Reviews

Summer is a season of no-holds-barred, unapologetic and flamboyant colors. (Is it possible to use more adjectives in that sentence?) Perhaps if I lived in the tropics I would become immune to this feast for the eyes. But living as I do in Maine, a state where winter hangs on (most years) till early April, I spend summers reveling in color - the brighter the better. 

These photos are from today. A day of colorful garden flowers and market veggies. The brilliant blues and deep greens of an afternoon at the lake. 

And jazzy shades of polish for our nails. Speaking of which, the girls and I (well mostly Brienne truth be told) use SunCoat. As far as I understand this Canadian brand is one of the most non-toxic polishes on the market. 

A day of summer colors. A day of summer fun.

PS. If you have a favorite adjective to describe summer's colors I'd love to hear it.

PPS. I have more colorful summer photos coming of our recent trip. Some awesome sunrise and sunset shots that I'm really pleased with. You can get a sneak peak at our photo blog.

About a month ago I was contacted by Trish Collins of TLC Book Tours with the request to do a book review of Coop by Michael Perry. My review would then be a part of a TLC's virtual book tour.

Just so you know I was not paid for this review (wouldn't that be cool though if I were) but I did receive the paperback for free.

After agreeing to do the review I worried a bit that I might not like the book and then what would I say? I hate to say discouraging things about something and don't have time to spend looking for all the positives in a book that's mostly trash. If I don't like a book I simply stop reading it.

I was so relieved this wasn't the case with Coop. I couldn't put it down. What really floored me was how Trish pegged me so well in sending this kind of book my way. How do marketers do that? How do they know you so well? It's kind of scary.

What's not to like about this book? In short, it's the real life story of the author and his wife starting a part-time homestead in rural Wisconsin. I say part-time because as the author admits, writing is his bread and butter and the homesteading gig does not provide for all their family's needs.

But it did provide some pigs, a big garden, a place to raise children and chickens and a lot of cool stories.

Stories of homebirth, homeschooling, sleepless nights with infants and the intensity of raising children - these are things I identify with. And although I can't relate at all to building chicken coops and pig pens I understand the desire to do so. To feed your family from the labor of your own hands.

But Perry's story is about so much more than building a homestead. At its core this book is about family. And I'm an absolute sucker for family life. As Perry writes stories about his own adult life he shares with us his unique and wonderful (by my measure and his) upbringing.

What was really refreshing about this aspect of the book was Perry's absolute respect, love and admiration for his parents and fond memories of his own childhood, which was quite unconventional.

Perry was raised by loving, devout and honest fundamentalist Christians. And in spite of not practicing religion in the manner of his upbringing he doesn't disparage his parents for being who they are. It seems the main reason for this is that Perry truly values his upbringing. His parents took to heart the bible's command to care for the orphans and at last count have helped lovingly raise fifty or sixty children, many of them disabled, on a farmer's income. How can you not respect that?

Maybe it was his upbringing or the fact that his parents would probably read the book (they are bibliophiles) but for whatever reason this is one of the "cleanest" books I've read in a long time. To be sure there is a lot of good story in here, great character revelations and some very heartbreaking parts.  Somehow though Perry manages to tell a really good story, his story, without all the filth that usually accompanies many modern memoirs.

Michael Perry seems like the kind of guy you'd want living next door. Or the next farm over. Good guy. Loves his wife, loves his kids, loves his family, the farm and his community. I don't get the sense in reading the book he was trying to convey that message about himself (he's quite humble really and readily admits his shortcomings) but that overall impression was just the icing on the cake for me.

I almost forgot to add (the book is already passed on to my mother so I'm going from memory here) there was one section I didn't particular like. Perry likes machinery and farm equipment. An endearing quality, reminds me of my uncles and grandfather. But halfway through the book, when he goes into a rather in-depth story about haying and all the mechanics involved, my eyes glossed over. I skipped a few pages at that point. I'm sure the poetry of machinery speaks to some, I am not one of those persons. Other than that brief episode the book was hard for me to put down.

Good stories. Great author. Wonderful book.

And no, I honestly wasn't paid to say that.

PS. I haven't read any other reviews on this book. I wanted to give my perspective without being influenced by other's opinions. If you are interested in how other people experienced this book you can read more reviews at TLC Book Tours.

PPS. Michael Perry also has a blog, sneezingcow.com, that's very personal and down homey. Perry is a musician, as well as writer, and if his music is an earnest as his writing it's probably worth a listen.

Photos in this post were all taken at "our" farm (where we have our csa share) through the various seasons over the past couple years.

The last time I talked about life on the fringe was here, when I laid bare my soul regarding the lack of close female companionship in my life. The responses to the that post were just as heart felt as what I shared. What I heard back from you was this feeling is not unique to me (I didn't think it was) and that life on the edge is both inspiring and sometimes lonely.

But I think it's less lonely when we share our stories and encourage each other.

I've read three books lately that I would put into the "inspiring, living life on the fringe, go for it with gusto" category. I love those kinds of books!  

Simple living, for real

A Handmade Life: In Search of Simplicity by Bill Coperthwaite is the real deal. This well crafted and philosophically challenging book is not a straight forward "how-to" manual on simple living in the 21st century book. Coperthwaite looks at simplicity as a lifestyle that goes much deeper than the washing and re-using plastic bags (or eliminating them from your life altogether), hang drying your laundry, making soap and baking bread for example.

This book is about the justice of simplicity, the education of our children, the importance of beauty, discovering and doing your life's work, rest and craft, the superiority of knitting as a handicraft (I say this only partly in jest) and so much more.  

As I read it I kept thinking "I should quote this in my review". Problem was I thought that about every second paragraph! So I have no quotes to share because the whole book is just so good. Especially if you are questioning the values and standard lifestyle of modern western society, as we are these days.

I really enjoyed Coperthwaite's writing and unique perspective. He lives along the northern coast of Maine in a handmade yurt, off the grid and a couple miles hike from the nearest road.  The book's photos by Peter Forbes are beautiful and perfectly complement Coperthwaite thoughtful writing. 

As much as I enjoyed the book though I thought the chapter on education was disappointing. I agree with almost everything he wrote in the chapter but his emphasis on changing schooling at the institutional level ignores the fact that the changes he describes and idealizes are already happening within the realm of homeschooling.

And truly that's where I believe change happens; in our homes and in our families.  When it seems so hard to change the world the best place to start is in our own lives. 

Unschooling in the African bush

I really enjoy success stories of unschoolers and less-than-structured family learning. I'd say Twenty Chickens For A Saddle by Robyn Scott fits that bill. It also fits the bill of an overall really good read, regardless of one's interest in alternative education. If you are a homeschooling sort you'll be interested to know that Robyn was unschooled till age 14. After which she went on to have very successful high school, college and post-graduate experiences. 

But those experiences are not what this book is about, though it's fun to talk about the unschooler who studied at Cambridge. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is the story about Robyn's very eclectic and fascinating childhood in rural Botswana. I identified with her story on so many levels - her family were vegetarians, her mother a self taught herbalist, they loved nature and the outdoors, the kids were unschooled, the family believed in natural medicine, thoughtful living and following your dreams.

And yet so much of Robyn's story is very different from my own and it's the uniqueness of her experience and her excellent story telling that is so compelling to read. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is story rooted in place and family. It's at times laugh out loud funny (many times the kids would say "what is it mom?" after one of my guffaws and I'd have to try and explain one of the not-so-child friendly stories), heartbreaking, enlightening and inspiring. 

I love stories like this and highly recommend it if you are looking for an overall good read.

A walk in the wilderness and finding home

At first glance, A Long Trek Home: 4000 Miles by Boot, Raft and Ski is the story of a young couple who use human power to journey from Seattle, WA to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. But of course there's a lot more to the story than that.

This was one of our family books which Damien read to us in the evenings. Damien's written a longer review and is hosting a giveaway of our copy of the book at ADVENTUREinPROGRESS. I really enjoyed this book, no doubt in part because I was snuggled with my family and listening to my husband reading it to us!

What inspiring stories or books have you read these days about life on the fringe?

PS. We now have a photo blog of our outdoor adventures.  It has its own RSS feed and if you like my photos but could care less about the words that I usually write to go along with you might be interested in checking out that word-less blog. I understand, I get tired of my voice too.