Second Half of April Reading Wrap-Up

 April came and April went. I was reading. My thoughts on the books I read in the first half of April can be found here. My thoughts on the books I read in the second half of the month are below.

Japanese Paper Yarn: Using Washi and Kami-ito to Knit, Crochet, Weave, and More by Andra F. Stanton (borrowed from the library)

This was quite an interesting book, which contains instructions for making and using paper yarn, beads, and more, but also includes beautiful photographs of art created with these materials and short essays on the history of paper in Japan, the importance of paper in Japanese culture, the uses of paper in Japan, and the ways in which paper is made to meet the needs of people. I enjoyed the instructions on making paper yarn and beads, but I was also aware from the start that I wouldn't be trying this. Knowing myself and how I create, it was clear early on that this wouldn't be for me. However, in spite of the fact that I am going to neither buy nor make paper yarn, some of the projects and photos did give me inspiration and ideas for my own work with 'regular' yarn and cloth. I found the short essays fascinating and definitely worth reading. I think for mixed media and textile artists, this is a worthwhile book worth getting from your library, perhaps. If you're someone interested in making art materials from paper, it's a great introduction to making and using paper yarn, beads, and more.

The Haiku Anthology by various poets and edited by Cor Van Den Heuvel (borrowed from the library)

This is a collection of over 800 haiku and senryu written by a wide variety of poets. I'm a big fan of short form poetry and there was much to enjoy in this book. Here are a couple of examples:

long meeting

I study the pattern

embossed on the napkin

   ---Miriam Borne

One reason I love that senryu is because I can relate to it--sitting there listening to people drone on and on and needing to find something to focus on--I've been there. And like the poet, I will usually find myself drawn to pattern somewhere, looking at lines and shapes and thinking about how I could incorporate that into my textile work.

Snow at dusk

our pot of tea

steeps    slowly    darker.

   ---Betty Drevniok

This one is puts me right in that place and brings me a feeling of calm and peace--a winter night with dusk falling early, cold, wet, snow falling, then the warmth and pleasure of savoring a mug of hot, strong tea. Bliss!

The Barbizon: The New York Hotel That Set Women Free by Paulina Bren (borrowed from the library)

I requested this book from the library after reading Erika's thoughts about it on her blog, BioArtGal. Her review of the book is here. Although the book is organized around the hotel and there are descriptions of the physical structure itself and the way it was furnished and decorated, that is primarily a way to describe what the evolving cultural and societal norms and expectations about the proper place of women from certain classes. The hotel gave women a safe space from which to explore the world beyond the places they grew up in and to explore themselves and what they wanted from life. The hotel gave them the freedom to make better choices because it allowed them to widen their experience. There's a lot of name dropping in this book as women who later became famous lived there for varying lengths of time. But the author goes into more depth about women who never became famous and their stories were fascinating to me. I enjoyed reading about their backgrounds their hopes and dreams, their fears and courage, and what they discovered about themselves. That was the best aspect of the book for me, but I also found it quite interesting to read about residential hotels and why they were popular for a time. I'm so glad I read this book, so thank you Erika for sharing it on your blog!

The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope (personal copy)

This is the third novel in Trollope's Palliser series and revolves around (surprise!) a diamond necklace. When the book opens, we meet Lizzie, a beautiful, poor, young orphan who is living with a harsh aunt. We're told right away that Lizzie is not the heroine of the novel. She wants money and status, so she connives her way towards these things by playing with Lord Florian Eustace. He is easily played. She sees him as an excellent opportunity because he's older and unwell, has money, and can give her a title. By the end of the first few chapters, Lizzie has become Lady Eustace, a widow, and a mother, in that order. Before he died, Lord Eustace realized his mistake in choosing that particular wife, but never changed his will. Nonetheless, Lady Eustace isn't as happy as she might be with the terms of that will and decides that she will keep a diamond necklace that is, in fact, a family heirloom and not hers to keep--or is it? Needless to say, Lizzie makes up stories about how she came to have the necklace and what her husband said to her about it. When the family's legal representative, Camperdown, tries to get it back, the contest is underway and runs throughout the book. There are also other storylines about various people connected and unconnected to Lizzie Eustace. After a time, Lizzie decides it's time for her to marry again and she's torn between wanting someone who can give her more wealth and/or status, or what she calls her Corsair--Lizzie is fond of romantic poetry. This tension runs throughout the book as Lizzie plays around with various people and in the end, realizes that some people are playing around with her too. I enjoyed this book a lot--there's a slight element of mystery involved as I wondered what would become of the necklace. I read on through the almost 800 pages hoping all the while that Lizzie would get her comeuppance and I never got bored. 

This book is placed between the Phineas Finn novels in the series--Phineas Finn precedes it and Phineas Redux follows it. Although this book can be read as a standalone and does have a satisfying conclusion, the story of Lizzie is a part of the story in Phineas Redux as well.

Phineas Redux by Anthony Trollope (personal copy)

I've had all 6 of the Palliser novels in my book collection for years now--we got them during pandemic lockdowns--and since I do not plan to keep them, I thought I'd donate them all together. I'm hoping to finish the series before we move so I can do that. So as soon at I finished The Eustace Diamonds, I jumped into this book (and I plan to start the next one, The Prime Minister, today). This book takes up the story of Phineas Finn. I shared my thoughts on that book in my reading wrap-up for the first half of the month, which can be found at the link above. I won't go into certain details of this book for fear of spoilers in the first book. The book begins a couple of years after the end of the first Phineas book. It can be read on its own--details from the previous books are summarized seamlessly through the narrative where appropriate--but I'm glad I read both Phineas Finn and The Eustace Diamonds before I read this one because I enjoyed it far more than I would've otherwise. The Pallisers are featured more prominently in this one than they were in the previous couple of books and stories progressed and become intertwined. There's the beginning of a mystery in the second half of the book, but Trollope doesn't really develop this, and gives the answer a few pages after it's introduced. This served to redirect my attention to how things would be resolved rather than wondering what had happened. 

I'd say that if anyone is interested in this series, Phineas Finn, The Eustace Diamonds, and Phineas Redux are best read in order. The first book, Can You Forgive Her? divides space between one storyline and that of Lady Glencora and Plantagenet Palliser. The Pallisers recur throughout the books and I think will play a prominent role in the next one, but the people from the other storyline in that book, have only been superficially mentioned in one or two of the other books. I'm glad I read the first book because it gave me the background of the Pallisers which informs my reading of their relationship in subsequent books, but so far anyway, I wouldn't say that it's crucial to read the first book. And for anyone interested in starting with Trollope in general, here's a video from a booktuber I enjoy watching who discusses her thoughts on the topic. I agree with her that The Way We Live Now is a fabulous book and definitely worth reading. There is (sadly) much that is still current described in that book. 

So that wraps up the second half of April. On we go into May. I am currently deciding which books to take to my future home so they can wait for me there and which to keep with me so I can read them while we're in the process of moving. I have the last two Palliser novels to read and possibly another couple that I don't plan to keep so those will stay with me. I'll decide about the rest as the process unfolds. Happy reading, everyone!

Share

The Next Big Project

 Here we are on the last day of April. We know how we're spending May as our next big project commences. Not sure exactly how it's going to go, but I guess we'll find out. It starts this weekend as I get some books boxed up so they'll be ready to load into my friend's car and brought to what will be our new home in Killybegs. Our lease here ends at the beginning of June and we'll be out of here by then. I gave notice today, but we've known for a few months that we'd probably be going. To be honest, I was not letting myself get too attached to the idea until recently, because this wasn't imminent and stuff happens, so I waited patiently. My friends here were puzzled about my lack of excitement at first, but they kept telling me, 'I'm excited for you.' I will miss being around them and I will miss the yarn group at the library. 

It was all quite unexpected. We weren't planning to move, nor were we looking for a place. My friends were concerned about the damp in this cottage, and expressed their concerns to me repeatedly. One even started looking on our behalf, although I didn't know this at the time. It's not like we had options so we just dealt with it and although we would have pursued any possibilities as they arose, we weren't actively seeking anything. But after we got back from taking care of our furry friend in February, another friend brought up the possibility of us moving into a property she owns. We jumped at it. So now we'll be neighbors with our furry friend, Finn, and when she needs someone to care for him, we'll be right there. 

When we moved here, we didn't know we'd be taking care of him so we signed the lease which was very clear that we were not to have a dog. After we went to his house for a month to take care of him and knew we would be caring for him again a couple months later, I contacted the manager to ask if we could have him here on a temporary basis. He checked with the landlord, who wouldn't allow it. So we went back to Finn's house for a month. Shortly thereafter, our friend offered us her property to live in. We've lived in that neighborhood before and I have always loved it. I would've never left, but there were circumstances involving the landlord at the time and his manager that made it difficult to live there. That won't be an issue this time. 

There will be a few things I miss about being in this area, but overall, It'll be much better for us there in so many ways. I'm looking forward to being there and being with my friends there once again, both human and canine. Not sure exactly what the move itself is going to look like, but we start this weekend! I'm excited now, even though I'm not looking forward to moving. I'm greatly looking forward to having moved though. Off we go into a new chapter!

Share

Peanut Butter Cup Bars

 I was thinking about the Snicker-ish date things I made earlier this year--as you do. The first time (back in January), I made stuffed dates . The next time (in February), I decided to make them in such a way that I could cut them into bars. Same ingredients but less fussy. This time I decided to try making a sort of peanut butter cup thing that I could cut into bars. I'm happy to say that these were quite successful!

Here's how I made them:

I placed some dates (pitted) into a bowl and covered them with boiling water, letting them sit for about 15 minutes. After that time, I scooped them out with a slotted spoon and out them in the bowl of my food processor fitted with the blade, leaving the soaking water in case some of it was needed. Today it wasn't, but when I make them again it might be. I dumped in some ground almonds and a few heaping spoonfuls of natural peanut butter. It was a newly opened tub so I was scooping from the top, which is very runny and perfect for this kind of thing. I whizzed everything up until it looked crumbly but would hold together when a bit was squeezed. I had to scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times. I lined a container with baking paper and pressed this mixture in very firmly. Then I broke up a bar of dark baking chocolate (150g), heated it in the microwave for about a minute, stirred until it was all melted, and added another couple large dollops of peanut butter. I mixed this together well, spread it over the top of the mixture in the container, and put it in the fridge to set. As soon as the chocolate was firm enough to cut, I had to try a piece. Yum! We're both fans, so this will be something I make again.

I don't have any measurements to give--this is one of those things where it depends on how much you want to make, how soft the dates are, how much the ground almonds absorb, and how runny the peanut butter is. It's also not something that can go wrong. If the mixture was too crumbly, I could have added a bit of the date-soaking water, some more peanut butter, or maybe some almond milk--just a smidge at a time. It's probably not possible to make it too wet, as putting it in the fridge will firm things up anyway. If peanut butter isn't your thing, you could use any nut or seed butter that you like. 

So I'm glad I gave these a try. They are yummy. And with summer coming up, I like the fact that no oven is required!

Share

Veering Off in an Unexpected Direction

 Yesterday when I was out with a friend, our first stop was the Dunfanaghy Country Market.

My friend told me it was small, but excellent and sent me some info about it the day before. After reading about it, I was looking forward to checking it out in person. The guy in the middle is one of the mobile greengrocers. There were people selling plants for outdoors, both flowers and veg starts. There was a guy selling succulents in handmade pots. There were women who crocheted amigurumi, weavers, and knitters. It was a lively place with a great vibe. When we got there, my friend pointed out the green tent and told me that's where the baked goods and other goods things were and suggested we get over there before people started buying up the goodies. I followed along and took my time choosing a couple of desserts for Bill and myself in the days ahead. I had a very hard time because there were so many things that called to me and everything looked scrumptious. I did try a cookie sample when it was offered and it was yummy, but in the end I decided on a lemon cheesecake and two pieces of flourless raspberry-pear cake. We had the latter last night and it was wonderful. Further down the table, there were some homemade jams and a few baggies of assorted garden produce. I nabbed a bag of chocolate mint, some of which I have placed in water to root. I'll be able to plant it and enjoy it with my apple mint and lemon balm. As I was waiting to pay for my goodies, I suddenly found myself in conversation with a woman from Germany who has lived here for many years. She told me how great my socks were! As often happens in situations like this, I have to check to remind myself what sock/hat I am wearing. I bent down to look. Because it was a warm day, I'd put on a pair of crocheted lacy socks that I made ages ago out of sock yarn scraps.

They're handy because the toes stay warm but there's air circulation. The bottoms are solid because I don't think it'd be comfortable to walk on the lace. Anyway, a rather lengthy conversation about the socks ensued. She was telling people to come look at the socks and asking me how I made them. She doesn't crochet, but she is a knitter so I explained the general construction of the socks so she can develop her own knitted version if she wants. We talked about using scraps and other things. A dog came up to me and wanted to be petted so I spent some happy moments talking socks and petting a beautiful dog. 

After getting some stuff from veg man, we went to deposit our things in the car, then went back to look at more stuff. I was looking at the stall of a woman--another knitter--who had some yarn on a table that she was trying to sell. I stopped to look. She started asking me about my hat and my bag. As we were chatting, someone came up and told her to look at my socks. She asked if there was a pattern for them. I said I'd made them up. I'd already grabbed a decent sized scrap ball of yarn that she wanted 20 cents for (and purple, no less--of course that was coming home with me!). She had some basic acrylic in a few colors and a couple of skeins of novelty yarn. I chose one and bought that too.

She asked me what I'd use it for, maybe some kind of trim? I said I wasn't sure yet--possibly trim, but more likely pin loom weaving or kumihimo with the novelty yarn. Not sure about the purple ball--will have to do the burn test to get an idea of fiber content. As we were leaving, she told me to keep on stitching. 'I know you will,' she said. She is so right. 😉😀😏

Share

A Visit to Marble Hill

 Had a day out with a friend today and one of our stops was at Marble Hill beach. We were there early enough that she easily found a parking space right by the stairs down to the beach and across from The Shack, a place that sells coffee, tea, ice cream, milkshakes, baked goodies and possibly more. I didn't spend much time looking at the menu, just ordered my iced latte, which was perfect on this warm and sunny day. We sat in the car to enjoy our beverages and then carefully walked down the stairs to the beach. 

At the bottom of the stairs we turned left, towards the hills you can see in the top photo. The sea was calm, with tiny waves lapping onto the shore. On another part of the beach some people were in the water, but it wasn't very deep at that time of day. There were some dogs enjoying the beach too.

I quickly became interested in the patterns and textures I was seeing. Here are some examples:

And the patterns and textures under my feet:

We were on our way from somewhere to somewhere so we didn't stay long, but it was a lovely place which I enjoyed visiting.

Share

Catching Up

 It looks like spring is springing this week. We've had rain and grey skies with a sunny day or two sprinkled in, but this week is supposed to be warm and sunny. I'm of two minds about this. It will be helpful to catch up with the laundry--because I'll be able to put it outside it'll dry faster than it does inside this damp cottage. On the other hand, the transition to spring has really been kicking my butt this year and I've spent too many days functioning through a fog and being very tired. I'm not looking forward to the increase in pollen counts and fungal spores of a certain type, but there it is. It'll end. Just a couple of months until solstice. I always feel a bit more hopeful when we're losing daylight again. I'm trying to get as much rest as I can both so I can function on a day-to-day basis and so I can have some energy for the large project that we have coming up. There's nothing I can do for that just yet, but it'll soon be a bit of a mad dash, so I'm preparing myself.

My textile journal class came to an end a couple of weeks ago. It was a fun and interesting experience and I might be teaching it again in a different location later in the year. Each participant created a different kind of piece. There were books of different kinds and a pouch with pockets to put things in. The themes and intended purposes were different as were the approaches to the project and the stitching. We shared stories and examples of other work that we do. It was a different kind of teaching experience for me because in the past, whether it's been a university class, a continuing education class, a class in a yarn shop, or individual instruction, there's been a path and a clear goal. I knew what it was that I wanted to communicate and of course, I adapted how I did this based on the questions and needs of my students, but there was a more concrete goal--teach people how to needle tat or crochet, or provide them with a basic grasp of the subject matter, for instance. Here it was very open-ended. There was a concept. I showed them an example. They took off in their own directions. It was great! My job wasn't to tell/show them what to do in a step-by-step way, but to help with ideas so they could get the results they wanted. So each week I came in with a new example based on what they said they wanted to do or just to show some possibilities they might want to incorporate. I ended up doing a fair bit of work outside of the class and I got some fun ideas for myself as well. I did find myself thinking about it a lot in between class meetings, which was interesting. I found myself pretty much focused on that for the entire time the class was running, so once I was done, it took me a few days to sort of slip back into my normal mindset, especially since I was dealing with the seasonal crud and everything just takes a little bit longer at this time of year.

A couple weeks ago, I discovered a crack in my slow cooker crock. I was bummed. I love my slow cooker. On Friday, I rode with a friend to a nearby town where she goes every week to do her grocery shopping and that of a couple of elderly friends who don't drive. She drops their groceries off for them along the way, which is so kind. She took me to the recycling center so I could recycle it. Then last night my induction hob decided that almost 5 years of near daily use was enough and it stopped working. It was kind enough to wait until I was done making supper, though. So there's another electrical item for the recycling. I hope that'll be it for a while! I made pancakes this morning and had to use the stove, which was just weird. It seemed so low. Fortunately, this one works OK. I had one once that took 20 minutes to boil a small pot of water. When I told a friend this, he gave me the induction hob and I used that and loved it. It will be replaced. Oh, and the slow cooker has been replaced. It was cheaper to buy a new one than to replace the crock.

I was quite excited on Friday to find Swiss chard seeds in Lidl. Chard isn't something I can find in the grocery store or at the veg men, when we've had them in various towns and villages. The only place I can get it is in bagged salad mix, which contains baby chard. Now I can grow my own. 

Also on Friday, the smoke alarm in the living room started chirping in a weird way. Three quick chirps every 30-40 seconds. I was up on a chair trying to balance whilst getting the thing off the ceiling so I could see what kind of battery it needed. I got the thing down, it was wired in, and I couldn't get the plug thing out. Then I couldn't get the thing back up. I left it hanging there and sent a message to the manager, although by this time the noise had stopped. The handyman came while I was out with my friend and he struggled with it for a while before he managed to replace the battery with a new one that said it was good until 2030. Later on, the alarm started chirping again. It went on for over an hour. I messaged the manager who didn't get back to me until 10:30 that night, saying he'd send an electrician. I don't know whether that's needed--it does seem like a battery issue or a defective alarm because when the chirping didn't stop, I climbed up onto the chair again and turned off the circuit for the smoke alarms. Then I went back into the living room and onto the chair to get the alarm down again--because it was still chirping. I got it unplugged this time and handed it to Bill. It was still chirping. The cover for the battery compartment wasn't easy to remove, but he got it off and took the battery out. The chirping ceased. 

The knitting and crochet group at the library continues to be fun. We're a small group but the conversation is always great and the time flies by. It's fun to see what everyone is working on and there are always goodies. Playing with yarn, chatting with friends, having tea/coffee and chocolate/biscuits, all while surrounded by books. I don't know how it could get any better!

I remain grateful for my quiet, simple life, even as I am not the biggest fan of this particular time of year. I hope you're doing well and enjoying the season in your neck of the woods.

Share

Mid-April Reading Wrap-Up

 Halfway through April already--I can barely keep up. 😐As always, I have been reading. Here's what I've been immersed in so far this month. Someone asked if I could post pictures of the book covers in these posts, so I will do so where possible. Just bear in mind that covers may be quite different where you are and depending on the edition of the book.

Transcription by Kate Atkinson (personal copy)

I love Kate Atkinson, but I wouldn't place this in the top tier of her books. It's Kate Atkinson, so it was a good read, but I didn't love it to the same degree I've loved some of her other work. This is not a sequel to her previous WWII novels, Life After Life and A God in Ruins, but it is set partly in 1940. The book opens in 1981 with Juliet Armstrong lying in the street after being struck by a car. She begins to think back to a couple of different times in her life, so readers are quickly whisked back to 1950 where Juliet sees someone from her past. This person isn't interested in acknowledging her, though, which she finds puzzling. The story moves backwards a decade where we learn that with the death of her mother, Juliet is alone and is soon recruited to be a transcriptionist for M15. Eventually, her duties expand. The book moves back and forth between 1940 and 1950 before circling back to 1981 again. These 1981 moments serve as bookends of sorts, with a few pages at the beginning and again at the end. I enjoyed the book--the perspective and subject matter was different to other novels I've read that are set in that time period. If new to Atkinson though, I wouldn't start with this one.

Wasp on the Prayer Flag: Haiku and Senryu by Maeve O'Sullivan (borrowed from the library)

I don't have a picture of this cover, which was simply royal blue with white text. It's a delightful collection of haiku and senryu written by an Irish author and situated in an Irish environment. I enjoyed it very much.

Continental Christie by Agatha Christie (BorrowBox audiobook)

This is a collection of 12 short stories, all taking place in continental Europe. There are various readers--mostly Hugh Fraser, but others as well. This was a very fun listen. Although I would've read all of these stories at some point, most of them were slightly less well known. There was a Miss Marple, several Poirots (many from The Labours of Hercules collection), a few featuring Mr. Parker Pyne, and some featuring Mr. Satterthwaite and Mr. Harley Quin. With the exception of a couple, I didn't really remember these stories so it was nice to sit, stitch, and listen.

Phineas Finn by Anthony Trollope (personal copy)

This is the second novel in what has come to be known as Trollope's Palliser series. I first read this series 46 years ago. Needless to say, all those years and thousands of books later, I don't really remember it, so it's like reading it again for the first time. A few years ago, I read his Barsetshire series, which was structured around church politics. This series, first known as the Parliament series, is structured (loosely) around government and, well, Parliament. While in the first book, politics was there, but not central to the plot. Here it plays a very large role. Phineas Finn himself is the son of an Irish doctor. He comes from a small district in rural Ireland, but has been studying for the bar in London. His family is not wealthy, so he's expected to start earning his way. When at his club one day, he's encouraged to run for a seat in Parliament from his district. This idea grows on Phineas, but there's a catch--MPs get no salary. His father tries to discourage him as does his mentor, who wants him to make a career in law first and then try for Parliament as he himself is planning. Phineas decides to go against all this advice and runs. Plot ensues from there. Of course, this being Trollope, Phineas finds himself enmeshed in various dramas involving power, class, gender roles and expectations, and relationships, whether romantic, friendly, or hostile. Phineas also contends with issues involving the situation of Ireland which was at that time, still colonized by the British (I acknowledge here that for some Irish people, the colonization will not end until the six counties of Northern Ireland are no longer under British control). 

I do love Trollope and enjoyed this book immensely. I started the next book in the series last night. There are six books in the series altogether, but so far I don't see any reason why one would have to read them in order. Both of the first two work perfectly well as standalone novels and the third, although I'm only a couple of chapters in, seems to be going off in yet a different direction. There are some characters that recur in this book and there is progression from the first book, but nothing that would be problematic if one read this book without reading the first one.

Furies by various authors (personal copy)

This book was published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Virago, a feminist publisher. It contains stories by current authors, each one titled using one of the words on the back, traditionally used to describe strong women who disturb cultural expectations about how women are supposed to behave--harridan, muckraker, spitfire, vituperator, churail, termagant, fury, warrior, virago. The stories range across cultures, time frames, and genres. There's even a graphic short story. Some of the stories were weird and I found myself off-balance as I read them. There were a couple I didn't really care for and a few I loved. The rest were good stories that I enjoyed reading. I don't think I'd read the entire book again, but there are stories I will revisit in future, so I plan to keep this one.

Finally, I read a book to be published soon--thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital review copy.

Tree by Aya Koda (translated by Charlotte Goff and to be published on May 14, 2026 by Penguin Press UK/Penguin Classics)

As Aya Koda navigates her 'golden years' she thinks about her relationships with trees over the course of her lifetime. From her childhood, she's always felt a connection to trees. She realizes that as she ages, her time to learn all she can about trees is growing shorter and she sets out to take something of a tree tour of Japan. She initiates some of her experiences and others come to her and she accepts the invitations to view and earn about particular trees and their habitats as they arise. She visits Ezo spruce, wisteria, hinoki cypress, poplars, cherry blossoms, cedar, and others. She's open about the difficulties she has in some places where reaching the trees requires more physical stamina than she has and she's grateful for the help she receives in these cases. She's also grateful for people who patiently explain things about trees to her, even as her memory falters and it's harder for her to take notes. Her descriptions of the trees involve physical attributes, information about habitat and what changes in it do to the trees, and about her own emotional responses to the trees and their situations. In one case, she starts out feeling upbeat and hopeful, but in learning about the trees, becomes gloomy. She does anthropomorphize the trees quite a lot. For example, in one instance she writes about how she sees the trees as 'kimono-wearers.' I wasn't quite sure what I thought about that. On the one hand, I think it's good to see trees and the natural world in general as valuable in their own right, not just as something to be used, conquered, and destroyed. And having read a bit about the possibility of plants having some form of consciousness, I have to admit that I just don't know. I suspect that if plants do have some sort of consciousness though, it's their own and not the same as that of humans. Then again, we all interpret things based on our own experiences and the cultures in which we grew up and lived in. This question is an interesting one for me and one I'll continue to think about. Beyond that, I found the book to be a fascinating read which combines memoir, tree science, Japanese culture, environmental issues, and more. It's a slim volume that contains so much. It's definitely worth a read.

On to the second half of April--plenty of reading awaits!

Share