August 2017 Book List

These are the books I read last month by the campfire at Bear Head Lake, in bed at night to help me feel tired enough to fall asleep despite increasing pregnancy discomfort, and during my last quiet days of summer before the school year started again, with the windows open to let in these unseasonably cool breezes. I studied up on preserving the produce from our garden, and I finally opened my baby prep books and read the chapters on labor and delivery. I lost myself in some stories, and found myself in others.

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The Trials of the King of Hampshire by Elizabeth Foyster

This book is Georgian England meets Serial or Making a Murderer. Don't get me wrong- it's not the plot or the content that reminded me of our latest real-life who-done-it obsession; it's the trial where you, the reader, are the jury. It's the meticulous gathering of evidence and the presentation of both sides of the case. So don't expect suspense or high drama- it is Georgian England with all it's propriety and manners, after all. But still an interesting view of class and society from the perspective of one man's troubled life.

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Welcome to the Farm: How-to Wisdom from The Elliott Homestead

by Shaye Elliott

I picked up this book at the library to see if she had any tips on preserving our summer harvest, but now my husband and I have both read it, and we talk all the time about the little farm we want to have someday. For now, we make the most of our little potager, but this book has gotten us (even me!) excited about raising chickens, milking cows, keeping bees, and all the good that will entail for our diet and lifestyle and our work ethic and our children.

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The Dollhouse by Fiona Davis

This was just a nice, light read, and it felt good to be back in a story. I enjoyed the then-and-now setting of New York City, and as a lover of nonfiction and historical fiction, I loved how the story focused on people's stories. The ending, however, was a bit obvious, as if you could feel the author meddling with her plot and you knew what she was trying to do, but it just felt flat.

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Sarabeth's Bakery: From My Hands to

Yours by Sarabeth Levine

The Baking Bible

by Rose LEvy Beranbaum

And then there are these baking books, which I mentioned in a previous post. Doesn't the cover of The Baking Bible just make you drool?! And I want to try EVERY recipe in Sarabeth's Bakery. But they're not for the faint-hearted. Those croissants I made took about 48 hours, and we currently have at least 4 different types of flour in the house. But that's why I can truly and confidently say that I love baking- the ingredients, the process, and the end result... As long as it is both beautiful and delicious!