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.

Albert Bates has produced a well written, very accessible and positive book. It gives an excellent summary of the accepted peak-oil theories but, more importantly, the majority of the text provides solutions and suggestions. The recipes don’t get in the way as they appear in the margins but they are interesting nonetheless. Though I’m not sure whether I’m ready to make grasshopper quesadillas yet.

Recommeneded if you’re looking for a positive and well-rounded introduction to peak-oil theory and permaculture.

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Whilst not the cheeriest of tomes The Long Emergency is a well written and provides a detailed grounding to the basics of peak oil. Kuntsford is US based so the scenarios are US focused but that doesn’t detract from the quality and depth of the content.

My only criticism is that it could offer more in the way of solutions to negate some of the impact of the doom laden content. Therefore if you are reading this you probably want to have something positive lined up for straight after. The Transition Handbook or The Post Petroleum Cookbook would be good choices.

I’ve kept this short as there are already many excellent reviews of this book out there, for example this one. So I’ll just end by saying that we’ve both read this book cover to cover and it comes highly recommended.

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The book initially provides a brief and accessible introduction to the dual concepts of peak-oil (or energy decent if you prefer the euphemism) and man made climate change. The rest of the book is then spent describing Rob Hoskin’s solution to the problem that I can summarise in a two words: local resilience. 

It goes into some depth about how Totnes in Devon, the first transition town, is doing and apart from making you want to move to Totnes it does also give you plenty of material that you can use to emulate that in your home town.

If you buy and read this book it will almost certainly change your life, for good. 

A detailed review of the book by Patrick Whitefield can be found over on the transition culture blog.

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