Relentless Enemies Getting Stoned (in the) Eco Nest
Posted by: Alan in Armchair Travel, Book Reviews, Books, Business, Memoir, Non-Fiction, Photography, Short Takes
I have to confess, right off, that there is no theme, no connection no rhyme or reason behind today’s book selections. These are five that just caught my eye and found their way home with me and each is just so unusual and interesting that I just had to share it. Ranging from a huge 10 inches tall by 14 inches wide to a squat and chunky 6 inches square, from the Duba plains in Botswana (Africa) to the foot, err feet of Texas, from the islands of the South Pacific to the crayon factory, these five books are just All over the map.
To be perfectly honest, the real reason I brought Relentless Enemies Lions and Buffalo home is because at 14 inches wide I was not able to get the darned thing to line up when placed in its proper position at 599.757. The book on the shelf directly behind it is also a big one and no matter how I shifted it I was left with it sticking six inches out into the aisle where some clumsy drone (shuffles feet) would surely walk right into it and smash his head. But once I checked it out and brought it home I was very impressed by Beverly and Dereck Joubert’s stunningly photographed tale of wild life on the Duba Plains in Botswana (Africa). Recommended.
Six inches square turns out to be the perfect size page on which to display a picture of a pair of Cowboy Boots. The artistry and craftsmanship is really stunning in each and every pair pictured, though some of the designs seemed Way over the top. Recommended.
J. Maarten Troost chucked a power job in Washington DC to be a house husband in the island nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. Getting Stoned With Savages is a humorous travelogue that is at times laugh-out-loud funny as well as genuinely informative about life in the South Pacific. Recommended.
Maybe I was thinking of the Crayon Writer blog, but I found I just couldn’t resist A Century of Crayola by Bonnie B Rushlow. While it is billed as a price guide and does indeed include pricing information for various collectibles from Crayola, the Binney and Smith Company’s ubiquitous brand of crayons it is more a pictorial history of a favorite drawing implement from childhood than anything else. Reading about this company and its very familiar product and seeing all the pictures of various crayon boxes issued over the years almost (but not quite) inspired me to stop off and buy a box on my way home from work and spend the evening coloring instead of writing blog posts. Recommended.
Several times in the past, I have featured books of stunning architecture and interior design and like those, Eco Nest works as eye candy and is great for gawking at houses nicer than your own, but this one has a big difference. Eco Nest focuses on "organic" and "natural" building techniques that offer a number of advantages from the avoidance of "sick building syndrome" to superior insulation and lower heating and cooling costs and the use of local materials in construction to reduce building costs. While all of the featured homes look extravagantly expensive, the techniques discussed could be applied to any home construction project and generally cost considerably less than conventional construction. Recommended.
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