Category Archives: Non Fiction

The Paper Garden

Posted on August 21, 2012 by barefootheart

The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life’s Work at 72 by Molly Peacock. McClelland & Stewart 2010. The eighteenth century was an amazing time. It saw the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and of the American Revolution. It was … Continue reading →

Posted in Biography, Non Fiction | Tagged 18th century, book review, British museum, duchess of portland, eighteenth century, flower collage, king george III, Margaret Bentinck, Mary Delany, Molly Peacock, paper mosaics, Patrick delany, The Paper Garden | 2 Comments

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts

Posted on July 18, 2012 by barefootheart

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction by Gabor Maté. Alfred A. Knopf Canada 2008. Maté’s title springs from the Buddhist Wheel of Life, which revolves through six realms, each of which represents aspects of human existence. … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction | Tagged Buddhist Wheel of Life, close encounters with addiction, Conservative war on science, downtown eastside, drug addiction, Gabor Maté, illicit drug use, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts, Supervised Injection Site, Vancouver drugs, War on Drugs | Leave a comment

The Daily Coyote

Posted on July 17, 2012 by barefootheart

The Daily Coyote: A Story of Love, Survival, and Trust in the Wilds of Wyoming by Shreve Stockton. Simon & Schuster 2008. After a couple of years in San Francisco, the time had come when Shreve Stockton was ready to … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction | Tagged Charlie the coyote, coyote orphan, raising a wild animal, Shreve Stockton, Ten Sleep, The Daily Coyote, wyoming | Leave a comment

The End of Growth

Posted on June 17, 2012 by barefootheart

The End of Growth by Jeff Rubin. Random House Canada 2012. Jeff Rubin has good news and bad news. The bad news is that the cheap oil that once came gushing out of the ground like a geyser is mostly … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction | Tagged big oil subsidies, cap and trade, climate, close libraries, emissions, environment, government deficit, greenhouse gas, Jeff Rubin, kenneth boulding, Keystone pipeline, Kyoto, limits to growth, Linda McQuaig, Northern Gateway pipeline, Richard Heinberg, science, tar sands, The End of Growth, The Trouble with Billionaires, triple digit oil | 2 Comments

Living Downstream

Posted on June 7, 2012 by barefootheart

Living Downstream: An Ecologist’s Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment by Sandra Steingraber. Da Capo Press 2010 (Second Edition)(First Edition 1997). There was once a village along a river. The people who lived there were very kind. These residents, … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction | Tagged aromatic amines, cancer and the environment, carcinogen, carcinogens, celluloid, DDT, Living Downstream, local farming, local food, organic farming, pesticide use, petrochemicals, petroleum based fertilizer, plastics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, precautionary approach, release of carcinogenic chemicals, Sandra Steingraber, sythetic chemicals, Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle | 2 Comments

The Leap

Posted on June 6, 2012 by barefootheart

The Leap: How to Survive and Thrive in the Sustainable Economy by Chris Turner. Random House Canada 2011. Around Ottawa, and no doubt across the country, new housing tracts continue to spring up like mushrooms. Many feature McMansions complete with … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction | Tagged Chris Turner, clean energy, climate change, electric vehicles, innovation, renewable energy, sustainability, sustainable economy, The Leap | Leave a comment

Managing Without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster

Posted on May 2, 2012 by barefootheart

Managing Without Growth: Slower by Design, Not Disaster by Peter A. Victor. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd 2008. Since the 1940s, gross domestic product (GDP) has become a widely-used concept for measuring the state of the economy of nations. Wikipedia defines … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction | Tagged consumption, economic growth, environmental services, environmental sinks, gross domestic product, managing without growth, measuring happiness, peter victor, Richard Layard | Leave a comment

The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality

Posted on April 16, 2012 by barefootheart

The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality by Richard Heinberg. New Society Publishers 2011. Since World War II, economic thought has been dominated by Keynesian theory, developed by John Maynard Keynes, and neoliberal theory as espoused by … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction | Tagged Adapting to our new economic reality, book review, economic theory, john maynard keynes, Keynesian, neoliberal, peak everything, peak oil, preparing for the future, Reagan, Richard Heinberg, Thatcher, The End of Growth, the next 10 years won't be like the last 10 years | 1 Comment

Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies, & Aid

Posted on March 21, 2012 by barefootheart

Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies & Aid by Samantha Nutt, M.D. McClelland & Stewart 2011. I often see bumper stickers on cars that read “Support Our Troops!” or “If you don’t stand behind our troops, feel free to stand in … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction | Tagged book report, congo, corruption, Damned Nations, foreign aid, greed guns armies & aid, Haiti earthquake, iraq, mililtary industry, military profiteers, Saddam Hussein, Samantha Nutt M.D., somalia, support our troops, War Child, war in DRC, weapons manufacture | Leave a comment

More Money Than Brains: Why School Sucks, College is Crap & Idiots Think They’re Right

Posted on March 13, 2012 by barefootheart

More Money than Brains: Why School Sucks, College is Crap & Idiots Think They’re Right by Laura Penny. McClelland & Stewart 2010. Penny’s basic premise is that the people she labels nerds, particularly those who aspire to higher education, are … Continue reading →

Posted in Non Fiction | Tagged anti-intellectualism, book review, career training, freedumb, George Bush, higher education, Laura Penny, liberal arts degree, Michael Ignatieff, More Money than Brains, neoliberal, nerds, Stephen Harper, university, why college is crap, why idiots think they're right, why school sucks | 1 Comment