“A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world.”
~Louis Pasteur
Category: Books That I’ve Read
Book #13–A Bite-Sized History of France:Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War, and Enlightenment
I found this interesting—
In France, a classic baguette ordinaries, by law, only has four ingredients: flour, yeast, water, and salt. Sigh! Unless you make your own bread, or buy it in a specialty store, when was the last time you saw bread made like that in America?
Book #11–A History of the World in 6 Glasses
It took me FOREVER to read book #10 entitled, Salt—A World History. It was incredibly interesting, but it was a deep read with lots and lots of details. It brought up a memory from years ago when my friend Kym and I went on a salt mine tour when we were in Austria. We donned “miner outfits” and slid down a wooden slide into the mine. This tourist experience was mentioned in the book, and it was a lot of fun.
The new book that I’m reading is called, A History of the World in Six Glasses. The author attempts to explain the history of the world through beer, wine, spirits, tea, coffee, and cola. You should read that as—How Alcohol & Caffeine Changed the World!
My brain has just exploded—while reading the chapter about the history of beer, I found out that the history of bread is closely linked. In fact, archeologists argue over which was developed first.
“The two were just different sides of the same coin: Bread was solid beer, and beer was liquid bread.”
? ? = ?
Book #10–Salt: A World History
Being at the salt flats today reminded me that I didn’t post my 10th book. It’s called, “Salt,” and I started reading it on the plane.
Book #9–The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living
Book #8 is a heavy read about World History. It’s interesting, and I’m learning a lot, but like I said…it’s heavy! Here are a few of the topics that I’ve had to digest recently—Ancient Greece and the Birth of Democracy, the Romans, the Birth of Islam, the Golden Age of China, the Vikings, and the rise and decline of the Ottoman Empire (just to name a few of the topics, and in no particular order!)
I decided to duel read Book #8 & #9. With Christmas approaching, I knew that it’s the most Hyggelig time of the year, so yesterday, I curled up with the book, ‘The Little Book of Hygge—Danish Secrets to Happy Living,“ and got my Hygge on!
Pronounced, “Hoo-Ga,” Hygge is at the core of what it means to be Danish. Hygge is the concept of purposely constructing an environment that’s warm and cozy, thus improving personal well-being and happiness.
Europeans as a whole understand and practice this concept, but the Danes take it to a whole new level, as it has slipped into their conscience like the word “freedom” is to Americans. In other words, it’s who they are.
I’ve heard and experienced this concept before, but only in Europe. It’s hard to duplicate it in America because everything is done at such a fast and furious way here—run, run, run, like we’re on overdrive at all times.
Yesterday, I slipped on my warm, fuzzy (old) socks, lit a candle, sipped on hot tea, and toggled between reading book #8 & #9. I took a break mid-afternoon and made a pot of slumgullion stew. As it simmered all afternoon I returned to reading. I was comfortable and cozy—and it felt so good. I didn’t have to race off to finish last minute shopping, nor was I stuck to the kitchen all day. I just relaxed!
Book #6–The Gifts of the Jews
I just finished reading the book, The Gift of the Jews: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks & Feels. It was an extremely interesting read, but for me personally, it was a difficult read. I just didn’t have enough background schema to initially understand some of the concepts that we’re being presented.
On many occasions, I had to stop reading to look up a word, a location, or a concept, and that really slowed down my comprehension. With that said—I can proudly say that I finally finished the book and I learned a lot!
