In her new essay collection, the beloved author of "High Tide in Tucson" brings to us, out of one of history's darker moments, an extended love ... read full description
reviews
May 25, 2011
Jeanette
rated it: 
4.5 stars
I was inclined to think I would like her fiction much better than her essays. Happily, I was wrong. This is a collection of beautifully written essays covering everything from raising chickens to raising children, from global war to birdwatching. There are so many perfectly expressed ideas and sentiments in these essays that I know I'll be reading it again. I laughed with her as she shared her young daughter's pronouncements, cried with her as she briefly shared her rape e More...
I was inclined to think I would like her fiction much better than her essays. Happily, I was wrong. This is a collection of beautifully written essays covering everything from raising chickens to raising children, from global war to birdwatching. There are so many perfectly expressed ideas and sentiments in these essays that I know I'll be reading it again. I laughed with her as she shared her young daughter's pronouncements, cried with her as she briefly shared her rape e More...
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Mar 20, 2008
Rebecca
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If I had to pick one book that would come with me wherever I went, it would be this one. This is my all-time favorite book. My favorite Kingsolver, my favorite book of essays (my favorite medium), my favorite. She is my hero.
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Jun 11, 2008
Luke
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Excellent ideas, a writer who likes to hear herself write a little bit, but that goes with the essay as a tool, and it must be said that she is very witty and clear. . . I really liked it. She has a similar message to Wendell Berry, but she's not the "female Wendell Berry" that some people describe her as. There are some fundamental differences. She is missing the solid Christian underpinnings that Berry writes from with strength, though doesn't lean on as a crutch. Kingsolver doesn't
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Jan 22, 2009
claire
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I love Barbara Kingsolver but I think I was reading this book at the wrong time. It was written in 2001 and has a lot of essays about how terrible our country it. If I read this book 5 years ago I probably would've really liked it, but right now I am riding the Obama wave of optimism and hope to not going back to hating our country for a long time.
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Dec 17, 2009
Lani
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I first read sections of Barbara Kingsolver's "Small Wonder" aloud, while recording a Christmas gift CD for friends and family in 2003. Several of the essays were so poignant to those of us hurting from the Sept. 11 attacks and tensions in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere.
I re-read the book last month (June 2007), and found new messages in Kingsolver's beautifully formed essays. Her well-researched and rational pleas for the environment, her touching stories about family, h More...
I re-read the book last month (June 2007), and found new messages in Kingsolver's beautifully formed essays. Her well-researched and rational pleas for the environment, her touching stories about family, h More...
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Aug 11, 2008
I wanted to add this one A.) because it has been on my shelf for a long time and B.) because I thought you Kingsolver addicts should know about it. This collection of essays has a fairly broad span-- some of them the beginnings of AVM. (Like the essay about Lily's Chickens.) Anyhow, I've read a few of them and they are worth the read.
Jill, have you raised any chicken on your own? I'm thinking of starting a coop in my backyard. I have two friends that keep chickens who can offer More...
Jill, have you raised any chicken on your own? I'm thinking of starting a coop in my backyard. I have two friends that keep chickens who can offer More...
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Feb 03, 2010
Andi
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Okay, so Animal, Vegetable, Miracle was one of those books that significantly changed my life, and I really liked, as did the rest of the world it seems, The Poisonwood Bible, but I honestly cannot tell you what made me want to read Kingsolver’s essay collection Small Wonder. Maybe I read about it on a blog or in a review, and whoever turned me onto this book, I owe you a huge debt of gratitude. This is the book that helped me start my book. No joke, no questions, this book did it.
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Oct 21, 2009
Lori
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Small Wonders is a thought provoking collections of essays by the great wordsmith Barbara Kingsolver. In this collection the reader is treated to heart wrenching descriptions of the natural beauty surrounding us everyday. Kingsolver has an eye that many of us do not possess and is able to write in elegant, flowing prose and capture on paper the heart and soul of the land, animal or body of water she is describing. She uses some of these essays to promote her political views which consist mainly
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Jul 23, 2009
Victoria
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First of all I am completely in love with Kingsolver as an author and am pretty sure I am in love with her as a person as well! I have read several of her writings and always find them to be inciteful and intelligently written. Also, I feel as if she is or striving to be the person I always wanted to be (but don't think I ever will be :).
This book started from an essay she was asked to write in response to the 9/11 attacks om the Twin Towers. Then she wrote several more essays on a variet More...
This book started from an essay she was asked to write in response to the 9/11 attacks om the Twin Towers. Then she wrote several more essays on a variet More...
Jan 03, 2012
Lusi
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Kingsolver has a way with words, that after reading the first couple of essays, you feel as though you should start a garden, start a chicken coup, and start riding a bike to limit your carbon footprints. Then after a few more essays, you feel as though, you should volunteer more often, and generally do better at being a human being. Assuming of course you weren't already. Kingsolver forces us to have questions of our own, about the state of affairs in our country, from the seemingly endless war
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May 09, 2010
Ali
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These thoughtful and sometimes poignant essays are written with the same beautiful language as the authors best selling novels. In these essays Barbara Kingsolver tackles some enormous subjects such as genetic engineering, the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and America's jingoistic response to them, de-forestation, gardening, chicken keeping, food miles, motherhood and civil rights. I found the essays entitled "Letter to a daughter at thirteen" and "Letter to my mother"
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Mar 22, 2010
Judith
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Nonfiction, essays. Author’s observations and thoughts about humankind’s appreciation (or not) of planet Earth, interweaving personal stories with environmental commentary, political and philosophical extrapolations beyond what we do individually and collectively. These essays reveal quite a different person than the author we may have imagined from reading her many works of fiction. The thoughts are deep and widely meandering, the writing dense and complex, and conclusions left to the reader
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Aug 17, 2011
Sharon
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I read this book for a book club. This book is written as a collection of essays, which are basically short stories or articles previously written. I generally do not read short stories, but made an exception as it was well reviewed and for a book club. I was pleasantly surprised that I really enjoyed it. The first few stories mention 9-11. I connected with many of the stories that followed that had to do with birds and her travels in Costa Rica and the Yucatan in Mexico. I thoroughly enjo
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Jul 27, 2009
okyrhoe
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In general terms I, too, am on the same side of the fence as Kingsolver. Maybe that’s why I was disappointed to find that this was not as engaging a read as I expected it to be.
As I was reading through these post-9/11 "essays" I found it increasingly difficult to be sympathetic with Kingsolver's earthmother-y stance, her frequent recourse to phrases such as 'balance,' 'salvation,' 'spirit' and 'small wonder' in the face of pressing global political and environmental issues. The More...
As I was reading through these post-9/11 "essays" I found it increasingly difficult to be sympathetic with Kingsolver's earthmother-y stance, her frequent recourse to phrases such as 'balance,' 'salvation,' 'spirit' and 'small wonder' in the face of pressing global political and environmental issues. The More...
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May 04, 2009
Heather
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This is a great collection of essays - a few at the beginning and end got me a little annoyed, but mostly I thoroughly enjoyed them. It was a nice opportunity to peek inside the mind of one of my favorite writers, and I was not disappointed. A few of my favorites included "Letter to my Mother," "Household Words," and "Lily's Chickens," which I assume was a prelude to her wonderful book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle."
I did feel that her opinions More...
I did feel that her opinions More...
Mar 11, 2011
Marianne
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Small Wonder, Barbara Kingsolver’s second book of essays, was written after the events of 9/11, and touches on subjects as diverse as Terrorism, why the world doesn’t like America, Genetic Modification, Teenagers, Mothers, and Self-Sustainability. While I may not have agreed with every single word of the essays, on the whole, I found Kingsolver’s to be the Voice of Reason. As with her previous book of essays, High Tide in Tucson, there were some aspects that avid readers of Kingsolver’s novels w
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Sep 16, 2009
elisa
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i really enjoy reading what kingsolver has to say. it's always, always educational. among other things, this has made me incredibly excited to prepare my garden for next year's planting.
"My best revenge against all the dishonesty and hatred in the world, it seems to me, will be to raise up right through the middle of it these honest and loving children."
"I remembered my Japanese friend's insistence on forgiveness as the highest satisfaction, and I underst More...
"My best revenge against all the dishonesty and hatred in the world, it seems to me, will be to raise up right through the middle of it these honest and loving children."
"I remembered my Japanese friend's insistence on forgiveness as the highest satisfaction, and I underst More...
Oct 24, 2009
Amy
rated it:
This book made me realize that I have been ignorant and extremely naive about my country and its involvement in world politics. Now I finally have an idea of just why other countries (especially those much, much poorer than our own) hate America and would like nothing better than to see us brought to our knees. With the current sluggish economy and thousands of people (my husband included) currently out of work, they may have gotten at least part of their wish. Kingsolver's book makes me want
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Jul 27, 2007
Meghan
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If I could get my dad to read this book, I wouldn't have to ruin perfectly good camping trips arguing the points she so effectively tackles. Sorry about the tilapia, Dad!
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Apr 29, 2011
Matt
rated it:
I would recommend this book to anyone. It is worth the price of admission just for the essays "Knowing Our Place" and "Lily's Chickens," although the whole thing is worth reading. The first essay and some of the others feel a little dated since they are reflections written just after September 11, 2001 (Not that that makes them any worse--they capture the mood of that time very well, it's just that a lot has happened since). One of the essays, about the author not watching
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Feb 25, 2010
booklady
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My oldest daughter just climbed into bed next to me with her English 4 textbook. She said, Letter to my Mother is what I'd write to you if I could write like Barbara Kingsolver. When she left to take her shower, I asked her to leave the book with me. I read it with tears running down my face almost from start to finish. But they were tears of joy and it was one of the most beautiful tributes to mother-daughter love/relationships that I've read in a long time! Tender and oh so true!
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May 27, 2009
Riah
rated it:
If you've read Kingsolver's fiction novels, then you will not be surprised by the voice that compels these essays. While I personally do not always agree with Kingsolver's views, I find it fantastic to read along and think "Yes!" to her argument of the moment, and literally stop to ponder the poetry of a phrase.
If you rarely read short stories or essays, please beware that this collection is an atypically wonderful sample, and one not to be read or taken lightly. The es More...
If you rarely read short stories or essays, please beware that this collection is an atypically wonderful sample, and one not to be read or taken lightly. The es More...
Dec 31, 2010
Ryan
rated it:
I'm beginning to love Barbara Kingsolver - after reading The Poisonwood Bible I was happy to have stumbled over Small Wonder: Essays in the library. I'd recommended reading this - she narrates the audiobook version and her drawl and Southern accent makes her sound a bit like Diane Rehm. I got used to it after the first (rather slow) few essays. After that it was great story after great point after excellent argument. This was written shortly after 9/11, so there are some ruminations about war an
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Sep 21, 2009
Kate
rated it:
Favorite quotes: "We have taught our children in a thousand ways, sometimes with flag-waving and sometimes with a laugh track, that the bad guy deserves to die. But we easily forget a crucial component of this formula. 'Bad' is defined by the aggressor. Any of our children may someday be, in someone's mind, the bad guy."
". . . tried to divine for myself why it was that I loved a piece of fiction when I did, and the answer came to me quite clearly: I love it for what it More...
". . . tried to divine for myself why it was that I loved a piece of fiction when I did, and the answer came to me quite clearly: I love it for what it More...
Aug 21, 2011
Jamie
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really wonderful. i felt as if i was visiting with a good friend as i read all of the essays. in fact, because of that, i would love to have a real dialogue with kingsolver and ask about what she thinks of things now, ten years on. especially as she often uses Europe as an example for America to follow, and i am wondering what she thinks of some of what is happening (and changing) in Europe with growing xenophobia, austerity measures...and here in Italy I have seen the tents and mattresses an
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Feb 10, 2010
Krista
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For the most part, I found these essays to be very engrossing. As with most essay collections, not every one resonates with every reader. The ones that I enjoyed most were the ones that talked about her connection to her family, and the meaning of patriotism. The essay she wrote as a letter to her mother just brought tears to my eyes.
I think that these are thoughtful essays (musing is too light a word) on everything from; biodiversity, genetic engineering, homelessness and poverst More...
I think that these are thoughtful essays (musing is too light a word) on everything from; biodiversity, genetic engineering, homelessness and poverst More...
Jan 22, 2009
Gemma
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This book is wonderful. It made me want to 1) Eat completely locally grown foods 2) start asking questions about where what I am eating comes from 3) take the time to get to know the plants and animals native to where I am living (did you know that eating local honey can sometimes help you build immunity to allergic reactions to local pollens?) and 4) it just reiterated how important knowledge is, how wonderful food is, how incredibly powerful nature is, and why I should care about all three.
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Aug 03, 2011
Tarah
rated it:
Full disclosure is that I did not make it quite all the way through due to borrowing book/timing, etc. But obviously I'm not going to let that stop me from doing a full review.
The opening two essays were really, really brilliant. Thoughtful, beautiful responses to 9/11 (the book is dated, obviously). The rest of the essays fall in her naturalist genre, which are fine, but I found myself skimming quite a bit. Much more of the same, really. But the first two essays really carry the More...
The opening two essays were really, really brilliant. Thoughtful, beautiful responses to 9/11 (the book is dated, obviously). The rest of the essays fall in her naturalist genre, which are fine, but I found myself skimming quite a bit. Much more of the same, really. But the first two essays really carry the More...
Feb 18, 2011
Jenny
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Small Wonder is a collection of essays Barbara Kingsolver wrote in light of the September 11th terrorist attacks. While only some of the essays explicitly refer to the terrorist attacks as part of her point, the thrust of the book is advocating an alternative response to our current American political climate. Kingsolver advocates for stewardship of the earth (gardening, reducing the amount of stuff we consume), for putting people as a priority before economics, and for feminism. There are al
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Jan 30, 2010
Bernie
rated it:
Great book. Fairly political in typical Barbara Kingsolver fashion, but serves as a good balance for me to understand the moderate left and to moderate my natural conservative views.
I like the following passage (p249-250):
"But like anyone else I am liable to be misunderstood, or scolded for standing apart from the crowd. I'm just one of a multitude of writers who venture outside the approved current of opinion du jour to get a better view of the complex struggle to More...
I like the following passage (p249-250):
"But like anyone else I am liable to be misunderstood, or scolded for standing apart from the crowd. I'm just one of a multitude of writers who venture outside the approved current of opinion du jour to get a better view of the complex struggle to More...
