Good Spirits: Recipes, Revelations, Refreshments, and Romance, Shaken and Served with a Twist

In this gorgeous guide to every cocktail imaginable, Rathbun, a poet and the “editor for the Kitchens and Housewares store” at Amazon.com, breaks out the 12 chapters not by ingredients but by useful, or at least amusing, categories. These include “Dinner for Two,” which is a chapter of romantic drinks such as the French Connection (brandy and amaretto) and the Kiss in the Dark (cherry brandy and dry vermouth). A section entitled “An Obscure Reliquary” features creepy concoctions, like a Brain Hemorrhage and a Corpse Reviver. There's a voluminous chapter on martinis, including a questionable Bacontini, as well as others on shots, frozen drinks, hot drinks and blended drinks. There are 450 recipes in all—and, fortunately, an excellent index. Not only is there a general index to let you know on which page to find a Purple Python, there is also an index of “Drinks by Primary Liquor,” which lists, for example, all the book's 29 bourbon-based options at a glance. The scores of full-page color photos by the aptly named Melissa Punch, each with dazzling Day-Glo backgrounds, are thirst inducing and add an irresistible retro charm to the proceedings. (Oct.)