Favorite Books of 2014

Reading is one of the true pleasures in my life and I read voraciously. Here are a handful of my favorite books from 2014.

Business 

Ice Cream Social: The Struggle for the Soul of Ben & Jerry’s
For entrepreneurs and business owners, there’s an ongoing struggle between making a profit and contributing to society. Ice Cream Social discusses how Ben & Jerry's evolved, how they tried to involve employees, use their buying power to make political changes, and run an ethical business. In the end, they sell the business to Unilever, but they persist in their efforts to run an ethical business – a fascinating and optimistic book.


Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work
Chip and Dan Heath write awesome books, informative and eminently practical. I started using their suggestions before I had finished reading this book.


Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products 
If you’re curious about how Apple products are designed, here’s your answer.

Travel

Tea & Bee’s Milk: Our Year in a Turkish Village 
Tea & Bee’s Milk is an absorbing account of an American couple’s year-long stay in a small Turkish village. It paints a picture of how the locals live, from their farming practices to their electrical wiring.


Grape Expectations: A Family’s Vineyard Adventure in France
You have to be slightly crazy to buy a vineyard and start making wine when you have absolutely no background in the industry. It’s a struggle, but this Irish couple and their children are making a go of it.


Falling in Honey: How a Tiny Greek Island Stole my Heart
This is another book for those of you who share my daydream of living in a foreign country. And who wouldn’t want to live in on a Greek island, swim in the sea, and fall in love with one of the locals?

Food

Secrets of a Hutterite Kitchen 
I was fascinated to discover the ins and outs of communal living on a Hutterite colony. And there are recipes for those of you who are so inclined.


Serve the People: A Stir-Fried Journey through Today’s China
The author attends cooking school in China, then apprentices at a noodle/dumpling stall before moving on to a classy Shanghai restaurant. The book is an eye-opening look at cooking in China.


The Stop: How the Fight for Good Food Transformed a Community and Inspired a Movement
Food banks are a stop-gap measure as they don’t address the underlying problems. The Stop gave me insight into what the Saskatoon Food Bank is attempting to achieve by setting up a garden, offering cooking classes, and participating in government committees.

Perseverance 
My recovery from back surgery this past year was slow and painful. Two books showed me the way forward.


The Man He Became: How FDR Defied Polio to Win the Presidency
Polio didn’t stop Roosevelt from becoming President of the United States. I also gained a better understanding of polio and what my mother went through as a teenager.


New Life, No Instructions: A Memoir
Gail Caldwell is surprised to discover that a hip replacement can give her back her life. It’s painful, but she embraces the unexpected and moves forward.

I wrote a longer review of these books here: Bibliotherapy for Legs that Don’t Move the Way They Should

Politics 
Shopping for Votes: How Politicians Choose Us and We Choose Them
Shopping for Votes is a depressing but informative look at how we’ve turned democracy into a marketing campaign.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flavourful Saskatoon, August 28, 2017

Image
The Next Great Food Business Public Tasting, Sept. 7 The Local Kitchen is hosting a public tasting with samples from each of the finalists in the Next Great Food Business competition. Finalists are: King’s Jerky, Kind Condiments , Smoke and Salt BBQ, Bannock Express , and Voodoo Van . Wine Tastings Guess the most expensive wine (Sept. 8), sample some Rhône wines (Sept. 22), or attend the 2017 Premier Showcase Wine Dinner (Sept. 28) sponsored by Saskatoon Co-op Wine Spirits Beer. Premier Showcase is also offering a Portugal with a Splash of California wine seminar (Sept. 29) and a Women & Whisky seminar (Sept. 30). Refresh and Renew I had a chat with Trent Loewen about his plans now that he has sold Earth Bound Bakery. He is heading east to visit chef friends in Ontario and then off to New Zealand to explore what's happening there. After 9 years with a single focus, it's time to explore new ideas. Interestingly enough, the bakery's new owner is a business
Read more

Flavourful Saskatoon, August 21, 2017

Image
Prairie Harvest Café I was sad to learn that Prairie Harvest Café has closed its doors. It’s been one of my favorite Saskatoon restaurants since day one, and I really appreciated the fact that the chefs focused on cooking with local ingredients, many supplied by the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market. All the best of luck in your new adventures. We’ll miss you. Hug a Farmer This has been a tough summer for many farmers. Prairie Sun Orchard lost their entire cherry crop to insects. Drop by their stand at the Saskatoon Farmers’ Market, tell them you care, and have an ice cream. My favorite is the chocolate cherry fudge, but Clare Pearson, the principal ice cream maker, says her new favorite is the salted caramel. Peppers If you’re like me, you assume that all small, skinny peppers are super hot and avoid them like the plague. But that’s a big mistake. Kaleidoscope Vegetable Gardens is offering two long, skinny peppers – one can be hot, but the other isn’t. Padron chile pepper
Read more

Petra Market: A Mediterranean Grocery

Image
Tucked away in a strip mall on Primrose Drive (north of Lawson Heights Mall) is Petra Market, a treasure trove of food products from the Arabic countries in the Mediterranean. I’m fascinated by grocery stores full of unknown-to-me products but also a little nervous about trying things, so I was really happy when Nour Dabbour, the owner of Petra Market, showed me around and told me about the different items. Nour is trying to stock products from as many Middle Eastern countries as possible. He even stocks the same product from a number of different countries because he says that each country’s product tastes slightly different. Za’atar , a spice mix, is a prime example with packages from Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and each one is a slightly different colour with a slightly different taste. The most popular areas of the store are the nut and treats bars with an amazing assortment of Middle Eastern candies and mildly spiced nuts. Nour gave me a variety to try and I’m real
Read more

The Golden Towns of Beaujolais

Image
Heading north out of Lyon, you pass through a long tunnel and exit into a lush green countryside leaving the city far behind. You then turn and head up the hill onto winding roads between a patchwork of vineyards. Many of the vines are really old with short, thick, twisted trunks and a thin stem of green leaves and buds. These are the Gamay vines of Beaujolais, interspersed with a few fields of greener, leafier Chardonnay vines. South Beaujolais, just 45 minutes northwest of Lyon, encompasses 25 medieval villages of orangey-gold stone (limestone and iron) that is surprisingly vibrant (I had been expecting something lighter, similar to the Cotswolds in England). Some of the villages still have the remains of 14th century castles. Oingt is classed as one of the most beautiful villages of France and it really is lovely. You can take a walk around the town on the former ramparts and the church is austere and beautiful. I was on a half-day tour , which combined stopping to
Read more

Spelt and Millet: Ancient Grains for Today's Healthy Diet

Image
When I was growing up, whole wheat flour and rice were exotic options. Now we have a whole range of intriguing choices – buckwheat, spelt, millet, kamut – the list goes on and on. My problem is that I don’t know very much about some of these grains, so I arranged a phone call with Nicole Davis, the Owner/Manager of Daybreak Mill near Estevan. Daybreak Mill grows and processes approximately 18 different kinds of flour, whole and de-hulled grains, flakes, cereals, and legumes. They are 100% organic. “We want people to have access to healthy, wholesome food,” Nicole explains. Two of Daybreak’s products – spelt and millet – have been nourishing people around the world for over 9,000 years. Spelt Spelt was cultivated by ancient civilizations in Europe and the Middle East for thousands of years. It grows well in poor soil and doesn’t require fertilizer. It’s resistant to frost and the thick husk protects the grain from insects. However, spelt requires more processing than wheat as
Read more