First on my list is Colleen Morton Busch’s 2011 nonfiction piece, Zen Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara. I picked up this read almost entirely because of the cover art: a striking photo of five monks wearing a mish-mash of wildland firefighting gear and traditional robes. What I didn’t expect was Busch’s ability to weave a tactical discussion of wildland firefighting effortlessly within a larger narrative of Zen Buddhism as it exists in the mountains of the Los Padres National Forest.

Coincidentally Tassajara features a few yurts that had to be defended from the flames, which leads me to my next recommendation. Becky Kemery’s Yurts: Living in the Round allows readers to take a walk on the rounder side of living. Kemery offers a detailed and thoroughly researched historical account of yurts as they existed in times gone by. She compliments this with a discussion of more contemporary yurt structures both here and abroad. Adding to her thorough research is a wide array of beautiful photographs and a yurt resource list at the back of the book. Did you know that there are two large yurt manufacturing companies right here in our backyard? Check out yurts.com and yurtworks.com to view contemporary yurt offerings in Eugene and Cottage Grove.

Vegetable basics: 84 Recipes Illustrated Step by Step by Jody Vassallo is my final suggestion for those looking to make some lifestyle changes of the dietary variety. Vassallo’s cookbook can inspire even the pickiest eater to reconsider the world of vegetables. Photographs by Clive Bozzard-Hill jazz up already great recipes and highlight some of the cooking techniques needed to make them a hit in your household. Vegetables make regular appearances in my kitchen, but in 2012 they are coming back around with a whole new attitude.

Posted by Ashley, Extensions Librarian

Most people think that librarians read a lot. Well, it’s not always true. There was an editorial by Susan Nielsen in the Oregonian recently which ended with the line “A candidate who doesn’t vote much is like a librarian who doesn’t read much. You can’t help but question the person’s true passion for the job. ” This set off a little flurry of discussion on the Libs-Or listserv, an email list for Oregon librarians.

Anyway, seeing the thread of emails on the topic reminded me that I’m one of those librarians that doesn’t read as much as I would like. That’s for all sorts of reasons. But either way, I’m resolving to get back into my previous habit of being a relatively voracious reader. (By the way, I do disagree that a librarian who doesn’t read much isn’t passionate about his/her job – I’m a case in point!)

Do you have any reading resolutions for the new year? Before we get too serious with ourselves on all those “should” reads (e.g. “I really should read War and Peace“), how about this as some encouragement?

The Reader’s Bill of Rights, by Daniel Pennac in Better than Life

1. The right to not read.
2. The right to skip pages.
3. The right not to finish.
4. The right to re-read.
5. The right to read anything.
6. The right to escapism.
7. The right to read anywhere.
8. The right to browse.
9. The right to read out loud.
10. The right not to defend your tastes.

Posted by Lisa, a second floor librarian