82 gardening book reviews and counting
Browsing for a few good gardening books to get you through the dark days of winter? I’ve got a running list of 82 book reviews and recommendations I’ve written over the years: design books, plant books, artful gardening books, garden-craft books, native-plant books, sustainable gardening books, how-to books, children’s garden books, garden memoirs, and even a couple fiction and poetry books about gardens.
That’s a lot of reading — and a lot of reviewing. And now those reviews are easier than ever for you to find and browse. I’ve compiled them alphabetically onto a Book Reviews page, which can be found under “More Good Stuff” in the drop-down menu bar near the top of the screen. I’ll keep the page updated with future reviews and hope you’ll find it useful.
I’m sure you’ll find something to read that stands out from the herd.
All material © 2006-2015 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
I WANT those sheep! In the meantime, I will check out all your book reviews… it will be fun to see what I’ve already got. (so little time, so many books!)
Hope you find something ewe’ll enjoy, Cheryl! Sorry, couldn’t resist a bad pun — ha! —Pam
I had no idea that this list existed, thank you for highlighting it, I will refer to it often in the future. Thank you, Pam!
The list didn’t exist until yesterday, Tamara, so you hadn’t missed it. Before, anyone could find my reviews by clicking on Books, under Categories in my sidebar. But I realized that was not conducive to looking up books by title or browsing as one would at a bookstore. So here ya go! All my reviews, listed by title — enjoy! —Pam
What a good idea. I picked up Cultivating Garden Style. It has some hearty ideas and I love the format.
I got some good ideas from that one recently too, Jeanette. I hope you’ll find a few new ones to read from my review list as well. —Pam
You must have gotten bored! Seriously, that’s a great resource for your readers — good idea. Hope you’re out enjoying this day.
Yeah, that’s it, I was bored. Hahaha! No, just had a bunch of extra energy yesterday and needed a break from my writing project. Probably got a little carried away though. 😉 —Pam
Wow, that is a nice lot of books you’ve reviewed! What a great resource. Awesome!
Enjoy, Indie! —Pam
Oh, thank you for this list! A huge help and source of inspiration for those starting out, those starting over (like me), and everyone in between. Amazon Wish List, here I come :~)
I hope it’s useful, Luisa. Congrats on your re-started blog, by the way. I look forward to checking it out. —Pam
Did you take the cow pic between Brenham and Hempstead? There’s several herd of Dutch Belt (aka “walking Oreos”) out there. I used to pull over to enjoy the sight of them when I was commuting from Houston to Austin every weekend.
I’ve seen those Oreo cows! But no, these are the Belted Galloways at Fearrington Village in Pittsboro, North Carolina, where until recently my dad resided. Check out the post for lots more pics. They have Oreo goats too! —Pam
That cow is outstanding in her field!
🙂 —Pam
What a great list of books and a great idea for putting all one’s reviews in one spot. Thanks for all kinds of inspiration.
I was surprised to see how many I’d reviewed over the years. It’s good to know they’re more accessible now. —Pam
The sheep are wonderful – and made me want to read the post! Wish I could have them in my garden too. Good idea to do a list. I’ve never done a book review because I’ve got out of the habit of reading gardening books. Time to go back – and I’ll come back to your list when I start!
The sheep are so charming, aren’t they? They’re from a community park in Fearrington Village, North Carolina. Click through for more pics, Cathy, and I hope you find some good reading on my review list. —Pam
Pam, I’m enjoying Bill Welch and Greg Grant’s 2011 Heirloom Gardening in the South book this winter. Wonderful collection of pictures and stories — and a lot of Texas. I enjoyed looking over your list. Nice how gardening books pull us along almost effortlessly in the reading, whereas in my collection I call “civilization” reading sometimes it can be a tough climb.
It’s always nice to find “a lot of Texas” in a gardening book. Thanks for sharing your current read, Tom. Watch out for those “civilization” books though — ha! —Pam