Some of the books that come in over the transom I scoop up for other members of my family. But somewhere between the office and home I often find myself sneaking a read. I took home The Garden Letters by Elspeth Bradbury and Judy Maddocks (Polestar) for the gardener in my family. It's a collection of letters exchanged between two avid gardeners, one in New Brunswick and one in British Columbia. This book looks and feels very inviting. It's square, like a cookbook, and the letters inside are illustrated with intricate line drawings. I thought I might just read a few pages—gardening doesn't really interest me. Before I knew it I was laughing out loud and reading passages to anyone who happened by. The story about the Giant Hair-Rolling Manoeuvre is my favourite, along with the one about the trunkload of sandhoppers.