Review: Backyard Giants by by Susan Warren

I wrote a review for today’s St. Pete Times. Normally, I would post about that here, but the book is so bad that I would not recommend it to anyone (if you’re curious, that review is here).

So, instead, I’m going to refer you to a fantastic book I reviewed for the Philadelphia City Paper: Backyard Giants: The Passionate, Heartbreaking and Glorious Quest to Grow the Biggest Pumpkin Ever by Susan Warren. That review is here (fourth item).

I like reading non-fiction books about strange topics, and this is example of the perfect book for me. It’s fascinating, from how people grow 1500 pound pumpkins, and, even more so, why. I’m not really a garden person, but the people who take on this quest every year were ripe for a character study as Warren writes, so it’ll be interesting to anyone who is interested in people and the odd things they do. My interest in quirky non-fiction books is the same reason why I consider Ken Jenning’s Brainiac my top book of 2006 — yes, it’s about trivia, but it’s also about the people who care so much about it.

I just finished what will be book 6 of 52 and hope to post that review tomorrow…

Read more about Backyard Giants at www.backyardgiants.com.