Once Upon a Kitchen by Leslie Bilderback

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Once Upon a Kitchen: 101 Magical Recipes

Author: Leslie Bilderback

Publisher: Get Creative 6

Release Date: 11.2.21

Publisher’s Summary 

Make magic in your very own kitchen with 101 recipes inspired by Harry Potter, Tolkien, King Arthur, Star Wars, Disney, and more!

For lovers of legends, wizards, enchantment, and (of course) food, Once Upon a Kitchen celebrates all things magical. Author and top chef Leslie Bilderback has created 101 recipes inspired by classic books, movies and TV shows. She draws from sources as rich and varied as The Lord of the Rings, Arabian Nights, the Star Wars saga, Grimm’s fairy tales, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the Potterverse.

Enjoy Mrs. Potts’s Tea Poached Salmon; Scheherazade’s Arabic Coffee and Cardamom Cookies; Gandalf’s Cold Chicken and Pickles; Jedi Ration Bars; Rapunzel’s Rampion Salad; Mary Poppins’s We Are Not a Codfish and Chips; a Coconut Shrimp Green Curry “Witches Brew” in honor of Macbeth; and Mulan’s Dragon Fruit Pops.

My Review

What a fun concept! As someone who always craves whatever the characters in my book are eating, I loved the idea of being able to create some of the more "magical" menu items I've come across. Once Upon a Kitchen: 101 Magical Recipes is organized into 13 chapters:

1. The Arthurian Legend
2. 1,001 Arabian Nights
3. Shakespeare's Sorcery
4. The Tolkien Universe
5. The Potterverse
6. The Jedi
7. Grimm's Fairy Tales
8. Magical Nannies
9. Disney Magic
10. Movie Magic
11. Television Spells
12. Alchemists and Magicians
13. Colonial American Magic

Each chapter features several recipes, and each recipe includes a backstory section as well as a full page color photo. Recipes range from teas and cocktails to full entrees and sides to snacks and sweets. The first recipes I will be testing will be Caliban's Hot Crab Dip with Tropical Fruit Salsa (Shakespeare) and Golden Gingerbread with Lemon Curd (Grimm's). This would be a great cookbook for someone who loves magical books, movies, and television shows. It would also be fun to use this recipe collection to cook with friends and family members. Definitely a recommendation for a holiday gift, too. 

True Raiders by Brad Ricca

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: True Raiders: The Untold Story of the 1909 Expedition to Find the Legendary Ark of the Covenant

Author: Brad Ricca

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Release Date: 9.21.21

Publisher’s Summary 

True Raiders is The Lost City of Z meets The Da Vinci Code, from critically acclaimed author Brad Ricca.

This book tells the untold true story of Monty Parker, a British rogue nobleman who, after being dared to do so by Ava Astor, the so-called "most beautiful woman in the world," headed a secret 1909 expedition to find the fabled Ark of the Covenant. Like a real-life version of Raiders of the Lost Ark, this incredible story of adventure and mystery has almost been completely forgotten today.

In 1908, Monty is approached by a strange Finnish scholar named Valter Juvelius who claims to have discovered a secret code in the Bible that reveals the location of the Ark. Monty assembles a ragtag group of blueblood adventurers, a renowned psychic, and a Franciscan father, to engage in a secret excavation just outside the city walls of Jerusalem.

Using recently uncovered records from the original expedition and several newly translated sources, True Raiders is the first retelling of this group's adventures- in the space between fact and faith, science and romance.

My Review

This book was wild! The description of "real-life version of Raiders of the Lost Ark" is absolutely not too far of a stretch. Add in some "DaVinci Code," "History's Mysteries," and a beautiful love interest (Ava Astor, a woman recently divorced from America's first multi-millionaire businessman) and you can see that Hollywood movie play out in your head as you read each chapter. I was in such disbelief that this was a true story because it read like a suspense novel, full of anticipation and intrigue. I definitely suggest this to anyone looking for nonfiction book recommendations.  

The Collective by Alison Gaylin

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Collective 

Author: Alison Gaylin

Publisher: William Morrow

Release Date: 11.2.21

Publisher’s Summary 

Just how far will a grieving mother go to right a tragic wrong?

Camille Gardner is a grieving—and angry—mother who, five years after her daughter’s death, is still obsessed with the privileged young man she believes to be responsible.

When her rash actions attract the attention of a secret group of women—the collective—Camille is drawn into a dark web where these mothers share their wildly different stories of loss as well as their desire for justice in a world where privilege denies accountability and perpetrators emerge unscathed. Fueled by mutual rage, these women orchestrate their own brand of justice through precise, anonymous, complexly plotted and perfectly executed revenge killings, with individual members completing a specific and integral task in each plan.

As Camille struggles to comprehend whether this is a role-playing exercise or terrifying reality, she must decide if these women are truly avenging angels or monsters. Becoming more deeply enmeshed in the group, Camille learns truths about the collective—and about herself—that she may not be able to survive.

My Review

Facebook groups for mothers in mourning are not what Camille Gardner is looking for. She doesn't want to be told sweet nothings and given false comforts, she wants revenge on the boy who killed her daughter but escaped punishment. An anonymous invitation to join a group on the dark web starts a series of events that had me on the edge of my seat. For anyone who is infuriated by characters making obvious mistakes (like sending an email from a home computer, keeping the receipts after buying the murder weapon, etc.) this book will give you a rush of satisfaction. Super smart and twisty, The Collective was a definite five star read. 

The Genome Defense by Jorge L. Contreras

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Genome Defense: Inside the Epic Legal Battle to Determine Who Owns Your DNA
Author: Jorge L. Contreras
Publisher: Algonquin
Release Date: 10.26.21


Publisher’s Summary
In this riveting, behind-the-scenes courtroom drama, a brilliant legal team battles corporate greed and government overreach for our fundamental right to control our genes.

When attorney Chris Hansen learned that the U.S. government was issuing patents for human genes to biotech companies, his first thought was, How can a corporation own what makes us who we are? Then he discovered that women were being charged exorbitant fees to test for hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, tests they desperately needed—all because Myriad Genetics had patented the famous BRCA genes. So he sued them.

Jorge L. Contreras, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on human genetics law, has devoted years to investigating the groundbreaking civil rights case known as AMP v. Myriad. In The Genome Defense Contreras gives us the view from inside as Hansen and his team of ACLU lawyers, along with a committed group of activists, scientists, and physicians, take their one-in-a-million case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Contreras interviewed more than a hundred key players involved in all aspects of the case—from judges and policy makers to ethicists and genetic counselors, as well as cancer survivors and those whose lives would be impacted by the decision—expertly weaving together their stories into a fascinating narrative of this pivotal moment in history.

The Genome Defense is a powerful and compelling story about how society must balance scientific discovery with corporate profits and the rights of all people.


My Review
I love all books, movies, and TV shows that focus on any aspect of genetics (The Unfit Heiress, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Orphan Black, etc.) In The Genome Defense, I learned so much about the history of laws surrounding genes and genetic testing in the United States. I also gained a new understanding into the gap between scientific advancements and the delayed creation and application of relevant laws. This is a book that I will likely buy a physical copy of for 2 reasons: #1 the review copy had empty spaces where I'm sure the final specific information for dates, monetary amounts, etc. will be included and #2 while I think this book is so cutting edge and current, it will be fascinating to revisit it in future years after further genetic and legal advancements. 

The Lighthouse Witches by C.J. Cooke

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Lighthouse Witches
Author: C.J. Cooke
Publisher: Berkley
Release Date: 10.5.21

Publisher’s Summary
Two sisters go missing on a remote Scottish island. Twenty years later, one is found--but she's still the same age as when she disappeared. The secrets of witches have reached across the centuries in this chilling Gothic thriller from the author of the acclaimed The Nesting.

When single mother Liv is commissioned to paint a mural in a 100-year-old lighthouse on a remote Scottish island, it's an opportunity to start over with her three daughters--Luna, Sapphire, and Clover. When two of her daughters go missing, she's frantic. She learns that the cave beneath the lighthouse was once a prison for women accused of witchcraft. The locals warn her about wildlings, supernatural beings who mimic human children, created by witches for revenge. Liv is told wildlings are dangerous and must be killed.

Twenty-two years later, Luna has been searching for her missing sisters and mother. When she receives a call about her youngest sister, Clover, she's initially ecstatic. Clover is the sister she remembers--except she's still seven years old, the age she was when she vanished. Luna is worried Clover is a wildling. Luna has few memories of her time on the island, but she'll have to return to find the truth of what happened to her family. But she doesn't realize just how much the truth will change her.


My Review

This is the first C.J. Cooke book I've read but it will definitely not be the last!

Single mother Liv runs away from a recent realization when she relocates her family to a remote Scottish island. Painting a mural inside a dilapidated lighthouse may not be what she believes is the ideal artist's commission but the location will allow her ample quality time with her three daughters. Told in time jumps with history of both the lighthouse and the witch trials of the British Isles and Scotland, this book kept me wondering and questioning what in the world was going on--but in the best way. Creepy, spooky, and a little horror, this is the perfect story to cuddle up with on a cold autumn night.

The Ninth Metal (The Comet Cycle #1) by Benjamin Percy

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Ninth Metal (The Comet Cycle #1)
Author: Benjamin Percy
Publisher: 6.1.21
Release Date: Mariner 

Publisher’s Summary
IT BEGAN WITH A COMET…

At first, people gazed in wonder at the radiant tear in the sky. A year later, the celestial marvel became a planetary crisis when Earth spun through the comet’s debris field and the sky rained fire.

The town of Northfall, Minnesota will never be the same. Meteors cratered hardwood forests and annihilated homes, and among the wreckage a new metal was discovered. This “omnimetal” has properties that make it world-changing as an energy source…and a weapon.

John Frontier—the troubled scion of an iron-ore dynasty in Northfall—returns for his sister’s wedding to find his family embroiled in a cutthroat war to control mineral rights and mining operations. His father rightly suspects foreign leaders and competing corporations of sabotage, but the greatest threat to his legacy might be the U.S. government. Physicist Victoria Lennon was recruited by the Department of Defense to research omnimetal, but she finds herself trapped in a laboratory of nightmares. And across town, a rookie cop is investigating a murder that puts her own life in the cross-hairs. She will have to compromise her moral code to bring justice to this now lawless community.

In this gut-punch of a novel, the first in his Comet Cycle, Ben Percy lays bare how a modern-day gold rush has turned the middle of nowhere into the center of everything, and how one family—the Frontiers—hopes to control it all.


My Review

If you would have asked me before I read this novel if I wanted to read an X-men-like origin novel about humans being transformed by a space material crashing to Earth, I would have firmly answered "no." However, I loved Benjamin Percy's The Dead Lands and now, after reading this The Ninth Metal, I'm firmly invested in The Comet Cycle series. There is warring between and within families, a town cult, government experiments, police drama, and political power plays all set within a modern-day gold rush. Multiple subplots would make this a great option for a television series. I especially loved honest and determined policewoman Stacie Toal and can't wait to see where her storyline leads in future installments. 

The Weekday Vegetarians and Weeknight/Weekend

 

I received copies of these books from their publishers in exchange for honest reviews.

Title: The Weekday Vegetarians: 100 Recipes and a Real-Life Plan for Eating Less Meat
Author: Jenny Rosenstrach 
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Release Date: 8.31.21

Publisher’s Summary
Jenny Rosenstrach, creator of the beloved blog Dinner: A Love Story and Cup of Jo columnist, knew that she wanted to eat better for health reasons and for the planet but didn't want to miss the meat that she loves. But why does it have to be all or nothing? She figured that she could eat vegetarian during the week and save meaty splurges for the weekend. The Weekday Vegetarians shows readers how Jenny got her family on board with a weekday plant-based mentality and lays out a plan for home cooks to follow, one filled with brilliant and bold meat-free meals.

Curious cooks will find more than 100 recipes (organized by meal type) for comforting, family-friendly foods like Pizza Salad with White Beans, Cauliflower Cutlets with Ranch Dressing, and Squash and Black Bean Tacos. Jenny also offers key flavor hits that will make any tray of roasted vegetables or bowl of garlicky beans irresistible--great things to make and throw on your next meal, such as spiced Crispy Chickpeas (who needs croutons?), Pizza Dough Croutons (you need croutons!), and a sweet chile sauce that makes everything look good and taste amazing. The Weekday Vegetarians is loaded with practical tips, techniques, and food for thought, and Jenny is your sage guide to getting more meat-free meals into your weekly rotation.

My Review
I would love to eat less meat and my husband has said several times that he wishes he were a vegetarian. Our problems are breaking the mental habit of thinking that each meal must contain meat and making smart food choices if meat is eliminated from a meal, because vegetarian/vegan doesn't instantly equal healthy. Jenny Rosenstrach has compiled a collection of 100 simple and approachable recipes that have each passed the test with her family. I tested her recipes for "A Farrotto for All Seasons" and "Chickpea-Pasta Mac & Cheese" and I deemed them each to be a success. The steps were easy to follow, the results got thumbs up all around, and I was proud to introduce 2 new ingredients (farro and chickpea pasta) into my family's dinner repertoire.  




Title: Once Upon a Chef: Weeknight/Weekend: 70 Quick-Fix Weeknight Dinners + 30 Luscious Weekend Recipes
Author: Jennifer Segal
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
Release Date: 9.14.21

Publisher’s Summary
Jennifer Segal, author of the blog and bestselling cookbook Once Upon a Chef, is known for her foolproof, updated spins on everyday classics. Meticulously tested and crafted with an eye toward both flavor and practicality, Jenn's recipes hone in on exactly what you feel like making.

Here she devotes whole chapters to fan favorites, from Marvelous Meatballs to Chicken Winners, and Breakfast for Dinner to Family Feasts. Whether you decide on sticky-sweet Barbecued Soy and Ginger Chicken Thighs; an enlightened and healthy-ish take on Turkey, Spinach & Cheese Meatballs; Chorizo-Style Burgers; or Brownie Pudding that comes together in under thirty minutes, Jenn has you covered.


My Review
Sometimes I love a cookbook for the pictures or the stories, but I'm not drawn to the recipes. That is not the case with Weeknight/Weekend. This is one of those cookbooks where I think I could cook every recipe. I started with the Sheet Pan Chicken and Pancetta Meatballs and (to my husband's delight) the Baked Ziti. Next up: Baked Salmon with Honey Mustard and Pecan-Panko Crust, Brownie Pudding, and Old-Fashioned Cinnamon Swirl Crumb Cake. I'll be interested to see how this crumb cake recipe stands up to my Best Damn Crumb Cake.

✨BLOG TOUR✨ Trashlands by Alison Stine

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Trashlands
Author: Alison Stine
Publisher: MIRA Books
Release Date: 10.26.21


Publisher’s Summary

A resonant, visionary novel about the power of art and the sacrifices we are willing to make for the ones we love

A few generations from now, the coastlines of the continent have been redrawn by floods and tides. Global powers have agreed to not produce any new plastics, and what is left has become valuable: garbage is currency.

In the region-wide junkyard that Appalachia has become, Coral is a “plucker,” pulling plastic from the rivers and woods. She’s stuck in Trashlands, a dump named for the strip club at its edge, where the local women dance for an endless loop of strangers and the club's violent owner rules as unofficial mayor.

Amid the polluted landscape, Coral works desperately to save up enough to rescue her child from the recycling factories, where he is forced to work. In her stolen free hours, she does something that seems impossible in this place: Coral makes art.

When a reporter from a struggling city on the coast arrives in Trashlands, Coral is presented with an opportunity to change her life. But is it possible to choose a future for herself?

Told in shifting perspectives, Trashlands is a beautifully drawn and wildly imaginative tale of a parent's journey, a story of community and humanity in a changed world.



My Review
Alison Stine is back with another spectacular work of speculative fiction. Set in the near future, Trashlands transports readers to another vision of Stine's dystopian Appalachia. In Road Out of Winter, Stine envisioned a world in a state of near-perpetual winter, and now Trashlands showcases a world devastated by floods and tornadoes, where most cities are barely still standing and plastic is the only form of currency. Full of Scrappalachian plastic gatherers called "pluckers," and workers at the Trashlands strip club, Trashlands is a quiet analysis of how much things can change and how much they can stay the same--power is held in the hands of a few, traumatic events have lifelong consequences, and love is complicated. This novel has firmly cemented Alison Stine into my "auto-buy" authors category.     

Author Bio:





Alison Stine is an award-winning poet and author. Recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and an Ohio Arts Council grant, she was a Wallace Stegner Fellow and received the Studs Terkel Award for Media and Journalism. She works as a freelance reporter with The New York Times, writes for The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The Guardian, 100 Days in Appalachia, ELLE, The Kenyon Review, and others, and has been a storyteller on The Moth. After living in Appalachian Ohio for many years, she now lives and writes in Colorado with her partner, her son, and a small orange cat.



Buy Links:
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Amazon
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The Movement by Petra Hůlová,

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Movement
Author: Petra Hůlová, Alex Zucker (Translation)
Publisher: World Editions
Release Date: 10.5.21


Publisher’s Summary
In this utopia, the feminist Movement has been successful and women rule the world. Men are trained at reeducation facilities to accept the new normal in this futuristic satire challenging our sexual norms.

The Movement's founding ideology emphasizes that women should be valued for their inner qualities, spirit, and character, and not for their physical attributes. Men have been forbidden to be attracted to women on the basis of their bodies. Some continue with unreformed attitudes but many submit--or are sent by their wives and daughters--to the Institute for internment and reeducation. However, the Movement also struggles with women and their "old attitudes," with many still undergoing illegal cosmetic surgeries and wearing makeup. Our narrator, an unapologetic guard at one of these reeducation facilities, describes how the Movement started, the challenges faced, her own personal journey, and what happens when a program fails. She is convinced the Movement is nearing its final victory--a time when everybody falls in line with its ideals. Outspoken, ambiguous, and terrifying, this socio-critical satire of our sexual norms sets the reader firmly outside of their comfort zone.



My Review
I love satire. (The Atmospherians, released earlier this year, was so smart.) I really thought The Movement would be similar but more intellectually in-depth satirical novel with its "feminist theory put into action" angle, but I found a lot of the story repetitive and wildly philosophical as well as slow-paced. The entire storyline is about a female-dominant society forcing men (and some women) to not find physical aspects of a woman's body desirable, instead turning their entire focus to a woman's character and personality. An interesting concept and tongue-in-cheek critique of heteronormative sexuality, this short book (just over 200 pages) would have worked better as a short story. 

In the Company of Witches by Auralee Wallace

 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: In the Company of Witches (Evenfall Witches B&B #1)
Author: Auralee Wallace
Publisher: Berkley Books
Release Date: 10.5.21


Publisher’s Summary
When a guest dies in the B&B she helps her aunts run, a young witch must rely on some good old-fashioned investigating to clear her aunt's name in this magical and charming new cozy mystery.

For four hundred years, the Warren witches have used their magic to quietly help the citizens of the sleepy New England town of Evenfall thrive. There's never been a problem they couldn't handle. But then Constance Graves--a local known for being argumentative and demanding--dies while staying at the bed and breakfast Brynn Warren maintains with her aunts. At first, it seems like an accident...but it soon becomes clear that there's something more sinister at work, and Aunt Nora is shaping up to be the prime suspect.

There's nothing Brynn wants more than to prove Nora's innocence, and it hurts her to know that even two years ago that might have been easier. Brynn, after all, is a witch of the dead--a witch who can commune with ghosts. Ghosts never remember much about their deaths, but Constance might remember something about her life that would help crack the case. But Brynn hasn't used her powers since her husband died, and isn't even sure she still can. Brynn will just have to hope that her aunts' magic and her own investigative skills will lead her to answers--and maybe back to the gift she once thought herself ready to give up forever.


My Review

This was the perfect cozy mystery for kicking off the fall season. Add witches and magic to a B&B setting and I'm not sure what more I could ask for in a cozy. I kinda got Sabrina the Teenage Witch vibes with Brynn living with her two aunts. I am so happy to know that this is the first in a series and there will be more to come and I would especially love it if each of the installments came out each year around this time. If I had to make a complaint, I did have a hard time keeping names and people straight at the beginning of the book. There were lots of people introduced at once and lots of people had nicknames.