Top Five Books That'll Get You in the Spirit of Gardening or Cooking
It is blazing hot outside, so much that the hot temperatures zap the energy levels. I know that during a heat wave, all I want to do is to curl up quietly with a good book. Why fight it, when you can become inspired by gardening or cooking that happens in books, fiction and nonfiction, for adults and for children?
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| Claude Monet [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Here is my purely subjective Top-Five list, in no particular order:
Wilder, Laura Ingalls. The Little House in the Big Woods. Yes, this is a children's book, but adults can get quite a bit of inspiration of the pioneer days as well. The entire series will give you inspiration for the garden and for the kitchen, and leave your mouth watering at many points, but it's more pronounced in this first book of the series.
Divakaruni, Chitra Banerjee. The Mistress of Spices. This is a novel about an immortal woman who is trained in the powers, healing and otherwise, of spices and who has to choose between keeping her vows of chastity--and her immortality-- and choosing romantic love. The colors, smells, and textures of the spices come alive in this work of fiction.
Burnett, Frances Hodgson. The Secret Garden. This timeless children's book is about the blossoming of Mary Lennox: as she tends the locked-up garden that has suffered as much abandonment as she has. As the garden flourishes, so does Mary.
Spyri, Johanna. Heidi. Another children's book, Heidi features mouthwatering descriptions of melted cheese on bread, as well as breathtaking wildflowers on the mountainside.
Riotte, Louise. Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. Here's a classic nonfiction book that talks about how certain plants will help one another grow profusely.
Happy reading!
