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).

February 2026 Cookbook Reviews

 

Eat Yourself Healthy by Jamie Oliver

I really like Jamie Oliver and I wish I liked his cookbooks better. I was excited to check out this new cookbook but I felt like most of the recipes didn't work for me. I know fish is very healthy and I wish I could eat it, but unfortunately I'm allergic to fish and shellfish and at least 1/3 of the recipes were fish. Honestly, none of the recipes looked that good to me. I like the premise of the cookbook and trying to eat healthier, but this one is not for me.

The Salad Project by Clem Haxby

I love a good salad and I'd love to make more salads at home so I picked up this cookbook. Unfortunately, I didn't really find anything in here I want to make. Other than ranch dressing, I struggle to make homemade salad dressing as good as restaurants. But a lot of the salad dressing recipes in here were just odd and most of the recipes seemed like not a lot of food. This seemed more about the pictures and the look of the food instead of taste. A lot of it looked like what you would get at a high end restaurant that leave still hungry. Not impressed with this one.

Simple Southern Slow Cooker Meals by Hannah Turton

I wasn't familiar with Hannah Turton before this cookbook. But I love Southern food and I love using a slow cooker, so I figured I would check it out. I agree with a couple other reviews I read that a lot of the recipes are pretty basic. And I have no idea why you would cut up a ribeye steak to cook it in a crockpot - get stew meat or some other cut. But I did find a few recipes I'd like to try and I think for a beginner cook or someone newly out on their own this would be a good starting place for some easy meals that don't require a ton of prep/work.

February 2026 Reviews

 

Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune (Evening Edition, Community Read)

 

I absolutely loved The House in the Cerulean Sea, even though it's not at all what I typically read, so I was really excited to read this one. Ugh. I wish I hadn't read it and could keep my good memories of Cerulean Sea intact. This is described as finding out more about "Arthur's story" but that is literally part of one chapter that had virtually zero details of his past. The whole tone of this book is VERY different from Cerulean Sea - it's VERY beat-you-over-the-head, repetitive, and preachy. The kids also seemed more irritating in this one, whereas in Cerulean Sea they were quirky and cute. This book obviously had an agenda where I didn't feel like Cerulean Sea did and the kids could represent any kind of outcast or "other." Apparently Klune HATES JK Rowling and made the villain in this book a caricature of her in "Jeanine Rowder" which based on the character I would have never put together except for the name and his note in the back about how he's dubbed himself "The Anti-J.K. Rowling." This book had a VERY heavy-handed, pro-trans agenda that was very poorly done. The whole book was awful and the ending was ridiculous. I would NOT recommend this one.

Some particularly awful quotes:

[Jeanine Rowder's diabolical plot "Imagine having an endless reservoir of magic at the govenment's command. Why continue to fight the good fight when we can just as easily place our will upon the world with a gentle hand and a well-placed threat to the Devil himself? Never again will we be questioned for our actions, not when every magical being is under government control through the Antichrist." (p. 284) [Honestly, this doesn't seem that far off from what's currently happening with US government, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these people have sold their souls to the Devil.]

[Linus] "'I think that's quite enough. I can't believe I'm going to say this, but we might need to consider removing all Bibles from the island. Too many things in its pages children should not have access to.' Lucy's eyes filled with red as he pulled his head away. 'We could have a good old-fashioned book burning.' 'Something to consider,' Linus agreed." (p. 349)

Tidying Up: 100 ways to infuse order and joy into every area of your home by Meg Delong and Ea Fuqua

This is a quick read full of helpful tips about organizing every aspect of your home. The book's chapters cover areas instead of rooms - pantry, where you get ready, where you sleep, etc. Each chapter has an introduction about that space and what's important, then several more specific tips. I like that at the end of each chapter there is a page with a "level up" tip for if you have a larger space and a "square footage problem" for if space is an issue in your home. I definitely liked that this wasn't some magazine spread of huge, curated spaces but the tips could work in any space. I did not agree with their tip of 2 sets of sheets per bed - that seemed ridiculously low to me - and keeping the extra set of sheets in the bedroom. I'm thankful for a linen closet but I know not everyone has that. Overall, there wasn't anything earth shattering in here, but lots of good tips in well organized chapters. I would recommend checking it out.

My Southern Journey: true stories from the heart of the South by Rick Bragg

My Southern Journey is a collection of stories by Rick Bragg from several different publications, compiled together in this book. The stories are divided into the categories of home, table, place, craft, and spirit. Bragg is the perfect mix of humor, self-deprecation, and love of the South. He is someone you would want to sit beside at a family reunion or porch or dock so you could hear his observations or just enjoy the view together in silence. He does such a good job of really capturing the spirit of the South in his writing. He, among many other things, makes me proud to be a Southerner.

Some of my favorite quotes:

"The South, like chiggers and divinity candy, is everlasting. It will always be, though it will not always be as we remember...Preachers who thrust ragged Bibles at bare rafters now shout politics from the pulpit. Civility, towards even those with whom we do not agree, is an heirloom. Quilts, the kind made for warmth instead of cash, are a thing of antiquity, their patterns a mystery slowly fading in an old woman's eyes. Young men can play 5,000 video games but cannot sharpen a pocket knife...Then I see my brother Mark in his garden, and know that not everything must fade away." (p. 22-23)

"I try not to repeat Southern cliches. No one, for instance, should eat a hamburger in a bun made from Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. But grease is good. It has shortened many lives, probably my own, but is a life of rice cakes really life, or just passing time?" (p. 43)

"I know, nostalgia is a veil, a piece of colored glass. I know. But I had a fried grouper sandwich and onion rings for breakfast. Other people were staring at shredded wheat, and hoping to live forever. But I bet forever is a long time with shredded wheat." (p. 98)

"You see, I have always been just a little ashamed of being a writer. To my people, it is not serious work, not something a real man would do. On airplanes, it seemed I always sat next to an oil driller, or a welder on the pipeline. When I told them I was a writer, they looked at me like I cut out paper dolls for a living." (p. 114)

"I knew, the day I saw my first pair of skinny jeans on a man, that I no longer have any place in this world, and should probably just go live by myself in a hole in the ground." (p. 124)

"I know that the world of reading has forever changed, that, in this cold winter, many people who love a good book will embrace one that runs on batteries. I know that many of you woke up Christmas morning to find that Santa graced your house with an iPad, or a Kindle, or a Nook or some other plastic thing that will hold a whole library on a doodad the size of a guitar pick. Some of you may be reading one of my books or stories on one today, which is, of course, perfectly all right, and even a sign of high intelligence. Someday, I may have to read The Grapes of Wrath on the side of a toaster myself. I am hopeful when young people say, 'I read you on the Kindle,' because it means they are at least reading, and reading me, which means my writing life is somehow welcome in whatever frightening future awaits." (p. 168-169)

The article "Long Time Coming" on pages 238 - 247 about the first African-American head football coach in the Southeastern Conference at Mississippi State was amazing and probably the best chapter/story in this whole book.

What Do People Do All Day? by Richard Scarry

I'm a librarian, so of course I'm very familiar with Richard Scarry and the characters of Busytown. I recently found a 100 pack of Richard Scarry stickers and in looking through them decided I needed to revisit Busytown and remind myself of the characters. In What Do People Do All Day?, Scarry covers many of the jobs and tasks that the average person would have in real life. Is it a completely accurate description of every job/work imaginable? No. But, it's a very cute book that covers everything from a stay-at-home pig mom to police officers, farmers, and home builders and electricians. There is a LOT of information and illustrations on every page and in reading it again as an adult I'm reminded why kids love these books. I enjoyed my trip down memory lane with What Do People Do All Day? even if it didn't include a librarian in here!

The Heart-Shaped Tin: love, loss, and kitchen objects by Bee Wilson

Shortly after an unexpected divorce, Bee Wilson stumbled on the heart shaped cake mold she used to make her wedding cake. Just seeing the tin brought up so many emotions and Wilson began to wonder about other people's attachment to kitchen objects. In this collection of essays she explores sentimental kitchen objects in her own life and in the lives of others. The people and objects she covers range from historical items to common, everyday items used in the current day. Some of the stories I enjoyed more than others. I personally enjoyed the ones with current people because Wilson could interview them and talk to them about their object and the memories attached. Some of the stories/objects she included seemed a little bit of a stretch as far as the theme of the book goes. And the overall tone was more bittersweet/painful than happy memories. Overall, I didn't like it as much as I thought I would, but the topic is still interesting.