'You're Not You'
by Michelle Wildgen
Fiction (Picador USA, 2007)
$14.00 in paperback
This is Wildgen's debut novel, and one I couldn't put down. It centers on Bec, a college student drifting through school, who takes a job caring for Kate, a young woman with Lou Gehrig's disease. To Bec, it simply sounds better than waiting tables. Despite paralysis, Kate teaches Bec to cook extravagant meals and still raise money for ALS research. Kate, and especially Bec, learn a lot about their relationship and life when Kate kicks out her cheating husband, Evan, leaving Bec with all of the caregiving duties that Evan once performed.
This book dares to spotlight almost taboo subjects - the need for sex among the sick and the complicated moral territory of Evan's, or any young spouse's, responsibility to his terminally ill partner. The title of the book comes as Bec subsumes the powerful voice of her near-voiceless charge, speaking for her almost always. I loved the book, but was just a smidgen disappointed in the ending, hoping that I would learn more about Bec's eventual fate.
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'Life Prayers: 365 Prayers, Blessings and Affirmations to Celebrate the Human Journey from Around the World'
by Elizabeth Roberts and Elias Amidon
Nonfiction (HarperOne Publishing, 1996)
$17.00 in paperback
From the authors of "Earth Prayers" comes a beautiful, multicultural prayerbook with a collection of inspirational poems, prayers, chants, blessings and invocations from around the world. Prayers come from some of the most visionary thinkers, both past and present. This book celebrates life and the life cycle.
The selections are subdivided by categories: Affirmations/invocations to life in general, honoring a kinship with all life, dark night of the soul, prayers for solidarity and justice, womens prayers, birth, coming of age, courtship, marriage, healing, mid-life, growing old, death, moments of grace and illumination, and praises for the earth. Both religious and spiritual, you can randomly open the book to any page and find insight and comfort. It is a must-have for those quiet times of meditation and reflection.
'Where Women Create: Inspiring Work Spaces of Extraordinary Women'
by Jo Packham
Nonfiction (Sterling Publishing Company, 2005) $24.95 in hardcover
Most crafters are women, and women want to work in a space that will foster creativity and also give them comfort and peace. This book shows you the work places of 20 ultra-creative women who have turned their crafting into successful businesses. Their crafting talents range from fabric and paper crafts to needlework and gardening.
The beautiful glossy, full color photographs will give you a plethora of ideas for forming your own craft oasis, and will guide you in determining what kind of atmosphere you need to create. A beautiful gift for the crafty woman in your life.
'Diary of a Wombat'
by Jackie French, illustrated by Bruce Whatley
Children's fiction (Clarion Books, 2003)
$14.00 in hardcover
Everything you ever wanted to know about a wombat's daily routine but were afraid to ask! This is one of my favorite children's books of all time.
You meet a little wombat who begins the book with some education about wombats, where they are from and what they look like. Then you learn that a wombat's day is actually a snore for the most part. Literally! Sleeping, eating, scratching, sleeping some more. (Did I tell you my husband says he thinks I'm part wombat?) He continues this until he finds human neighbors. Before long, the always-hungry creature is at their door begging for food, digging in their garden and turning his neighbors' belongings into scratching posts.
In the end, the adorable creature decides that "humans are easily trained and make quite good pets." The illustrator paints the cuddly, chocolate-brown wombat in numerous poses and expressions - rolling, scratching, sleeping and chewing. Even though this book is for very young children, older children and adults find this little wombat completely charming.
'American Food: What We've Cooked, How We've Cooked It, and the Ways We've Eaten in America Through the Centuries'
by Evan Jones
Nonfiction (The Overlook Press, 2007)
$24.95 in paperback
With more than 500 recipes from every cultural background imaginable and dating back to colonial times, you can't miss with this entertaining, historical and delicious volume. It has delightful anecdotes about where our diverse kitchen favorites have come from - including Cajun cooking, soul food and Southern dinners. It will entertain you and the recipes (some quite easy) will inspire you and whet your palate.
I don't get a chance to cook very often, but I keep this book handy whenever I do. It's such fun to try recipes that span so many eras and so many cultures. You'll love having it in your kitchen.
Lisa Craft, owner of Blue Heron Books and Espresso in Casper, is a voracious reader and invites you in for a cup of your favorite beverage and a chat about your favorite books. www.blueheronwyoming.com.
