Here are four books we recommend you have for excellent summer reading:

THE OCCIDENTAL ARTS & ECOLOGY CENTER COOKBOOK, Fresh-from-the-Garden Recipes for Gatherings Large and Small, $40, Chelsea Green Publishing, is a book that celebrates biodiversity through the Mother Collection of rare, open-pollinated varieties and wild edibles from the OAEC’S ecological preserve. Foreward by Alice Waters.

HOW TO BE BOTH, by Ali Smith, Pantheon Books, is a fast-moving genre bending conversation between forms, times, truths and fictions. Two tales of love and injustice twist into a single yarn where time gets timeless, structural gets playful, knowing gets mysterious, fictional gets real—and all life’s givens get given a second chance.

PURE FOOD, Eat Clean With Seasonal, Plant-Based Recipes, by Veronica Bosgraff, Clarkson Potter Publishers. will tell you how to bring more whole, real ingredients into your kitchen and replace processed foods with the 120 plant-based recipes.

There’s nothing on earth like the peace and loveliness of a magnificent garden. It’s the place where Adam and Eve were said to have fellowshipped with God, and where you, too, can escape from this chaotic world. DEVOTIONS FROM THE GARDEN, Finding Peace and Rest in Your Busy Life by Miriam Drennan, $16.99, Thomas Nelson publishers, takes you to that place where senses are restored as dewdrops settle and butterflies gather to witness the miracles of life. These ninety devotions explore the parallels of life with the elements of the garden. Included are striking photographs with a fresh, contemporary design for timeless appeal.