I'm in charge of the NARGS Book of the Month and boy, do I have a gorgeous book for someone to review. It's The Golden Age of Botanical Art by Martyn Rix. The pictures are exquisite and are primarily from the mid 1700's to mid 1800's although earlier and later periods are included. The pictures are supplemented with information about the artist and their era.
I'm seeking a reviewer with, ideally, knowledge of botanical illustration and art history. The reviewer will be expected to email me an approximately 500 word review within three months (or I'll put a hex on your plants!). In exchange you get to keep the book. Reviewers are not required or expected to pay for the book they review. The list price for this book is $35.
If you are interested in reviewing this book please drop me a couple of lines as to why you are well suited to review a book on botanical art.
I am willing to ship this book to Canada but our overseas members will need to pass. It's quite heavy and would cost a fortune to ship overseas.
Jan Jeddeloh
Comments
Happy New Year everyone.
Happy New Year everyone. Make my New Year happy by agreeing to review books for the NARGS Book of the Month program. Remember unless you’re in the sunny southwest or deep south you’re probably looking at least a couple of months of snow, rain or other nastiness that will keep you inside.
I have two books that I’m looking to send out for review. The first is Ken Thompson’s Where Do Camels Belong. This British author’s book makes the rather contrarian argument that “native” is a human construct and that invasives aren’t nearly as bad as their press and cost excessive amounts of money to fight anyway. Anyone with a scientific or strong environmental background willing to give this a careful read and see if he has a point (or not)? Remember you’re not required to like a book to write a review of it. I’m quite willing to post a critical review so long as it isn’t a personal attack. And who knows, maybe the guy makes some valid points. The reviewer of this book can keep it or donate it to their local chapter for door prize, raffle etc.
The next book is Hardy Cypripedium; Species, Hybrids and Cultivation. Unfortunately the reviewer cannot keep this book because it is my personal copy; this book was just too expensive to charge NARGS for it but luckily I’m a sucker for lots of orchid eye candy and ordered it for myself. The reviewer can, however, borrow it for three months to give it a good read and write a review. It’s heavy on color pictures and light on text so three months should be enough time. The reviewer should have either some experience growing cypripediums (notice I did not say successfully; as we all know most cyps are difficult) or have the knowledge to evaluate the species descriptions and scientific aspects of the book. The majority of the book is species and cultivar descriptions. It’s really a lovely book to look at and would look nice on your coffee table for its three-month visit.
If you’re interested in reviewing either of these books please email your snail mail address to [email protected]. I can send to Canada but not overseas-too expensive
Finally I would like to encourage anyone who has a favorite gardening related book to write a review and send it to me. The book doesn’t have to be about alpines, just garden or natural world related. After all our rock garden plants were all native somewhere. The book should be either in print, readily available on the second hand market, and not previously reviewed on our website. Make my day-write a review.
Hi, fellow book lovers,
Hi, fellow book lovers,
I have two books available for review.
Heart and Soil; The Revolutionary Good of Gardens by Canadian Des Kennedy is a series of gardening essays. I’ve read a selection and he’s an entertaining, delightful writer with a Northwest bent. Most of the essays appeared originally in either the Garden Wise magazine or the Globe and Mail newspaper. For the book Kennedy has expanded and revised some of his essays. The essays are short, quick little reads to be dipped into. Some of the plants and problems (the Pacific Northwest ivy takeover for example) are specific to us far westerners but the book could be enjoyed and reviewed by gardeners anywhere.
The second book I have available for review is A History of the Garden in Fifty Tools by Bill Laws. The author is British and some of the tools (daisy grubber anyone?) are primarily used in Great Britain but most of the tools are bi-cultural and have a long history. The book features many illustrations of antique garden tools. Anyone with an appreciation of old tools and their history could review this book.
The reviewer will be expected to email Steve Whitesell at [email protected] an approximately 500 word review within three months (or I'll put a hex on your plants!). Steve will be taking over the Book of the Month column from me. In exchange you get to keep the book. Reviewers are not required or expected to pay for the book they review.
If you are interested in reviewing either of these books please drop me an email at [email protected]. I am willing to ship the book to Canada but our overseas members will need to pass.
Well, that was fast. I already have a response from a well-qualified reviewer (Michael Riley) so I'll be sending the book to him.
I plan to post books for review in this thread as them come in so if you're interested check in every now and then. My reviewer requests also go out to chapter chairs.
Jan