The Little Book and Farm That Could . . .

JAN POGUE and her husband, John Walter, now deceased, had more than seventy years combined experience in editing and publishing when they founded their small publishing company, VINEYARD STORIES, in 2005. Well suited for the task and highly familiar with the importance of excellence in books, they had held high-level editing jobs at such well-regarded newspapers as USA Today, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. In addition, Ms. Pogue had fifteen years in book publishing. As she expresses it:

Vineyard Stories is a full-service publisher, creating high-quality books for and about Martha’s Vineyard. . . . We are focused primarily on telling Island stories. To do this, we pursue outstanding writing, editing, photography and illustration, design and manufacture. Then, to make sure your book is seen and read, we offer distribution and promotional services.

Recently MORNING GLORY FARM and the family that feeds an island, text by Tom Dunlop and photos by Alison Shaw, one of Vineyard Stories very special books, went global—or at least national—in a surprising series of events that included the attention of Michelle Obama and coverage in the New York Times. The book is about the Athearn family’s Morning Glory Farm in Edgartown, MA, and features 70 recipes organized by season. As Pogue says, “They were sustainable before there was sustainable.”

This wonderful story opens when a young husband and wife, from very different backgrounds and disparate world views, begin battling the woodlands near Martha’s Vineyard to plant and harvest what turned out to be a crop of wormy corn. Thirty years later their farmstand is the source of a cornucopia of fruits, vegetables, prepared dishes and baked goods and people come from all around to stand on line waiting to stock up.

This book is an homage to eating sustainably and nutritiously and to the glory of beautifully prepared food consumed surrounded by family and friends.

For more information and images:

http://www.vineyardstories.com
http://www.morninggloryfarm.com/

-- Rosemary Carstens
http://www.CarstensCommunications.com

Playing with Fire is HOT!

Stieg Larsson’s second book in his Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Played with Fire (Knopf 2009, translated from the Swedish by Reg Keeland) has been on my “books to watch for” list since I turned the last page of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He has developed a unique and absolutely fascinating character in Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant antisocial and unconventional woman who has a heightened and personal sense of fairness that requires her to carry out her own brand of justice. And she is extremely innovative when doling out pay back.

Larsson not only brings back Salander and journalist, publisher, and crusader Mikael Blomkvist, plus assorted other members of Dragon Tattoo’s cast, but he delves more deeply into the psyche of each, and most particularly of Salander. The book is laced with absorbing detail about high level mathematics and new adventures in the world of Internet security, hacking, and the manipulation of data to create new “truths.” As we learn Salander’s tragic backstory and her efforts to overcome it, we are carried away once again by the plots, subplots, and mystery and suspense for which Larsson is known. If you like a down and gritty action book that pulls you along breathlessly, filled out with engaging tech drama, this is a book you won’t want to miss!

Now, when is the next one due out? Ah, yes, January 2010: The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. Can’t wait!

Author’s website: http://www.stieglarsson.com

-- Rosemary Carstens
http://www.CarstensCommunications.com