Category: Books

An Amish Garden by Laura Anne Lapp

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an amish gardenAn Amish Garden: A Year in the Life of an Amish Garden by Laura Anne Lapp takes you to six working Amish gardens, from January through December. Matchless photos show the garden asleep, the Amish women putting together their orders for seeds, the preparation of the soil, parents and children planting, the emerging plants, the lush harvest, the food being preserved.

This close-up of a world seldom seen shows how the seasons and Amish life work rhythmically together. Laura Anne Lapp lives with her husband and three young sons in a tucked-away valley in Pennsylvania. Gardening is simply the highpoint of her year.

Step apart and enter this pastoral world of hard work, sturdy families, the freshest of flowers and produce, all in harmony with the seasons. (description from publisher)

Pillow Stalk by Diane Vallere

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pillow stalkIf you’re a fan of Mad Men, you’ll appreciate this Mad for Mod series. The hero is Madison Night, an interior decorator, who models herself after Doris Day. One subplot revolves around a local  theatre that is gearing up for a Doris Day festival.

Pillow Stalk by Diane Vallere appeals to  those who may have an interest in mid-century design, a unique Dallas neighborhood (the M streets), and, to a lessor extent, an actual mystery.

Madison  and her circle of acquantances (swimming, decorating, and film) are well-drawn and their various interactions serve to flesh out the philosophy and aesthetic of fifties and sixties clothes and furniture. The appeal of the colors, textures, and fabrics of this era are made tangible and specific when she discovers a great bedroom set, pillows, crockery or formica table. Part of her business model is to dress the part – always outfitted in color-coordinated outfits and high heels.

A good companion would be The Thing About Jane Spring by Sharon Krum. The heroine of this novel adopts the clothing, attitude and lifestyle of Doris Day in order to improve her romantic prospects.

 

Vegetable Literacy by Deborah Madison

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vegetable literacyFor over three decades, Deborah Madison has been at the vanguard of the vegetarian cooking movement, authoring classic books on the subject and emboldening millions of readers to cook simple, elegant, plant-based food.

This groundbreaking new cookbook is Madison’s crowning achievement: a celebration of the diversity of the plant kingdom, and an exploration of the fascinating relationships between vegetables, edible flowers, herbs, and familiar wild plants within the same botanical families.

Destined to become the new standard reference for cooking vegetables, Vegetable Literacy shows cooks that, because of their shared characteristics, vegetables within the same family can be used interchangeably in cooking. It presents an entirely new way of looking at vegetables, drawing on Madison’s deep knowledge of cooking, gardening, and botany. For example, knowing that dill, chervil, cumin, parsley, coriander, anise, lovage, and caraway come from the umbellifer family makes it clear why they’re such good matches for carrots, also a member of that family. With more than 300 classic and exquisitely simple recipes, Madison brings this wealth of information together in dishes that highlight a world of complementary flavors.

Inspiring improvisation in the kitchen and curiosity in the garden, Vegetable Literacy—an unparalleled look at culinary vegetables and plants—will forever change the way we eat and cook. (description from publisher)

Walking Distance: Extraordinary Hikes for Ordinary People by Robert and Martha Manning

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Doern art“Long-distance walking is good for you and good for the earth… But most of all, walking is a joyful celebration of life and the diverse, beautiful, and curious world in which we live.” -from the Introduction.

Walking is simple, but it can also be profound. In an increasingly complex and frantic world, walking can simplify our lives. It encourages intimate contact with places and people, promotes health, and is one of the most sustainable forms of recreation. Robert and Martha Manning invite readers to explore the pleasures of long-distance walking in their inspiring new book, Walking Distance.

At the heart of Walking Distance are firsthand descriptions of thirty of the world’s great long-distance hikes, spanning six continents and ranging from inn-to-inn to backpacking trips. Each entry – from Turkey’s Lycian Way to Vermont’s Long Trail – features personal anecdotes, natural and cultural history, and useful tips, including suggestions for preparing for hikes and for additional reading. Each trail narrative is richly illustrated with color photographs and maps. (description from publisher)

Bake It Like You Mean It by Gesine Bullock-Prado

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bake it like you mean itGesine Bullock-Prado says it’s what’s inside that really counts, and in this visually sumptuous book, the author of Sugar Baby and Pie it Forward showcases cakes that are beautiful from the inside out.

Each chapter of Bake It Like You Mean It is devoted to a technique of making different types of cake, beginning with the easiest recipe and moving to the more technically difficult as the chapter progresses. When the cakes are cut, they will reveal intricate layers of patterns and designs, such as hearts, checkerboards, helixes, and colorful stripes that will bring a smile to everyone who enjoys them. This compendium of gorgeous cake recipes and techniques will yield glorious meringues, sponge cakes, pound cakes, cheesecakes, and tarts for all levels of bakers.

With her trademark wit and enthusiasm for the world of confections and baking, Gesine’s latest book will delight her fans. (description from publisher)

Upcoming Books – May

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Here are some of the new releases from popular authors that are coming out in April. Reserve your favorites today!

pirate alleydead ever after bannon brothersflorazero hourinferno

 

 

Dan Brown – Inferno

Stephen Coonts – Pirate Alley

Clive Cussler – Zero Hour

Janet Dailey – Bannon Brothers: Triumph

Richard Paul Evans – A Step of Faith

Gail Godwin – Flora

Charlene Harris – Dead Ever After

delicate truthophelia cutlost daughterssilken prey deeply oddand the mountains echoed

 

 

Khaled Hosseini – And the Mountains Echoed

Dean Koontz – Deeply Odd

John Le Carre – A Delicate Truth

John Lescroart – Ophelia Cut

Mary Monroe – Lost Daughters

John Sandford – Silken Prey

Jeff Shaara – A Chain of Thunder

Fay Weldon – Long Live the King

For more new titles, be sure to check out Upcoming Releases on the Davenport Public Library webpage!

 

Off the Beaten Page by Terri Smith

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off the beaten pageOff the Beaten Page by Terri Smith encourages avid readers, particularly those in book clubs and other groups, to leave the security of their living rooms and seek to experience in person the places they’ve read about.This book is ideal for anyone eager to mix their love of travel and quality time with friends or family with their desire for meaningful cultural experiences.

Inspired by years of excursions with her own book club, award-winning journalist Terri Smith offers lively, expert guidance through fifteen US destinations including Boston, Chicago, Austin, and Santa Fe. She describes each destination’s literary heritage and attractions and suggests three-day itineraries that include plenty of lit-inspired excursions – a tour of Santa Monica through the eyes of Raymond Chandler, a Devil in the White City view of Chicago in the Gilded Age, an exploration of Edith Wharton’s elite Newport, Rhode Island – while blending in “beyond the book” experiences such as Broadway shows, Segway tours and kayaking.

Practical, entertaining and inspirational, Off the Beaten Page is the ideal companion for adventurous readers or anyone looking to enrich a weekend getaway. (description from publisher)

The Lady and the Unicorn by Tracy Chevalier

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Bewitching art experts and enthusiasts alike for centuries, the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries hang today in the Cluny Museum in Paris. In each, an elegant lady and a unicorn stand or sit on an island of grass surrounded by a rich background of animals and flowers. Little is known about them except that they were woven toward the end of the fifteenth century and bear the coat of arms of a wealthy family from Lyons.

In The Lady and the Unicorn, Tracy Chevalier takes readers back to the tapestries’ creation, giving life to the men who designed and made them, as well as the wives, daughters, and servants who exercised subtle (and not so subtle) influences over their men. Like the many different strands of wool and silk that were woven together into one cloth, the lives and fates of these people entwine in complex patterns, crisscrossing as they seek desires sensual and spiritual, temporal and eternal.

An extraordinary story exquisitely told, Tracy Chevalier’s The Lady and the Unicorn weaves history and fiction into a beautiful, timeless, and intriguing literary tapestry that rivals in grace and grandeur the masterpiece that inspired it. (description from publisher)

The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo

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little paris kitchenRachel Khoo moved to Paris, studied patisserie, fell in love with the city, became a restaurateur in a very tiny space, then, a television star, and is now a bestselling author. Not every lover of Paris experiences this career trajectory, but cooks of all skill levels with a taste for French fare will be inspired by The Little Paris Kitchen to try an updated approach to French cuisine.

In this charming cookbook, Khoo demystifies French cooking with 120 enticing recipes for simple, classic, and fresh French dishes, from gouter (snacks) to elegant desserts. More than 100 breathtaking photos shine a spotlight on the delicious food and the City of Light, and capture Khoo interacting with her purveyors and friends.

We all can’t have springtime in Paris, but we all can enjoy this delectable, do-able food! (description from publisher)

The Painted Girls by Catherine Buchanan

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painted girlsCatherine Buchanan writes a heartrending, gripping novel about two sisters in Belle Époque Paris in The Painted Girls.

1878 Paris. Following their father’s sudden death, the van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without his wages, and with the small amount their laundress mother earns disappearing into the absinthe bottle, eviction from their lodgings seems imminent. With few options for work, Marie is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where for a scant seventeen francs a week, she will be trained to enter the famous ballet. Her older sister, Antoinette, finds work as an extra in a stage adaptation of Émile Zola’s naturalist masterpiece L’Assommoir.

Marie throws herself into dance and is soon modeling in the studio of Edgar Degas, where her image will forever be immortalized as Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. There she meets a wealthy male patron of the ballet, but might the assistance he offers come with strings attached? Meanwhile Antoinette, derailed by her love for the dangerous Émile Abadie, must choose between honest labor and the more profitable avenues open to a young woman of the Parisian demimonde.

Set at a moment of profound artistic, cultural, and societal change, The Painted Girls is a tale of two remarkable sisters rendered uniquely vulnerable to the darker impulses of “civilized society.” In the end, each will come to realize that her salvation, if not survival, lies with the other. (description from publisher)