Earthship Vol. 3: Evolution Beyond Economics, by Michael Reynolds. Solar Survival Press, 1993

Even though I’ll never build another house, I picked this book up out of the free pile at the library because I’ve long been fascinated by alternative building techniques and architecture. The Earthship system uses old tires filled with packed earth for walls, frequently with the building backed into a hill for even more insulation. This volume, though, doesn’t really give the details of doing this. It tells about updates in structural techniques and water systems, as well as building a thermal mass refrigerator, a solar toilet, solar oven, and doing a temporary structure. So, good if you’ve got the first two books. I do love the way the structures look once the tires are hidden, with their thick walls, arched doors and windows, and lots of plants inside. It would be interesting to see if the buildings have stood the test of time.

House of Rougeaux, by Jenny Jaeckel. Raincloud Press, 2018
This is a beautiful family saga spanning 1785 to 1964, broken into seven segments. They are enslaved in Africa; carried to Martinique; taken, still enslaved, into Canada; freed; and have to navigate racism, homophobia, and just plain trying to make a living. The Rougeaux family saga is not told sequentially; it jumps around in time which I first found hard to follow but the family tree in the front of the book enabled me to sort it all out.

Iya is taken from her homeland and is later brutally raped and killed when her two children, Adunbi and Abeje are still small. Adunbi later has a daughter, but his wife dies giving birth. It is this daughter, Ayo (Hetty) who is taken to Canada by the plantation’s two white daughters; they teach her to read and when she is bought by a Free Black, Dax Rougeaux, they are all for it. Abeje stays on the island. She has a magical ability to talk to the plants; she knows which ones will heal and which ones will kill. Though she never has children, her influence is still seen in the family tree.

The writing is lovely. There is a richness to the text that absorbed me totally; when I finished the book it was like I was coming up from to sea to take a breath. The people stayed with me at least all through the next day. Before this book I knew nothing about people of color in Canada. They seem to have been treated better there than in the USA! Certainly freedom came earlier. Of course there was still a lot of prejudice to overcome. Five stars out of five.