First, a couple of updates from my last [url=http://don.oninohana.com/blog/?postid=231]Reading List entry[/url]:
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[*][url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0553804715/bujinkanmartia0b/]Baltimore[/url] turned out to be a great book. It was right in keeping with the theme of Mike Mignola’s better Hellboy stories. This quirky tale of post-WWI era horror is told in a series of flashbacks so it’s really a series of related short stories. The illustrations peppered throughout the text do a great job of adding atmosphere and drama. This was the first book in a while that I did not want to put down. I would highly recommend this one!
[*][url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0307279464/bujinkanmartia0b/]A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail[/url] – Since I read a National Geographic article about it in 8th grad, I have wanted to hike the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail]Appalachian Trail[/url], or at least some length of it. I guess I could drive 45 minutes north of my house, hop on the trail and walk for a while to say that I’ve done this, but I think what interests me most is the idea of being out on my own, away from civilization with no source of rations except what I can carry. This book serves to provide both a down-to-earth view of the not-so-glamorous adventure of hiking the AT from beginning to end as well as communicating what a monumental task this really is. In addition, it’s all told with a healthy sense of humor. I’m about a quarter of the way through the book but really enjoying it so far.
[*][url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060852550/bujinkanmartia0b/]Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life[/url] – For some reason, this book piqued my interest after picking it up at Borders some time ago. I didn’t know that it would have such an impact on the way that I thought about the food that my family and I eat. I really need to write a whole blog entry about this, because I find that I feel very strongly about a lot of what this book is about as well as food in general. I’ll get around to it at some point…but in the meantime, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. Read it and then go to [url=http://www.localharvest.org/]Local Harvest[/url] and find a CSA near you.
[*][url=http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0767927427/bujinkanmartia0b/]Screamfree Parenting[/url] – I didn’t ever think that I would be the kind of parent to read “parenting” books. But I guess I find myself wanting to be as good a parent as I can be to my kids and some of the stuff I’ve read about author Hal Runkel’s take on parenting rang true with a lot of the things I thought about being a parent and having children even before we had kids. I should probably write a separate post for this one as well, but I just want to mention the idea that [b][i]you can be a great parent without your life completely revolving around your children[/i][/b]. I’ve said for years that this is the reason that there are so many screwed up kids and young adults today. What is interesting (and a bit scary) is that I can very easily see how parents let themselves get into this mindset due to the deluge of media that is telling us that our kids are and should be the centers of our universes. Now that I’m a father, I see my own household moving in this direction and it’s not somewhere I want to go. I’ve just begun reading the book and I’m finding it a little “self-helpy” and cheerleader-ish, but I am interested to read more of the Runkel has to say.
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