01 - A Book Where Gardening is Central to the Plot

[Nadine in NY]

A book where gardening or a garden is central to the plot


I think a lot of us guessed this one!!! I used to read A LOT of gardening books, so I've got so many favorite nonfiction books I can add to the Listopia (later, when I can take a moment to breathe LOL)


Listopia list is Here: A book where gardening or a garden is central to the plot

[Linda]

The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman fits the prompt and is an excellent book!

[Brandon]

The Secret Garden: I bounced off of this one, but it is a classic that many people like

Genesis is my stretchy fallback option.

[Jennifer W]

I recently read The Winter Garden. It was good enough, I wouldn't necessarily strongly recommend it. It definitely fits the gardening requirement, though!

[Sasha]

I really like the look of Nightfall in the Garden of Deep Time!

[Ellie]

The listopia link just comes back here by the way.

There are a few T. Kingfisher books where gardens are important, A House with Good Bones and I think Bryony and Roses. While I don't mind reading about gardening, I'm pretty sure the fantasy genre will provide for me. Maybe The Enchanted Greenhouse if I don't find anything else.

[Nadine in NY]

Ellie wrote: "The listopia link just comes back here by the way. ..."



oops!! thanks - let me fix that!

[Dubhease]

I loved The Secret Garden. I added The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King because Sam's gardens get a mention at the start and end of the trilogy. (Central to the plot being a loose interpretation.)

[Lilith]

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen works perfectly for this prompt.
I kinda want to do a reread now.

[Tania]

Digging In by Loretta Nyhan - was a 5 star read for me

[Jennifer W]

Lol, so the ad banner at the top of my GR page just flashed this book: Hazelthorn with the line "the botanical queer horror readers never knew they needed". It appears like it will work.

[Laura Ruth]

There's always a couple that get onto the listopia by mistake. Anyone thinking they're getting a a gardening book with Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is in for a surprise.

[Rose]

I have this one on my TBR - think I will read it. Houseplants and Their Fucked-Up Thoughts: P.S., They Hate You

[Britany]

Jennifer W wrote: "Lol, so the ad banner at the top of my GR page just flashed this book: Hazelthorn with the line "the botanical queer horror readers never knew they needed". It appears like it will..."

Bookish serendipity!!!! Love when that happens...

[Kenya]

This Poison Heart -- YA fantasy novel where the main character's magic revolves around a poisonous garden.

[Ruth]

House of Frank - A cozyish fantasy with found family set in a unique garden.

Flirting Lessons - A sapphic romance where one of the fmcs bonds with a new best friend over gardening.

The Spellshop - A cozy fantasy where the fmc's garden is crucial to keeping her new jam-and-spellshop running.

One still on my tbr I might read for this one is A Botanical Daughter.

[Dea]

Scent of a Garden is a second-chance romance about a perfumer living in Paris who loses her sense of smell to Covid. She returns to her family's luxury hotel and tends her grandmother's garden, in the hopes it will help her sense of smell return.

I may be biased on this one. I have post-covid anosmia myself (since December 2020), and it's odd recommending this book knowing I have only added one scent to my list in the more than two years since I read it. (Cooking onion and garlic, which I can usually smell as of May or June. Can't tell them apart, though, and it's only when they are cooking.)

[Sasha]

Rose wrote: "I have this one on my TBR - think I will read it. Houseplants and Their Fucked-Up Thoughts: P.S., They Hate You"

I have that on my TBR as well!

[Julie]

Would Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah fit this prompt?

[Denise]

I like this one! I don't remember off the top of the head if I have recommendations aside from what's posted here, but I'll post on the listopia if I remember one. I think I'm going to go with Nightfall in the Garden of Deep Time.

[Jennifer]

I’m currently listening to Hazlethorn, it definitely counts as there’s a garden involved in the story.



I have this mystery to read from NetGalley, the MC uncovers a body while planting a bush so I’ll use it.

[Denise]

Linda wrote: "The Garden of Small Beginnings by Abbi Waxman fits the prompt and is an excellent book!"

Agree, a really liked this book. I'm generally an Abbi Waxman fan

[Denise]

Julie wrote: "Would Winter Garden by Kristen Hannah fit this prompt?"

I think it would. I read it a while ago but as I recall the "winter garden" has a significant enough role

[Denise]

It's a boring choice but I think I will read The Secret Garden. I was going to read it this year for a prompt but I switched books and still really want to read this

[Bea]

I am planning to read The Garden of Happy Endings. I was surprised to find this book on my TBR when I searched for "garden".

[Diana]

I haven't read it yet, but I believe The Last Garden in England would work for this.

[Stina]

I recommend Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden by Camille T. Dungy. It's nonfiction about a Black woman building a life for herself and her family in a very white town, and it is also very much about gardening.

[Stina]

If gardening doesn't interest you, maybe you'd like At the Bottom of the Garden by Camilla Bruce. The garden is central to the plot. But it's not a typical garden.

[Julie]

Birnam Wood would work for this topic