In early summer my goal was to find, read and assess murder mystery heroes/heroines who were also gardeners. Here is my unenthusiastic report.

Mum’s the Word, by Kate Collins, stars a plucky, self-deprecating flower shop owner whom I grew to admire.

Red Delicious Death, by Sheila Connolly. I was taken with the setting—an apple orchard in Maine—but the wooden characters were uninteresting.

Pushing Up Daisies, by Rosemary Harris. By the time this book got to the top of the stack, I was numb and only Lord Peter Wimsey or Kate Fansler would have made the cut.

Poisoned Petals, Joyce and Jim Lavene. I wanted to like this book. The heroine owns a successful horticulture business, The Potting Shed, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and has a Ph.D. in Botany. But she has an uninteresting life with a truly door-mat, vet boyfriend and I couldn’t finish the book.

A Morbid Taste for Bones, by Ellis Peters. Even though Brother Cadfael is a famous sleuth I just can’t relate to this 12th century Benedictine monk.

Mulch, by Ann Ripley. This story has the best gardener/heroine in Louise Eldridge. Ripley knows plants and generously sprinkles Latin names throughout the text. She also understands good landscape design and eruditely critiques all gardens Louise encounters.

A Hoe Lot of Trouble, by Heather Webber. While this novel wins first prize for its clever title, the characters are annoying—much like a silly sitcom—and I didn’t care what happened to any of them.

As a break between murder mysteries, I snuck in some non-fiction.

Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert. I’m re-reading my copy from 2006 after seeing the movie with Julia Roberts in the starring role. While this adaptations was very good but simply can’t compete with the depth of the book. But as before, I am completely swept away by the wonderful food in Italy, the serenity of the ashram in India and the romance of Bali.

My French Kitchen, by Joanne Harris & Fran Warde, includes an excellent selection of recipes (I’ve marked 12 so far) and gorgeous photographs of idyllic French food and scenes.

This also appears in the Askov American, Askov, Minnesota.

I Love Lucy was a little before my time but who doesn't laugh at Lucy and Ethel when—for one fateful day—they worked at a chocolate factory or when Lucy stomped grapes? Today I feel like Lucy when reprimanded by Ricky.

"You got some 'splainin' to do."

The stack of books on my bedside table has never been higher. Here's my defense.

#1. It's summer. With visions of weekend afternoons and several leisurely days at a cabin on a northern Minnesota lake, I needed some stock.

#2. A new goal of mine is to discover the best murder mystery series that is garden-related. I have my favorite regulars: Dorothy L. Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey, Amanda Cross' Kate Fansler and even-though-there-were-only-three, Virginia Rich's Eugenia Potter. No, this search is about murder mysteries involving gardeners, florists, botanists or otherwise plant-loving, amateur sleuths.

#3. Minneapolis is home to a spectacular bookstore, Once Upon A Crime, devoted exclusively to murder mysteries. With help from my sister Barbara, who is a murder mystery aficiando, and the bookstore's co-owner, Pat, I took home a respectable group.

I'll share garden murder mystery reviews anon. In the meantime...

~~~

The Prodigal Summer, by Barbara Kingsolver, is a work of fiction by this author who also wrote, along with her husband and one of her daughters, a journal of a year eating only local food, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. (Several years later, Friday night at our house is still Pizza Night.) David Koets, who shares similar tastes in books for he is also a fan of Jim Harrison, loaned me his copy. I love the book. There are four compelling heroines—three of whom have fascinating pursuits, personalities and character development. The fourth is a female coyote. They seem at first disparate but Kingsolver slowly and masterfully weaves their stories together.

Take Good Care of the Garden and the Dogs, by Heather Lende, grabbed my attention while reading The New York Times Book Review. What a great title! Lende lives in Alaska where she is a columnist for two newspapers. She also contributes to other publications and NPR.

My Garden, by Kevin Henkes, is a children's book with big, colorful, stylized artwork. (Am I regressing? First Dr. Seuss; now this?) The young heroine helps in her mother's garden but envisions her own.
"In my garden, the rabbits wouldn't eat the lettuce because the rabbits would be chocolate and I would eat them."
"If I planted jelly beans, I'd grow a great big jelly bean bush."
"The tomatoes would be as big as beach balls, and the carrots would be invisible because I don't like carrots."

A Real American Breakfast, by Cheryl Alters Jamison & Bill Jamison. Everyone knows breakfast is the most important meal of the day but how many of us pay much attention to it? Buy this book and you'll run out of mornings to try all these dishes. There are 275 recipes—not only breakfast regulars but also creative and unusual ideas. Many regional specialties are included. All seem quite doable. Just this morning, I made Quick Maple Toast from page 124. I substituted a savory bread, Oregon Herb from Great Harvest, and sprinkled fresh raspberries before serving. Delicious. My only complaint: not enough photographs.

The Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian, by Lawrence Block, is the second book I've read about Bernie Rhodenbarr, an antiquarian bookseller by day, extremely competent burglar by night. Bernie is a dilettante, extremely likable and surrounded by well-drawn characters like Carolyn, his burglary partner and lesbian dog groomer, and Ray, the good-guy, NYC cop who isn't above taking a bribe or looking the other way to solve a crime.

Sonata for Miriam, by Linda Olsson. Her first book, Astrid & Veronika, was haunting and beautifully written in a clear, simple, almost Ernest Hemingway-way. Her writing style is the same but this story is more complex and broad-ranging.

Garden Bouquets and Beyond, by Suzy Bales. I am conflicted about Bales' latest book. The photographs are absolutely beautiful but sometimes her prose is trite: "Daffodils signal that spring has burst out of winter's corset." She often refers to daffodils as "daffs."

Also, some of Bales' ideas are too contrived for my tastes (an iron bunny wearing a floral wreath; rubber boots as a vase for flowering branches) but she also loves common flowers in simple bouquets. She mentions tulips, frittilarias, lily-of-the-valley, bleeding heart, shrubs like forsythia and dogwood and of course, lilacs. "I came to the conclusion years ago that I could never have enough lilacs, so I planted an assortment in different colors, from pink and white to blue and purple. To make a sensational bouquet, all you need to do is cut a few stems from each color and group them together."

But I whole-heartedly endorse this notion: "Bringing bouquets from my garden into my home breaks the barrier between inside and out." She also advocates cutting plant parts other than flowers: "I cut indiscriminately from any part, anywhere: container gardens, flower borders, foundation plantings, vegetable gardens, and the roadside when no one is looking."

Ad Hoc at Home, by Thomas Keller, remains on the bedside table from my last report but, geez, it's a very big book! Plus, the 360 pages are filled with outstanding recipes, photos, tips, ideas and menu suggestions.

True, spring finds me spending lots of time at nurseries which, in turn, results in planting projects in the garden. But in the evenings I like to sit by the fire and read.

A Beautiful Blue Death, by Charles Finch, is the first of this murder mystery series set in Victorian England. The hero, Charles Lenox, is a sort-of combination of Lord Peter Wimsey (my favorite amateur sleuth created by Dorothy L. Sayers) and Professor Henry Higgins (of Pygmalian and My Fair Lady fame who spent much time in his library with Colonel Pickering). Lenox has a Bunter-type butler named Graham and likes "to sit in front of a warm fire, reading the newspaper with a cup of tea in his hand." While a very enjoyable read, Lenox isn't nearly as cool as either Wimsey or Higgins.

The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss. Somehow I missed much of the Dr. Seuss phenomenon as a child. My favorite bedtime books were Winnie-the-Pooh stories and A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. This book intrigued me, though, after learning it was David de Rothschild's favorite environmental book. de Rothschild is a rich, dashing, handsome member of the English banking family who has become an adventurer/environmental activist. He is now sailing his boat, Plastiki, which is made from 12,000 plastic bottles, on a public awareness expedition around the Pacific Ocean. How could I not love a book "where the Grickle-grass grows," and there are "Truffula Trees" and the Lorax speaks "for the trees. I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues."?

Mary Engelbreit's Outdoor Campion, by Charlotte Lyons. I'm not normally a big fan of Mary Engelbreit's artwork–a little too juvenile and cutesy for me–but this book includes photographs of some very nice outdoor spaces and I can always find some good ideas to borrow.

Ad Hoc at Home, by Thomas Keller with Dave Cruz. Thomas Keller is the chef/proprietor of two very high-brow restaurants, French Laundry in Napa Valley and per se in New York, and a more casual place, Ad Hoc, in Yountville, California. While some of his dishes might require 25 ingredients and take three days to prepare, his simple roast chicken recipe remains our house favorite. I bought the cookbook for the salad section alone–full of easy recipes such as Iceberg Lettuce Slices, Fall Salad and a composed tuna salad. Keller's personal tips are everywhere and can't be missed due to the clever light bulb graphic. It is comprehensive at 359 pages, many of which of are covered with photos of gorgeous food.

This also appears in the Askov American, Askov, Minnesota.

One of the few infallible rules of gardening is that no garden can have too many bulbs.
~ Anna Pavord

Bulb, by Anna Pavord. While browsing in a bookstore on a dank winter day, I splurged on this big, gorgeous book. Pavord wrote in her acknowledgements, "I spend more on bulbs than on clothes," and I immediately felt exonerated.

Pavord is English and writes from a European perspective but her expertise knows no boundaries. "This book is about the most glorious group of plants on earth: bulbs, corms, tubers, and rhizomes…A single perfect crocus or fritillary, growing in a terra-cotta pot, gives as much pleasure as a crowd of daffodils…In these pages you will find about 600 of my favorite bulbs…"

Another allure of the book is the exquisite photography by Andrew Lawson and Torie Chugg. Wow. If you weren't a bulb lover before reading and/or beholding this book, perhaps you will be.

Dead Silence, by Randy Wayne White, is the 2009-published book in the Doc Ford series. Besides the regular cast of characters and the enviable location of Dinkin's Bay off Sanibel Island, Florida, White created an intriguing and forceful young hero with a Minnesota connection. Will Chaser is a 15-year-old who had been living on a reservation in Seminole County, Oklahoma, until he was moved north to Minnesota. Will "had done some dumb things. He'd been kicked out of three schools and arrested twice. Math was weak, his spelling worse. But he wasn't stupid. Ever." In addition, Will inherited "a condition–a gift perhaps–that's been well documented. It's called synethesia…a heightened awareness."

Waking Up in Eden, by Lucinda Fleeson, is a well-researched, well-written, sort-of journal Fleeson wrote when she lived on Kauai, Hawaii, and worked for the National Tropical Botanical Garden.

Roads Less Traveled, by Catherine Watson, is on loan from my friend Jan. Watson was the Minneapolis StarTribune's travel writer for more than 30 years and this book is a compilation of her adventures/newspaper stories during those years.

This also appeared in the Askov American, Askov, Minnesota.

The Defector, by Daniel Silva, is the most current in the series about Gabriel Allon–the ultra cool Israeli spy. Let's hope it's not the last.

The White Garden, by Stephanie Barron. I'm in a serious Vita Sackville-West phase. I'm researching her life, reading her writing and studying her design style. She and her husband, Sir Harold Nicolson, bought Sissinghurst Castle in Kent in 1930 and for the ensuing 32 years developed one of the most magnificent gardens in England. Sackville-West created the much-copied "one-colour gardens," the most notable of which is the White Garden. This fascinating novel is set against the background of Sissinghurst Castle where a manuscript–perhaps the last thing Virginia Woolf wrote prior to her drowning–is the catalyst as Barron delves into the relationship between Sackville-West and Woolf.

V. Sackville-West's Garden Book, edited by Philippa Nicolson. Sackville-West chronicled her gardening experiences in a column she wrote from 1947 – 1961 for the London Observer. Nicolson (Sackville-West's daughter-in-law) selected from among those columns and presents them in this anthology. Sackville-West had an appealing style which Nicolson mentioned in the Foreword: "She established with her readers a gentle, bantering relationship, like that of an amateur gardener talking to a friend about their horticultural triumphs and follies–boasting a bit, laughing a bit, grousing a bit, mingling reminiscence with hard advice, and sentiment with something approaching poetry."

Far Flung and Well Fed, by R. W. Apple Jr. Apple was a reporter and bureau chief at The New York Times. He was also a world traveler and gourmand who often wrote features for the Times of the places that he and his wife Betsey visited and of the food they ate. This compilation includes about 50 of those wonderfully written essays which are part travelogue, part food memoir.

This also appeared in the Askov American, Askov, Minnesota.

The Lost Gardens, by Anthony Eglin. My sister, Barbara, recently visited and since we share the gene for mystery-reading, my hostess gift from her was this book. What could be better–a murder mystery/gardening combination?

The Secret Servant, by Daniel Silva. Gabriel Allon is my new hero. I am completely enamored by this tough, proficient, intelligent, complex character with emerald green eyes and a slight graying at the temples. This is the seventh novel in the series.

Elizabeth David's Christmas, edited by Jill Norman. Yes, I know Christmas is over but it's been busy. David is a favorite food writer and I couldn't resist this compilation of essays, menus and recipes. Visually, the book is exceptional. The graphics, paper stock, fonts and colors are simple, but sophisticated and beautiful.

The Garden Lover's Guide to Britain and One Hundred English Gardens, both by Patrick Taylor. One of my projects for 2010 is studying English gardens. A gardening friend, Jill, and her family spent two weeks touring England and Ireland and she graciously loaned me these books. Yikes! I want to see all 100 gardens!

Tout Sweet, subtitled Hanging up my High Heels for a New Life in France, by Karen Wheeler. A fashion writer abandons her glamorous London life and buys a fixer-upper in rural France. The concept is appealing but the follow-through is a little too fluffy and predictable, even for me.

A Book of Silence, by Sara Maitland. I was intrigued by this book after reading a review in The New York Times. Among other subjects, Maitland writes about her 40-day, solo sojourn in a remote cottage on the Isle of Skye, off the northwest coast of Scotland.

Among her conclusions:
…with fewer things to look at I see better.
…I got interested in silence itself…We have reached a point in contemporary Western culture where we believe that too much silence is either 'mad' (depressive, escapist, weird) or 'bad' (selfish, antisocial).
…I discovered the silent joy of gardening…In our noise-obsessed culture it is very easy to forget just how many of the major physical forces on which we depend are 'silent'–gravity, electricity, light, tides…Organic growth is silent too. Cells divide, sap flows, bacteria multiply, energy runs thrilling through the earth, but without a murmur…Gardening puts me in contact with all this silent energy; gardeners become active partners in all that silent growth.

Window Boxes, by James Cramer & Dean Johnson. This book is here for inspiration. The pair has extremely innovative, seasonal ideas for window boxes and their contents. Even though I don't have a window box (alas), many of their designs are applicable to container gardens.

The Minnesota Homegrown Cookbook, subtitled Local Food, Local Restaurants, Local Recipes, presented by Renewing the Countryside. (What's the deal with subtitles?) During a recent stay in the Grand Rapids area, I sniffed out a fabulous coffee shop, Brewed Awakenings, where I spent many contented hours. The atmosphere is warm and hip, the coffee is strong and the display case is full of goodies including a scrumptious apple pie I can vouch for.

Near the register was a stack of cookbooks. As I leafed through one the first day I was intrigued because Brewed Awakenings was in the book. On ensuing visits I read even more and, finally, while buying my last cup of coffee and scone, I purchased the book.

It features 31 restaurants from around the state that specialize in excellent food with a tradition of sourcing good, local ingredients. Paired with each restaurant is one of their farmers–whether supplying fish, maple syrup, bison, chicken, dairy, vegetables or wine. Since the book is a cookbook, each restaurant also offers several recipes. I'm excited to try Mahnomin Porridge and Bison Sausage Bread from Hell's Kitchen and Herb Goat Cheese Quesadillas from Dancing Winds Farmstay Retreat.

The book begins: All food is not created equal. Anyone who bites into a just-picked tomato on a warm summer day knows that it hardly resembles that tomato-like thing you get in Minnesota grocery stores in January. And cheeses crafted by an artisan cheesemaker is worlds apart from those single-wrapped, processed slices that many of us grew up on. This is a book about homegrown food.

The English Assassin, by Daniel Silva. This is my first book in Silva's series about Gabriel Allon, an art restorer by day/Israeli spy by night. Allon is a very cool character and the story takes him to classy European locales–Lisbon, Zurich, Rome, London and Corsica.

The Windows of Brimnes, by Bill Holm. I fell hard for Holm when I read his Cabins of Minnesota. After poignantly describing venerable cabins around the state, he confessed that the cabin he purchased was in his ancestral country of Iceland and he is "in love with it–madly, ecstatically in love with it." Holm was an excellent writer and I'm now captivated by all things Icelandic. He died last winter but left for us a large number of books, poems and essays.

Projects for Small Gardens, by Richard Bird and George Carter. I picked up this book from the bargain table and was instantly seduced. Included are detailed instructions and mouth-watering color photographs for 56 garden projects. In fact, after a bit of design tweaking, the trellis and trellis/screen are installed now in my garden. Other projects include hurdles, wattles, arches, obelisks, arbors, window boxes, troughs and countless containers.

Julia's Kitchen Wisdom, by Julia Child. I've had this book since 2001 (complete with a Julia Child-autographed card) and have used it on a limited-but-regular basis for her salads, dressings and "Egg Cookery." With all the hoopla surrounding the movie, Julie and Julia, I had to dust it off and re-connect with this amazing chef and colorful character.

Death on Demand, by Carolyn G. Hart. This heroine lives in a treehouse on an island, owns a mystery bookstore and has a very cool boyfriend named Max Darling. What's not to like?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, by J. K. Rowling. My husband and I somehow missed the whole Harry Potter thing…shrugging it off as books for kids. Thanks to friend Jan, who is loaning us books and movies, we have started the series.

Gardening at the Dragon's Gate, by Wendy Johnson. Even though I didn't care for the title, I pulled this book off the shelf at the bookstore to browse through. It intrigued me. Johnson works at the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in California and is both a gardener and a Buddhist meditation teacher–a cool combination.

The Pat Conroy Cookbook, by Pat Conroy. Although best known for his novels that take place in the southeast, Conroy has been a cook and traveler. Recipes are included from Italy and France but the ones most appealing to me are home-style and southern: Smithfield Ham Spread, Vidalia Onion Dip, Shrimp Salad, Grits Casserole and Candied Bacon.

This might seem like lots of books to have on a bedside table but two are from the library and one is on loan from my sister.

A Sand County Almanac, by Aldo Leopold. This is a classic piece and I should just break down and buy my own copy. Leopold's descriptions of the male woodcock sky dance and an oak tree are masterful. "There are two spiritual dangers in not owning a farm. One is the danger of supposing that breakfast comes from the grocery, and the other that heat comes from the furnace."

Bogtrotter, by Richard A. Coffey. Little did I know we had a star living in our midst! Coffey, the husband of our wonderful librarian, Jeanne, wrote a book about one year when they lived in a rustic cabin on the edge of the bog. This is a very well done story, heart-warming and so evocative of our area.

Crewel World, by Monica Ferris. My sister, Barbara, and I are avid murder mystery readers but she usually one-ups me when it comes to new, good series. This book is enjoyable for many reasons: easy reading; the setting is Excelsior which also means many Minnesota references; the heroine is named Betsy.

'wichcraft, by Tom Colicchio with Sisha Ortuzar. Sandwiches are a big thing in our house–we even christened Sunday evening as Sandwich Night. And while I have many, many recipes for fabulous sandwiches, including several from a favorite, Nancy Silverton's Sandwich Book, one can never have too many cookbooks.

Wildflowers of the Boundary Waters, by Betty Vos Hemstad. I bought this book from Lonnie at Burntside Lodge when my husband and I recently stayed at their amazing place outside Ely. Lonnie is an extremely talented gardener and had stocked this newly published book. What an excellent resource! Vos Hemstad presents the plants in chronological order of bloom and includes photographs, in addition to the ubiquitous flower photos, of foliage, fruit and the entire plant as seen in the wild.

Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways, by Debra Prinzing. One of my 2009 garden trends predictions was the notion of potting sheds, or garden sheds, not only as a place to store one's gardening paraphernalia but, as Virginia Woolf so aptly phrased it, "A Room of One's Own." A stylish garden shed is definitely on my dream list.

Out Stealing Horses, by Per Petterson. This book appealed to me for many reasons. It was written by a Norwegian who moves to a remote cabin to live a simple life away from people: "All my life I have longed to be alone in a place like this." It was awarded "One of the 10 Best Books of the Year" by The New York Times Book Review. Petterson's prose is, at once, clear, direct and lyrical. His characters are wonderfully and subtly drawn and his story, compelling. I love this book.

Ninety-two in the Shade, by Thomas McGuane. While I have read and loved two of McGuane's nonfiction books, Some Horses and An Outside Chance, I had never read his fiction. I have always been partial to McGuane for several reasons: he is a fellow graduate of Michigan State University; he is a pal of Jim Harrison, one of my all-time favorite writers; and he is a hunter and dog lover with a preference for pointers.

Designer Plant Combinations, by Scott Calhoun. How lucky for me to have chosen Burntside Lodge outside Ely, Minnesota, as our vacation spot. Even luckier was the recognition of and connection to a fellow plant lover when I first contacted Burntside Lodge about reservations and ended up talking to Lonnie, the owner, for almost an hour. My husband, Jerry, and I are now happily settled into vacation life and spend our days looking at the lake, watching boat traffic through the channel, talking and reading. Even though I had brought a stack of books, magazines and newspapers, I couldn't resist another when Lonnie shoved this book across the wooden counter in the lodge. Calhoun presents vignettes from more than 100 gardens using no more than six plants and, judging by the notes I took, many are sensational.

The New York Times Country Weekend Cookbook, edited by Linda Amster. This compilation is full of delicious-sounding and easy-to-make-on-a-weekend recipes. Nothing hoity-toity here. Some marked for trial include Tuna Pan Bagna, Chicken Salad with Grapes and Toasted Nuts, Hot Blueberries, Pleasant Pasta with Peas, Parmesan and Prosciutto by James Beard, Smoked Salmon and Sour Cream Omelet by Craig Claiborne, Tacos by Mark Bittman and Roasted Cauliflower with Lemons, Capers and Olives by Mario Batali.

Everglades, by Randy Wayne White. A favorite mystery series set on Sanibel Island, Florida, and filled with great characters like Doc Ford and Tomlinson.

Who Does Your Garden Grow? by Alex Pankhurst. This was a thank-you gift from Mary, a cool friend who lives with two big dogs in a log home on a northern Minnesota lake. She found the book at Terrace Horticultural Books in St. Paul. (This bookstore is also cool. It specializes in selling used, new and antiquarian books and other material related to plants and gardens.) The book delves into the fascinating stories behind plant names. Who is George Russell and why are a strain of lupines named after him? What about Madame Hardy and the shrub rose she made famous? Did you know that Vera Jameson, as in the sedum, was part of the Jameson whisky family?

Our Life in Gardens, by Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd. Eck and Winterrowd are nationally renowned gardeners, writers and lecturers. They also own North Hill, their nationally renowned garden in Vermont.

Bistro Cooking, by Patricia Wells. I pulled this book–a favorite topic written by a favorite cookbook author–off my bookshelf and am re-reading it. Don't you ever read cookbooks?

Green Grows the City, by Beverley Nichols. This book is a gift from a special friend, Maureen, who is a photo stylist with superb design instincts. We share a passion for English murder mysteries and Beverley Nichols' books.

Ladder of Years, by Anne Tyler. Tyler has created a captivating novel with excellent characterizations. I love her simple, clear, compelling style.

Second Nature, by Michael Pollan. I'm re-reading this delightful book and thoroughly re-enjoying and re-appreciating Pollan's facile mind. He explains the root of the word 'garden' (from the German word meaning enclosure), includes quotes from transcendentalists Thoreau and Emerson and offers an opinion on a Supreme Court decision about trees.

We've Always Had Paris…And Provence, by Patricia and Walter Wells. Patricia is one of my favorite cookbook authors, especially after meeting her and watching her cook. Along with her husband, Walter, they are quite the power couple. Walter retired from the International Herald Tribune in 2005, where he was executive editor. Patricia was the restaurant critic for that newspaper for 27 years and is the author of 10 cookbooks and the proprietor of a very successful cooking school. The Wells divide their time between an apartment in Paris and a restored Provencal farmhouse. What a life!

The Laughter of Dead Kings, by Elizabeth Peters.
Vicky Bliss is a favorite heroine from many years ago so I was delighted to see this new book. Vicky is cool–with a cool job as an art historian at a museum in Munich where she has a cool boss, Herr Doktor Anton Z. Schmidt, whom she calls Schmidt. Plus, she's tall, smart and beautiful. Plus, she's a dog lover! In an earlier book she rescued a Doberman from the bad guys and now Caesar, the dog, is a very loyal pet.

The Gardener's Bedside Reader, edited by Kari Cornell.
Normally, I don't like anthologies, preferring instead to read the whole, real thing but I was captivated by this book and its editor. Cornell is from Minneapolis–a local–and had superb taste in the authors she chose to include: Henry Mitchell, Vita Sackville-West, Dan Hinckley, Anna Pavord, Sydney Eddison, Michale Pollan, Wayne Winterrowd and Beverly Nichols. The book is exquisitely illustrated with botanical drawings, old seed advertising and beautiful photographs in both color and black-and-white.

The Tenth Muse, My Life in Food, by Judith Jones.
I can hardly put this book down! Not only is Jones a wonderful writer who has led a fascinating life herself, but as an editor for Alfred A. Knopf, she, basically, discovered Julia Child, James Beard and M.F.K. Fisher.

A Salty Piece of Land, by Jimmy Buffett.
This weekend, our part of the state was blasted with blizzard conditions–howling winds and several inches of fresh snow. For two days since, the temperatures can't get above 0 degrees. Why wouldn't I want to be "wasting away again in Margaritaville?" Why wouldn't I want to daydream about "warm summer breezes" and "one particular harbor?" This is the perfect antidote to a Minnesota winter!

Suddenly my bedside table is stacked with excellent books and I'm not getting much sleep!

The Dream Stalker, by Margaret Coel. When I recently visited my sister, Barbara, in Colorado Springs, she loaned me a murder mystery from her substantial library. Her tastes are eclectic, though, and her collection includes books ranging from mysteries, fiction and current best sellers to books on women's issues and physics.

The English Major, by Jim Harrison is a new piece of fiction by one of my favorite writers of essays and nonfiction.

Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser is another book I borrowed from my sister, for whom it hit close to home. Schlosser used Colorado Springs as his focal point and drew parallels between its voracious urban sprawl and the growth of the fast food industry.

Bringing Nature Home, How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens, by Douglas W. Tallamy. I love this book! Tallamy is an entomology and wildlife ecology professor who, while clearing newly acquired property, discovered "a rather striking pattern. The alien plants that were taking over the land…all had very little or no leaf damage from insects, while the red maples, black and pin oaks…had obviously supplied many insects with food."

What a simple, yet pithy and original concept. Insects need native plants to eat.

Tallamy then continues his notion. Insects are critical to the health of our ecosystem: "…so many animals depend partially or entirely on insect protein for food, a land without insects is a land without most forms of higher life." As a consequence, the role and importance of gardeners is expanding into fresh territory. Our gardens and the plants we choose to grow are crucial components of the future of the "native plants and animals of North America and the ecosystems that sustain them."
Heady stuff.

Tallamy is compelling and persuasive but not preachy. This book should be required reading for all gardeners and, especially, anyone associated with the horticulture industry.

Summer is a wonderful time for reading and my bedside table–whether at home or on vacation–has been stacked high!

The complete China Bayles' series by Susan Wittig Albert is on loan from my friend, Jan. Even though I've previously read several in this series about a high-powered-attorney-turned-herb-shop-owner who solves murders, it's fun to read them all in sequence.

Flower Confidential, by Amy Stewart.

Gardens to Go, by Sydney Eddison. I've read many books about container gardening but this is an excellent one recommended to me by Lonnie of Burntside Lodge in Ely, Minnesota.

The Ultimate Muffin Book, by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough. This is one from my own library that I'm re-reading. I know, I know! I've confessed that I can't bake but how hard can muffins be? The authors write that no special equipment is required–just a whisk and a wooden spoon. I can do that! Plus, don't these muffins, using fresh summer fruits, sound divine? Peach Cinnamon Crunch Muffins, Strawberry Crumb Muffins and Berry Streusel Muffins using blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Yum!

Here's the list of titles currently stacked on my bedside table. It features the usual murder mystery, garden book, food book, along with a wonderful work of fiction.

Shark River, by Randy Wayne White. I've read other mysteries by White and while they can be a bit grizzly, I adore his settings. His hero, Doc Ford, lives in a stilt house on (literally) the quiet backwaters of the Gulf of Mexico near Sanibel Island. After that last snow storm when I couldn't bear to look outside and wanted desperately to shroud every window, I needed to escape to sultry South Florida and Doc Ford.

The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver. Astute readers might remember that last winter I read another by Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable Miracle, which is a chronicle of her family's one-year effort to eat only locally grown or produced food. This captivating novel I usually read far into the night.

The Jewel Box Garden, by Thomas Hobbs. Wow……this is a gorgeous book written by a passionate gardener. Even his chapter titles are enticing: Dream Big, Thinking Like A Plant, Gilding The Lily and Investment Potting. I especially like that last chapter because, basically, he concurs with a point I have written about many times. "Your pots and containers should pay an aesthetic dividend, as well as contain your plants. In other words, buy some good pots."

Williams-Sonoma Complete Outdoor Living Cookbook, Chuck Williams, General Editor. I discovered this fat, luscious cookbook on the bargain table at the book store and snatched it up for less than the cost of a paperback. The Williams-Sonoma catalog was the first of its kind and, in my opinion, is still the best. In my days as a neophyte cook, I studied it cover to cover and paid heed to its advice about quality tools and equipment. I don't buy much from the catalog anymore because my kitchen is now well stocked but I still enjoy leafing through its pages.

There are more good books on my bedside table. What can I say? Winter is a good time for reading!

Boundary Waters, by William Kent Krueger. Jeanne recently hosted Krueger at the Sandstone library. I was captivated and, naturally, had to try a book.

Down the Garden Path, by Beverly Nichols. A friend, Maureen B., loaned me this book written in 1938 by an Englishmen describing, in droll detail, the development of his garden.

Cold Pasta, by James McNair. I discovered this book at an antique store for $2 and, even though it's winter, I'm enjoying his ideas and recipes.

Cabins of Minnesota, by Bill Holm. Love this book! Holm perfectly captures the charm and spirit of simple cabin life.

Dust, by Martha Grimes. This latest paperback in the English series is filled, as always, with a delightful cast of characters. Richard Jury is a chief inspector of the New Scotland Yard. Sgt. Wiggins is Jury's lovable, hypochondriac assistant and Melrose Plant is a debonair but down-to-earth peer who officially shed his august title of the Earl of Caverness.

Living in the Garden Home, by P. Allen Smith. While quite innocently wandering by the gardening section of the bookstore en route to shopping for presents for other people, I discovered this book. Smith celebrates seasonal change and encourages enjoyment of plants year-round. The book is full of enticing ideas and information, even if Smith does, occasionally, veer too close for comfort to Martha Stewart.

The New York Times Country Weekend Cookbook. The New York Times newspaper remains a favorite source for outstanding recipes and this book is a wonderful collection from big names in the food world including Alice Waters, James Beard, Mark Bittman, Jacques Pepin, Craig Claiborne and Mario Batali. Most of the recipes require just a few ingredients and are easily prepared. Nothing turns me off more than a too-long list of ingredients!

Astrid and Veronika, by Linda Olsson. This novel is beautifully written with evocative descriptions of life in Sweden and New Zealand. With the exception of one disturbing aspect of the plot, I loved the book.

The stack seems quite high suddenly. Maybe, similar to a squirrel scurrying about and storing acorns, I'm building my supply of books for the winter. I anticipate long evenings reading in front of the fire.

Several of my current books are checked out from the Sandstone Public Library. What a wonderful facility! Go on Saturday morning when Jeanne offers a cup of excellent coffee–rich, dark and not at all "chewy!" Grab a cup to sip while browsing the stacks.

The Babes in the Wood, by Ruth Rendell. Actually, this is an audio CD because I'm traveling quite a bit now. Rendell is a new mystery author to me but her English Inspector Reginald Wexford sounds intriguing and her setting is apropos. Sussex is experiencing endless days of torrential rains. Sound familiar?

Garden Lunacy: A Growing Concern, by Art Wolk.

Barefoot Contessa Parties!, by Ina Garten. I love her techniques and menus, the homey comfort of her house on Long Island and the affectionate relationship she shares with her husband, Jeffery.

A Room of Her Own, by Chris Casson Madden. Even though this book wasn't available in Sandstone, Jeannie ordered it from another library. Thanks, Jeanne!

These books are in the current stack on my bedside table.
Dangerous Admissions, by Jane O'Connor. My new murder mystery features a heroine, a fired copy editor, who admonishes the bad guys for grammar errors and the misuse of terms such as "feeling badly."

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver. This was a hostess gift from my sister and chronicles a year of a family's eating by buying local, growing their own or doing without.

The Gin & Tonic Gardener, by Janice Wells. Who cares if the book is good…I bought it for the cool title!

Summer is a time for light reading and lots of it! Find a spot in the garden or on a porch, deck or dock. Read a trashy novel or catch up on magazines.

Several mysteries: Greater Trouble in the Lesser Antilles, by Charles Locks; Vineyard Stalker, by Philip R. Craig. (Fun and easy Martha's Vineyard series); a few by Susan Wittig Albert (Enjoyable mysteries with a heroine who is the owner of an herb shop in Texas.).

Omnivore's Dilemma, by Michael Pollan.

The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough, by Sarah Nettleton.

Red, White, and Drunk All Over: A Wine Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass, by Natalie MacLean.

There doesn't seem to be much time for reading at the end of the day during this busy spring season but I have a collection of enticing books on my bedside table, just in case. As I mentioned in an earlier column, my choices will usually comprise a murder mystery, a plant book, a nonfiction selection and some sort of food-related book.

Death of a Hussy, by M.C. Beaton. I read a favorable review of the latest book in this series about a Scottish police constable, distinctively named Hamish Macbeth, who has a reputation to be somewhat lazy but walks his faithful dog and has great instincts about solving murders. Unfortunately, I won't read another.

Garden Structures, by Linda Joan Smith. I am usually sucked in by luscious color photographs and can always use design inspiration for fences, gates, arbors and pergolas.

The Authentic Bistros of Paris, by Francois Thomazeau and Sylvain Ageorges. Actually this book is crossover. Why not combine a little nonfiction with travel and cooking?

A Year at Ballymaloe Cookery School, by Darina Allen. This cookbook champions seasonal cooking. Who wants to eat sweet corn in January or cook asparagus in November? Allen and her family run a dreamy, classy country inn/restaurant/cookery school in southern Ireland. Several years ago, a friend and I went to cooking class Allen presented and we both came away charmed by her Irish lilt, engaging personality and wonderful but simple cooking.

I love to read and usually have an assortment of books on my bedside table so that, depending on my mood and state of weariness, I'll have a choice. There will always be a murder mystery, a plant book, a nonfiction selection and some sort of food-related book. Here's the early April inventory.

The Game, by Laurie R. King. This is the seventh book in a great series about the cases of an older Sherlock Holmes and his young wife.

Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan. This is the third book of Pollan's I've read. He is a wonderful and nubile thinker who can expertly express his thoughts.

Eat, Pray, Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert.

French Women For All Seasons, by Mireille Guiliano.

But lately, all those engaging titles notwithstanding, what's on the top of the pile are the past two issues of Fine Gardening magazine, Great Plants, which is a special periodical published by Taunton Press, the April issue of Horticulture magazine and several spring gardening catalogs. (I warned you. I'm nuts about plants.)