by Hannah Stowe

A nice book about my favorite book topic: a woman doing stuff. Something like the Bechdel test, I have a little test: whether it be fiction or non-fiction, I want a book about a woman doing stuff a) not related to a boyfriend or husband, nor related to finding a boyfriend or husband; b) not related to having a baby, having had a baby, nor wanting to have a baby; and c) not related to having been a baby. Preferably the woman should be partnerless and childless, although these aren’t deal-breakers as long as she shuts up about it. In a nutshell, not about relationships. Just about a woman doing stuff.

Oh! So, the book. In this case, the woman Goes to Sea. She hires herself out on boats, and learns about whales and albatrosses. She suffers a terrible surfing injury, and mostly recovers.

The author grew up on the Welsh seashore. There is no author photo on the very charmingly designed hardcover. However I discovered a black-and-white photo hidden on the last page. She’s beautiful, and now lives in Dresden, Germany, where she paints (art), and sails her own boat.

Sing huzzah for the life of a woman.

by Dwight Garner

“On Eating, Reading, Reading about Eating, & Eating While Reading.” Shut up and take my money! This book was so awesome – eating and reading in one place, by someone who truly savors both. “I go to bed thinking about what’s for breakfast.” OMG, I’d be ashamed to agree if I weren’t emboldened by him putting it in print; it’s often the only thing that motivates me to get up off the couch and go to bed (“Only 8 hours till oatmeal…”).

“People who grow up with too much good taste miss out. They don’t get to make discoveries on their own.” Yes, this was why I warmed to Dwight Garner and not to his wife, who was groomed from birth to prefer Annie’s macaroni & cheese to Kraft.

Those were quotes from him; a huge proportion of the book, though, is given over to quotations by others. He is a voracious reader, after all.

He divides his book into sections – “Breakfast, “Lunch,” a few interludes, and “Dinner.” I was nearing the end when I started to realize there would be no dessert. Indeed he admits to having no sweet tooth, and I struggled to think of a single place in the book I had read anything about something sweet. I part company here with the author. I do not understand people who have no interest in dessert – as he and I would agree that we feel like a different species from those who have no particular interest in food. Dessert is the BEST food. Other foods WISH they were dessert. It’s overwhelmingly men who don’t care for dessert; I’ve always wondered if it was just a matter of feeling too unmanly if you admitted, yes, you want some damn creme brulee.

(Yes, so it’s come to this – I picked up a book on menopause.)

This was a disappointment. I thought that “Mayo Clinic” would indicate something of more heft. I want to know why I am getting headaches. I want to know how estrogen affects the vascular system. What about the effects of long-term oral contraceptive use on menopause?

Instead, it’s mostly a 3000-foot view of things that might be happening to you, but little “why” or “how.” Lots of stuff about aging in general that you might find in a throwaway newspaper advice column. An entire weight loss chapter with things I’m sure you NEVER thought of, like eating more fiber and avoiding sugary drinks. For this I bought a book by the Mayo Clinic.