More Books On My List

Electronic books are a neat invention, but I still like a good paper one in my hands. Winter is a nice time to read and the holidays are a good time for gifts (if you still need ideas this late!). 

Frosty days are perfect for reading

I’ve written about native plant and identification books in the past and those posts are still worth revisiting:

December 2010 – books about native plants and magazines that I like

December 2012 – beginner’s list ideas

December 2012 – beyond the beginner’s list and some more recent selections

This post is basically a continuation … books that I’ve come across since those posts or even books that I am hoping to read in the near future. I hope they may be of interest to you as well. Please note that links to a certain book-selling website are just to be helpful. I do not make any money from click throughs to the site. You are free to buy the book from wherever you want!

A friend gave me a copy of The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature by David George Haskell. This book is a winner of several awards, and I have found it to be thoroughly enjoyable. The premise is a year’s worth of observation over a specific area of the same spot in a forest in Tennessee. Each chapter is one visit to the site. Rather than describing the visit in details, an observation from the visit is an opportunity to expound on a topic in detail. I have learned some very interesting things!

 

The book What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses by Daniel Chamovitz was also a gift, and a topic that I was skeptical of when I read the title. It has been very enlightening and refers to many scientific studies to illustrate how plants do have an incredible awareness of what goes on around them (and how they react to external events).

In January of 2014 a new book is coming out and I have pre-ordered it: Native Plants of the Southeast: A Comprehensive Guide to the Best 460 Species for the Garden by Larry Mellichamp and Will Stuart. I have heard Larry speak at the Cullowhee (NC) conference and have always found him to be quite knowledgeable and thorough in his subject matter. I am looking forward to his take on this subject and the very excellent photography of Will Stuart. Both fellows are from North Carolina.

I am a big fan of appreciating the critters that live around us (literally, the ones in our yard!) and so apparently is the author of The Urban Bestiary: Encountering the Everyday Wild (by Lyanda Lynn Haupt). After a glowing review by a friend of mine, this book is on my list to find.

Another book that is on my wish list is Gardening for the Birds: How to Create a Bird-Friendly Backyard by George Adams. It is a book that includes the importance of native plant choices for bird-friendly gardening rather than simply suggest that we put up bird boxes, bird baths and bird feeders.

A final book for consideration is Favorite Wildflower Walks in Georgia by Hugh and Carol Nourse. I appreciate the few books out there that are specific to Georgia in terms of subject matter. I have met the authors on several activities with the Georgia Botanical Society and I know they are passionate about plant communities and appreciative of places that represent them well. As the description at the link says, "Of the many walks the Nourses have taken, these are the ones they return to most often because of the density or the unusual nature of the floral display. All twenty of these wildflower walks are on public land; everything you need to know about how to find them and what to do once you're there is included."