Wednesday, May 31, 2023

✨SPOTLIGHT✨ Buzz Books 2023: Fall / Winter

 



                                        *free review copy* 


Title: Buzz Books 2023: Fall / Winter 
Author: Publisher's Lunch
PublisherPublisher's Lunch
Release Date5.8.23

Publisher’s Summary 
Buzz Books 2023: Fall/Winter is the 23rd volume in our popular sampler series. This Buzz Books presents passionate readers with an insider’s look more than sixty of the buzziest books due out this season—our largest collection to date. Such major bestselling authors as Naomi Alderman, Yangsze Choo, Kiley Reid, and Tia Williams are featured, along with literary greats Lauren Groff, Sigrid Nunez, Etaf Rum, C Pam Zhang, and more.
Buzz Books has had a particularly stellar track record with highlighting the most talented, exciting and diverse debut authors, and this edition is no exception. Comedian and TV star Cedric the Entertainer’s novel is about close-knit black families and tightly woven communities during the Depression and World War II. Jazmina Barrera, a Mexican nonfiction author, offers her first novel. Two YA authors, Ashley Elston and Emma Noyes, debut their first adult books. Among the others are Isa Arsén, Inci Atrek, Anna Bliss, Kim Coleman Foote , Madeleine Gray, Molly McGhee, Nishita Parekh, and Anise Vance.
Our robust nonfiction section covers such important subjects as addiction, forgiveness, lying, and grief; several memoirs about harrowing childhoods; and a definitive biography of John Lewis.
Finally, we present early looks at new work from young adult authors, including the New York Times bestselling Roshani Chokshi, Jason June and Melinda Salisbury, along with a YA debut by Court Stevens, who is a bookseller at Parnassus Books in Nashville.

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Sunday, May 28, 2023

The Rule of One

 


Title: The Rule of One (The Rule of One #1)
AuthorAshley Saunders, Leslie Saunders
Publisher: Skyscape
Release Date10.1.18

Publisher’s Summary 
In their world, telling the truth has become the most dangerous crime of all.

In the near-future United States, a one-child policy is ruthlessly enforced. Everyone follows the Rule of One. But Ava Goodwin, daughter of the head of the Texas Family Planning Division, has a secret—one her mother died to keep and her father has helped to hide for her entire life.

She has an identical twin sister, Mira.

For eighteen years Ava and Mira have lived as one, trading places day after day, maintaining an interchangeable existence down to the most telling detail. But when their charade is exposed, their worst nightmare begins. Now they must leave behind the father they love and fight for their lives.

Branded as traitors, hunted as fugitives, and pushed to discover just how far they’ll go in order to stay alive, Ava and Mira rush headlong into a terrifying unknown.

My Review
I loved The Hunger Games books when they came out but I haven't read much more YA dystopia since. This book came across my Instagram feed and I thought I'd check it out. I really enjoyed it and will probably continue with the series. A great backlist *find* 

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Saturday, May 27, 2023

✨COOKBOOK SPOTLIGHT ✨ Gather

 



                                        *free review copy* 


Title: Gather: Casual Cooking from Wine Country Gardens 
Author: Janet Fletcher
Publisher: Abrams
Release Date5.9.23

Publisher’s Summary 
A Wine Country cookbook that celebrates sustainable, garden-to-table dining

Some of the tastiest California cooking today comes from wineries with edible gardens, and now you can take a visual tour of these magical culinary green spaces, peek inside the winery kitchens that reap the harvest, and bring sun-ripened flavors into your own home kitchen. Casual Cooking from Wine Country Gardens showcases some of California’s most ambitious wineries’ culinary gardens and the fresh, wine-friendly dishes they inspire, all vividly captured by three-time James Beard Award–winner Janet Fletcher. Bring the garden to the plate California-style with Heirloom Tomato and Peach Salad with Burrata or Golden Beet Gazpacho. Enjoy a glass of Sauvignon Blanc alongside Crostini with Garden Carrots, Goat Cheese, and Dukkah; or savor a platter of crisp spring vegetables with Caramelized Spring Onion Dip. To show off a fine California red wine, try Spring Lamb Chops Scottadito with Charred Tomato and Black Olive Tapenade or Slow-Roasted Beef Short Ribs with Broccoli di Cicco and Farro. The book’s garden-inspired desserts include luscious finales such as Blood Orange Crème Brûlée, Cheesecake with Blueberry Gelée, and Lemon Verbena Apricots with Olive Oil–Sea Salt Ice Cream. In more than 60 delicious recipes, Gather delivers the finest of California’s wine country to your door, demonstrating the creative ways that wineries use their garden bounty to please their guests and complement their wines.
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Friday, May 26, 2023

Ink Blood Sister Scribe


                                        *free review copy* 


Title: Ink Blood Sister Scribe 
Author: Emma Törzs
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date5.30.23

Publisher’s Summary 
In this spellbinding debut novel, two estranged half-sisters tasked with guarding their family's library of magical books must work together to unravel a deadly secret at the heart of their collection--a tale of familial loyalty and betrayal, and the pursuit of magic and power.
For generations, the Kalotay family has guarded a collection of ancient and rare books. Books that let a person walk through walls or manipulate the elements--books of magic that half-sisters Joanna and Esther have been raised to revere and protect.

All magic comes with a price, though, and for years the sisters have been separated. Esther has fled to a remote base in Antarctica to escape the fate that killed her own mother, and Joanna's isolated herself in their family home in Vermont, devoting her life to the study of these cherished volumes. But after their father dies suddenly while reading a book Joanna has never seen before, the sisters must reunite to preserve their family legacy. In the process, they'll uncover a world of magic far bigger and more dangerous than they ever imagined, and all the secrets their parents kept hidden; secrets that span centuries, continents, and even other libraries . . .

In the great tradition of Ninth House, The Magicians, and Practical Magic, this is a suspenseful and richly atmospheric novel that draws readers into a vast world filled with mystery and magic, romance, and intrigue--and marks the debut of an extraordinary new voice in speculative fiction.

My Review
A library of magical books? Spells? Speculative Fiction? I couldn't wait to read this. 
*sparkles and happy dance music*
Now, fast forward 400+ pages
*groans and frustrated sighs* 
I should have DNF-ed but I just kept hoping it would get better. 

The banter between Nicholas and his "bodyguard" are the only saving graces of this novel which could have benefitted from some serious editing. All magic fantasy novels do not have to be over 400 pages. This would have done well to have been much shorter. It is also the author's job to eventually describe aspects and "rules" when world-building, but I was lost most of the time and just wanted this to be over. 

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Thursday, May 25, 2023

Speak of the Devil


                                         *free review copy* 


Title: Speak of the Devil 
Author: Rose Wilding 
Publisher: Minotaur
Release Date6.13.23

Publisher’s Summary 
All of us knew him. One of us killed him...

Seven women stand in shock in a seedy hotel room; a man's severed head sits in the centre of the floor. Each of the women - the wife, the teenager, the ex, the journalist, the colleague, the friend, and the woman who raised him - has a very good reason to have done it, yet each swears she did not. In order to protect each other, they must figure out who is responsible, all while staying one step ahead of the police.

Against the ticking clock of a murder investigation, each woman's secret is brought to light as the connections between them converge to reveal a killer.

A dark and nuanced portrait of love, loyalty, and manipulation, Speak of the Devil explores the roles in which women are cast in the lives of terrible men...and the fallout when they refuse to stay silent for one moment longer.

My Review
This dark and disturbing debut was absolutely fascinating and impossible to put down. My advice is to read this book slowly to keep track of all the threads and characters. I'm rating it a 4.5 because it kept me hooked the whole time but there was one angle that I still wanted from the story. I definitely recommend this to anyone who thinks they can always figure out who the killer is in the first chapters (hello, me 🙋🏼‍♀️) This one kept me guessing!
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Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Natural Beauty



Title: Natural Beauty 
Author: Ling Ling Huang
Publisher: Dutton
Release Date4.4.23

Publisher’s Summary 
Sly, surprising, and razor-sharp, Natural Beauty follows a young musician into an elite, beauty-obsessed world where perfection comes at a staggering cost.

Our narrator produces a sound from the piano no one else at the Conservatory can. She employs a technique she learned from her parents—also talented musicians—who fled China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution. But when an accident leaves her parents debilitated, she abandons her future for a job at a high-end beauty and wellness store in New York City.

Holistik is known for its remarkable products and procedures—from remoras that suck out cheap Botox to eyelash extensions made of spider silk—and her new job affords her entry into a world of privilege and a long-awaited sense of belonging. She becomes transfixed by Helen, the niece of Holistik’s charismatic owner, and the two strike up a friendship that hazily veers into more. All the while, our narrator is plied with products that slim her thighs, smooth her skin, and lighten her hair. But beneath these creams and tinctures lies something sinister.

A piercing, darkly funny debut, Natural Beauty explores questions of consumerism, self-worth, race, and identity—and leaves readers with a shocking and unsettling truth.


My Review
I'm not even sure how to review Ling Ling Huang's debut. It's mind-boggling how she was able to combine the psychological aspects of being a child musical prodigy with a dark satirical analysis of beauty and wellness culture and expertly interweave both types of grooming. Part literary fiction and part horror, this fever dream novel is a mash-up of Botched and Black Swan. At around 270 pages, Natural Beauty is a shorter novel that really packs a punch. Read this if you are in the mood for something unique and a bit dark. 
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Tuesday, May 23, 2023

✨PUB DAY SPOTLIGHT✨ Sing Her Down

 



Title: Sing Her Down
Author: Ivy Pochoda
Publisher: 5.23.23
Release DateMCD

Publisher’s Summary 
No Country for Old Men meets Killing Eve in this gritty, feminist Western thriller from the award-winning author of These Women.

Florence "Florida" Baum is not the hapless innocent she claims to be when she arrives at the Arizona women's prison―or so her ex-cellmate, Diosmary Sandoval, keeps insinuating.

Dios knows the truth about Florida's crimes, understands the truth that Florence hides even from herself: that she wasn't a victim of circumstance, an unlucky bystander misled by a bad man. Dios knows that darkness lives in women too, despite the world's refusal to see it. And she is determined to open Florida's eyes and unleash her true self.

When an unexpected reprieve gives both women their freedom, Dios's fixation on Florida turns into a dangerous obsession, and a deadly cat-and-mouse chase ensues from Arizona to the desolate streets of Los Angeles.

With blistering, incisive prose, the award-winning author Ivy Pochoda delivers a razor-sharp Western. Gripping and immersive, Sing Her Down is a spellbinding thriller setting two indelible women on a path to certain destruction and an epic, stunning showdown.


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Monday, May 22, 2023

✨COOKBOOK SPOTLIGHT ✨Cook It Wild

 


                                        *free review copy* 


Title: Cook It Wild: Sensational Prep-Ahead Meals for Camping, Cabins, and the Great Outdoors
AuthorChris Nuttall-Smith
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Release Date5.9.23

Publisher’s Summary 
Say goodbye to ho-hum canned beans and freeze-dried camping meals. With prep-ahead recipes and field-tested advice, flavor-packed dishes suchas herby lemon chicken and fire-baked sticky buns become deliciously doable and fuss-free--whether you're in the wilderness or your own backyard.

In this game-changing camping cookbook, food writer and outdoorsman Chris Nuttall-Smith introduces an ingenious prep-ahead approach that gets most (or even all) of the cooking done before a trip ever begins. Each recipe is divided into "at home" and "at camp" sections, so on your trip, many recipes have you simply drop fully prepped ingredients into a pot or onto a grill. Just like that, you'll be dining on showstopping Sweet-Tangy Lemon Ribs or Sizzling Cumin Lamb Kebabs paired with Puff-and-Serve Chapati.

Plus, learn about the best-traveling cheeses, how to chill drinks when you don't have ice, how to pick (and use) the right camp stove, and how to make great coffee outdoors! Cook It Wild proves that cooks and campers of every level can have the most spectacular campfire meals.


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Sunday, May 21, 2023

54 New Summer Releases to Add to Your TBR



Goodreads posted their Readers' 54 Most Anticipated Books of Summer last week, so I'm sharing MY list of 54 new releases--just in case you need more great books to add to your likely already toppling TBR! These releases might not make it onto many of the hyped "beach reads" lists but they've made my summer reading list and now I'm sharing them with you. Each title currently has a June, July, or August (US) release date so if you see something you love, preorder it from your library/bookstore, or add it to your Goodreads shelves by clicking on the links provided.  













Which ones are you adding to your TBR? Comment here or hop over to my Instagram.






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Friday, May 19, 2023

DNF Round UP

 




           DNFs


DNFs...they happen 🤷‍♀️

Here are my 6 latest DNFs and a bit about why I quit each book.

The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue and The Adult by Bronwyn Fischer
Coming of age stories and stories of teenagers' struggles are not enjoyable to me anymore. Those times were so painful and reading about them is just too triggering for me. I need to be more aware that just because I relate to a summary, that does not equate into me wanting to immerse myself in those emotions for an entire book. If you are looking for queer coming of age stories, these might work for you.

The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson
I was expecting The Night Circus but got a bit of a jumbled X-Men vibe with all the time travel between WWI and WWII. This is a debut and I while it didn't hit quite right for me I will check out whatever this author writes next. 

The Overlooked Americans: The Resilience of Our Rural Towns and What It Means for Our Country by Elizabeth Currid-Halkett
I grew up in an extremely rural community and am always drawn toward books on the topic. The problem I found with this book is that it actually IS a book. While the author may have had massive amounts of research (almost 100 of the book's 400 pages are the appendix) I believe this would have worked much better as a condensed op-ed piece. 

Working Girl: On Selling Art and Selling Sex by Sophia Giovannitti
I was intrigued to hear an artist's thoughts on the overlapping spheres between her sex work and her art but also zoned out a bit. I loved reading this type of feminst theory in college but maybe because I've already discussed and debated the merits and pitfalls, I couldn't stay engaged with the text. 

Lucky Dogs by Helen Schulman
This novel is divided into 5 parts. I was just catching the flow of the story in part 1 and then part 2 makes a major detour to an entirely different timeline and writing style. Part 3 switched back to the first part's timeline, etc but I could only make it about halfway through before I quit. 


DNF Disclaimer
 I don't post my DNFs to deter you from picking up a title, I post them to give a more rounded look at my reading and reviewing style. Rather than simply quitting and moving on, I like to say a few words about why certain reads were not the right fit for me. Our reading experiences are all unique and every book won't be a winner for everybody. Keep in mind that just because these didn't work for me doesn't mean they won't work for you.




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Thursday, May 18, 2023

Is the Algorithm Plotting Against Us?


                                         *free review copy* 


Title: Is the Algorithm Plotting Against Us?: A Layperson's Guide to the Concepts, Math, and Pitfalls of AI
Author: Kenneth Wenger 
Publisher: Working Fires Foundation
Release Date5.1.23

Publisher’s Summary 
Artificial intelligence is everywhere—it’s in our houses and phones and cars. AI makes decisions about what we should buy, watch, and read, and it won’t be long before AI’s in our hospitals, combing through our records. Maybe soon it will even be deciding who’s innocent, and who goes to jail . . . But most of us don’t understand how AI works. We hardly know what it is. In "Is the Algorithm Plotting Against Us?", AI expert Kenneth Wenger deftly explains the complexity at AI’s heart, demonstrating its potential and exposing its shortfalls. Wenger empowers readers to answer the question—What exactly is AI?—at a time when its hold on tech, society, and our imagination is only getting stronger.

My Review
Everyone's talking about AI and often it is with a sense of fear and paranoia. Many people hear the term and envision some dystopian landscape like I, Robot or The Matrix, rather than recognizing that AI is already present in our everyday lives, from language processing platforms (chatbots, ChatGPT) and targeted marketing (those hyperspecific ads as you scroll your social media) to self-driving cars and manufacturing robots.


This book's subtitle says the information inside is geared toward a layperson, and I have a bit of an issue with that. I suppose the problem there is with the term itself, as in who falls into that category. I have what I would consider an "intermediate beginner" knowledge regarding AI, in that I have taken several college courses on computer programming, am scientifically literate, and try to read any news articles regarding the topic. This book definitely tested my intelligence (lots of data sets, math, and statistical models) and to be honest, was probably about two levels over my head. I enjoyed the challenge of diving into this subject but my eyes definitely glazed over in spots. This is no fault of the author, but rather a note toward this book's intended audience. I would suggest this to readers with intermediate or advanced knowledge of AI.
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Monday, May 15, 2023

✨COOKBOOK SPOTLIGHT ✨Love Japan

                   

   
    *free review copy* 


Title: Love Japan: Recipes from our Japanese American Kitchen 
AuthorsSawako Okochi and Aaron Israel with Gabriella Gershenson
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Release Date5.16.23

Publisher’s Summary 
Discover comforting homestyle Japanese American cuisine with 100 unique, simple, and tasty recipes from the owners of the innovative Brooklyn restaurant Shalom Japan

Steaming sukiyaki. Pillowy, soft shokupan. Springy ramen noodles. These famed Japanese dishes, as well as modern interpretations and evolutions, are all part of Love Japan , a collection of beloved family recipes from the married owners of Brooklyn’s Shalom Japan.

Like many of us, chefs Sawako Okochi and Aaron Israel lead busy lives and often find themselves short on time in the kitchen. Their secret to getting nourishing, delicious food on the table for their family? The Japanese-inspired dishes that Sawako grew up eating. While not rigid in tradition, these recipes are all rooted in the Japanese flavors and techniques taught to Sawako by her mother, with influences from Aaron’s Jewish heritage as well as the menu at Shalom Japan.

Through years of practice in their own home and in their Brooklyn restaurant, Sawako and Aaron have distilled these recipes for maximum flavor and minimum fuss, including Japanese staples and inventive, delicious fusions like:

Through Love Japan's user-friendly recipes and gorgeous photography, Sawako and Aaron demonstrate that Japanese cooking can be everyday cooking -- even (or especially) if you’re short on time, space, or energy. These satisfying dishes will open up a world of possibilities in your cooking routine.

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Sunday, May 14, 2023

Yellowface

      

                                   *free review copy* 


Title: Yellowface 
Author: R.F. Kuang
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date5.25.23

Publisher’s Summary 
What's the harm in a pseudonym? New York Times bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn't write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American--in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R. F. Kuang.

Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars: same year at Yale, same debut year in publishing. But Athena's a cross-genre literary darling, and June didn't even get a paperback release. Nobody wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.

So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers to the British and French war efforts during World War I.

So what if June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song--complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That's what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.

But June can't get away from Athena's shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June's (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.

With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface takes on questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation not only in the publishing industry but the persistent erasure of Asian-American voices and history by Western white society. R. F. Kuang's novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.


My Review
This magnificently meta, satirical novel about contemporary publishing is so *chef's kiss* perfect. 

After reviewing books for over a decade I have seen terrible books with huge budgets make it big and I've seen awesome books barely make a blip on the radar. I've seen the hoaxes, the dramas, and the phenomenons. I can usually predict which upcoming releases will be embraced and lauded--not because I think they are worthy, but because I can spot the marketing trends. When non-bookish people act as if a celebrity merely pulls a random book off their shelf and then it becomes popular, I die a little inside. Sometimes I've tried to briefly explain how publishing "darlings" are picked by referencing The Devil Wears Prada's "cerulean monologue" about fashion trends. The sheer amount of research, algorithms, and marketing studies that have taken place before a publisher even makes a deal with an author will likely determine its degree of success. 

In Yellowface, Kuang's protagonist June/Juniper states: "Because that’s how this industry works. Publishing picks a winner—someone attractive enough, someone cool and young and, oh, we’re all thinking it, let’s just say it, “diverse” enough—and lavishes all its money and resources on them. It’s so f*ck*ng arbitrary. Or perhaps not arbitrary, but it hinges on factors that have nothing to do with the strength of one’s prose." 

Finding success with a second novel after her debut flopped, June/Juniper can speak to the two types of author experiences. Her road is practically paved with gold and all awards are given freely for the second novel, whereas her first time around:"I worked my *ss off doing blog interviews and podcasts, hoping that the more sweat I put into publicity, the more my publisher would reward my efforts. But now, I see, author efforts have nothing to do with a book’s success. Bestsellers are chosen. Nothing you do matters." 

It is sometimes easy to forget that while books are pieces of art, they are also commodities and any time art is commodified there are a multitude of complex factors at play. I found Yellowface to be a darkly comic "cheat sheet" handbook full of all the not-so-secret rules and scandalous game plans to ensure a place on the bestseller list. A true treat for this book reviewer!










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Saturday, May 13, 2023

✨COOKBOOK SPOTLIGHT ✨The Great American Burger Book


                                         *free review copy* 


Title: The Great American Burger Book (Expanded and Updated Edition): How to Make Authentic Regional Hamburgers at Home
AuthorGeorge Motz
Publisher: ABRAMS
Release Date5.9.23

Publisher’s Summary 
The definitive guide to creating the most mouthwatering hamburgers by America’s leading burger expert—expanded and updated with new and improved recipes

The Great American Burger Book was the first book to showcase a wide range of regional burger styles and cooking methods. In this new, expanded edition, author and burger expert George Motz covers traditional grilling techniques as well as how to smoke, steam, poach, smash, and deep-fry burgers based on signature recipes from around the country.

Each chapter is dedicated to a specific regional burger, and includes the history of the method and details on how to create your own piece of American food history right at home. Written by Motz, the author of Hamburger America and hailed by the New York Times as a “leading authority” on hamburgers, The Great American Burger Book is a regional tour of America’s best burgers.

Recipes feature regional burgers from California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin. International locations Australia, Brazil, Denmark, Malaysia, and Turkey.

This is a book for anyone who loves a great burger, unique or classic. And who doesn’t love a great burger?

These mouthwatering recipes include Connecticut’s Steamed Cheeseburger, The Tortilla Burger of New Mexico, Iowa’s Loosemeat Sandwich, Houston’s Smoked Burger, Pennsylvania’s The Fluff Screamer, and Sheboygan's Brat Burger.



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✨COOKBOOK SPOTLIGHT ✨ Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling

 

                                        *free review copy* 


Title: Asada: The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling
AuthorBricia Lopez and Javier Cabral
Publisher: ABRAMS
Release Date4.25.23

Publisher’s Summary 
Oaxaca authors Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral are back with the first major cookbook about how to create asada—Mexican-style grilled meat—at home
In millions of backyards across Southern California, an asada means a gathering of family, friends, great music, cold drinks, good times, and community—all centered around the primal allure of juicy, smoky grilled meat with flavors and spices traditional to Mexico. The smell of asada is a cloud of joy that lingers in the streets of Los Angeles. With The Art of Mexican-Style Grilling , Mexican food authorities and the authors of Oaxaca , Bricia Lopez and Javier Cabral, are back with more than 100 recipes that show you how to prepare the right dishes and drinks for your next carne asada gathering. Asada will both guide you in crafting mouthwatering food and inspire the right laidback atmosphere.

Everyone says they love a spicy margarita and asada tacos, but very few understand the culture that informs these flavors. Divided into the eight crucial elements of any carne botanas (appetizers), carnes (meats), mariscos (seafood), side dishes and vegetables, salsas, aguas frescas, cocktails, and dessert, Asada walks you through every step. From Lopez’s secret “michelada marinade” to game-changing salsas that will elevate any grilled meat, this cookbook is the ultimate guide to making and beginning to understand the magic of asada.

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Saturday, May 6, 2023

May Poetry




 







Softening Time: Collected Poems
Elena Brower, yung pueblo (Foreword by)
May 16, 2023 / Andrews McMeel

From beloved yogi, teacher, and artist Elena Brower comes the writer’s debut collection of poetry: a lyrical exploration of grief, self-compassion, and learning from the past to navigate life’s challenges with grace. Softening Time is both autobiography and self-help, poetry and inspiration. Drawing on events in her own life, particularly her experiences as a mother, daughter, sister, and friend, Brower writes poignantly on themes of love, loss, healing, and rebirth. Punctuating her work with themed quotations from a wide variety of celebrated writers and thinkers, Brower guides the reader along an intimate journey of both deepening and “softening” self-awareness.




Ghost Apples
Katharine Coles @coles2newcastle
May 30, 2023 / Red Hen Press

In her ninth collection of poems, Ghost Apples, Katharine Coles interrogates and celebrates her relationship with the natural world and the various creatures who inhabit it, and in doing so asks what it means to be sentient and mortal on a fragile planet. From her own pet parrot, Henri, to the birds her husband attracts to their feeders, to the wildlife who live just outside—and regularly cross—her property on the wild edge of Salt Lake City, she uses her capacity for intense observation and meditation to think her way into other lives and possible shared futures, both good and bad.


Flare, Corona
Jeannine Hall Gailey
May 9, 2023 / BOA Editions

Against a constellation of solar weather events and evolving pandemic, Jeannine Hall Gailey’s Flare, Corona paints a self-portrait of the layered ways that we prevail and persevere through illness and natural disaster. Gailey deftly juxtaposes odd solar and weather events with the medical disasters occurring inside her own brain and body— we follow her through a false-alarm terminal cancer diagnosis, a real diagnosis of MS, and finally the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The solar flare and corona of an eclipse becomes the neural lesions in her own personal “flare,” which she probes with both honesty and humor. While the collection features harbingers of calamity, visitations of wolves, blood moons, apocalypses, and plagues, at the center of it all are the poet’s attempts to navigate a fraught medical system, dealing with a series of challenging medical revelations, some of which are mirages and others that are all too real. In Flare, Corona, Jeannine Hall Gailey is incandescent and tender-hearted, gracefully insistent on teaching us all of the ways that we can live, all of the ways in which we can refuse to do anything but to brilliantly and stubbornly survive.

What Small Sound
Francesca Bell
May 9, 2023 / Red Hen Press

With unwavering tenderness and ferocity, Bell examines the perils and peculiarities of womanhood, motherhood, and our difficult, shared humanity. Francesca Bell’s second collection of poems, What Small Sound, interrogates what it means to be a mother in a country where there are five times as many guns as children; female in a country where a woman is raped every two minutes; and citizen of a world teeming with iniquities and peril. In poems rich in metaphor and music and unflinching in their gaze, Bell offers us an exacting view of the audiologist’s booth and the locked ward as she grapples with the gradual loss of her own hearing and the mental illness spreading its dark wings over her family. This is a book of plentiful sorrows but also of small and sturdy comforts, a book that chronicles the private, lonely life of the body as well as its tender generosities. What Small Sound wrestles with some of the broadest, most complicated issues of our time and also with the most fundamental issue of all: love. How it shelters and anchors us. How it breaks us and, ultimately, how it pieces us back together.





Continuity Errors by Catriona Wright
(May 23 / Coach House Books)

Feminist poems both serious and absurd that question our obsession with productivity instead of with care.
Continuity Errors questions the privileging of work and productivity over rest and care from an ecological and feminist perspective. Written before and immediately after the birth of her first child, these poems try to imagine the future her son will inherit. Encounters with an unusual cast of characters – including lonely cryptids, unrepentant grifters, and persistent ghosts – provide incomplete answers, and while the continuity errors keep multiplying around her, Wright pauses to consider whether our devotion to innovation is keeping us stuck.




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