Hints of Summer: Good Books and Excellent Asparagus!

Hello everyone! I don’t know about all of you, but I have been loving our weather recently! As someone who is not a big fan of the cold (yet somehow grew up in Minnesota), being able to walk across campus without all limbs being locked in shivering spasms is something wonderful that I do not take for granted! While I have yet to get out my hammock, or enjoy a good book under a nice tree, I have been spending a fair amount of time outdoors, and reading a little more. Luther College’s Center for Public Ethics and Engagement has these really great book groups I got introduced to last year, and as I’m in four of them this semester, I’ve been busy! The groups are a nice way to get to know other students, faculty, and community members over tea, treats, and book discussions, and they’ve led me to read some really interesting books that I might not have otherwise picked up and read on my own. I’m just finished Religion and Ethics at Odds: a Buddhist Counter-Position, which includes some really interesting ideas and philosophical arguments I haven’t considered before, such as how one’s relationship with another human differs from one’s relationship with the “other.” I missed our last book group meeting, so I’m especially excited to hear what my fellow group members have to say next week.

In order to balance out some of the more complex/intellectual books I’ve been reading for classes and book groups, I also just finished Eligible: A modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, by Curtis Sittenfeld. Light and fun, this book is exactly what it purports to be: It has all the wonderful elements of Jane Austen’s classic romance novels, but set in the present day. For anyone who hasn’t read a Jane Austen novel, I highly recommend that you do! I remember reading one as a late middle-schooler/early high-schooler, and I really didn’t get into them, but later in high school I tried again and was captivated. A few of them are a little slow to start, but once you’re into them, they’re wonderful fun reads (in my opinion). And if you enjoy Jane Austen, you should definitely check out Eligible! I enjoyed it a lot.

To me summer means more reading, and it also means more delicious fresh food! While the Farmer’s Market near me is not yet open, I got some fantastic fresh asparagus from the local co-op last week, and it did not disappoint. Cooked up in a simple yet delicious mixture of garlic, lemon juice, thyme and salt, it was the perfect complement to an almost-like-summer day. I hope you check it out – maybe alongside a good book!