Book Stack, oh my! And it's a big one.

In which I detail my own connections among the various books around me, nearly all of which are from the library.

Stacked on the buffet, to inspire our spring/summer cooking.
- Barbecue, Biscuits, and Beans: Chuckwagon Cooking
- The Big Book of Backyard Cooking. Food for the grill, side dishes, desserts, drinks, condiments -- yum!
- The Complete Book of Outdoor Cookery (James Beard & HE Brown, 1955). I rediscovered my Spider Bread recipe, hurrah!!

Also on the buffet, to help me learn about Mexican cooking from the great lady, and see what Raichlen has to add.
- From My Mexican Kitchen (Diana Kennedy)
- Steven Raichlen's Healthy Latin Cooking

Our three-county library system here in Oklahoma is sponsoring "The Big Read," encouraging everyone to read The Grapes of Wrath. I will, sometime, but as my choice for my nonfiction book club's June meeting I picked another book about that time in Oklahoma's history. And a bunch of "go withs" for me.
- Letters from the Dust Bowl. For the book club. Letters from an Oklahoma farming woman that were published in big newspapers across the country, giving readers a sense of the realities of the Dust Bowl and Great Depression from where we live now.
- Rethinking the Great Depression
- The New Deal: Pulling America Out of the Great Depression
...and some children's books on the Great Depression. If Mom's thinking about it, why not add related books to the kids' book stack?

I'm thinking about serving a Depression-inspired meal for our June meeting.
- Depression Era Recipes
- Whistleberries, Stirabout, & Depression Cake

Switching topics to water and gardening:
- When the Rivers Run Dry: Water, the Defining Crisis of the Twenty-first Century. This is my current major focus of all of these books.
- A Sand County Almanac (Aldo Leopold). One of several environmental/conservationist classics I've never read.
- The Natural House (Chiras). Supposed to be a great resource for rethinking how your house and land fit with sustainability etc.
- Creating an Oasis with Greywater and Water Storage, both by Art ---. To help me see what is really involved with rainwater harvesting and use. Graywater from the sinks and shower? Maybe someday.
- Heirloom Vegetable Gardening: A Master Gardener's Guide to Planting, Growing, Seed Saving, and Cultural History. Neat book, tons of great information. Better for the slow winter season rather than Must Plant Immediately!!! season.
- Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children. I'd like to do something fun with an arbor or other shade for our southwest-facing living room window; this might help the boys and me make some magic.

- Climbing Parnassus: A New Apologia for Greek and Latin. My progress with this has slowed way down because all of the others are library books!