I may not have written a lot this year, but I have done a lot of reading, which relaxes me and takes me away to other places.  Here are some of the books I’ve enjoyed.

I believe I’ve written about The Brother Gardeners by Andrea Wulf—it’s worth another mention.  It discusses the movement of plants between continents, beginning in the 1700s, and plant collectors of the time.  It’s a fascinating and beautifully written read.    
Interestingly, I’m glad I read The Brother Gardeners before reading The Signature of All Things, the latest book by Elizabeth Gilbert, a wonderful writer (Eat, Pray, Love).  Many of the botanical and historical facts learned in The Brother Gardeners help provide a deeper understanding of Gilbert’s fiction (and some of these facts and real characters are included in her book).   Alma, the book’s heroine, is plain, straight-forward, smart, fearless, and ahead of her time.  She is a bryologist—one who studies mosses.  Her attention to and curiosity of detail is inspiring to those of us who deeply love a branch of science or art.

The uplifting message is the greatest gift I received from this book. It takes a while to get there, to the message, yet trust me on this one: It’s the ending that says the most.   But without all the previous pages, the ending would mean nothing.

Isn’t that what all great books have to offer?  Isn’t that what all great lives have to offer?—a great ending, a wonderful sum of the parts.

Several author friends have newly-released books or new books appearing soon:

Rude Bitches Make Me Tired, made me howl.  Wilmington, NC, author, Celia Rivenbark, hilariously comments on Southern manners, dos and don’ts.  (language warning for the squeamish, but I didn’t find it offensive, personally.)

Katie Elzer-Peters has several new garden books in print, including her new, informative vegetable and fruit growing guides for the Mid-Atlantic and Carolinas.  She writes a regular gardening column for the Wilmington, NC, Star-News, and is a prolific book writer, as well.  She turns out books faster than you can crack your knuckles—I don’t know how she does it!

I can’t wait for France Mayes’s new book, Under Magnolia:  A Southern Memoir, due out April 1, 2014 (you can pre-order now).  Shifting her focus from the many memoirs she’s written about her time in Tuscany, she discusses her early life in the Deep South.  I re-read her other books often, and often turn to her Tuscan Sun Cookbook, as well.

Amy Stewart’s latest book, The Drunken Botanist dives into plant-based liquors and cocktails—the science and history behind them—and some great drink recipes.  Perfect for the drink connoisseur and a good reference book, too.  I’ve seen her in person, twice, and I enjoy both her speaking and writing style.  She’s fun.
 
My go-to gardening books include:
Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Encyclopedia of Trees and Shrubs, Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs [Northern plants], and Dirr’s Trees and Shrubs for Warm Climates [Southern plants], all by Dr. Michael Dirr.

Armitage’s Garden Perennials, by Dr. Allan Armitage.

Mid-Atlantic Gardener's Guide: Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington D.C., by Andre Viette, Mark Viette and Jacqueline Heriteau.

I use all these books for reference and ideas.

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