Category Archives: Book Review

It’s been cold and wet here the last few days, so in between bouts of blog maintenance and job hunting, I’ve been curling up in bed with some really good library books.

I’d like to note that in my ongoing progress towards minimalism, I have decided to stop buying books.  I know.  I nearly had to resuscitate Alan when I told him.  We were in  a bookstore at the time, just browsing.  And I managed to make it all the way out the door without buying anything.  My house is already breathing a little easier.  And the local library, I like to think, is quite enjoying my custom.

There’s just something so cozy about fluffing up the pillows and lying down to read.  Time suspends and you’re lost in the pages.  And whether it’s a novel or a piece of social commentary, the enjoyment factor goes decidedly up when you add pillows and blankies.

I think you’d like the two I read most recently.  First was How to Live Dangerously by Warwick Cairns.  In it, he basically tells us that we’re worrying about all the wrong things and why they have such a grip on our imaginations, how fear works in our brains, and what things we might want to worry about, just a little more.

It’s a wonderful, clear manifesto for those of us who are tired of being told we need to be more afraid and take fewer risks.

After I got back from my trip to Africa in the spring, I was talking to one of my relatives who seemed worried about me.  Glad I was home safely and had got it out of my system.   I explained to her that this wasn’t the end of my travels or taking chances.  That I don’t take undue risks, but I will continue to go places and do things that will seem unsafe to many.  Because I want to see and experience as much of the world as I can.  Because I’d rather die doing that than sitting quietly at home, waiting for my colon  to kill me.

If that explanation makes sense to you, then I recommend How to Live Dangerously.

The other one I read was Not Buying It, My Year Without Shopping by Judith Levine.  It’s a few years old but certainly not outdated.  In 2004 Judith and her partner, Paul, made the decision to only buy essentials and nothing else.  She kept a diary and in the book is very honest about her thoughts and feelings around her own consumption and what it felt like to step back from the marketplace for an entire year.

In fact, with the current recession swirling around us all, I think this book may be more of the minute now than when it was published in 2006.

Of course, even the longest afternoon of reading in bed has to end.  When I finally got up and waddled to my computer, I found websites for both of these authors.  And blogs! Warwick’s and Judith’s! That you can subscribe to!  Just like you can subscribe to mine!

Hope you all manage to find some quiet time this weekend, to read or snooze or just daydream.  It’s those moments that are truly worth celebrating.