Category: Books

Majestic Hollywood by Mark Vieria

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majestic hollywood1939 was a watershed year. The Great Depression was barely over; economics, politics, and culture braced for war. There was a lull before the storm and Hollywood, as if expecting to be judged by posterity, produced a portfolio of masterpieces. No year before or since has yielded so many beloved works of cinematic art: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Gunga Din, Only Angels Have Wings, Destry Rides Again, Beau Geste, Wuthering Heights, The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, Ninotchka, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Dark Victory, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Women, and of course, Gone With the Wind.

Majestic Hollywood showcases fifty films from this landmark year, with insightful text on the cultural significance of each movie and entertaining plot descriptions. Also included are stories from the legendary artists who made the films: directors William Wellman and John Ford; cinematographers Arthur Miller and Lee Garmes; actors Judy Garland, Rosalind Russell, Ray Milland, Sir Laurence Olivier, and Olivia de Havilland. This world of entertainment is illustrated by rarely seen images. Made during the most glamorous era in movie history, whether scene stills, behind-the-scenes candids, portraits, or poster art, the photos are as distinctive, evocative, and powerful as the films they were meant to publicize. Presenting the best of these images and the stories behind them, this book is a cavalcade of unforgettable films from 1939: Hollywood’s Greatest Year. (description from publisher)

Craft Beer for the Homebrewer by Michael Agnew

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craft beerAs the craft beer craze continues to sweep the nation, more and more people are deciding to try their hand at creating their own perfect brew. In Craft Beer for the Homebrewer, beer writer and certified cicerone (think sommelier for beer ) Michael Agnew merges the passions of consumption and creation into one definitive guidebook, designed for the craft beer lover who also happens to be a homebrew enthusiast.

Agnew presents dozens of recipes adapted by craft brewmasters for the homebrewer to make in his or her own kitchen, basement, garage, or patio. Based on the actual production beers of featured microbreweries, these recipes cover the entire range of beer styles – ambers and pales, IPAs, stouts and porters, Irish and Scottish ales, Belgians, and wheats – representing craft breweries from across the United States. Each recipe is accompanied by full-color photography, an ingredient list, instructions for both the mash and extract brewer, and historical and anecdotal notes about the brewery that provided it. Agnew prefaces the book with an introduction to the craft beer industry, briefly discussing the major ingredients and required equipment that homebrewers will encounter inside.

With its meticulous selection of delicious beer varieties, Craft Beer for the Homebrewer offers a beautifully designed collection of microbrews for the homebrewer on the cutting edge of the craft beer scene. (description from publisher)

Just Us Girls by Cindy Ann Ganaden

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justusgirlsExplore and nurture your mother-daughter bond and create a keepsake that you’ll cherish forever with Just Us Girls.

This highly-illustrated craft and activity book includes 48 heartfelt, earth-friendly projects to make together. These projects include making: dolls, press books, wreaths, crowns, earrings, handmade fossils, dreamcatchers, wands, garland, and much, much more. The projects mix and explore themes of beauty, magic, and appreciation for the natural world, while moving through the seasons of the year. Many projects incorporate up-cycled materials, objects from nature, and simple home ingredients. Activities are broken up into sections by season: spring, summer, fall, and winter, providing you with a year’s worth of fun and memories. Each activity is designed to bring you closer to each other and to the world around you.

Part scrapbooking, part memory-making, Just Us Girls makes a great gift for moms, daughters, grandmothers, granddaughters – women of all ages. (description from publisher)

The Great American Chocolate Chip Cookie Book by Carolyn Wyman

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great american chocolateThe advent and swift rise of the chocolate chip cookie offers some of the best stories in American myth-making and king-making. It might feel like this favorite treat is part of our national heritage, perhaps dating back to the founding fathers, but not until 1930 was the first batch impulsively baked in the kitchen of a Massachusetts inn. How quickly it became our nation’s favorite is what makes the chocolate chip cookie more relentlessly American than even apple pie. Easily commodified and mass-produced, it birthed new business moguls overnight, ultimately accounting for more than half of all homemade cookies, with sales of 6 billion packaged cookies annually in the U.S.–it’s the stuff of legend.

Revisit the Toll House Inn kitchen of Ruth Wakefield, who one fateful day took an ice pick to a block of chocolate and sprinkled it into her cookie dough, spawning a national craving that continues unabated to this day. Get to know the first chocolate chip cookie-preneurs and their unlikely success stories. Did you know that Wally “Famous” Amos was a successful music talent agent who signed Dionne Warwick and Simon and Garfunkel to recording contracts before he decided a brighter future lay in perfecting his dear aunt’s irresistible cookie recipe? Or that Mrs. Fields was a determined young trophy wife whose husband said her idea of trying to sell her chunky, chewy cookies would never work?

And the recipes are packed into this book like brown sugar in a measuring cup, from close approximations of the original Toll House and Mrs. Fields recipes to creative variations like Cake Mix Chocolate Chip Cookies and Pudding Chocolate Chip Cookies. Vegan, gluten-free, and low-fat/low-cal recipes are here, too. So whether you prefer yours crunchy or soft, with or without nuts, you’ll be delighted by the wealth of fun facts and delicious recipes in The Great American Chocolate Chip Cookie Book – and you’re sure to be scrambling for the pantry or nearest bakery to feed your craving. (description from publisher)

From A to Bee by James Dearsley

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from a to beeTaken from his popular blog, the Surrey Beekeeper, James Dearsley presents the first personal, accessible account of the experience of learning how to harvest bees in From A to Bee: My First Year as a Beginner Beekeeper.

“Beekeeping . . . oh my . . . what have I done? I am 30 years old, I have been married for three years and am a new father to a fantastic little boy. Surely there are things that I should be doing at this age which do not involve little yellow and black insects that can hurt you if you are remotely clumsy (which at 6ft 5, I have an amazing ability to be).”

James Dearsley’s wife thought he had lost his mind when he announced his intention to become a beekeeper. But like many interested in the self-sufficient lifestyle, he loved gardening and growing vegetables in his garden and the old romantic in him had idealistic notions of teaching his little boy where honey came from, so he set himself what seemed a reasonable goal: to get, in a year’s time, just one jar of honey. (description from publisher)

Five Came Back by Mark Harris

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five came backFive Came Back gives us the untold story of how Hollywood changed World War II, and how World War II changed Hollywood through the prism of five film directors caught up in the war: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens.

It was the best of times and the worst of times for Hollywood before the war. The box office was booming, and the studios’ control of talent and distribution was as airtight as could be hoped. But the industry’s relationship with Washington was decidedly uneasy – hearings and investigations into allegations of corruption and racketeering were multiplying, and hanging in the air was the insinuation that the business was too foreign, too Jewish, too “un-American” in its values and causes. Could an industry this powerful in shaping America’s mind-set really be left in the hands of this crew? Following Pearl Harbor, Hollywood had the chance to prove its critics wrong and did so with vigor, turning its talents and its business over to the war effort to an unprecedented extent.

No industry professionals played a bigger role in the war than America’s most legendary directors: Ford, Wyler, Huston, Capra, and Stevens. Between them they were on the scene of almost every major moment of America’s war, and in every branch of service – army, navy, and air force; Atlantic and Pacific; from Midway to North Africa; from Normandy to the fall of Paris and the liberation of the Nazi death camps; to the shaping of the message out of Washington, D.C. As it did for so many others, World War II divided the lives of these men into before and after. Even less well understood, the war divided the history of Hollywood into before and after as well. Harris reckons with that transformation on a human level and on the level of the industry and the country as a whole. Like these five men, Hollywood too, and indeed all of America, came back from the war having grown up more than a little. (description from publisher)

Happy Hour at Home by Scott Goodman

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happy hour at homeEntertain at home with ease, whipping up a delectable spread of pre-dinner treats, or simply transform a weeknight into a happy hour that rivals that of the swankiest bar.

Bringing the party home with drinks and snacks just got easier – even the amateur mixologist will be shaking and stirring in no time. Happy Hour at Home boasts sure-to-please classics like the Manhattans and mojitos, along with more inventive twists like Watermelon Cosmos and Kimchi Bloody Marys. The book also includes 90 recipes for a host of delicious treats, from Spanish tapas to American bar classics like sliders and oven-baked fries, to French and Italian-inspired flatbreads and olives that pair perfectly with cocktails for the ultimate at-home happy hour. (description from publisher)

Sitcom: a History in 24 Episodes by Saul Austerlitz

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sitcomThe form is so elemental, so basic, that we have difficulty imagining a time before it existed: a single set, fixed cameras, canned laughter, zany sidekicks, quirky family antics. Obsessively watched and critically ignored, sitcoms were a distraction, a gentle lullaby of a kinder, gentler America–until suddenly the artificial boundary between the world and television entertainment collapsed.

In Sitcom: a History in 24 Episodes we can watch the growth of the sitcom, following the path that leads from Lucy to The Phil Silvers Show; from The Dick Van Dyke Show to The Mary Tyler Moore Show; from M*A*S*H to Taxi; from Cheers to Roseanne; from Seinfeld to Curb Your Enthusiasm; and from The Larry Sanders Show to 30 Rock.

In twenty-four episodes, Sitcom surveys the history of the form, and functions as both a TV mixtape of fondly remembered shows that will guide us to notable series and larger trends, and a carefully curated guided tour through the history of one of our most treasured art forms. (description from publisher)

Grain Power by Patricia Green

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grain powerGrain Power makes it simple to include a variety of delicious gluten-free ancient grains in your everyday meals. Ancient grains are ideal for people with food allergies or gluten intolerances and for those looking for delicious, nutrient-rich grains for a healthy lifestyle. Packed with lots of variety and unique flavors, these recipes feature the popular gluten-free ancient grains amaranth, buckwheat, chia, kaniwa, quinoa, millet, oats, sorghum, and teff.

Grain Power is a complete cookbook featuring everything you need to know about cooking these ancient grains, as well as combining them into unique superblends. (description from publisher)

Bacon 24/7 by Theresa Gilliam

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baconEven as pork prices rise and the economy fluctuates, consumption of bacon remains steady. The American Meat Institute reports that bacon has an almost cult-like following; the Facebook page About Bacon has more than 10 million Likes. Its sublime savory taste has been endorsed by scientists as well: bacon boasts umami, the seductive “fifth taste” that heightens and rises beyond sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Bacon isn’t just an infatuation–it’s a way of life.

In Bacon 24/7, author Theresa Gilliam and photographer E Jane Armstrong have teamed up to create a fun and current cookbook to feed the need for bacon. They include recipes for every hour, from dawn through dark, as well as info on topics such as how to cure and smoke your own bacon. Drool-worthy photographs highlight dishes such as Pasta Carbonara, Pork Belly Hash with Kale and Sweet Potatoes, and Apple Pie with Bacon Strudel.

Any evening that begins with a Bacon-Infused Manhattan holds the promise of being an unforgettable night. (description from publisher)