52Books: The Organic Suburbanite

For first book number 1 of 52, I read The Organic Suburbanite by Warren Schultz. I received the book for Christmas from my brother John and his partner Cass (who run All the rest have thirty-one which is turning out to be a useful and entertaining green living blog).

The book is a guide to living the “American dream” lifestyle of a big house in the suburbs without being so damaging to the environment. That kind of book can be intimidating, but this one isn’t. It’s obviously written for the novice. The book is divided into three sections: The Organic Suburbanite at Home (includes kitchen, laundry and cleaning tips), Around the Suburban Yard (maintenance of paths, decks, cars and swimming pools), and Suburban Lawns and Gardens (gardening). I live in a rented apartment so two-thirds of the advice simply does not apply to me. It is still good, but I would recommend apartment dwellers pick up one of the many eco-cleaning books out there instead. The book is written in plain language, which makes a change from a lot of these kinds of books. Also, use of colours, spacious layout and photos of 1950s American suburbia make it a joy to read.

All in all, it’s worth having on the environmentally friendly bookshelf.

2010 Projects: 52 Books

Adding another project to yesterday’s list of projects to start in 2010… the 52 Book Challenge. This was originally the 50 Book Challenge as seen in the Livejournal community of the same name. I must admit I haven’t used Livejournal much since I got onto Twitter, and this blog is sort of replacing it.

Anyway, the point of the 50 Book Challenge is to read 50 books in 12 months. That breaks down to just over one book a week. I’ve done it in previous years, and decided to do it again this year. Except I remembered it as being the 52 book challenge, or one a week. After writing about it on Twitter, a couple of people decided to start the 52 book version and tweet about it, using the hashtag #52books. So, any tweeps wanting to take up the challenge, mark your tweets. I’m about an hour away from finishing my first book for the year, and I’ll post a review/progress type post tomorrow.

(in related project news, I bought myself a week-to-a-view diary today to help track progress.)