Delightful books about books ......
7 years ago
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- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
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Favorite 'old' books about gardening
Comments (4)Constance Spry's Garden Journal, written in the '30's. She was sort of the Martha Stewart of her day: She was a floral arranger who was considered radical because she used vegetables, fruits, & branches in her arrangements! She wrote this book upon the encouragement of her friends in a garden club in New York. She was instrumental in preserving old rose varieties during the Battle of Britain & David Austin later named his very first English Rose after her. Don't have the book handy, but one of the things she says is that, after a disaster with some of the "new" fertilizers, she will never ever under any circumstances allow chemicals in her gardens again! The Victory Garden. don't know the author. found the book at an antique store. It's full of good everyday information, such as: planting flowers in the vegetable garden to feed our hearts & souls tending a small space well rather than over-extending, thus wasting seed & garden space as well as time & energy, using proven varieties to assure production & quality. Cultivating Delight, by Diane Ackerman. Not an old book, but I do love it. It's the story of a year in her garden, reflective & contemplative rather than nuts & bolts. It's a delightful book; I'm on my 2nd trip through it....See MoreBook clubs: When the book stinks.
Comments (30)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......See MoreBook Videos & 2 Great Reviews of Books You May not Know About
Comments (1)Thank you....See MoreReview of a book about book reviewing.
Comments (5)I rely on a variety of sources. I prefer to read opinions from all walks of life, rather than limiting to a certain venue, group or class of people. For ideas on what to read, I visit bulletin boards, a few bloggers and reviewers, and rely on word-of-mouth. I try to save critical reviews for after I've read a book; then I'll look for newspaper and online reviews. I find it helps to get some perspective and context on the reviewer. So when I read Amazon reviews, I look at the other books that person has reviewed to get a sense of what that person's worldview or personal slant on things may be. I much prefer an open-ended dialogue with other readers than critical reviews, though. I'm not a student anymore. I'm just a middle-aged woman in search of a good book to read....See More- 7 years ago
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