Book Review: Comfort Baking: Feel-Good Food to Savor and Share by Stephanie Wise

Comfort Baking: Feel-Good Food to Savor and Share by Stephanie Wise focuses on easy-to-follow recipes that make people feel good from the inside out. For anyone who is looking for a moment in the kitchen as a time to create, worship, relax, or prepare a recipe for a friend in need, this is your guidebook. In addition to over 100 recipes that exude comfort from beginning to end, baker Stephanie Wise of Girl vs. Dough includes plenty of helpful tips along the way to make the process as simple and enjoyable as possible. Whether you’re preparing a quiche or whipping up a late-night batch of cookies, the recipes in this book are guaranteed to bring you and the people you share your creations with comfort.

Comfort Baking: Feel-Good Food to Savor and Share has some great reminders for experienced bakers, and trick and tips for newcomers, and best of all the understanding that all of us are still learning. I love the encouragement to experiment once you are comfortable with a recipe and process to see what works (or tastes) best for you. As someone that finds baking comforting and soothing, and always has, this title called out for my attention, and it had some great offerings. I had not been a follower or fan of the author, All of the information and instructions are easy to understand and follow, I liked the organization of the sections, and how each section when from the basic recipes to the harder and more complicated options. The recipes were nicely varied, with something for everyone. All of the ingredients are in empirical measuring units, so if you usually bake using weight measurements rather than cups and tablespoons you might need to do some converting and adjustments. There were some recipes familiar to me, or close to something I have tried previously, some I would like to make, and some that are just not to the taste of me or my household- but that is as it should be since everyone is different. 

Book Review: Indian for Everyone: 100 Easy, Healthy Dishes the Whole Family Will Love by Hari Ghotra

Indian for Everyone: 100 Easy, Healthy Dishes the Whole Family Will Love by Hari Ghotra was released for sale on October 4 2022. Fresh, flavorful, and full of spices, veggies, and healthy proteins, Indian for Everyone presents over 100 curries, daals, and other classic Indian dishes to make and enjoy with your kids (or without). A former chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant Tamarind, as well as a creator of a popular line of curry kits and sauces, Hari Ghotra’s mission is to demystify Indian cooking so everyone can enjoy its benefits. She explores the many perks of traditional Indian spices—including reducing inflammation, lowering blood pressure, and easing pain—and shows how to stock your pantry with the most versatile ingredients. She covers basics like biryani and rogan josh, as well as street food, snacks, drinks, and holiday specialties. Many of the recipes are naturally vegan or vegetarian, but can easily be made with meat as well, as detailed in the substitutions section. And she even includes some flavorful Indian twists on beloved American foods like mac and cheese and chicken wings.

Indian for Everyone: 100 Easy, Healthy Dishes the Whole Family Will Love is a very well written cook book, with instructions and encouragement for readers. I have always enjoyed Indian food and the flavor profile, but I have been so unsure as to how to get started, especially with my less than adventurous and fairly picky household. I will admit to being a little worried when the importance of onions was discussed in the introduction- since I am not necessarily a fan- but Ghotra offered solutions, ideas, and substitutions for a variety of dietary restrictions and preferences- including onions. I liked that each recipe included imperial and metric measurements, making them easily accessible to readers, and offers suggestions and tip on how to personalize the recipe and how to make aspects of cooking easier (like prepping and freezing masala in advance). I thought it was well organized and the recipes were easy to understand and follow. While I might not have all of the ingredients for all of the recipes in my house already, most of the items I was missing are easily obtained in large grocery stores, although some require a little extra leg work. I am looking forward to trying my hand at some of these recipes (starting with the naan, turmeric and honey bread, and a few desserts). More importantly, I have a better understanding of spices I love and how I can use them to better  effect and with different combinations than I have tried before. I think this is the perfect cookbook for those looking to learn more about Indian Cuisine and how they might better understand and incorporate the spices and intent of it more effectively. 

Book Review: Can You Spot the Leopard? An African Safari by Karen B. Winnick

Can You Spot the Leopard? An African Safari is a nonfiction picturebook written and illustrated  by Karen B. Winnick. It is an African safari presented through poems and full-color paintings. Readers begin at sunrise, climbing into a jeep for a bumpy ride to view the wondrous animals as they would on a real safari. All the poems are based on real observations of what animals do in the wild, related in an accessible way. There’s even a sighting, finally, of the elusive leopard, before returning to safari camp under a starry night. At the back of the book, further information is related about each animal.  A fun, informational, educational adventure to read and reread.

Can You Spot the Leopard? is a lovely and engaging read. I thought the artwork was very well done, and a perfect pairing to the text. The text had a nice flow and does a good job of capturing the animal life it focused on, and the terrain. I liked the speed and excitement changes, which keeps the readers engaged and interested. I think the animals covered were all the expected creatures, favorites and familiar to the target readers. I did really enjoy te information at the end of the book about all of the animals that make an appearance in the story. The only thing I might have liked added was some suggestions for further reading or perhaps zoo websites where young readers (with their adults of course) could learn more about a favorite animal and maybe see them in action or in photographs. 

Book Review: Crochet Magical Creatures: 20 Easy Amigurumi Patterns by Drew Hil

Crochet Magical Creatures: 20 Easy Amigurumi Patterns by Drew Hill is an instructional book for readers of any age that want to try their hand at making magical creatures out of yarn and fluff. Learn about amigurumi, the Japanese art of crocheting stuffed toys, and use it to make a collection of cute, magical creatures. Easy patterns for critters like griffins and caticorns are simple enough for beginners while also offering plenty of fun for experienced enthusiasts. The book includes information on building your tool kit, clear step-by-step instructions to review essential crochet techniques, including the magic ring and single and double crochet, as well as fun stitches like the picot, and easy crochet patterns. Make dazzling dragons, marvelous mermaids, and more, with 20 simple amigurumi patterns that will have you crocheting with confidence.

Crochet Magical Creatures: 20 Easy Amigurumi Patterns is a solid instructional guide and well organized. I do like that the book includes a basic crochet refresher, because if you have put down your hook for awhile sometimes a refresher is good, and it is great instruction for newer crafters that might not know all of the terms and techniques yet. It also helps to clarify the stitches, because anyone that has studied crochet patterns from other countries might have discovered that even the basics like double and half double can mean different things in different countries. I learned that the hard way. I thought the patterns and instructions were all well worded and easy to follow. I also thought that the collection of creatures was nicely varied and there were some that were new to me. This is a fun and well done book on the topic for those getting started in amigurumi. For many crafters I think this will be a resource to borrow from the library or share with friends rather than a permanent addition to a personal library, but it is still very well done. 

Book Review: House London by Ellie Stathaki, Anna Stathaki

House London by Ellie Stathaki is a nonfiction book that showcases 50 of the most inspiring contemporary interiors in the city today. Created by some of the best designers, architects, and creatives around, this book celebrates the amazing variety and vision that lies behind sometimes quite ordinary facades. Writer Ellie Stathaki  and photographer Anna Stathaki explore different interior styles and show the very best of London homes – from the surprising interiors of humble terraces, to extraordinary conversions showcasing the height of luxury. Some homes will provide worthy inspiration, and others a level of drama most of us can only dream of. With beautiful photography throughout, each home draws on something uniquely ‘London’ and supporting text profiles home owners, architects, and designers and highlights the architectural bones that make up the home.

House London is an exploration of homes in London that capture a certain something and about the city and its people. While not big into learning about the rich and famous, or how they live, I am a huge fan of the city and thought this would be a fun look at interior designs and homes I would never otherwise see. I was not disappointed in the quality of the photography, even if some of the choices go well outside of my personal taste and others made me dream of finding a way to get that much natural light in my own home. I will admit to paying much more attention to the photography than the text, but I did find that the text was well researched and written and added a depth of interest and understanding to the homes featured and the people involved. I found the book to be intriguing and entertaining to explore. I think it will be great for those that love home design and decorating, as well as those looking for some inspiration for future projects. 

Book Review: Diary of the Cat Named Carrot by Erin Merryn

Diary of the Cat Named Carrot by Erin Merryn is a nonfiction book for all ages. Bailey was certainly no ordinary cat—an orange tabby who gained fans around the world when his humanlike antics went viral. Sadly, when 14-year-old Bailey died, his family grieved their loss. They’d never find a cat quite like him—or would they? Then along came Carrot, an orange tabby kitten born as a stray, who appeared just as Erin Merryn and her young girls Abby, Hannah, and baby Claire were mending their broken hearts. Written in the voice of Carrot, follow her remarkable journey from shelter cat to top Instagram celebrity feline. Much like Bailey did, she loves spending time with her human family: making mischief with her girl gang; going joyriding in a pint-sized pink Barbie Jeep; doing arts-and-crafts projects; modeling a pink tutu and flowery headband; enjoying a spa day complete with fluffy robe and cucumber eye treatments; celebrating Christmas, Easter, and every holiday in between.

Diary of the Cat Named Carrot is a lovely story about welcoming a new kitten into a family that is missing their late cat. I thought that it was neat to have the story from Carrot's perspective, and the pictures did a great job of documenting the family's journey together and how much Carrot (and the kids) grew. It is a quick, mostly happy read, formatted to be blog like- so it matches what fans of Carrot would already be used to. The pictures are fun, and while some of the text got to be a little to long for me, this book still works well and would be a nice read for any cat fan. It might also be a good book choice to start a discussion about getting a cat with children.  

Book Review: When Life Gives You Vampires by Gloria Duke

When Life Gives You Vampires by Gloria Duke is a contemporary paranormal romance. Twenty-five year old Lily Baines is used to waking up hungover, overweight, and underemployed. Waking up with fangs? Not so much. But when it turns out a little light necking has more serious consequences than she ever imagined, Lily's determined to get to the bottom of it. Tristan hadn't meant to turn Lily-it's against vampire law-but now that she's here, they need to team up to save their hides. They strike a truce, fending off other vampires, Lily's work-rival-turned-slayer, and her mother's tone-deaf romance and fitness advice-all while Lily faces down her insecurities about the fact that she lives in a diet-obsessed world with a body that will never age, never die, and never change. Can she learn to love the (plus size) woman she'll be forever more?

When Life Gives You Vampires had a fun premise and a lot of things going for it. In general, I liked the main character ad thought her best friend and the quality of that friendship was fantastic. I liked the honesty and heart to hearts they had together, and Lily's honesty with herself.  I thought some of her contemplating her size and hang ups was well done and on point, however as a larger girl myself I felt like it was overdone and maybe could have been handled differently or left out all together in some scenes. I also felt the male characters all fell a bit flat, very little depth in comparison with the female characters, more functions of the story rater than full fledge characters in their own right. I liked most of the plot twists and storyline ideas, but felt like focusing on one or two at a time rather than all of them in a single book might have made for a more engaging read. Since so much of the book is Lily's coming to terms with herself, perhaps some of the story could have been saved for a second book and more time could have been spent in her figuring things out with her best friend and mother rather than vampiric drama. There is so much more room for sequels, that I felt that some of the storylines could easily have been put on hold for them. I did enjoy the read, and it was entertaining, but I see so much potential for it to be even better that it was a little disappointing in some regards.

When Life Gives You Vampires is a entertaining read with great potential. I look forward to seeing what the author does next. 

Book Review: Superheroes of Nature: Incredible Skills to Survive and Thrive by Georges Feterman

Superheroes of Nature: Incredible Skills to Survive and Thrive by Georges Feterman is a children's nonfiction book with full color photos and interesting text celebrating biodiversity and nature. From the Borneo ant to the flying dragon, find out all about these amazing animals and the extraordinary abilities that make them the superheroes of our planet. For example a hammerhead shark can see 180 degrees, the webbed gecko can glide across the desert sand, and the springbok is super fast! For each animal readers will discover their superpower, super stats, and super facts about them and some additional information about how they used their super skills in the wild. 

Superheroes of Nature is another visually appealing book from the Animal Powers series, like Superpowers of Nature: Wild Wonders of the World, which I also recently read and reviewed. The chosen photographs are attention grabbing and does a delightful job of illustrating the features and actions described in the text of the book. I though the book was well organized and balanced, delivering interesting and informative text in accessible lengths along with the bight photographs. I think this book, and the series to be honest, will be a hit with readers interested in animals and science. It would be a valuable addition to school and classroom libraries as well as the public library and personal collections. 

Book Review: Cities of the Dead: The World's Most Beautiful Cemeteries by Yolanda Zappaterra

Cities of the Dead: The World's Most Beautiful Cemeteries by Yolanda Zappaterra is a nonfiction book and collection of photography. Readers will discover the fascinating stories of the world’s most beautiful cemeteries, featuring spectacular photography, unique histories and famous residents. The book invites readers on a tour of memorial sites, ranging from monastic settlements to grand cathedrals, Shinto shrines to Gothic chapels, tombs and crypts. Enjoy tales of myths and monsters, grave-robbers, pilgrimages, spiritual retreats, remembrance and community. Marvel in cemeteries with a hundred thousand to a handful of graves which feature famous headstones, weeping angels, ocean views, woodlands, thousands of glowing lanterns and a tomb of poets. From London's famous Highgate Cemetery, which houses famous names from Karl Marx to Malcolm McLaren, George Eliot to Christina Rosetti, to Hawaii's breathtaking Valley of the Temples, this book spans the globe to bring you the most fascinating, intriguing and evocative cemeteries across cultures and continents. Together with the photographs, the stories behind these notable burial sites bring these sanctuaries to life, detailing the features that make them special, highlighting both similarities and differences between time periods, religions and cultures, and showing how cemeteries are about and for the living as much as the dead.

Cities of the Dead is a fascinating read and visually captivating. I thought the information provided for each site was well researched and written, with just enough information to give readers an understanding of the location, and perhaps inspire some further research for the locations that really speak to them. I have to admit that I was much more interested in the photography, but that is more on my personal preference and visual nature than any lack on the author's part.  It was nice to see the beauty ad dignity of these locations, rather than the focus of dark and spooky that I mostly see particularly this time of year. The serenity and magnitude of some of the locations was interesting and I liked the variety of locations and seasons and time of day in which the pictures seemed to be taken. I found some of the images sad, like the cramped crowd of tombstones of Beth-Chaim in Prague, and some of the less well tended expanses, however other locations seems so restful and carefully tended that they exude peace. The contrasts of how history and people shape these things is important, and too often forgotten. I like that the author included a guide to the symbolism in cemeteries, visitor information on the featured locations, an index and the full list of photograph credits. These important details too often are lost in the process, and I love digging into these kids of details at the end of a nonfiction book.  I think my only complaint is that the number of photographs per cemetery seemed a bit uneven, some locations only had one while others had several pages. I understand that this is partially because of image availability and cemetery size and accessibility, but it still bothered me in the end.

Book Review: Better Than Balderdash by Owen Janssen

Better Than Balderdash by Owen Janssen is a collection of interesting facts and trivia for all ages. For instance: Did you know that you can heat up a cup of coffee by yelling at it? How about the fact that bananas are radioactive? Or that Google hires goats as gardeners? Or that competitive slapping is a sport in Russia? Our world is chock-full of fascinating facts, unbelievable but true stories, and mind-blowing trivia. This book is your one-stop guide to all the extraordinary, shocking and enthralling information you didn’t know you needed to learn. Impress your friends and family with a vast knowledge of topics guaranteed to stimulate interesting conversations! If you want to learn some of the world’s most intriguing stories to pass the time at work, fuel the fire on your next trivia games night, or are looking for top-notch entertainment for that family road trip, then you need this book.

Better Than Balderdash is a fun and entertaining read that easily kept me entertained. I love random trivia, from Jeopardy to the bathroom readers that the author mentions in the opening in this book. I squirrel away bits of strange but interesting information because you never know when they will come in handy. That being said, I new several of the stranger facts shared in this book (like the bat bombs) because of the weird history and science shows that I have running in my house all the time. But, I did learn some new things. My whole family loves this kind of this, and I am thinking that this book will make a great addition to my son's book collection.