Backyard Living: From Gardening & Grilling to Stone Walls & Stargazing

Rating:
Summary: Loved the photos, did not care for the text
Review: Very attractive book, with plenty of great photos and what looks like delectable recipes. However, the text accompanying the images let me down at times because it was corny and somewhat cliched. Their suggestions for potluck motifs come to mind. "A Night under the Stars" would feature pate squares with celebrity names written under tiny handprints (!), or maybe cauliflower and asparagus representing shooting stars. The section on Passalong Plants was also written in that same slightly banal tone, with comments about how forgetful you must be trying to push some daylilies onto your neighbor, when she was the one who gave them to you in the first place, just a few years ago.

The overall tone of the book is at odds with the polished image it projects. This is not so much a utilitarian book as it is a "lifestyle" book. If you need help deciding how to design a garden path or what to do if your seedlings are damping off, this is not going to be of much help. But if you want some ideas as to what looks good and how to be a bit of a garden snob, this will be perfect.

Rating:
Summary: Loved the photos, did not care for the text
Review: Very attractive book, with plenty of great photos and what looks like delectable recipes. However, the text accompanying the images let me down at times because it was corny and somewhat cliched. Their suggestions for potluck motifs come to mind. "A Night under the Stars" would feature pate squares with celebrity names written under tiny handprints (!), or maybe cauliflower and asparagus representing shooting stars. The section on Passalong Plants was also written in that same slightly banal tone, with comments about how forgetful you must be trying to push some daylilies onto your neighbor, when she was the one who gave them to you in the first place, just a few years ago.

The overall tone of the book is at odds with the polished image it projects. This is not so much a utilitarian book as it is a "lifestyle" book. If you need help deciding how to design a garden path or what to do if your seedlings are damping off, this is not going to be of much help. But if you want some ideas as to what looks good and how to be a bit of a garden snob, this will be perfect.