Floremolla ROOTs around in 2023

Back for a seventh year of reading my own TOMES. Previous years’ reading here:

2017
https://www.librarything.com/topic/268593
2018
https://www.librarything.com/topic/289632
2019
https://www.librarything.com/topic/301559
2020
https://www.librarything.com/topic/314687
2021
https://www.librarything.com/topic/328011#n7700983
2022
https://www.librarything.com/topic/338097#n8017215



Going for a conservative goal again this year, same parameters: any books owned or in my home before 2023, books gifted to me or left in my home during 2023, plus coursework books.

Non-ROOTs are allowed in moderation but will be counted separately.

Did well on restricting acquisitions last year, with mainly coursework books being acquired. Lost track of my cataloging so will aim to update that, stat!

ROOTs Read
1. Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains by AL Kennedy
2. New Nordic Gardens - Scandinavian Landscape Design by Annika Zetterman
3. The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowen
4. Lady Chatterley’s Lover by DH Lawrence (audiobook)
5. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry (audiobook)
6. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope (audiobook)
7. Redemption Falls by Joseph O’Connor
8. The Treatment by Daniel Menaker
9. The Dry Heart by Natalia Ginsburg
10. Lessons by Ian McEwan
11. The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty by Sebastian Barry
12. Doctor Thorne by Anthony Trollope
13. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
14. Trust by Herman Diaz
15. Old God’s Time by Sebastian Barry
16. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
17. The Way of All Flesh by Ambrose Parry
18. Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandell
19. The Quality of Mercy by Barry Unsworth
20. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
21. Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell
23. My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell
24. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
25. Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
26.The Professor by Charlotte Brontë
27. The Pale King by David Foster Wallace
28. The Traditional Garden by Graham Rose
29. Scottish Plants for Scottish Gardens by Jill, Duchess of Hamilton and Dr Frank Perring
30. Elements of Garden Design by Joe Eck
31. Planting in a Post-Wild World by Thomas Rainer and Claudia West
32. The Scottish Gardener by Suki Urquhart
33. Dream Plants for the Natural Garden by Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritson
34. Plant-Driven Design by by Scott Ogden and Lauren Springer Ogden
35. How to Plant a Garden by Matt James
36. The Planting Design Handbook by Nick Robinson
37. Planting Plans for Your Garden by Jenny Shukman
38. The Front Garden - New Approaches to Landscape Design by Mary Riley Smith
39. A Glossary of Garden History by Michael Symes
40. The RHS Book of Planting Schemes by Geoff Stebbings (Editor)
41. Garden Colour Palette by Paul Williams
42. Driveways, Paths and Patios - a Complete Guide to Their Management and Construction by Tony McCormack

Non-ROOTs Read

1. The 100 Best Novels in English by Robert McCrum
2. The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller

Acquisitions monitoring

Looking forward to seeing what 2023 brings you! Does your course finish this year?

Thanks, Jackie, it finishes in March 2024. I’m a bit behind. Had lots of distractions last year (mainly happy ones!) combined with procrastinating about, and being hyper-self-critical of, my design submissions.

Going to try to focus on just finishing the assignments more quickly this year! Yay!!

Welcome back and good luck with your course!

>7 rabbitprincess: thanks, RP! :)

Welcome back!

Welcome back, Donna! Always interested in your reading and I love your posts about your coursework. Good luck with all of it!

Lovely to see you, Donna! Happy ROOTing!

Happy New Year, Donna and Happy ROOTing

Happy new year, Donna! I have you starred :)

Thanks, Chèli, MJ, Birgit, Connie and Natalie!

It’s nice to be back :)

Slow start to reading in January. Busy at home, busy with coursework, and suddenly getting lots of informal requests for planning advice - some from garden designers, unsure as to whether their proposed paving, or shed, requires permission, or if a terrace requires a barrier where there’s a >600mm change in level... And then some actual paid work. Yay!

I like being busy but reading for leisure is being squeezed to less than an hour before I nod off at night. Thank goodness for audiobooks, but this month I chose a 26 hour chunkster and haven’t finished it yet.

My tally for January is therefore three - Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains by AL Kennedy; The Heat of the Day by Elizabeth Bowden; and New Nordic Gardens - Scandinavian Landscape Design by Annika Zetterman. Each in its own way an excellent read. Reviews to follow….

Hello, Donna. Thanks for dropping by my thread. I thought I'd left a New Year's greeting here but I hadn't, so happy February.

>16 Robertgreaves: thanks, Robert!

Embarrassing to relate, I forgot to add an audiobook that I finished a couple of weeks ago. It was Lady Chatterley’s Lover - not quite sure how that one slipped my mind!

Will add it to February’s total.

Alas, February seemed to morph unnoticed into March with only one ROOT other being tackled, Rohinton Mistry's A Fine Balance (audiobook). Possibly one of my favourite reads ever.

In March I read Peter May's Lockdown and listened to Anthony Trollope's Barchester Towers.

Also read one non-ROOT, The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller.

Still prevaricating too long in my design assignments. I much prefer looking at plants, growing plants, buying plants...you get the picture. About to delve into a lovely book by Piet Oudolf and Henk Gerritson Dream Plants for The Natural Garden which will keep me happy till I can get outside in the real thing :)

>19 floremolla: A Fine Balance should really count as two or even three ROOTS! I have the print edition on my "read soon" shelf.

>19 floremolla: I completely agree on the book by Rohinton Mistry book. It was great

So I've been reading and keeping my own thread up to date but neglected all other threads. I'm trying to visit some of them now and I do hope you are doing fine and did some nice gardening and reading since your last post!