Booking it - April

I am joining Life as Mom Booking It link up.  The book of the month was a The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball.  I read that back in November.  It was an interesting read.  My review is here.  One thing I didn't add in that review was how hardworking  and how passionate these two were about the lifestyle. They are really living their passion. A book along this similar lines is Barnheart by Jenna Woginrich. This is about a single woman and how she manages some homesteading on rented property while working.  Jenna also blogs at Cold Antler Farm. I find the whole homesteading movement fascinating. A Washington Blogger, The Coupon Project, started an Adventures Homesteading series.  Check it out.

It seems like I am reading books with a similar theme - Adventurers aka Mavericks that attempt adventures with very little experience with a lot of passion and drive. I went on a mini book bender and read 3 books in 4 days at the end of March.

The first one was " The Cactus Eaters" by Dan White.  The sub title on this book is - How I lost my mind - and almost found myself - on the Pacific Crest Trail.  This was recommended on the library book buzz page as many people are waiting to read Wild by Cheryl Strayed(I think I am 56 on the wait list).  This is a story of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail which spans from the Canada to Mexico border.  Dan did it with his now ex girlfriend Allison.  Their trail names were "the Lois and Clark Expedition".  I think you have to  be a little crazy or out there to do this 2,650 mile trail.  These novices tackled this trail with some romantic ideal of what it would be and in the end the trail pretty much consumed Dan.  Dan did indeed lose his mind. I thought it was an interesting read .  Maybe I have been watching too much of that series "Out of the Wild." The Pacific Crest Trail was actually dreamed up by a Miss Catherine Montgomery of Bellingham, Washington in 1926. Bellingham, WA is the closest big town to my location.  Though Clinton Churchill Clarke is the one who made the Pacific Crest Trail possible and considered the "Father of the Pacific Crest Trail." More information about the Pacific Crest Trail can be found at Pacific Crest Trail Association.

Secondly, I read Night Road by Kirsten Hannah .  This one made me cry.  I won't lie.  The setting is also Washington. This story about teenagers and their choices will tear at your heart.  This is a box of Kleenex read.

Another Pacific Crest Trail Book, A Blistered kind of Love - One Couple's Trial by Trail by Angela and Duffy Ballard caught my eye and once again I couldn't put it down.  I think I enjoyed this better than Dan White's Book.   It was told in alternating voices of Duffy and Angela by chapter.  Maybe I like this one because this couple stayed together and seemed to have a better partnership.