Book Description
Natural swimming pools rely on the correct balance of plants and microorganisms to clean and purify the water. They are a safe place for children to play and birds to drink, and are a dramatic example of ecological design, combining the natural and man-made worlds while creating beauty. These pools offer enjoyment not only in the warm months, but during winter, too, when they can be used for ice skating and other activities. Often the focal point of a garden, natural swimming pools blend into their environments, flowing into the surroundings with plants and rocks.They reflect the changing seasons and they enhance the environment naturally. They are easy and less costly to maintain than chemical pools, providing significant savings in water. Chlorine and other common pool chemicals are hazardous to human health and are not used. This book is a necessary resource for anyone interested in having a natural swimming pool and shows how a natural swimming pool system works, as well as the environmental, health, and safety benefits it offers. Drawings, diagrams, and charts cover planning, design, biology, materials, construction, planting, and maintenance. Over 300 beautiful color pictures feature projects that will inspire you to have your own natural water garden where you can swim in harmony with nature at any time.
Customer Reviews:
Perfect book.......2007-09-04
Great book for all aspects of creating a variety of green/natural pools. Beautiful pictures and good illustrations and copy to help in decision making.
YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK .......2007-08-22
Simply put this book is a MUST READ for anyone intersted in any aspect of Sustainable and Ecological Design. It should be read right along with Permaculture by Mollison, the Passive Solar Handbook by Mazria, Rainwater Harvesting by Lancaster, and ecocities to Living Machines by Todd. Even if you aren't specifically interested in making a swimming pool (which you will be after reading it) the insights into the workings of hydro-ecologies and how to design natural systems are invaluable!
If you aren't interested in the whole range of sustainability but just this particular topic of pool design then this book is STILL A MUST READ. If you're an ecologist who wants to make a pool, or a pool designer who wants to do something ecological this book provides an excellent layman's understanding of ecological design, with good technical and artistic advice for how to do it, and good technical and artistic advice for swimming pool construction.
I would still advise you to also purchase the book Poolscaping as a companion to this one.
This is an all around excellent book buy it now.
Beautiful photos; strange text.......2007-08-01
Thumbing through the book will make you want to move to Austria or Germany where beautiful "natural" pools are somehat established. Why is the U. S. so environmentally backward? Unfortunately, the text is awkwardly translated at times such that one has to struggle to figure out what is meant with limited success.The assumption is that one is swimming only in the summer, but in California we may want to swim year round. Useful especially since so little information is available. Can't understand why the publisher didn't insist on professional proofreading.Buy it for inspiration, or wait for the next edition, or wait for one more applicable to your area. It does provide info in the back about two U.S resources, one in CA.
Very complete book .......2007-02-24
Is the book i need for learning on natural swimming pool. Now i can make my own pool
Surprisingly COMPREHENSIVE!.......2007-02-09
This large sized book covered the subject exceedingly well in lots of color photos with explanations and, more importantly, in lots of diagrams and nuts and bolts descriptions. I only read sections here and there but what I did read clearly indicated to me that you could actually use this book to build a natural swimming pool. At the least, you could definitely make a solid decision whether or not you could build or would want to build such a pool on your property. These pools are basically like salt water aquariums in that you have to make a biosphere and monitor it. In some ways it's not as easy as it sounds but also not as hard as it sounds. However, start up takes time and it can be tricky to finally reach environmental stabilization. I am not going to build a natural pool but I still found this book very useful. At the end this book are MANY pages of water plants and trees recommended for certain types of water areas. There are zone maps of the US included for reference. So even if you just want to make a little ornamental fountain in a big pot on the patio deck or a pond or a bog out back, this book has a VERY comprehensive set of plant lists you will find exceedingly useful. 18 pages of them. Categories include Submerged Plants, Floating Plants, Floating Leaved Plants, Shallow Marginal Plants, Deep Marginal Plants, Moisture-loving Plants, Bog/Marsh Plants, Waterside Plats-Trees & Shrubs, Ferns, Grasses Sedges Reeds and Rushes. Botanical and Common Names are listed along with height, spread, water depth, flower color, flower period, foliage, position, comments and plant zone. It's the best I've seen in any book so far.
Book Description
Gardeners throughout the region will be welcoming a thoroughly updated and fresh-looking 8th edition of the "bible of Western gardening." With a new, easy-to-read design, more plant photography, larger illustrations, and more than 8,000 plant listings--500 of them new--it's THE essential book for gardeners in the Western states. What plants to grow, how to nurture them, and where they do the very best--it's all here. You'll also find updated information on the Western climate zones, 30 Plant Selection Guides, plus a Practical Guide to Gardening with basic advice on plant care and essential gardening techniques. New plant lists reflect current trends, such as Mediterranean gardening and easy-care plants for beginners. For more than 70 years, Sunset has been the source for no-nonsense gardening advice, easy-to-follow diagrams, and encyclopedic knowledge of plant varieties. In this edition, we introduce an exciting new feature: gardening tips from well-known plant experts throughout the West. The Western Garden Book has never been better! Features:
8th Edition of this perennial bestseller
More than 8,000 plant listings, 500 new, keyed to climate zones
30 Plant Selection Guides to find the perfect plant for every situation
Special contributions from 40 eminent Western garden experts
Introduction by Sunset garden editor Kathleen N. Brenzel, with a photographic tour of gardens that are truly the `Best of the West' gardens
Customer Reviews:
In great condition!!.......2007-09-21
The book is in great condition and I received it very quickly. Thank you so much!
a must have!.......2007-09-20
Anyone, from the curious to the beginning gardener to the expert must have this volume on their shelf. It is full of well organized information.
Best garden book there is.......2007-09-16
Got a garden???? You NEED this book NOW! I'm a native Californian, and this is our garden Bible. I don't think anyone gardens without it. I'm in Massachusetts now, and I wanted this book to create my new garden. This book is well worth the investment.
It's easy to see why SUNSET WESTERN GARDEN BOOK has become the reference 'bible'.......2007-09-08
Over 8,000 plants are accompanied by tips from Western gardening pros in SUNSET WESTERN GARDEN BOOK, a classic completely updated and revised, and now in its 8th edition. From small color drawings of plants and seeds to descriptions which include hardiness zones, use, varieties and more, it's easy to see why SUNSET WESTERN GARDEN BOOK has become the reference 'bible' for any Western gardener and for any library catering to them.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Best for the West.......2007-09-07
The Sunset Western Garden Book is the gardener's bible. For beginners to experts, it's the definitive guide to everything related to gardening. It is to gardeners what the Joy of Cooking is to cooks.
Book Description
The greatest monument to love, and the lost world of the Agra gardens and their characterful owners, re-created through superb scholarship and evocative illustrations.
The Taj Mahal is the epitome of Mughal art and one of the most famous buildings in the world. Yet there have been few serious studies of it and no full analysis of its architecture and meaning.Ebba Koch is the only scholar who has been permitted to take measurements of the complex. She has been working on the palaces and gardens of Shah Jahan for thirty years and on the Taj Mahal itself—the tomb of the emperor's wife, Mumtaz Mahal—for a decade.
The tomb represents the house of the queen in Paradise, and the author shows how its setting was based on the palace gardens of the great nobles that lined both sides of the river at Agra. She leads the reader through the entire complex of the Taj Mahal, with an explanation of each building and an account of the mausoleum's urban setting, its design and construction, its symbolic meaning, and its history up to the present day.
The book features hundreds of new photographs plus drawings by the Indian architect Richard Barraud that include plans and reconstructions of Agra and the Taj complex as they looked in Shah Jahan's time.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book!.......2007-09-26
Having visited the Taj Mahal, I wanted to have an authoritative book on the history behind its construction and this book is not only an excellent souce, but also a very good photographic record of this amazing Wonder of the World!
A Ten-Star Book that Is Without Parallel.......2007-04-15
Having read a number of books about the Taj Mahal, including the recently published "Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius...," I would bet good money that if given a copy of Ebba Koch's book to preview, those truly interested in India's national treasure will buy "The Complete Taj Mahal," even if they have to skip lattes or lunches to afford it, even if they have already done so to afford Okada/Joshi/Nou's "Taj Mahal" with its stunning photography.
One reason, of course, is that TCTM is so complete. To others' overviews of the material covered, I would add only that Koch does not neglect the human element. For example, in eight introductory pages of text, Koch provides excellent background information about Shah Jahan, his wife and his predecessors; later, she details Jahan's passion for building. Koch also includes interesting information about the artisans, craftsmen and laborers who did the actual work as well as details about others associated with the Taj-related structures/gardens of Agra. Further humanizing the story of this garden city are colorful Mughal paintings of its nobility and rulers.
Another aspect of TCTM that makes it a must-have are the many photographs of sites, structures and architectural ornamentation, photographs "The Hindu" declared "often brilliant" as well as "judiciously chosen." Just how apt these descriptions are is suggested by the following: There were only seven pages of O/J/Nou's photographic extravaganza of the Taj complex that I photocopied to tuck into Koch's book, and of them, five were additional close-ups of floral inlays and calligraphy. Adding to the appeal of TCTM is that the camera goes beyond the splendors of the Taj complex. Of special interest to those who have been in Agra, for instance, will be the realistic photographs of the Taj Mahal peeking above the "agglomeration of haphazard constructions" that have "almost obliterated" its bazaar and caravanserai. Shown, too, are its architectural precedents as well as artisan workshops and quarries. Though most of the photographs in this book are in color, even those in black and white are revealing.
Also making TCTM next to impossible to resist are the "company drawings," most of which are in color as well. Forerunners of postcards, they were "made by local artists in the early days of the Raj" for European tourists, who bought them "to illustrate their journals." Works of art in themselves, often the drawings are so detailed that they could easily be photographs. But they do not serve as mere eye candy: many are of Taj-related structures that no longer exist or have been stripped of all that made them magnificent; some are juxtaposed with recent photographs to show the toll time has taken on the brilliance of color and intricacy of design. Evocative paintings and watercolors of the Taj Mahal by foreign artists are included as well.
What may ultimately sell people on TCTM, however, is that it is a book they will actually enjoy reading much if not all of. Not only is Koch's narrative writing fluid and easy-to-digest. Even her descriptions of architecture will be relatively easy for laymen to understand, provided that they are willling to refer to the glossary of terms and look at the many visual aids, including Barraud's "precise and clear" line drawings, that accompany the text. So well done is this book, in fact, that as "The Hindu" noted, even "information which is more technical and not at face value so interesting to general readers will, in fact, be found by them to be equally absorbing." (All I would personally exclude from this are the two pages of precise measurements of the Taj complex.)
To another reviewer's assertion that TCTM is a book that "should be in the library of anyone fascinated by the Taj Mahal, not just historians and architects," I add a thousand "Amen's."
Agra the Extraordinary.......2007-03-16
A superlative volume showing in detail and with historic drawings, maps, and photos, as well modern illustrations and reconstructions the unsurpassed achievements of the Mughal in residential garden architecture. The riverbanks of the Yamuna River as it passes through Agra was where this artistic impulse achieved culmination in the seventeenth century garden residences and tombs sponsored by the nobles and rulers of the Mughal state and built by the craftsmen of India. One of the signal contributions of this book is the inclusion of the stories of the architects, carpenters, and masons who left their signatures and marks on the individual elements of the overall project. The residential and tomb gardens which stretched along the river and are now mostly gone gave way at midpoint to the grandest residence of all, the Red Fort which remains today the second greatest landmark of Agra. And at the southern end of the development stands today the greatest tomb ever built, one of the architectural wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal. The work is so complete that it documents not only the construction efforts but also the tourism that followed and the depth to which the Taj Mahal became embedded in the consciousness of the world. The culmination of three decades of meticulous research this substantial volume tells an engrossing story of the planning, development, and eventual decline of a unique garden city. It more than fulfills the adjective "complete" and should be in the library of anyone fascinated by the Taj Mahal, not just historians and architects. A truly extraordinary accomplishment.
Book Description
No longer a technique just for apartment dwellers or novice gardeners, the use of ornamental containers on decks, patios, terraces, and in the garden itself can save time, space, and money, while offering experienced home gardeners unique creative challenges, site flexibility, and experimental fun. Author and award-winning horticulturist Ray Rogers takes you on an engaging exploration into basic design principles as well as how to create focal points, use water, exploit the potential of empty containers, and more. Stunning photographs by Richard Hartlage provide guidance and inspiration, as well as visually explaining each principle. Gardeners at every level of experience will find inspiration and instruction in this comprehensive book.
Customer Reviews:
Pure inspiration.......2007-08-21
Yet another really fine book from Timber Press. I'll spend long, dark winter evenings wandering through these pages, absorbing the wisdom of the writers and generating ideas for next spring. Gorgeous photographs, too.
Gorgeous book and inspired arrangements.......2007-07-30
I purchased several gardening books together and this one was the highlight. Not only beautifully photographed but full of interesting suggestions and writing. My husband and I were able to immediately use some of the arrangements as inspiration for a new bed in our garden. Turned out beautifully!
Enjoyed it all.......2007-05-14
The book is an excellent reference source. Photos are beautiful. Numbering the pictures with the description very helpful. Lovely coffee table book. I have told other gardeners to seek the book out.
container gardening.......2007-03-14
(This review focuses on the photographs in "Pots in the Garden.")
Picture quality is very good throughout the book, and in parts I and II ("the elements of design" and "bringing it all together") the picture content is excellent as well.
Unlike most container gardening books this one neither details container plantings nor uses captions, instead it inconspicuosly numbers each picture and then conspicuosly puts the number in the text with its corresponding description. Garden styles represented vary but the bold, Little-and-Lewis-type modernists lead the way, and even if this isn't your favorite style of garden you will probably love the containers featured in them!
What really sets this book apart is the variety of pots featured. Terra cotta and stone/concrete are great, and the English gardening books display some wonderful copper and lead, but those of you who especially love high quality glazed/rustic containers and know that it is not all that easy to find good examples of them will be happy to add this book to your collection.
The reasons I didn't give 5 stars are the book's slightly smallish size (9 1/4 x 8 1/2) and its 3rd part ("plant groups for containers") which, though it has some very interesting and unique plant picks (dark purple/black perennial clematis?), does not show most of them in containers; admittedly difficult to do, but David Joyce's "The Complete Container Garden" sure did it well. That's about eighty pages where pots are rarely pictured.
Overall a beautiful and inspiring book at a very good price.
Book Description
One of the bestselling garden books ever is fresher than ever! Ready to inspire a whole new generation of gardeners.When he created the "square foot gardening" method, Mel Bartholomew, a retired engineer and efficiency expert, found the solution to the frustrations of most gardeners. His revolutionary system is simple: it's an ingenious planting method based on using square foot blocks of garden space instead of rows. Gardeners build up, not down, so there's no digging and no tilling after the first year. And the method requires less thinning, less weeding, and less watering."I found a better way to garden, one that's more efficient, more manageable, and requires less work," Bartholomew explains. Not surprisingly, his method quickly received worldwide recognition and has been written up in every major newspaper and gardening magazine. His book, which served as the companion to the nationally acclaimed television series, has sold over 800,000 copies. Now freshened with new illustrations, the book Ingram calls "the largest selling garden book in America" is reissued for the delight of a whole new generation of gardeners.
Customer Reviews:
Best Garden Book for Beginers .......2007-09-05
I have owned this book for years. Worn out more that one copy. This copy was purchased to give to a new urbanm garden project in a develpomently challanged area of my city. We will be teaching at rick young people how to garden and landscape. This is one of many tools we will use and is as far as I am concerned the best how to do it garden book for people who have little or no knowledge about gardening.
Not "Just" for Small Spaces.......2007-05-12
Wonderful information is contained throughout this book for gardeners planting in small 4'X4' spaces to huge gardens. In fact, "Square Foot Gardening" is chocked full of useful information which can and should be used in any size gearden from a small container on the patio to very large gardens. The info saves a gardener many back-breaking laborous hours.
Before I read this book, I did not know that cantalopes can be trellised, which saves "those" vines from rambling all over the garden. There is too much info to be missed without this great book.
Square Foot Gardening: A New Way to Garden in Less Space with Less Work.......2007-03-11
All the information a gardener needs to begin this method of raising flowers and vegetables is found in this book, which pleases me greatly.
Love it -- it's so easy!.......2007-03-02
The techniques in this book ABSOLUTELY work! I have 3 4'x4' raised garden beds, and all seeds I planted are sprouting (and I have seeds left over for planting later in the season, too--no more wasted seeds).
Mr. Bartholomew explains all of his techniques very well and the book is very easy to read. I'm especially fond of his formula for good garden soil and planting with coarse vermiculite. I think this an extremely important step in preparing the garden, and I attribute my success, so far, to his detailed instructions regarding soil prep.
I'm not a great gardener by any stretch of the imagination, so I love the idea that I am growing more in a smaller space, plus my weeding HAS been very minimal. His technique of growing in "grids" is also very visually appealing and my children (ages 18 mos to 11 years) can very easily see what's happening and identify the vegetables that are growing.
Kudos to Mr. Bartholomew for writing such a helpful book for those not-so-green-thumb gardeners!
I just can't be this meticulous.......2007-02-02
Is anyone really this uptight about measuring everything and not overproducing vegetables? The methods are organic and the garden looks lovely, but can you truly guarantee that no matter how well you take care of your garden you will have no losses to critters or pests? Last year, I had a family of raccoons move in and eat half of my sweet corn. The only reason my family got any was because I planted more than what we needed. The coons also got the raspberries and grapes. I've also lost beans and peas to rabbits, and been invaded from time to time by various creepy-crawlies. A garden is not grown in isolation, at least, not mine. I preserve what we can't use in season or store it in the root cellar, and when I get extra veggies I share them with friends and family. They are always welcome.
The techniques are good and I agree that it is better to take care of a small patch of garden well than to care for a large patch poorly. I am just more of a "cottage garden" style gardener, so this was not the book for me. If you like this book you should read some books by Eliot Coleman. He's a very precise gardener, too.
Customer Reviews:
Dazzled...not quite.......2007-05-17
Truth be told, and I am a hard-core Versailles-o-phile, this book left much to be desired in the history department. What, no reproductions of the Enfants de France? And where's Marie Therese? The binding was superior to what I'd been lead to believe by other reviews. Overall, an adequate addition to a casual collection of the Chateau de Versailles.
This book would even make the Sun King proud.......2005-04-15
What an amazing book, it is nothing short of spectacular. The pictures are vivid and the book quality is of the highest caliber. The other reviewer was correct in noting that the reader has to been careful with this book, the pages are so heavy that it will pull from the binding if you are not careful when positioning the book. I have always had a facination with Versailles and this book really captures the chateaux, it makes you feel like you are stolling the gardens and taking in the sumptuous wonders of the palace. Unlike other books on Versailles this one is complete, it covers everything and in striking detail. I urge anyone with any interest in Versailles to buy this book, even used at 200 U.S., it is a bargain. I assure you you will not be disappointed in this book.
NEWEST EDITION BETTER BOUND!!!!.......2004-08-11
Five stars PLUS! I have a new edition and it is very well bound - no need to worry about it falling apart! If you've ever been to Versailles this book will mist you up! If you're planning a return trip this book will be your bible... It is amazing how inexpensive this book is when you consider the spectacular colour photos.
Really deserves 10 stars! However, I must warn you..........2001-11-15
This is THE BEST book there is on Versailles (which is probably why its normally a hundred bucks!) There is only one problem I have ever had with the book and that is the poor physical quality. I had to order it twice because my first copy fell completely apart within a few weeks. Needless to say I was not happy at all when that happened. Every copy that I have seen (in libraries, other bookstores) has the same problem. Normally, I would not have tried again after that, but I HAD to have this book. My second one has also begun to separate from the binding, so I rarely read it... but when I do, I use **EXTREME** care. I think the main reason for this is the size and weight of the book, so if you decide to purchase it, keep that in mind. I recommend turning the pages *slowly* and not leaving it completely flat and/or open for any long period of time. Also, store it horizontally, NOT vertically... the pages are so heavy, they will end up tearing themselves out!
Absolute perfection!.......2001-09-12
Without a doubt, the most beautiful and informative book ever on the Palace of Versailles. Architectural history , decorative wonders, sumptuous furniture, this book explores it all! THE BOOK for all lovers of Versailles or eighteenth century French art.
Amazon.com
Collecting contributions from 100 distinguished horticulturists, the handsome and lavishly illustrated American Horticultural Society A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants is a truly definitive gardening reference. With its 1,092 tiny-print pages, this may not be the book to tuck into your pocket as you weed and mulch, but what this encyclopedia lacks in portability, it certainly makes up for in scope. Hardy and tender plants, heirloom varieties and the latest hybrids--they're all accounted for here, with growing tips and background information about native habitats and ornamental features. You'll also find a fascinating section about botany, as well as information about basic gardening techniques such as mulching, staking, pruning, propagating, and protecting plants for winter. But the encyclopedia's main attraction is the individual plant entries--more than 15,000 of them, embellished with 6,000 full-color photographs and illustrations. From the visual glossary of leaves to the map of growing regions, The American Horticultural Society A-Z of Garden Plants provides an unsurpassed wealth of botanical information, making it the yardstick by which all other gardening references must be measured.
Book Description
The most comprehensive, detailed, and lavishly illustrated guide to garden plants ever published, first published in 1997, has now been completely revised to include nearly 250 new plants and photos. The AHS A-Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants is an essential reference for all gardeners, from novices to experts.
Customer Reviews:
Just what I was looking for.......2007-08-23
I am very pleased with my choice of many horticultural books that are on the market. It has all of the information that I was looking for and more. Yes, it is pretty hard to haul around the garden, but worth it!
American Horticultural Society A to Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants.......2007-08-10
I just purchased 3 more of this book because it is so complete and great that my 3 children keep borrowing mine.
A must for any gardener.......2007-07-15
I had been admiring this book at my local library for quite a while and was surprised to see it offered through Amazon at a great price. This book has wonderful photos of each plant (and species) as well as detailed information, which makes identifying plants so much easier than with any other gardening book out there. If there is one draw back, it would have to be the weight. With over 1100 pages, it is not a book to carry around the garden.
Great housewarming gift!.......2007-03-24
This book works best if paired with The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. Each book stands on it's own but the two together give total information and abundant photos. I bought one set for new homeowners about to plan their first yard and bought another set for myself. Even after gardening for many years, these books provide answers to questions that come up every gardening season.
The books are substantial in weight as well as information.
American Horticultural Society A to Z Encyclopedia.......2007-01-12
This is an excellent source of information about plants and the photographs are wonderful.
Amazon.com
John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil has been heralded as a "lyrical work of nonfiction," and the book's extremely graceful prose depictions of some of Savannah, Georgia's most colorful eccentrics--remarkable characters who could have once prospered in a William Faulkner novel or Eudora Welty short story--were certainly a critical factor in its tremendous success. (One resident into whose orbit Berendt fell, the Lady Chablis, went on to become a minor celebrity in her own right.) But equally important was Berendt's depiction of Savannah socialite Jim Williams as he stands trial for the murder of Danny Hansford, a moody, violence-prone hustler--and sometime companion to Williams--characterized by locals as a "walking streak of sex." So feel free to call it a "true crime classic" without a trace of shame.
Book Description
Shots rang out in Savannah's grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt's sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction. Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case.
It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman's Card Club; the turbulent young redneck gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the "soul of pampered self-absorption"; the uproariously funny black drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young blacks dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a sublime and seductive reading experience. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, this enormously engaging portrait of a most beguiling Southern city has become a modern classic.
Customer Reviews:
oustanding read.......2007-09-21
This was a very well written and funny historical book. Inspired my recent trip to Savannah Georiga, to actualy visit some of the places described in the book.
Hello Savannah!.......2007-09-18
One of my favorite books. I am one of the few that actually liked the movie as well as the book. The book goes into great detail much more then the movie. The characters are so crazy I actually considered moving to Savannah...seriouly! An excellent read, highly recommended!
Nothing special.......2007-09-03
First, the characters are somewhat interesting in the way that many alcoholic, affluent types are, but the storyline never weaves them together in a way that makes the book itself intersting. Second, the author is trying to strike a balance between 1. historic integrity and theme, 2. his first account experiences, and 3. what might make for an interesting read. I think he relies heavily on his first account experinces at the expense of history and an interesting story. My real motivation for finishing the book was to see if I knew any of the characters - I grew up not far from Savannah.
Non Fiction.......2007-09-03
Truth is stranger than fiction.
The bizarre cast of characters in Savannah, Geporgia, or thereabouts has to be seen to be believed. This is probably why it makes a decent book, as any novelist would have been happy to come up with stuff as whacky as guys walking invisible dogs, and other oddities, as well as having an interesting murder mystery in the middle of it.
Plenty of Evil, but "Good?".......2007-09-03
So, having survived my 10 and 11 year old daughters' recent Girl Scvout trip to Savannah for the pilgrimage to visit the Juliette Low birthplace, the troop leader(one of my best friends)and I decided to revisit the book we read a few years ago for our book group. I didn't really like it much the first time. I enjoy nonfiction, but I've come to since learn this book isn't all "non fiction" anyway. Lots of artistic license taken here!
Savannah is a beautiful old city, very historic and charming. I usually first think of Ellen O'Hara when I think of Savannah, being a big GWTW fan. BUt while on my first trip to Savannah, the Mercer name and Jim Williams' name as well is mentioned over and over on various tours of the city and local cemetaries. You can't help but be reminded of the book, especially if you've read it before your visit. It had been a few years though, so not all the locations/squares of the various famous homes mentioned in the book were very fresh in my mind.
The book itself is a montage of "Life in Savannah." Jim Williams, the "Lady" Chablis, Danny Hansford, Lee Adler, Minerva, Jim Odom and Mandy, Luther Driggers and Serrena Dawes, The Married Ladies' Club and Sonny Seiler are interesting enough characters. My problem with the whole story was really that I didn't like or feel any sympathy with any of these characters. Except maybe Uga. I'm partial to English Bulldogs. But really, there was no plot, except for the killing of Hansford and the subsequent trials of Jim Williams. I found little to laugh at concerning Chablis; in fact I was not a little repulsed by her behavior. I can handle a drag queen, but so ill mannered and ill behaved! I wouldn't want to be aquainted with anyone like that! I didn't really like John Berendt's "character" either. I guess the voyeuristic tone was supposed to be engaging, but I really had a difficult time getting through this book for a second time without falling asleep.
Every city has its characters and intrigues, even small historical ones, like Savannah. If you go, visit Bonaventure Cemetary--it truly is a beautiful and haunting place. Forget about Williams and Hansford and the "Lady" Chablis, though. Don't let their spirits ruin your visit to a lovely historical city. The intrigues that went on in the founding and growth of the city (i.e. the ban on liquor, lawyers and Catholics, the pirates, the Gordon and Low families, literary greats Flannery O'Conner and Conrad Aiken, [who did get cursory mention in the book] the Civil War history as the gift the city became to save itself, etc.) are much more interesting than the Peyton Place soap opera presented in this rather sullying book. Not bad writing, but a little dull, if you ask me. I just wasn't all that interested in these folks and their problems. They seemed to be dedicated to creating them.
Average customer rating:
- Good Stories, but Too Disconnected
- Inspiring Seedfolks
- A Garden of Love
- A Book for Building Community
- Good reading for children
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Seedfolks (Joanna Colter Books)
Paul Fleischman
Manufacturer: HarperTeen
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Out Of The Dust
ASIN: 0064472078
Release Date: 2004-12-14 |
Amazon.com
Sometimes, even in the middle of ugliness and neglect, a little bit of beauty will bloom. Award-winning writer Paul Fleischman dazzles us with this truth in Seedfolks--a slim novel that bursts with hope. Wasting not a single word, Fleischman unfolds a story of a blighted neighborhood transformed when a young girl plants a few lima beans in an abandoned lot. Slowly, one by one, neighbors are touched and stirred to action as they see tendrils poke through the dirt. Hispanics, Haitians, Koreans, young, and old begin to turn the littered lot into a garden for the whole community. A gift for hearts of all ages, this gentle, timeless story will delight anyone in need of a sprig of inspiration.
Book Description
A vacant lot, rat-infested and filled with garbage, looked like no place for a garden. Especially to a neighborhood of strangers where no one seems to care. Until one day, a young girl clears a small space and digs into the hard-packed soil to plant her precious bean seeds. Suddenly, the soil holds promise: To Curtis, who believes he can win back Lateesha's heart with a harvest of tomatoes; to Virgil's dad, who sees a fortune to be made from growing lettuce; and even to Maricela, sixteen and pregnant, wishing she were dead.
Thirteen very different voices -- old, young, Haitian, Hispanic, tough, haunted, and hopeful -- tell one amazing story about a garden that transforms a neighborhood.
Chosen as a state and citywide read in communities across the country:
Vermont
Racine, WI
Tampa, FL
Newburgh, NY
Boca Raton, FL
Customer Reviews:
Good Stories, but Too Disconnected.......2007-05-31
It all started with one little girl. Kim's father died before she was even born, and she is afraid that he might not know her as he looks down from heaven. So she decides to do something to make him recognize her and to make him proud. He was a farmer back in Vietnam, so she takes a handful of bean seeds to a trash-covered vacant lot near her inner-city apartment and plants them. When he looks down and sees them, he will know she is his daughter.
Someone looks down from a window and is intrigued by this girl who keeps visiting the vacant lot in secret. Upon investigation she sees what is going on and decides to clear a little patch of land for a tiny garden of her own. Others observe and like the idea, and soon the vacant lot is covered with a patchwork of gardens from all sorts of people living nearby. Someone is able to bully the city into moving the trash off of this land. People who usually avoid eye contact at all cost are suddenly meeting neighbors and relating to one another. Through this garden project, a neighborhood of strangers becomes a real community.
I liked the characters in this story. They were all very vivid and their stories were well thought out. I also liked being able to see the different perspectives on this garden, and the different reasons people decided to plant things here.
I didn't like that each person's story was just dropped after it was told. I wanted the author to go back and write what the people were thinking. What did Kim think when her garden idea caught on? Was Sam able to stop the segregation he saw developing in the garden? I wanted some followup to each story.
Inspiring Seedfolks.......2007-04-25
Seedfolks is a book about a vacant city lot in Cleveland, Ohio that is abandoned until one day a Vietnamese girl decides to plant some beans as a way to become connected to her father who died before she was born. It tells the story of 13 different people who come together by this garden. They are all different ages and have different ethnic backgrounds and jobs. Somehow this garden brings them all together and means something different to each of them. The individual stories are interesting and touching.
My favorite part of the book is Gonzolo's Tio Juan story. He came to the U.S. with Gonzolo's mother and brother. Because he didn't speak English and couldn't work he would wonder around all day long with nothing to do and had to be baby sat by Gonzolo who who referred to him as a baby. One day he went off on his own in the neighborhood and came across the garden. The next day he went back and started working in the garden and planting seeds. Back in Guatemala he used to be a farmer and this gave him life again and he went from being a baby back to a man again.
I would recommend that you read Seedfolks. I think you will be touched by the 13 different people who are brought together through this community garden. In Reading Gonzolo's story it made me think about my Mom's parents who are immigrants from Portugal and how they too must of felt like Gonzolo's Tio Juan when they first arrived in the U.S., like they were babies and didn't know anything.
A Garden of Love.......2006-05-11
Seedfolks is a 69 page book, an easy read. Seedfolks is a book that shows that all different races, religions, cultures, and ages can come together to make something nice and beautiful and have meaning. They took a dump-like place and made it into something beautiful.
Some things I liked about this book were, that you can see how the author makes it so everyone of different backgrounds and stuff come together and do something together as one whole. Another thing that I liked about the book was that the author demonstrates how you can except people for who they are. In this story it seems like everyone is the equal and stuff like that. Like for example there was thing young girl who was pregnant and when this book was written it was like a big deal if you were pregnant at an early age but when she went to the garden no one judged her or anything like that. Another good thing about the book is that there is like no anger or anything bad in it, it seems like when everyone goes to the garden all there problems go away and most people go there to relax and just have fun.
Some things I didn't like about the book were that you cant really get to know one character because the character only has like 3 or 4 pages and there is 13 characters in the book so there really isn't one main character. Also in this book there was no plot, climax and there wasn't that big of a problem I mean there was a little one but it really didn't have a lot to do with what was going on in the book. Another bad thing about the book is it wasn't very interesting I'm the type of person who likes to read a book that you cant put down that you get really into but with this book I didn't feel that way. Overall I think Seedfolks was a decent book.
A Book for Building Community.......2006-04-25
This small book (69 pages) contains thirteen vignettes, each written from the point of view of a different person. Although the people begin as strangers from various ethnic backgrounds, they become acquainted as each cultivates a part of a vacant lot. As the lot becomes a place of beauty, individual lives are transformed as well -- and a community is created.
_Seedfolks_ is an excellent tool for building community among people with diverse backgrounds -- perhaps especially among educators, parents, and students.
Good reading for children.......2006-04-25
This is a good book for children who does not understand the meaning of working together. Also, this book was structured very intelligently; so that any reader can follow the same story but from other people point of views. In addition; the way the author painted colorful pictures of the city was very unique.
Book Description
A richly illustrated and up-to-date source of practical guidance and hard-to-find technical data on all aspects of landscape lighting
The Landscape Lighting Book, Second Edition shows you how to achieve a wide range of beautiful and dramatic lighting effects. You'll get expert guidance and advice on the theory, design process, project needs, and techniques of landscape lighting. You'll find prizewinning projects designed by the author and other landscape lighting professionals throughout the United States. Plus, hundreds of diagrams, drawings, and black-and-white and full-color photographs illuminate topics and provide visually stunning insights into new and creative ways that lighting can transform landscapes. This fully updated edition covers the latest technologies and equipment and features new chapters on installation, documentation, and seasonal lighting. You'll also find:
- Guidelines for preparing lighting drawings, control and transformer charts, symbol lists, and other technical specifications
- Design strategies for avoiding potential conflicts between plantings and landscape lighting equipment
- Accurate performance characteristics of all lighting materials, finishes, and fixtures
- The best ways to locate fixtures, set appropriate light levels, and perform preventive system maintenance
- The special lighting needs of plants in indoor environments
- A complete listing of fixtures, controls, lamps, and accessories manufacturers and vendors
Whether you're seeking to sculpt a landscape with light or make an outdoor space useable at night, The Landscape Lighting Book, Second Edition shares all the technical and creative insights you'll need to beautify your landscaping projects and consistently win client approval.
Customer Reviews:
Landscape Lighting 101.......2006-04-17
The Landscape Lighting book, by Janet Moyer, provides both an academic and practical level of landscaping lighting knowledge. Another good book, if you can find it, is the Ortho's book of How to Design and Install Outdoor Lighting.
In comparison, the Ortho book has more colorful pictures and offers a very colorful education - I'd say, more or less at a good high school level. If you want more of college level introduction to landscape lighting - perhaps, to start a business or to broaden your knowledge, The Landscape Lighting book is the book for you.
The Art and Craft of Landscape Lighting.......2006-03-08
The second edition of Janet Lennox Moyer's THE LANDSCAPE LIGHTING BOOK is an absolute necessity for everybody who works in landscape lighting or who is seriously interested in creating their own garden lighting. Ms Moyer has greatly revised and expanded the color plates and Chapter 4, "The Design Process - Documenting and Installing Landscape Lighting" as well as writing an entirely new Chapter 5 "Follow-up Work - Record Documents and Project Maintenance." These changes and additions and the many other updates make the new edition well worth the purchase price.
First published in 1992, THE LANDSCAPE LIGHTING BOOK has served as the single and indispensable reference for the landscape lighting industry. It has offered all new landscape lighting practitioners guidance and provided an emerging industry the foundation necessary on which to build solid practice. While there is a wealth of other books that offer how-to help and publish pretty pictures, none of them even attempt to define and explain professional practice for the landscape lighting industry with Ms Moyer's authority and confidence.
THE LANDSCAPE LIGHTING BOOK is not an easy book to read but it is well worth the effort. Once you understand the theory behind the short cuts and rules-of-thumb that other how to books offer, you are free to create your own. With the freedom you gain when you understand and can apply those fundamental principals and concepts to your landscape lighting, you become like the cook who ignores the printed recipe and creates a masterpiece of culinary art.
expert opinion.......2000-07-13
Still the best book for the professional. Invaluable resource for architects, landscape architects and landscape lighting designers. Broad and deep with plenty of technical information. I purchased this book in 1992 and I bought it again today (an electrician friend "lost" my original copy). A second edition (if planned) should include better information about transformer regulation (the ability of a low voltage lighting transformer to maintain 12v under load) and voltage drop (the dreaded decrease in voltage through the main supply cable) which are presented as formulae rather than actual measurements. Great photographs mostly of large scale projects. This book should be in every outdoor lighting designer's library.
There is a second edition (Wiley 2005) of the book revised and updated by the author to reflect changes and improvements in techniques and equipment. The second edition is easily recognized by the illustrated four color cover; the original had an illustrated dust cover (missing from the last run of the first edition) by the cover itself was plain black.
I have both editions and consider them a bargain in terms of concentrated relevant information.
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