Those who feel disempowered by the challenges of climate change will benefit from this carefully argued, accessible primer from Suzuki (The Legacy), a scientist, broadcaster, and prolific writer, and author Hanington (Everything Under the Sun). The authors give an excellent overview of the science behind alarming global weather changes as well as the seemingly intractable obstacles represented by political denial in a fossil fuel–addicted economy. The text easily flows into how personal choices such as non-car commuting, conserving energy, reducing consumption, and making conscious choices that reduce reliance on industrial agriculture can have a collective impact on stemming the tide of global warming. With logical and helpful case studies, they praise the rapidly evolving potential of wind, solar, and geothermal power while dispelling “greenwashing” myths about more traditional energy sources, including nuclear power, biofuels, hydro megadams, and garbage incineration. Most crucially, the authors persuasively argue that the technical know-how for positive, affordable, environmentally friendly solutions already exists, but only an engaged, vocal citizenry will be able to tackle the political and psychological forces that continue to prevent the transition to a sustainable world and stabilized climate. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/17/2017 | Details & Permalink

In this wryly confessional memoir, author, poet, and filmmaker Coyote (Gender Failure) recounts a life growing up in the Yukon and Vancouver as a gender non-conforming tomboy. Coyote was designated “female” at birth but never liked “girly” things such as Barbie dolls. “It’s not like I thought I was a real boy,” they write. “I just knew I was not really a girl.” A series of vignettes charts Coyote’s journey as they gradually accepted their tomboy identity. Coyote opens the book, which is by turns raw, bittersweet, and funny, with a chapter describing the first time a stranger mistook them for a boy in public, and then moves on to other important experiences, such as the first time they kissed a girl and the moment they became fascinated with butch culture. Coyote also recounts their work as a landscaper in Vancouver and their pursuit of the electrical trades, a male-dominated field in which they felt at home. Stylishly illustrated with sketches of tools and enriched with poems and stories others have shared with Coyote, this book is highly recommended for transgender readers as well as those exploring their own gender identities or wanting to better understand non-binary experiences of a gendered world. (Nov.)

Reviewed on 03/17/2017 | Details & Permalink

Chipman, a prolific radio producer, journalist, and author (The Obsession: Tragedy in the North Atlantic), brings his finely tuned investigative skills to bear in this first-rate combination of police procedural, courtroom drama, and history of wrongful convictions emanating from the infamous Dr. Charles Smith’s flawed forensic pathology reports in Ontario in the 1990s. By introducing the intimate details and backstories of families in which parents were wrongfully accused and convicted of murdering children who in fact died of other causes, Chipman allows readers to empathize with those whose lives have been torn asunder and to imagine how easily they could have been drawn into similarly tragic circumstances. Chipman clearly illustrates how an institutional culture that pushed legal authorities to “think dirty” and suspect child abuse in far too many cases was enabled by the absence of a robust system of checks and balances. He writes with a fierce immediacy that balances the medical-scientific details of the autopsy world, the legal minutiae of the courts, and the brutal conditions behind prison walls. This work is a painful reminder of the far-reaching, devastating ripple effects on friends, families, and communities when the systems that are supposed to protect basic democratic rights fail. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 03/17/2017 | Details & Permalink

Essayist Landrigan’s interesting but somewhat meandering debut book argues that far too many people in Western societies are wholly disconnected from the people and processes that determine what winds up on their plates. Her detailed culinary journey charts her own course from an Italian-American home through a rebellious youth as a militant herbivore and, eventually, an accountable omnivore. Her current choices were heavily influenced by a series of life-altering experiences working on farms, hunting for game, and studying how vegetarian products are often sold by the same corporations running industrial feed lots and slaughterhouses. Landrigan’s voice is friendly and accessible, but the book feels at times like an essay that’s been stuffed to fill the requirements of a full-length tome. Biographical details about the author’s personal relationships and peripatetic travels seem unnecessary to sustain her core argument that simply cutting out meat is not enough to define ethical eating. Her questionable inclusion of a gruesome chapter on cutting up raw chicken for the first time may prove stomach-turning for some readers and feels gratuitous compared to other, more nuanced analysis that better defines the most compassionate ways to consume nature’s bounty. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/17/2017 | Details & Permalink

Wax, the Bible and reference publisher at LifeWay Christian Resources and managing editor of the Gospel Project, attempts to translate Christian faith and morals into language and symbols that 21st-century readers can appreciate. The Christian faith survives in large part, he writes, because it is continually being reinterpreted so that new generations can appreciate its beauty and meaning. In many respects Wax succeeds in carrying on this tradition, as when he tackles the challenges that modern technology imposes on daily life and when he critiques the pervasive consumerism of American culture. He is direct and persuasive in his arguments, and (as a millennial) exhibits an understanding of popular culture that helps him to explain current trends about the commodification of social relations from an objective viewpoint. At times his tone becomes preachy and borders on fundamentalist, as in the discussion of marriage and sexuality. For the most part, however, Wax is compelling as he pleads with readers to understand faith and religion not as a completely private enterprises but as living, animating forces. His work will appeal to many persons of faith, especially evangelicals who are navigating through the murky waters of the modern age. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/17/2017 | Details & Permalink

In these conversational essays, Stafford (Hands Free Mama) urges readers to set aside the world’s distractions and put love at the top of their to-do lists. Stafford, who describes herself as a “recovering perfectionist, reformed rusher, and multi-tasker,” admits this is no easy task. With a voice that is equal measures poetry and best-friend-over-coffee, she draws from her own life as a special education teacher and mother to encourage women to seek out a less stressful, more people-focused way of living. Organized around the seasons, these essays explore topics such as renewal, growth, authenticity, connection, grace, awareness, hope, and introspection. Stafford brings a voice that is both inspirational and authentic to a topic that can often take a lifetime to get the hang of. Broken into easy-to-read chunks, this book meets today’s busy moms where they live. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/17/2017 | Details & Permalink

Camfield’s richly detailed memoir of a lifetime of dreams is both insightful and reassuring. Though not all of her dreams have been realized and some are long forgotten, Camfield, a writer, speaker, and development director for Caris (a nonprofit counseling organization), remains faithful to her belief that God will lead her through dreams that define what she can offer to the world—rather than what the world can give to her. Throughout the book, she refers to her realization of God’s sovereignty over our dreams, hopes, and aspirations as “the Stirring.” She writes, “I’d say the Stirring was a moment: an awareness of the holy in the midst of the everyday that simultaneously brought clarity and chaos to my space in the world.” Dreams may take a turn that requires a great deal of courage and faith in God, she writes, but each one part of a personal journey that should lead to accepting God’s plan: “For his is the voice that sustains us as we step into our dreams. His is the voice that calls us to step into the parts of ourselves that were just waiting.” Not intended to define dreams or help readers ascertain why some dreams don’t come to fruition while others do, Camfield’s book instead puts one woman’s dreams into perspective based on her life experiences, her faith in God’s direction, and her willingness to move forward in God’s word. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/17/2017 | Details & Permalink

Chittister (Between the Dark and the Daylight), an American Benedictine nun and a prolific spiritual and political writer, is an ardent evangelist for Benedict of Nursia, a 6th-century Italian hermit who’s known as the “father of Western monasticism.” Chittister proselytizes by convincing the postmodern spiritual reader that Benedict’s Rule, a 1,500-year-old manual for monks, can lead to “internal freedom” today. Here Chittister focuses on the tough “spiritual hinge” of Benedict’s Rule: the 12 steps of humility. Through her judicious use of spiritual parables from around the world and events from her own life, Chittister engages readers with narrative and humor, drawing them down a path to self-revelation and spiritual grounding. These thoughtfully choreographed chapters address the individual and offer an antidote to contemporary trends where “demagoguery is the new political brand, where narcissism is too often misunderstood to be leadership.” Chittister writes that humility is the corrective to dangerous grandiosity, which “in religion... makes itself conscience. In government, makes itself a citizen king.” Chittister’s book is wise, sharp, funny, and timely. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/17/2017 | Details & Permalink

In this fast-paced read, Long (Peaceful Neighbor) and Lamb (From Jack Johnson to LeBron James) paint a portrait of groundbreaking baseball player Jackie Robinson that is both refreshing and exciting. The authors argue that his little-known religious life was foundational to his success. Robinson himself attributed his resilience to his deep faith: “There’s nothing like faith in God to help a fellow who gets booted around once in a while.” During his stint in the Army, his baseball career, and his years of civil rights activism, Robinson was indeed “booted around,” examples of which the authors provide in each phase of his well-recorded life, but his faith in God, instilled in him by his mother and nurtured by fervent devotion, guided him to victory over his challenges. His association with such notables as Martin Luther King Jr. taught Robinson that, despite his own wariness of some of Jesus’s teachings, engagement with the civil rights movement had a strong spiritual component, and that people of faith must play a powerful role in the quest for equality. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 03/17/2017 | Details & Permalink

Curl, the owner of the Quin Candy Company in Portland, Oregon, is passionate on the subject of candy, and her cookbook promises to teach readers the behind-the-scenes sleight of hand necessary to make great candy at home. Curl uses real ingredients (such as fruit flavorings that come from actual fruit) in gumdrops, caramels, and lollipops. People who are timid about candy-making will find Curl’s detailed instructions encouraging. Her lesson on making caramel—a task that can put fear into the heart of even the most stalwart cook—is worth the price of the book. Readers can learn to make lollipops, gumdrops and marshmallows, all using fruit purees made from scratch. And on days when candy making seems like too much, there are simpler recipes, including homemade colored and flavored sugar sprinkles, peanut butter hot fudge sauce, and a pan of s’mores made with homemade marshmallows. Balancing kid-friendly lollipop flavors (peach, caramel) are Pinot Gris and rosé ones for those with more mature palates. Unique flavor combinations can be found throughout the book, and include coffee, orange, and smoked salt caramels, and iced tea and lemonade gumdrops. Curl’s enthusiasm for her craft makes this cookbook a pleasure to read; she is the ideal coach for would-be candy makers. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 03/17/2017 | Details & Permalink