For those in need of a bit of background: Year of Plenty is the book that grew out of the Year of Plenty blog, which itself grew out of local pastor Craig Goodwin's one-year experiment "of consuming everything local, used, homegrown or homemade."
The resulting book carries the de rigueur extended subtitle: "One Suburban Family, Four Rules, and 365 Days of Homegrown Adventure in Pursuit of Christian Living." The sudden mention of "Christian Living" at the end (and, as it turns out, the central role that it came to assume in the text) has the potential to alienate some readers, but it might also pique the interest of others who'd like to see these two powerful forces — that is, religion and green-minded activism — united. That, along with other issues the book raises, is something I plan to address in my forthcoming review of the book.At the moment you can pick up copies of Year of Plenty online at Amazon or Auntie's, or from Auntie's brick-and-mortar location and Sun People Dry Goods in downtown Spokane. Over in Goodwin's stomping ground of Millwood, the Corner Door Bookstore has copies of the book in stock.
Goodwin will be appearing at Auntie's on April 2 at 2pm as part of the store's Spring Gardening Celebration. Second Harvest and Spokane Community Gardens will also be there with activities for both adults and children. Goodwin will take part in a Q&A and will be on hand to sign books.
On April 9 at 11am, the author will be at Barnes & Noble in Spokane Valley for an encore performance of the Auntie's spring gardening event. His blog mentions the possibility that there might also be a bookfair to benefit Second Harvest, but no confirmation of that so far.
There will also be a discussion and reading at 7pm on April 28 at the Book Parlor, a local institution with a faith-based environmental focus that mirrors Goodwin's own. This event will apparently be more focused on the Inland Northwest. A Facebook event page has been set up to make it easy to RSVP.
In between book signings and publicity rounds, Goodwin has also been making note of books (for example, here and here) that "share Christian perspectives on God, Green, and consumption." Some, like Jonathan Merritt's Green Like God, have even received longer contemplation. I've been meaning to direct SBB readers' attention to these particular posts of his for weeks.
EJ,
ReplyDeleteThanks for passing on the word about YOP. Looking forward to your review. One late edition to the schedule is that I'll be at the B&N at Northtown Mall on April 9 from 2-5 pm. I'm not sure what more I could do to promote the book locally. Maybe hire skywriters to scribble a puffy "YOP" in the sky or rent one of those huge inflatable gorillas, common to used car lots, and put it on the roof the church holding a copy of the book. :)
Craig