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Donovan's Bookshelf


November  2020 Prime Picks

 
Biography & Autobiography
The Culinary Corner
The Arts
Reviewer's Choice
Young Adult / Children
 

Biography and Autobiography 


Charmian Kittredge London
Iris Jamahl Dunkle
University of Oklahoma Press
9780806167138             $26.95 

Charmian Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer is a compelling biography of a woman born in 1871. Charmain married author Jack London, yet forged new pathways of creativity and adventure in her own right. 

Given London's worldwide fame, it's somewhat surprising that no prior book has examined London's life before. This omission is remedied in this fine survey of her entire life, from her literary achievements and her efforts to foster her husband's career to her travels around the world, at his side. 

The lively tone and insights about her life and adventure-seeking spirit will delight many; especially women who like biographies about strong, independent literary figures who have traditionally been under-represented. 


The Meaning of Mariah Carey
Mariah Crey with Michaela Angela Davis
Andy Cohen Books/Henry Holt
9781250164681             $29.95
www.henryholt.com 

The Meaning of Mariah Carey provides a memoir by a famous musical personality who, surprisingly, had to draw on special reserves of courage and fortitude to put pen to paper to write this story. 

There have been many biographical coverages about Carey, but her book summarizes the life experiences that made her the artist she is today. It's composed of her memories, insights, struggles, and songs, with no holds barred. 

From her childhood and adolescence to stormy family interactions and the evolution of her career, Carey explores all aspects of her life with an attention to detail that will fill in many blanks even for the most avid Mariah Carey fan. 

The result is a winning coverage that's highly recommended reading for even those who have avidly followed her career and think they know everything about her. They don't. 


Stephen Hawking
Leonard Mlodinow
Pantheon
9781524748685             $25.00
www.pantheonbooks.com 

Stephen Hawking: A Memoir of Friendship and Physics tackles the life and persona of the famous scientist from a different angle than most, drawing on memories of Hawking's world from the standpoint of a close friend who is also a fellow physicist. 

Various perspectives are explored, from Hawking's science and its evolution to the progression of his disease and what it felt like to be Hawking's friend and colleague. 

From Hawking's personal life and interests to his science challenges and discoveries, this multifaceted biography is an excellent adjunct to any exploration of Hawking's scientific prowess, offering a human inspection to the man and his life that will delight Hawking enthusiasts. 


The Culinary Corner

The British Baking Book
Regula Ysewijn
Weldon Owen
9781681885674             $35.00
www.weldonowen.com 

The British Baking Book: The History of British Baking, Savory and Sweet features recipes, written descriptions of British culinary history and culture, and color photos of both landscapes and finished dishes. It is recommended for cooks with a special interest in not just cookbooks, but cultural explorations. 

This celebration focuses on baked goods, from a Lemon Drizzle Cake staple that appears in many a tea room to Chelsea Buns, sold in London's longtime, famous The Chelsea Bun House from 1711 to modern times. 

Tea cakes, iced fingers, buns, biscuits, and sandwich biscuits are all explored in detail, with full-page color photos accompanying introductions of each baked good's place in British culinary history. 

Americans will find the measurements in British and American lend to easy reproduction that's especially important given that translation between the two systems of measurement is not always straightforward. 

Anyone with a special interest in British baking needs this outstanding compilation. 


Easy Everyday Keto
America's Test Kitchen
America's Test Kitchen
9781948703123             $24.99
www.americastestkitchen.com 

Easy Everyday Keto: Healthy Kitchen-Perfected Recipes is improved by the participation of Alician A. Romano, MS, RD, CNSC, who adds nutritional guidelines to a collection of keto dishes that substitute healthy non-carb ingredients for traditional fare. 

Examples of this approach include Zucchini Noodles with Pesto Meatballs, in which a spiralizer cuts zucchini into 'noodles' that pair nicely with the spicy meatballs; or Fish Tacos which are served in lettuce wraps instead of the usual flour or corn tortillas. 

Each recipe enjoys a full-page, artistic rendition of the finished dish, and each has been fully tested, including detailed insights on 'why this recipe works' above competitors, and what challenges the test kitchen faced in perfecting the dish. 

From substituting crunchy nuts for breadcrumbs in a Nut-Crusted Pork Chops dish to using cauliflower as a low-carb replacement for rice, Easy Everyday Keto is an inviting cookbook highly recommended for keto followers at all skills levels. 


Let's Brunch
Belinda Smith-Sullivan
Gibbs Smith
9781423655350             $24.99
www.gibbs-smith.com 

Let's Brunch: 100 Recipes for the Best Meal of the Week pairs lovely color photos by Susan Barnson Hayward with creative recipes that often offer a twist on traditional brunch fare, from Ramp Buttermilk Biscuits that adds the wild onions typically found in America's Southeast and East to a hearty Loaded Steak and Bell Pepper Strata, which is more protein-filled than most, or a Grit Cake, Collard, and Pulled Pork Sammie that uses cabbage collard greens typically available in the South. 

These are innovations not to be found in competing brunch cookbooks. They adapt regional fare into brunch-oriented flavors to expand the idea and presentation of brunch to embrace soups, brunch cocktails, and casseroles, among other fare. 

Cooks who love brunch but have found their skills limited by egg-based dishes alone will welcome the more expansive, easy dishes in Let's Brunch. 


Rising Hope
Rachel Stonehouse and Kaila H. Johnson
Harper Design
9780063040403             $26.99
www.hc.com 

Rising Hope: Recipes and Stories from Luminary Bakery requires no prior familiarity with the fare of the Luminary Bakery to prove satisfying to newcomers, even though it's designed as a celebration of the establishment that includes stories and insights about the bakery's community involvements. 

Newcomers will also find this a celebration of the bakers that comprise Luminary. Short biographical sketches outline their history and perspectives on baking, accompanying recipes that capture the establishment's innovations, from Cherry and Coconut Vegan Brownies that stem from its roots as a wholesale bakery supplier across London to baker Giselle's adaptation of a Japanese vanilla cake with her Lemon and Poppy Seed Cotton Cake. 

These are recipes not to be found elsewhere, which will make Rising Hope particularly inviting to bakers seeking innovations and inspirations both far from the norm and easy for home cooks to reproduce. 

The flavorful blend of bakery personalities and history and unique dishes makes this cookbook a real winner. 



The Arts 

The Art of Illusion
Florian Heine
Prestel
9783791386799             $40.00
www.prestel.com 

The Art of Illusion provides arts holdings with a solid history on the development of illusionist art, considering its techniques, processes, and the evolution of both the art and methods of producing it. 

Drawings, architecture, street art, and other mediums are all explored with an eye to tracing the concept and presentation of illusion over the centuries. Full-page color images accompany biographical sketches in chapters arranged chronologically by medium. An introduction to each subject discusses the overall history of that medium's illusionist art evolution. 

From artists of centuries past to contemporary mediums such as photorealism and computer-generated portraiture, this wide-ranging survey juxtaposes past and present artistic expressions and approaches, drawing together the trends, methods, and different focuses of contrasting illusionist efforts. 

Arts holdings will find it an invaluable acquisition. 


Schiffer Publishing
www.schifferbooks.com 

Arts collections strong in women's history and photography will find Katherine Manthorne's Women in the Dark: Female Photographers in the U.S., 1850-1900 (9780764360169, $45.00) an essential acquisition. 

Women in the Dark covers two generations of female photographers across the country, exploring their careers and creations. Primary sources and new materials help readers consider not just their art, but how they fostered their careers. 

The variety of photographs presented here, as well as the trends and influences of the times in which women created them, creates a wide-ranging history supplemented by good-sized images and examples throughout. 

Jenny Thomasson's Perishable Poetics: Manifesting Emotion through Contemporary Floral Design (9780764359866, $60.00) pairs some forty color examples, many full-page, with a discussion of how Thomasson's floral designs evolved, and how she grew to make a name for herself in the industry. 

Hand-drawn sketches and notes follow the progression of techniques and creative form, while discussions of the overall approach to floral arranging art and the mediums that turn dead elements into lifelike displays offer invaluable keys to not just Thomasson's unique approach, but the finer materials and designs that differentiate her approaches from others. 

Design with Love: At Home in America by Katie Swenson (9780764359934, $45.00) features photography by Harry Connolly. It explores housing, vulnerable communities, and how abandonment and poverty can be combated by revised choices in architectural design that embody supportive human relationships. 

One doesn't usually associate spirituality and social strength with architectural design, but this survey, with its focus on the challenges of designing safe, vibrant neighborhoods that encourage community interactions, does a fine job of blending the subjects of social objective and artistic design challenges under one cover. 

Pictures of individuals involved in building processes that encourage community vibrancy's return, even in poor areas such as Detroit, provide visual emphasis of renovation and construction projects that support written descriptions of their evolution. 

The result is recommended beyond arts holdings as a powerful resource that should reach ideally into social issues and community urban planning collections alike. 

These are exceptional standouts that should be considered necessary additions to comprehensive arts collections. 



Reviewer's Choice 

Angry Weather
Friederike Otto
Greystone
9781771646147             $32.95
www.greystonebooks.com 

Angry Weather: Heat Waves, Floods, Storms, and the New Science of Climate Change comes from a University of Oxford researcher who considers the rise of violent weather and its possible causes, examining the role and science of climate change in mapping extreme weather events. 

Daily stories of such weather and its damage supplement discussions of how attribution science models and predicts future weather patterns. This proffers a cutting edge look at a style of science that has, until now, received relatively little attention from books directed to general-interest, non-scientist readers. 

This new ability to predict and model changing weather can change society responses, which is why Angry Weather deserves a prominent place in any general interest collection, and should not be limited to science holdings alone. 


Bipolar Disorder, 4th Edition
Francis Mark Mondimore, MD
Johns Hopkins University Press
9781421439068             $23.95
www.press.jhu.edu 

The 4th updated edition of Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for You & Your Loved Ones provides bipolar individuals and their families with the latest science, medicine, and perspectives about the condition. 

Even those who have long familiarity with addressing bipolar's special issues and management challenges will find there's a host of new medications and approaches to treating it. Mondimore's survey reviews the latest scientific studies on everything from medicines to herbs, nutritional supplements, and brain stimulation treatments. 

From lifestyle changes to legal issues and family support systems, Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for You & Your Loved Ones even goes beyond medicine alone to address many issues of daily living that other books on the subject rarely tackle. 

The result is a detailed survey of bipolar disorder's many facets and challenges that makes it easy to understand its incarnation, progression, and treatment. Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for You & Your Loved Ones should be required reading for any family or individual concerned about bipolar disorder; especially those either new to the diagnosis or who haven't read an updated book on the subject in a long time. 


Spirits of San Francisco
Gary Kamiya
Bloomsbury
9781635575880             $28.00
www.bloomsbury.com

Spirits of San Francisco: Voyages Through the Unknown City pairs lovely black and white cityscape pen-and-ink drawings by Paul Madonna with prose capturing the history, culture, and evolution of San Francisco. It opens with a contemporary essay on San Francisco life and culture under COVID quarantine. 

This personal exploration of the city's changing feel without much of its iconic cultural attractions on full display both synthesizes the city's odd atmosphere and explains why, more so than most urban environments, San Francisco maintains the ability to prove mysterious, alluring, and "sublimely empty even when it's full of people." 

As essays traverse a variety of neighborhoods, from the glory days of its piers and displays of architectural wealth to the heyday of the Sutro Baths and the all-but-forgotten founder of Land's End, the poetic descriptions and loving synthesis of history, culture, and San Francisco atmosphere creates a lovely celebration of the city's diverse environments. 

This approach will delight all readers whether they have a casual interest in or familiarity with San Francisco or are natives, like this reviewer. 

There's something here for everyone, and it's simply enchanting. 


We're Better Than This
Elijah Cummings with James Dale
Harper
9780062992260             $28.99
www.harpercollins.com 

We're Better Than This: My Fight for the Future of Our Democracy provides the posthumous memoir of Representative Elijah Cummings, pairing a biography of his life with a review of his perceptions of democratic process. 

Whether readers choose We're Better Than This for its biography or its underlying political message, these insights on what makes a democracy, how it changes, and what influences it, pro and con, are invaluable in this time of turmoil. 

His survey also adds stories from his past to trace his personal moral, ethical, and political evolution, offering keys to the foundations of his attitudes toward and fight for justice. 

A centerfold of color photos of family and political friends completes his memoir, a definitive examination of not just one politician's life, but the social, racial, and legal changes during his lifetime that changed who he was and his perception of individual rights and responsibilities living in a democracy. 




Young Adult/Children

 
Disney Press/Hyperion
www.disneybooks.com 

Three fun picture books are standouts that promise fun and original stories to youngsters and adult gatekeepers who choose them for leisure reads. 

Svetla Radivoeva's Malina's Jam (9781358024587, $17.99) features a shy hedgehog who makes raspberry jam from the garden she tends. 

When her neighbors begin to realize that her jam is special, Malina begins to break free of her shyness and isolation; especially when everyone joins in to celebrate her jam by sharing in the work that goes into tending the garden and making it. 

Engaging drawings of the enterprising Malina, who is more comfortable in kitchen and garden than with others, makes for an appealing story many a shy child will readily understand. 

Mo Williams's I Want to Sleep Under the Stars! (9781368053358, $12.99) is an Unlimited Squrrel friends book that tells about Zoom Squirrel, who dreams of sleeping under the stars. His other Squirrel friends are happy to help him achieve his dream, but first they have to really understand what it means to sleep outside. 

A fun story filled with action follows the busy, zipping squirrels as they learn about not just sleeping outside, but staying friends in the process.

Phineas and Ferb's Guide to Life (9781368065733, $9.99) is now streaming on the Disney channel. It offers an antidote to boredom with a guide packed with tips and tricks for adding zest to life via imagination and effort. 

Chapters include quizzes, vocabulary-building fun, big words, black and white drawings, and remarkable sayings that accompany activities encouraging advanced elementary grade readers to make life fun. 

The whimsical approach to even mundane-sounding daily activities like cleaning one's room is appealing and fun, though a color presentation might have enhanced the story. 


A Guinea Pig Night Before Christmas
Clemente Clarke Moore and Tess Newall
Bloomsbury Publishing
9781526613561             $15.00
www.bloomsbury.com 

A Guinea Pig Night Before Christmas joins others in the Guinea Pig Classics series and retells the Christmas poem, accompanied by guinea pig photos. 

Kids who like guinea pigs will appreciate the fun visual embellishments, from a Santa wish list that includes radishes, carrots, and a big ball to cunning guinea pig sleigh-pullers sporting gold 'antlers' and a fun red harness. 

Read-aloud parents seeking something different for the holidays will find A Guinea Pig Night Before Christmas visually fun, and a fine takeoff interpretation of the original classic poem. 


Kitchen Explorers!
America's Test Kitchen
America's Test Kitchen, Publishers
9781948703628             $12.99
www.americastestkitchen.com 

Kitchen Explorers! is the perfect item of choice for parents who wish to teach youngsters how to cook, and provides the third book in the Young Chefs series. 

With shelter-in-place restrictions keeping kids at home, there's no better time for such a book, which teaches kids the basics about making everything from Peanut Butter Cookies to understanding the science of what makes fizzy drinks fizzy.

More than just a collection of recipes, though, this book focuses on experiments, games, and the science behind cooking. It gives kids a solid and diverse set of insights into how cooking actually works, from identifying and working with food textures to understanding how smell can change taste. 

The puzzles, word games, recipes, and insights will delight parents and kids seeking more than a cookbook alone. 


Peachtree Publishers
www.peachtreeonline.com 

These fine new arrivals are highly recommended picks for young picture book readers. Each features a winning combination of artistry and plot that sets them apart from others. 

Danny Schnitzlein's Gnu and Shrew (9781682631461, $16.99) receives fun drawings by Anca Sandu as it tells of very different friends and their approach to adventure. This provides a STEAM-enhanced takeoff on the fable "The Ant and the Grasshopper" by not only changing the animals, but adding humorous contrasts between the personalities and life approaches of two pals. 

Elements of engineering, math, art, and creative problem-solving create an engaging, thought-provoking tale. 

Julia Woolf's Duck & Penguin Do Not Like Sleepovers (9781682632017, $16.99) tells of humans who are best friends, and their toys who are not. 

What is one to do when best friends want what their toys do not? Duck and Penguin are forced along for the sleepover even though they don't like these plans. But when they are left to their own devices during a scary night, they soon find that all they really have is each other. 

This is a fun follow-up to Duck and Penguin are NOT Friends, expanding the themes of togetherness and alienation. 

Lisa Papp's Madeline Finn and the Therapy Dog (9781682631492, $17.99) deserves ongoing recommendation as an exceptional story of a puppy who needs to demonstrate his skills in order to become a therapy dog candidate. 

He and Madeline Finn have been practicing for a long time. But can he really pass the final test to enter the world that he's been raised to work in? 

This fine story will teach kids about therapy animals, their training, and the special challenges they face along the way. 

All are excellent leisure reading choices. 


Penguin Putnam
www.penguin.com 

These fine books provide leisure readers with lovely tales that are more than a cut above the norm, making them recommendable for elementary-level readers and library collections alike. 

Young adults will find Katie Alender's The Companion (9780399545917, $18.99) the compelling story of Margot, an orphan who survived a terrible accident that killed her family and left her with lasting nightmares. 

The other orphans think she's lucky for surviving and for being chosen by a rich family to live at their remote country estate. But, actually, Margot has been especially chosen to be a companion to the silent Agatha, their daughter. When she begins seeing things in the old house, she begins to wonder if her nightmares have come home to roost. 

Part ghost story and part survival piece, mature teens will find The Companion a compelling tale indeed. 

Michael Slack's Kitties on Dinosaurs (9780593108383, $17.99) presents a gentle picture book story about mischievous little kitties who like to climb on things. 

But when they choose to climb on dinosaurs, trouble ensues and forces them to sail back to Kitty Island in the litter mobile to devise a plan to thwart the roaring dinos who resist their climbing efforts. 

Young fans of fantasy, cats, and dinosaurs will find Kitties on Dinosaurs a vivid story packed with action words perfect for parental read-aloud. 

Jessika von Innerebner's Why Can't We Be Beastie-Corns? (9781984814807, $17.99) provides a Kevin the Unicorn fantasy about Kevin's new neighbor, whom he views as a potential new best friend. 

Unfortunately, there seem to be too many differences between them to make best friendship a possibility...but can they still be friends? 

A fun story about exploring new friends and new possibilities teaches young picture book readers about getting along and forming new relationships. 

These are all fine books, highly recommended for leisure readers seeking high-quality stories. 


Sleeping Bear Press
www.sleepingbearpress.com 

Five new books are excellent picks highly recommended as superior productions. 

The intriguing T is for Thor by Virginia Loh-Hagan (9781534110502, $17.99) will reach ages 6-10 with an alphabet that introduces Scandinavian mythology to the young. 

The arts, writings, and history of the Norse perception of the universe will require good reading skills, even though this looks like a picture book easy reader. This audience will appreciate the dark, brooding drawings of Torstein Nordstrand and the rhymes that introduce mythology along with stories centered around the alphabet. 

From K, for the knowledge Mimir gained from a special well, to Q, for the Queen of Asgard who was a kind goddess, the blend of alphabet and Nordic information is enchanting. 

For a different kind of alphabet, choose Robbyn Smith van Frankenhuyzen's H is for Honey Bee: A Beekeeping Alphabet (9781534110700, $16.99). This enjoys contemporary, bright drawings by Eileen Ryan Ewen as it follows the work of beekeeping and bee colony maintenance. 

The author is herself a beekeeper and wildlife rehabilitator, and uses each letter of the alphabet and rhyming verses linking them to explore issues of conservation and bees. STEM lessons on these issues and other nature concerns enhance this lively educational primer for ages 6-10. 

Barbara Joosse's Lulu & Rocky in Indianapolis (9781534110663, $16.99) is illustrated by Renée Graef, who provides engaging animal drawings to accompany a story of fox cousins who continue their state-by-state exploration, here visiting Indianapolis, Indiana. 

This fourth book in the series explores various attractions in the state. It profiles a range of activities and adventures, from whimsical encounters with dinosaurs in a Children's Museum display to a race car experience at Indianapolis, in which the fox muses "What would it feel like to drive that fast? What would it be like to WIN?" 

Kwame Alexander's Acoustic Rooster's Barnyard Boogie Starring Indigo Blume (9781534111141, $16.99) returns the Acoustic Rooster to young picture book readers with the story of his work with a young girl who becomes afraid of performing, the night before a big appearance. 

Indigo is supposed to sing at a community festival, but is afraid of getting on stage. 

When she falls asleep, she enters a world in which characters from her favorite children's book encourage her to join a famous musical group. 

When disaster strikes, Indigo must muster up a different form of courage to perform on many levels and save the day. 

Lovely drawings by artist Tim Bowers accompanies an appealing tale that will reach ages 4-8. 

Lions & Cheetahs & Rhinos, Oh My! Animal Artwork by Children in Sub-Saharan Africa (9781534110540, $16.99) by John Platt and Moira Rose Donohue gives readers ages 4-8 a fine picture book exploration packed with colorful drawings made by children who live in East Africa. 

Lovely illustrations pair with animal facts in a production that blends art and natural history and comes from the founder of the organization How to Draw a Lion. 

100% of the author's royalties from this book will be donated to this foundation, devoted to encouraging young artists in Africa. Meanwhile, young artists in the U.S. will be equally attracted by the full-page colorful art and the animal facts.

All are outstanding choices. 


Tree: A Gentle Story of Love and Loss
Lynn Jenkins
EK Books/Exisle Publishing
9781925820126             $17.99
www.ekbooks.org

Tree: A Gentle Story of Love and Loss is a lovely children's picture book that helps kids understand grief processes through the experience Tree, a mainstay of the community. 

One day, Curly and Loppy notice that his leaves are falling and his bark flaking. They come to understand that Tree is set to leave them. 

Sadness ensues. How can Loppy say goodbye to something that has been part of their lives for so long? 

Kirrili Lonergan's whimsical Seuss-like drawings provide appealing embellishments to a very simple lesson in saying goodbye to a loved one.