The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! I hope you enjoyed the week off, and also were able to use the time to begin your reading of this month's book, Vegan's Daily Companion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (CPG). I think this is actually one of my favorite books so far with the Book Club—maybe because of its simplicity. I really find it to be a breath of fresh air, and I hope you guys are enjoying it too. If you do not have a copy yet, there are signed copies on the VN Store, so be sure to get yours today!This book is quite different from our past reads, because it's meant to be a "daily companion," throughout the year. As explained in the "How to use this book" section, the book is more like a day minder, with sections for each day of the year, though Saturdays and Sundays are grouped together. Each day of the week has a different theme: Mondays are about food; Tuesdays talk about communicating veganism effectively; Wednesdays deal with health; Thursdays share about animals in literature and film; Fridays give stories of hope, such as a profile of a rescued animal; and weekends are for recipes.
As mentioned above, I am really enjoying this book, and once I read it all the way through, I plan to use it as a day minder. It's a very inspirational and positive book, and I look forward to having it by my side throughout the year!
The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!
1. After reading through with the Book Club, do you think you'll use this book on a daily basis?
2. What's your favorite themed day of the week, and why?
The Assignment: Please read Day 116 to Day 203 of Vegan's Daily Companion, and try to do at least one thing, such as make a recipe or try one of the foods CPG features, for our discussion on Monday, April 11.
~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig
Yay! I'm so excited to finally participate in this!
ReplyDeleteI'm loving this book so far though I'm only on page 50. I'll definitely be using this book after the Book Club. I'm even considering sending it to a friend and getting myself another copy. I feel there is a lot of useful and interesting information. I also really like the layout. The color coding and symbols make it really easy to flip through and fun to read!
Choosing a favorite section is difficult, but I'm going to say the rescue stories. It inspires me and makes me smile to hear about the courageous lives these animals have lead and the beautiful lives they live now. (A close second favorite section though is the animals in the arts...there are some really interesting authors I want to check out!)
When I first got this book I read through it right away. It's a light read but with lots of interesting information on different aspects of being a vegan. From recipes to feed our bodies, staying healthy and balanced in our life, to stories of animals who now live a better life and people who becoming a vegan changed their life. I will use the book on a weekly basis instead of daily. It will give me inspiration and give me the strength to continue on when times are tough.
ReplyDeleteFridays in the book are my favorited themed day of the week. The stories of animals in here are amazing. That these animals are given a second chance at life give me such joy. After seeing so many videos of animals suffering it's good for a change to read stories of animals that were able to have a new life. It's just sometiems I get uspest that I can't save all animals from suffering but then I remeber I am doing all I can to reduce animal suffering. Doing the best I can in my own ways may not seem like it's making a huge difference but it's making difference still. Winchester the Miracle Cat on Day 5 is my favorite animal rescue story. Then my favorite story about people vegan stories is Day 26 Animal lover becomes vegetarian then vegan. The stories about people are inspiring in that we are all vegans even though we might have come to the vegan path by different ways or reasons. In the end we became vegans and are sharing this journey of living a compansionate lifestyle together.
Colleen Patrick-Goudreau is an excellent writer as anyone who has read her cookbooks or heard her thoughtful, well-researched podcast (Vegetarian Food for Thought) certainly knows. For listeners of the podcast, so much of the info she relays in her episodes, and then some, are now compiled into her daily companion. If you were ever wishing you had written something down while listening, a good portion of it is right here. For new vegans, this is a perfect way to maintain your hope for the future and stay focused on your ethics, "your truth." For non-vegans, so much of what you may want to know about healthy eating and where food comes from can be found in this book in easily digestible doses.
ReplyDeleteThis book will be in my bedside table for some time.
I'm actually torn between Tuesdays and Wednesdays... I do love the rescue stories, but, I appreciate Miss C's attempt to personalize the lifestyle on these days. She reminds us about "right speech," how to express ourselves more thoughtfully, and how to take better care of ourselves so that we might be of more use to each other and to the animals. Either way, every page is useful and bound to inspire you...
Hi everyone,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments so far! This is a lovely book, and I'm glad to hear that it won't just be a one-time read. I really love all of the days, so it's hard for me to choose, but I would say Mondays and Thursdays are my favorites. I've been a vegan for almost ten years now, but I've just recently been learning all of the wonderful whole foods out there. I'm also an avid reader and movie watcher, which is why I love Thursdays.
I look forward to reading more comments, and I'll wrap up on Friday!
~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteI am excited to be joining you all for the first time, and look forward to the discussion.
I really like the format of this book. Not sure if I would use it on a daily basis after reading through this time, but it is something that I would definitely come back to from time to time. It is also a book that I would recommend to people who are new to veganism.
As far as a favorite section goes, I always love recipes, and the Monday section is great too, but I think the Tuesdays are becoming my favorite. The little tidbits included on Tuesdays are really helpful, and not the same types of things that I read all the time in other publications.
Love this book! Already skimmed through all of it, and now going back to read through each week with all of you. I'm sure I will use this book a lot, even after reading it the first time. There are tons of recipes that look delicious. I also think I will use the tips for how to respond to non-vegans, as this is one area that I feel I need to grow in.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to pick one area as my favorite, because I like them all. For where I'm at in my life right now I think I would pick Compassionate Communication because of all the great ideas Colleen gives about how to answer questions by non-vegans, and for the reminder that we are trying to gently guide people into this lifestyle, not force them. It's tough for me sometimes because I have so much passion about protecting animals and I want to help them all, and it's difficult for me to understand why anyone would want to eat, wear or use them, especially knowing the horrors they go through. So this helps serve as a reality check for me and puts me back on solid ground.
Thanks for picking this book!!
I am happy to be participating in the book club for the first time! I am a vegetarian that is ready to become vegan, so this is wonderful timing for me to be reading this book.
ReplyDeleteIt's really hard to pick just one day as my favorite, so I have two choices. I enjoy Tuesdays because I have always felt that saying things like "kill two birds with one stone" was morbid and made no sense since I don't advocate animal cruelty. Also, this day gives great advice on how to handle questions that people ask you about your veganism. I like Wednesdays too because I believe in a total body approach to health and wellness.
I don't think I will read this book on a daily basis after we finish reading it, but I could see myself picking it up when I need some inspiration or want to try a new recipe. I'm already planning on borrowing it to my grandparents to read, as it will really help them to understand my lifestyle choices.