, tasty meals, snacks, and desserts. There are a ton of good recipes as well as lots of useful information, such as cooking times for grains and beans and a whole section on the benefits of hemp. I made the "Peanut 'Better' Cookies" and the "Homestyle Chocolate Chip Cookies" and they both turned out delicious. I'd like to make the banana pancakes and lentil soup soon, too. I'll have to go shopping to make a lot of the recipes in this book, but that's more a reflection on my family's pantry than on the book! I love that it's all whole foods and there's a great variety of grains and protein sources. Though I don't have any trouble with wheat, I think it's great that most of the recipes are wheat-free or could easily be made wheat-free. It's also really cool that very few of the recipes use "fake" vegan products. A couple of them use vegan cheese and/or vegan ground round, but for the most part there's no attempt to imitate non-vegan food--the recipes are great, healthy meals on their own.

There's also a large section on raising vegan infants and children, explaining how and when to introduce different kinds of solid food (based on advice given by the author's midwife). I don't have reason to use that yet, but I expect to someday, and it seems like a really good resource. Overall, I'm thrilled to have received this book as my first vegan cookbook.

*I guess it's French? Is it really "vive" in French?

Confessions of a Knitting Heretic by Annie Modesitt

I quite enjoyed this book--but then, as a Combination knitter myself, I was sure I would. I really liked what she had to say about knitting. I agree with her thoughts on being an adventurous knitter and on letting people understand their options and decide for themselves. There's also a lot of good information on knitting techniques, including basics like casting on and more complicated things like colorwork. I enjoyed the personal essays as well. Not all of the patterns are my style and I have no interest at this point in knitting with wire, but I definitely want to do that plaid bag at some point.

When I finish a book I've been reading for pleasure (as opposed to books for school, which, awesome as they may be, I have to write papers and take exams on), I write myself a little review of it in my paper journal. I figured I'd start posting them here. Hopefully people will be interested in some of them!

Primitive Mythology by Joseph Campbell

This was quite a long read and I'm not sure I quite got all the information in my brain, but it was pretty interesting. I was, however, expecting far more actual myths and less blather about them. It seemed that the stories were thrown in randomly--sometimes to illustrate a point, sometimes not--and there was much more summary and generalization than otherwise. I had a hard time following some of that. The part about shamans and their role in ancient society was, I think, my favorite part--there were illustrations in that section, which made it more vivid to me.