REDISCOVERING JOHN SANDFORD

I've been listening to John Sandford books lately as I commute to work. His latest, Wicked Prey, is set in Minneapolis as the city hosts the Republican National Convention. The "Prey" series began back in the late 80s with Rules of Prey, and features the main character detective Lucas Davenport. After reading the first few books long ago, I drifted away from the series, but now I am rediscovering the author's fantastic ability to create interesting characters and to move the story along in a fast-paced suspenseful manner.

FOOD PRESERVATION

Every spring the 635s clear out at the library. This is the general dewey number for Gardening books. This area of the shelves stays pretty bare until August or September, and then patrons begin asking for books on Food Preservation so that they can enjoy their garden harvest for months to come. We have several books on canning and preserving at the library. One example is Putting Up: a year-round guide to canning in the Southern tradition by Stephen Dowdney.

Here are some others on this subject:

Well-preserved: recipes and techniques for putting up small batches of seasonal foods by Eugenia Bone

Jam it, pickle it, cure it: and other cooking projects by Karen Solomon

Preserving in today's kitchen: new faster techniques for preserving foods at their peak of flavor by Jeanne Lesem

URBAN FARMING

I started a vegetable garden this year, and already I'm addicted to gardening books. I really like the new one by Novella Carpenter titled "Farm City: the education of an urban farmer". She lives in Oakland and takes over a nearby abandoned lot to create a garden. She even raises "meat birds", a goose, turkeys, and chickens, in her very small backyard. It's very well written and a fast, enjoyable read.