I believe most people will check this book out for the gardening tips. Me? I wanted to check out the photos. My grandfather tried to get me into gardening. There's nothing in the produce section that he doesn't currently have in his backyard right now (except maybe watermelons) and I would hang out with him and a childhood next-door-neighbor named Mrs. Th-----n (family know who I'm talking about but I don't want to publish her last name) who loved to garden. It wasn't for me. All I saw was a lot of utensils, worms and didn't have enough patience to wait for seeds to grow but loved following them around. However, I found this book fascinating. There were a few health tips (could've used more; if you've heard her talk about childhood obesity you won't read anything new), a lot of tips on how/where/when to garden and her minor freakouts about gardening at the White House, the history of other First Ladies and presidents who were into gardening, the change in soil and architecture at the White House, recipes and how kids reacted to gardening.

I paid the most attention to her wardrobe, her hair and all of the family photos though. (I'm just being honest.) And when I wasn't checking out her fashionista skills, I was smiling at Bo. That is one cute dog, and he looks like he'd blend in with a bunch of decorative pillows or like something you win at a carnival. I found the story of him walking around the garden to examine the plants amusing mainly because as a 13+ year dog owner and 7+ year dog borrower (my parents babysit the dog I've decided is mine but don't want to pay the vet bills for and lives with them; at least that's how I see it), I'm surprised he's not tearing through the yard. I think those who are into gardening will be more into the book than those who are into health or just checking out what the First Lady is up to, but all three groups win with this colorful read. The photographs are beautiful, including random shots of beehives (I never knew the water trick).

Also recommended: I didn't finish the book completely but "The Good Food Revolution" by Will Allen was pretty good, too.

Off topic: There was an intern I hired in my Chicago Defender days who almost made me curious enough to start gardening again. Tony Vestal wrote a blog called Tony's Taste Test. When I left the Defender, the blogging stopped and I missed that accomplishment our blogging team made. I thought he was such a good writer and hope he continues writing again somewhere down the line. For gardeners out there, you may find this particular post interesting. You hear that, @NuJerooz?