Yet another fabulous book chomped through last week. The author is the same woman who writes a very inspirational blog aimed at normal family folk like me and you but focused on the annoying fact that we in the rich west must change our naughty power hungry ways.

Sharon Astyk’s book ‘Depletion and Abundance: Life on the New Home Front‘ (or ‘One Woman’s Solutions to Finding Abundance for your Family While Coming to Terms with Peak Oil, Climate Change and Hard Times’) is a great read, an easy read and a truely life-changing read as it enables one to work out a personal transition plan (to a low energy future) with happiness and without hardship.

She’s a great author and I really like her slightly witty style. She’s made a name for herself simply by virtue of the fact that she is one of the only female contributors to the world of Peak Oil writings.

If nothing else please click though to her superb list: “100 Things You Can Do to Get Ready for Peak Oil”

Her blog is great too and despite having a time-depleted lifestyle with the all the low-energy choices she’s now making (growing food, burning wood, not driving too much) and four young children to look after she still writes great posts which as a fellow peak oil worried bloggin’ mama provides huge amounts of inspiration, tips and food for thought.

I’m already looking forward to reading her new book “A Nation of Farmers: Defeating the Food Crisis on American Soil”

A Nation of Farmers: Defeating the Food Crisis on American Soil, written with Aaron Newton, will be forthcoming in March of 2009. Our present agricultural system depends on heavy inputs of increasingly expensive and scarce fossil fuels, and is exacerbating our current world food crisis.  It warms the planet and depletes soil and water and contributes to every major problem we face.  Meanwhile, 100 million people have joined the starving and one in every 10 Americans requires food stamps to sustain them. But that doesn’t have to be the case – agriculture could help us regenerate our society.  We explore the possibility – and urgent necessity of creating a truly sustainable food system.  There is a short excerpt here: http://henandharvest.com/?p=166.  The book will be available for preorder shortly.