Book Review #5: The Art of Herbs: Herb Gardening for Beginners

Title: The Art of Herbs: Herb Gardening for Beginners
Author: Greer Jackson
Publisher: Greer Jackson
Copyright: 2023
Language: English

Genres: Gardening, Herbs, Herb Gardening, Cooking, Medicine

Shelving Location: Botany

Dewey Decimal Classification: 635.7

Writing Style: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Narration: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cover/Title: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Concept: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Review: A Green and Herbaceous Book
The Book - "The Art of Herbs: Herb Gardening for Beginners" by Greer Jackson is an excellent Reference Source for all those blessed with Green Fingers. It is a comprehensive book for planning a herb garden covering every aspect of gardening from planning, maintenance, climate, practicality to the joy of including herbs in everyday food. The book has aptly covered the following in a very lucid manner.
A) Culinary Uses of Herbs
B) Steps to Herb Gardening
C) Herb Ideas including choosing herbs by climate, rare herbs and practical reasons
D) Tools to Grow Herbs
E) Designs for the Garden
F) Categorization of Herbs
G) Recipes:
1.1) Sides, Soups and Salads
1.2) Drinks
1.3) Herbs
1.4) Desserts
1.5) Herb Blends

1.6) Mains

1.7) Sauces and Toppings

My garden is my most beautiful masterpiece - Claude Monet is the opening line of this book and is true to the fullest for the one who believes that gardening has healing powers!

I liked the presentation of innovative recipes using herbs with soulful incorporation of pictures. All in all the book will definitely motivate you to dig into gardening of herbs soon!


Note: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Librarian Recommendations to keep you cool!

1) Energize Your Mind: Learn the Art of Mastering Your Thoughts, Feelings and Emotions by Gaur Gopal Das
2) Unprincess by Manjula Padmanabhan
3) The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: a Guide to Wealth and Happiness by Eric Jorgenson
4) The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed and Happiness by Morgan Housel
5) Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones by James Clear
6) Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
7) What Shape are You?: Discover Who You Really Are and How To Handle Everyone Who Isn't Like You by Sneha Shah and Dr. Susan Dellinger
8) Ikigai: the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles
9) The Little Book of Good Things by Bhavya Doshi
10) The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023

Book Review #4: The Wanderers 3.0: The Ice on the Tower

Title: The Wanderers 3.0: The Ice on the Tower
Author: Sarthak Rathi
Publisher: Notion Press
Copyright: 2023
ISBN: 9798888696408
Language: English


Genres: Fiction, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adventure, Mystery, Science Fiction, Space

Shelving Location: Novels, Leisure Reading

Dewey Decimal Classification: 823.8

Writing Style: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Narration: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cover/Title: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Concept: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐


Review:

The Wanderers 3.0 by Sarthak Rathi takes us on a breathless roller coaster ride filled with suspense and intrigue. It is an adventure which involves Pari, Sarthak, Anu and Yash. Their journey from one adventure to another is enthralling and captivating. We get engrossed by words such as Marsians, Jammari, Nameri, Whizari, Sakuris, Xinians. It is page turner and picks up pace after the first two chapters. The story proceeds as Hanginton captures these four teenagers for a mission which is really dangerous and can claim their lives. These kids have magical powers and they are always put in life endangering situations by their antagonist. They get hurt, wounded physically and emotionally and have irreversible injuries. But to their surprise, they are completely healed. But for this to happen, they have to be on a planet which will soon be destroyed. So what do they do now? Do they get involved in the mission or go back to school?

The book is a best example of the advancements in nanotech such as the anti artillery guns destroying emerging ships, rebuilding of defense equipment and the like. As the story unfolds itself, the characters also evolve.

In particular, I liked the portrayal of relation between the main characters - Pari, Sarthak, Anu and Yash. Their bond of trust intertwined with responsibility and maturity is something which is reflected in a very subtle manner.

If you are an ardent fan of Sci-Fi stories, this book is a must read for you. Do not risk not reading it!

Excerpts from the Book:

"There was a pin drop silence in the room. We would have to go through hell to get that magic out of us. We may even die. But for some reason, I wasn't afraid. I wanted to do it." - Page 93.


"I miss my mom. I miss my family". She gripped the gun she was holding tightly. "They were killed by the damn Hanginton's people 13 years ago. All because they opposed them." - Page 102.

About the Author:

Sarthak Rathi is an author at a very young age. He started writing some short stories and blogs at the age of 8. His first book, the Wanderers: The Sound of the Lake, was published last year in 2019 when he was only 12. His writings are appreciated by many industry stalwarts like Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm), Manu Kumar Jain(Xiaomi India), Shradhha Sharma (Yourstory media) and many more.

Writing comes naturally to him and weaves his imagination around words. Sarthak also reads voraciously. He travels a lot to enjoy and enhance the stories he writes. He has travelled to national and international destinations such as Dubai and the USA. He runs half marathons, likes to play badminton and is part of his school team. He is fond of chocolates, video games, coding and reading.

Social Media:

Instagram

Personal Website

Kaleidoscope

  

A Kaleidoscope is a beautiful auto-arrangement of patterns. I vividly remember having a Kaleidoscope as a child. This optical instrument would drive me crazy and I felt as if having the most evolved scientific equipment as my prized possession. Later, we learnt to make this instrument at home by honing our "Best Out of Waste" skills. Gathering broken glass bangles by wandering in the hot summer vacations, catching hold of the round shaped Ponds Talcum Powder container or making one container using cardboards were our skill sets. Why did I remember Kaleidoscope today? Is it because Summer vacations are on or is it because of @Blogchatter? May be both!

For the past couple of days, I have been reading, imbibing, sharing, writing....thanks to @Blogchatter! I consider myself very fortunate to have found a platform which encourages thought processing and documenting the thoughts. There are no biased opinions but there are deadlines and rewards. There are different people with wisdom on different walks of life. As I was navigating the portal, I found there are Doctors, Engineers, Wellness Coaches, Free Lancers, Life Coaches, Nutritionists along with established authors as members in our group. Each one having is a learned being with different viewpoints and the way of expressing their thoughts and that is the reason I have likened a Kaleidoscope with @Blogchatter.

I am giving below a list of leads who I look forward to meet and interact. The list is endless and hence these are just pointers. I would be happy to receive more names as a comment for this blogpsot.

Book Bloggers:

Vidhya Thakkar - @reader_viddh

Khyati Gautam - @bookish.fame

Food Bloggers:

Mahima Dhoot - @diningwithdhoot

Meghana Jain - @thefoodiegirlmumbai

Artist:

Sangita Chandrashekher - @sangitacreates

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023

Just Arrived!

 This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023

"Just Arrived!" I am in awe of this phrase! This phrase which is put to so much use in our library is also known as “New Arrivals (of Books / Journals)”. This is a service which is offered by all libraries be it academic / corporate / research / public or any other kind of information and resource centre. The “Just Arrived in Library” service comprises of a display of the new books which have been received in the library in the last month or week. The time frame depends on the policy of the respective library and it may also vary based on the availability of books in the market and the receipt of books in the library. Usually, the display is inside a glass cupboard with a “New Arrivals” name plate on top or on a table located at a strategic location in the library. These books may or may not be available for borrowing in that week / month itself. But you always place a hold / claim / request the library staff to keep you informed as to when these books will be shelved.

If your library’s catalog (the list of books available in the library) can be accessed online, these New Arrivals may be accessed online. The lists are segregated as per the subject for additional ease of access.

So, the next time you go to a nearby library, please do have a look at their “Just Arrived Books”! What are our library’s “Just Arrived Books” this month? Well, here goes the list…

TITLE	SUB TITLE	AUTHOR (S)
PRACTICAL LINUX DEVOPS	BUILDING A LINUX LAB FOR MODERN SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT	TONELLO, JOHN S.
PRACTICAL MONGODB	ARCHITECTING, DEVELOPING AND ADMINISTERING MONGODB	GUPTA, SHAKUNTALA EDWARD
SAMRTER HOMES	HOW TECHNOLOGY WILL CHANGE YOUR HOME LIFE	DESCHAMPS-SONSINO, ALEXANDRA
STARTUPS IN ACTION	THE CRITICAL YEAR ONE CHOICES THAT BUILT ETSY, HOTELTONIGHT, FIVERR AND MORE	SILVA, J.P.
THE AI POWERED WORKPLACE	HOW ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, DATA AND MESSAGING PLATFORMS ARE DEFINING THE FUTURE OF WORK	ASHRI, RONALD
INTERNET OF THINGS FOR INDUSTRY 4.0	DESIGN, CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS	KANAGACHIDAMBARESAN, G.R.
ANALYZING THE SOCIAL WEB		GOLBECK, JENNIFER
THE INFINITE GAME		SINEK, SIMON
THE METAVERSE AND HOW IT WILL REVOLUTIONIZE EVERYTHING		BALL, MATTHEW
HOW KIRAN MAZUMDAR SHAW FERMENTED BIOCON		GOPALAKRISHNAN, R.
HOW ANIL NAIK BUILT L AND T's REMARKABLE GROWTH TRAJECTORY		GOPALAKRISHNAN, R.
ENERGIZE YOUR MIND	LEARN THE ART OF MASTERING YOUR THOUGHTS, FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS	DAS, GAUR GOPAL
HOW UDAY KOTAK BUILT A VALUABLE INDIAN BANK		GOPALAKRISHNAN, R.
HOW TCS BUILT AN INDUSTRY FOR INDIA		GOPALAKRISHNAN, R.