I have a dear friend who also happens to be my neighbor and she always finds the perfect gifts to give to me.  These gifts are personal and particular as she understands what I like.   She gave me the book The Curious Gardener's Almanac by Niall Edworthy for my last birthday.  It sat on my bedside table for months, patiently waiting its turn, and finally I picked it up and it has been one fun delight after another as I've browsed through it.  This is not a "how to" gardening book and it isn't a book that needs to be read in linear fashion.  It has all sorts of weird and engaging tidbits.  

For instance:

"It is estimated that one third of human food supplies depends on pollination by insects, mostly bees.  It is not known exactly how many bee species there are in the world but the number is thought to be around 30,000.  Bees are particularly attracted to blue, white, yellow, and purple colors for their ultraviolet properties.  It is no use planting red flowers in your garden to attract bees because bees cannot see red."  

And honestly, with an author named Niall Edworthy, how can this be a bad gardening book?  Does that name not scream rural England to you, land of Gertrude Jekyll-esque gardens?  He claims to be a novice in the beginning of the book but it must be kismet that he has the name in the world that screams "Gardening Authority".  

I watched the documentary, "Last Will. & Testament" about William Shakespeare recently.  Apparently, most people know that it isn't a done deal that William Shakespeare of Stratford was THE William Shakespeare of literature fame.  He may have just been a dude with the same name as the pen name of another person.  I did not know this.   Lots of famous writers and thinkers have questioned the legitimacy of Shakespeare actually being Shakespeare (Freud, Mark Twain, to name two).   I watched this documentary on a whim and I'm so glad I did because it was so interesting!    

You can watch it here.

-Jess