Succulent Gardening

I picked up Succulent Gardening on a whim after my third consecutive murder attempt on a string of pearls, and by the end of Tom Lennon’s narration, I not only understood why my plants were dying—I also felt equipped to finally keep them alive. Lennon’s voice is the perfect blend of patient mentor and no-nonsense coach; he doesn’t just read the instructions, he *performs* them, with a tone that shifts from conspiratorial ("Trust me, your aloe *wants* to be ignored") to stern ("If it’s yellow, you’re watering it like a houseplant, Karen"). The pacing is tight, clocking in at under 50 minutes, which might frustrate listeners who expect a deep dive, but for anyone drowning in overwritten garden tomes, this is a godsend. My only critique? The book leans hard into the "these plants are unkillable" hype, and by the end, I was half-convinced my future self would be a succulent whisperer—only to remember that I once drowned a cactus by *looking at it wrong*. Still, for the price and duration, it’s the closest thing to a cheat code for succulent success, and Lennon’s performance is the cherry on top.