I read this up on Decatur (Kerrie, Eric, and Andrew’s first visit) – and not coincidentally because all the recipes I was making that weekend were from it. Everything we’ve made so far has been really good, but more complicated than I typically enjoy for everyday cooking.

Can’t stop! And still 12 more to go! (I don’t think I’ll be able to stop at the original 10 Sam sent me.) Must read at least two “normal” books before picking up the next!

This book was given to me at Greenbuild 2007, and I started reading it right then. I got about a quarter of the way through, set it down, and didn’t pick it back up until this past Labor Day Weekend.

What I most enjoyed about this book was Hawken’s inquisitiveness and academic approach – I feel like I haven’t read anything this thoughtful or comprehensive since Core in undergrad. Some of Hawken’s insights:

- "By almost any measure of well-being, the United States brings up the rear: It is number one in prison population (726 per 100,000 verses 91 in France and 58 in Japan); first in teen pregnancy, drug use, child hunger, poverty, illiteracy, obesity, diabetes, use of antidepressants, income disparity, violence, firearms deaths, military spending, hazardous waste production, recorded rapes, and the poor quality of its schools.  (The United States is the only country in the world besides Iraq where schools need metal detectors.)" 
- "...monetary gains are called GDP, but the losses that are suffered, even in the industrialized West, mush less the Third World, are not tallied, as if one were recording sales at the cash register but ignoring thefts at the back of the warehouse."

I borrowed this book off my parent’s bookshelf when I still lived at home. Ten years later, I finally read it.

I learned so much about Seattle’s history from this book, most importantly in an enjoyable, engaging fashion. The only disappointment was that the book – written in 1956 – didn’t cover all of Seattle’s history, just up through 1915-ish. The coolest totem tales include:

- The original group of Seattle settlers began their journey on the Oregon Trail and included: Arthur Denny and his wife Mary and their three children Louise, Lenora, and Rolland, the Terrys, the Borens, the Lows, and the Bells – recognize any famous Seattle streets or neighborhoods in there?

- The Terry brothers originally named their new city New York, only to have fellow settlers modify their name to New York Alki (meaning “by the by” in Chinook). Originally Seattle’s settlement began as a lone, roofless cabin on Alki Point – you think that’s why there’s little statue of liberty’s there?

- Seattle moved from New York Alki to the shores of Elliot Bay, after the Bells, Dennys, and Terrys used one of Charlie Terry’s horseshoes tied to Mary Denny’s clothes line to test the water to see if the area was fit for a seaport.

- Outside of the original settlers, Seattle’s first new settler was Doc Maynard who came to town with Chief Seattle – the two were devout friends their entire lives. It was at this time that the settlement took the name Seattle, much to Chief Seattle other wishes. (It had been known previously as Duwamps by the local tribes).

- Next came Henry Yesler who was an experienced millwright. The founding citizens pleaded for him to stay and establish a steam sawmill wherever he choose fit. After spending the night with the Dennys, he established a sawmill at what is now Yesler Way although for the first half a century is was better known as the original Skid Road.

- Carson Boren & Arthur Denny platted Seattle’s first street grid, aligning is orientation with the Bay. Simultaneously, Doc Maynard platted his land with streets that aligned to the compass. Hence Seattle mal-aligned streets downtown.

- In January 1853, Seattle had its first wedding: David Denny (Arthur’s brother) to Louisa Boren (Carson Boren’s sister).

- Tom Mercer, his four daughters, and dear friend – Dexter Horton, came to Seattle later in 1853. With Mercer’s arrival – on a horse-drawn wagon – the townspeople had reason to create Seattle’s first road, which led to Mercer’s claim on Lake Union.

- Dexter Horton became the town’s first banker, using a safe that had no back nonetheless.

- One of Doc Maynard’s wifes – Catherine – sewed a packet of dandelion seeds into her dress for her voyage out west to aid her husband in the making of his dandelion tonic. It is said that all of Seattle’s dandelions are descendant of the Maynard’s garden.

This is yet one of the many romance novel’s Sam shipped me. And the damn things are so addicting!

After listening to my boss elude to this book for more than two years, I finally took the bait and read it myself.

The book’s divided into three parts: a prologue, the actual story, and an epilogue. Though the story may have some good metaphors and/or morals, the pro- and epilogue are just garbage to the point where they are nearly embarrassing to read and – for me – taint the actual substance of the story. (They both involve a fictional group of people who introduce the story and then proceed to discuss it … ugh!)

At least I read this on the beach, so there was something redeeming to the experience…

Finished reading this at Jeff & Sauci place on Cape Code. Just awful and certainly not humorous.

I started this on business trip to San Diego, and finished it a week later, driving home from a wedding in the North Cascades. It had been sitting on my bookshelf for so long, I’d forgotten it was a autobiography – a pleasant surprise. Until I noticed the inscription – “My favorite book about Paris. Love…Don” – I’d also forgotten it was a gift from a dear family friend before my first trip to France when I was 14.

A beautiful read, there is much insight into both historical context and human emotion. I’m glad I finally picked it up off my bookshelf…

Agnes – my good friend from France who stayed with our family for a year – gave this to me as a going away present before she returned home to Europe nearly fifteen years ago (!). I finally got a chance to read it these past couple days on a vacation to Medford, OR to visit our family friends. Grotesque and surreal, it began terrifying but finished amusing, if not frustrating.

I finished reading this yesterday morning up on Decatur during a weekend vacation with both sets of parents for the Forth of July. There were many good laugh-out-loud moments in this book, as well as some terrific sounding recipes. So far, since we’ve arrived up here, we’ve made “Trouble Monkey” – a knock-you-off-your-feet cocktail, and “That Egg Stuff That Goes in Tortillas” – a delicious and filling breakfast burrito recipe, made even better with fresh argula from the market. Besides being entertaining and delicious, this book makes me long to visit the South.