June 2026 Cookbook Reviews

 

The Flavor of Fire by Kelsey Barnard Clark

This cookbook is all about Southern grilling. Clark gives a lot of helpful information about set up, grilling tools needed, and tips on both grilling and smoking. The first section of recipes is divided into grilling and smoking with tips for all types and cuts of meat. Then she goes into rubs and marinades and then grilling/smoking sides. I love grilling and you can really do a lot on a grill, but I never understand making biscuits or bread on a grill - unless you're camping out and don't have access to an oven. There is a lot of good information, I just didn't find many recipes I wanted to try.

Eating at Home by Trinity Mouzon Wofford 

A lot of the current food culture is about not cooking - food delivery, meal kits, hacks, etc. The premise of Eating at Home is what if cooking meals from scratch wasn't just about the food but about being in the present moment. I really like that Wofford focuses on using seasonal, local produce and sourcing high quality food. The recipes are organized like a typical cookbook - breakfast, lunch, dinner, baking, etc. While I love the premise of the book, I didn't find many recipes I wanted to try. But I do agree with Wofford about the importance and financial savings of cooking from scratch with local food.

The Complete Grilling and Barbecue Cookbook by America's Test Kitchen

This is a very comprehensive cookbook all about grilling. I wouldn't expect anything less from America's Test Kitchen. The first section gives a lot of helpful tips about grilling with both charcoal or gas. Then the chapters are about grilling specific types of meat, vegetables, pizza, bread, dessert, etc. There is also a chapter about sauces, relishes, and rubs. This is a very thorough cookbook with a lot of information and recipes. If you are new to grilling or want to up your grilling game, this is the cookbook to check out.

King Arthur Baking Company's The Book of Pizza by King Arthur Baking Company

If you like pizza, this is the cookbook for you. King Arthur Baking Company covers every aspect and every style of pizza. The first section covers "the elements of great pizza" - dough, sauce, cheese, toppings, bake, and finishing touch. Then the recipes are based on the type of pizza - Chicago, New York, weeknight, Neapolitan, etc. At the end of the cookbook are chapters on pizza night salads and desserts. I also really like that the recipes include measurements by both weight (grams) and volume (cups). Whether you're new to making pizza at home or want to up your game, this is a great cookbook to check out.

The Taste of Country Cooking: 50th Anniversary Edition by Edna Lewis

This is a 50th anniversary edition of the Edna Lewis classic Southern cookbook, The Taste of Country Cooking, that was originally published in 1976. This edition has the foreword written by Toni Tipton-Martin, but I liked that at the end they included the foreword and introductions of the 2006 edition (30th anniversary edition) as well. The book is organized by the four seasons and Lewis writes an introduction to that season with what would be growing, other seasonal things happening - celebrations, etc. and then throughout the recipes in the section, there are other notes about dishes or ingredients. This cookbook definitely stands the test of time and showcases simple, seasonal, Southern cooking.

The Great Book of Chocolate by David Lebovitz

Who doesn't love chocolate? So, a cookbook full of chocolate recipes is sure to be great, right?! David Lebovitz really explores chocolate thoroughly in this cookbook. The first 70 pages are all about how chocolate is made, a history of chocolate, types of chocolate, how to buy and store chocolate, etc. The the rest of the book are the recipes. The majority of the recipes are sweet, but there are a few savory ones at the very end. I was expecting to find more recipes I wanted to try, but there were only a few that looked good to me. But, it's a very thorough book with all the other information about chocolate in addition to the recipes.

Vegetables the Italian Way by Giulia Scarpaleggia

I'm not vegetarian, but I do love vegetables and I'm always looking for new ways to cook with them. I really like that this cookbook is organized by the way the vegetables are cooked, so even though one vegetable might be in a recipe, you could easily substitute something else. Several of the recipes do include a note on different variations or substitutions. If you're looking to incorporate more vegetables into your diet or eat more seasonally, this is a great cookbook to get some ideas.

In Season by Lisa Steele

I love a good seasonal cookbook, but this one was odd. Instead of the recipes being organized by season, the recipes were still by type (soup, salads, vegetables, etc.) and then within each chapter there were notes at the top of which season applied to that recipe. There are also 4 chapters on eggs which also seemed odd. The author's previous cookbook is all egg recipes, so obviously she's into eggs but to have 4 entire chapters in this type of cookbook seemed odd to me. I really don't like that the recipes weren't organized by season - to me that is the whole point of a seasonal cookbook. My other main complaint was that the Introduction and chapter about sourcing ingredients were in white font on a green background and it was extremely hard to read. Overall, I wasn't impressed with this one.

June 2026 Reviews

 

The Tragedy of True Crime: four guilty men and the stories that define us by John J. Lennon

John Lennon is a writer. But he is also a murderer, currently incarcerated, doing 28 to life for his crime. While in prison he attended a writing workshop and began writing to process his life and crime. He became a published author and began to struggle with his identity. Is he a writer? Is he a murderer? Can he be both? How can someone ever apologize or repent enough when you kill someone? "True crime is the antithesis of the notion that we are more than our crimes. It turns back the clock and replays the worst moments of someone's life, reconstructs and reenacts it all for entertainment, usually by exploiting the people most affected by the violence - victims whose wounds haven't healed, perpetrators who haven't reckoned with their guilt. This is the tragedy of true crime." (p. 297) In The Tragedy of True Crime Lennon explores all of this through his own story and the story of three other murderers - what their background is, what their crime was, and how they've tried (or not) to change and grow in prison. It's definitely a unique book. Lennon is very transparent about his own crime and how much it has affected his victim's family. He does a great job of telling the other stories as well. I agree with some reviews I read that I wish the stories were more separated with like a section for each man's story. All 4 stories were told throughout the book and it made it a little harder to follow each story all the way through. Overall, a tough read but definitely thought provoking.

The Butter Book by Anna Stockwell

As the title states, this book is all about butter. And I love that the actual book is made to look like a stick of butter. Anna Stockwell covers a brief history of butter, how to make butter, butter accessories, tips for buying butter, how to make clarified, compound, and whipped butter, and then several butter-centric recipes. There are also several pictures included - not just of the recipes, but also a page with photos of butter accessories. This is a very quick, one sitting read. It will definitely make you crave something buttery to eat at the end!

Go As a River by Shelley Read (covering Chapter 3 book club)

At seventeen years old, Victoria Nash has dealt with more hardships than most adults several times her age. When she was 12, her mother, aunt, and cousin were all killed in a car accident. Just before that her uncle had come home from WWII a double amputee and has since turned into a mean drunk. Now she's keeping house for 3 men who are unhappy and like to take it out on everyone around them. But a chance encounter with a drifter named Wilson Moon changes the entire trajectory of her life. Her brief relationship with Moon will sever her ties with her family and lead to even more heartbreak and tragedy. Despite all the hardship and loss she's faced, Victoria not only keeps going, but manages to save her family's peach tree legacy when the government decides to demolish her hometown to create a reservoir. More than 20 years after she met Wilson Moon and her life changed dramatically, Victoria has the chance to regain some happiness for herself and right a few of the wrongs from her past.

I really had no expectations with this book, but I did enjoy it. The overall Job-esque vibe for Victoria was a little over the top, but not completely uncommon for that time period (1950-1970). The whole storyline was also a little overly melodramatic and emotional. Not giving anything away, but I did like the way the book ended. I also really liked the two other female characters - Zelda and Inga - who added a lot to the story. I read this for a coworker to cover her bookclub while she's on vacation and the book club should love this one. Lots of topics to talk about.

Garden for Life: strategies for easier, greener, more joyful gardening as we age by Rhonda Hayes

This is a very unique gardening book in that it is all about how to keep gardening as you age. Rhonda Hayes is a Master Gardener and has always enjoyed gardening from a young age. But, as she's aged, she's realized that you need to adapt your garden to your stage of life - whether that means downsizing, hiring out more of the heavy lifting, or changing up your containers or even the type of plants you grow. The book is divided into three categories - rightsizing your garden, designing for comfort and joy, and staying in the game. Gardening is one of the best ways to stay active as you age, but making your garden easier to manage can be helpful at any age. Hayes gives lots of good tips and resources throughout the book. I'm in my late 40's, but my husband and I are already adjusting somethings now to make things easier to manage. I definitely got some good ideas from this book.

A Year With the Seals by Alix Morris

I love a good animal book and didn't know much about seals so when I saw this book I wanted to read it. But, I don't feel like I know that much more about seals - I know a LOT more about the controversies around human-seal interactions. Alix Morris spends a year researching seals and traveling all over the North American waters to learn about different seal populations and conservation issues. I agree with another review I read that only a small percentage of the book is actually about seal life - the majority is the author's travels and various groups who are either studying seals, helping seals, or fighting to reinstate seal culls. I personally don't have a ton of sympathy for commercial fisherman who hate seals, but Morris does include a chapter about the Native Puyallup in the Pacific Northwest who are having issues with seals and sea lions greatly impacting their Native salmon diet. Overall, I learned a little about seals but this book was lacking to me. I was hoping for more seal-focused information and pictures would have gone a long way in adding to the book too. Not the best animal book out there in my opinion, despite Sy Montgomery writing the foreword.

The Carpool Detectives: a true story of four moms, two bodies, and one mysterious cold case by Chuck Hogan

At the beginning of the COVID pandemic in 2020 four moms, who knew each other tangentially through their children's school, end up bonding over their love of true crime and an unsolved double murder from 15 years ago. The four women, Marissa, Jeannie, Samira, and Nicole, all have different backgrounds and had all let their careers take a backseat to motherhood. During COVID while forced to stay at home, they dive into this cold case. Calling and interviewing family members and witnesses, digging into backgrounds and possible suspects, even reaching out to the original detective on the case (now retired). The women all become very invested in the case. What no one expected was that they would actually solve it. Even though their initial suspicion was wrong, the actual culprit is much more dangerous than they anticipated and the women may be in real danger if it came to light all that they uncovered.

I was a little surprised by the mixed reviews and I'm glad I didn't read those before deciding to read the book. I knew this took place in the early days of COVID and while I don't disagree that COVID became like another character in the book, I don't feel like it was the whole focus. Did I agree with all the women's views? No. But that didn't keep me from enjoying the book. I thought the book was very well written. I was shocked to see that this is the author's first nonfiction book. I felt like he did a great job of telling each woman's story, their combined story of working on this case, and then the story of the actual murder case. Overall, I loved it. I don't read a ton of true crime because it seems to be a genre that's hard to do well. But, Chuck Hogan did a great job and I hope he considers writing more nonfiction in the future.

May 2026 Cookbook Reviews

 

The High-Protein Plate by Rachael DeVaux, RD

Getting enough protein, especially as we age is so important. I wanted to check this cookbook out to see if I could find some new, higher protein recipes to try. DeVaux divides the recipes into 4 categories - Breakfast, Everyday Mains, Soups, Salads, and Snacks, and Dessert. Other than the Dessert category, the other categories have subcategories of recipes like Slow Cooker Mains, One Pan Meals, etc. Overall, the recipes look good and not too complicated. I did find a few I'd like to try. If you want/need to add more protein to your diet, this is a good place to start.

The Stress Free Slow Cooker by Stephanie Gigliotti

I tend to cook on 1-2 days for the whole week, so I'm always looking for easy ways to make meals that will have leftovers. Crockpots are great for doing the cooking for you, so you can do other things. This is a great cookbook with lots of crockpot meals. The recipes are organized by type of recipe like Classic Comforts, Five Ingredients or Less, Better Than Takeout, etc. I already use my Crockpot regularly, but I did find a few new recipes I'd like to try. This would be great for someone new to Crockpot cooking or with not a lot of time to cook each night.

May 2026 Reviews

 

Mailman: my wild ride delivering the mail in Appalachia and finally finding home by Stephen Grant

In March of 2020 Stephen Grant was laid off from his marketing job at the very beginning of the COVID pandemic. He had recently been diagnosed with cancer, so he needed to find a job with insurance and fast. After several weeks of looking, he ended up applying to work as a mailman and ended up getting a job in his hometown of Blacksburg, VA. Grant does a really good job of combining his personal story with the inner workings of the US Postal Service. This is HARD WORK. Especially for someone who has had a career in knowledge work, not working with your hands and being out in every kind of weather, year-round. His initial smugness at picking up the job so easily is quickly humbled once he's out on a route by himself. It's hard work and you're alone with a LOT of time to think. But he perseveres and ends up working in the job for over a year - a lot of newbies don't even last the first week. The experience is both humbling and a source of pride for Grant. He shares the highlights, the times he almost quit, the memorable customers (both good and bad), and everything in between.

I really liked Grant's writing and he was pretty funny too. He did a great job of combining his back story with his time working as a mailman. I also appreciated that while the entire timeframe of the book is during peak COVID, there was not tons of talk of masks/vaccines/politics. There was some of all of that, but it wasn't the dominant topic. I also appreciated his descriptions of how physically taxing this job is and his newfound respect for mail carriers. Now I understand more why my mail woman drives like a bat out of hell - she has a LOT of work to do in a very short amount of time. I really enjoyed this one and would highly recommend it.

Some quotes I liked:

"What carrying the mail taught me is that modern life has made us strangely weak in many ways. Weak memories for space, for numbers, for language. Our bodies are capable of walking tens of miles every day, of memorizing every fold of huge territories, of tolerating great heat and great cold, yet in our modern life all these capabilities are latent. When I think about the way that carrying the mail changed me, I wonder how much of it was tapping into this different experience of being human." (p. 101-102)

"I had worked jobs in my twenties, thirties, and forties that I had wanted to quit so bad that it created a physical sensation like tinnitus, a palpable bodily unease similar to but distinct from depression. I say this with a connoisseurship of both job hatred and depression that has been cultivated over a lifetime of experience. This was different. This was about actually trying and coming up short, and it was really fucking with me. The reality of just how slow and inaccurate I was dominated my waking thoughts. At night I dreamed about losing the mail, about being behind." (p. 109)

"There is an actual route in Arizona that delivers to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, by burro. Do you think the USPS makes money on these customers? Profit is irrelevant. The law says your mail gets delivered." (p. 135)

[About a particularly unpleasant customer/resident] "She had the gaunt look of a militant vegan who was professionally miserable." [If you can't picture someone like this immediately, count yourself lucky]

Table for Two by Amor Towles (Books & Banter book club)

I really enjoyed The Lincoln Highway by Towles, so I was really looking forward to reading this one. I didn't love it. All of the short stories are just odd - odd characters, odd storylines, odd endings, just odd. Maybe because I was actually looking forward to reading it, I ended up disappointed. Towles is a great writer - none of the stories were poorly written. But some of the stories and many of the characters were overly pretentious. I just didn't love most of the characters. And I agree with several reviews I read that the book didn't need the novella at the end. I think the New York stories as a collection would have been fine on their own. If he wants to write a follow up to Rules of Civility, then do that as a separate novel. And not having read Rules of Civility that novella was harder to get into for me - the first half was pretty slow. It did pick up in the second half, but like the short stories it ended too abruptly for me. Overall, it was OK verging on good, but not great.

James by Percival Everett (Evening Edition book club)

James is a retelling of Twain's classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from runaway slave Jim's perspective. When Jim learns he is going to be sold away from his wife and daughter, he decides to run away and figure out a way to either buy his freedom and theirs or come back for them. Coincidently, the same day Jim decides to run away Huckleberry Finn decides to fake his own death to run away from his abusive father. Now Jim realizes that he'll be blamed for Huck's death too if he's caught. Jim and Huck go on the run together and wind up in several surreal and terrifying situations before Jim is finally able to get his wife and daughter and escape to the North on the brink of the Civil War. Everett's writing is fantastic. But this is still a hard book to read. Even though Jim's story turns out better in the end - he is reunited with his wife and daughter and gets to freedom - his time as a slave can never be erased. The sheer brutality is always horrifying to read about even in fiction. This book reminded me a lot of The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. A hard read, but well written and a unique look at a well-known Twain character.

The New Perimenopause by Mary Claire Haver, MD

As a woman in my mid-to-upper-40's, I knew I was probably in perimenopause but no doctors were talking to me about it at all. I had seen some videos from Dr. Haver on Instgram and so when I saw this book I decided I should probably read it to understand more about my current stage of life. And I am so glad I did! I realized that almost ALL of my current health issues can be tied back to perimenopause - things like suddenly my cholesterol and a1c numbers are up, my already pretty short fuse being markedly shorter, frustration, joint issues, weight gain - ALL OF IT is tied to the changing hormones of perimenopause. In America we have sick care, not health care, so as Dr. Haver points out most doctors aren't trying to be dismissive of your symptoms, they are just doing what they've been taught about perimenopause and menopause - which is next to nothing. Dr. Haver began doing more research as she began to get into menopause and is now sharing what she's learned and how she's changed her own medical practice to better address women's health needs throughout their entire life. Dr. Haver shows how just about every system in the body is affected by changing sex hormones during perimenopause. She also gives tips about what you can do to find some relief for each of those area/issues. She reiterates that this is not a one-size-fits-all situation and lifestyle (sleep, diet, exercise, etc.) definitely plays a role as well. This was a VERY eye-opening book for me and I'm so glad I read it now. If you are a woman who is in your 40's even if you think you're too young for perimenopause - you're not and you need to read this book.

Some quotes I liked:

"But another complicating factor is that perimenopause requires a symptom-based diagnosis rather than a lab-test-based one. There are currently no lab tests that allow for a conclusive and straightforward diagnosis of perimenopause, so a doctor must rely on their knowledge of symptoms related to this reproductive transition to make that diagnosis. Well, this is a big problem since doctors aren't being educated about symptoms. I was never taught during my residency that perimenopause had any symptoms other than disrupted periods. The majority of clinicians don't have a bank of knowledge to rely on for the diagnosis and treatment of perimenopause, so many sadly default to dismissive condolences." (p. 16)

"This is why I've been working hard to promote the message that perimenopause is a metabolic event, not just a reproductive milestone. If we're not looking at the whole picture - including cholesterol, inflammation, blood sugar, and fat distribution - we're missing key opportunities to protect women's health." (p. 111)

The Company of Owls by Polly Atkin

During the pandemic Polly Atkin and her partner Will have the opportunity of being home all the day and start noticing an owl near their home in Grasmere, England. Soon they are seeing more and more owls and even a few clutches of owlets. Being home during the pandemic allows them to notice more of the nature around them that was always there, just was often lost in the busyness of life. Atkin has health issues that prevent her from going out as much even when pandemic restrictions are lifted. Her connection to the local owls is a bright spot during the pandemic lockdowns and beyond.

I wasn't super impressed with this book. I agree with some other reviews that I wish she had included some pictures of the owls and the area where she was observing them. I also felt like I needed at least a chapter of background on her. She mentions her illness once, but I am not familiar with it and the limitations it would bring. It was more of an owl journal about when they saw owls or other animals. To me this is not a memoir because I don't really know any more about Atkin than I did from the book description. Overall, it was OK and I think there are better owl books out there. The cover of the book is great though.

April 2026 Cookbook Reviews

 

Southern Roots: recipes and stories from Mama Dip's Daughter by Spring Council

Anita "Spring" Council is the youngest daughter of Mildred "Mama Dip" Council, so she grew up learning to cook by watching and helping her mother, just like her mother learned from her own mother. The Council family ran Bill's Bar-B-Q restaurant, originally opened by Spring's grandfather, for many years. In 1976 Mama Dip opened her own restaurant where Spring worked with her mother. (Mama Dip's closed in 2024, I'm thankful I had the opportunity to eat there before they closed) In this cookbook Spring shares recipes she's created with a combination of the food she learned to cook from her mother and adding her own twist. Throughout the recipes are family stories and history that show how food tied into every aspect of Council family life. The recipes are organized in typical cookbook categories - snacks, soups and salads, main dishes, vegetables, etc. with a whole chapter on holidays. Overall, a great Southern cookbook that is continuing on the heritage of the Council family.

The Canning Diva Presents Meals in a Jar by Diane Deveraux

I've been canning for several years now so I'm always looking for new canning recipes to try out. While I do pressure can, I am personally not yet comfortable with canning raw meat. Most of the recipes called for layering raw meat and veggies to pressure can into ready made meals. While the concept is great - you have a single serving meal ready to go on the shelf - I don't pressure can enough to feel comfortable with the raw meat aspect. If you are comfortable with that level of canning, there are a wide variety of recipes in this book. This one is just not for me.

April 2026 Reviews

 

Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton

During the pandemic Chloe Dalton had retreated from London to her home in the English countryside to wait things out. One day she finds a leveret, or baby hare, on a road. She leaves it for several hours hoping the mother will come back, but when it's still there she ends up taking it home. Only afterward does she find out it's extremely hard to raise hares because they often die of shock or starve. Dalton's hare survives and their relationship grows as the hare grows up. Fully grown by four months old, Dalton expects the hare to leave and never come back. But that's not what happens. The hare does live in the wild, but often comes back "home" daily seeing Dalton's home and garden as a safe place. Dalton also has the privilege of watching her hare raise 3 litters of leverets - one litter inside the house!

I was really impressed with how Dalton followed her instincts with the hare since there is very little information about raising or caring for a wild hare. And because of her time with the hare, she also starts to be more aware of her surroundings - other wild animals, other hares, all the inherent dangers of the wild, and how she can make her land more wildlife friendly. She also talks about the damage of industrial agriculture and how much of the English countryside has changed, eliminating so much of the areas wildlife need to survive.

This book is beautifully written and I was so jealous of this amazing experience Dalton had with her hare. It was unique in that the hare was never a pet - never even named. But still they so obviously bonded. What an amazing experience. I'm grateful she wrote this book to share her experience with the rest of us. Highly recommend this one!

Some quotes I liked:

"On average, only a quarter of all leverets reach adulthood, and sometimes, many fewer. One study of hares found, in a single breeding season, a 50 per cent mortality rate among leverets in their first twenty-eight days. It identified leveret mortality related to farming activity as the single greatest reason for the precipitous fall in the brown hare population. For all these reasons, it is considered rare for a hare to live more than three or four years in the wild, and a hare's lifespan is often no longer than a year, a fate it was painful to imagine for the leveret beside me." (p. 59)

"I was moved by the leveret's dignity, the sense of well-being and calm it spread, and the simplicity of its life. The life of a hare at ease is one of basking, rolling, resting, drowsing and dreaming, and living in the moment. A hare leaves behind it nothing more than a patch of flattened grass, little larger than a human footprint, soon lifted by the wind and erased altogether. The leveret's calm and orderly existence challenged my priorities and woke up my senses." (p. 130)

"Since that first day when I found her it has felt as if a spell was cast over this corner of the earth, and me within it. I have stepped out of my usual life and had the privilege of an experience out of the ordinary. Had it not been for the unique circumstances of the pandemic, I would never have come across the hare, and my life would have continued along its familiar grooves. How glad I am now that I did not leave for the city the moment it became possible. I am grateful for every additional day that I gazed out of the window. If I had gone, I would not have seen the leverets born. I would not have built the relationship I formed around the hare, with other people and with this patch of land, and felt this unexpected, uncomplicated joy, and learnt not to tamp down the emotions it generates in me." (p. 272)

Chicken Fried Women by Melissa Radke

Chicken-Fried Women is Melissa Radke's ode to the women in her life - mostly family but also many girlfriends, who shaped her life. Her definition of a Chicken-Fried Woman is "She is battered and bruised on the outside, but tender on the inside, she is salty and sweet and more than a little bit spicy...she really is the best of both worlds...and she gathers the ones she loves around the table because she is both their comfort and their community." The book is a collection of stories of adventures, misadventures, grief, laughter, and everything in between. Radke is hilarious, but I think she also has good material to pull from in her family. A quick, mostly funny, sometimes tear-jerker of a read that will make you think of all the women in your own life - even if they are not quite as quippy as Radke's family.

Grizzled: love letters to 50 of North America's least understood animals by Jason Bittel

This is a really unique book that explores 50 of North America's "least understood animals." Jason Bittel covers a mix of animals, fish, birds, and insects and some will be more familiar to readers than others, but all are important to the natural world. The book is divided by category of animal - mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, fish, and invertebrates. As the subtitle says, these are not just dry, scientific facts about 50 animals - but "love letters." Highlighting things that are unique or special and why these animals are important. Bittel writes with humor and it's a great mix of facts/learning and humor. I definitely learned a lot and I consider myself pretty well read when it comes to animals. This is also a pretty quick read because each chapter/love letter is only about 2 1/2 pages. I would highly recommend this one!

Some quotes I liked:

"...unlike nearly every other mammal on Earth, killer whale females outlive menopause, which means old granny orcas are still out there swimming around well past their ability to reproduce. And scientists hypothesize that this strategy has evolved to allow orca societies, which are female-led, to benefit from all the knowledge accumulated by the older generation. Literally, orca grandchildren have a better chance of surviving to adulthood when their pod still has its grandma." (p. 95)

"...the axolotl is unlike most other creatures on this planet, in that these giant salamanders possess the nearly magical power of regeneration. Gills, feet, legs, tails, hearts, even pieces of the axolotl's own spinal cord and brain - you name it, and the axo can rebuild it." (p. 179)

I was surprised by the lifespans of several animals in the book:

Manatees - 60 years
California Condor - 60 years
American Alligator - 80 years
Hellbender - 25 years
Alligator Gar - 100 years
Freshwater Mussels - 150 years

Mysteries of the National Parks by Mike Bezemek

I grew up watching the TV show Unsolved Mysteries and I love National Parks and would like to visit all or most of them someday, so this book seemed right up my alley. While I liked it OK, there were a few issues. First the title is a little deceiving - many of these stories do not take place in National Parks but other National Monuments or a National Historic Site. There are a lot of crazy things that happen in actual National Parks, so I wished it had been more limited to the 63 National Parks. The subtitle is "35 stories of baffling disappearances, unexplained phenomena, and more" and while there were some really interesting stories of disappearances and unexplained phenomena, many of the stories held neither and were more about a famous or notorious person or historic event. I could have done with more actual mysteries or disappearances. Overall, it was OK but not amazing.

Note: there is an Unsolved Mysteries episode about the Bradford Bishop murders - story covered on p. 280

I also did not know that south Florida (including the Everglades) is the only place in the world where both alligators and crocodiles can be found together. (p. 261)

Super Nintendo by Keza MacDonald

This book is an ode to Nintendo - both the company and all the iterations of games and consoles the company is known for. MacDonald explores both with chapters on specific games or consoles. I grew up in the 1980's and we had the original Nintendo and then the Super Nintendo, my brother also had the Game Boy. I didn't stay interested in video games beyond those early consoles my family owned, but as an adult my husband bought me the Nintendo Classic Mini that has 30 classic games all in one small console. The early Nintendo is definitely nostalgic for me, and that's why I picked up this book. But it was a little disappointing. MacDonald is clearly a HUGE Nintendo and video game fan. I don't know what I was expecting, but she goes into SO MUCH detail about every little change between versions of the game that chapter features that it was overwhelming for me. I wasn't anxiously waiting for the newest Legend of Zelda game to come out so I really couldn't relate to that. And because I'm not a gamer, there were several games/consoles I had never heard of. If you're a hardcore Nintendo fan, you will love this book. If you're looking for a little nostalgia like I was, it's a little of that but not as much as I was hoping for.

Some quotes I liked:

"It may seem weird that fully grown adults would continue to love games that are overtly and unashamedly family-friendly, but for some Nintendo fans that's the point: Nintendo represents an uncomplicatedly fun approach to video games, a bridge back to the simple joy and excitement of childhood play in a world that's increasingly pressured and fraught." (p. 5)

"There's another reason why Metroid is a historically significant part of Nintendo's canon. Players who completed the first Metroid game in 1986 were greeted with a surprise after the end credits, when the orange-suited space warrior they've been controlling throughout removes her helmet to reveal a head of long, blonde hair. Samus Aran was one of the first-ever female video game protagonists, at a time when female characters in video games - if they appeared at all - were usually either damsels in need to rescue or, later, sex objects designed primarily for the assumed male gaze of the player." (p. 103)

"I have always thought of Nintendo as an entertainment company rather than a tech company, but in reality, like all video game developers, it is both. But as a tech company, Nintendo is even more of a maverick. If the mantra of Silicon Valley has been to move fast and break things, Nintendo behaves in almost the opposite way. It moves slowly and takes care to preserve things: its own history and, most important, its sense of fun." (p. 252-53)

The Marriage You Want by Sheila Wray Gregoire and Dr. Keith Gregoire

I've been following Shelia Wray Gregoire online for several years now and enjoyed her previous book The Great Sex Rescue. As a woman who grew up in "purity culture" circles during my teenage years, her work on how those messages negatively impacted both young men and women and how to change/break those cycles/teach better messages is groundbreaking and very important. There is a LOT of bad theology out there especially in relation to gender roles, sex, and marriage. Gregoire is working hard to promote good theology and write books like this to help Christians have The Marriage You Want. I liked how they organized the book using an acrostic for BARE - Balance, Affection, Responsibility, and Emotional Connection, since her website is Bare Marriage. They also include a lot of data from a huge survey they conducted that led to this book. This is a fantastic Christian marriage book and while I definitely enjoyed it, I do think it's more suited to engaged couples or newlyweds who want to shape their marriage in a healthy way from the start. Not that you can't learn new things or make your marriage better at any time. I guess because I've been following her for so long, there wasn't a lot of new information for me. I did enjoy it and I'm thankful to be in a marriage I want with my husband of 26 years.

Some quotes I liked:

"Holding up miraculous transformation stories as if they are formulas turns the burden for the marriage on its head. While one spouse may be doing something to destroy the very fabric of the marriage, it now becomes the fault of the spouse who wants the marriage to work because if they just prayed harder, forgave more, or had more sex, the supposedly things would change. Tremendous destruction has been wrought by this faulty theology based on a faulty reading of Scripture that values the institution of marriage over the people within that marriage." (p. 39)

"Marriage doesn't need to be a huge slog you endure until one of you dies. If you put in the work and build on solid relationship principles, like the ones we've shared here, marriage can and should be what makes life easier to handle because there are two of you sharing the load. Instead of saying, 'Marriage is hard,' we'd phrase it as 'Life is hard. But marriage is meant to make it easier!'" (p. 215)

Leo Lionni: storyteller, artist, designer by Steven Heller, Leonard S. Marcus, Annie Lionni, and Stephanie Haboush Plunkett, eds.

I just happened upon this book on the shelf at the library where I work and because I always loved Leo Lionni's picture books I picked it up. I didn't know much about Leo Lionni, but I after reading this book that was put out as a companion to an exhibit of his work at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA, I know a lot more about Lionni. He lived in the Netherlands, United States, and Italy and spoke 5 languages. He had a very successful career in advertising and marketing in the United States and decided to move back to Italy to focus more on art for himself in his 50's. While trying to entertain his grandchildren on a train ride, he came up with the idea that became his first picture book, Little Blue and Little Yellow. After that he wrote and illustrated a picture book about every year, publishing 40 before his death at the age of 89. I found it really interesting that he wanted to keep his 3 art worlds separate. He was worried that he wouldn't be taken seriously as an artist if people knew he was publishing children's picture books. This book did a great job of showing all three aspects of Lionni's artwork and while I did like his midcentury modern advertising artwork, I still love his picture book artwork the most.

Some quotes I liked:

"In addition to designing memorable covers, typography, and interior layouts, he was instrumental in launching the careers of many emerging artists and designers, including the celebrated picture book artist Eric Carle, who considered him a mentor and lifelong friend." (p. 23)

"After decades of satisfying clients' and employers' demands, he longed to reclaim the sense of wonder that had made him fall in love with art as a child. Surprisingly, considering how it all turned out, making art for children was not, at the outset, on the menu of this new creative adventure; but the 'little miracle' changed that. From 1959 to 1994, Lionni published a new picture book nearly every year; in some years, he published two." (p. 91)

[In 1997] "Vivian G. Paley was a kindergarten teacher nearing retirement at the University of Chicago's progressive Laboratory Schools when it occurred to her to design and implement an immersive Leo Lionni curriculum for her final group of five-year-olds. Throughout their year of play and study together, Paley and the children not only shared Lionni's books in the traditional, story-hour way but also made drawings, painted posters, mounted plays, and composed new stories inspired by the books, and engaged in free-flowing, often surprisingly sophisticated discussions about the questions the books raised for them. Upon her retirement, Paley described all this in a memoir, The Girl with the Brown Crayon." (p. 124)

March 2026 Reviews

 

It's Only Drowning by David Litt

During the COVID pandemic and at the age of 35, David Litt decides to learn to surf. His brother-in-law, Matt, is a surfer but he is the polar opposite of David - adventurous, blue-collar, not political, and worst of all didn't get the COVID vaccine. David worked as a speechwriter for President Obama, is more of an overthinking book worm, and is rigorously following all the COVID protocols. As David starts learning to surf, he and Matt actually start spending more time together surfing. Eventually David makes it his goal to surf with Matt at the North Shore of Hawaii. He and Matt actually take a couple of surf trips leading up to Hawaii. The subtitle of the book is "A true story of learning to surf and the search for common ground," but the whole time it kind of felt like David's idea of "common ground" was Matt seeing things HIS way. Their common ground was surfing and they developed a decent relationship around that, but otherwise there didn't seem to be much common ground on David's part. It's like he looked up to Matt as a surfer but down on him in just about every other way. I liked David less and less as the book went on and he didn't seem interested in working toward finding that common ground with Matt.

I'm really curious what David's in-laws and wife think of this book. This doesn't seem like it will help his relationship with Matt much. I wish there had been a few pictures included of some of the breaks they surfed. David is a good writer and funny but he came across very condescending and smug.

Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel (Books & Banter book club)

Sea of Tranquility follows Gaspery Roberts through several different centuries via time travelling as he investigates a possible glitch in time that happened on Vancouver Island, Canada. He visits Edwin St. Andrew in 1912, Mirella in 2020, and Olive in 2203 - each person has a unique experience with the time glitch and Gaspery is trying to figure out what each experienced and what this possible glitch means and how it may have happened.

The writing is sparse, but Mandel does a great job of conveying a lot with a few words. The main theme I noticed through the writing is the morality or lack thereof in relation to time travel and technology. Gaspery and his sister Zoey are very interesting characters and I do wish there had been more of Zoey's back story included. This book reminded me of Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro in regard to the issues explored around technology and the ramifications on humans. This was an interesting book but left a lot of unanswered questions. I haven't read any of her previous books so I don't have anything to compare to. I didn't love this one, but it was interesting enough that I would consider reading another one of her books in the future.

The Balancing Act by Nedra Glover Tawwab

In The Balancing Act Nedra Tawwab explores how to balance connection in different relationships in your life. The book is divided into two sections - understanding unhealthy dependency and finding a healthier balance. In many things we often only hear about the extremes, so it's always good to find that middle ground/balancing act. In looking at relationships, Tawwab explores how our background can shape our current behavior, but people CAN change if they are willing to work on themselves. But there is something in here for anyone. Even if you grew up in a healthy family, there are still things you can learn about yourself or how to interact better with others. Written similarly to her other books with lots of real life examples from Tawwab's own life and her (anonymized) therapy clients. Overall, a solid book with lots of helpful information and tips that could be helpful to anyone in any kind of relationship.

The Anthony Bourdain Reader edited by Kimberly Witherspoon

Most people know Anthony Bourdain for his television shows or the fact that he worked for 20+ years in professional kitchens. But Bourdain always wanted to be a writer - and often writing doesn't pay the bills. Only once he was more successful in professional kitchens did he have the opportunity to start writing, mostly non-fiction and cookbooks. But he started out with fiction. This anthology was put together by Bourdain's longtime literary agent and friend Kimberly Witherspoon and features some of his never-before-published writing. Witherspoon divides the book into 9 categories from the more general like "eating and drinking" to more specific like "vietnam" and "being a chef." The book is very eclectic and his writing really highlights his dark side - especially the fiction. I've only read one of his books, so a lot of this was new to me. If you're a fan of Bourdain, it's definitely worth checking out.

Some quotes I liked:

[From his book about Typhoid Mary] "I'm a chef, and what interests me is the story of a proud cook - a reasonably capable one by all accounts - who at the outset, at least, found herself utterly screwed by forces she neither understood nor had the ability to control. I'm interested in a tormented loner, a woman in a male world, in hostile territory, frequently on the run. And I'm interested in denial - the ways that Mary, and many of us, find to avoid the obvious, the lies we tell ourselves to get through the day, the things we do and say so that we can go on, drag our aching carcasses out of bed each day, climb into our clothes, and once again set out for work, often in kitchens where the smell, the surroundings, the ruling regime oppress us." (p. 248)

"Even more despised than the Brunch People are the vegetarians. Serious cooks regard these members of the dining public - and their Hezbollah-like splinter faction, the vegans - as enemies of everything that's good and decent in the human spirit. To live life without veal or chicken stock, fish cheeks, sausages, cheese, or organ meats is treasonous." (p. 469)

The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali (Evening Edition book club)

Elaheh and Homa meet in Tehran, Iran in 1950 when they both start school. The girls are very different but become best friends. Even though Homa's family is not well off there is a lot of love there. Elaheh is jealous because her father died and her mother is distant and cold. When Elaheh's mother remarries, they move to a wealthier area and she and Homa are separated. But they are reunited in high school when Homa qualifies to be a scholarship student at the prestigious high school Elaheh attends. The girls are still very different - Homa has become involved in Communist politics, while Elaheh is popular and boy-crazy. In college they have a falling out, then the next day Homa is arrested for her anti-government activities. After college, Elaheh and her husband move to America and Homa becomes a bittersweet memory. Until 1981 when she reaches out to Elaheh for help. That moment allows Homa and Elaheh to reconnect and both women try to make up for the mistakes and wrongs of the past.

This book started off VERY slow. If not for my book club I would have put it down after the first section. It really didn't get very interesting until about halfway through. Elaheh's mother was AWFUL but toward the end she and Elaheh have a more honest conversation about the past and she redeems herself a little. I loved Homa, but in the end her character seemed more far-fetched. Overall, it was good once you got past the slow, superficial sections. I know my book club will LOVE this one.

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett (Books & Banter book club)

In the spring of 2020 Lara and Joe's three daughters are home helping with the cherry harvest because of the pandemic. The daughters decide this is the time for their mother to tell them the story from her early 20's when she worked with and dated a now-famous actor, Peter Duke. Going back and forth in time, Lara tells the story of falling into being an actress, moving to Hollywood, agreeing to do a play in Traverse City, Michigan where she meets Peter Duke and also her future husband, Joe. The daughters are all around the same age Lara was when all this happened and as the pandemic has put all their lives on hold, they relish reliving their mother's time as an actress. The girls also find out they have more of a connection to Peter Duke than they knew.

This book started out SO SLOW. I honestly skimmed the first 1/3 before it started getting better. Patchett's writing is great but the storyline didn't have much going on for a long time. It did get better and Patchett does a great job of Lara's character and how she tells and relives her story and time with Peter Duke. I especially liked how the book ended (not giving anything away).