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.
If you're looking for a cookbook with fantastic illustrations of make-ahead recipes, look no further! This is a great resource for anyone who, like me, cooks large portions of meals in batches and needs freezer friendly recipes. This cookbook also contains helpful 'base recipes', such as ground beef or shredded pork recipes that you can freeze and use as...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
This cookbook is a perfect fit for anyone who has a passion for pasta. It includes a gorgeous selection of recipes and memories, and is packed full of helpful information about techniques and ingredients. This is a must read for anyone with a love of Italian food! As someone with food allergies who still found a few recipes I had to make copies of, there is...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
John Hughes is the creative force behind numerous memorable films throughout the 1980s and early '90s, including "The Breakfast Club", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Home Alone", "Sixteen Candles," and "Pretty in Pink". In this book, author Honeycutt gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at each of the films Hughes wrote (and sometimes directed), and...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction
Looking for a cozy, homemade soup recipe now that winter is here? Have family members that have allergies, or have them yourself? This cookbook has over a hundred recipes of enticing soups. There is something for every soup lover! None of the recipes look too intimidating or time consuming, and I especially liked that this cookbook listed if each recipe was...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
This almost fully illustrated cookbook is packed full of delicious items to try, from breads to cookies to pies. While I was flipping through in envy, since I can't eat regular baked goods, I was very happily surprised to find a vegan and gluten-free chapter hidden in here. With fourteen safe and enticing recipes for me, I was pleasantly surprised by this...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
Craving Thin Mints, Hot Pockets, or even Twinkies, but don't want all the preservatives, food dyes, and other mysterious ingredients? This cookbook is packed full of recipes for homemade versions of your favorite snacks you ate as a kid. They are healthier, homemade versions of all those snacks you remember craving. What I appreciated the most about this...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
In this letter to his adolescent son, Coates reflects upon what it means to grow up and live in the United States while inhabiting a black body. It is a combination of history, social commentary, and memoir as Coates explains to his son the complexities of his own journey to adulthood and explores the larger context of the history of race in the United...
Audience: teens | Genre: nonfiction, award-winning, alex award winner
This is the best resource I've found so far for anyone looking for natural and healthy ways to fight and prevent numerous health issues. As someone with four health issues that very much affect my everyday life, I'm always looking for books that touch on the nutrition factor of foods to fight disease or help with ailments, or, sometimes even more important...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
I'm always curious about the past and how important it is recognize the impact the past has on the present. This book, "Forgotten Bones: Uncovering a Slave Cemetery" really piqued my curiosity. I enjoy reading about how these relics from the past are discovered and analyzed. In this case, the cemetery is located near Albany, NY, and discovered during an...
Audience: teens | Genre: nonfiction
Looking for chemical-free, safe ways to remedy common illnesses and problems? This is a great, illustrated resource packed full of information for anyone looking for safe (and cheaper) home remedies to common problems like headaches, toothaches, nausea, burns, and allergies. This also includes helpful tips on most topics, like how to prevent certain...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, health
There are books written by adults with autism and from the perspective of family members, educators, and others who work with children with autism, but this book is unique because it is written by a thirteen-year-old boy with autism. Higashida retains the perspective of a child but has the introspection of an early teen. It’s a rare look into the thoughts...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, differing abilities
I loved this book! Reading it is like sitting down with a good friend over a cup of cocoa and listening to their stories. Drew writes with such emotion and honesty that you feel like she is in the room with you. This book made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me realize what a beautiful soul she is. This book is written as a collection of stories from...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, memoir, celebrities
As a twenty-three-year-old Harvard law student, Stevenson had his first encounter with an inmate on death row. That meaningful encounter led him to commit his law career to representing the legally underrepresented: death row inmates, children sentenced to life without parole, and others marginalized by the system. He founded and currently serves as the...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction
Timothy Snyder's book "Black Earth: The Holocaust as History and Warning" attempts to place Hitler and Nazi Germany within a political and cultural context. Starting with Hitler's "Mein Kampf" and tracing how Hitler's opinions expressed there found fruition in the Nazi state, Snyder explains how Hitler's negative views of Jews became one of the main thrusts...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, history
This book was amazing! It brought the issue of oppression to the forefront and made doing something to combat it attainable. Women make up half of the global population and yet they still face daily oppression and adversity. While many across the globe are standing up, there is still much work to be done. From big activism like fighting for education...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, gender issues
Who doesn't love a Christmas cookbook? This particular Christmas cookbook comes with recipes from participants of a British reality TV cooking program. The food is somewhat different that what we are used to seeing here in the United States, however it is not too different that you would not enjoy all of the recipes. The Shepherd's Pie looks great, as well...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook, holiday
Straight from the America's Test Kitchen comes their newest collection of recipes from the last year. They are known for their precise recipes, having tested each recipe a variety of ways in order to get the best possible outcome for each dish. This book does a superb job explaining why you make each dish a certain way and includes illustrations for more...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
This is a must read for anyone with a sweet tooth! Plus, the author of the popular blog, "chocolatecoveredkatie.com," created these recipes with a healthy goal in mind. As a woman who wanted treats that satisfied her sweet tooth without using artificial sweeteners and unhealthy ingredients, the recipes in this cookbook use natural sweeteners and real...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
This is my favorite cookbook so far from chef Giada De Laurentiis! There's something here for everyone, even a few vegan recipes, which made me super happy to see! Giada included vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free recipes for all of us allergy sufferers, as well as recipes to be enjoyed by those without allergy concerns. Included in this cookbook are main...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Aziz Ansari, he is an actor (perhaps best known from Parks & Recreation) and a stand-up comedian, but this isn’t a typical book by a comic. The book was inspired in part by a segment of his stand-up routine and is filled with humor throughout, but it’s actually a carefully researched book that examines the state...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction
As a proud Italian with a strong love of all Italian food, this was a must read. Inside, you'll find recipes galore (many fully illustrated) of every kind of pasta and truly Italian meals you can think of, along with delicious desserts. This is a true celebration of Italian food, family, and the meals that bring us together.
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, cookbook
Have you been thinking of going vegan? Or, are you already vegan (or mostly vegan) and would like more information on the reasons why this lifestyle is helpful to you and the environment? I found this book to be packed full of helpful information! As someone who eats vegan at least 90% of the time, I enjoyed gaining more specific information than what I...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, health, cookbook
Americans like to believe that anyone, regardless of background, has the opportunity for a fair start in life through education and hard work. This book explores the “opportunity gap” that exists between children of “working- class” parents (defined as those with whose education did not go beyond high school) and children of “upper-middle-class” parents (...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction
For the record, I do not like spiders. However, I am trying to pass on a better view of them to my daughter. This book is very helpful for any young reader who would like to unmask the mystery of these sometimes creepy insects. The writing is simple so that anyone can learn about spiders in a fun way. Not only that, but the illustrations do a great job to...
Audience: children | Genre: nonfiction
Meet Antonia and Peter, a couple who move from America to New Zealand and end up becoming farmers of a sort. This is the story of how this couple traveled to New Zealand in a sail boat, how they started a family and then became hobby farmers. The hobby farm grew one animal at a time as their family constantly fell in love with the idea of a new animal to...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction
