Tag Archives: Little Brown and Company

Note to David Sedaris: We refuse to wait five more years. This country needs more laughs.

We waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, David Sedaris brings us his  first book of stories in five years. How much loner could we wait?

Calypso (Little, Brown and Company, $28) proves, yet again, there is  no better storyteller. He has a knack for making us cringe, laugh-out-loud and cry, all in the span of a few lines. This particular collection seems to take an even deeper and darker, more introspective, turn, and surpasses his best writing yet.

Calypso

With a keen eye toward the loss of his mother, and sister Tiffany, and as he and his father age and find new ways to communicate in an increasingly politicized climate, David delivers the very best of his talents here.

Note to DS: We refuse to wait until five years.

Best Beach Books for June: History, Horror and Movie Stars (Part One)

It’s been called “the publishing event of 2018.” With good reason.  Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s The President Is Missing (Knopf/Little,Brown $30) is a superlative thriller . . . one that can really happen, and one that must not be missed. The mystery confronts a threat so huge that it jeopardizes not just Pennsylvania Avenue and Wall Street, but all of America. Uncertainty and fear grip the nation. There are whispers of cyberterror and espionage and a traitor in the Cabinet. Even the President himself becomes a suspect, and then he disappears from public view.

Set over the course of three days, The President Is Missing sheds a stunning light upon the inner workings and vulnerabilities of our nation. Filled with information that only a former Commander-in-Chief could know, this is the most authentic, terrifying novel to come along in many years. And a timely, historic story that will be read-and talked about-for years to come.

A book about Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, as a beach read? Absolutely. And much more entertaining than, say, a collection of Peanuts. In President Carter: The White House Years (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, $40) Stuart E. Eizenstat presents a comprehensive history of the Carter Administration, demonstrating that Carter was the most consequential modern-era one-term U.S. President. The book is behind-the-scenes account of a president who always strove to do what he saw as the right thing, while often disregarding the political repercussions.


In 1923, Mary Pickford and hubby Douglas Fairbanks, along with the “Beverly Hills Eight” Harold Lloyd, Rudolph Valentino, Will Rogers, Tom Mix, Fred Neblo and Conrad Nagel,  eight stars of the silver screen leveraged their fame to campaign against the annexation of Beverly Hills, the young city they called home, to Los Angeles. Their campaign was a success, and politics in the U.S. would never be the same again.The Battle for Beverly Hills: A City's Independence and the Birth of Celebrity Politics by [Clare, Nancie] For them, Beverly Hills was a refuge from Los Angeles and its relentless press. Instead of the larger, institutionally corrupt police force, Beverly Hills had a smaller, separate constabulary that was less likely to work hand in glove with the studios and more willing to look the other way at violations of the Prohibition Act.  In The Battle for Beverly Hills (St. Martin’s Press, $27.99) Nancie Clare reveals how the stars battled to keep their city free from the clutches of a rapacious Los Angeles and lay the groundwork for celebrity influence and political power. With a nuanced eye and fantastic storytelling, Clare weaves an irresistible tale of glamour, fame, gossip, and politics.


 Adventures of a Young Naturalist–The Zoo Quest Expeditions (Quercus, $26.99) is the story of those voyages. Staying with local tribes while trekking in search of giant anteaters in Guyana, Komodo dragons in Indonesia, and armadillos in Paraguay, he and the rest of the team contended with cannibal fish, aggressive tree porcupines, and escape-artist wild pigs, as well as treacherous terrain and unpredictable weather, to record the incredible beauty and biodiversity of these regions. Don’t take our word for it: Says Barack Obama of Attenborough: “A great educator as well as a great naturalist.”


Charles Manson. Swastika carved into his forehead. What a fucking monster. In the late summer of 1969, he and “family” brutally slayed of a actress Sharon Tate—26 years old and eight months pregnant with her first child—as well as other victims, including a hair stylist, a coffee heiress and a businessman. After months of dead-ends, false leads and near-misses, Charles Manson and members of his “family” were arrested.9780718092085, Hunting Charles Manson : The Quest for Justice in the Days of Helter Skelter, Lis Wiehl  Former federal prosecutor Lis Wiehl’s Hunting Charles Manson (Thomas Nelson, $26.99) is a historical thriller of the crimes and manhunt; in the process, she reveals how the social and political context that gave rise to Manson is eerily similar to our own.


Immortalized by Shakespeare as a hunchbacked murderer, Richard III is one of English history’s best known and least understood monarchs. In 2012 his skeleton was uncovered in a UK parking lot, reigniting debate about this divisive historical figure and sparked numerous articles, television programs and movies about his true character. Richard III: England's Most Controversial King by [Skidmore, Chris]In Richard III: England’s Most Controversial King (St. Martin’s Press, $29.99)  acclaimed historian Chris Skidmore has written the authoritative biography of a man alternately praised as a saint and cursed as a villain. Was he really a power-crazed monster who killed his nephews, or the victim of the first political smear campaign conducted by the Tudors?


When a young boy discovers the body of a woman beneath a thick sheet of ice in a South London park, Detective Chief Inspector Erika Foster is called in to lead the murder investigation. The victim, a beautiful young socialite, appeared to have the perfect life. Yet when Erika begins to dig deeper, she starts to connect the dots between the murder and the killings of three prostitutes, all found strangled, hands bound and dumped in water around London. The Girl in the Ice (Grand Central Publishing; $12.99), Robert Bryndza’s  first book in the Detective Erika Foster series. Front CoverIn will take hold of you early on and won’t let up as the investigation ebbs and flows through suspects and suspense. The last investigation Erika led went badly wrong—resulting in the death of her husband—and with her career hanging by a thread, Erika must now battle her own personal demons as well as a killer more deadly than any she’s faced before. As Erika inches closer to uncovering the truth, the killer begins closing in on her, but will she get to him before he strikes again?


Here,  first major biography of Tiger Woods—sweeping in scope and packed with groundbreaking, behind-the-scenes details of the Shakespearean rise and epic fall of an American icon. In 2009, Tiger Woods was the most famous athlete on the planet, a transcendent star of fame and fortune living what appeared to be the perfect life—married to a Swedish beauty, father of two young children, and at the peak of a brilliant athletic career. book coverWinner of 14 major golf championships and 79 PGA Tour events, Woods was the first billion-dollar athlete, earning more than $100 million a year in endorsements. But it was all a carefully crafted illusion. As it turned out, Woods had been living a double life for years—one that exploded in the aftermath of a Thanksgiving night crash that exposed his serial infidelity and sent his personal and professional life off a cliff. Tiger Woods (Simon & Schuster, $30) is based on three years of extensive research, and drawing on more than 400 interviews with people from every corner of Woods’s life.

Gift Guide 2017: Petrucelli Picks the Best Celebrity Bios of the Year (Part Two)

The Wall Street Journal named Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars (Henry Holt, $30) one of the best music books of 2017 for a good reason. The book is an elegy for the social concept of the “rock star”. Recent times have seen the death of David Bowie, Prince, Tom Petty and Chuck Berry; with no sign that a new generation of outsized “rock stars” is coming and radical changes still transforming the music industry, it’s time to declare the end of the “rock star” as a social force. Acclaimed music journalist David Hepworth travels through the pre-Internet age of swagger, sexual charisma, self-belief and self-reliance through 40 portraits of musicians from 1955-1995.

Never Look at the Empty Seats (Thomas Nelson, $24.99) We’ll let Charlie Daniels’  friend Dolly Parton review his autobiography for you: “Charlie is so up-front and friendly, we all assume we know everything there is to know about him. Not so. There is so much about Charlie’s life in this book that it would and could make a great movie, or even better, a long-running series . . . very informative and interesting. We all love Charlie, me more than most. Enjoy the book. I did.”

Barthes: A Biography (Polity, $39.95) is based on unpublished material never before examined, and sheds new light on his intellectual positions, his political commitments and his ideas, beliefs and desires. It details the many themes he discussed, the authors he defended, the myths he castigated, the polemics that made him famous and his acute ear for the languages of his day. This biography enables the reader to enter into Barthes’s life and grasp the shape of his existence, and thus understand the kind of writer he became and how he turned literature into life itself.

For much of the 20th century, boxing was one of America’s most popular sports, and the heavyweight champions were household names. In The Boxing Kings: When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring (Rowman & Littlefield, $36), Paul Beston profiles these larger-than-life men who held a central place in American culture. There’s John L. Sullivan, who made the heavyweight championship a commercial property; Jack Johnson, who became the first black man to claim the title; Jack Dempsey, a sporting symbol of the Roaring Twenties; Joe Louis, whose contributions to racial tolerance and social progress transcended even his greatness in the ring; Rocky Marciano, who became an embodiment of the American Dream; Muhammad Ali, who took on the U.S. government and revolutionized professional sports with his showmanship; and Mike Tyson, a hard-punching dynamo who typified the modern celebrity. A knock out! Mad Dog by Bertrand Hébert and Pat Laprade, translated by George Tombs, ECW PressAnother tome to make book ends: Mad Dog: The Maurice Vachon Story (ECW, $19,95), that explores Vachon’s career and personal struggles with painstakingly detailed historical research and through both Maurice’s own recollections and those of the people who knew him best.

Cleopatra is one of the most famous women in history—and thanks to Shakespeare, one of the most intriguing personalities in literature. She was lover of Marc Antony, defender of Egypt, and, perhaps most enduringly, a champion of life. Award-winning writer and beloved professor Harold Bloom writes about Cleopatra with wisdom, joy, exuberance and compassion. He also explores his own personal relationship to the character: Just as we encounter one Anna Karenina or Jay Gatsby when we are in high school and college and another when we are adults, Bloom explains his shifting understanding of Cleopatra over the course of his own lifetime. The book becomes an extraordinarily moving argument for literature as a path to and a measure of our own humanity.

Before Washington, before Jefferson, before Franklin or John Adams, there was Richard Henry Lee, the First Founding Father. He was first to call for independence, first to cal for union, and first to call for a bill of rights to protect Americans against government tyranny. A towering figure in America’s Revolutionary War, Lee was as much the “father of our country” as George Washington, for it was Lee who secured the political and diplomatic victories that ensured Washington’s military victories. A stirring, action-packed biography, First Founding Father: Richard Henry Lee and the Call to Independence (Da Capo Press, $28) First Founding Father will startle most Americans with the revelation that many historians have ignored for more than two centuries: Richard Henry Lee, not Thomas Jefferson, was the author of America’s original Declaration of Independence.

In Prince and the Purple Rain Era Studio Sessions: 1983 and 1984 (Rowman & Littlefield, $38), Duane Tudahl pulls back the paisley curtain to reveal the untold story of Prince’s rise from cult favorite to the biggest rock star on the planet. His journey is meticulously documented through detailed accounts of his time secluded behind the doors of the recording studio as well as his days on tour. With unprecedented access to the musicians, singers, and studio engineers who knew Prince best, including members of the Revolution and the Time, Tudahl weaves an intimate saga of an eccentric genius and the people and events who helped shape the groundbreaking music he created. This definitive chronicle of Prince’s creative brilliance during 1983 and 1984 provides a new experience of the Purple Rain album as an integral part of Prince’s life and the lives of those closest to him.

It’s easy to call Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel (Rowman & Littlefield, $22.95) a marvel. Bob Batchelor offers an eye-opening look at this iconic visionary, a man who created (with talented artists) many of history’s most legendary characters. He explores how Lee capitalized on natural talent and hard work to become the editor of Marvel Comics as a teenager. After toiling in the industry for decades, Lee threw caution to the wind and went for broke, co-creating the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Hulk, Iron Man, the X-Men, the Avengers, and others in a creative flurry that revolutionized comic books for generations of readers. Marvel superheroes became a central part of pop culture, from collecting comics to innovative merchandising, from superhero action figures to the ever-present Spider-Man lunchbox.

How did Rich Little become an a world-famous, world-class impersonator? He quips: “Perhaps my mother was conceived by a Xerox machine!” Little by Little: People I’ve Known and Been (7th Mind Publishing, $24.95) is a witty, fun read; not so much a detailed autobio, but (as Little says) “a humorous glimpse of he people I’ve impersonated and some of the funny stories that happened along the way.”

Chris Matthews’ new book, Bobby Kennedy: A Raging Spirit (Simon & Schuster, $28.99) is a gripping, in-depth, behind-the-scenes portrait of one of the great figures of the American 20th century. Drawing on extensive research and interviews, Matthews pulls back the curtain on the public and private worlds of Robert Francis Kennedy. He shines a light on all the important moments of his life, from his early years and his start in politics to his crucial role as attorney general in his brother’s administration and his tragic run for president. This book brings Bobby Kennedy to life like never before and is destined to become a political classic.

Not many people know Wanda Jackson. They should. Her debut single, “You Can’t Have My Love,” reached the Top 10 while she was still a 16-year-old high school student. She hit the road after graduation, playing package shows with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, who gave Wanda his ring and asked her to be “his girl.” With Presley’s encouragement, the Oklahoma native began recording rock music, often releasing singles with country on one side and rock on the other during her decade-and-a-half tenure on Capitol Records. With more than 40 albums to her credit, Wanda has proven to be an enduring and genre-defying legend of American music. She details her life and career in the wonderful In Every Night Is Saturday Night: A Country Girl’s Journey To The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (BMG Books, $24.99). She’s still so loved Elvis Costello wrote the foreword.

In Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell (Sarah Crichton Books, $28), David Yaffe draws on dozens of unprecedented in-person interviews with Mitchell, her childhood friends and a cast of famous characters to reveal the backstory behind the famous songs. Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell by [Yaffe, David]From Mitchell’s youth in Canada, her bout with polio at age nine and her early marriage and the child she gave up for adoption, through the love affairs that inspired hits, and up to the present, the bio shows us why Mitchell has so enthralled her listeners, her lovers and her friends. It’s the story of an artist and an era that have left an indelible mark on American music.

Hal Prince is King of Broadway . . . and then some. In his pithy and wildly entertaining Sense of Occasion (Applause, $29.99), the most honored director/producer in the history of the American theater looks back over his 70 (and counting!) year career. The book gives an insider’s recollection of the making of such landmark musicals as West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Cabaret, Company, Follies, Sweeney Todd, Evita and The Phantom of the Opera, with Prince’s perceptive comments about his mentor George Abbott and his many celebrated collaborators.  He also fairly reflects on the shows that didn’t work, most memorably and painfully Merrily We Roll Along. This thoughtful, complete account of one of the most legendary and long-lived careers in theater history, written by the man who lived it, is an essential work of personal and professional recollection.

In The Grouchy Historian: An Old-Time Lefty Defends Our Constitution Against Right-Wing Hypocrites and Nutjobs (Simon & Schuster $26), Ed Asner leads the charge for liberals to reclaim the Constitution from the right-wingers who use it as their justification for doing whatever terrible thing they want to do, which is usually to comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted. It’s about time someone gave them hell and explained that progressives can read, too. Go get ’em Mr. Grant!

The answer is blowin’ in the wind. Or at least in this quartet of books that celebrate and commemorate Bob Dylan. Why Bob Dylan Matters (Dey Street Books, $24.99), Harvard Professor Richard F. Thomas, a world expert on Classical poetry, was initially ridiculed by his colleagues for teaching a course on Bob Dylan alongside his traditional seminars on Homer Virgil, and Ovid. Dylan’s Nobel Prize brought him vindication, and he immediately found himself thrust into the spotlight as a leading academic voice in all matters Dylanological. Today, through his wildly popular Dylan seminar—affectionately dubbed “Dylan 101″—Thomas is introducing a new generation of fans and scholars to the revered bard’s work. This witty, personal volume is a distillation of Thomas’s famous course, and makes a compelling case for moving Dylan out of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and into the pantheon of Classical poets. You’ll never think about Bob Dylan in the same way again. On October 13, 2016, he the Nobel Prize in Literature, recognizing his countless contributions to music and letters over the last 50 years. His acceptance speech is contained in The Nobel Lecture (Simon & Schuster , $16.99), in which Dylan reflects on his life and experience with literature, providing both a rare artistic statement and an intimate look at a uniquely American icon. 100 Songs (Simon & Schuster, $17) is an intimate and carefully curated collection of his most important lyrics that spans from the beginning of his career through the present day. Perfect for students who may be new to Dylan’s work as well as longtime fans, this portable, abridged volume of these singular lyrics explores the depth, breadth and magnitude of one of the world’s most enduring bodies of work.  Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews (Simon & Schuster, $35) features more than two dozen of the most significant and revealing conversations with the singer, gathered in one definitive collection that spans his career from street poet to Nobel Laureate.

In the compelling biography Moscow Nights: The Van Cliburn Story-How One Man and His Piano Transformed the Cold War (Harper, $28), Nigel Cliff recounts how the young pianist’s warm embrace of Russian music kindled an enduring love affair with an entire nationand sparked optimism that the two antagonistic superpowers could find a route to peaceful co-existence.  In contrast to the tensions sparked by the Bay of Pigs debacle and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Cliburn brought classical music to the masses.  Elegantly combining the political and the personal, this narrative provides a fresh perspective on the Cold War and its implicit nuclear threat while telling the whole of Van Cliburn’s story for the first time.

Jenifer Lewis bares her soul in The Mother of Black Hollywood: A Memoir (Amistad , $25.99), a touching and poignant—and at times side-splittingly hilarious—memoir of a Midwestern girl with a dream, whose journey took her from poverty to the big screen, and along the way earned her many accolades. In the audaciously honest voice that her fans adore, Lewis describes her transition to Hollywood; when an undiagnosed mental illness stymies her career (culminating in a breakdown while filming The Temptations), her quest for wholeness becomes a harrowing and inspiring tale, including revelations of bipolar disorder and sex addiction.

Hunter Davies, the only ever authorized biographer of the Fab Four, brings together three eminent Beatles experts—Spencer Leigh, Keith Badman and David Bedford to compile an invaluable and essential guide. Divided into four sections—People, Songs, Places and Broadcast & Cinema—The Beatles Book(Ebury Press , $59.95) covers every element of the band’s history and brings every influence that shaped the incredible Beatles phenomenon vividly to life. Hunter and his team have also rated entries to show how important, influential or meaningful that characteristic was in the history of their lives and creations. Illustrated with material from Hunter’s remarkable private collection of personal artifacts and memorabilia, this compendium is an beautiful, insightful and entertaining treasure for any Beatles fan.

Steve McQueen remains the embodiment of cool some three decades after his death. How can that be? Whether on the silver screen, racing a Triumph motorcycle across a California desert, dueling with other racers at Le Mans, or simply hanging with his pals, McQueen exuded an effortless style that belied his rough and tumble past. It’s a trick that ensures he continues to appear in advertising and pop culture all the while embraced by cinema, racing, and motorcycle fans as one of their own. He remains the ultimate guy’s guy. The Life Steve McQueen (Motorbooks, $30) explores and celebrates the memorable aspects of McQueen’s life that, taken as a whole, defined the man and cemented his reputation as a Hollywood rebel and risk taker. Peppered with period photos, illustrations, posters and more, the book surveys the movie roles, racing, personal style, art, and pop culture that all combined to crown the King of Cool and ensure his legacy.

 

Gift Guide 2017: Petrucelli Picks the Best Cookbooks of the Year

Parmesan cheese made from wood pulp. Lobster rolls containing no lobster at all. Extra-virgin olive oil that isn’t. So many fake foods are in our supermarkets, our restaurants and our kitchen cabinets that it’s hard to know what we’re eating anymore. In Real Food/Fake Food: Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating and What You Can Do About It (Algonquin Books, $16.95), Larry Olmsted convinces us why real food matters and empowers consumers to make smarter choices. Olmsted brings readers into the unregulated food industry, revealing the shocking deception that extends from high-end foods to everyday staples such as coffee, honey, juice and cheese. It’s a massive bait and switch in which counterfeiting is rampant and in which the consumer ultimately pays the price. It’s not a cookbook, but an essential expose look at fake food. We suggest not taking another bite or another sip until you’ve digest this eye-opener.

Terry Edwards and his best friend George Craig, the creators of London’s most popular pop-up restaurant Check On, have dished out their debut cookbook, Cooking for Friends: Bring People Together, Enjoy Good Food, and Make Happy Memories  (Harper Design, $35). Now everyone can replicate the Check On experience at home: Cooking for Friends boasts 100 recipes inspired by British ingredients and culture that reflect their playful aesthetic.

Our fave: A Pudding of Eggs and Soldiers (eggshells filled with crème brulee and mango jelly, accompanied by shortbread soldiers for dipping). Have a Yorkshire Rhubarb Martini on the side. The recipes include detailed, offering step-by-step instructions and are accompanied by lush and inviting photographs.

Christopher Kimball wants to teach people a new way to cook. Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street (Little, Brown and Company, $40), the first cookbook connected to Milk Street’s public television show, delivers more than 125 new recipes arranged by type of dish: from grains and salads, to a new way to scramble eggs, to simple dinners and twenty-first-century desserts.Product Details At Milk Street, there are no long lists of hard-to-find ingredients, strange cookware, or all-day methods. Skillet-charred Brussels sprouts, Japanese fried chicken, rum-soaked chocolate cake, Thai-style coleslaw, and Mexican chicken soup all deliver big flavors and textures without your having to learn a new culinary language. These recipes are more than just good recipes. They teach a simpler, bolder, healthier way to cook that will change your cooking forever. And cooking will become an act of pure pleasure, not a chore. Seconds anyone?
 
Another ambitious new approach to cooking by a major new culinary voice: Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat (Simon & Schuster, $35). Chef and writer Samin Nosrat has taught everyone from professional chefs to middle school kids to author Michael Pollan to cook using her revolutionary, yet simple, philosophy. Master the use of just four elements—Salt, which enhances flavor; Fat, which delivers flavor and generates texture; Acid, which balances flavor; and Heat, which ultimately determines the texture of food—and anything you cook will be delicious. Product DetailsBy explaining the hows and whys of good cooking, will teach and inspire a new generation of cooks how to confidently make better decisions in the kitchen and cook delicious meals with any ingredients, anywhere, at any time. 
 

The daughter of a restaurateur―the restaurant was New York’s legendary Ratner’s―Judy Gethers discovered a passion for cooking in her 50s. In time, she became a mentor and friend to several of the most famous chefs in America, including Wolfgang Puck. She also wrote many cookbooks and taught cooking alongside Julia Child. In her 80s, she was robbed of her ability to cook by a debilitating stroke. But illness has brought her closer than ever to her son: Peter regularly visits her so they can share meals, and he can ask questions about her colorful past, while learning her kitchen secrets. My Mother’s Kitchen: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and the Meaning of Life (Henry Holt, $28), is a funny, moving memoir about a son’s discovery that his mother has a genius for understanding the intimate connections between cooking, people and love. The recipes are few, but the book will leave you warm and fuzzy; your soul will be nourished. You will be glad you savored it.

Think of this as the Hawn of a New Day since Goldie’s daughter’s book is so much more than a cookbook. In Pretty Fun (Dey Street Books, $26.99) Kate Hudson shares her philosophy behind gatherings, how to be in the moment, make them uniquely yours, embracing occasions to just be together. Product DetailsA beautiful, fun, and nourishing guide filled with dozens of dazzling color photos, fabulous recipes for healthy and even some more indulgent snacks and beverages, and infused with Kate’s mindful and healthy approach to life, Pretty Fun will help you plan a year of special events, while remembering the healing power of gathering and celebration.

Yum! The Field Roast Grain Meat Co. offers their first cookbook, Field Roast: 101 Artisan Vegan Meat Recipes to Cook, Share and Savor (Da Capo Lifelong Books, $30), in which Chef Tommy McDonald shares recipes, fundamental techniques and tips, as well as vegan recipes for using them in every meal from breakfast through dinner. The 100 recipes are flexible: Want to make your own plant-based meats? Great! Product DetailsWant to use Field Roast products instead? That will work too. All you need are grains, veggies, and spices; easy-to-find whole food ingredients for authentic, hearty taste. Burnt Ends Biscuit Sandwiches anyone?

French pastry? Oui! Oui! With Maison Kayser’s French Pastry Workshop (Black Dog & Leventhal, $29.99), you can master the art of French pastry with step-by-step instructions from one of Paris’s best bakers, Eric Kayser. One of the draws to this ever-growing chain is the dozens of colorful and delicate pastries found in the window every day. And now you can make them at home. Product DetailsFrom festive creations to simple but sophisticated fare, Kayser provides clearly written recipes and his expert insight so you can replicate his delectable creations. More than 70 recipes include his bakery bestsellers, such as raspberry macaroons, lemon meringue tartlets, Epiphany cake, Yule logs, financiers, chocolate hazelnut tarts.

Pamela Salzman shares a simple but powerful mantra: Eat well, live well, be well. In Kitchen Matters (Da Capo Lifelong Books, 22.99), she shares the recipes that have won the praise of such mega-fans as Nicole Richie, Rashida Jones and Audrina Patridge. Product DetailsThe recipes rely on accessible veggie-forward ingredients that are anti-inflammatory and nutrient-dense, and can be customized for vegetarian, vegan and grain-free diets. The book offers a roadmap for new and busy home cooks to begin including more wholesome foods every day, for meals as nourishing as they are unforgettable.

When it opened in 2003, wd~50 was New York’s most innovative, cutting-edge restaurant. Mastermind Wylie Dufresne ushered in a new generation of experimental and free-spirited chefs, and introduced a wildly unique approach to cooking, influenced by science, art and the humblest of classic foods such as bagels and lox and American cheese. wd~50: The Cookbook (ECCO/Harper Collins, $75) brims with gorgeous photography, detailed recipes explaining Wylie’s iconic creations and stories from the last days of the restaurant. A cookbook and time capsule, wd~50 is a collectible piece of culinary memorabilia. Fans of Wylie, food lovers, and industry insiders who have been waiting for a chance to relive the excitement and artistry of wd~50 can finally do just that. 

Drunk with the thoughts of knowing all about rum? Rum: The Manual (Mitchell Beazley , $19.99) is an instruction manual, if you will, about how to drink rum of all kinds. Product Details More than 100 different rums are featured and analyzed, from rich, sweet mellow Guyana rums to the vegetal peppery rums of Martinique or Guadeloupe and contemporary spiced rums. A selection of classic and contemporary cocktails shows just how wonderfully versatile this spirit is.

Also on the menu: Two nifty spiral-bound cookbooks for the young-at-heart, both from Storey at $18.95 each Baking Class: 50 Fun Recipes Kids Will Love to Bake! fits kids ages 8–12 and features 50 easy-to-follow recipes. Product DetailsLively step-by-step photos teach bakers-in-training how to knead dough, make biscuits, decorate cookies, and produce a perfect pie, along with essential skills like following directions and accurately measuring ingredients. They’ll learn to make both sweet and savory treats and will use fresh fruits and vegetables in recipes such as Bursting with Blueberry Muffins. The tasty companion: Cooking Class: 57 Fun Recipes Kids Will Love to Make (and Eat!) contains more than 50 recipes designed for the cooking abilities and tastes of children ages six to 12. Product DetailsBasic cooking techniques are explained in kid-friendly language, and recipes include favorites such as applesauce, French toast, popcorn chicken and pizza. There’s also some great imaginative presentations . . . think egg mice, fruit flowers and mashed potato clouds. 

Holiday Gift Guide 2016: The Year’s Best Fiction Books (Part One)

We truly believe that Mary Higgins Clark on her cut-and-paste mind. Often. Too often. Maybe co-author Alafair Burke has something to do with making The Sleeping Beauty Killer (Simon & Schuster, $26.99) a better read than usual. We refuse the reveal anything more about this book, the third installment in the Under Suspicion, other than television producer Laurie Moran puts everything on the line to help a woman she thinks was wrongfully convicted of murder. Beauty Killer will keep you guessing until the very end.

Growing up on Long Island, Shelby Richmond is an ordinary girl until one night an extraordinary tragedy changes her fate. Her best friend’s future is destroyed in an accident, while Shelby walks away with the burden of guilt. What happens when a life is turned inside out? Alice Hoffman always hits a home run; Faithful (Simon & Schuster, $26) is the story of a survivor, filled with emotion—from dark suffering to true happiness—a moving portrait of a young woman finding her way in the modern world. For anyone who’s ever been a hurt teenager, for every mother of a daughter who has lost her way, Faithful is a roadmap to healing.

Ever since Super Heroes like Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy started stomping around planet Earth, we’ve had to open our horizons a little and embrace the wider reaches of space. If you’re thinking of journeying to one of the many new realms for a little R ‘n R, then don’t leave home without Hidden Universe Travel Guides: The Complete Marvel Cosmos: With Notes by the Guardians of the Galaxy (Insight Editions, $19.99) Universe’s guide to the cosmos. Whether you’re looking to enjoy the divine splendor of Asgard or soak up the multicultural atmosphere of intergalactic waypoint Knowhere, this is the book for you.

In this gripping page-turner, an ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life. She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn’t even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning. Now, she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They’ve killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon . . . can you put down Stephanie Meyer’s The Chemist (Little, Brown and Company, $28)? 

Thinking no one is reading, a blogger who calls herself LBH writes about her most personal feelings, especially her overwhelming loneliness. She goes from day to day showing a brave face to the world while inside she longs to know how it would feel if one person cared about her. Alex Bartlett cares. Nursing his own broken heart and trust issues, he finds himself falling for this sensitive, vulnerable woman whose feelings mirror his own.  And then he ventures to find her . . . Richard Paul Evans story unravels in The Mistletoe Secret (Simon & Schuster, $19.99)

The world is watching as massive crowds gather in Rome, waiting for news of a new pope, one who promises to be unlike any other in history. It’s a turning point that may change the Church forever. Some followers are ecstatic that the movement reinvigorating the Church is about to reach the Vatican, but the leading candidate has The world is watching as massive crowds gather in Rome, waiting for news of a new pope, one who promises to be unlike any other in history. It’s a turning point that may change the Church forever. Some followers are ecstatic that the movement reinvigorating the Church is about to reach the Vatican, but the leading candidate has made a legion of powerful enemies who aren’t afraid to kill for their cause. Is it possible that the new Pope is a woman?” James Patterson’s Woman of God (Little, Brown and Company) is a gem!

In a spine-tingling new collection, Helen Phillips offers an idiosyncratic series of “what-ifs” about our fragile human condition. Some Possible Solutions (Henry Holt, $26) offers an idiosyncratic series of “What ifs”: What if your perfect hermaphrodite match existed on another planet? What if you could suddenly see through everybody’s skin to their organs? What if you knew the exact date of your death? What if your city was filled with doppelgangers of you? Forced to navigate these bizarre scenarios, Phillips’ characters search for solutions to the problem of how to survive in an irrational, infinitely strange world. We especially love the wealthy woman who purchases a high-tech sex toy in the shape of a man.  A hoot!

After a harrowing, otherworldly confrontation on the shores of Exmouth, Massachussetts, Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast is missing, presumed dead. Sick with grief, Pendergast’s ward, Constance, retreats to her chambers beneath the family mansion at 891 Riverside Drive–only to be taken captive by a shadowy figure from the past. Proctor, Pendergast’s longtime bodyguard, springs to action, chasing Constance’s kidnapper through cities, across oceans, and into wastelands unknown. And by the time Proctor discovers the truth, a terrifying engine has stirred-and it may already be too late. The twists and turns in The Obsidian Chamber (Grand Central Publishing, $28) will keep you up later.

James Lee Burke’s The Jealous Kind  (Simon and Schuster, $27.99), is an atmospheric, coming-of-age story set in 1952 Texas. On its surface, life in Houston is as you would expect: drive-in restaurants, souped-up cars, jukeboxes, teenagers discovering their sexuality. But beneath the glitz and superficial normalcy, a class war has begun, and it is nothing like the conventional portrayal of the decade.The Jealous Kind: A Novel (A Holland Family Novel) by [Burke, James Lee]Against this backdrop Aaron Holland Broussard discovers the poignancy of first love and a world of violence he did not know existed. Written in evocative prose, The Jealous Kind may prove to be James Lee Burke’s most encompassing work yet.

Rita Dove’s Collected Poems 1974-2004 (W.W. Norton, $35.99) showcases the wide-ranging diversity that earned her a Pulitzer Prize, the position of U.S. poet laureate, a National Humanities Medal and a National Medal of Art. Gathering 30 years and seven books, this volume compiles Dove’s fresh reflections on adolescence in The Yellow House on the Corner and her irreverent musings in Museum. She sets the moving love story of Thomas and Beulah against the backdrop of war, industrialization, and the civil right struggles. The multifaceted gems of Grace Notes, the exquisite reinvention of Greek myth in the sonnets of Mother Love, the troubling rapids of recent history in On the Bus with Rosa Parks, and the homage to America’s kaleidoscopic cultural heritage in American Smooth all celebrate Dove’s mastery of narrative context with lyrical finesse.

Russell Green has it all: A stunning wife, a lovable six-year-old daughter, a successful career as an advertising executive and an expansive home in Charlotte. He is living the dream, and his marriage to the bewitching Vivian is the center of that. But underneath the shiny surface of this perfect existence, fault lines are beginning to appear. And no one is more surprised than Russ when he finds every aspect of the life he took for granted turned upside down. In a matter of months, Russ finds himself without a job or wife, caring for his young daughter while struggling to adapt to a new and baffling reality. Throwing himself into the wilderness of single parenting, Russ embarks on a journey at once terrifying and rewarding-one that will test his abilities and his emotional resources beyond anything he ever imagined. Such is the magic of Nicholas Sparks’ Two by Two (Grand Central Publishing, $27).

 

Holiday Gift Guide 2016: The Year’s Best Recipe and Food Books (Part One)

There’s nothing quite like the sound of a steak hitting a perfectly seasoned cast-iron pan. No beefing here. Chef Rachel Narins demystifies the caring for cast iron with Cast-Iron Cooking (Storey Publishing, $12.95) a friendly, accessible introduction to the properties, perks and full range of possibilities that come along with this classic cookware.922676cookingcastiron_cover From stove top to oven to campfire to grill, this affordable, long-lasting material is unmatched in its versatility and the tasty tome will teach readers how to take full advantage of it,  from breakfast to dinner to dessert. Full-color photos bring the recipes to life, and tips for outdoor cooking make this a book that will travel to many a campsite or hunting cabin. Narins will leave readers confident and eager to pull their pans off the shelf and get cooking.

Air-frying is the hottest trend in the kitchen . . . fantastic fried taste and texture with up to 80% less fat! Although they are called air fryers, they also roast and bake, making them an indispensable kitchen appliance. Camilla Saulsbury brings her extensive recipe development skills to 175 Best Air Fryer Recipes (Robert Rose, $24.95), and has created recipes exclusively designed for and guaranteed to perform
in an air fryer. airfryeradvancecoverBy cooking with circulated super-heated hot air, you’ll create an amazing variety of recipes—from classics to modern-day favorites. From Classic French Fries and Beer-Battered Fried Fish to Buttermilk Fried Chicken, you’ll get all the fantastic flavor without the fat. Imagine being able to enjoy Old-Fashioned Cake Donuts and Coconut Shrimp without the guilt! Not to mention being able to indulge in desserts like Chocolate Hazelnut Fudge Cake and Bananas Foster.

Knives & Ink (Bloomsbury USA, $24) is as sharp as a butcher’s knife and as fresh as some hand-grown radicchio. Chefs take their tattoos almost as seriously as their knives; from gritty grill cooks in backwoods diners to the executive chefs at the world’s most popular restaurants, it’s hard to find a cook who doesn’t sport some ink.9781632861221 Bestselling illustrator Wendy MacNaughton and book editor Isaac Fitzgerald reveal the stories behind the tattoos that chefs proudly wear, along with their signature recipes. Like the dishes these chefs have crafted over the years, these tattoos are beautiful works of art. Knives & Ink delves into the wide and wonderful world of chef tattoos and shares their fascinating backstories, along with personal recipes from many of the chefs.

The French way to savor dessert? It’s a petite treat: Two delicious bites, just a taste, of a sable, madeleine, petit four, nougat, caramel or other dessert that packs a sweet punch. With the tiny desserts featured in Les Petits Sweets: Two-Bite Desserts from the French Patisserie (Running Press , $18), you can have a dessert-tasting party to try them all. _35Classic French techniques explain each recipe from start to finish, and lots of variations yield nearly infinite flavor combinations, all illustrated with full-color photography. Go ahead, have dessert first. Oui!

There’s always something sweet in the oven at Honey & Co., the tiny restaurant in London where the day is marked by what comes out of the pastry section. In the morning, sticky buns are stuffed full of cherries and pistachios; loaves of rich dough are rolled with chocolate, hazelnuts, and cinnamon.s-l400 Lunch is a crisp, crumbly shell of pastry filled with spiced lamb or burnt eggplant, and at teatime there are cheesecakes and fruitcakes, small cakes, and massive cookies-so many treats that it’s hard to choose one. And after dinner? Poached peaches with roses, something sweet and salty drenched in orange blossom syrup, or maybe even a piece of fresh marzipan. Dig in and taste the treats that fill Golden: Sweet & Savory Baked Delights from the Ovens of London’s Honey & Co. (Little, Brown and Company, $30).

Bestselling author, vegan goddess and comfort food queen Isa Chandra Moskowitz is back with The Superfun Times Vegan Holiday Cookbook: Entertaining for Absolutely Every Occasion (Little, Brown and Company, $32) to prove that making festive vegan food for any occasion can be easy, delicious . . . and superfun. 91g8kyvjlvlGone are the days of stressing over how to please family and friends with different dietary needs. Isa provides everything you need to get your party started, from finger food and appetizers to casseroles, roasts, and dozens of special sides. Then comes a throng of cakes, cookies, cobblers, loaves, pies, and frozen treats to make you feel like the best dang vegan cook in the world.

Prepare a feast fit for a warchief with World of Warcraft: The Official Cookbook (Insight Editions, $35), a delicious compendium of recipes inspired by the hit online game from Blizzard Entertainment. s-l400-2Presenting delicacies favored by the Horde and the Alliance alike, this authorized cookbook teaches apprentice chefs how to conjure up a menu of food and drink from across the realm of Azeroth. Featuring food pairings for each dish, ideas for creating your own Azerothian feasts, and tips on adapting meals to specific diets, this otherworldly culinary guide offers something for everyone. Each chapter features dishes at a variety of skill levels for a total of more than one hundred easy-to-follow recipes for food and brews.

Deep Run Roots: Stories and Recipes from My Corner of the South (Little, Brown and Company, $40) is a great cookbook, a perfect pictorial storybook and a a hefty tome that could help you keep in shape between cooking. 61xlr7h3islVivian Howard, star of PBS’s A Chef’s Life, celebrates the flavors of North Carolina’s coastal plain in more than 200 recipes and stories, proving that the food of Deep Run, North Carolina—Vivian’s home—is as rich as any culinary tradition in the world. Organized by ingredient with dishes suited to every skill level—from beginners to confident cooks—Deep Run Roots features time-honored simple preparations alongside extraordinary meals from her acclaimed restaurant Chef and the Farmer. Home cooks will find photographs for every single recipe. Fried Yams with Five-Spice Maple Bacon Candy, anyone? A perfect bookend: Season 4 of A Chef’s Life (PBS Distribution), in which Vivian wrangles up sweet spring onions with special help from The Avett Brothers, and then turns a roster of watermelon, sunchokes, field peas, and more into new-fashioned fare. She even cooks up rabbit, which she calls ‘the meat of the future’ makes the menu. That’s all folks!

Grab your friends and get cooking in the land of Ooo with Adventure Time: The Official Cookbook (Insight Editions, $29.99), featuring recipes from all your favorite characters and kingdoms. In the Founders’ Island Library, Finn discovered the remains of an old cookbook filled with dishes such as “lasagna” and “boiled eggs.”919poqkywzl And he was pretty sure that the cookbook had belonged to his mom at some point. Weird. So Finn took it upon himself to fill up the book with as many crazy delicious food ideas as he could. And since that only filled around six pages, he recruited Jake, Marceline, Princess Bubblegum, and the other citizens of Ooo to help complete the cookbook. There was pouring! There was mixing! There was a pasta-related Wizard Battle!

Is there anything more romantic that the primal rush of slurping a raw denizen of the sea? With yummy text by Rowan Jacobsen and lavish four-color photos throughout by renowned photographer David Malosh, The Essential Oyster (Bloomsbury USA, $35) is the definitive book for oyster-lovers everywhere, featuring stunning portraits, tasting notes, and backstories of all the top oysters, as well as recipes from America’s top oyster chefs and a guide to the best oyster bars. _35Spotlighting more than a hundred of North America’s greatest oysters, the book introduces the oyster culture and history of every region of North America, as well as overseas. There is no coastline from British Columbia to Baja, from New Iberia to New Brunswick, that isn’t producing great oysters. For the most part, these are deeper cupped, stronger shelled, finer flavored, and more stylish than their predecessors. Some have colorful stories to tell. Some have quirks. All have character.

We won’t clam up about another nifty book about oysters: Oysters: A Celebration in the Raw (Abbeville Press, $24.95) is true to its title from start to finish. Chapter One is a primer on all things oyster. Chapter Two introduces readers to legendary oystermen and women from around the country.71f6zqvauol Chapter Three offers exquisite photographs of more than fifty varieties of North American oysters, along with flavor profiles and ”merroir.” The book concludes with highlights from the oyster timeline, depictions of oysters in art through the ages and stories of oysters as aphrodisiacs, and parses oyster myths and metaphors. The book also features an oyster glossary and resource list. It is the only book of its kind—a definitive visual companion to this iconic, much loved mollusk.

True rye bread―the kind that stands at the center of northern and eastern European food culture―is something very special. With over 70 classic recipes, The Rye Baker: Classic Breads from Europe and America  (W.W. Norton, $35) introduces bakers to the rich world of rye bread from both the old world and the new. 616cmhxfgglAward-winning author Stanley Ginsberg presents recipes spanning from the immigrant breads of America to rustic French pains de seigle; the earthy ryes of Alpine Austria and upper Italy; the crackly knäckebröds of Scandinavia; and the diverse breads of Germany, the Baltic countries, Poland and Russia. Rounding out this treasury are reader-friendly chapters on rye’s history, unique chemistry, and centuries-old baking methods.

Damn Fine Cherry Pie: And Other Recipes from TV’s Twin Peaks (Harper Design, $24.99) is a damn fine collection of 75 mouthwatering recipes, inspired by iconic scenes and characters from David Lynch’s groundbreaking cult classic series Twin Peaks—returning to television in 2017 with 18 new episodes on Showtime.  81rsin8i6zlThe show has also impacted popular culinary traditions; there are Double R Diner copycat diners, pop-up dining experiences, doughnut-eating contests, and David Lynch’s signature coffee. Now, fans hungry for a Twin Peaks fix can sate their appetite with this quirky cookbook that pays homage to the show. Lindsey Bowden, the founder of the Twin Peaks festival in the UK, has gathered dozens of recipes inspired by its most memorable scenes and characters, including Percolator Fish Supper, the Log Lady’s Chocolate and Chestnut Roulade, and the Double R Diner’s famous Cherry Pie.