After my essay, What is LabLit? was linked by the new literature blog carnival, Bookworm linked to it and graciously added a book to the growing LabLit list. This book, Quite a Year for Plums, Amazon by Bailey White, has mixed reviews. Like most titles in the LabLit genre, this book is unfortunately out of print although it can be purchased through Amazon. In short, Quite a Year for Plums is about "a plant pathologist [who] learns how science should be used to understand nature rather than to conquer and master it."
This is another book I'd like to review here!
.
- Log in to post comments
Thanks for the mention. I must set the record straight and say that I didn't suggest that title, I got it from the LabLit list. Apparently my local library has it so I'll have to put it on my impossible 'to read' list.
I wouldn't call "Quite a Year for Plums" an example of Lab Lit, but it is an enjoyable book. There's a really funny character in the book with an obsession for drawing chicken feet. It's a cute story.
Bailey White's other books and occasional commentaries on NPR are wonderful, too. I've read "Sleeping at the Starlite Motel" and "Mama Makes Up Her Mind." Once she's described a character, like the substitute teacher who taught everyone physics, in every class; or her mother and her household science experiments, you feel like they're people you know and would probably recognize if you met somewhere.
Unfortunately, I've given all my copies of her books away to visiting friends. I can't seem to bring myself to give away books that I don't like. = (