Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barabara Kingsolver

My comments: This book has really changed what my family eats and how we shop. Kingsolver, one of my favorite fiction authors, writes a food memoir, telling how her family subsisted on locally grown food for a year. One of the things that really struck me was Kingsolver's question about how much energy was used to get the food to my grocery store. I can never eat a banana again! They don't grow anywhere near my house in Ohio. One change I made early on was to stop buying anything with high fructose corn syrup. Who knew it was in Brownberry whole wheat bread? My kids rebelled. No pop tarts. Not even any Raisin Bran Crunch. Also, I'm trying to buy locally. Every Saturday morning, following my long run, I drive to the nearby Worthington farmer's market and stock up on whatever is in season. So far we've had strawberries, tomatoes that were started in a green house, fresh lettuce, zuchinni. My middle child is begging for a watermelon, but I tell him it will taste so much better when it is actually ripe here in Ohio.

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search For Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

My comments: I can't believe this is non fiction. What a life. Who doesn't dream of taking a year to find herself? Of course, Gilbert had to go through some real tragedies before she took a year to eat in Italy, pray India and finally find love in Indonesia. As my friend Pam said, "I knew by page 17 that I wanted all of my friends to read this book." Following an awful divorce, Gilbert took a year to travel. She wanted to learn Italian because it was beautiful. I love that kind of spontaneity. She went to an ashram in India and learned how to meditate. My favorite part in India was when she complained that it was just impossible for her to still her mind to meditate. She had too many things whirling around in there. Her friend, Tex, wryly commented that it was really easy for everyone else. Point taken. Hard work, but she eventually catches the wave of prayer to a higher realm. In Indonesia, she is supposed to be an interpreter for an ancient medicine man, but he actually already knows English so she lives this cushy life riding her bicycle and going to fancy parties before she meets the love of her life. This is another life changing book. Read it.