Extra Virgin: The Cookbook Your Italian Grandmother Would Be Proud toSee in Your Kitchen

This cookbook can easily be confused as a coffee table book. The photography is stunning! Gabriele Corcos and Debi Mazar transport the flavors and family atmosphere to your home through their book, Extra Virgin: Recipes and Love from Our Tuscan Kitchen.

Extra Virgin by Gabriele Corcos and Debi Mazar

Beautifully presented, Extra Virgin provides the recipes that are authentically Tuscan and will impress even your picky Italian Grandmother! There is something for every occasion, season or craving, from your pasta to your soups and even Tiramisu. All of the ingredients were easily accessible and the recipes were clear and easy to follow.

My favorite thing about this book though had to be the was that Corcos and Mazar infuse this book with their personal stories. It comes across as a mix of cookbook/family album that just adds to the authentic Tuscan vibe.

Blogger note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. This review is entirely based on my opinion and contains my honest evaluation.

It's Easier Than You Think to Be the Mom That Makes the Crafty Goodies,Thanks to Candy Aisle Crafts

You've seen those moms. The ones with all the carefully crafted goodies for every occasion. You've tried and failed to master the art of the infamous snowman cupcake. You are more familiar with Pintrest fails than you are with bragable success stories of treats gone right. Well let me stop you right there and let you in on a little secret. Come closer. Ready? Candy Aisle Crafts by Jodi Levine.

Candy Aisle Crafts by Jodi Levine. Photo courtesy of Crown Publishing

I know what you are thinking: You've tried to master the easy treats and you fail miserably. Cut yourself some slack. It's not you. It's that the instructions you were trying to follow were way too convoluted and overly-complex. This book is the answer. You will impress all the Moms at the PTA when you craft the coolest cookie castle cake for your son's party! Your daughter will love the snowman cupcakes for her Frozen-themed soiree! There are really adorable (and super-easy Halloween and Christmas) cake toppers! Specialty lollipops! Do you like marshmallows? Then there is a whole chapter devoted to the amazing and easy-peasy treats you can make with 'em!

This book is for the Mom who wants to give her kids fun treats without spending all day in the kitchen. The ingredients are all things you can pick up at the local grocery store and the directions are easy to follow, with gorgeous photos. Totally fool-proof, tasty and adorable treats are just a book away.

Blogger note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. This review is entirely based on my opinion and contains my honest evaluation.

A Love Story Plus The History of Skyjacking Equals a FascinatinglyUn-put-down-able Read

As someone with a lifelong fear of flying, it always surprises people that I am fascinated by books, movies and documentaries about airplane hijacking. It's almost a question of "which came first?" the fear or was the fear a result of all the skyjacking media consumed at a slightly overdone rate?

In any case, The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking by Brendan I. Koerner was a wild ride of a book. Half the book serves as a primer about the beginnings of airplane hijacking in the United States, circa early 1960s through the 1970s. A time when air travel had just become a viable option on par with trains and automobiles. A time when the word "lax" didn't quite pin the atmosphere of what the experience of traveling was like in domestic airports. The rampant freedom of anyone wandering anywhere in an airport, nobody asking you to remove your shoes and all metal objects from your person. This was absolutely fascinating to me, to imagine a time where there was no screening process to board a flight and the worst that could happen was that you happened to find yourself on a hijacked plane making a detour to Cuba. When all was said and done, no one was worse for the wear. Hijackings in the early days of air travel were such a frequent occurrences (with days when there was multiple hijackings happening simultaneously!). It baffled me to read how hijacking went from being an almost harmless crime (mild, legal prosecution, no harm to passengers/crew), to being the nightmare that it is today.

Koerner manages to intertwine the fascinating history of skyjacking along an even more fascinating recount of infamous hijacking couple, Roger Holder and Cathy Kerkow. Holder represented the most common and potentially dangerous kind of hijacker: one who was disillusioned by the government (in Holder's case, the military) and desires to become a man to right all the social injustices he perceives. His method of changing the world? Hijacking a domestic plane and taking refuge in Algiers. Unheard of in 1972, sadly a common fact of life in our post 9/11 world.

While the story of Holder and Kerkow was interesting, I found the historical context of the book much more enjoyable. A fast read that leaves you nostalgic for a time when air travel was innocent.

Blogger note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. This review is entirely based on my opinion and contains my honest evaluation.

Photo Courtesy of: Random House

Tinseltown by William J Mann: Good Old 1920s Hollywood Murder Mystery

Black and white movies. Drugs. Movie censorship. Celebrity secrets. Unsolved murder. If you like all these elements mixed in against the backdrop of the 1920s old Hollywood, then you should give this book a whirl.
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J Mann is a great pick for those who are big fans of old Hollywood. Mann packs a heaping 480 pages worth of true Hollywood murder mystery into this noir-esque true story centering on the murder of 1920s film director William Desmond Taylor.

Tinseltown, by William J Mann

While the "who done it?" portion of the story is a little slow moving, you have to applaud Mann for the amount of research he must have done to write this book. And it's only slow moving because of the amount of background and detail Mann provides. As a reader, you find yourself engaged in the story to the point where you almost forget everything you are reading really happened. So it's a true story that reads like fiction.
Tinsletown name drops 1920s Hollywood stars left and right so if you are a fan of old Hollywood history, this would be a great addition to your book collection. As someone with very little knowledge of old Hollywood, I came away feeling like this book thoroughly indoctrinated me in the subject matter. It's the 1920s equivalent of TMZ!
My only complaint about the book was that I found myself having to stop very frequently to Google the "characters" in the book so I could 1) put a face with the name and 2) get a little more background on who the Hollywood players of the 20s were. It would've been nice if there were photos in the book.
All in all, this is a good read for anyone who has an interest in mysteries and 1920s Hollywood. You will come away with lots of knowledge of Hollywood in its Heyday!
Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book for review. The opinions stated within this review were my own and were provided without compensation.

Finally Use That Fancy Expensive Camera with Some Help from Me Ra Kohin Your Family in Pictures

Okay so I'll be the first to admit it, when my son was born one of the things I bought (in addition to all the customary baby must-haves) was a fancy and very pricey DSLR camera. I justified this purchase quite easily: I wanted to capture all of the moments so I could have all of the memories. Birthdays, holidays and important events came and went. And I snapped away merrily, secretly hiding the fact that I had no clue what I was doing. I mean there are a reason people call themselves professional photographers, they know what they are doing behind their very expensive camera lenses.

Enter Me Ra Koh's newest book, Your Family in Pictures. THIS, fellow clueless picture-snapping parents, will now be your bible. I am not kidding. I have purchased other books that promised to help newbies like me master said fancy camera, to no avail. They were written like textbooks and I was unable to EASILY and QUICKLY access the tips and info I needed. Sure, the inner workings of camera can be very fascinating for some, but I'm a busy mom and I just don't have that kind of time on my hands.

What Koh manages to do is demystify the practice of taking good pictures. That simple. She presents the book in almost a cookbook-like way, dividing sections into topics that the picture-taker may want to capture. Very specific topics like: Bedtime, Fourth of July (seriously now I can take a good photo of fireworks!), Sisters, A Day at the Beach, Outdoor Sports...it's all here. Easy "recipes" give simple directions for capturing these moments with your DSLR OR P&S (point and shoot). It doesn't get any easier to capture beautiful pictures of your family in any situation you could possibly want to compose.

Got a new camera or just want to make the most of the one you already have? Get this book.

Your Family in Pictures by Me Ra Koh courtesy of Crown Publishing

Blogger note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. This review is entirely based on my opinion and contains my honest evaluation.

Wanderlust Abounds in What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding

This book should come with a disclaimer: Have passport handy while reading. Really, this book will give you a major case of wanderlust (or at least it did me!). I read Kristin Newman's memoir What I Was Doing While You Were Breeding and longed to visit all the places she had. I wanted the foreign romances in Argentina, the walkabout in New Zealand, the typical partying you'd expect of Amsterdam and of course Paris on New Year's (tres chic!).

Another disclaimer: this book not only recounts Newman's 30-ish single-girl worldly travels but also her 30-ish single-girl worldly romantic conquests so just a head's up. The details are ALL THERE. Newman perfectly describes these encounters as "sweet, sexy, epic little vacationships" as opposed to relationships, which she avoids like some third-world plague.

So while Newman's friends were married and having babies, she was living the dream (as she saw fit). Which speaks loud and clear about following one's path and not being fearful of new experiences (even if it means going it alone). I found her tale refreshing and empowering for young women. Her message of it's okay to buck the trend and not get married before you are ready! and go have adventures because that is what living is supposed to be about! No regrets! And her whole "do the thing you are supposed to do in the place where you are" is a pretty good rule for travelers of all kinds. Engage with the locals, see the must-see sights, but the real gems are often the hidden ones that you have to go off the beaten path to experience. Immerse yourself in the culture. Become semi-fluent in the language. And maybe, if it feels right, get a little cozy with that Argentinian!

It should be noted that Kristen-adjacent (the traveling version of herself) is a Hollywood sit-com writer who has both the means financially and flexibility job-wise to travel during the off season. This sad, sad realization kept smacking reality into me when I daydreamed a little too hard about leaving my family and job for a little bit of world travel. Big buzz kill moment.

Newman's voice as a comedy writer comes across loud and clear and I couldn't help but imagine the two of us sharing a few bottles of wine as she personally recounted to me these tales of romance and adventure abroad. Very fun, irreverent and girl-friend to girl-friend kind of tone.

To sum up, this book is the EXACT POLAR OPPOSITE of Eat Pray Love, which ironically enough Newman has the insight to see herself and note that while she wasn't a fan of it, she could see all the things that were annoying about that book in her own memoir, noting that she (Newman) had a "tendency to be self-involved and inflict misery on (herself) in the middle of (her) pretty amazing life".

Toss this book into your carry-on on your next sojourn or just bring it with you to the beach and get lost in living vicariously through Newman's experiences.

Blogger note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. This review is entirely based on my opinion and contains my honest evaluation.

photo courtesy of Random House

Go from Clueless in the Kitchen to a Cooking Diva with KitchenConfidence

True Confession time: I hate cooking. Scratch that, I don't like cooking. Wait, that isn't quite right either. I think what I'm trying to say is that I can't cook. It's a little embarrassing to admit that, especially with everyone constantly Instagramming pics of their super-yummy looking (and I'm sure tasty) meals.

Enter Kelsey Nixon's book, Kitchen Confidence. Really, there is no false advertisement here at all. This book makes cooking easy. The recipes are delicious, well-presented and the instructions are simplified, even for an un-domestic goddess like me!

Hands down the best recipes in this book are the Berries & Cream Stuffed French Toast, Grilled Veggie Panzanella, Stovetop Mac & Cheese, Grilled Fruit Skewers and Skillet Blueberry and Peach Cobbler (I'm a vegetarian so I skipped over the meat meals!). But honestly, everything is so well-presented and easy to follow that you can't mess any of them up.

Most of the recipes come with variations so you can change them up from time to time. I also really like how Nixon provides recipes for some staples like your basic rolls and quinoa pilaf. She also provides lots of useful how-to's as a great introduction to techniques such as braising, pickling, blanching and stir-frying just to name a few.

This book is perfect for a young person trying to navigate their way in the kitchen for the first time or anyone like me who is clueless when it comes to cooking. These meals are impressive and delicious.

Blogger note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. This review is entirely based on my opinion and contains my honest evaluation.

photo courtesy of: Clarkson Potter Publishers