Thursday, March 22, 2012

Wet Prairie - Shannon Stunden Bower

Wet Prairie - Shannon Stunden Bower
People, Land, and Water in Agricultural Manitoba

This is an amazing work of scholarship, but readable by the lay person.  Despite living in  Manitoba for the past 50 years, I had no idea that serious attempts at drainage goes back to the mid-1800s.

 From the back cover:
"Shannon Stunden Bower brings to light the complexities of surface water management in Manitoba, from early artificial drainage efforts to late-twentieth-century attempts at watershed management. She engages scholarship on the state, liberalism, and bioregionalism in order to probe the connections between human and environmental change in the wet prairie. This account of an overlooked aspect of the region's environmental history reveals how the biophysical nature of southern Manitoba has been an important factor in the formation of Manitoba society and the provincial state."

Not for everyone - but recommended to those with in an interest in Manitoba history, agriculture, or background on our continual flooding woes.

Canada

The Cure for Everything - Timothy Caulfield

The Cure for Everything - Timothy Caulfield
Untangling the Twisted Messages About Health, Fitness, and Happiness

If you are concerned about your health, you must read this book. Not only will you be better informed about improving your health, you will obtain the knowledge to avoid some costly mistakes.
I don't want to give away the main takeaways. But be assured this may be one of the most important books you read this decade - unfortunately the title will turn off those that don't realize it is sarcastic.

Highly recommended !

Canada

I Love Your Laugh - Jessica Holmes

I Love Your Laugh - Jessica Holmes Finding the Light in my Screwball Life I knew little of Jessica Holmes, except that she does a killer Celine Dion impression. I may have seen her on Air Farce years ago. In this book, Jessica recounts her formative years, including a stint as a Mormon missonary, through to her somewhat accidental career in comedy. Holmes' openness and willingness to show her vulnerabilities, mixed in with humour, makes this an enjoyable read.

Canada