Mind Over Batter by Jack Hazen
A whole book talking about baking as therapy! From a therapist and a baker! This is so up my alley. I bake for sanity, I make food for people as a love language. If I can’t bake I get antsy. I think this is a mostly excellent book. Hazen connects recipes to aspects of mental health that he wants you to keep in mind. He may focus on the sensory aspects of baking (aroma, feel, sound), or the necessary lessons of patience. He also uses […]
The Lost Boy by Greg Ruth
The other day I was looking for a book at the library. Never did find that one, but in the browsing, I picked up The Lost Boy by Greg Ruth. It looked interesting enough, the cover a “spooky” brown and green mix. The boy heading into light but not necessarily good looking light. And that tree like “Lost Boy” font/title gave it mystery and supernatural vibes. Open it up and you see black and white illustrations. They are nice enough, detailed, but not overly so. […]
The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente.
I did not think I would like the short novel; The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente. I felt I would never understand it and was going to stop reading as things felt disjointed, the narrator was bouncing all over, and there was stuff that was very off. The book felt like a translation that was not smoothly translated at that. However, once I understood the flow (there was one), the bounces between “really then, then, and now,” plus how reliable the narrative is […]
The Baby-Sisters Club The Truth About Stacey V02 by Raina Telgemeier
The Baby-Sitters Club Mary Anne Saves the Day V03 by Raina Telgemeier
Some of us might have read Ann M. Martin as a young kid. This would have been the 1980s and 1990s. I missed her Baby-Sitters Club original run (my younger sister was a fan), but I have enjoyed her 21st century contributions to the world of literature. When Raina Telgemeier took over the series for a graphic novel adaptation, I gave them a shot. I have read three or four of the main stories, and one or two of a companion series, and figured they […]
The Unseen Body: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy by Jonathan Reisman
Best for: Those interested in the human body, but also books that can’t quite be categorized. In a nutshell: Author Reisman discusses different parts of the human body while also sharing his experiences with it, his experiences with patients, and … sometimes food? Worth quoting: “Empathy is not always easy, but it always matters.” “The medical community’s ignorance, as well as our biases, means that the nutrition advice we give to patients changes constantly.” Why I chose it: I like kind of weird little books […]
The Love Report by BeKa and Maya
The Love Report has been giving me several fits. The first being that it is not out until at least mid-June 2023, the second being it is not yet in our system so I cannot send reviews for “talking up” on our website or show I read it on sites I use to count my reading. And finally, I am not sure if I liked it. Now, that sounds odd, I know. I do know I did not dislike, but like is another story. We […]
