Abbi Waxman

Lilian Girvan has been a single mother for three years, ever since her husband died in a car accident. One mental breakdown and some random suicidal thoughts later, she's just starting to get the hang of this widow thing. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, and watch TV like a pro. At least her textbook illustrating job has some perks, like that vegetable-gardening class her boss signed her up for. Apparently being the chosen illustrator for a series of boutique vegetable guides means getting your hands dirty, literally.

The Garden of Small Beginnings

Anna Campbell

** spoiler alert **
           A nice and calm book, with very funny vegetable gardening tips! And a very realistic world. I would have liked more character development for both Dan and Edward, as well as Annabel and Clare. And a cameo from Nina would have been great! But I suppose that was written after. This book made me want to join a gardening group, or some pick up some other random hobby!

Liz Carpenter

I was expecting this to be a gentle story with quiet, melancholy reflections. I was not expecting all the snarky wry humor, characters I wish I knew in real life, and some truly hilarious children. 3.5 stars.

Megan Leprich

Another great novel by Abbi Waxman. She has definitely become one of my favorite authors. 
Lillian's husband dies in a car accident leaving her a single mother of 2 children, 7 year old Annabel and 5 year old Clare. After a brief stint in the hospital she's back at work and slowly trying to get her life together with help from her sister Rachel. When her job requires her to take a gardening class she finds herself drawn to the instructor and quickly makes friends with a varied group of friends. 
I read this after reading Other People's Houses and both were amazing books. I can't wait until her next novel!

Diana

This book was enjoyable from start to finish, and I don't typically read romances. Not to mention, it was hilarious.

Amy Arthun Lorton 

This was a quick read (even though it was almost 10 hours) and had a bit more depth than the typical romance. The mom parts were very relatable, and I learned a lot about the widow part. The kids voices drove me nuts but otherwise the narrator was good.

Renee Blankenship

I am rating this 3.5 stars! 

 I DEVOURED this book. Like in two days.

The Garden of Small Beginnings follows the story of single mom Lili (recently widowed....well mostly recently, three years) and her two children, her quirky sister Rachel and a slew of other characters that make this story just all around enjoyable and entertaining. Lili is an illustrator (mostly computer based) for a publishing company who is asked to illustrate (by hand! with actual watercolors!) a gardening book. To do so, her company signs her up for a six week gardening class taught by the expert writing the book! ((There are SUPER adorable little gardening tips between each chapter too! I love when books add little things like that, recipes or clips from the newspaper in the town, etc.))

I literally was laughing out loud by chapter two, as we drove to a family function, so much so that my husband asked what was so funny. Ill direct you to pages 8 and 9. That was my first laugh out loud moment.

There is so much in this book to praise! The story, while in another context could have been melancholy, brings the grief of widowhood along for the ride of everyday life and life with two kids, a dog, a crazy sister, a full time job. I appreciated Lili's honesty about missing her husband, missing his boxers on the ground and the constant fighting over money (true life). I also appreciated her honesty with the kids, with chicken nuggets for dinner and how getting older means less make-up because wrinkles. So many little truths found in this story!

Overall the symbolism of Lili's six week gardening class, spending time under the sun growing things alongside her own life moving forward and growing is pretty easy to see but still well done and makes for an enjoyable story. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a funny female character who is living life and trying her best, who enjoys a few wacky truly laughable moments and wants to read something enjoyable! You won't regret it.

Thank you Berkley Publishing for the copy!

Lisa ✩ @lifeinlit

Lili is struggling to move on after the loss of her husband, who died in a tragic motor vehicle accident. Her sister, Rachel, stepped in and helped her with the raising of her two young daughters, and still continues to help to this day. Lili has become a creature of habit. Her life is structured and predictable, and with the help of Rachel, Lili has never even thought about the possibility of love again.

After Lili’s job assigns her to a unique project of illustrating a gardening book, Lili takes on a gardening class to get all the details needed to illustrate this book to her very best ability. There she meets a whole group of fun and entertaining characters, and this is where the story really picked up for me. From one scene to the next, I was belly-laughing out loud. Abbi Waxman truly brought these characters to life. With her sassy writing style and hilarious characters, I quickly fell in love with this story and wanted to see how it would turn out.

Though this story was largely based around Lili’s lack of love interest and struggle with moving on after the loss of her husband, it never felt sad or overly emotional. It had a constant upbeat feel that went perfectly with the silliness of the story. This was definitely one I had a lot of fun reading, and I feel that it would be a perfect read for a day at the beach or a reading out in the sun. Now that I know how fun Abbi’s writing is, I’m definitely looking forward to more from her.

(Thanks to Berkley Books for the review copy!)

Find this review and others like it at Lost in Literature!

Amelia C 

Lindsey B

Lane Hokanson

Jenna Pascale 

In the three years since her husband died in a car accident, Lili has just about managed to resume her day-to-day life as a single mother and successful illustrator. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, AND watch TV like a pro. Well, most of the time, anyway. The only problem is that it doesn't leave time for a whole lot else. But when she is commissioned to illustrate a vegetable encyclopedia, Lili agrees to attend a gardening class where she learns what it takes to nurture plants - and friendships. With the help of a very patient teacher and a class that likes to dig deeper than the surface, Lili starts to see the fragile green shoots of her life begin to blossom and bloom...

Christin Sharp

Emily

Maria Nelson

Shannon Arputharaj

Courtney Woolery

Michele Bruwer

“A quirky, funny, and deeply thoughtful book”* that’s “filled with characters you’ll love and wish you lived next door to in real life”** from the author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill. Lilian Girvan has been a single mother for three years—ever since her husband died in a car accident. One mental breakdown and some random suicidal thoughts later, she’s just starting to get the hang of this widow thing. She can now get her two girls to school, show up to work, and watch TV like a pro. The only problem is she’s becoming overwhelmed with being underwhelmed. At least her textbook illustrating job has some perks—like actually being called upon to draw whale genitalia. Oh, and there’s that vegetable-gardening class her boss signed her up for. Apparently, being the chosen illustrator for a series of boutique vegetable guides means getting your hands dirty, literally. Wallowing around in compost on a Saturday morning can’t be much worse than wallowing around in pajamas and self-pity. After recruiting her kids and insanely supportive sister to join her, Lilian shows up at the Los Angeles botanical garden feeling out of her element. But what she’ll soon discover—with the help of a patient instructor and a quirky group of gardeners—is that into every life a little sun must shine, whether you want it to or not... READERS GUIDE INCLUDED *HelloGiggles **Bustle

The Garden of Small Beginnings

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