Sue Hubbell (1935–2018)

Every living thing on the planet has been genetically modified. Each generation forces changes on the next. Most of the time, this modification is natural and inevitable, but sometimes a helping hand intervenes. Ever since humans learned how to grow food, they have been selectively breeding crops that begat more and more resources. In Shrinking the Cat, Sue Hubbell looks at the history of genetic engineering through four species—the corn plant, the silkworm, the cat, and the apple—to get show more a better sense of the ethics and benefits of human tinkering.

Hubbell’s dubs the human race homo mutabilis: human that changes things. We cannot help but modify our environment to suit our needs, but so does every other animal (although not nearly on the scale that we have). Each living thing has found a way, at least for now, to sustain itself, grow, and proliferate. But human intelligence has allowed us to change more than just the environment; we can change the core of things. Hubbell’s look at a few modified organisms gives us a chance to step back and assess how those changes have affected the present. The hybridization and genetic modification of corn has led to disease-resistant strains and high-yield crops, but basically inaugurated the age of corn syrup. Breeding silkworms to produce a good amount of fiber kick-started trade between Asia and Europe.

Genetic engineering has been around for ages, but only now are we doing it more precisely and more deliberately. Those who oppose genetically-modified organisms will be hard-pressed to find something that isn’t modified in some way, but do have valid concerns about the possible side effects of said modifications. Hubbell’s book tries to create a more balanced picture of genetic modification by giving a deeper historical context and interesting connections to sociology, art, and anthropology. This book is short enough to keep your attention, but does well not to become a sermon on the “good of science.” All in all, quick and enlightening read. show less

I enjoyed "A Country Year" more than "A Book of Bees", but that is probably because I don't know a thing about raising honeybees or taking care of their hives, which seems to entail a lot work with energy I don't have. All the detailed explanations and descriptions of the ins-and-outs of hive management was very difficult to follow along. I'm one who would need to watch a video before diving into a hobby like this, but she does tell you just about everything you need to know to understand show more the interesting nature of bees as well. After watching a video for better understanding of hive management, I would definitely come back to this book for another read, which should be on every beekeepers bookshelf.

In "A Country Year", the author tells little short stories of her experiences and lessons learned from nature while harvesting honey from her honeybees on her, roughly, 100 acre farm in the Ozarks in Missouri. Although 50 years old and just divorced, she hardly lets you in on the details of her starting over on her own, or even the hardships. She's a very fluid writer.

Her father, a botanist, taught her to love, care, appreciate, and have great respect for all things in nature. This book is more about that appreciation and love for nature, which is why I really enjoyed it. A part of her personality is just like mine. She loves weeds, and so do I. When we come across an unfamiliar weed or insect, we both go to extremes to find out what it's all about. Is it native? Is it beneficial? For whom or what? What is its purpose? We want to know everything about it, and then...let it be.

One of her long time friends was a botanist and an artist who liked to draw the wildflowers or weeds that she came across to help her remember the details about them. A great idea, and something I would love to start doing. It's about slowing down. show less

When I ran into my 8th grade biology teacher about a month and a half ago (my favorite science teacher of all time, hands down), we naturally had a discussion combining the subjects that we teach: science and literature. Once we professed our mutual love for Barbara Kingsolver, she recommended Sue Hubbell to me.
What an awesome book. Maybe I appreciate it more because she reflects on life in the Ozarks and observes the flora and fauna I'm familiar with, but her calm and intriguing style is show more accessible to all. I say anyone who has lived in Missouri should read this book in order to either acquaint themselves with the natural habitat or to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation for the state. She loves and is acutely aware of her surroundings--bees, fixing trucks, dogs-domestic and wild, termites, Good Old Boys and Simple Lifers, copperheads vs. cottonmouths, carpentry, chicken telepathy, serviceberry, water politics, just to name a few. This is an easy-going read with easy-going language and chapters of easy-going length. And while she wrote this coming out of a divorce, she examines her connection as a strong and independent woman to the natural world rather than taking on an "Oh, God, what do I do now?" stance, which I also appreciated.
You should read it. show less

” Living in a world where the answers to questions can be so many and so good is what gets me out of bed and into my boots every morning.”

A Country Year is a simple little memoir that I couldn’t put down, an endearing telling of an everyday life lived by an older woman whose child was grown and gone, and whose husband had also left. About her dogs, her chickens, and especially her bees, the little vignettes made me smile. Learning to make do on her own, sifting through her husband’s show more abandoned tools, sorting the hardware into “Round Things” and “Things That Fasten Other Things Together in Unusual Ways”, she takes us into her mind and her days as a beekeeper in the Ozarks of Missouri. She sorts through her surroundings as she sorted her tools, and reading about her study of the hills and trees, insects and animals in her world made for a sweet nature read. Ruminating on older women in our society:

” We have Time, or at least the awareness of it. We have lived long enough and seen enough to understand in a more than intellectual way that we will die, and so we have learned to live as though we are mortal, making our decisions with care and thought because we will not be able to make them again. Time for us will have an end; it is precious, and we have learned its value.” show less