Butterflygardener...I too had that problem with The Orchid Thief. I felt it lacking in many ways. I did love the history part of Florida. I want to read The Swamp which is supposed to be superb.

I finished The Grail Bird, about the ivory billed woodpecker rediscovery, a few weeks ago. I highly recommend this book.

Misti, It is funny. While reading, I so thought of you with your great wildlife pics!
Kat

This is a fun topic. I used to read a lot but have not had time recently. This reminded me of a great gardening mystery series I found in the Library, years ago. They are by - Ann Ripley. The first one is called "Mulch" It was about a gardener who stumbles on a mystery of a murder. It was great fun reading. I read a few of the next books she wrote as well. I would be curious to see if any of you have discovered this author.

Gabriele

I've been reading "Seads of Change," but it frustrates me. I can handle popularizations of science and history, if the science and history are good...but too much of this book is bad science.

Just finished reading all (except biography - "Sport of Queens") of Dick Francis' work. Has been quite a challenge, and one that took me 25 years to complete! Dick Francis' books are mysteries that all tie into the sport of horse racing in Britain.

I find authors that I like, then read all their work, and have started running out of books (is that possible?)

A couple new authors I have found have been very interesting:

- Kelly Jones - "The Seventh Unicorn" This fiction book is based on 6 French tapestries from medieval times, the author weaves a mystery around the possible existence of a 7th tapestry. Quite an education in art history and medieval artifacts.

- A J Hartley - "The Mask of Atreus" Another fiction mystery book based on history. This one involves Greek antiquities and Nazi Germany.

I've also recently enjoyed Nora Roberts' "Garden Trilogy" - most enjoyable was that the story is based in a Victorian home with it's own history and the nursery/greenhouse operation that is also on the property.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris.

Am I the only one who likes Vampire books? This is a Southern Vampire Novel (that's what the cover says:) Girl who is telepathic and works as a waitress meets vampire. Everyone thinks she is crazy because she is continually trying to block the thoughts of others which makes her appear confused. Saves the vamps life and he owes her a favor. Her grandmother belongs to a Women's Confederacy group,the Descendants of the Glorious Dead, and would like the vampire to come and give a talk on the Confederacy to her lady friends since he was in the war before he became a vampire. Very entertaining but no plants in this one I am afraid. Pat

Seeds of Change - I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who thinks this is bad science. And maybe questionable history too. The original copyright is 1985 but it reads more like 1958.

Vampire books - yeah I like them too but am often disappointed. I guess I like the idea, but don't find much that lives up to my expectations. I thought The Vampire Lestat was great, but found almost everything else she wrote kind of whiney. I'll be looking for Dead Until Dark! No plants? Not even wolfbane or garlic???

Re: Vampire books... I read Anne Rice through to "Servant of the Bones" and quit then when I decided my brain was getting too warped. Did the same thing a few years back when I spent a year reading all of Stephen King & Joseph Wambaugh - too much creepy evil for a while... Spent the next year reading Harlequin romances (laughing smiley here)

Zozzl, I ahve the sequil to that, and have never managed to find the first one, so haven't read it yet.
Christopher Moore (A very favorite writer) has a very funny vampire novel called "Bloodsucking Fiends." If you are looking for more firmly vampish vampire novels, I recomend Chelsea Quinn Yarboro's "Le Compt de Saint Germain," books, or Fred Saberhagen's Dracula books. I like vampire books!

Solstice, I couldn't agree more. Read like it was written in the 1950's. "The Botony of Desire," or "In Praise of Plants," do a much more creditable job.

Ambersky, I have read one by Christopher Moore about Christmas where zombies arise from the dead. It was very funny even though it was at Christmas time. An Angel sent from Heaven at Christmas time misunderstands the wish of a human and mistakenly reanimates dead people (Angels apparently take things very literally). I'll have to get some of his others. I finished the Dead Until Dark book and I am going to get her others as well as more Christopher Moore books.

I guess everyone knows that with the Orlando Public Library you can order your books online and they will deliver them to your house free of charge? Best use of my tax money I think.

http://www.ocls.lib.fl.us/flashDefault.asp?bhcp=1

Kate & ladywingr, I like the more modern vamp novels that don't have pages of long,tedious description and explanations. Anne Rice is great but I think she gets so into it she thinks it is real:)

Pat

Oh, "The Stupidest Angel!" That Angel is from "Lamb" (my very favorite!) and the town and characters are from "The Lust Lizard of Melencholy Cove," which was my introduction to Moore. If you like him, I also recomend Neil Gaiman. He's a totally stellar writer.

I am reading anything and everything "Florida". Right now it is Edna Buchanan's mystery novel "Garden of Evil".

She mentions African dust blowing across the Atlantic and coming down in Miami. Have you experience this dust?

Hey Ambersky,

I ordered some more C. Moore books and a Gaiman from the library. I also want to read 'Target Underwear in a Vera Wang Dress'. I saw it over at the Target Store. Sometimes I just look through what they have at Target and other stores to see what looks good, but I am too cheap to pay for them:) I do that at Costco too, look at what bestsellers have come out and then get them from the libary. I do buy the Harry Potters because I just love them. You can sign up early at the library even before a book has come out and get the book very quickly when it hits the shelves. Pat

I can see my local branch of the library from my front porch, and they have a great on-line catalog, so like you, I see a book I want, then order it to my branch.

And yes, the Harry Potter books are just really good!

I reread HP and the HBP the other day. Can't wait for the next one. Also just finished The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery.

Florah: We just had a dust storm a few weeks ago that left us some beautiful sunsets.

I must admit I have not had a lot of time lately to read many books. I go through my garden magazines and I read the little Woman's World Mag, but I spend most of my time working on several novels I am writing along with creating more chapters for my children's geography series. It is more fun to me to create my own works than to read others. I envy those of you who have the time. I used to read almost non stop before I began writing. Happy reading and enjoy hearing what you think about different books. Still take time to read my Emily Dickenson poetry. Linda

Oh, that's an interesting twist to the topic, Linda.

How many of you love poetry? And for those who do, whom is your favorite poet?

I'm a Walt Whitman girl, myself. Swiftly followed by Edna St Vincent Milay. Uncle Walt has held my hand though many a dark hour.

I'm not a huge poetry fan, but I always loved the poems of Rilke and Pasternak (yes, the Dr. Zivago guy).

Here's a little sample of Rilke so you can see why I like his poems.

Black Cat

A ghost, though invisible, still is like a place
your sight can knock on, echoing; but here
within this thick black pelt, your strongest gaze
will be absorbed and utterly disappear:

just as a raving madman, when nothing else
can ease him, charges into his dark night
howling, pounds on the padded wall, and feels
the rage being taken in and pacified.

She seems to hide all looks that have ever fallen
into her, so that, like an audience,
she can look them over, menacing and sullen,
and curl to sleep with them. But all at once

as if awakened, she turns her face to yours;
and with a shock, you see yourself, tiny,
inside the golden amber of her eyeballs
suspended, like a prehistoric fly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ranier Maria Rilke's poems

Solstice, that is georgous! I didn't know I liked Rilke.

I like reading through my own gardening journal and my favorite reading is actually this gardenweb.

I agree with Kate, Rilke is one of my favs too:

The Panther

His gaze, going past those bars, has got so misted
with tiredness, it can take in nothing more.
He feels as though a thousand bars existed,
and no more world beyond them than before.

Those supply powerful paddings, turning there
in tiniest of circles, well might be
the dance of forces round a center where
some mighty will stands paralyticly.

Just now and then the pupils' noiseless shutter
is lifted. - Then an image will indart,
down through the limbs' intensive stillness flutter,
and end its being in the heart.

[Rainer Maria Rilke]

Here is a link that might be useful: Der Panther

O gosh. I am so full of responses. And so glad I happened to tune in to this. I have long loved Rilke yet am focused more now on Mary Oliver. Since it's August, I'll repeat her August poem, although I think I posted it once before. I re-read it over and over and never tire of it.

(from her Pulitzer Prize-winner *American Primitive*, 1978.)

August

When the blackberries hang
swollen in the woods, in the brambles
nobody owns, I spend

all day among the high
branches, reaching
my ripped arms, thinking

of nothing, cramming
the black honey of summer
into my mouth; all day my body

accepts what it is. In the dark
creeks that run by there is
this thick paw of my life darting among

the black bells, the leaves; there is
this happy tongue.

But, I came to Conversations to talk about a novel and ask if anyone has read or is reading it. It is *Angle of Repose* by William Stegner. I have been mesmerized by Stegner's skill in describing the environment in which scenes take life. Most always his way of talking about the environment is a subtle telling of the underpinning psychic state of Susan, the grandmother through whose eyes we see the world. He is a poet writing a novel.

Right now I am particularly fascinated that Oliver, her un-eastern, "unpolished" (in her eyes) engineer husband, who is practical, creative and consistently true to himself, takes on growing rose gardens for her in the desert, searching out the most unique barerooted roses around the United States in the earliest days of settling the west. There is such a discussion waiting to happen about their unhappy yet interesting relationship. I hope some of you have read it. I'd love to know how you see it.
-Arabesque

Okay, I don't do deep, meaningful,thoughtful poetry, BUT....

1 L lama he's a priest,
2 LL llama he's a beast, but..
I will bet a silk pajama there isn't any
3 LLL lllama....

Ogden Nash:)

Pat

It's hard for me to find just a piece of Whitman to share, but here is one that I love.

The Dalliance of Eagles - Walt Whitman

SKIRTING the river road, (my forenoon walk, my rest,)
Skyward in air a sudden muffled sound, the dalliance of the eagles,
The rushing amorous contact high in space together,
The clinching interlocking claws, a living, fierce, gyrating wheel,
Four beating wings, two beaks, a swirling mass tight grappling, 5
In tumbling turning clustering loops, straight downward falling,
Till oer the river poisÂd, the twain yet one, a momentÂs lull,
A motionless still balance in the air, then parting, talons loosing,
Upward again on slow-firm pinions slanting, their separate diverse flight,
She hers, he his, pursuing. 10

Ah, Romance!

Kat-butterflygardener,

I am reading 'The Orchid Thief' right now (on your recommendation). It is absolutely fascinating, especially since I am very interested in Florida history.

When I bought a Wanda orchid in a small nursery in Leesburg, the nice lady mentioned ominously that Orchid growers and collectors inhabit a very special world. Now I understand what she meant with her warning.

I would definitely recommend this biography.

Ah Amber, what majesty and excitement in that kind of rush of words and energy! ;)

Here's the middle section of Humpbacks, a Mary Oliver poem for anyone who loves the ocean and whales. It's hard to detach it from the rest which is so worth the read. (from American Primitive)

HUMPBACKS
(4th section)

Three of them
rise to the surface near the bow of the boat,
then dive
deeply, their huge scarred flukes
tipped to the air.

We wait, not knowing
just where it will happen; suddenly
they smash through the surface, someone begins
shouting for joy and you realize
it is yourself as they surge
upward and you see for the first time
how huge they are, as they breach,
and dive, and breach again
through the shining blue flowers
of the split water and you see them
for some unbelievable
part of a moment against the sky -
like nothing you've ever imagined -
like the myth of the fifth morning galloping
out of darkness, pouring
heavenward, spinning; then

they crash back under those black silks
and we all fall back
together into that wet fire, you
know what I mean.

Ah Amber, what majesty and excitement in that kind of rush of words and energy! ;)

Here's the middle section of Humpbacks, a Mary Oliver poem for anyone who loves the ocean and whales. It's hard to detach it from the rest which is so worth the read. (from American Primitive)

HUMPBACKS
(4th section)

Three of them
rise to the surface near the bow of the boat,
then dive
deeply, their huge scarred flukes
tipped to the air.

We wait, not knowing
just where it will happen; suddenly
they smash through the surface, someone begins
shouting for joy and you realize
it is yourself as they surge
upward and you see for the first time
how huge they are, as they breach,
and dive, and breach again
through the shining blue flowers
of the split water and you see them
for some unbelievable
part of a moment against the sky -
like nothing you've ever imagined -
like the myth of the fifth morning galloping
out of darkness, pouring
heavenward, spinning; then

they crash back under those black silks
and we all fall back
together into that wet fire, you
know what I mean.

Right now I'm reading "The Omnivore's Dilema," by Pollan, who is also the author of "The Botany of Desire." Once again he has written a book that I just can't put down.
Give it 50 pages and see if it doesn't hook you, too.

Pollan's book has received excellent and interesting reviews. I want to read it but was waiting for the less expensive soft-cover version! I LOVED Botany of Desire.

The Orchid Thief was great! I read lots of books on cottage decorating, cottage gardens, roses, herbs, gardening and fiction as well as inspiring books. Oh yea, books on crocheting and embroidery or shell and other crafts too. Right now I just finished 'The Things We Do For Love' by Kristen Hannah and 'Like a Watered Garden' by Patti Hill. I'm also reading 'The Successful Herb Gardener' by Sally Roth, 'Herbs and Spices for Florida Gardens' by Monica Moran Brandies, and 'It's Not About Me' by Max Lucado.

I just got my first library card a couple of years ago and love going there to see what interesting and inspiring books I can find. I usually just go down the rows, looking at titles and pull ones out that interest me then read the inside cover to see if I want to check it out.

I will have to see if I can find some of the titles you all have mentioned here.

FlowerLady

Finished recently - The Book of Salt, by Monique Truong. This first novel received well-deserved high praise. It is a sad, imaginative, beautifully written and fascinating story spun from a quotation concerning an ad for a cook that Monique Truong came across in an Alice B. Toklas' cookbook. The story is the Vietnamese cook's, and intertwines his life with observations on the life and characters of Gloria Stein and Alice B. Toklas during the years they lived in Paris.

I am reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera now and plan The Botany of Desire for the next read after this one.
-Arabesque

I just finished 'Theodore Roosevelt: River of Doubt' and really enjoyed it. Then I started 'The Devil in the White City' - a true story about a serial killer during the Chicago Worlds Exposition around the turn of the century. Fascinating and creepy. Interesting stuff there about Olmsted, the landscape god.

Here's an interesting thing I just read about Frederick Law Olmsted. You may have thought he was famous just for Central Park and other parks and grounds in the north east, but he made his mark in Chicago too.

"When you go to the local state or county fair you probably at one point or another make your way to the midway with its carnival rides, sideshows, and games of chance. Did you know that the origin of the term "midway" can be traced to the work of Frederick Law Olmsted? In 1870 the South Park Commission of Chicago hired Olmsted to plan a large park stretching inland from Lake Michigan. Olmsted envisioned two main divisions. The Lower Division (today's Jackson Park) would focus on a lagoon and the Upper Division (today's Washington Park) would center on a large open meadow. Connecting the two would be a 600-foot-wide (200-meter-wide) strip of land with trees and footpaths on either side of a waterway that would run down the middle. Olmsted called this strip of land the Midway Plaisance.
The great Chicago fire of 1871 prevented Olmsted's plan from being carried out. But two decades later when he was asked to provide the design for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Olmsted incorporated his Midway Plaisance into that design. This time, though, the narrow connector would not serve as a quiet peaceful transition from one section of a park to another but instead would serve as the entertainment district for the exposition. Olmsted wanted to concentrate the noisy and disturbing attractions there so as not to take away from the grand park-like atmosphere of the rest of the grounds. Visitors went to the Midway Plaisance to ride the world's first Ferris wheel, see exotic dancers perform, cheer on Harry Houdini, and sample Juicy Fruit and Cracker Jacks for the first time. Thus the use of the term "midway" for (as Webster's dictionary states) "an avenue at a fair, carnival, or amusement park for concessions and amusements."

*bump* for the other person who posted a similar topic.

I am currently reading Plain Anne Ellis, the second in a series of books an autobiography of a woman who was on the frontier. I didn't read the first, but this one is good.

Just finished Shadow of the Wind. Slow plot but beautiful use of words. Started Across the Nightingale Floor today.
Kate

Forgot to mention that I'm also listening to Ben Bova's Saturn from Audible(dot)com. Can't live without my books on tape!

Greetings!
I highly recommend "People with Dirty Hands" by Robin Chotzinoff. It one of my re-read specials! I think we have all met folks like the gardening characters in this book. Ms. Chotzinoff also wrote "People Who Sweat." It is great, too. I have found a bit of brain-food and spiritual food in "A Woman's Guide to a Simpler Life" by Andrea Van Steenhouse, PH.D.
Diana

I've been trying to make more time for reading things for ENJOYMENT (vice textbooks- which I spent way too much of the past years pouring over ;).

I loved The Kiterunner- read that a few months ago. My mom loved it, too- she borrowed it after puppy-sitting for us last month while we ran around Vegas. :)

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is my most recent finish (in Vegas- yeah, I read in Vegas- LOL!)- very good story that was hard to put down. Very sad at times, though.

I'm reading The Memory Keeper right now. :)

It's hard to imagine that I got through school without reading this: THE YEARLING !!!! (however, there probably are few of you who've read Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys, either!! Hahhahahaa)...(that's what ya get for growing up in Vermont! ANYway...I decided to read The Yearling...OMG...what a story! ...and how neat it is to hear about all the references to old Florida! and now, of course, I have Crosscreek checked out, as well. My daughter and I read Girl with the Pearl Earring together-long distance! (she's in Phoenix, but we shared the story as we went along). We've been talking about 'old classics' that somehow we've missed....... so..there are my current readings.....am reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe right now...... sooo cute!

Anyone else read Across the Nightingale Floor and Grass for his Pillow? Amazing tales of true love, special powers, assassins, Oriental culture, etc. Highly recommended. If you like SciFi or Fantasy, you'll find these hard to put down. Lovely use of words, great story, cool characters.

Kate

Just finished World War Z by Max Brooks about the world's battle against the zombies. It was one of the best books I have ever read!!! So intelligently written. You can replace "zombie" with birdflu, aids, or any other disease and it would scare the heck out of you to think that this is probably how the governments of the world would react. Of course, people with birdflu don't reanimate and come after you!lol

I read that the rights to the book were already bought by Brad Pitt and one of the big studios. Should be a good movie.
Julie

After I finished reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, I read Fast Food Nation and now I am reading The Way we Eat by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. The more I read the angrier I get at the way food is produced in America. I think all three are excellent books.

By the way, I got them on audiotape at the library.

Just finished Dead Wrong, by J.A. Jance. Not bad, but she's getting like all the other popular writers. It seems they write these books on their spare time to keep up with their contract.

I see that they made Fast Food Nation into a movie.

Julie

Just read Nights in Rodanthe by Nicholas Sparks. Good but not The Notebook.

Somebody here told me about Neil Gaiman. Terrific writer! I have just started his book, Fragile Things, a collection of short stories. He does know how to spin a tale!

Gobble, gobble everyone:)

Pat

Kate,

I emailed you the other day about a book. Did you receive my email?

Carmen

Just finished Echo Park by Michael Connelly. Good book, but he's starting to get predictable with the characters, too.

Carmen,
Yes, I received it. Sorry I haven't responded. Been going through some health issues with my mother and haven't been on line at all or even checking my emails for more than a few seconds each day. I'll get back to you shortly!
Kate

Kate,
Don't worry about answering. I am sorry to hear about your mom. I hope she will get better soon. I just didn't know if my message had gone through GardenWeb.
Carmen

In case anyone missed the PBS special The Botany of Desire which premiered Wednesday, October 28, 2009, you can still watch the entire program online. It's incredible. Book turned documentary.

BOTANY OF DESIRE is a documentary which tells the utterly original story of everyday plants and the way they have domesticated humankind. An interpretation of the relationship between plants and people. This two-hour documentary explores plant evolution and takes viewers from the potato fields of Peru and Idaho, the apple forests of Kazakhstan, and the tulip markets of Amsterdam.

View online in it's entirety: here

This is another related program by the same presenter on LINK TV (a cable access channel) which is timely:

Deep Agriculture
Traditional methods of agriculture in most developed nations have long ignored environmental concerns. Factors such as soil erosion, water shortage and the impact of chemicals on bio-systems have been overlooked in favour of massive crop yields and cheaper food. But what impact does this have on our health and our environment?

View online in it's entirety: here

__________________________

Sit down with a cup of tea or coffee and witness the evolution of an Organic Kitchen Garden.