Check out these reviews written by the staff of the Marathon County Public Library! (For reviews in all genres, visit our main Staff Reviews webpage.) Staff book reviews are also published at Goodreads.com; follow us for the latest updates.
This is one creative cookbook chock full of innovative ideas for all kinds of salads, dressings, and toppings. Recipes included building very unique pasta and lettuce salads, packed full with a variety of ingredients. All are vegan, but are sure to please those who don't normally eat that way. There are sweet and savory recipes, like 'Overnight Oats with...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
This cookbook is truly a celebration of food, with beautiful recipes that are a great mix between delicious healthy recipes and more scrumptious treats. Half of the recipes were actually already vegan (which is great for me!), just because the author favors equal parts healthy with equal parts 'treats', which I appreciated. I also enjoyed the author's...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
Braided hairstyles have become very popular in recent years but they can be intimidating to recreate yourself. "DIY Braids" uses photographs and step-by-step instructions to help you create beautiful braided hairstyles that can be very simple or complex. I appreciated that the models used in the book had different hair types. One had straight hair and the...
Audience: teens | Genre: nonfiction, beauty
Another beautiful Barefoot Contessa cookbook! In this cookbook, Ina includes tips for making every single recipe ahead, even whipped cream and roasted turkey! Ina shows us how we can have easy and elegant food suitable for any occasion. The accompanying photographs of the food and her home are gorgeous, and will make fans envy Ina's life in the Hamptons.
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
Written by four true Parisiennes, this book gives advice on how to live like a Parisian woman. It includes tips on style, beauty, books, bad habits, food, friends, family, and relationships. There is even a short collection of French recipes at the end. The women write their advice in short sentences and paragraphs, which makes this book quick, and fun, and...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction
Looking for a unique and quirky Christmas cookbook? Look no further because The Swedish Christmas Table is what you seek. Covering all things Scandinavian, this book is chock-full of recipes from drinks to desserts to candy to feasts! There are so many recipes in this book that it would take a lifetime to make it all! The graphics and pictures are...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook, holiday
Since marrying into a Norwegian family, I have looked for traditional foods to prepare around the holiday season. "Scandinavian Christmas" does a great job of giving basic recipes for the Christmas season while also providing ideas for Advent, Christmas parties, and the popular Smorgasbord. This cookbook is well thought out and presented in easy-to-follow...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
This is a collection of short snippets from the daily interactions at a public library. From entertaining to disturbing to heartwarming, anyone who has worked in a public library will surely find this book entertaining and most likely, oddly familiar. Conversations are cataloged by theme, such as curiosities and wonders, reference work, and even human...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction
Comic book geeks and history buffs alike will enjoy this fascinating story about the creator of Wonder Woman. William Moulton Marston invented the blood pressure-measuring lie detector test, and had a colorful academic career before he created the beloved comic book character. Inspired by the women's suffrage movement, and his own belief that women would...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, biography, superheroes
This book is a wonderful addition for anyone who is looking for a new Christmas craft or cookbook! Written by very popular bloggers, Six Sisters' Stuff, you will find all sorts of ideas on how to cook, enjoy, and share your holiday spirit. Not only is the book incredibly informative but also has wonderful pictures and easy to follow directions. It makes...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook, holiday
Prayer can be a daunting task for many of us. We may feel unskilled, unworthy, or unsure of how to even begin. This little book offers insight, comfort, and instruction when it comes to learning how to pray effectively. Max Lucado breaks through all of the complication and doubt about how to pray, where to pray, who can pray, and what to pray for. He makes...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, spirituality
Although looking through this outdoor style guide as you see snow right outside your window may not be the best feeling, this is packed full of beautiful illustrations and ideas for when the snow is gone! Included are entertaining tips and a few recipes and decorating ideas as well for each theme and style. I found myself longing for, not only a backyard of...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, gardening, outdoors, nature
Sophia Loren's memoir details her incredible life; full of beauty, love, success, but also tragedy and pain. The daughter of a single mother, Loren grew up in poverty during World War II in Italy and never had much contact with her father. She received her start in beauty pageants, and soon transitioned to film after she was noticed by her future husband,...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, celebrities, memoir
It's not often that I request a book in CD format that is nonfiction. But I'm very glad that I listened to this outstanding account of the life and death of President James Garfield. It is available in both traditional book format and on CD but I will strongly urge the reader to give this book a listen in the CD format. It is read by Paul Michael who does...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, history
Have you ever wondered what your favorite author's favorite book is? Or what book they just couldn't get through and even finish? Or even what their reading and writing habits are? This book features short interviews by sixty-five of the world's top writers, from J.K. Rowling to Michael Connelly to Khaled Hosseini. I found it to be full of interesting and...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction
I was looking for a great fall cookbook when I picked this one up! What can get any better than pumpkin pie spices and aromas filling the air come autumn? This cookbook is interesting in that it presents recipes and spice blends that are both sweet and savory. There is definitely a wonderful variety of recipes presented in this collection along with at...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
It is ironic and entirely appropriate that I am reviewing this fine book on Veterans Day. The book is a thorough telling of General George S. Patton who led the 3rd Army to victory over Hitler’s forces during WWII. Hitler with his agenda to rule Europe, and perhaps beyond, had devised his last and final attempt to gain back the momentum to win the war for...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, history
Although I haven't tried any of the recipes yet (yet being the key word), I'll be copying at least half of them, and if I love them, I'll be adding this to one of the recipe books I'd love to own. What more do I really need to say besides: this is a book full of vegan cupcakes?
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
If you are looking for new, tasty, and healthy recipes, this is a good cookbook for you. This book does an excellent job of illustrating ways to prep and cook your food that are extremely effective. The author has cooking down to a science showing just how your food is cooking according to how you prepare it. It is neat to see and read! I found myself...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
Although I was really thrown off at first by the plethora of swear words in this cookbook, try not to let them dissuade you from this clean-eating, plant-based cookbook. I have Post-It Notes in the double digits for recipes I want to try, and the message this cookbook wants its readers to know is one I 100% believe in: Eat like you mean it. Animal products...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
This cookbook is true to its title: tasty and simple recipes for anyone's schedule! There are soup, salad, vegetarian, meat, pasta, and even stir fry and curries recipes, as well as recipes fit for any grill. Everyone is sure to find ideas in here that won't overwhelm your busy schedule.
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
This cookbook is brimming with gorgeous photos of comfort food and nostalgia that made me think I was right back at home, curled up in my flat in London. Even though for me and my food allergy riddled body, I can't eat most of the entrees shown in this book anymore, the experience of looking through it was worth it. For those of us who love our cookbooks...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook, celebrities
This is a wonderful collection of simple pasta dishes sure to please. It's beautifully laid out and has a recipe for everyone, including recipes for sauces, pasta (vegetarian, meat, and seafood versions), as well as salads and sides. There are no intimidating ingredient lists, just recipes that are sure to pique any appetite!
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
Being unfamiliar with much about the WWI, the last great war, I was eager to hear of stories from the mouths of those few soldiers still left to tell the tale. This 2005 book is a narrative account of those few British soldiers still alive and able to relay their firsthand accounts and stories of an era that will perish when they do. Approximately 20 men,...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, history
Do you wish that you could still eat some of your favorite meals but with less fat? This cookbook has all of that plus helpful hints on substitutes for your household recipes as well. The recipes are organized in an easy way and explained in clear step-by-step instructions to make it as simple as possible. The pictures of the final result look just as...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
