recommended inspiration

Books I like

Offering much-needed glimpses of hope and practical suggestions for turning hope into action…

• Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben

Like it says.  “Durable future” sounds good to me.

• What to Eat by Marion Nestle

Nestle basically said all the stuff Michael Pollan said so well, but she said it first.  I love Pollan, but Nestle’s encyclopedic book makes a great reference to have around when you can’t remember exactly why you’re not supposed to let your kids eat the cookie dough with raw eggs in it.

• Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart

A classic that retains its power to challenge the way we think about consumer goods and how we interact with them.

• World Made by Hand: A Novel by James Howard Kunstler

The fictional antidote to McCarthy and Saramago (see below), this novel carries us into a believable future dystopia, but with a core faith in human nature which makes it seem bearable.

• Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

My book club found this novel too slow, but once I slowed myself down to manage the stumbling pace, I was rewarded with one of those all-too-rare readerly experiences of pure delight.  So don’t give up.  Or, just read anything Berry has written: it’s all worthwhile.

• Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith by Anne Lamott

I have a battered paperback of this that I mostly leave out on my bedside table, as it’s a marvelous touchstone for those of us who are neurotically guilt-ridden: in these essays, Lamott holds out an offering of the possibility of self-forgiveness.  For which I thank her whenever I get too far under it all.

• Inquiries into the Nature of Slow Money by Woody Tasch

Just in case you’re wondering how to reallocate your stock portfolio.  You know, like, ethically.  Don’t tell your broker (or my father).

Books I’d avoid now that I’ve read them

Basically, these books freaked me out and sent me under the bedcovers for a few months (yes, each, that’s almost a year hiding my head under the comforter).  I find that in order to stay moving forward, even if there are a lot of backward steps in my forward movement, I have to try and stay not-overly-freaked-out.  So go ahead and read these books if you’ve got a thick hide, or, in the case of the first two, if you need convincing that global warming will create a truly catastrophic future if left unchecked.

• Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet by Bill McKibben

Some great stuff, but I had to skim most of it until the last chapter about the potential of the internet to help transform society for the better.  I’m still waiting for that one, but we can hope.

• Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet by Mark Lynas

Want to have nightmares about oceans spewing toxic gasses into sulfur-yellow skies?  Go right ahead.  He’ll also tell you which parts of the planet may remain habitable, so you can plan your next real estate deal.

• The Road by Cormac McCarthy

I know a lot of people claim that this book is ultimately hopeful, but all it did for me was make me obsess over whether I should buy a gun and how much ammo I should stockpile.  Pretty bleak picture of human nature.

• Blindness by Jose Saramago

Another “good” book that honestly, I can do without.  Did I say “bleak view of human nature” above?  This one is possibly worse.  I’d say, unless you have a thick hide, and aren’t female, you can skip this one.

Things I like

• Recycled Cotton Legwarmers
• Line drying!
• My new menstrual product

Places I like

• Environmental Working Group
• 350.org (duh)
• Union of Concerned Scientists