It’s time to update your summer reading list with more must read books!

It’s been almost a year since I wrote the last “must read book list,” and a bunch of you readers responded by including must-read books of your own. I present you another compilation based on reader suggestions – and some of my own personal favorites.

Beyond Fossil Fools: The Roadmap to Energy Independence by 2040 by Joseph M. Shuster

If you’re on the fence about peak …

Tags: best books , books , change , holistic , list , paradigm shifting , peak oil , Voluntary Creative Simplicity

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Judge these belt buckles by their covers and all you’ll come up with is a serious case of eco, clever and fun. And maybe an urge to go to the library.

I’m a serious book lover, and these one-of-a-kind Literary Belt Buckles are too cute for words.

I call them the bookworm’s belt buckle because each one is made using a small part of the covers of various vintage library books – books long forgotten, discarded and headed right for your nearest landfill.

There’s the Studious Boy buckle and the …

Tags: belt , books , clothing , fashion , green , repurposed

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Here’s a story you gotta check out:

Millions of avid American readers watch their investments plummet due to corporate greed and credit card debt. They worry how to devour those New York Times-acclaimed best sellers on the beaches this summer when income for shopping books must be earmarked for bare necessities – bags of raw almonds and bottles of Charles Shaw at Trader Joe’s.

Wait, the plot thickens when bright children become increasingly antsy. How will parents with shallow pockets keep those little brains stimulated without classics like Little Women and newer ones like …

Tags: books , city budgets , free books , library cards , library job searches , library use , public library

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This ambitious book sets out to do a lot:

1.    Introduce people who are new to the idea that there is a connection between food and climate change.
2.    Lay out all the science in a very detailed manner.
3.    Tell readers how they can personally lower their impact through diet.
4.    Provide recipes and lifestyle tips telling readers how to do it.

Considering how much the book tries to do, I think Cool Cuisine – Taking a Bite Out of Global Warming by Laura Stec with Eugene Cordero, Ph.D. does a good job. However, I wasn’t sure if …

Tags: books , diet , food system , global warming , lifestyle tips

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Buying lots of new things seems to be going out of fashion.

It’s not hard to see why – you can’t spend what you don’t have. And while we’d always advocate shelling out for the best-quality, well-priced (i.e. not super-cheap) products, there’s another way to get exactly what you want on a tight budget. It takes a little more effort – but it’s fun, creative, and it’s been popular for thousands of years. It’s bartering.

Products or services, a straight swap or a fierce haggle…bartering is an online boom industry that’s never …

Tags: bartering , books , clothes , commerce , fashion , free , recycling , trade

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