Pitchfork Pulpit: wisdom and practice in a self-reliant life by Joel Salatin
I was subscribing to Mother Earth News magazine for the years that Joel Salatin had his Pitchfork Pulpit column and it was always the highlight of the magazine for me. But to have this collection of his columns in one place is awesome. I remembered some of my favorite columns and rediscovered others. It took me longer than normal to read this one, not because it was a hard read, but because I was savoring it and didn't want it to end. Joel is SO inspiring and this was the absolute perfect book to start off 2026 reading. This might be one I re-read every year.
Every page of this book is quoteable, but here a few that stood out even more:
"Most people think ants are strong for their size, but earthworms are arguably the ultimate strength creature. Weighing only 1/30th of an ounce, they routinely move 2 ounce stones, equivalent of a 150-pound person moving a 9,000 pound stone." (p. 57)
"The point here is to enjoy your homestead more than seeing it as something to conquer in a week. Emotional energy drives physical energy, and if we're constantly depressed because we feel like our pace is not fast enough, we'll miss the greatest joy of homesteading, which is seeing progress toward unorthodoxy. The homestead tribe is one that bucks every accepted norm in society." (p. 157-158) [This is my all time favorite Joel Salatin quote - are you progressing toward unorthodoxy?]
"When our minds become preoccupied with societal disturbance and worry, a walk amidst our handiwork is a balm for the soul. A change here, a new activity there, and suddenly the landscape responds with a tree, a mushroom, a luxuriant patch of red clover. The landscape carries on." (p. 230)
Every page of this book is quoteable, but here a few that stood out even more:
"Most people think ants are strong for their size, but earthworms are arguably the ultimate strength creature. Weighing only 1/30th of an ounce, they routinely move 2 ounce stones, equivalent of a 150-pound person moving a 9,000 pound stone." (p. 57)
"The point here is to enjoy your homestead more than seeing it as something to conquer in a week. Emotional energy drives physical energy, and if we're constantly depressed because we feel like our pace is not fast enough, we'll miss the greatest joy of homesteading, which is seeing progress toward unorthodoxy. The homestead tribe is one that bucks every accepted norm in society." (p. 157-158) [This is my all time favorite Joel Salatin quote - are you progressing toward unorthodoxy?]
"When our minds become preoccupied with societal disturbance and worry, a walk amidst our handiwork is a balm for the soul. A change here, a new activity there, and suddenly the landscape responds with a tree, a mushroom, a luxuriant patch of red clover. The landscape carries on." (p. 230)
The Mouse and His Child by Russell Hoban
I had never heard of this book but it was listed in a recent book I read, World of Wonders that compiled 80 children's books that have had a lasting impact on readers. The Mouse and His Child was written in 1967 and is an odd book. It almost reminded me of a combination of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and The Velveteen Rabbit but with tin toys and animals living in and around a dump. I'm not sure what children would make of this one. There are some interesting storylines and the hope the Mouse Child has and Manny Rat's turn from evil to good are the two best parts for me. It is an odd book but I am glad that I read it.
Some quotes I liked:
"The animals and birds paid their acorns, beechnuts, seeds, and grubs, along with turnips and dead beetles saved for the occasion, and were ushered by the starlings to their places, where they combined sniffs, growls, whines, and twitters in the general murmur of an audience waiting for an entertainment to begin." (p. 82)
[Inside Muskrat's den] "A little group of firefly students had lit up when the muskrat's familiar step was heard in the tunnel, and now they said in unison, 'Good morning, sir.' Devoted followers who had outstayed the summer, they lived in a glass jar in a corner, and their dormitory cast its pale and blinking glow on the clutter all around them." (p. 108)
"The elephant was completely overwhelmed. Until now she had thought only of herself and the injustice done her; the child and the father had been nothing to her. But now into her one glass eye there rushed a picture in its wholeness of the foggy day, the steaming snow, the black trees, the tired father, the tiny, lost, and hopeful child. A world of love and pain was printed on her vision, never to be gone again." (p. 127-128)
"The house's character had changed much with the fire that had wrecked it and the several stages of reconstruction that renewed it; phoenixlike, the place seemed reborn of itself." (p. 211)
The Arrival by Shaun Tan
This book tells the story of a man leaving his homeland, wife, and child to go to a new country in hopes of finding a better place and bringing them along later - but all in pictures - no words at all. While not a new storyline, the pictures make both his homeland and the "new world" fantastical with people but very whimsical and fantastic landscapes and animals. The main character seems to have a pet dragon and there are other equally fantastical pets in the new world. The man makes friends and a new life for himself and then sends for his wife and child. A quick "read" with wonderful sepia toned illustrations. A really unique look at the classic immigrant story.
I had never heard of this book but it was listed in a recent book I read, World of Wonders that compiled 80 children's books that have had a lasting impact on readers. I had also never seen a wordless graphic novel before. I love wordless picture books, but this is my first wordless graphic novel. I can definitely see why this was included in World of Wonders.
I had never heard of this book but it was listed in a recent book I read, World of Wonders that compiled 80 children's books that have had a lasting impact on readers. I had also never seen a wordless graphic novel before. I love wordless picture books, but this is my first wordless graphic novel. I can definitely see why this was included in World of Wonders.
Tell Her Story: how women, led, taught, and ministered in the early Church by Nijay Gupta
In the introduction to this book, Nijay Gupta talks about the 2016 book Hidden Figures by Margaret Shetterly that shined a light on three Black women who's contributions to NASA's space race had been "hidden" by history. His goal with this book is to kind of do the same thing for women in Christian history, specifically the early Church in the New Testament. The book is divided into two sections - the first section talks about the Jewish/Biblical history of women before Jesus and also the historical context of what life would have been like in the Roman world leading up to the time of Jesus. The second section covers the early Church and several specific women who were important in that time but have been glossed over or left out of Christian history. At the end there are two chapters covering specific passages that are often used to limit modern-day women's roles/place in the Church - I Timothy 2: 11-15 and several sections dealing with "household codes" of the day with Colossians 3: 18 - 4:1 being the focus of that chapter.
The book was interesting, particularly the sections that talked about the Roman culture of that day. I do agree with some of the reviews I read that this does read almost like a thesis and is very scholarly and not a super easy read especially if you're not somewhat versed on this subject and the Bible overall. I'm a staunch egalitarian and to me it's obvious in how Jesus interacted with women (and the fact that He DID interact with women at all) that He doesn't view women as lesser or beneath men. And again, the fact that women are mentioned at all in the New Testament shows that they were involved and in more than just cooking and childcare. Gupta brings up some good points and it's definitely worth thinking about for any Christian how much interpretation there is when translating the Bible into English or other languages from the original. Overall, I liked the book but I think it probably has a more narrow audience.
Some quotes I liked:
"Sometimes the question is raised whether God used Deborah only because there were no men available, or because Barak had weak faith. But if we look at the judges as a whole, especially Gideon and Samson, it is clear that they were not chosen for their virtue or strong faith." (p. 14)
"Another important conversation Jesus has with a woman happens at the Sycharian well in Samaria. In popular modern reflections on this story, this unnamed Samaritan woman is often depicted as a sexually immoral person that Jesus calls out. But that is read into the text; nothing like that is ever stated in John...They get into the topic of her family life. She has had five husbands and now does not live with a husband. In our modern minds, we quickly jump to her having a string of divorces and is now shacking up with yet another man. But another scenario is possible, even more probable. Her husbands have died, not uncommon in a world with high mortality, and she very well could be living with her brother or another male relative. In that case, Jesus was not calling her out on her promiscuity; he was attentive to her hard life." (p. 59-60)
The book was interesting, particularly the sections that talked about the Roman culture of that day. I do agree with some of the reviews I read that this does read almost like a thesis and is very scholarly and not a super easy read especially if you're not somewhat versed on this subject and the Bible overall. I'm a staunch egalitarian and to me it's obvious in how Jesus interacted with women (and the fact that He DID interact with women at all) that He doesn't view women as lesser or beneath men. And again, the fact that women are mentioned at all in the New Testament shows that they were involved and in more than just cooking and childcare. Gupta brings up some good points and it's definitely worth thinking about for any Christian how much interpretation there is when translating the Bible into English or other languages from the original. Overall, I liked the book but I think it probably has a more narrow audience.
Some quotes I liked:
"Sometimes the question is raised whether God used Deborah only because there were no men available, or because Barak had weak faith. But if we look at the judges as a whole, especially Gideon and Samson, it is clear that they were not chosen for their virtue or strong faith." (p. 14)
"Another important conversation Jesus has with a woman happens at the Sycharian well in Samaria. In popular modern reflections on this story, this unnamed Samaritan woman is often depicted as a sexually immoral person that Jesus calls out. But that is read into the text; nothing like that is ever stated in John...They get into the topic of her family life. She has had five husbands and now does not live with a husband. In our modern minds, we quickly jump to her having a string of divorces and is now shacking up with yet another man. But another scenario is possible, even more probable. Her husbands have died, not uncommon in a world with high mortality, and she very well could be living with her brother or another male relative. In that case, Jesus was not calling her out on her promiscuity; he was attentive to her hard life." (p. 59-60)
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