ProjectKid by Amanda Kingloff

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project kidPerfect for crafty parents who are eager to get their kids excited about DIY, ProjectKid is everything you could want in a craft book: 100(!) stylish, inventive projects; step-by-step photographs; tips for the novice crafter; easy-to-follow instructions; and a fresh, modern look.

What really sets these projects apart are the unexpected, ingenious ways Kingloff uses everyday objects and materials. (Did you ever think a body-wash bottle would make a perfect rocket ship?) And these are projects for things kids want to make – and keep – from a juice-box owl to a pirate ship to a curio cabinet for displaying all of their treasures, plus games, jewelry, and more.

Also included in the book are basic crafting lessons (such as pom-pom making and weaving) to help children of all ages build a DIY arsenal, a handy guide to must-have tools and materials, and a source directory. (description from publisher)

Asian Pickles by Karen Solomon

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asian picklesA DIY guide to making the tangy pickles of Japan, Korea, China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and more, featuring recipes ranging from traditional tsukemono and kimchi to chutney and new combinations using innovative ingredients and techniques.

For Asian food aficionados as well as preservers and picklers looking for new frontiers, the Far East’s diverse and sometimes spicy array of pickled products and innovative flavor pairings will wow the palate. In Asian Pickles, respected cookbook author and culinary project maven Karen Solomon introduces readers to the unique ingredients used in Asian pickle-making and numerous techniques beyond the basic brine. For the novice pickler, Solomon also includes a vast array of quick pickles with easy-to-find ingredients.

Featuring 75 of the most sought-after pickle recipes from the East – including Korean Chopped Daikon Kimchi, Japanese Umeboshi, Chinese Spicy Ginger Cucumbers, Indian Coconut-Mint Chutney, and more – Asian Pickles will help you explore a new preserving horizon with fail-proof instructions and a selection of helpful resources. (description from publisher)

The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand

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matchmakerA touching new novel from bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand in which a woman sets out to find love for those closest to her – before it’s too late.

48-year-old Nantucketer Dabney Kimball Beech has always had a gift for matchmaking. Some call her ability mystical, while others – like her husband, celebrated economist John Boxmiller Beech, and her daughter, Agnes, who is clearly engaged to the wrong man – call it meddlesome, but there’s no arguing with her results: With 42 happy couples to her credit and all of them still together, Dabney has never been wrong about romance. Never, that is, except in the case of herself and Clendenin Hughes, the green-eyed boy who took her heart with him long ago when he left the island to pursue his dream of becoming a journalist. Now, after spending 27 years on the other side of the world, Clen is back on Nantucket, and Dabney has never felt so confused, or so alive. But when tragedy threatens her own second chance, Dabney must face the choices she’s made and share painful secrets with her family. Determined to make use of her gift before it’s too late, she sets out to find perfect matches for those she loves most.

The Matchmaker is a heartbreaking story about losing and finding love, even as you’re running out of time. (description from publisher)

Throwback by Jason Kendall

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throwbackJason Kendall is an All-Star catcher who has seen just about everything during his years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs, Milwaukee Brewers, and Kansas City Royals. He’s a player’s player, a guy with true grit – a throwback to another time with a unique view on the game that so many love. Reminiscent of such classics as Ball Four and Men at Work, Jason Kendall and sportswriter Lee Judge team up to bring you the fan, player, coach, or curious statistician an insider’s view of the game from a player’s perspective.

Throwback is a book about pre-game rituals, what to look for when a pitcher warms up between innings, the signs a catcher uses to communicate with the pitcher, and so much more. Some of baseball wisdom you will find inside: * What to look for during batting practice. * The right way to hit a batter. * Who’s a tough guy and who’s just posing. * How to spot a dirty slide. * Why you don’t look at the umpire while you’re arguing.

Based on Kendall’s 15 years of professional MLB experience, Throwback is an informative, hilarious, and illuminating look into the world of professional baseball – and in a way that no one has ever seen before. (description from publisher)

Dollbaby by Laura Lane McNeal

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dollbabyA big-hearted coming-of-age debut set in civil rights-era New Orleans.

When Ibby Bell’s father dies unexpectedly in the summer of 1964, her mother unceremoniously deposits Ibby with her eccentric grandmother Fannie and throws in her father’s urn for good measure. Fannie’s New Orleans house is like no place Ibby has ever been – and Fannie, who has a tendency to end up in the local asylum – is like no one she has ever met. Fortunately, Fannie’s black cook, Queenie, and her smart-mouthed daughter, Dollbaby, take it upon themselves to initiate Ibby into the ways of the South, both its grand traditions and its darkest secrets.  For Fannie’s own family history is fraught with tragedy, hidden behind the closed rooms in her ornate Uptown mansion. It will take Ibby’s arrival to begin to unlock the mysteries there. And it will take Queenie and Dollbaby’s hard-won wisdom to show Ibby that family can sometimes be found in the least expected places.

For fans of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and The Help , Dollbaby brings to life the charm and unrest of 1960s New Orleans through the eyes of a young girl learning to understand race for the first time. By turns uplifting and funny, poignant and full of verve, Dollbaby is a novel readers will take to their hearts. (description from publisher)

The World According to Bob by James Bowen

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world according to bobJames Bowen and Bob are back in The World According to Bob –a touching and true sequel about one man and the cat that changed his life.

As James struggles to adjust to his transformation from street musician to international celebrity, Bob is at his side, providing moments of intelligence, bravery, and humor and opening his human friend’s eyes to important truths about friendship, loyalty, trust – and the meaning of happiness. In the continuing tale of their life together, James shows the many ways in which Bob has been his protector and guardian angel through times of illness, hardship, even life-threatening danger. As they high-five together for their crowds of admirers, James knows that the tricks he’s taught Bob are nothing compared to the lessons he’s learnt from his street-wise cat.

Readers who fell in love with Dewey and Marley, as well as the many fans who read A Street Cat Named Bob, will be eager to read the next chapters in the life of James and Bob. (description from publisher)

The Cut Flower Patch by Louise Curley

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cut flower patchThere is something deeply satisfying about growing your own flowers to create bouquets for the house. Simple, colorful and surprisingly affordable, they bring luxury and color to any room. The Cut Flower Patch is a great guide to the best flowers for the home grower and full of inspirational ideas on how to use them.

Louise Curley looks at what makes a great cut flower, ideal conditions and soil and the tools you’ll need. There is advice on what to grow – from favorite hardy annuals, half hardies and biennials to spring and summer bulbs to adding foliage and fillers to balance arrangements – and advice on how and when to sow, how to support your plants and tips on weeding, deadheading, pests and feeding. (description from publisher)

The Banh Mi Handbook by Andrea Nguyen

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banh mi handbookA cookbook devoted to the beloved Vietnamese sandwich, with 50 recipes ranging from classic fillings to innovative modern combinations.
Created by Vietnamese street vendors a century or so ago, banh mi is a twist on the French snack of pâté and bread that is as brilliant as it is addictive to eat. Who can resist the combination of crisp baguette, succulent filling, and toppings like tangy daikon and carrot pickles, thin chile slices, refreshing cucumber strips, and pungent cilantro sprigs? You’ll have ample opportunities to customize your sandwich with filling options such as grilled pork, roast chicken, and “the special”—a delectable combination of garlicky pork, liver pâté, and Vietnamese cold-cuts.

Opening a new realm of flavor for anyone tired of standard sandwich fare, The Banh Mi Handbook presents more than fifty recipes and numerous insights for crafting a wide range of sandwiches, from iconic classics to modern innovations.

Respected food writer Andrea Nguyen’s simple, delicious recipes for flavor-packed fillings, punchy homemade condiments, and crunchy, colorful pickled vegetables bring the very best of Vietnamese street food to your kitchen. (description from publisher)

The Creative Shrub Garden by Andy McIndoe

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creative shrub gardenHome gardeners know the key elements to a well-designed garden: perennials that bloom year after year, annuals that add a burst of color, and bulbs that guarantee spring flowers. But what about shrubs–what role should these hardy plants play?

The Creative Shrub Garden by Andy McIndoe puts the shrub in its rightful place–front and center. This groundbreaking approach shows you how to make the most of the many benefits of shrubs – including their hardiness, year-long beauty, size, and low-maintenance nature – by making them the main element in a garden design. McIndoe teaches you the basics first, with tips on choosing shrubs based on a garden’s size, determining soil and climate needs, and pruning and maintenance. He then offers hundreds of shrub combinations that work with 15 main garden styles, including coastal, cottage, Mediterranean, tropical, urban, and more.

The Creative Shrub Garden celebrates a plant that is too often taken for granted and gives gardeners the confidence to use shrubs in the design-forward treatment they deserve. (description from publisher)

Ceviche the Peruvian Kitchen by

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cevicheCeviche the Peruvian Kitchen is the first major Peruvian cookbook published for a US audience, featuring 100 recipes from the owner of London’s critically acclaimed restaurant Ceviche.

Flavor-driven and captivating, Peruvian dishes are unique and familiar at the same time. This cuisine combines native ingredients that are becoming increasingly popular in their own right (such as quinoa and amaranth) with Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese techniques and ingredients to create fresh, multicultural gourmet dishes that appeal to America’s ravenous taste for ethnic food.

From sizzling barbecued beef anticucho skewers, superfood salads featuring quinoa and physalis, and piquant ceviche to airy giant choclo corn cakes and lucuma ice dessert, Ceviche the Peruvian Kitchen is the first authoritative cookbook to bring the delicious dishes from Peru’s lush jungles, Andean peaks, and seaside villages to US kitchens. (description from publisher)

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