Reviews

Botanical Shakespeare: An Illustrated Compendium of All the Flowers, Fruits, Herbs, Trees, Seeds, and Grasses Cited by the World's Greatest P by Sumie Hasegawa Collins, Gerit Quealy

lattelibrarian's review

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5.0

So I love Shakespeare, I love plants, and I love autographed things.  So clearly, I had to have this.  And oh my god.  If you love Shakespeare, buy this.  If you think Shakespeare's cool and you mostly just want something bougie looking to make you look smart, buy this.  It's beautiful and wonderfully put together and altogether stunning.  Quealy did a fantastic job of finding all of these quotes, and Collins similarly does a fantastic job with her illustrations.  

It was amazing to see which plants Shakespeare mentioned the most, and which the least.  Not only does Quealy include his plays, but his sonnets and longer poems as well.  I can't really get over its beauty.  When I have my own place, I dream of having a Shakespeare display and this is going to be one of the centerpieces, for obvious reasons.  Stunning, magnificent, beautiful.

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jselliot's review

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inspiring slow-paced

4.0

I was hoping for the volume to include the scientific names of all the flowers to go with the playwrite lore to go with each entry, but it was still lovely. (Read it on a Kindle Fire or iPad, though, because the watercolor is the key draw of the book.)

alyssalyn13's review

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The fact that this doesn't include the scientific names of the plants drives me bonkers!!!! Gorgeous illustrations but otherwise a letdown if I'm being honest.

daisywilkes's review

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informative lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? N/A
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? N/A
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

sleepswimming_selkie's review

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informative inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.75

cynt's review against another edition

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informative relaxing slow-paced

3.0

Little snippets of Shakespeare quotes around beautiful botanical illustrations. A book to just browse every now and then, yet too foncy to put next to the toilet.

mittymyers's review

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3.0

A very pretty read, but definitely lends itself to coffee table book more than academic text
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