High-res This is in a town called Hay-on-Wye in Wales. They held a book festival and now it has internationally earned the name “book town.” It begins May 27th and ends June 6th. Bill Clinton called it the “Woodstock of the mind.” belchi: That would be the best place to live ever.

This is in a town called Hay-on-Wye in Wales. They held a book festival and now it has internationally earned the name “book town.” It begins May 27th and ends June 6th. Bill Clinton called it the “Woodstock of the mind.”

belchi:

That would be the best place to live ever.

(via tatteredcover)

Bread Loaf number 1!!

Successfully made loaf of bread number one.  I just sufficed with the no-knead bread variety.  But I added rosemary and lavender.  It is delicious but certainly doesn’t meet my future requirements of learning bread baking. 

Bread 1 of 52

the spirit catches you

Book 4 of 52 for 2012

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

Man, I love Anne Fadiman.  There are not enough words to explicate how much I love her writing. 

This piece of literature is at once illuminating, depressing, historical, and deeply emotional.  The story of Lia Lee and her Hmong family paired with the medical anthropology infighting of culturally unqualified doctor’s makes for a terrifying and saddening ride.  This is by far at top 10 book I’ve ever read. 

I don’t want to say too much, but the entire book is gripping, passionate, and personal.  Read it.

Book 3 of 52 for 2012 A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve I’ve never been drawn to Shreve, but it was a free book and a morning read so I picked it up.  Read it cover to cover without stopping.  Here is what I have to say about it…I HATE her writing style.  Absolutely hate it.  The entire book I felt zero empathy towards any of the characters.  But it was entertaining I suppose, so I’ll give it that.  And it was about Kenya, so that is fine as well.  Too melodramatic. 

Book 3 of 52 for 2012

A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve

I’ve never been drawn to Shreve, but it was a free book and a morning read so I picked it up.  Read it cover to cover without stopping.  Here is what I have to say about it…I HATE her writing style.  Absolutely hate it.  The entire book I felt zero empathy towards any of the characters.  But it was entertaining I suppose, so I’ll give it that.  And it was about Kenya, so that is fine as well.  Too melodramatic. 

Book 2 of 52 for 2012 Read in the car from Muhuru to Nairobi. Nussbaum and I have a complicated relationship.  I wrote my senior project on her and her strange views of cosmopolitanism, which might as well have been called “why the west should be more aware, and how the ‘other’ should make that happen for us”.  Well lets call her new book “how to import western understandings of the individual to the ‘not-west’.  Its not that her piece isn’t valid, telling, in many ways amazing, its just that…Its so…Western.  She makes the argument that the capabilities approach has been created by many non-western thinkers as well, but ultimately I still think its a very ivory twoer approach. And the westernization of the development complex is one of the main reasons development continues to be a failure.I’d still give it 4 out of 5 stars though, because it least it is better than most pieces of development literature.

Book 2 of 52 for 2012

Read in the car from Muhuru to Nairobi.

Nussbaum and I have a complicated relationship.  I wrote my senior project on her and her strange views of cosmopolitanism, which might as well have been called “why the west should be more aware, and how the ‘other’ should make that happen for us”.  Well lets call her new book “how to import western understandings of the individual to the ‘not-west’.  Its not that her piece isn’t valid, telling, in many ways amazing, its just that…Its so…Western.  She makes the argument that the capabilities approach has been created by many non-western thinkers as well, but ultimately I still think its a very ivory twoer approach. And the westernization of the development complex is one of the main reasons development continues to be a failure.

I’d still give it 4 out of 5 stars though, because it least it is better than most pieces of development literature.