Inspiring Reads: For Natural Living
As promised earlier this month, I am going to start sharing some reading ideas for all of you. I am lucky enough to be surrounded by many avid readers who recommend a lot of great reads. Today I'll begin spreading that wealth with all of you.
There are some books that pull me in unexpected directions. I can start a book about war, and find myself craving the foods discussed two chapters in. I'm a lost cause if any book mentions feasts of fresh cheese or bread freshly torn from a loaf. Even if this is the meal of choice for characters on the run, I can't help myself. Plot aside, that book will resonate with me for its ability to make me run to the store to eat what the characters are eating. Everything else becomes subplot.
For the next few weeks, I am going to share reading lists that resonate with me---either for obvious or unexpected reasons. To start with, I decided to pull together my top five reads for inspiring a more natural life. For some titles, the theme is intentional. For others, it's simply something I picked up on because I'm an odd duck.
Inspiring Reads:
5 Books to Inspire Natural Living
1. Into the Forest, Jean Hegland (fiction)
Have you ever wondered how you would fare if the world ended and you had to turn to the woods for survival?? This novel is an intricate mix of storytelling and fascinating facts about nature. If you're anything like me, you'll turn the last page itching to try canning your own veggies, sun-roasting your own tomatoes, or hunting for healing herbs in the woods.
2. The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood (fiction)
Quite like the first book, dystopian fiction is an incredible (albeit dark) reminder of what we are capable of with all the conveniences of modern life stripped from us. This book makes me want to learn the art of bee keeping in case the world ends---and has led to me switching to raw honey to take care of burns. Thank you, Margaret Atwood. (PS: This is the 2nd book in The Maddaddam Trilogy, but many people read it out of order.)
3. In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, Michael Pollan (non-fiction)
As mostly a fiction reader, this book is among the most digestible reads I have come across on the subject of food and nutrition. Michael Pollan takes an icky subject and explores it with an approachable voice. If you're even just a little bit curious about how food has come to become what we know it as today, you'll love this book. (If you're pressed for time, you can also check out the bite-sized version---Food Rules: An Eater's Manual.)
4. Norwegian Wood, Haruki Murakami (fiction)
This book, admittedly, has very little to do with the end of the world and even less to do with switching to local food or going organic. Woven delicately into the plot is a glimpse at an off-the-grid lifestyle that makes me ache for my own chickens and an elaborate garden.
5. The Folded Earth, Anuradha Roy (fiction)
With its stark contrast between rural and urban life, this book makes me want to step out into the world and find air untainted by city living. The story revolves around loss and rebuilding a life removed from everything and everyone you know---and makes me crave the mountain life and the company of cows.
So there you have it. Five books that may or may not make you think about living a more natural life---whether it means running away from civilization, or choosing to eat differently. If you give any of them a shot, I'd love to hear what you think!! Even if your feedback is that I'm an odd duck for what I get out of stories. :)
2 comments
Adding these to my to read list! Although I'm already itching to live in the forest, this is just going to make me want it even more :)
ReplyDeleteI sooo want to go pick herbs in the forest and make balms and salves and stuff after reading "into the forest". I am so easily swayed to obsession!
DeleteI should probably do a fairy tale/folklore round up. Now that you're here... :)
Thank you for your comments! I love reading them all and will reply when I can.
xo♥clem