Did You Know That April is Lawn and Garden Month?

gardeningmanualNow that spring is under way you might be thinking about taking care of your lawn and garden. With April being National Lawn and Garden Month I know I am starting to gather my seeds to start indoors and planning just what I want to do in my yard this year. Whether a landscaping change is in your near future, you are plotting your garden, or you are just preparing for regular mowing, it is a perfect time to get the reading resources you need to do it right.

1. The Lawn & Garden Owner’s Manual: What to do and When to Do It by Lewis and Nancy Hillgardeningcompost

2. The Organic Lawn Care Manual: a Natural, Low-Maintenance System for a Beautiful, Safe Lawn by Paul Tukey

3. The Complete Compost Gardening Guide: Banner Batches, Grow Heaps, Comforter Compost, and Other Amazing Techniques for Saving Time and Money, and Producing the Most Flavorful, Nutritious Vegetables Ever by Barbara Pleasant & Deborah L. Martingardenlawn2

4. All New Square Foot Gardening: Grow More in Less Space! by Mel Bartholomew

5. Decoding Gardening Advice: the Science Behind the 100 Most Common Recommendations by Jeff Gillman & Meleah Maynard

6. The Lawn Bible: How to Keep it Green, Groomed, and Growing Every Season of the Year by David R. Mellor

gardeningsolar7. Lawn Gone!: Low-Maintenance, Sustainable, Attractive Alternatives for Your Yard by Pam Penick

8. Solar Gardening: Growing Vegetables Year-Round the American Intensive Way by Leandre Poisson and Gretchen Vogel Poisson

9. The National Wildlife Federation’s Guide to Gardening for Wildlife: How to Create a Beautiful Backyard Habitat for Birds, Butterflies, and Other Wildlife by Craig Tufts and Peter Loewer

gardeningmini10. Gardening in Miniature: Create Your own Tiny Living World by Janit Calvo

This just scratches the surface for great lawn and garden books in our library. Some more of the best or most unique books I would recommend on the subject include: Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way: 18th-Century Methods for Today’s Organic Gardeners by Wesley Greene, 1,001 Ingenious Gardening Ideas: New, Fun, and Fabulous Tips That Will Change the Way you Garden-Forever! edited by Deborah L. Martin, Rodale’s Ultimate Encyclopedia of Organic Gardening edited by Fern Marshall Bradley, Barbara W. Ellis, and Ellen Phillips, Gardening Without a Garden by Gay Search, Water Gardening Basics by Helen Nash & Marilyn M. Cook, Taylor’s Master Guide to GardeningHeirloom Vegetable Gardening: a Master Gardener’s Guide to Planting, Growing, Seed Saving, and Cultural History. by William Woys Weaver, and Lawn Care for Dummies by Lance Walheim & the editors of the National Gardening Association.

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Love (or hate) gardening and want to get some kids involved? Well then don’t forget to check in the children’s room for: Kids’ Container Gardening: Year-Round Projects for Inside and Out  by Cindy Krezel, Gardening with Children by Monika Hannemann and others, Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots: Gardening Together with Children by Sharon Lovejoy, It’s Our Garden: from Seeds to Harvest in a School Garden by George Ancona, How Does Your Garden Grow?: Great Gardening for Green-Fingered Kids by Clare Matthews, or Gardening Projects for Kids: 101 Ways to Get Kids Outside, Dirty, and Having Fun by Whitney Cohen and John Fisher.

Linda Reads: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

nightThe Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is a poignant, beautifully written book that takes us back in history to France during World War II.

The book starts off in present day and the story is told by an elderly woman facing a move into a nursing home to face her last battle, cancer.  But first, she has something she must do.

The story follows two sisters, Viann and Isabelle Rossignol, who have always been close despite their differences. Younger, bolder sister Isabelle lives in Paris while Viann lives a quiet and content life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. When World War II strikes and Antoine is sent off to fight, Viann and Isabelle’s father sends Isabelle to help her older sister cope. As the war progresses, it’s not only the sisters’ relationship that is tested, but also their strength and their individual senses of right and wrong. With life as they know it changing in unbelievably horrific ways, Viann and Isabelle will find themselves facing frightening situations and responding in ways they never thought possible as bravery and resistance take different forms in each of their actions.

Ms. Hannah writes heartfelt, vivid descriptions taking great care with every detail.  You will be transported to wartime France.  You will feel all the pain, joy, love, and hardships of the Rossignol family and those who interact with them.  I read the book in one sitting, unable to put it down and the story still lingers with me a month later.  It earned a spot on my top ten favorite books list.

National Joe Day

National Joe Day is a little-known holiday. Although not designated by Congress as an official national holiday, it is celebrated every year on March 27th.

The point of the holiday is for everyone to call himself Joe for at least this one day. (If you’re female, you can become Jo—short for Josephine.)

We’ve all heard of Joe Blow, Average Joe, Ordinary Joe, Lucky Joe, Joe Cool, Good Joe and G.I. Joe. Joe simply stands for the everyman, for the underdog or the common man. By the way, Joe Blow was first recorded as military slang referring to the average working guy.

Curious, I skimmed through our online catalog to see how popular Joe was for book titles and hit the Joe jackpot.

Joe a NovelJoe, A Novel by Larry Brown

Joe Ransom is a hard-drinking ex-con pushing fifty who just won’t slow down–not in his pickup, not with a gun, and certainly not with women.

 

 

Calico Joe by John GrishamCalicoJoe

It’s the summer of 1973, and Joe Castle is the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone has ever seen. The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas, dazzles Chicago Cubs fans as he hits home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shatters all rookie records.

 

The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper

Right after high school, Joe Goffman left sleepy Bush Falls, Connecticut and never looked back. Then he wrote a novel savaging everything in town, a novel that became a national bestseller and a huge hit movie. Fifteen years later, Joe is struggling to avoid the sophomore slump with his next novel when he gets a call: his father’s had a stroke, so it’s back to Bush Falls for the town’s most famous pariah.

Silent JoeSilent Joe by T. Jefferson Parker

Joe Trona spends his days as a deputy for the Orange County sheriff’s department and his nights as an aide to Will Trona, the influential politician who rescued him from the Hillside Children’s Home. An expert in firearms and martial arts, Joe has been backing Will up for a long time. Still, his skill isn’t enough to keep Will alive, and when his father is killed right in front of Joe’s eyes, the young deputy vows to avenge him.

Joe CollegeJoe College by Tom Perrotta

Danny, a Yale junior, is spending Spring break behind the wheel of the Roach Coach, his father’s lunch truck, which plies the parking lots of office parks in central New Jersey, using the time to try and make sense of a love life that’s gotten a little complicated.  A comic journey into the dark side of love, higher education and food service.

 

Joe Merchant

Where is Joe Merchant? A Novel Tale by Jimmy Buffett

Where is Joe Merchant? That’s what his sister, Trevor Kane, the hemorrhoid-ointment heiress, wants to know. For Desdemona, Merchant is the missing link in her ongoing communications with space aliens. Tabloid journalist Rudy Breno only cares that Merchant gets bigger headlines than Elvis. And for renegade seaplane pilot Frank Bama, the mystery of the presumed-dead-but-often-sighted rock star is turning his life upside down.

Joe victim Joe Victim: A Thriller by Paul Cleave

Joe Middleton’s story is this: He doesn’t remember killing anyone, so there’ s no way a jury can convict him of serial murder. He calls himself Joe Victim, trying, as he awaits trial, to convince the psychiatrists that he wasn’t in control of his actions, trusting that the system will save him in the end.

 

And if that doesn’t satisfy your Joe longings, there are entire series devoted to Joes:

Joe Burgess mysteries by Kate Flora

Joe DeMarco novels by Mike Lawson

Joe Grey mysteries by Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Joe Gunther novels by Archer Mayor

Joe Kurtz novels by Dan Simmons

Joe Ledger novels by Jonathan Maberry

Joe Pike novels by Robert Crais

Joe Rush novels by James Abel

Joe Sandilands mysteries by Barbara Cleverly

So call yourself Joe, buy a cup of Joe, and peruse one of the many Joe books, all in celebration of National Joe Day.

(PS. Share this with all the Joes you know and make their day special.)

On Our Shelves: New Romance for March

romance

Hot, sweet, tender, wild – romance any way you like it!

Historical:

The Devil Takes a Bride – Julia London

Highland Guard – Hannah Howell

A Sinful Deception – Isabella Bradford

Morrow Creek Runaway – Lisa Plumley

What A Devilish Duke Desires – Vicky Dreiling

Earls Just Want To Have Fun – Shana Galen

His Wicked Reputation – Madeline Hunter

The Bedding Proposal – Tracy Anne Warren

The Tempting of Thomas Carrick – Stephanie Laurens

Married To A Perfect Stranger – Jane Ashford

I Loved A Rogue – Katharine Ashe

Diary Of An Accidental Wallflower – Jennifer McQuiston

 

Romantic Suspense:

Where Secrets Sleep – Marta Perry

The Black Widow – Wendy Corsi Staub

Contemporary:

The First Kiss – Grace Burrowes

First Time In Forever – Sarah Morgan

Every Little Kiss – Kendra Leigh Castle

And I Love Her – Marie Force

Secret Harbor – Anna Sullivan

Catching Cameron – Julie Brannagh

Wild Horses – B.J. Daniels

Running Blind – Cindy Gerard

One Wish – Robyn Carr

How To Kiss A Cowboy – Joanne Kennedy

Kiss Me Hello – Grace Burrowes

Back In The Game – Lori Wilde

Paranormal

immortal

The Immortal Who Loved Me – Lynsay Sands

My New Hobby – Flower Arranging

flowers-gerberas-from-dr

I love flowers and would have a house full of flowering houseplants if I didn’t have a black thumb.  Unfortunately, nothing stays alive for very long.  Recently, I decided to try my hand on buying cut flowers and making decorative arrangements.  Turns out, my black thumb doesn’t affect this at all and the arrangements have lasted long enough to satisfy my love of having flowers in my home.   I have a limited number of vessels to use, so I’m keeping things pretty simple right now.  But just in case I want to take my hobby to the next level, I took a look at what the library has in the way of books to help me learn more about flower arranging.  The library has a very nice selection of books.  If you are looking for a new hobby, or already dabble in flower arranging, here are some books that might inspire you.

flower arranging the american wayFlower Arranging The American Way: A World Association of Flower Arrangers Book A book with more than 250 color illustrations showcases more than 250 flower arrangements by some of the most gifted amateur arrangers.Keiko's

Keiko’s Ikebana – Keiko Kubo – An introduction to this international art form that is both practical and contemporary. Keiko’s unique approach combines traditional techniques with modern tastes, incorporating influences ranging from sculpture to today’s Western styles. The result is a one-of-a-kind look that is authentic, easy to create and attractive.

flower by flowerFlower by Flower: a practical and inspirational guide to the art of flower arranging – Tadhg Ryan and Anna Selby – Offers inspirational and practical information on creating fifty fresh-flower arrangements, providing projects for every mood and season that are affordable and easy to create.book of fresh flowers

The Book of Fresh Flowers: a complete guide to selecting and arranging – Malcolm Hillier – A comprehensive guide to creating flower arrangements, with suggestions on how to grow and buy the best flowers, as well as the techniques of the professionals

art of arrangingThe Art of Arranging Flowers – Lynn Branard – After 20 years as an intuitive florist who has helped her friends, neighbors and customers with their romances, celebrations and sympathy gestures, Ruby Jewell looks to the power of that community to heal her floundering spirit after her sister’s death.

For more titles, take a look on the lower level of the library in section 745.92.