September 2019 Prime Picks
The Arts
Kalmbach Media
www.JewelryandBeadingStore.com
Two new arrivals from craft book publisher Kalmbach are highly
recommended picks for needlework and jewelry-making arts holdings
alike, combining stitching with jewelry instructions in projects
designed for progressive learning.
Virginia Jensen's Two-Hole Bead Stitching: 25+ New Jewelry Designs
(9781627006163, $22.99) comes from an artistic designer and teacher who
provides further techniques for stringing beads and braiding them in
her latest collection of projects.
Instructions are provided in a step-by-step learning manner that
creates building blocks of bead stitching basics, receive full color
illustrations of different steps and processes, and are accompanied by
tips and notes on how to improve stitching.
The concluding discussion of variations and options allows jewelry
artists plenty of avenues for creative embellishment once these basics
are absorbed.
Bead Stitching Handbook: 300 Tips & Techniques (9781627005531,
$19.99) by Bead&Button Magazine holds almost everything any
newcomer to bead stitching could want to know, from different kinds of
weaves to tips on creating or trying new stitches.
Sixteen stitch tutorials in full color support twenty projects using
them, all of which contain literally hundreds of step-by-step
illustrations and photos that leave nothing to wonder about.
These basic instructions include overviews and discussions of beads,
materials, and tools, including accompanying notes to supplement the
illustrations.
These two excellent crafts guides could also have been featured in a
needlework section, but are included in The Arts for their importance
not just to needleworkers, but to arts and crafts collections.
The Life and Art of Joseph Henry Sharp
Peter H. Hassrick, Editor
University of Oklahoma Press
9780931618727
$25.00
www.oupress.com
The Life and Art of Joseph Henry Sharp is a new examination of the
artist, his paintings, and why Joseph Henry Sharp focused on America's
western Native population as his primary subject. Furthermore, it
analyzes the impact Sharp's paintings had on Native American and white
population relations and perceptions.
The Buffalo Bill Center of the West holds major collections of art and
is an archive of Sharp's papers and works. It has an online catalogue
of over 700 examples of his paintings from various repositories across
the country, and this book's electronic chapter holds access to these
works, further expanding its artistic and biographical importance.
The result is a pick highly recommended for any arts collection strong
in American Western art history in general or Joseph Henry Sharp in
particular.
The Culinary Corner
America's Test Kitchen
www.americastestkitchen.com
Two fine new cookbooks come with the brand and assurances of America's
Test Kitchen, which not only tests all its recipes to assure they are
foolproof, but adds information on why each recipe works. This gives
cooks useful specifics to further their knowledge of spices, cooking
methods, and influencers on culinary success.
Spiced: Unlock the Power of Spices to Transform Your Cooking
(9781945256776, $29.99) focuses on using spices in the kitchen. Unlike
the usual spice cookbook, however, it creates a reference collection of
core techniques. Seasonings, blends, homemade spices, and infusions are
all covered, with some 100 recipes demonstrating their applicability.
Many are recipes included here not to be found elsewhere, such as one
for an Anise-Rubbed Rack of Lamb with Sweet Mint-Almond Relish, or
Spiced Roasted Chickpeas with a blend of coriander, turmeric, allspice,
cumin, and other spices. Even sweet spice blends for desserts are
covered, making Spiced more than another cookbook, but a lesson plan
for cooks looking to expand their knowledge base.
Cook It In Your Dutch Oven: 150 Foolproof Recipes Tailor-Made for Your
Kitchen's Most Versatile Pot (9781945256561, $29.99) provides recipes
that even include desserts, exploring the versatility of the Dutch oven
and its ability to produce succulent world dishes ranging from
Caribbean Callaloo to Spicy Moroccan-Style Lamb and Lentil Soup, or
Coconut Shrimp with Mango Dipping Sauce.
By including many dishes that go beyond stewing, Cook It In Your Dutch
Oven provides a far more multipurpose, wide-ranging discussion than
most competitors on the subject, making for a 'must' reference for
Dutch oven owners who want to thoroughly explore its diverse
possibilities.
Full-page color photos round out the appealing, educational approach of
Cook It In Your Dutch Oven.
The Art of Breakfast, 2nd Edition
Dana Moos
Down East Publishers
9781608935963
$29.95
www.downeastbooks.com
The second updated edition of The Art of Breakfast: B&B Style
Recipes to Make at Home offers Maine-based dishes gathered by Dana
Moos, an author who is the former innkeeper of the Kingsleigh Inn in
Southwest Harbor.
Her experience and personal familiarity with inn fare not just from her
own establishment but from those around her makes for a perfect guide
not just for other B&B owners, but for individuals who want to
reproduce some of this fancier fare at home, with minimal fuss.
Full-page color photos and step-by-step instructions make it easy to
produce breakfast dishes that sound and look fancy but lend to home
creation, such as Lemon Basil Panna Cotta Topped with Fresh
Strawberries and Mango or Fried Eggs on Mushroom Hash with Melted
Swiss.
The inclusion of savory main dishes along with sweets creates a
well-balanced breakfast cookbook that lingers on the tongue and offers
plenty of options for elegant, visually appealing fare.
The Blueberry Cookbook
Sally Pasley Vargas
Down East Publishers
978`608939138
$19.95
www.downeastbooks.com
The Blueberry Cookbook: Year-Round Dishes from Field to Table uses
blueberries as the basis for everything from pancakes and pastries to
cakes, ice creams, pies, and puddings.
Opening discussions of different types of blueberries, from wild to
cultivated, and pantry staples for dessert-making preceed chapters
packed with such recipes as a Middle East-inspired Maine Wild Blueberry
Lemon Sauce or a Jordan Marsh bakery classic, Blueberry Muffins.
The color photos of each dessert both illustrate the fare and embellish
the recipes. It should be noted that no savory dishes are included.
This is a blueberry dessert cookbook that profiles the use of different
kinds of blueberries in all kinds of creations, and is a top
recommendation of blueberry fans who want to expand their dessert
repertoire.
Cork and Knife
Emily and Matt Clifton
Page Street Publishing
9781624148118
$21.99
www.pagestreetpublishing.com
Cork and Knife: Build Complex Flavors with Bourbon, Wine, Beer and More
comes from the authors of the food blog Nerds with Knives, who began to
see a pattern in the popular recipes they recommended—all included
alcohol.
This revelation led to their exploration of how alcohol affects food
flavors and how classic dishes can be reinivented with bourbon, wine,
beer, and other alcohol infusions. Cork and Knife is the result of this
investigation: over seventy recipes packed with flavors enhanced by
alcohol.
Chapters are divided by alcoholic beverage, consider how chemical
aspects of booze are affected by prep or cooking methods, and provide
the technical details necessary to not only successfully duplicate each
featured dish, but understand how the alcohol addition will translate
to other dishes, as well.
Anyone looking for an introductory primer on using alcohol in cooking
will welcome Cork and Knife's appealing compendium of recipes and
discussions about why and how an alcoholic additive makes them pop.
Mandalay: Recipes & Tales from a Burmese Kitchen
MiMi Aye
Bloomsbury Publishing
9781472959422
$36.00
www.bloomsburypublishing.com
Mandalay: Recipes & Tales from a Burmese Kitchen joins a
relatively small but increasing number of Burmese cookbooks on the
American market, but holds several differences that its competitors
don't match.
One is a wealth of full-page color photos (by Cristian Barnett) of
completed dishes that compliment every recipe to provide tantalizing
images of Burmese fare, nestled on attractive serving dishes.
Recipe introductions are often lively, original reading in and of
themselves, as in the opener to the Bottle Gourd and Glass Noodle Soup
recipe: "Have fun fighting over the slippery noodles and chunks of
gourd that bob about in this peppery soup."
From Pickled Beansprouts and a treat considered rare in Burma, a Spiced
Crab Curry, to MiMi Aye's own favorite childhood sweet, Coconut Marble
Jelly, Mandalay: Recipes & Tales from a Burmese Kitchen is an
appealing deliciously easy introduction. It will win attention from
both seasoned cooks and complete newcomers to Burmese fare, who should
begin any exploration of Burma's cuisine with this comprehensive,
appealing cookbook.
Novel New Novels
Black Nowhere
Reece Hirsch
Thomas & Mercer
9781542042918
$24.95
www.apub.com
In Black Nowhere, FBI Special Agent Lisa Tanchik's investigation into
cybercriminal activities leads her into the Dark Web and its criminal
operations and possibilities.
Lisa is not a newcomer to the Dark Web's operations, and she's moved
through this world before. This time, however, she's facing a different
kind of criminal plot with the potential of producing not just singular
crimes, but building an interconnected empire rooted in the Dark Web.
Part of a task force designed to locate and bring down this fledgling
operation, Lisa faces dangerously brilliant university student Nate,
whose efforts have led him into money, success, and criminal operations
unprecedented in the cyber world.
Readers who like thrillers immersed in cat-and-mouse games and computer
and business savvy will relish Black Nowhere, which offers unexpected
encounters and superb tension right up to the end.
Going Dutch
James Gregor
Simon & Schuster
9781982103194
$26.99
www.simonandschuster.com
Going Dutch is especially recommended for new adults who like their
fiction to focus on complex relationships (including some passionate
sexual moments) and tells of young man Richard, who feels isolated and
lonely as he explores New York City's gay dating scene.
His classmate Anne would seem an unlikely choice for sexual exploration
and a relationship, but Richard finds their attraction can't be ignored
even as he continues to casually date men.
A story of a young man finding himself, a love triangle, and a search
for intimacy that borders on disaster keeps Going Dutch involving,
changing, and hard to put down. It's a powerful novel of aspiration and
resilience that follows all its characters down roads of self-discovery
and revelation.
Reviewer's Choice
Lithium
Walter A. Brown
Liveright
9781631491993
$27.95
www.wwnorton.com
Lithium: A Doctor, A Drug, and a Breakthrough is both a biography and a
science study of a drug and a physician's success in changing lives
with it. It tells of a promising drug whose potential was not
thoroughly realized due to health issues and the intervention of big
pharma.
Because big drug companies couldn't patent or profit from this natural
substance, they were not motivated to fund studies that would bring it
to the public's eye and use.
It took a naturalist studying Australian magpies to bring lithium's
potential to light—an effort not funded by research firms or big
funding sources. Ironically, this meant that physician John Cade was
not limited in his scientific studies by funding sources, influences,
or issues.
Lithium: A Doctor, A Drug, and a Breakthrough is both a study of
lithium's discovery and marketing and a consideration of the medical
industry's role in drug success, failure, or study. It should be on the
shelves of any consumer or medical history collection.
Murder, Inc.
James H. Johnston
Potomac Books/University of Nebraska Press
9781640121553
$32.95
www.nebraskapress.unl.edu
Murder, Inc.: The CIA Under John F. Kennedy is not just another rehash
of events surrounding Kennedy's assassination, but broadens its area of
inspection from the crime scene, narrowing the focus to the CIA's
overall assassination operations in the Caribbean, its influence on the
Warren Commission, and its efforts to turn attention away from its own
assassination operations.
Murder, Inc. considers how these strategies influenced the Commission's
findings; but more importantly, it documents (in greatly researched
detail) the CIA's plot against Castro and why any investigation into
the possibility that Castro retaliated against Kennedy was quashed.
James H. Johnston is a lawyer and historian in Washington D.C. His
involvement in these disciplines and his proximity to research archives
declassified by the JFK Records Act and political circles in D.C. lend
an authority to his contentions that are not present in competing JFK
books on the subject.
Murder, Inc. is an outstanding, well-researched probe that holds many
questions, unexpected findings, and evidence-based examination of not
just JFK's operations, but the CIA's involvements overseas. It should
be in collections strong in JFK and political history alike.
Young Adult/Children
A Busy Creature's Day Eating!
Mo Williams
Hyperion
9781368041294
$8.99
www.hyperionbooksforchildren.com
The board book A Busy Creature's Day Eating! will appeal to young
alphabet learners who will relish the apples, berries, cereal,
doughnuts, eggs, and other possibilities that emerge when a very hungry
creature expands his idea of food into the world around him.
What begins as a fairly straightforward, food-oriented ABC primer turns
into a fun adventure as the creature ventures into territory that can
hardly be deemed appetizing, much less digestible.
Parents who use A Busy Creature's Day Eating! as a read-aloud primer
will be delighted by its fun drawings and innovative ideas.
Clarion/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
www.hmhco.com
Two fine new picture books are excellent choices for adults looking for
lively leisure readers.
Jacqueline K. Rayner's Hats are Not for Cats! (9781328967190, $17.99)
tells of a big dog in a top hat who declares that cats can't wear hats.
A simple, fun rhyme explores the dog's contention that there is no kind
of hat that would suit a cat. Or, is there? A cat's fun retort adds an
unexpected element to the dog's perception of hat wearer limitations.
Ginny Goblin Cannot Have a Monster for a Pet by David Goodner
(9780544764163, $17.99) is illustrated with fun drawings by Louis
Thomas and tells of a little goblin who loves all kinds of animals, but
can't seem to find the perfect pet.
Kids with good reading skills or parents who read this aloud will find
this whimsical adventure helps youngsters consider options outside the
usual pet qualifications as Ginny embarks on a search through all the
options, with fun drawings leading the way into a variety of
possibilities and drawbacks.
Both are attractive, unique stories that are fun and thought-provoking
reads.
Give Me Back My Bones!
Kim Norman
Candlewick Press
9780763488417
$16.99
www.candlewickpress.com
Give Me Back My Bones! is illustrated by Bob Kolar and includes a bone
poster. It opens with a fun rhyming story of a stormy night that
scatters a skeleton's bones.
Kids are invited to help the skeleton find them in a fun underwater
picture book adventure that teaches kids about the names of bones and
their purposes.
Parents who use this fun story for read-aloud will find the combination
of physiology lesson and adventure story a fine, unusual blend that
will keep youngsters engaged and educated.
Simon and Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com
Seven titles from Simon and Schuster offer young readers fine leisure
reading choices that stand out from others.
Robert Quackenbush's Henry's Awful Mistake (9781534415409, $16.99)
tells of Henry the duck, who invites his friend Clara to his home for a
fine dinner.
Unfortunately, Clara is not the only one coming to dinner. When Henry
spies an ant in the kitchen, he's only observing the tip of trouble in
this hilarious story of cleanliness, mayhem, and a cook's obsession
with the perfect meal for his good friend.
Young picture book readers will love Michael Ian Black's I'm Worried
(9781534415867, $17.99), a fun story of a girl, a flamingo, and a
worried potato. It's the third book in the authors' series about
feelings.
Ages 4-8 receive the vivid story of a worrywart potato and the friends
who try to help him, often to no avail. What can friends do, to help?
Diane Kredensor's Superbuns! (9781481490689, $17.99) features a
different kind of super-heroine: a bunny whose strength lies in
kindness.
Buns thwarts the opinions of those who don't believe kindness is a
superpower—including her older sister Blossom—and tells of a bunny who
just can't hide her strengths.
Good reading skills or parental read-aloud assistance will enhance
youngster delight in this uplifting tale.
Older readers ages 10-14 will appreciate Cynthia Kadohata's A Place to
Belong (9781481446648, $17.99), a story of Japanese-American
experiences after the end of World War II.
Many accounts focus on the dislocation of Japanese citizens during the
war, but twelve-year-old Hanako's life after the war is still much
changed. Imprisoned, isolated, and alone, Hanako and her family are
forced to move to war-torn Japan, where their dream of new and better
lives lies in shambles.
Japan is a country ruined and starving. Can Hanako help others in her
new home while maintaining the tradition of improving her world? A
moving story emerges which stands out from the usual focus on
Japanese-Americans rebuilding their lives in America.
Katherine Johnson's Reaching for the Moon (9781534440838, $17.99)
provides the autobiography of a NASA mathematician whose work fostered
the Apollo landing program and the space shuttle launches.
As a young girl, Johnson demonstrated exceptional math abilities and
studied with a professor who fostered her growth. But the challenges to
success were many, as she grew up an African-American girl in an era
replete with racism and sexism.
Her drive to achieve is captured in an inspirational story filled with
uplifting admonitions to inspire modern young women: "If you want to
know the answer to something, you have to ask a question. Always
remember that there's no such thing as a dump question except if it
goes unasked. Girls and women are capable of doing everything that boys
and men are capable of doing. And sometimes we have more imagination
than they do."
Anonymous's Breaking Bailey (9781534433083, $19.99) emphasizes its
connection to the classic best-seller Go Ask Alice with cover art that
looks very similar, an author who also remains anonymous, and a
diary-style format that captures the anguish of Bailey, who wanted a
new start at a new school far from her mother's recent death, but who
finds herself in trouble when her new friends propose a scheme.
It's a powerful story, presented in the first person and filled with
insights and anguish as powerful as Go Ask Alice.
Margaret Rogerson's Sorcery of Thorns (9781481497619, $17.99) presents
older fantasy readers ages 14 and up with a powerful story of sorcery,
magic, evil, and transformation.
Elisabeth has been raised in a library with the tools of sorcery all
around her, but when the library's most dangerous grimoire is
accidentally released and Elisabeth is mistakenly accused of the crime,
she must find refuge not only with an evil enemy sorcerer's, but by
uncovering an old conspiracy that involves her on many levels.
The future of the world is at stake. Is Elisabeth's upbringing strong
enough to resist the powers she discovers in herself?
A potent story of choices, consequences, and frightening futures
emerges.
Sleeping Bear Press
www.sleepingbearpress.com
These two picture book stories are top recommendations for young
readers. Each offers an important life lesson about understanding and
problem-solving.
Kia Heise and Christopher D. Park's Little Sock (9781534110052, $14.99)
tells of a little sock who is worn and washed repeatedly. Nothing seems
likely to change, but he seeks adventure, and so he heads for Sock City
after escaping the confines of his drawer.
Once there, will he realize his dreams of adventure and a different
life? Kids will enjoy this engaging tale of change, fueled by an odd
kind of hero.
Trinka Hakes Noble's A Fist for Joe Louis and Me (9781534110168,
$17.99) is illustrated by Nicole Tadgell and will appeal to ages 6-10
as it explores Gordy's world of the 1938 Great Depression, his
friendship with the tailor's son Ira (who also loves boxing), and how a
historic match between boxing legend Joe Louis and Germany's Max
Schmeling inspires two very different boys.
Issues of bullying, diversity, and sports achievement are all themes in
a picture book story that requires good reading skills and an interest
in boxing, but rewards young readers with a lively fictionalized story
about real events.
Tundra
www.penguinrandomhouse.ca
Two fine new books from Tundra are excellent choices for picture book
readers and their read-aloud parents.
Janet Hill's Life Lessons for a Cat Countess (9781770499225, $17.99)
tells of Miss Marcella Mink, who lives with over sixty feline friends
in her big house by the sea. Miss Mink has long been a cat enthusiast:
a passion that nearly sunk her own business, which began to take over
her life.
She turned to her cats for help when she no longer had time for anyone,
and they set an example that reminded the cat countess of what was
really important in life.
Good reading skills are required for Life Lessons for a Cat Countess,
which will appeal to both older readers with reading abilities set to
move beyond the picture book level and adults looking for lessons on
success, setting priorities, and developing life values.
Gina Perry's Now? Not Yet! (9781101919521, $17.99) follows Peanut, who
always questions whether 'now' is the right time, and his opposite Moe,
who thinks that the time is never quite right. The two friends are very
different in their approaches to life, but when a camping trip goes
awry, they discover that their very different perspectives are actually
complimentary to problem-solving in this fun story of differences and
friendship.