I do love a good book. Paper please! We look at enough screens as it is! In the summer rush, I typically don’t get much more than magazines read, but in the winter, it is time to settle in when the skies are dark at 4:30 with a good book and a cup of something warm. I have some good books for you to check out this season!

The book, Cabin; Off the Grid Adventures with a Clueless Craftsman by Patrick Hutchison is a treat. I love the warm prose and the brotherly love and antics of rebuilding a life and a tiny cabin from a man’s point of view. There are many themes that resonate in this book from friendships, getting away from technology from time to time, and finding work that you really love.

The other non-fiction book I’m diving into is Eliot Coleman’s new book, The Self-Fed Farm and Garden; a Return to the Roots of the Organic Method. I mean, we had our first snow the other day and there are eight inches of snow outside as we speak, the garden is put to bed, so I obviously am already planning next year’s garden! This book speaks to my heart. I have been doing speaking events lately talking about this idea that we have gone away from the heart of organic gardening. Organic gardening and farming now means you are allowed to use (and are encouraged to in your home garden) pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers that are still toxic but are accepted for organic gardening. This book is taking us back to how to work with nature and a self-contained loop of fertility and ample food production.

Even though I tend to gravitate towards non-fiction and memoir, it is nice from time to time to take a trip, so to speak, to an imaginary place. I am prolific fiber artist. I have a great love affair with yarn and being of Celtic descent, this book just captured me. Casting Off by Nicole R. Dickson was wonderful. I spent (in my imagination whilst reading this book) some time in Ireland with a cast of colorful characters and a protagonist who I rooted for, all the while planning my goal to learn how to knit Irish sweaters. Read it and fall in love!

My other great love (okay, I have MANY passions) is ornithology. I am an avid bird watcher and identifier. We have many Amish and Mennonite folks in our region and I love the lifestyle. We all long for that connected to community- not our phones- homesteading life. This book, A Season on the Wind by Suzanne Woods Fisher is lovely and includes romance, sweet characters, and bird watching in one beautiful book. I like this author because she is not real preachy in her books. I’m more interested in the story and she delivers!

I’d also like to recommend my own books, if you please! They are all available on Amazon under Katie Lynn Sanders. You can also order directly from me (I get more profit that way so I can pay for this blog!) by emailing KatieSandersWeaving@gmail.com. If you buy more than three books, I’ll throw in free shipping!

I am excited to announce that I have a new book coming out next year. What are your favorite books? What are your recommendations to other readers?

Happy hibernating!