Happy House Productions

Good Books

Karen Keltz and Neal Lemery

Dedicated to the promotion of the written word, music, and art

Good Books we recommend. Oh, we may not agree with the author, or we might. But, a good read is always satisfying, even when its provocative.

Augustin Burroughs, a great author. Anything he writes!

Here's what I've been reading, or wanting to read, or rereading this summer, if you are looking for a few books to read when the oncoming monsoons finally hit:

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Michael Pollan. Excellent investigation into America's current diet, food supply, and agribusiness. Some amazing revelations and insights into the economics and nutritional poisoning of our food. Excellent writing, and scary stuff. This is not a fast read, as there is lots to think about, and lots to ponder. I've lost 38 pounds in the last eight months, mostly by changing my eating habits. This book provides me with a lot of motivation to eat healthier and wiser.

A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire. Amy Butler Greenfield. A delightful romp through the history of the use of red in fabric and painting, and how the Spanish conquest of the Americas changed European fashions and art, by a monopoly on a bug that lived on Mexican cactus. A nice read of history, art, and political intrigue. German chemists eventually prevail over Spanish conquistadors and Dutch smugglers. This is a fun history book (not an oxymoron!).

A Power Governments Cannot Suppress, Howard Zinn. This book shows how the people determine the course of politics, not government, and is a stimulating view of American culture, past and present.

The Assault On Reason. Al Gore. This is a thoughtful, well written examination of the present administration and the serious decline in deep thought and logic in American political and social debate. Whatever your politics, this is thought-provoking and worth your time.

Web of Deceit: The history of Western complicity in Iraq from Churchill to Kennedy to George W. Bush. Barry Lando. A well researched historical analysis of the last one hundred and fifty years of the Mideast and Iraq. As Yogi Berra would say, its deja vu all over again. Very interesting and informative. History we never studied in high school! If you want to be Secretary of State, this is required reading.

Three Cups of Tea. Greg Mortensen. An inspiring true story of an American mountain climber in the Himalayas, who realizes that he can help educate the children of the Sherpas and other mountain peoples in central Asia. He walks his talk by building schools and encouraging entrepreneurship in impoverished villages. A great story. One person can make a difference.

The Secret. Rhonda Byrne. How intention can be the changing force in one's life. The DVD is good, too. It starts off being too interested in how to become filthy rich, but the real message is worth listening to.

God Is Not Great: How Religion Spoils Everything. Christopher Hitchens. A very well written view of religion and the faith communities of the world by a well educated secular humanist. He provoked me, angered me, educated me, and gave me a lot to think about. A very different point of view than most of the authors I read, but gave me a lot to think about. A much better author on this topic than Bertrand Russell!

A Thousand Splendid Suns. Khaled Houseni. A somber, but inspiring novel about life for women in Afghanistan. The writing is excellent, and I got a great deal of empathy for how so many people live today.

The Tipping Point. Malcolm Gladwell. A good and entertaining read of how a few people with a new idea can somehow catch the wave of popular thinking, and change culture.

Books on my table to read:

Zen Guitar. Hmmm. I can't wait! I'm off to banjo camp this weekend, so I'm taking it along.

We Are The Ones We Have Been Waiting For. Alice Walker. I've gotten into this a bit. She believes our generation has new abilities, insights and devotions to truly change our world.

New and Selected Poems, Volume II. Mary Oliver. Ah, Mary Oliver. It has to be good. I'm saving this for Sunday morning second cup of coffee, as dessert!

Water For Elephants. Sara Gruen. Promises to be a great novel. Karen was delighted.

The Highest Tide. Jim Lynch. Karen raced through this, savoring every word.

Feels Like Far: A Rancher's Life on the Great Plains. Linda Hasselstrom. Looks like fun.

Second Nature: A Gardener's Education. Michael Pollan. He wrote The Botany of Desire, and The Omnivore's Dilemma (Yeah, I think that book is the most important book out this year.)

Ya Ya Sisterhood. Rebecca Wells. Highly recommended to me.

Barack Obama's The Audacity of Hope. I read his earlier autobiography and found a lot of intelligence, insight, and leadership. These are his thoughts on reclaiming the American dream. I am hoping its just not political sizzle.

James Lee Burke's Tin Roof Slow Down. Its my next book on tape for the long drive to banjo camp. I've heard three chapters and can't wait. Hurricane Katrina and good writing!