Tales From High Mountain: Another Writer for Japan

Tara Austen Weaver is a writer, editor, and traveler. She's the author of The Butcher and the Vegetarian; she's a well-known and popular food blogger, and A.F. and I went to grad school with her, which is the least of her claims to fame. Some of my best memories of my MFA days are reading Tara's seamless prose about food and family in Japan, and so it is with excitement that we introduce her latest book, TALES FROM HIGH MOUNTAIN, which we know is going to be gorgeous. In it, Tara writes about her life in Japan where she lived for five years, and the beautiful people she encountered. The best part? The proceeds from this book go to rebuilding Japan.

Says Tara: "I’m sending the little book I’ve written out into the world. It’s not the full story of my five years in Japan—just the first part (if there is interest, I will continue it). I’m selling it as a fundraiser, to raise money to continue supporting people who have had their lives shattered. A portion of the money will be donated directly to organizations doing work in the earthquake zone, a portion I may use to put in place some morale boosting efforts. There will be more information about that in the next month or so, along with some creative ways you may be able to participate (this could be fun!). They have to do the hard work of rebuilding, but we can cheer them along, remind them of hope and kindness."

We don't often say "hey, buy this!" on our blog - actually we never say that - but this project is dear to our hearts, because we know Tara, and we also know that people are suffering from disaster fatigue in a big way. Sometimes it seems like, "Dear God, what now?" but you know what? It's better to light that candle than to say, "I can't think about hurting people anymore." One small thing you can do, that you already love to do, is read. And book talk.

Will you sharethis link on your blog? Please click through to the blog post to look at Tara's amazing photography and find the link to purchase. TALES FROM HIGH MOUNTAIN is available for Kindle, in .pdf form, and Tara will list it for Nook if anyone is interested. Please, pass the word along. Keep the candle lit. Thanks.