 Blood of the Earth: The
Battle for the World’s
Vanishing Oil Resources
(Politico’s Publishing, 2007)
One of many books by veteran middle eastern journalist Dilip Hiro. Blood of the Earth depicts how the global quest for oil has shaped the human behavior, politics and warfare of today.
His history of oil sets the stage for the wars that will be fought in this century because of this finite resource.
Hiro describes how the switch from coal to oil just before WW1 changed the face of global politics. Oil has become the strategic goal of war because oil is so integrated into our daily lives from gas, fertilizers, plastics polyethylene and pharmaceuticals.
 The Modern Ayurvedic
(Arsenal Pulp, 2007)
This book by Amrita Sondhi is now in its second printing, and is a modern look at the 5,000-year old holistic healing tradition of Ayurveda from India. Of course India is also the birthplace of yoga in which physical and spiritual well-being is achieved by a number of sources, including a healthful diet.
The Modern Ayurvedic employs ancient wisdom that helps one determine what their body needs. Through a variety of questions, one determines their dosha. The dosha is described by being either air(vata), fire (pitta), and earth (kapha) and is determined by one’s individual mental and physical characteristics.
The beauty of this book is that it includes easy-to-find ingredients and modern-day cooking methods appropriate for busy lifestyles so that you can easily incorporate its recipes into your diet.
 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
(Raincoast, 2007)
Ok, it’s a little unusual for a book reviewer to cop to the fact he hasn’t read the book, but in this case, I have a good reason.
It’s because this novel, the seventh and final installment of the Potter saga, is being billed as "the greenest book in publishing history." Thanks to BC-based Markets Initiative, an organization that works to shift corporate demand to ecologically sustainable paper products, the latest Potter book is being published on eco-friendly paper in 16 countries. In Canada, Raincoast Books has released Potter VII on 100 percent post-consumer recycled stock.
This is huge and raises the bar considerably in the publishing world. In the recent past, eco papers such as tree-free were deemed too expensive to use by the book industry and consumers alike. As well, paper grades were not well developed. But thanks to Markets Initiative, with some help from Mr. Potter and his millions of readers, we predict there will be significant change in how many books will be published in the near future.
Hats off Harry.
www.raincoast.com
www.marketsinitiative.org
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