#6

January is gone and with it my first flush of flush of resolution ideals. This happens every year which is why I aim high I order to meet at least a few of the goals. Health issues and general business has wreaked havoc with my workout, cooking and socializing goals but have played nicely into my reading desires. To my satisfaction, my Goodreads app informs me that I am 4 books ahead of schedule. Hopefully by the end of February, my Runkeeper and recipe apps will report similar progress.

I did celebrate February first with a burst of domesticity: Bethany Leng's delicious brownie recipe from her Page and Crumb website , apple crisp (compiled from a number of recipes to suit my needs) and a delicious, lentil beef stew slow cooker recipe entirely of my own invention!

My favourite book so far this year probably tops any book I read last year as well and sits solidly in my overall top ten non fiction list. 

Nothing to Envy is written by journalist Barbara Demick and gives a fascinating, in depth look at everyday life in North Korea. Although Demick made multiple trips to North Korea, the information is largely compiled from extensive interviews with defectors to South Korea, six of whose lives are chronicled in the book.

There are certainly aspects of the book that are heartbreaking and terrifying and chilling. However, because the book focuses on the day to day lives, it is intriguing simply in that one can see how life can be lived so much under the influence of propaganda and yet seem so normal. Family, relationships, jobs, food; all themes that influence every society on earth are just as present and real in the lives of these people who seem to be stripped of all choice, dignity, self-expression, and 99.99% of everything we take for granted.

This book will educate you, sadden you, inspire you and make you more grateful.

For another interesting read on North Korea from a foreigner's perspective, Tim Urban's account is both hilarious and disturbing.