The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath

The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath, edited by Karen V. Kukil

I wonder how she feels about having her journals published completely. Perhaps she expected it all along, as they do seem very polished. Many of the thoughts from these journals went into her novel Bell Jar. In the start, she is very concerned with boys and sex. There are conflicting thoughts on a desire for a writing career and for raising a family. These thoughts continue on through later entries. There are also thoughts on suicide which provide prelude to her eventual death. The editors add a few comments, with the most valuable indicating gaps. She comes across as a social arts type.

The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (with Recipes)

The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (with Recipes) by Kate Lebo

This book identifies a "difficult" fruit for each letter of the alphabet from A-Z. Some of the "fruits" are acknowledged as not really fruit (such as sugar cane). You have to make some compromises to get every letter. The reason for difficulty differ from fruit to fruit. Sugar requires elaborate preparation. Huckleberries have not been cultivated and must be foraged in the appropriate region. Blackberries are invasive and thorny. Pomegranates take significant effort to extract the arils. The author has lived primarily in the Pacific Northwest and those of the region are most represented. However, there are plenty from other areas (like durian aka stinky fruit.) The author includes personal experiences with the various fruits, which may be foraging, life experiences related to a recipe, or simply trying to find the fruit at an ethnic grocer.

The Optimistic Decade

A bunch of teenagers are at a remote summer camp that is also desired by oil companies for shale production. They do a bunch of vulgar teenage things. It is set in the Reagan/Bush years with an undercurrent of Berkeley idealism conflicting with business progress. Most of the characters come across as "brats". After the camp experience, they discover that "camp" people are different than they are in the real world.