And now for some titles for the grown-ups:
Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck. I so sick and tired of hearing everyone talk about the lastest low/no/slow diet and really interested in reading about how normal food has gotten usurped by drinks and meals that seem to have nothing real in them but lots of chemical junk instead. Plank is called "the patron saint of farmer's markets" by the Guardian, apparently, and her book is a rebuttal against fad foods and instead champions old fashioned food.
I mean really - is high fructose corn syrup really good for us and butter the food of Satan? Hmmmmm.
West of Jesus by Steven Kotler. After two years in bed suffering from Lyme disease, the author takes up surfing. He started to wonder "when there is nothing left to believe in, coud he begin to believe in something as unlikely as surfing?" As a hardcore young bodysurfer who started surfing on a board in her teens (and I still have a surfboard even though there is no way in hell I will ever be tempted to get my body in the frigid Pacific), I know how different surfing is from other sports. He talks to everyone from "rebel surfers to rocket scientiests" to understand just what belief is all about. I'm curious on this and hope it lives up to its promise.
Austenland by Shannon Hale. Well, crap - it's Shannon Hale so you know it will be good. It's the story of a girl obsessed by Jane Austen who goes off to spend a weekend in "Austenland" and hopes to find her Mr. Darcy. Romance mixed with literary theory. Sounds like a great way to get folks reading Austen later - and also like a lot of fun.
