In this lush coffee-table book, Caponigro (Frederic), editor-in-chief of Frederic magazine, tours the verdant estates owned by interior designers. Examining how her subjects balance “manicured and wild” elements, she shows how Nancy Braithwaite filled the outer reaches of her sprawling Atlanta property with unruly swaths of trees, ferns, and azaleas, while the area closer to her home features more tightly controlled greenery in the form of hedges and “a raised square of emerald lawn bordered by dark reflecting pools.” Other gardens lean more heavily toward one extreme or the other, such as Stephen Sills’s meticulously trimmed box hedges modeled on the “great estates of Italy and France” or Brian McCarthy’s more naturalistic blend of dogwoods, catmint, and lady’s mantle. Caponigro explores how the designers’ approach to decorating interiors influences their gardens, discussing how Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s penchant for “high wattage glamour” comes through in his decision to finish his pool with white plaster in emulation of the one at the Beverly Hills Hotel, and how Katie Ridder’s fondness for bold hues can be seen in the dahlia, heuchera, amaranth, and kerria plants that populate her grounds. Caponigro’s commentary is insightful yet succinct, allowing the gorgeous scenery to speak for itself. This charms. (May)

Reviewed on 05/02/2025 | Details & Permalink

Hebert and Ewald follow up Design Mixology with a sumptuous showcase of luxury beachfront homes in the Golden State. A modernist ethos prevails throughout, as seen in the sparsely decorated, minimalist bedroom of a Santa Cruz bungalow or the open floor plan of a Sea Ranch abode. Exploring how the homes’ architects draw influence from the landscape, the authors describe how designer Dan Weber preserved the impression of untouched nature when constructing a Santa Barbara County house by building the structure into a hillside and covering the roof with native vegetation. Also spotlighted is Butler Armsden Architects’ renovation of a Sonoma house with locally sourced redwood and Douglas fir exterior paneling, and a blue glass kitchen backsplash that evokes the sea. Other architects took their cues from their clients, the authors write, discussing how Jae Omar designed the spacious interiors of a Palisades home to reflect the owners’ openness. In addition to providing valuable insight into how architects conceive their designs, the authors demonstrate the transformative effect that one statement piece can have on a room, such as striking walnut paneling carved to resemble rippling waves or a reflective dining table with curved surfaces intended to resemble a melting glacier. Connoisseurs of high-end design will find much to savor. (June)

Reviewed on 05/02/2025 | Details & Permalink

Lloyd (The Magnolia Bakery Handbook), the principal baker at New York City’s Magnolia Bakery, presents a comprehensive compendium of 100 fuss-free chilled desserts. Pulled from the bakery’s selection of cakes, pies, cheesecakes, bars, and puddings, the recipes are wide-ranging and easy to assemble. For coffee lovers, there’s mocha icebox cake with cocoa and espresso-laced whipped cream, Oreos, and chocolate chips. Strawberry shortcake icebox bars and apple crisp bars reinterpret classic fruit desserts while s’mores icebox cake draws inspiration from the favorite campfire treat. Pumpkin spice pudding shines with warm spices and swirls of cookie butter. Red velvet and key lime cheesecakes require a bit of oven time, but then freeze beautifully. Magnolia Bakery’s famous banana pudding, featuring a cream cheese base layered with bananas and Nilla wafers, appears throughout in cakes, pies, and bars forms, culminating in a chapter showcasing 13 riffs on the classic. Lloyd also includes an extensive guide to essential baking tools, techniques, and pantry ingredients along with multipurpose base recipes for cookies, crusts, and fillings. This proves a quality how-to. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 05/02/2025 | Details & Permalink

In contrast to most crochet handbooks’ focus on clothing or bedding, the projects in this fresh debut guide from Djevdet show how to make a variety of household goods, including a lampshade, a mirror frame, and hanging planters. An overview of crochet fundamentals explains such basic techniques as slip stitches and double crochets, as well as more advanced stitches, such as crab (single crochet stitches worked left to right) and moss (a combination of chain and single crochet stitches). The projects employ numerous fibers and weights. For instance, the feather stitch pillow is made with super bulky acrylic yarn, and the lidded storage baskets require light worsted raffia and cotton. Several incorporate other crafting methods, such as the hanging fruit baskets, which use a macramé cord to join the containers to the wooden ring they dangle from, and the crocheted wall hanging, which involves some weaving. The relatively sparse guidance on macramé and weaving might leave some readers feeling challenged by the projects that use these techniques, but the explanation of how to crochet is comprehensive and the creative designs show that the craft is good for more than scarves and blankets. This stands out amid the crowded field of crochet manuals. (May)

Reviewed on 05/02/2025 | Details & Permalink

Chaker, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, delivers a vigorous introduction to strength training for women. She recalls how a chance encounter with a female bodybuilder convinced her to take up the sport in her early 40s, allowing her to unlearn her belief that “skinny equals success” as she put on muscle and ascended to the level of professional competitor. Encouraging women to follow her lead, Chaker notes that weight lifting combats the aging process by stimulating the production of satellite cells that regenerate muscle tissue and typically decline with age. Her seven-day workout routine recommends targeting the glutes on day one by performing squats with a barbell on one’s shoulders and exercising the pectorals with bench presses on day three. The dietary guidance suggests that middle-aged women who lift regularly should consume about a gram of protein per pound of body weight. The detailed instructions on proper technique for such exercises as donkey kicks, kettlebell swings, and Romanian dead lifts provide all readers need to know before hitting the gym, and Chaker offers fascinating historical background on how the social idealization of thinness has cropped up whenever women push for greater political participation, revealing patriarchy’s desire to “keep women in a more childlike, controlled state.” The result is a valuable resource on bulking up. Agent: Todd Shuster, Aevitas Creative Management. (June)

Reviewed on 05/02/2025 | Details & Permalink

“Everyone can learn how to throw” using a pottery wheel, assert graphic designer Borgbjerg and ceramicist Liebe in their helpful debut guide. Evaluating the pros and cons of various clays, the authors note that stoneware holds its shape well but has a rough texture, while porcelain is softer but more prone to collapse. The projects show how to make a bowl, cup, pitcher, plate, and vase by kneading clay, placing it on a pottery wheel, and using one’s index finger to make a central indent that’s gradually expanded to form the piece’s interior. The authors detail how to attach handles by applying slip (“dry clay mixed with water so that it becomes... sticky”) or create trimmed bases by scraping out recesses in the undersides of plates and bowls. Exploring the finishing process, the authors recommend firing pieces in a kiln, applying glaze, and then firing them again, which makes the pieces watertight. Some of the written instructions are a bit confusing, but the copious accompanying photos will help readers piece together what they need to know. This solid introduction will benefit novice ceramicists. (May)

Reviewed on 05/02/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this insightful debut manual, physical therapist Reardon details how women can care for their pelvic floor, “the group of muscles, tissues, ligaments, vessels, and nerves” responsible for the basic functioning of the bladder, ovaries, rectum, and uterus. Reardon outlines how to perform such pelvic floor strengthening exercises as squats and bridges (lifting one’s hips while lying face up on the floor with knees bent) to help with incontinence. She cautions that frequent urinary tract infections and painful bowel movements can be signs of pelvic floor tension and explains how to relax with deep breathing techniques or massaging the area between the anus and vagina. Elsewhere, she discusses how to deal with pelvic floor issues during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, contending that sitting upright helps prevent the lower back pain that arises from changes in posture during pregnancy and that propping up one’s feet with a stool while on the toilet can make urinating after giving birth less painful. Reardon supplements the conversational guidance with informative explanations of the pelvic floor’s role in various bodily functions. For instance, she describes how during vaginal sex, arousal signals blood to rush to the pelvic muscles, relaxing them until they involuntarily contract during orgasm. Readers will find much of value in this comprehensive resource. Agent: Wendy Sherman, Wendy Sherman Assoc. (June)

Reviewed on 05/02/2025 | Details & Permalink

Nostrana restaurateur Whims brings the tastes of a summer in Italy to home cooks in her appealing debut. Reflecting her philosophy that “delicious food doesn’t have to be complicated,” Whims offers unfussy, rustic dishes with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients and farmers market bounty. Zucchini reigns supreme throughout, in fried, stuffed, and layered forms. Starters include grilled eggplant caponata, several bruschetta variations, and fried squash blossoms stuffed with cheese and anchovies. A section on “Salads, Soups, and Sides” features seafood salad in an herbed vinaigrette, and classic minestrone soup. In the “Pastas, Breads, and Pizza” section, basil-marinated tomatoes shine in Pasta alla Checca (“Wait until the height of summer, when tomatoes are at their juicy best, to put this pasta on regular rotation” Whims advises). Entrées include savory and fruit-sweetened risottos and multiple fish dishes, among them grilled trout and baked halibut. For dessert, there’s berry-topped panna cotta and almond granita. A final chapter on basics, including salsas, pestos, and other purees, offers versatile building blocks. Recipe headers charm with Whims’s sunlit memories of Italy, while cheerily colorful illustrations throughout add to the fun. Instructions are clear and the dishes are simple yet tempting, resulting in a collection that’s sure to find fans. (May)

Reviewed on 05/02/2025 | Details & Permalink

“Breakfast should be treated with respect,” asserts chef Vizethann (Welcome to Buttermilk Kitchen) in this delightful collection of recipes for creating tasty brunches. Emphasizing the importance of using fresh produce at its peak, she divides the recipes by each of the four seasons. Highlights in the Spring chapter include young garlic and radish focaccia, rhubarb cobbler, and morels and eggs with spring herb chimichurri. Next comes Summer, featuring honey-roasted fig and ricotta french toast, peach hand pies with basil sugar, and skillet-fried chicken with chile honey. For the Fall, Vizethann offers toasted bran muffins with cranberries, short rib hash with sweet potatoes, and roasted squash oatmeal with crispy rosemary seeds. She wraps up with Winter-inspired fare, ranging from rosemary biscuits with mushroom gravy to chocolate crepes with raspberry jam. Classic mimosas, apple and bourbon sangria, mocha hot chocolate, blueberry jam lemonade, and other drinks nicely complement the dishes. Straightforward yet elegant and full of inspiration, this will become a go-to for home cooks looking for an excuse to make brunch for any occasion. (May)

Reviewed on 05/02/2025 | Details & Permalink

Kirk, a pharmacology professor at the University of Rhode Island, debuts with a comprehensive overview of the healing properties of marijuana. She explains that the heat from smoking cannabis removes carboxylic acid from the plant, activating tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) compounds that bind with receptors in the body’s endocannabinoid system, which “is responsible for maintaining balance within our biological systems,” to produce the sensation of being high. Surveying the many medicinal uses of cannabis, she cites evidence showing that it reduces inflammation in irritable bowel disease patients, decreases the likelihood of developing breast or prostate cancer by regulating cell growth, and alleviates migraines by correcting for low levels of naturally produced signaling molecules called endocannabinoids. Kirk balances her bullish outlook on the drug’s benefits with a realistic assessment of its downsides, noting that the safety of cannabis use during pregnancy and its potential for aggravating schizophrenia in genetically susceptible populations remains uncertain. Recommendations on safe usage include ensuring dispensaries have a legally mandated certificate of analysis that affirms they underwent safety testing and shopping at craft dispensaries instead of corporate operations because the former usually stocks fresher product from local sources. Informative and evenhanded, this will benefit readers aspiring to get more intentional with their weed intake. (June)

Reviewed on 04/18/2025 | Details & Permalink