The sub-title of this engaging true story is ‘Two dudes, one fry-oil-powered car, and a cross-country search for a greener future’.

The car? -  a beat-up 1985 Mercedes diesel station wagon converted to handle restaurant vegetable oil grease.

The two dudes? – a journalist and an old college buddy.

The greener future? – the author (the journalist) takes on ‘errands’ to search out a variety of things like ‘the ultimate green home’ (Hint: it is not Al Gore’s 10,000 sq.ft. home); ‘the future of wind power’; ‘the headquarters of Google; and ‘whether there is such a thing as a ‘green’ Wal-mart’?

In addition to the central question – ‘Can these two old friends drive from Vermont to California in a French fry oil car, picking up grease along the way?’ – there is a second important question – ‘Can they survive 192 consecutive hours together?’

The P’lovers Book club found there were times when everyone laughed out loud as a result of some of the situations these two guys found themselves in…and there were other times when we all said we learned a lot. The end result is that this is a book that entertains while it instructs…and it makes you think that there may be solutions to the environmental mess we’ve created. [$21.95]

Carl Honore explores negative the consequences of society’s tendency to go fast – whether driving or eating or waiting for a web-site to load – and then introduces readers to the alternative…the Slow Movement. He argues that ‘fast is busy, controlling, aggressive, hurried, analytical, stressed, superficial, impatient, active, quantity-over-quality. Slow is the opposite: calm, careful, receptive, still, intuitive, unhurried, patient, reflective, quality-over-quantity.’

The Slow Movement started with food but has spread to everything from cities and medicine to sex and work. The book has chapters devoted to different aspects of the slow movement.

The P’lovers Book Club members loved this book, claiming that (a) it has almost displaced Three Cups of Tea as their favourite and (b) it has encouraged each person to examine their lives and make some changes to be able to savor experiences. [$22.00]

Chosen for Oprah’s Book Club, ‘A New Earth’ explores the damage that can be done by one’s ego and how transcending one’s ego can enhance personal happiness and end conflict and suffering throughout the world. This book provoked a lively discussion at the P’lovers Book Club – people felt it was an important book to have read and to be constantly reminded of in our day-to-day lives. [$15.50]