Sleuthing (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley)

In my pursuit of some light reading, I discovered I do not possess my own copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. I intend (barely and briefly) to compare Scout, the protagonist of TKAM (as it was known by my students) with Flavia, the protagonist of The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (TSATBOTP -- goodness, even with initials, the title is still long). I went to take a picture of the two books together and that's when I realized that I did not own TKAM (my children, take note, my birthday is coming).

From the title of this blog post -- "Sleuthing" -- and the picture of the dead bird, you can deduce ("arrive at by reasoning, reach a logical conclusion") that this is a mystery, not my normal genre to read. However, several friends rated this book highly (4 stars) on Goodreads, and I longed for something light-hearted to read.

Eh, dead bodies but no blood and guts, just lots of talk of poisons...lots. No deep philosophical discussions but lots of multi-syllable words...lots. I like multi-syllable words even when they are written as coming out of the mouth of a precocious eleven year old. The thoughts and conversations of Flavia can be funny. It is meant to be "over the top" (hyperbole, exaggeration). It has to be when the author names the characters Ophelia (Feely), Daphne (Daffy), Flavia, Antigone, Dogger, etc.

Therefore, if the book is meant to be jolly good fun (even with dead people, poisons, kidnapping, etc.), readers shouldn't expect reality in the story. Yet, at the bottom of this custard pie (part of the story), there is some sweet (or not-so-sweet) reality in the form of how the murders happen and in the kidnapping. All's well that ends well so have no fear there. I like the relationship between Inspector Hewitt and Flavia, but I confess to being annoyed by the family relationships.

One, why are mothers generally dead and fathers cold and distant (or vice versa)? Can one not have an adventuresome life with a live mother and father who care for and love you? Maybe not. I finished two memoirs this summer Calypso and Hillbilly Elegy (reviews in the links) and one author has a dead mother and father who was cold and distant in younger years and warm and loving in later years, and one author has a drug addict mother, and a father who left the family.

Two, Flavia's siblings. Flavia's talk of poisoning her sisters and how they treat each other is flat-out painful for me to read. Not because it sparks painful thoughts of my own relationships with siblings but because I have such good relationships with my siblings and whenever I have seen painful relationships, the situation has not been funny. I know, I must remember this is exaggeration for the sake of fun. Keep that in mind and you'll be fine...if you like long words and long explanations of how poisons and crime work. Nothing gory, and the explanations are well done. Also, Flavia is not perfect in her sleuthing, just as Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird is not perfect. Scout is a believable character. Author Harper Lee catches the right temperament, the right expression for a smart, intelligent young girl written in a style where the character is looking back. Then again, To Kill a Mockingbird is meant to be realistic...a lot.

I'm conflicted. I can't give the book 4 stars like my friends and many reviewers, but I can't give it 2 stars like some other reviewers who hesitated going against popular opinion that Flavia and her sleuthing are as good as...the sweetness at the bottom of the pie. I liked the book. I started the book one day and finished it the next. Not a perfect solution for my desire for light-hearted reading, but a fair choice. 3 stars. Go into it as something over-the-top and laugh at the names of the characters.

💕💕💕💕 Sibling love. That has to be my topic for this section of my blog post. How to get it. Some of it may take time, but surely parents helping children to love one another has to be one facet of sibling love. I confess I did my whole ambitious, not present, time of parenting which I regret. Now, I pray, God of the past, present, and future, will redeem the years the locust have eaten (all biblical references)...that God who is outside of time will redeem ("compensate for the bad aspects") of those years.

-------------It took me a moment to think what could go into this spiritual transformation section, and then it came to me: Being Present. Scout's dad Atticus (one of the most beloved characters in literature) is a lawyer and busy. When he reads his newspaper, he concentrates on reading his newspaper, still there is a sense that he is attentive to his children. Flavia's dad Colonel de Luce (in Italian, luce has to do with light, but in late Middle English, it's a pike fish!)...laughing out loud here...her dad is a cold fish and not attentive to his children even with their mother dead. To practice being present to people, I stop what I'm doing; I look with my eyes; I keep my mouth closed and listen with my ears; I'm thankful for the person. Being present while alone, for example, eating: I enjoy looking at the food; I taste and savor each bite; I'm thankful for food. 

Eating and Healing (Plant Paradox by Steven R. Gundry, MD)

Interestingly, I have been all over the map with rating this book. I'm going to settle for a three star rating. My decision mostly came after trying out the protocol, reading a host of other healing/eating protocol books, and reading critiques of Gundry's protocol in his book The Plant Paradox.

First of all, my gut reaction: some suggestions on Gundry's protocol, my gut liked and some my gut did not. That's the physical gut reaction. Gundry uses coconut products instead of traditional flours and oils, and, unfortunately for me, I do not do well with coconut flours, milks, and oils. I get intense cramps, but that may be a topic for another day.

His protocol is difficult to stay on, but then again, so are some other healing/eating protocols suggested by other doctors and authors. What I have started looking for and have continued to look for are the commonalities in the various dietary protocols and healing books. I also pay attention to how my own body reacts to individual food items. If I feel well, then the food may be something I keep. If I react badly, then no matter how much a researcher/doctor/author proclaims it, that particular food item needs to eliminated from my pantry.

Noting the negatives and positives of the book, Gundry's continual references to millions of years ago, our ancestors did not eat (fill in the blank) annoys me. Also, his attempts at humorously discussing bowel movements don't seem all that humorous to me. On the other hand, reviewers have mentioned his making money off of his supplements. Those type of situations do raise red flags for me; however,  to his credit, Gundry mentions his supplements, but then he also tells the readers how they can buy inexpensive versions at Costco (a large wholesale warehouse place to buy just about everything) or at local markets.

I originally checked out this book from the library because my sisters recommended it after we read Dr. Bredesen's book The End of Alzheimer's. You can check out my review of that book here or here.

I think the book is worth reading with a grain of salt (make mine iodized sea salt), keeping in mind one's own body reactions and the other protocols out there. The common thread throughout all of them is that we (at least North Americans) eat way too much sugar and way too much processed food. I'll include links to a couple of serious critiques of Gundry's methodology with the caveat that these authors/medical folks also have critics (and are also selling their own products). Yet, people are getting healed and feeling better. I feel better, but I'm also glad to read the critiques of Gundry's protocol as a reminder to me to not accept without question the food items Gundry says to eat or not eat. Instead, I will be paying attention to my body and my blood counts and tests.

A commentary on 'The Plant Paradox' and another link to a doctor who has been free of Lupus for thirteen years.

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

I do not regret limiting the amount of sugar which my older children ate while growing up. By the time I had the fourth one, I became a bit more lenient. However, the older ones have grown up and still do not eat a lot of sugar. I'm realizing now that the early years of eating are formative years.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here in my spiritual formation section, I'll go back to something I've written before: our spiritual life involves every part of us -- mind, body, heart, soul. It is a good spiritual practice to pay attention to our bodies. Gluttony is not good for our body, heart, mind, or soul. Neither are any of the eating disorders. Why we are eating or not eating matters as much as what we are eating. Good food, good company, good celebrations. As Tevye says in The Fiddler on the Roof, "L'Chaim!" To life. Or, as I just discovered in a Jewish question and answer post: "l'chaim tovim ul'shalom" -- "For good life, and for peace!" 

Companioning (Summer Hours at the Robbers Library by Sue Halpern...sic, as in "spelling is correct")

This book was not on any of my "to read" lists. I was wandering through the local library waiting for my granddaughter to pick out her books, and I saw this book in the NEW BOOK section. Look at this cover! How can a bookophile bypass such an offering? And, a  logophile, also.  So much so that I looked up the etymology of bookophile and logophile. At this point, if I have almost lost you, skip down to the picture! Bookophile is a recent addition to the English language. However, the word that means "lover of books" bibliophile is on record as early as 1820. If I have not lost you, logophile means "lover of words" as does lexophile; however, the latter is used mostly with people who love words in puzzles and the like. It has been at least three weeks since I have reviewed any books (although I have finished six books), and I needed to prime the brain to go into reviewing mode. Maybe I'm not such a lover of writing. What would that word be?

Awesome cover, isn't it? I have ten bookmarks in my library copy so I definitely enjoyed the book. I'm going with a rating between a three and a four. See how I rate in this post. Halpern's novel is entertaining, and I had it read within three days. Some readers think it ends abruptly, too pat (simple, glib, unconvincing) which took me back to my days of teaching denouement -- a tying up of all the loose ends into a conclusion -- a definition which is rather interesting considering I was taught the actual word means "unravelling" as in all the problems are unravelled and life settles (for good or for evil or in the case of great novels, ambiguously). I am truly digressing into words today!

One reviewer quit reading after the first chapter, which is not the first chapter but rather titled "The Marriage Story Part I". He or she called it "chic lit" and stated that starting out a book with college sex did not portend an auspicious read. (My apologies for the big words today; I'm only half way through my coffee; will that work as an excuse?) Skip that part if it would annoy you; Halpern does not actually continue in that vein.

Sliding up the scale from three stars to four, if you give an English teacher or a group discussion leader a book with talking points in it, she's going to like the book. Strewn throughout this book are quotes from poets and authors! Swoon!

There is a story. You might have been wondering. Homeschooled (wait, "Unschooled") girl Sunny steals a dictionary and gets community service time at, yes, you guessed it, the library, where she meets older single woman Kit, yes, the one involved in the marriage story, part 1, but she's not married now (and part of the draw of the story is wondering why she is not married). One also wonders what is going on with Sunny's parents, Willow and Steve.

My connections to the book -- Sunny and her parents do not eat anything with a face which leads Kit to contemplate a bible verse she learned in her college "Bible as Literature" class (Genesis, not Song of Solomon) about humans having dominion over animals. This talking point sent me off on a search of the Hebrew word radah. This is an excellent discussion of four Hebrew words used in Genesis. Rather than Sunny thinking the bible verse is a bad idea as in the book, the real Hebrew word would support her family's desire to protect and take care of animals. Also, in a connection to me,  my eating protocol at the moment is such that I'm not too keen to eat anything with a face...except maybe a fish...but that's a different blog.

Sunny and Kit have a discussion about silence and mindfulness which Sunny relates to because her parents went to a meditation retreat. Then, the two have the homeschool/unschool discussion throughout the book. Sunny states at one point about her ability to get along with younger children: "[It goes with] the whole homeschool / no-school territory. Older kids and younger kids are always tossed together. No one really makes a distinction. When you're little, you idolize the older kids, and when you're older, the little kids idolize you, and you get used to entertaining them" (71).

How about the question of reading the ending of the book first? See, if you're not a book reader, you're thinking, "Who cares?" but this is the type of question which raises voices in a book discussion group.

Another talking point: Characters change (103). Do they? Do the character traits of people change in real life?

Lest you think this is strictly a chick lit book, Halpern delves into the life and thoughts of her male character and his relationships with a group of four older men (thus, one of the aspects of my "Companioning" portion of my blog title). As much as I do not like the current wave of books where each character gets his or her own chapter, Halpern does a great job of transitioning between the characters.

Death and dying. Yup, got some death and dying in here. Got some religion, but church folks tend to get the negative aspects of the book. Maybe homeschoolers/un-schoolers get negative treatment as well, but Willow and Steve are not religious homeschoolers. No..., but I can't explain why without including plot spoilers. As a homeschooling parent who tried the John Holt unschooling, which is harder than using already written curriculum when done correctly, and a private school teacher and a public educator (not all at the same time), I'll just write that there are oddities and lawbreakers in every avenue of education.

I'll close with going back to the words and books. Halpern does include where Robbers Library comes from. It takes a long while for a short little explanation which has nothing to do with the story but satisfies those of us who kept flinching because we thought an apostrophe had been left out. After all, Sunny did steal a dictionary, but it has nothing to do with her. That's not a plot spoiler, folks. That's for all the readers who need to know that Robbers Library is not a typo or grammatical error. As for the books part -- the library -- some reviewers thought these situations would never happen at a real library. Pay attention to the reviews of the small town librarians. These activities could happen at all the small town libraries I have ever been in and used. We know our librarians. They are our people.

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

For the children/grandchildren part of my blog: Libraries! Go to them! Often! My children had a library card as soon as they could write their name, between four and five years old.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
For the spiritual formation part of my blog: Check out that link about radah. You may not give up eating anything with a face, but what is one action you could take to protect the world we live in?
Next month is Plastic Free July . Give it a try. I have for several years now, and I've reached the point where it has become habit to avoid using single use plastic or, if possible, not use plastic at all. 

Eating and Living (The Blue Zones Solution by Dan Buettner)

Do I post this with my 52 Books in 52 Weeks Challenge type of posts or with my siblings blog on health? The competitive side of me (not that 52 in 52 is a competition...haha) won out, but I will copy this into our family health blog as well (found here).

Photography is not my strength so apologies ahead of time. This mushroom soup is actually excellent. It did not come from the recipes in The Blue Zones Solution but I have been inspired by Dan Buettner's research into the Blue Zones ever since I first read his articles for National Geographic.

This book goes beyond those National Geographic articles which covered how people in Blue Zones ate and lived. Blue Zones are those areas of the world where the most centenarians live. In The Blue Zones Solution, Buettner revisits those zones in Greece, Japan, Italy, Costa Rica, and, yes, even the United States. In Part Two of the book, his team learned from Finland how to teach three areas of the United States how to create their own Blue Zones. In Part Three, Buettner discusses making a Blue Zone a personal choice, followed by Part Four, the recipes.

Since I've been reading a number of other health books with food protocols in them (Genius Foods, The End of Alzheimer's, and The Plant Paradox), I had comparisons to make. There are some situations that most writing healing food books seem to agree upon: the Standard American Diet is SAD, not just an acronym, but truly 😢, and sugar is not good for us. (See my post on that here.)

However, there are some differences. Legumes. Centenarians eat them, no question about that. And, they do eat bread, just not ones with the kind of grains in the typical SAD meal plan. Legumes and grains are not high on the list of some of these other protocols. That being said, the books previously mentioned are fighting back against some specific diseases (Alzheimer's, inflammations of many types).

I find reading a combination of these healing food protocols and paying attention to one's own body and medical tests are a good start to finding a healing protocol designed for oneself.

The Blue Zones Solution also addresses lifestyles of centenarians, not just healing foods, but a thriving lifestyle, this and the recipes make the book worth buying.

Buettner's Mushroom Stew includes white wine, soy sauce, and rice -- all of which are not healing for my Celiac's, thyroid, sky high iron, or potential for Alzheimer's so I offer my version which I made the day before yesterday and thought tasted quite good! It made just two servings (1 for the day before and 1 for yesterday).

Deborah's AIP  (Autoimmune Protocol) Mushroom Soup
(I use food that has not been sprayed with chemicals, etc.: truly organic in practice, not just on the label)

In a saucepan, cover the following with water:
2 small stalks of celery, sliced thin (I included the leafy parts which I took out before eating)
2 carrots, sliced thin
3 cloves of garlic, chopped or diced
5-6 dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 onion, diced

I simmered this until the vegetables were soft. The dried mushrooms remained a bit chewy when I was ready to eat so when I...

Blend about 3 ladles and include all of the mushrooms until smooth. NOTE: I learned to hold a towel over the top of the blender when I blend something hot. This is supposed to prevent the top from flying off from the heat. I have not had any flying top disasters.

Put the blended soup into the rest of the soup and simmer to thicken it up. I started grabbing spices, salt, and pepper which I thought were AIP (I didn't double check.) I just dashed them in. Mediterranean salt, pepper, curry, turmeric, and dill weed.

💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
Blue Zone ideas for raising children: Besides being mindful about what one eats, having an optimal circadian rhythm for sleep and bedrooms that are cool, quiet, and dark, are beneficial for health. Working in the yard, planting a garden all practices for thriving. Creating a group of mutually committed friends, not just at a stage of life, but people with whom you will be young with and grow old with, is something that people do who live in Blue Zones.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Interesting that a spiritual practice is fasting. It turns out that almost every healing protocol involves a form of fasting. NOT starving as in harmful practices. But, practices such as making one's last meal of the day be at least 3 hours before bedtime. In today's fast paced busy world, we're often grabbing food at 9 pm and then sending the children to bed. The Creator who made our bodies apparently knows our bodies need to relax at a meal and then give our bodies time to digest it before heading off into some good sleep. 

Cooking (Tender at the Bone)...or Eating

When reading book reviews, one must necessarily read with a pinch of salt. I choose to write "pinch of salt" here because the book I finished last Tuesday was a book with recipes, but it was not a cookbook. Readers who hate for an author to include recipes are going to hate this book, maybe not even finish it. Those who don't mind will read the book and enjoy the story where author Ruth Reichl discovers that "food could be a way of making sense of the world." As for me, the recipes did not interfere with my reading of the book, and if I were to buy the book for myself (it was loaned to me by a friend), I would be buying it because I wanted the recipes.

Reichl's story is a memoir, of sorts. She writes: "This book is absolutely in the family tradition. Everything here is true, but it may not be entirely factual. In some cases I have compressed events; in others I have made two people into one. I have occasionally embroidered." As it turns out, I have fallen into a genre of reading that I don't usually read: memoirs. I'm reading four of them currently. I have discovered that memoirs have quite a bit of fictional edge to them.

Reichl states, "I learned early that the most important thing in life is a good story." Hmmm, sounds like a good book discussion question there. I hope this means her mom was not quite as dysfunctional as she sounds in the book. Her mother's habit of serving moldy food did influence me. I immediately went to my refrigerator and threw out the turkey bones I had been saving to make bone soup. Granted, her mom had them in the refrigerator two weeks and I only had them in three days, but her mom's "Everything Stew" made me squeamish at the thought of using the bones less than fresh off the turkey.

When an author embellishes a memoir, a person with an average adventurous life (me) can feel as if only people with amazing stories are worthy of being published. I don't know about the worthy part, but certainly Reichl may have felt that need in order to have her book published. As a story, it's a fun, easy read (four days).

I did have one experience that connected with one of hers. Risotto. I am here to save your meal if you find yourself in Italy, at a local market buying Arborio rice because there isn't any other rice on the shelf. You take your groceries back to the little place you are renting for the week in Tuscany. You measure out the water, just like you would for rice at home. You measure out the rice: 1/2 the amount of the water.

STOP!

Your rice will never cook this way. EVER. You will give up on it and eat the rest of the meal without the rice.

Risotto, an Italian dish made with Arborio rice must have little amounts of broth added to it and you must stir and stir and stir. As the site in the link below states it: "you have one job and one job only" to keep stirring while you add the broth. Risotto Recipe for Beginners

I have not tried cooking it the way Reichl mentions in the book: "...cover the rice with boiling broth and bake it". She does not include a recipe. I surmise that she does not think it is a good idea either.

Another take away from the book: a mentor to Reichl makes her "taste salad dressings over and over until I could pour out the precise ratio of olive oil to vinegar without looking at what I was doing. 'It's like typing, ' she said, 'you have to know it in the fingers so that you do not think about it with the head. You will need this later.'"

This is quite a profound practice. More and more I am coming to realize the body has memories which the mind forgets. I see this in my father with his Alzheimer's. I see it when I come to the computer ready to put in one of the many passwords I use. My fingers remember that which I might have a difficult time telling someone if I had to do it without moving my fingers. And, I am finding it in my spiritual life as well. In the recent past, walking with Christ has been too much of a cerebral walk and not enough of a bodily one. While saying they don't believe in Gnosticism, some Christians act gnostic! Only spirit is good, and matter is evil.

What?! Where have I taken you, the reader? Jesus loved to eat: see how often he is doing it in the gospel accounts. This is a joyful book, and I hope the character of Doug (Reichl's husband) is a true one. He really is a turning point in the book. His goodness brings out joy in Reichl's dad and courage in Reichl herself (along with her friend Marion).

So, I end with recommending this book to those who can handle recipes within a story, and if, in addition to reading the book,  you would like to watch a joyous movie (different story) about food and love and goodness bringing out the best in a group of stiff, straight-laced, religious group, watch Babette's Feast.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A suggested practice: Really enjoy making a meal. Look at the colors. Smell the fragrances. Taste and taste and taste again. Sit down to eat. Take your time. Savor the meal (or if you're at my house, feel free to chuckle with me over my mishaps). Love the people you're with. Thank God for whatever has been provided. Bless the food, the hands that prepared it, those who eat it. (If you have sandpaper people in your life -- which involves other practices -- then, in this practice, start with just you and God enjoying the meal, or a few people willing to enjoy communing over a meal with you.)