Veganism Books

Though I appreciate her effort to label each recipe, when appropriate, "wheat free," these wheat free recipes generally use spelt as a replacement. Though it is correct that spelt is not wheat, spelt does contain gluten, so these recipes, while more appropriate for those with a wheat intolerance, would not be appropriate for someone with Celiac disease.

I used her first cookbook quite a lot before needing to stop eating gluten because her muffin recipes, especially, were excellent. Admittedly, I haven't had much luck trying many recipes in this cookbook because of needing gluten-free recipes (not just wheat free) but I think this would be a good buy for vegans without other restrictions.

This book has a little of everything-- appetizers, soups, salads, main courses, side dishes, desserts and drinks. I love how it's organized, and I have had great success with many of the recipes.

The absolute best recipe in this book are the Chocolate Peanut Butter cookies. You need to buy this book for that recipe because they are SO GOOD!

I love dreena burton! She is so creative in the ingredients she uses and the dishes she creates. She has a lot of options with each recipe so you can keep your diet varied. I have only tried a few recipes, but the ones i have are great: several types of hummus, cashew-banana ice cream, and the maple pecan blondies.

I completely enjoy using this cookbook to discover new vegan recipes and learn new ways of looking at time tested ones. The recipes are generally very simple, easy-to-follow and very tasty.

My only wish is that she included more photos. Otherwise, it's a great cookbook for vegans and the folks who love them. I highly recommend it.

While I am not a vegan, I do dabble in vegan/vegetarian cooking. So far this cookbook has blown me away! The ingredients are focused on healthy fats and sugars and, of course, the emphasis on whole grains and organic veggies, which is really key for me. The Supercharge Me! cookies are mouth watering! They passed the "kid test" at home and with 2.5 grams of fiber per cookie, no proccessed sugar and loads of whole grain, passed the mom test also. :) Thank you Dreena for creating easy and delicious recipes!

Here's what I love about Dino Sarna's Alternative Vegan - everything. Seriously, Dino's voice comes through in the most unostentatious and entertaining way as he coaches me to make changes, take risks, use what I have, not trip to the grocery for some obscure ingredient. Got this but not that? Use what you have. Can't afford top of the line cookware? Join the club and get yourself some used stuff at a thrift store. Good food will result all the same.

Taking the theory Sarna provides and running with it has filled my home with spicy aromas, healthy meals, and a great deal of satisfaction. It's almost like Dino Sarna is standing behind me as I cook, shaking his head in approval, providing a guiding hand when needed.

This is way more than a collection of recipes. This is a collection of wisdom about the chemistry of food passed down from generations of Sarna's family. It's worth the price and then some. Get your copy. You will not regret it.

I would suggest that anyone on a vegan diet or just wishing to explore exotic cooking get this cookbook. This book focuses on vegan eating without all the soy-based prepacked "fake foods". Dino's writing is entertaining and will help relax you and make cooking a pleasure. All the recipes I have tried have been delicious.

If you've been frustrated by trying to find ingredients for vegan cooking at your local store, this can help. And so far, the recipes are good. I especially liked the black olive hummus with truffle oil. The banana bread wasn't quite as successful, but my bananas weren't ripe enough so that may have been part of the problem.

Simple and tasty recipes. I am in love. This book has become my go-to book when I'm wondering what to make for dinner.

My omnivorous husband professes to hate garbanzo beans. Over the weekend I made the dry cooked garbanzos (p.64). Yesterday I was rummaging through the fridge looking for the leftovers. He asked what I was looking for, I told him, and he said "Oh...yeah...I took that to work with me for lunch. It was really good."

Victory!

This book not only has a GREAT variety of vegan recipes, it also has great cooking tips on pot/pan selection, etc. AND, it don't tell you that you have to buy a $2,000 set of pans. It tells you how to do it inexpensively! AND, the author has a great sense of humor! Read it from Page ONE!!! If you are gluten intolerant, there are many recipes in here for you.

Capers in the Churchyard: Animal Rights Advocacy in the Age of Terror is a swift read, but a long mental journey. I feel the same sentiments as Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson when he writes in the book's foreward, "[The author, Lee Hall] thinks further than I have thought about certain areas, and I am thrilled to be able to follow her on this extraordinary mental adventure." Indeed, while reading the book, I was introduced to ways of thinking that are different from anything I have ever read in the literature, or heard at the conferences I've attended.

In this thin volume, Hall explores what the philosophy of animal rights was, is, and could potentially be. In Hall's view, the modern animal rights movement is actually an animal welfare movement in masquerade. For instance, the term `humane slaughter' is just as ironic as the idea that thousands of animals can be freed from cages each year only to be replaced by more animals in those very cages.

In a nutshell, Hall writes that "the guiding principle here isn't to help [animals], but to aspire not to interfere." If animals were not interfered with in the first place, they would not be subject to exploitation. The most basic step one can take to stop interfering with animals is to stop consuming animal products. The cessation of other interferences will soon follow. Essentially, Hall's vision is for the animal rights movement to become "the most comprehensive peace movement ever known."

One of the most striking points in the book is the idea that graphic images of animal exploitation serve to promote animal welfare not animal rights. The fact is we shouldn't need these graphic images to tell us all the horrors of animal use. All we need to know is that animals are being used against their will. And that is wrong.

Overall, of course, Hall denounces violence (unto other animals, unto other humans, unto ourselves, and unto the environment we all share). I fell right into stride with Hall on this idea. For those of us who don't feel we fit in with the passiveness of animal welfarists nor the violence of other activists, and who strictly oppose the exploitation of other beings, we have a comrade in Lee Hall.

This is absolutely the best book ever written on animal rights, what works and what does not. I rarely get speechless, but I don't know where to start (or stop) praising Lee Hall for outlining the path we must follow to achieve true abolition of humanity's custom of enslaving any beings defined as non-human.

But Capers in the Churchyard is much more than that. To quote Hall, "The advent of animal rights philosophy would mean the most comprehensive peace movement ever known. Not only would it turn swords into ploughshares; it would dedicate those ploughshares to an agriculture of peace."

I finished the book at 3 am --it was a page-turner. I just couldn't put it down. The book is really hard to discuss in detail within the confines of a brief summary, because every word of it deserves discussion. This book will clear away the convoluted notions that proliferate within the advocacy community. It will allow the reader to appreciate the simplicity and effectiveness of nonviolence. I plan to use it as a topic amongst animal-rights discussion fora; it will be my leading reference book.

Lee Hall is hope personified.


Chris Kelly

"[I]f any domination is reinforced so is the whole culture that's based on hierarchy and that teaches hierarchy," writes legal scholar and animal advocate Lee Hall, in Capers in the Churchyard: Animal Rights Advocacy in the Age of Terror. Released July 2006, Hall's book is essentially about domination and subordination (primarily of nonhumans, but also of human animals) that has become pervasive throughout the animal rights' movement.

Drawing a compelling comparison between the non-abolitionist sector of animal rights' activists-that is, those who do not ask for nonhuman animals' complete freedom-and those who use violence to attempt to achieve the end goal of animal rights, Hall's work states that neither of these groups believe true animal freedom can be achieved in our lifetimes. And that, apparently, is enough to give up on the goal of even working towards it.

Hall challenges those who believe violence works, asking, "Copying the activities of war-makers or soldiers forcing people to behave or not to behave in certain ways-this perpetuates the daily social control by some authoritative force. Other people are not the enemy of animal rights; if there is an enemy at all, it is the tendency to depersonalize them." In other words, violence has been the mainstream for so long that peace would be the truly revolutionary change.

Both participating in violent solutions and working towards getting animals' bigger cages are ways of working within the system. What we need is a radical change where hierarchies are abolished, whether that means man over woman, white over black, or human over nonhuman.

Does throwing a flower pot at a bunch of clerks or digging up a grave really work if our end goal is to eliminate hierarchies and the violence that contaminates them? Hall, and writer-psychologist Jeffrey Masson, who authored the book's foreword, do not believe so. Indeed, Masson writes, "I have an old and very strong opinion about emotions: they cannot be forced." Masson than goes on to say the best method for convincing others is persuasion. After all, if a person truly changes how he or she is thinking, he or she can convince others of what he or she has learned. "If he merely desists out of fear, he will not carry any kind of message to others, but will feel resentment, which is sure to find expression is some different act of cruelty."

Masson and Hall ask us to think seriously about the best in activism and how to model a completely new idea for others who might have never thought about it. When our own diets and our whole lives stand for treating others with respect, we are in the best position to convince others we're on to something big. -L.Long

Caper's in the Churchyard: Animal Rights in the Age of Terror is an almost masterpiece. I say almost ONLY because the book ended before I was ready; Lee Hall held my wrapt attention from Page 1.

Hall's book is so powerful and convincing in its analysis of the modern day animal rights movement that you'd be hard-pressed to find any glaring errors; she takes on the whole movement, and many of its Sacred Cows, to make the point that there really barely IS a rights movement; in the United States, at least, it's about welfare, not rights, and much of the sheer stupidity exhibited by many of those in positions of power and visibility within the movement do nothing more than mock the movement as a whole.

Much of this book is about violence, and how brutality in any of its manifestations is completely antithetical to animal rights. That's the part of this book that is stunningly brilliant. Hall minces no words in taking to task the multitudes who argue violence as a necessary form of direct action of behalf of animals. Hall instead argues that animal rights, by its very nature, is a peace movement. She is passionate, articulate and persuasive in making the case.

This book should be required reading for every person involved in the Animal Rights/Vegan community.

But I do have a complaint: Lee Hall does one heck of a job deconstructing the mess that is Animal Rights, but what she fails to do (and to be fair, doesn't attempt) is to outline what the movement could or should be. For me, this is a glaring omission. After feeling very inspired by her words, I found myself feeling very lost, too. Where do we go from here?

That said, this book impacted me more than any other book on the subject that I've ever read. Period. I'm crossing my finger's that Hall becomes a louder voice in a community full of loud-mouths---people who are more interested, it seems, in being provocative, shocking and offensive than in changing the course of public opinion.

Read this book. Please.

(Originally posted on SuperVegan.com)

Recent headlines bring news that attacks on laboratories by animal rights extremists in Britain have declined by as much as fifty percent in the past year. The reasoning for this is certainly complicated, but most definitely interesting to consider for those active in the animal rights movement. Shedding light on the issue of terrorism and animal rights is Lee Hall's new book Capers in the Churchyard: Animal Rights Advocacy in the Age of Terror (Nectar Bat Press, July 2006), with an introduction by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. Hall is the current legal director for the group Friends of Animals and authors the column, "Movement Watch."

While the book seems to meander between many topics in a somewhat unstructured manner, many of the topics take head on issues within the animal rights movement most are too cautious to approach. The subtitle of the book speaks to the larger issue on the minds of many as the terms terrorist and animal rights activist are all too commonly linked in the minds of those in government and the media. Though tactics such as boycotts, protests, and undercover investigations are by no means terrorist acts, other acts committed by certain groups and individuals with the clear intent of invoking fear, and arguably terror, in particular individuals to promote an animal rights agenda are causing this connection, an issue to which Hall's book speaks. By looking at the Newchurch, England campaign against a family-run farm where guinea pigs were breed which took place over a six-year span from which the book takes its title, as well as others, Hall questions some of the contradictions of the tactics of more aggressive campaigns.

Additionally, much of the controversy for Lee Hall comes from the reoccurring disagreements within the movement between the welfarist vs. abolitionist mentality. For example, the discussion of the use of birth control by the state to control the population of wild horses has brought divisive lines between the campaign work of groups such as Friends of Animals, arguably abolitionist, and the Humane Society, arguably welfarist. Hall writes, "The welfare group's agreement to add another layer of control over the animals without disturbing their valuation as resources distinguishes animal welfare management from an animal-rights approach." This is not to say that all of the topics addressed are boiled down to a polarity between these points, however it is clearly an issue of great contention and Hall addresses the issue on many different fronts throughout the book.

The book is a good read for those looking to examine tactics within the movement and consider what the larger implications of these campaign tactics may be beyond the particular campaign and how it may be perceived by those outside the movement. Though it's hard to imagine handing someone on the street the "Handy Pull-Out Guide to Animal Rights" and having the reader understand what it is we as a movement really want to happen and how, the point that the movement should have something so straight forward and handy is not lost. Book such as Hall's cause those of us within the movement to take the time to examine in what direction we are going and how best we might achieve the ends which we seek to achieve.

I read this book last year and it made an impact on me. Someone suggested I re-read it and I'm catching everything I didn't pay attention to last time. I've been in pain for 6 years with fibromyalgia. Medication has a place for some people but for me it just doesn't work. If you begin to understand disease really isn't as complicated as it's made out to be then you can begin to heal yourself.

The minimal price of this book could save you thousands of dollars in the future! The author, Keck-Borsits, gives the reader an alternative to throwing more money away on pills that don't work, on surgeries that leave you maimed, on doctors, potions, and lotions.

The real life stories and evidence speak volumes to this reader. If you or someone you know is suffering give this book a chance. This book contains practical advice on how to change your life through eating raw organic plant foods as well as by incorporating other principles of natural hygiene. The author emphasizes how important it is to listen to your own body and make changes you are comfortable with. I was truly educated by this book and moved by the author sharing her experience.

i need to get depo out of my system before i kill my self!!!!

This book is a real eye opener, thoroughly researched and well written. I would recomend it to anyone wanting to heal themselves of the many diseases that doctors create.

I found 'Dying to Get Well' a real eye-opener. If you are tired of being sick and want to get well the natural way, this book is a great start. I can see that Shelly has done a lot of research for this book. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to be in better health.

This book is very informative and also interesting to read. I would highly recommend adding this to your collection.

Finally a comprehensive and thorough text on everyday stuff us vegetarians and vegans need answers for. Davida has put together, what appears to me, to be the definitive work that doesn't get bogged down on the tediousness that most books on vegetarianism and veganism are clogged with. But, this is just like my opinion man.

An excellent place to get started, but also a fantastic resource for those who already live a life based in compassion. This makes a terrific book to keep in your reference library and also a good book to give as a gift. I'm buying a second copy in as many months because the last one went to a friend. An inexpensive investment in compassion.

This is a collection of questions sent to the Vegetarian Resource Group on all aspects of vegetarianism. They are grouped into categories like Vegetarianism in Daily Life, Nutrition, Food Ingredients, Travel and Restaurants, Cooking and Baking, Soy and Veggie Kids.

Here are a few examples of the questions answered in this book. Where can I find vegan marshmallows? At the moment, there aren't any. Is it true that Krispy Kreme donuts are vegan? No. Does guacamole contain gelatin? Some processed kinds do, but fresh guacamole is often gelatin-free. I just found out gummy bears are made with gelatin. Is there a veggie bear available? Yes. My daughter is raising her infant son on a vegan diet. Should I be worried? Not if the child is getting adequate nutrition. Why do people become vegetarian? Among the many reasons are dislike of meat, belief in non-violence, compassion for animals, and health, cological and religious concerns. Are there vegan flu vaccines? No, because vaccine materials are generally grown on egg-based media. Is photographic film really made of cow bones? Yes. Can I be a vegan and an athlete? Yes. Does bone china really have bones in it? Yes. Is tattoo ink vegan? Ask your tattooist.

The book also contains a number of vegetarian recipes, and has a large appendix including a quick guide to fast food, a senior's (and athlete's) guide to good nutrition, a feeding plan for infants and toddlers, and the protein content of selected fast foods.

This is an excellent one-stop resource for all things vegetarian. For anyone who wants to learn more about vegetarianism, or those who want to become vegetarians but don't how to go about it, start here. Even veggie veterans will learn a lot from this book. It is well worth reading.

Benjamin Zephaniah is simply amazing. This wonderful book provides all the reasons why people should be vegans. With levity and intelligence Benjamin wondrously writes about animal rights, ecology, reverence for all life, health and the paramount goal to live in a universally peaceful planet. This is a must read for children and adults who love animals and who want the world to become a more humane and less violent place.

I have had the 'privilidge' of seeing Benjamin Zephaniah preform live in manchester (uk) and to put it simply, he is an amazing preformer and an even better poet.
English poets usually have the 'white, middle class, conservative, generally boring' sterotype, but Zephaniah breaks this mold, his poems point out the political, social and personal problems in the modern world. I would greatly reccommend this book to anyone who likes quirky, left-wing poetry.

If anyone fancies themselves a "spiritual" "caring" and "compassionate" person who cares about the earth, but still eats meat : read this book!

If anyone out there wonders why all their spiritual seeking is fruitless and why humanity suffers continually and can never seem to evolve beyond frustration and chaos -- but you still eat meat: read this book!

If anyone is serious about doing all they can for their own health and the health of our environment, but still eats meat: read this book!

Jeff Popick weaves all the reasons that meat is devastating our planet, bodies, relationships, souls and connection to God into one digestible presentation. This book will challenge every root of hypocrisy holding you back from stepping forward into a bright and clean new world, and away from the suffering, violence and denial that has ruined paradise for us all.

Popick's theology may be flawed, but then again, this is not a book about heaven but about salvaging what little bit of paradise is left here on earth. He expresses so many of the concerns I have held about eating meat ever since I was a child and my parents insisted I eat that hamburger that was, a few days earlier, my cow in the pasture. He also addresses the trauma many junior high students experience the first time they have to cut up animal as a "learning experience" in biology class. I still remember how I dreaded that required lab when I was in school.

I have been a vegan for 12 years and when I went that route, I was warned I would lose my hair and die within a year. I feel better now than I ever have. Don't believe the garbage the meat industry is telling you. Animals do suffer tremendously so you can have a burger, and you don't need that bloody meat to survive.

Just buy the book. But you can get it a lot faster by going directly to his Web site, jeffpopick.com.

In a time when ethical nihilism seems rampant, this slim volume is a ray of hope. Moran investigates the history and modern day practice of ethical veganism, based firmly in compassion for all sentient life. People who are put off by the angry tone of some animal rights literature will find this book a welcome change: gentle, without compromising the animals' interests. Deservedly a classic.

I picked up a copy of this book in my local natural/organic supermarket. Wow. What a find. Dr. Pete goes through how to make just about everything I used to eat with tons of fat and butter in a totally vegan, heart-healthy way. His guide on living the heart healthy way is totally useful -- but the over 100 recipes that are heart healthy are TOTALLY unique and delicious. I love how the book lies flat for when I cook. Definitely a must have!

Not totally useless, but not nearly as great as I was expecting. The authors' cover photos make this cookbook seem like you'll be getting some real info and punk ethos along with your veganism, but instead we get incredibly basic information about what veganism is in the introduction (presented with a somewhat pious 'tude, imho, and the question, "what kind of vegan do YOU want to be?"), cutesy photos (yes, i get it, the irony, etc), and far too many recipes with "anything goes" in the name ("anything goes" stir fry, "anything goes" soup, "anything goes" etc.). For a much more interesting recipe selection and true punk vibe, do yourself a favor and check out Moskowitz and Romero's "Vegan with a Vengeance." This is the cookbook I keep going back to, and not just for the fantastic recipes. Isa Chandra Moskowitz cut her culinary teeth cooking for vegan cafes, Food Not Bombs, and soup kitchens in the late eighties and nineties on Manhattan's Lower East Side and she really takes you on a journey with her, supplying what I thought were very cool and inspiring suggestions along the way, such as "Start Your Own Public Access Show," "How to Start a Vegan Brunch Cafe," "Food Not Bombs," and other little snippets mixed in with the recipes that give it a very "how to change stuff without being all sanctimonious" vibe. By contrast, I found "How it all Vegan" to be kind of jr. high school and pretty dull, despite all the ink and piercings on the cover.

So I said in the title that this cookbook is reasonably good, and I think that pretty much sums it up. The recipes are not out-of-this-world in creativity or style, but they are pretty consistently good. My favorites include the shephard's pie, tortilla chip soup, and chocolate pudding cake. I would say this is a decent cookbook to turn to for vegan classics, but it's not going to knock your socks off with its innovative flavors. The recipes are reasonably straightforward and not overly time-consuming. They also do not require massive lists of specialty ingredients. I wish that the entree section were a little thicker; the cookbook is a little heavy on desserts and sides. It is a nice supplement to a vegan chef's library, but it would not be the first cookbook that I recommend you purchase (for that check out Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook).

I love how most of the recipes contain ingredients that are readily available. I've tried about 15 or so of the recipes and they have been wonderful! Great resource for new vegetarians!

This book is very educational!
If you are looking for new recipes to spruce up your vegan living, this might not be the book for you. But if you are just getting started, or just looking for a reference book, this one is great!
Lots of easy to find ingredients and easy to follow recipes.
I love the kids section!
And also the sections on massage oils, lotions and things like that.

I enjoy reading this book for fun. So far I made two recipes- a butternut squash, sweet potato, and apple soup and the vegan chicken salad. I've had great success with the soup (excellent combination of flavors!) and the chicken salad was popular at my office party. There are some cool non-recipe oriented tips in the back. The layout is attracive and the writers seem like fun. I suggest only that they get more varied graphics. They use the same vegetable graphics again and again.