Best books by genre: Home & Garden

Animal Ghosts by O'donnell Elliott is a real find and comfort for those who lost their loved pet. The book confirms the reader that a dead pet is not gone at all, there is an afterlife, and pets after death return as ghosts. Animal Ghosts helps in finding the way to communicate with the ghost of an animal, so that man in grief would feel that his precious pet still lives on. There are separate chapters for cats, dogs, birds, farm and wild animals. Here you can read several stories of the people who communicated with their dead pets.

Concrete Pottery and Garden Furniture was written more then 100 years ago but it is a truly valuable books in all ways. It is a craftsman's manual about the concrete poetry in Victorian style which will never become out-of-date and which is widely used now in many gardens. The book contains descriptions of the pottery as well as photographs and diagrams showing how to create such a pottery. The most widespread techniques are presented in the manual. It will attract all readers interested in decorating their gardens, making garden ornaments and potters. EXTRACT FROM THE BOOK: PREFACE: MUCH interest has been manifested of late in ornamental concrete, and so little seems to be known about the un- limited possibilities of the artistic treatment of this material, that the author has endeavored in the following chapters to explain in detail how concrete can be made into objects of art. Numerous inquiries have come to me from craftsmen who are anxious to work in this material but none of whom understand the nature of the material or the method in which it is to be handled. It is such in particular I had in mind when preparing this work and have therefore been most minute in my descriptions of how the various pieces described are to be made. I have taken for granted that the reader knows nothing whatever about the material and have explained each progressive step in the various operations throughout in detail. These directions I have supplemented with illustrations which I have endeavored to make so clear that no one can misunderstand them. The method of using wire forms as a base on which to build up the finished piece is original with myself as far as I know, as is also the development of color work in cement. The chapter on the latter as well as those on Garden Furniture should appeal strongly to the professional as well as the layman inasmuch as there is a large and growing demand for this class of work. The amateur craftsman who has been working in clay will especially appreciate the adaptability of concrete for pottery work inasmuch as it is a cold process throughout, thus doing away with the necessity of kiln firing, which is necessary with the former material. The textures which can be obtained on articles made of concrete, as described in the chapter on aggregates, in many instances are far superior to those which can be obtained with any other materials, as they have a distinct characteristic of their own and are full of life and sparkle...

A collection of short stories by John Taintor Foote, a novelist, playwright, short-story writer, and screenwriter, is a perfect read especially for dog lovers. The skill of the author in describing relationships between dog and man, wonderful canine characters and a dog’s vision of the world make the book a remarkable classic piece of literature.

Frederick Boyle is known as the researcher of plants whose studies are popular all over the world and have been republished a number of times. This book of his is devoted to orchids and describes everything concerning these flowers including their origin, types, conditions for growing and a number of other interesting and useful things which would fascinate all lovers of gardens and flowers.

Originally published in 1921. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies. All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume.

This is an excellent book for anyone interested in the construction of wooden ships. First published in 1909, this book contains a lot of detailed explanations, and is loaded with ship plans, construction specifications, and technical information. Chapters include types of woods, ship joinery, rigging, and much more. There are numerous charts of technical information pertaining to the wide range of materials needed in wooden ship construction. Although this book was not written as a history of wooden ship building, it certainly gives insight to the industry as it once existed.

This book forms a continuation of the subject, and deals in an equally complete manner with compound and special cloths in which two or more series of threads are employed in one or both directions, or which are produced in special methods. There is no separate section on color, but the principles upon which colors are applied to the various classes of cloths are described and illustrated. The volume covers backed cloths, double cloths, and special classes of double cloths, wadded and centre-stitched, figured muslin and damask fabrics, tapestry and upholstery cloths and ingrain carpets, fancy toilets and quilt fabrics, gauze and leno etc.

Beeton's Book of Needlework belongs to the pen of Isabella Mary Beeton (1836 - 1865). The book which was published for the first time in 1870 and contains a number of references that are useful and informative for people interesting in patterning and crafting as well as for advanced crafters as well. In this book readers will find more than six hundred descriptions and instructions with wonderful illustrations of different kinds of patterns, such as tatting, crochet, knitting, netting, point lace, pillow work and many others. Although the book is more than one hundred years old, it has not become out-of-dated and would be interesting for modern readers.

Originally published in 1922. This volume from the Cornell University Library's print collections was scanned on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format by Kirtas Technologies. All titles scanned cover to cover and pages may include marks notations and other marginalia present in the original volume.