Greetings All! Im so glad you all enjoyed reading this book together, a reading group of just regular non-gardening people may have not been able to identify so well with Dorothys triumphs and failures in the garden. Weve all been there one way or another. Martie, you bring up an interesting point on the money issue. I know many gardeners here who have seemingly no budgetary constraints, and can basically do whatever they wish, whenever they wish..since my garden is small I have the ability to budget for it , but only so far. I often dream up very grandiose plans I would execute if I had the funds. Instead I modify these plans to fit in with my budget. I was always a little envious of friends I knew as a child who had "playhouses". My vision of the perfect Little House now involves a porch-like Dorothys, windows, and a small greenhouse attached. My initial reaction to the Fred chapter was a bit different from some of you---I found Norah to be a wholly unsympathetic character- self-absorbed and unfriendly. I would never let one of my children talk me into planting something in the wrong location , and in any case I think they would defer to my experience and not insist on a bad plant decision. I guess Dorothy did not want to rock the boat. Having said that, Dorothy wrote the Fred chapter and must know how unflattering it was to Norah. Is this why you found it manipulative Woody ? One thing that I often lost sight of while reading is the fact that this garden was for the most part, a vacation home . This was not their primary residence , and this really makes Dorothy something of a part-time gardener. Could you ever envision yourself as apart-time gardener? Not me. If I had two houses, Id have two gardens. Maryglad you posted ! And you story of your Grandfather was wonderful, thanks for sharing it with us. As we continue to discuss this book I am pondering what we might like to read next. I have a couple of ideas, but am wondering if any of you would like to put forth a suggestion ? I am still favoring the idea of not starting our new book till after Christmas-I will have company and Im sure many of you will too-it gets pretty hectic and want this to be a leisurely read, not a stressful one . Be back tomorrow ! Kathy in Napa

Excellent thread! I am a person who turns to books when I want to understand something, so I have a number of suggestions to throw out: First, I'll second what another poster said: Make Your House Do the Housework (Don Aslett) is a great book. Written by a man who's made his living as a custodian, he points out ways to design your house so that less cleaning is needed. I've incorporated some of these things into my current house, but other ideas are really only practical during a new build or remodel. Incidentally, I have not adopted any method of keeping my chairs off the floor. To give an example of his ideas: He suggests that you should limit the number of entrances to your house; the theory being that it's easier to sweep one really dirty entrance than three slightly dirty entrances. Also, he says that every entrance should include a good, long doormat -- one that'll require 5-6 steps -- this keeps the dirt at the entrance rather than allowing it in the house. He wrote a couple other books, which I also read, but this one beats them all. Most recently I've been reading Designing Your Perfect House by William J Hirsch, Jr. I'm not done yet, so I can't really give a complete run-down of it. It's about typical pitfalls and mistakes that people make in design planning. He begins with a good bit of philosophy of architecture, which is new to me, and I'm still digesting that part. It's a good book, and by the time I'm done I think I'll say that it's well worth the time. Not long ago I read Better Houses, Better Living: What to Look for When Buying, Building or Remodeling by Myron E Ferguson. I highly recommend the book. The author is an engineer who worked in the construction field for decades. This very informative book helps with basics like how to decide where to situate your house on a piece of land, and it also discusses details that'll annoy you forever like dishwashers in the corner, doors that open across one another, and light switches located behind doors. He has attached a multitude of photographs to illustrate the problems that you want to avoid (or the proper scenerios that you wish to create). You absolutely should read this book; if it helps you zero in on just 2-3 details in your house that would've caused you trouble, it's worthwhile. In reality, you'll find more. His book isn't particularly easy to obtain; I read about it, but I couldn't find it in bookstores and Amazon was sold out. I had to wait for them to restock. If you find yourself in a similar situation, you can make the waiting easier by reading his blog online. Being a teacher, I have to say, however, that this book deserves an A for content and a D for the writing. Mr. Ferguson knows his stuff, but he is tremendously disorganized in his writing. The book could've been 100 pages shorter, had he chosen not to return to the same topics over and over again. Also he tends towards wordiness and frequently makes grammar mistakes. I know that I read one particular sentence a dozen times (it contained multiple negatives), and I never did figure out what it meant. He really should've employed a writer to help him. Earlier this year I read The Construction of Houses, Fourth Edition on my Kindle. Author: Duncan Marshall. It was a free Kindle book, but it helped me understand things like foundations, trusses, support beams, and so forth -- things that really matter a great deal. Now when I look at floor plans, I understand why things are drawn as they are and why certain things really can't be moved around here or there. It's dry as dirt, but I do recommend it. About two years ago I became enthralled with the The Not So Big House series by Sarah Susanka. She also has a blog online. I bought her entire series (used from ebay -- they're not new books) and enjoyed them all, though they do become a bit repetitive. I agree completely with her main theme, which is that we should build houses only after considering exactly what we need and want from those houses. She advocates building well for your everyday needs rather than stretching your budget to include seldom-used formal living rooms, dining rooms and their ilk. She also discusses in detail how human beings like "cozy spots" -- spaces within spaces -- such as window seats, nooks, areas with dropped ceilings, etc. And she advocates the concept of having "away rooms" that will provide for quiet. Much discussion on trusses and garages and how they've led to houses "looking bigger". I like the exercises that she proposes in her books; for example, she tells you to come up with a list of adjectives you'd want to describe your house. When I realized I was writing words like cozy, homey, light-filled, cottage-like . . . I knew I should stay away from modern, dramatic, show-y and so forth. Another exercise tells you to make a list of all the activities you expect a certain room to support; this helps you decide how you want to use your space. For example, some of us might say that our bedrooms are JUST for sleeping and dressing. Other people might say, no, I want to include a spot for drinking morning coffee and watching the news, I want a small writing desk, and I want storage space for a collection of music boxes. Thinking these things through helps you get your rooms right. Warnings: I find it ironic that her "not so big" floorplans are all larger than any houseplan I've considered. This is a definite must-read, though you should not come into this book thinking that smaller house = less money. Her ideas are expensive to incorporate. Okay, I'm branching out a bit, but when I looked at my house-building shelf, I saw Landscaping With Fruit by Lee Reich. I do recommend this book as well. The author gives a very basic run-down of how to go about choosing trees and bushes that'll provide you with shade, seasonal color and also food. Good discussions on just what will/won't grow in your location. Now that we've picked the site for our house, I am planting pecan trees soon (because they take so very long to "take hold" and begin to produce). I recently bought Designing Your Dream Home: Every Question to Ask, Every Detail to Consider, and Everything to Know Before You Build or Remodel by Susan Lang. I'm not into it yet, but I think it's going to be much like Ferguson's Better Houses, Better Living. That is, descriptions of pitfalls and mistakes that often occur simply because people didn't think things through. I look forward to reading it. One last book on my bookshelf deserves a few words here, but this book I do not recommend: Eat In Kitchens by Catherine Warren Leone. You might enjoy this book if you are completely unfamiliar with kitchens and want an overview of what might be included in such a room. On the other hand, since you very likely are familiar with things like ranges, islands, tile, windows and sinks, you are not likely to actually learn a single thing from this book. She presents many pretty pictures (though not nearly so many as you can see for free on Houzz or similar websites), and she gives mind-boggling facts such as sinks are available in single, double, or triple bowl models -- but she doesn't give any help on why a person would choose one over the other. You could literally learn just as much by walking through Lowe's Home Improvement. I bought this book (used for $3 -- waste of my $3) thinking that it'd help me with appropriate choices and dimensions for an eat-in kitchen. Nope. I think I have a couple other books that might be helpful, but they're not in the right spot on my bookcase, so I can't locate them right now. When I find them -- probably under my bed or sofa -- I'll come back and give you a description.

What makes me chuckle when reading this thread is how often book clubs are reading the same books. Fall to Your Knees, The Memory-Keeper's Daughter, Wicked, A Fine Balance (which I loved) Water for Elephants, etc. and I've noticed this in other bookclub-themed threads. My club is 5-6 years old; most of us make a sometimes herculean effort to finish the book out of respect for the person who chose it (though every book we read has been voted on) as well as knowing that the discussion doesn't have a snowball's chance of success if the book hasn't been read. Personally, I could not finish "Seabiscuit" to save my life as I kept falling asleep while reading it. "A Beautiful Mind" was our inaugural book and nearly did our club in as almost noone could finish it. "Wicked" was also an unpopular choice with a number of members not finishing it and so was almost impossible to discuss which I found disapointing. We all read "Crossing to Safety" and enjoyed trashing it, unlike most other clubs who loved it. By and large, our best discussion come when any or all of these factors come into play: most, if not all, members have read the book; the designated discussion leader has come PREPARED with questions, background info, etc.; the book actually has some meat to discuss (please don't ever make me read Sophie Kinsella again); and the book isn't universally liked by the members. My club just had a terrific discussion using "TMKD." Even though I didn't find it well-written, it resonated with our group and had some grist for the mill. So--yes, I usually try to finish up the book, even if it is just a cursory and skimming read. I also thought "The Little Children" was an awful book with flat characters and a nonsense story line and I would have to be "locked in" somewhere to re-read and discuss it. On the other hand, my clubs meets in restaurants for dinner and drinks and I have no doubt that some late nights, the restauranteur would like to lock us out...

Annie, here is our complete list from the 2015 'season' with my assessments:) The Boston Girl - didn't finish it, so boring and cliche I could not take it anymore after first few chapters The Martian - LOVED it! Definitely recommend for a book club; you need not have a smidgeon of technology interest or know how to get sucked into this well written story A Manual for Cleaning Women - I was the only one who finished this book; well written but one of the most depressing books I've read in years (it was my book too!) The Last Chinese Chef - excellent; nice blend of easy reading with some good solid thematic work on families, culture clash, belonging and finding one's passion In the Midst of Life - also very good; a somewhat challenging to find book written by a woman who was a nurse in England in the 50s-60s; deals with death and has a lot of wisdom and a very common sense though caring voice The Nightingale and The Girl on the Train - both popular fave choices. Detested The Nightingale, what a potboiler (romance novelist does WWII, nuff said). Enjoyed TGOT but it was pure formula, done well but nothing to write home about Turn Right at Machu Picchu - wonderful, wasn't at all sure I wanted to read it but a great mix of travel, history and a very funny wry narrating voice