Nutritional Grail: Ancestral Wisdom, Breakthrough Science, and the Dawning Nutritional Renaissance by Christopher Clark

During the 20th century, flawed nutritional theories and the industrialisation of food production lead to unhealthy dietary changes. Sugar consumption increased dramatically and processed foods became commonplace.

This book explores the social and economic forces that have propelled these changes, including the current unnaturally close relationships between governmental nutritional advisors and biotechnology firms and the industrial processes and companies that produce the unhealthy foods so many of us eat.

The book also explores scientific methodology and explains modern scientific perspectives on nutritional topics including fat, cholesterol, fructose, gluten and detoxification. The narrative is very scientific in parts, so may be heavy going unless you're very interested in detailed nutritional information.

Clark lays out a comprehensive strategy for effortless weight loss, improved digestion, and increased energy including a range of recipes and advice on cooking equipment and techniques. The whole book is exhaustively referenced so you could spend months reading up more on the topics covered here.

This is a very interesting read, though given all the contradictory advice that is out there, this book may only add to your feeling of confusion about what really is a healthy diet. And it's certainly a book to read section by section and then keep to refer to, rather than to read all at once.

Thanks Story Cartel for my free e-copy of this book.

Better Bokashi...better earth by Todd Veri

'B o k a s h i (pronounced bo-KAW-she) is a Japanese term meaning ‘fermented organic matter’. It usually refers to a method of indoor composting that uses beneficial micro-organisms (MyCrobz) to quickly ferment any type of food waste. This includes fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, small bones, bread, dairy, soiled paper, cooked foods, and more.'

With a bit of practice, indoor Bokashi composting is a simple way to make quality compost for your garden without producing gas, heat, or rtten smells. It doesn't attract vermin either. It's the best way of recycling your food wastes for the benefit of your garden.

This book gives a detailed history of bokashi, outlining its benefits over both conventional garden composting and municipal food waste collections (though these are probably the best option if you don't have a garden where you can use the compost you would produce).

Next comes the detailed outline of how to bokashi and how to store and use the resulting compost, complete with plenty of quirky diagrams! Veri deals with all the problems you might come across while starting out with bokashi and following his instructions, with a bit of practice you should be an expert in a relatively short period of time.

Even if you have nowhere to use the compost, this is a fascinating book.

Thanks Story Cartel for my free download of this book.

Four Seasons of Creative Writing by Bryan Cohen

Four Seasons of Creative Writing is a follow on book to Creative Writing Prompts: Volume 2: More Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More, which I reviewed here.

Like its predecessor, this gem of a book is packed full of creative prompts to make you think and create blog posts, articles or stories, to explore issues, stimulate conversations or to share in creative writing classes. The prompts are arranged seasonally and designed to explore ideas rather than technique. Most of the prompts are specifically designed for younger people, but can be adapted to suit all ages and are ideal for schools and writers groups. There are plenty of ideas for nature writing, citizen science and for exploring environmental issues, in non-threatening ways, such as the examples below:



Summer

Sometimes it gets so hot in an area that people have to conserve their water because of

drought conditions. Imagine that there was a drought in your area so you couldn't play

in the pool or run through the sprinkler. How would this change your typical summer day

and why?

Imagine that you are a tiny hummingbird drinking from a feeder in a beautiful garden.

What would it be like to fly around so fast? What might be some dangers you would

face on a daily basis? Where would you live and why?

Fall

 

Create a conversation between two leaves that are about to fall from a tree. One is scared

and the other is excited about the long trip to the ground. What do they talk about and

why?

  

You have placed a tracker on an acorn in an effort to find out exactly where your backyard

squirrels go during the day. After a squirrel takes the bait, where does it go and why? Are

you surprised to find out where the squirrel stashes its goods? Why or why not?

 Winter

 

What do you think it would be like to be the following animals during the winter and why:

horse, gorilla, deer, and Chihuahua?

 

Many ancient cultures celebrated the winter solstice by constructing monuments or

holding wild celebrations. How would you have chosen to celebrate the solstice thousands

of years ago? What would your family today think about your celebration idea and why?

Spring

How do the smells of spring differ from the other three seasons? How do spring smells

make you feel? What makes spring smell the way it does?

  

Why did the bee fall in love with the flower and start the process of pollination? Create

a mythical origin story about when bees realized that flowers should be a part of their lives.

 Each prompt can probably be used to good effect many times over, so this book is a great resource for any writer.

Thanks Story Cartel for my free download of this book.

Learn to Tie a Tie with the Rabbit and the Fox by Sybrina Durant

A day in the life of a little rabbit, happily eating the tasty green shoots of grass until he spies a fox. A chase ensues (scenes of what a film classification board might describe as mild peril!) and the two animals trace out the actions needed to tie a neck tie.

Beautifully illustrated by Donna Marie Naval and with a fun song at the end, this is a wonderful book for anyone who can't tie a tie or who loves bunnies. You can use it as a family activity, so grab your neck ties and get ready to follow the instructions given by rabbit and fox.

Learn to Tie a Tie  with the Rabbit and Fox by Sybrina Durant

Thanks Story Cartel for my free download of this book

Yukon Dreams. Remoteness and mystique of the corner of the world. by Damien Tremblay

'The Yukon embodies a distant, cold, and painful elsewhere. Idealized, it tantalizes with its wonders and riches. Strange, its borders are imprecise; a wilderness implacable. Intangible, the territory is a land of dreams'. 

In this book, Damien Tremblay attempts to get to the heart of The Yukon's remoteness. 80% of the region is wilderness and mountains effectively seal it off from the surrounding areas.

The region opened up with the Gold Rush (1896 - 1900) and this short book explores the relationship people have had with the area since then - the native Tinglit peoples; shamans with their intimate connection with the earth; prospectors hoping to find the elusive mother lode of gold; trophy hunters, killing the region's big game; tourists lured by remoteness and adventure; present day residents, many of whom were drawn to the area's remoteness and artists of all types inspired by the area's beauty and wildness.

Through exploring the Yukon, Tremblay also explores the idea of remoteness and its importance to the human psyche, particularly in today's increasingly ubran world.

Yukon Dreams is beautifully written and includes amazing black and white photos of the area. A wonderful meditation on the most remote part of Canada and on wilderness as a concept.

Thanks to Story Cartel for my free download of this book. 

Yukon Dreams by Damien Tremblay

Rhinoceros Summer by Jamie Thornton

Seventeen year old Lydia Gibbhas, the daughter of a Sacramento pastor, works in a Christian shop and yearns to be a photographer. A missionary contact of her father's offers her a chance to travel to Tanzania, where she becomes ensnared in the cruel world of big game hunting and the complicated lives of an expatriate family with lots of secrets.

The story is told against the backdrop of the beautiful wildlife of Tanzania and the constant tensions between that wildlife and humans - whether hunters, conservationists or ordinary villagers trying to live and farm alongside the wild animals. The reader is drawn into the beautiful world of wild Tanzania and, with Lydia, sucked into the terrifying and corrupt world of big game hunting that threatens to destroy this wild beauty.  

This is a gripping and insightful coming of age novel, which reads like a thriller. Lydia's journey from naive young Californian to young woman aware of the dangers of the world is entirely convincing. Minor characters are also well drawn,  with the corrupt hunting safari manager Paul being particularly unlikeable, but all too believable. 

Can the hunters and villagers learn to live together with each other and the wildlife? Can Lydia find a way of using her photographic skills to help wildlife and people? Can Lydia's parents learn to accept that their daughter has grown up? 

At the end the reader is far more aware of the complexities of the obstacles facing conservation of African wildlife, but this isn't a book that offers a vision of easy answers to the complicated problems that face the wildlife and people of Tanzania.

Thanks to Story Cartel I downloaded a free review copy of Rhinoceros Summer by Jamie Thornton 

Bakaly by Birgitte Rasine

I recently reviewed Birgitte Rasine's beautiful story The Seventh Crane. As a result of this, I was entered into a prize draw with Story Cartel and was delighted to win a copy of Birgitte's short story Bakaly.

In Bakaly, a young expatriate Russian has returned to his home country and is travelling in the countryside.

A road, long, narrow, its incline a melancholy dip into darkness, lay ahead of me. It had begun nowhere, winding through murky shadows of tree trunks, slipping through its own furtive brushes with a dead wind.....

The scene is set for a bleak story that sees the protagonist finding an underground casino and entering the most important gamble of his life.

Beautifully written, thought provoking and dark, what ensues is a meditation on life, youth and taking chances, destiny and risk.

Bakaly by Birgitte Rasine,  published by Lucita. 

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.

The Seventh Crane by Birgitte Rasine

The Seventh Crane is a beautiful fable about the relationships between humans and nature and growing up into your true self.

An unnamed young girl encounters a whooping crane on a beach on a family holiday. She never forgets the experience and she meets more cranes on the same beach as she grows up through her teenage days of writing her journal on the beach to her adulthood as a wildlife photographer. The story is told largely from the points of view of the cranes, and includes insights into their lives, nest making and courtship and family relationships.

It's a beautiful, touching story of how we can create close relationships with birds and how we can learn to use our wings and become the person we really are.

Thanks Story Cartel for my free download of The Seventh Crane by Birgitte Rasine.

The Write Practice: 14 prompts by Joe Bunting

This workbook is made up of fourteen writing prompts. Why so few? "Because this workbook is more an exercise in seeing than a list of ideas to get your story started." says author Joe Bunting. 

I like the philosophy of the book, centred on observation: 

'Making a career out of writing is a noble dream ..... but what is nobler still is the person awake to the breeze on a cool fall day; the person who can hear joy in a child’s voice; the person who can look out at the morning filled with that haze and half-light that mornings have; who can see the silhouettes of trees, the outlines of birds; who can hear the birds and the crickets and the life of morning, and see them. Just see them. Really see them. How can I convey whatit is to see? How can I show you that there is nothing more than this moment and that it is good'

This book is based on content from The Write Practice, a practical website aimed at encouraging aspiring writers to practice their craft. The exercises are designed to be used in a group (so I may well try them out with a writing class sometime in the future!)

The fourteen prompts are varied and engaging: I liked the fact that there were prompts on being inspired by birds and autumn! As well as the actual prompt material itself, they also include practical tips on how to improve as a writer, for example, how to improve your focus. There are also questions to encourage self analysis so you can understand your own writing style better. 

There's some overlap in material with Let's Write a Short Story (by the same author) which I reviewed here.

Both of these books are likely to make you sit down, pick up your pen and start writing. 

Thanks to Story Cartel for my free download of The Write Practice: 14 Prompts by Joe Bunting.

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.