Chairmaker Awake debuts with a wondrous celebration of how “Black people have resisted their erasure through craft” over the course of American history. Antebellum laws banning enslaved people from reading or writing led Black Americans to record their history in alternative ways, Awake explains, describing how the Pictorial Quilt of Harriet Powers, a 19th-century Georgia folk artist born into slavery, commemorated an 1833 meteor shower interpreted by enslaved people as a divine signal that they would soon be freed. Black Americans made vital contributions to Southern architecture, Awake notes, pointing out that the American-style porch derives from those built on slave cabins by enslaved Africans, who brought from their homelands more sophisticated strategies for staying cool in tropical climates than their European enslavers. Highlighting Black artists’ ingenuity across a variety of disciplines, Awake details how Richard Poyner revolutionized chair design in the mid-1800s by constructing backrests that bent backward, and how the Gullah community in the American Southeast transformed sweetgrass baskets from utilitarian tools for rice production into intricately woven decorative objects. The history offers fascinating insight into the creative ways Black artists have pushed back against oppression, and Holland’s dazzling illustrations highlight the dignity of the featured individuals and the remarkable craftsmanship that went into their creations. This will expand readers’ understanding of what crafts can do, and what they’re for. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this vibrant debut manual, Mul, founder of the quilt retailer Webfabrics, shows how to design quilted collages without using written patterns. She recommends using cotton fabric scraps, explaining that other materials may create uneven thickness across the finished piece. Noting that it takes approximately 600 to 700 scraps to make a 42-inch collage quilt, Mul encourages readers to organize pieces into six categories that will determine how they’re used. For instance, fabrics featuring ready-to-cut shapes like floral patterns or geometric formations should be grouped together as “leaders” and will serve as focal points, while tonal fabrics with less distinct visual elements should be collected as “followers” that primarily highlight the impact of “leader” pieces. Mul outlines principles for arranging the scraps, suggesting readers might create “paths” that guide where viewers look by placing two leader pieces as anchors and filling in the space between them with scraps that gradually transition from the first piece’s color to the second piece’s. When transitioning between colors, Mul advises readers to employ “connector” fabric pieces that feature both hues. Photos of Mul’s impressive quilts illustrate the myriad possibilities of this free-form take on the craft. Experienced quilters will appreciate the opportunity to flex their creative muscles. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

This informative debut from Bang, cofounder of sustainable fashion brand the R Collective, details the wisdom she learned while traveling throughout South Korea in search of traditional wellness practices to restore her health after the stresses of her punishing work schedule landed her in the hospital. She recounts visiting a Buddhist monastery in Naejangsan National Park where nuns grow and forage their own food, and afterward adapting her own diet to more closely match theirs, which involved ditching artificial sweeteners for organic honey and learning to ferment her own food. (Fermentation, she explains, fosters the growth of good bacteria that aid digestion.) Elsewhere, Bang explains how the hot water in jjimjilbangs, or traditional bathhouses, relieve muscle tension and improve blood flow, and how seaweed of the kind collected by Jeju Island’s haenyeo, or female free divers, has been shown to lower insulin resistance and cholesterol levels. Distilling what she learned from her travels into her own “holistic approach to healing,” Bang recommends breathing exercises to reduce stress and walking after meals to prevent glucose spikes. A bounty of recipes for baesuk (a pear-based cold remedy), juk (porridge), and chicken and ginseng soup, among other dishes and drinks, will help readers implement the dietary guidance. A smart mix of travel writing and health advice, this hits the spot. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

This nostalgic love letter to video games from Geeky Chef blogger Reeder (The Official Westeros Cookbook) and Axe of the Blood God podcaster Oxford doubles as a playful Bartending 101. The authors break down the finer points of mixology, giving home bartenders a crash course on layering cocktails, for example, that comes in handy when making a Rainbow Road–themed take on a classic painkiller. Oregon Trail gets a nod in the form of a whiskey float, mushroom bourbon evokes The Last of Us, and a garnish of lemon peel is cut to resemble the Triforce for a Legend of Zelda–themed cocktail. While most libations lean sweet, modifications abound to accommodate various tastes and alcohol tolerances, and all recipes include a virgin option. Instructions for homemade blue curaçao (to honor Sonic the Hedgehog) and grenadine elevate the offerings. Full page photos evoke a retro arcade, and the authors infuse their recipe introductions with gaming lore and nerdy in-jokes (a drink they’ve punningly named Baldur’s Grape promises to be “better than rotting in the shadowcursed lands”). Though the myriad requisite ingredients amount to a potentially prohibitive shopping list, the breadth of recipes and references means this handy collection can sustain a lifetime of game nights. It’s the perfect gift for the mixology-curious gamer. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this lukewarm debut guide, actor Watts offers familiar advice on navigating menopause. Her lack of medical expertise hampers discussions of the biology of menopause and how to treat symptoms. For instance, her explanation of how “hormone fluctuation” induces hot flashes is rudimentary, and the suggestion to place an ice pack on one’s neck for relief is unsurprising. A chapter on nutrition recommends intermittent fasting and probiotics but warns against the keto diet, whose restrictions on carbs rule out even such beneficiary fiber sources as legumes, but there’s little discussion of how these dietary choices affect menopausal women, specifically. Watts is at her best when drawing on her own experiences to capture the complicated emotions that accompany menopause, as when she shares how ashamed she felt about having perimenopausal symptoms in her mid-30s. Elsewhere, she reveals how her struggles to conceive because of her early symptoms induced guilt over her imagined mistreatment of her own body, and she offers an enraging account of how male doctors repeatedly dismissed her concerns because of her relatively young age. Though the more personal passages will be a balm to menopausal women looking for affirmation that they’re not alone, the guidance leaves much to be desired. Readers would be better off with Mary Claire Haver’s The New Menopause. Agent: Cait Hoyt, Creative Artists Agency. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Psychologist Fadiman and ghostwriter Gruber follow up 2020’s Your Symphony of Selves with a thin treatise asserting that small doses of LSD or psilocybin mushrooms can improve one’s health and boost creativity, among other benefits. The authors suggest that microdoses should be small enough that they don’t produce visual distortions and that readers should wait at least two days in between doses. Discussions of microdosing’s benefits are hamstrung by a lack of evidence owing to a decades-long ban on researching psychedelics. The authors rely on unverified anecdotes throughout, as when they report that a visual artist who contacted Fadiman through his website overcame a creative block while microdosing, and that Reddit comments from college students who regularly took psychedelics indicate the substances may have helped raise their grades by enhancing their focus. Fadiman and Gruber string together firsthand testimonies about psychedelics’ positive effects on such conditions as chronic pain, depression, and long Covid without explaining how the drugs might cause such outcomes, making this feel more like a comments section than a cohesive report. Additionally, the few studies the authors cite are often of dubious quality, such as one that, despite lacking a control group, concluded microdosing might lessen ADHD symptoms. This fails to overcome the paucity of quality research on psychedelics. Agent: Jim Levine, Levine Greenberg Rostan Literary. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

Table for One newsletter creator Wilkinson debuts with a practical if slight collection that reads like a chirpy blog. The recipes tend to fall into one of two categories: gussied-up convenience foods (for example, a fish stick sandwich on a baguette, and frozen dumplings served with vegetables) or ersatz takes on international favorites (including a shrimp pil pil with no trace of the namesake sauce, risotto carbonara, and the contents of a meatball banh mi transformed into a salad). The organization occasionally feels arbitrary: penne with broccoli in a cream sauce appears in a chapter on comfort foods, while linguine with broccoli in a cheese and egg sauce (the author’s first recipe to go viral) appears in a chapter on simple foods. The “Special” chapter, for solo celebrations, features recipes that require a bit of extra effort, such as a mozzarella, mortadella, and pesto sandwich on a single-serving homemade focaccia. Desserts round things out, including a sticky toffee pudding assembled by mixing the ingredients in the pan in which it bakes and a chocolate mug cake made in the microwave. Though little here is innovative, it’s sure to prove a helpful resource for those living and cooking on their own for the first time. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/17/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this sweet and slender volume, Carrarini, the founder of Paris’s Rose Bakery, revamps her 2006 Breakfast, Lunch, Tea with recipes designed to be made with the help of children and inspired by culinary adventures with her own grandchildren. “I believe that cooking with children is not about being serious, tidy or necessarily achieving sophisticated bakes,” she writes in her warmhearted introduction. “It is about engaging all our senses and letting flour fall to the floor.” Breakfasts include two types of granola and banana bread (Carrarini notes that very young children will enjoy mashing the bananas by hand). The far longer chapter on brunch and dinner ranges from kiddie classics like mini pizzas and macaroni and cheese, to dishes that require a more refined palate, including daikon radish galettes and red lentil dal. The final section, on “sweet things,” is where the book really shines. Treats include peanut butter cookies, vegan chocolate cupcakes (“one of Rose Bakery’s best sellers”), and turmeric cake (“perfect for teenagers who feel they have ‘outgrown’ cupcakes with sprinkles”). Throughout, Carrarini provides tips for a stress-free experience and shares endearing anecdotes about which dishes her grandchildren like best and how they have contributed. The result is a charming, elevated guide to cooking with kids. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/03/2025 | Details & Permalink

This deeply personal recipe collection from Wright-Ruiz (I Want to be Spaghetti!) chronicles her culinary path to embracing her own culture. While ceviche de camarón, caldo de bolas (beef and sofrito-stuffed plantain dumpling stew), locro de papa (potato and cheese soup), and other dishes pay tribute to her Ecuadorian roots, many recipes are also influenced by the people and events that have made an impact on Wright-Ruiz’s life. For instance, she devotes a whole chapter to Cuban recipes inspired by the food she ate under the care of her Cuban foster parents, including ropa vieja, batido de trigo (a wheat milkshake), and papas rellenas (stuffed potato croquettes). Wright-Ruiz also shares recipes from her Mexican stepgrandmother’s kitchen, such as mojarra frita (fried freshwater fish) with pineapple salsa, chicken tamales, and champurrado (a corn-based hot chocolate drink). The recipes open with anecdotes (“This is... the first Ecuadorian dish I ever learned to make,” she says of seco de pollo) and fascinating cultural tidbits (Horchata’s origins trace back to over 1,000 years ago in North Africa). This heartfelt cookbook will inspire home chefs of any ethnic background. Agent: Leila Campoli, Stonesong Literary. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/03/2025 | Details & Permalink

This robust manual from Ganaha (Leathercrafting DIY) explains how to make leather bags. She recommends purchasing half cowhide over cut square leather, suggesting that though the former is more likely to feature irregularities, it’s cheaper and includes softer shank areas that can be used for pockets or straps. Outlining essential techniques, Ganaha details how to make lifesize photocopies of the book’s patterns, punch stitching holes into leather by striking a lacing chisel with a mallet, apply burnish with a glass slide, and bind leather pieces together by hand-sewing with wax thread. The projects start out simple and increase in complexity. For instance, the “zippered clutch bag” builds on the fold-over “simple clutch,” and the “navicular sling bag” introduces straps. The more intricate bags are the most impressive, including the “circle-shaped handbag” featuring a large outside pocket, arm straps, and handles, as well as the briefcase with pen hooks and a covered pocket. The instructional illustrations are easy to follow, and Ganaha provides plenty of useful tips to help novices deal with common problems. For example, if stitching holes become unaligned when binding two pieces of leather together, Ganaha recommends moistening one piece and stretching it to fit the other. It’s a comprehensive introduction to working with leather. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/06/2025 | Details & Permalink