The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean

So now I want to buy an orchid -- a pretty one, one my cats won't devour. I enjoyed The Orchid Thief but found it tedious at times when author Susan Orlean steered off course, dealing more with the history of the Seminoles than the story of the orchids and their often-addicted lovers. I learned much from this book and would recommend it to other plant and non-fiction lovers.This is one of the few adult books I've ever read where I honestly believe photographs would have been good even though I realize they limit the imagination. The book also could have used a plant glossary, especially for the neophyte orchid and bromeliad admirers among us. It's a great book, though, and it left me wondering -- what might John Laroche be enamored with these days -- turtles, mirrors, computer porn or perhaps orchids once again? .... If you liked this book, you'll probably also like Miles Harvey's Island of Lost Maps.
By the way, The Orchid Thief was made into a movie, which was good albeit so different from the book, it was amusing if not downright irritating. For what it's worth, the movie, unlike the book, was clearly fiction, almost a satire of Fargo.

Christmas Recommendations for Children

For young readers, here are some recommendations. In some cases, older children, even adults, also will enjoy these books. Some of these also are good books for parents to read aloud to even younger children -- Silverstein's works, for instance.

Any of the late Shel Silverstein's works of poetry but especially Where the Sidewalk Ends and The Giving Tree. He has a CD of the former in which he reads his poetry.

For girls, the Junie B. Jones series of chapter books. Not great literature, but a good introduction to light, fun reading. You'll also find that elementary-school girls beyond the first grade enjoy Junie B.'s adventures.

Any of Kay Thompson's classic Eloise books -- from just plain Eloise to Eloise in Paris to Eloise at Christmas. Movie tie-in now being aired on cable.

The Olivia books about the precious pig by Ian Falconer. TV tie-in.

The classics such as Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox and Maurice Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are, both of which have movie tie-ins.

Carole Boston Weatherford's Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom.

Dewey: There's a Cat in the Library, an adaptation for children of the best-selling book.

Jan Karon's Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny. Fans of the Mitford series will enjoy the author's story for children.

Doreen Cronin's Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, Duck for President, Giggle Giggle Quack and Thump Quack Moo: A Whacky Adventure, especially the first two.

Helen Palmer's A Fish Out of Water. Good reading especially when you buy your first goldfish.

Almost any of Jan Brett's wonderfully illustrated books, but especially The Night Before Christmas, The Mitten and On Noah's Ark, the latter referring to the full-sized book, not the board book.

For younger children, especially those adopted from other countries, Rose Lewis' Crazy Cakes and Carrie Kitze's I Don't Have Your Eyes.

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas" by Dr. Seuss.

Clement C. Moore's The Night Before Christmas.

For mature children, Truman Capote's A Christmas Memory, keeping in mind that this story can be appreciated on different levels.

And reading-level appropriate subscriptions to such magazines as Highlights for Children, the National Wildlife Federation's Ranger Rick or Your Big Backyard and National Geographic Kids among others.

And of course, there's always Harry Potter.....

More to come another day....

Meantime, why don't you share a few of your favorite recommendations for children?

Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes

If you like to read about food, travel and home improvement, Under the Tuscan Sun is the book for you. I read it for a discussion at the now-defunct Savvy Traveler bookstore in downtown Chicago, and I loved it. The book made me want to try the author's recipe for sage butter ravioli, not to mention return to Tuscany, perhaps on a culinary tour. When I went there many years ago, I have to confess I had no idea I was even in Tuscany and didn't appreciate the region's food offerings. I want to go back now that I know a bit more about food and the country. At times, Mayes' writing is tedious, laden with boring details, but her content overcomes this weakness. I also greatly enjoyed her sequel, Bella Tuscany. Movie-goers, the film is very different from the book, which is void of any sexy waiters like the hunk in the popular film. So, don't read this book expecting any romance except, that is, for the romance of food and Italy.

How to Cook a Tart by Nina Killham

To whom would I recommend this book with the fun title, How to Cook a Tart? Anyone who wants a light mystery and doesn't mind stupid endings. ... OK, I bought the book because the independent booksellers recommended it on their Booksense list. I also was impressed by the food angle. Well, there's not much food writing herein. OK, I can deal with that. But the plot was, shall I say, over the top. I can deal with that, too. But the ending, excuse me. It was so ridiculous, it was insulting. Did the Booksense reviewer really read the whole book??

La Cucina by Lily Prior

A member of the now-defunct Northfield Square Book Club which I started near Chicago several years ago recommended Lu Cucina, a delightful novel, to me. It's food writing with an erotic twist. It's a far cry from Julia Child or even "food goddess" Nigella Lawson. Nor is it great literature by any means. Still, I loved it and read it quickly. It's not the type of book to go to for recipes much less significant thoughts on food. But if you're in the mood for some food writing with a hint of an R rating, consider this novel set in Sicily where the romance and the food get mighty steamy.

The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss

Ruth Krauss' The Carrot Seed is a tiny book that speaks volumes about faith, hope and persistence. It is among the many stories my husband and I have read to our little girl. It's supposedly a classic, though I had not previously heard of it. Read it to your children if they're very young, or let them read it to you. Even we adults can learn from and enjoy the simplest of reading pleasures.

Hello, I Must Be Going by Christie Hodgen

Hello, I Must Be Going is Arkansas author Christie Hodgen's first novel. And it's a winner.

Hodgen is young but shows amazingly perceptive insight into the 60s, which play a significant role in the story. More importantly, she shows much insight into death -- or rather the ways survivors deal with it, some worse than others.

The book is an easy read, but not an insignificant one. In fact, the father in Hodgen's novel reminds me a bit of the namesake character in Alice McDermott's Charming Billy. Both are good people who lack common sense. You know the kind: They love their family, but their actions say otherwise. They spend their money on booze, the lottery, clothes or, well, you name it -- everything but their family except for those times when they over-spend on family to compensate for past failures.

I shall definitely check out Hodgen's next book. She tells me she's intrigued by the subject of death and grief. Intrigued or not, those are certainly universal themes.
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The Outside World by Tovah Mirvis

I originally read Tovah Mirvis' The Outside World for a review I was to do for Hadassah Magazine. Long story short, I didn't do the review, but I still read the book and loved it. I particularly enjoyed learning about the Orthodox Jewish culture in the South -- i.e, Memphis and, believe it or not, the Kroger connection. Yes, Kroger. An interesting, informative read that also touches on the inner conflicts the central character, a young woman, faces.

The book offers both a good story and an introductory education for non-Jewish people to learn more about that religion's varied beliefs and cultures.

Mirvis is also the author of The Ladies Auxiliary.

The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion

Sometimes we don't know why or how we cope with life and death; we just do. We think things can't get worse; they can; they do. Still, Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking, a memoir of the year in which both her husband and daughter died, is not a depressing read. Nor is it an inspirational one or a trendy self-help book. Rather, it's a book in which we see that even the rich and famous experience life and grief much the same as the rest of us. I surprisingly found the book to be a quick, easy read. There was no real plot, just a superbly creative woman's struggle to deal with overwhelming loss in not necessarily creative ways but in the only ways she could at the time. She doesn't cry. She doesn't hold her head high. She struggles. Like the rest of us, Didion learns that one way to cope with death -- and sometimes the worst of life -- is simplly not to deal with it. I recommend this book to anyone, but especially to those going through tough times. And who hasn't?

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life is a wonderful account of her family's efforts to live off local food for one year. The book is both a story of that endeavor and a bit of Kingsolver's always well-researched reporting, this time aided by her husband and college-age daughter.

This work of creative nonfiction gave me a greater appreciation for the need to eat locally grown and raised food whenever possible -- or at least much more than I do now. Kingsolver isn't overly preachy and is reasonable in her expectations of herself and others. She does not deprive her children, for example, of boxed mac 'n' cheese or herself of coffee, but she resists far more foods -- bananas despite a guest's temptation and imported asparagus which she grows in her own back yard.

The book made me want to get busy ordering seeds and other produce to grow in my own yard. It also prompted me to get out an old yet very UN-worn copy of Deborah Madison's cookbook, Local Flavors, as Kingsolver's book references Madison's work quite often. Other authors referenced include Wendell Berry and, of course, culinary great Alice Waters whom I was privileged to talk with in 2002 at where else but a farmers' market. (Try the rhubard compote recipe in Waters' tome on fruits.)

The best writing in Kingsolver's book, in my view, is not by Barbara Kingsolver but by daughter Camille Kingsolver. I do not know if Camille aspires to do more writing, but she writes in a clear, interesting and readable way.

This self-experiment of sorts -- living almost exclusively on local food -- was a superb idea for a book. It was also interesting to get to know Barbara Kingsolver's family -- her husband and two daughters, especially 9-year-old egg merchant Lily. Read the book to see what I mean by "egg merchant."

This book comes with a few recipes and is a keeper.

A Country Year by Sue Hubbell

I enjoyed A County Year, a collection of well-done essays, enough to read this book again someday. Sue Hubbell's writing is as real as the creatures and the plants she loves. I admired Hubbell's love and knowledge of nature. I admired her ability to point out others' lack of appreciation of nature's creatures, without chastising them or speaking ill of them. I admired her independence and the way she spoke of her former husband. There seemed to be some pain still there, but it was not a suffering she dwelled on or even spoke of, beyond comments such as having to learn to use a wrench he left behind. In some ways, I wonder if a man has the same appreciation for those passages -- or even a woman who's never had to fend for herself alone. Hubbell lived what she wrote in every sense. If you are a fan of Barbara Kingsolver's creative nonfiction, you will likely enjoy this book.

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree has been parodied, debated and, best of all, read more than a few times. It is a treasure of a little book. And while it is a children's story, it likely speaks far more to adults than youngsters, many of whom fortunately haven't lived long enough to experience great loss.

I first read this short book, originally published in 1964, to my daughter when she was about 7 years old. I wept; she did not. The book has evoked some controversy, but in my view, it's G-rated unless you intend to get philosophical with your 6-year-old and live to regret it.

No, the story doesn't have a fairy-tale ending. Rather, it reflects the sadness that accompanies life. We love people; we lose them. We love pets; we lose them. We love our gardens, our trees. And sadly, we sometimes use all of these people and things before we lose them. Often, we do so unwittingly; sometimes, we know what we're doing, whether we are taking advantage of someone's kindness or wasting Earth's precious resources.

Yes, children can and should enjoy fairy tales. But they also can enjoy more realistic books like this one -- a story told with the simple, yet wonderfully creative language and pictures of Shel Silverstein.

This book is a keeper. Read it when you're a child; read it when you're 15. And read it again when you're 40, 50 or 60.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help is one of those books with a jacket so lovely it could adorn a coffee table and, more importantly, a story so true to life it can make readers laugh, cry and curse. Kathryn Stockett effectively weaves three narrators -- a husband-fearing black maid who speaks her mind at a time and place when that just wasn't done -- Jackson, Miss., in the early 1960s; a God-fearing black maid who dares to take a chance and tell her story; a young white woman who listens to them and others and puts their stories on paper in a book that makes some of Jackson's "finest" look, well, like anything but the finest.

Some of the maids' recollections are sad and bitter. Others are happy, even loving. Some, especially Minnie's "unmentionable" story that finally gets more than a mention, will make you laugh our loud.

The book likely will evoke different reactions, depending on the reader's age, race and racial prejudices -- or hopefully, the lack thereof. But everyone I know who has read the book enjoyed it and recommended it to others.

As for myself, I grew up in the 50s and 60s in Marked Tree, Arkansas, in a middle-class family not wealthy enough to have a full-time maid. So, I can remember an era when blacks and whites used different public restrooms and attended different, allegedly "separate but equal" schools. By the mid- to late 60s, a black lady named Josephine would occasionally clean our small house maybe once every two weeks or so and cook dinner -- supper we Southerners more often call it. I remember how much Mama loved coming home from her work as a teacher to a clean house, a pot of pinto beans and a pan of hoe cake -- or, as Josephine called, it "dog bread." Would you like a recipe with no promises that it will taste as good as Josephine's? Let me know.

Josephine was kind to my family, and I honestly recall nothing but kindness to her. Unlike the characters in this book, we had no bathroom restrictions and would have never considered them. Josephine was not a young woman then, and I don't know if she's still alive. But if she is, I hope she's enjoying retirement, eating buttered dog bread with a bowl of beans, some wilted lettuce -- and getting someone to clean her own house for a change. And maybe she -- or at least her children, grandchildren or other loved ones -- will read this book and have some views to share themselves.

I would love to hear from people of all colors, ages and genders about their thoughts on this book. I suspect, by the way, it's going to be made into a movie.