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Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man: A Memoir Bill Clegg. Little, Brown, $23.99 (240p) ISBN 978-0-316-05467-6

A rising publishing industry star trashes his life during a bender in this intense but callow confessional. Clegg, a literary agent with William Morris Endeavor, tells the story of a two-month crack binge in which he smoked away his literary agency partnership, his $70,000 bank account, 40 pounds (he's forever cutting new holes in his belt to cinch it to his wasting frame), and his relationship with his devoted long-suffering boyfriend. There's crazed excess and tawdry sex, but also a sharply etched portrait of the addict's mindset: the veering between paranoia and a compulsive sociability with the random crackheads he picks up to party with; the shrinkage of the planning horizon to the search for the next hit; the bliss of the high (“the warmest, most tender caress... then, as it recedes, the coldest hand”); the bender's unstoppable acceleration until, like a cartoon character running off a cliff, it has nothing left to sustain it. The author's efforts to impart psychological depth to his addiction—he writes of wan collegiate debauches and a childhood complex about urinating—are less convincing; it's clear that the binge will end when his money runs out. Though richly rendered, Clegg's crack odyssey feels like an epic bout of self-indulgence. (June 14)

The Global Grapevine: Why Rumors of Terrorism, Immigration, and Trade Matter Gary Alan Fine and Bill Ellis. Oxford Univ., $27.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-19-973631-7

Fine (Whispers on the Color Line), John Evans professor of sociology at Northwestern, and Ellis, professor emeritus at Penn State, examine “the rumors and legends that circulate about the risks of our interconnected world” in their treatment of the most ancient source of news. The authors explore its influence in the “intimidating global community” of the 21st century, particularly in the arenas of terrorism, immigration, international trade, and tourism; they make a generally persuasive case that since “rumor shapes how people think and then respond to the world,” its propagation “is a fundamentally political act.” Relying on shards of evidence, bits and pieces of hearsay, the self-styled “rumor scholars” analyze an array of contemporary rumors and draw some unremarkable conclusions: e.g., Americans are “of several minds about immigration,” have “mixed feelings about the exotic,” and are anxious about the economic impact of international trade. Even if Fine and Ellis promise more than they deliver, there is much that adds to our understanding of rumor in an era when access to information (and misinformation) has never been faster or more constant. (June)

Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer) Stan Cox. New Press, $24.95 (275p) ISBN 978-1-59558-489-2

Cox (Sick Planet) provides the first-ever book-length look at the consequences on our environment and on our health of air-conditioning in this enlightening study. He documents how greenhouse emissions increased and ozone depletion skyrocketed once air conditioners became prevalent, and presents staggering statistics: the amount of electricity Americans use for powering their air conditioners alone equals the same amount the 930 million residents of Africa use for all their electricity needs. Cox reveals some surprising information as he explores air conditioning as a potential spreader of contagions—of asthma and allergies and possibly even sexual dysfunctions. He offers a reality check to proposed solutions that have fatal flaws (and may be worse than the problems they attempt to solve) including “dematerialization,” improved AC energy efficiency, and clean energy options. In addition, he provides a list of changes that will help: reducing indoor heat, using fans, utilizing “cool” roofs, and increasing vegetation. Well-written, thoroughly researched, with a truly global focus, the book offers much for consumers, environmentalists, and policy makers to consider before powering up to cool down. (June)

Retirementology: Rethinking the American Dream in a New Economy Gregory Salsbury. Pearson/FT Press, $19.99 paper (224p) ISBN 978-0-137-05653-8

Salsbury (But What If I Live? The American Retirement Crisis) takes the burgeoning field of behavioral finance a step further by applying it to retirement planning during an economic downturn in this relevant, much needed book. He helps pre-retirees and retirees identify classic mistakes in earning, spending, saving, investing, and borrowing. With playful neologisms—retirewent, damnesia—Salsbury re-educates readers on how to prepare for their golden years during an insecure time, paying solid attention to the role one's home plays in relation to retirement, financial support for family members, tax liabilities , and health care. Of particular interest is a chart identifying common financially unhealthy traits such as procrastination and overconfidence, the consequences of such traits, and the way to rethink these traits to turn them into positives. A superb introduction to the necessary financial planning no American over 40 can afford to ignore. (June)

The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron Howard Bryant. Pantheon, $29.95 (640p) ISBN 978-0-375-42485-4

This biography of the African-American baseball great doesn't amount to the epic it wants to be. ESPN reporter Bryant (Juicing the Game) portrays Aaron's journey from Jim Crow Alabama to superstardom with the Milwaukee, then Atlanta Braves during the 1950s, '60s, and '70s as both a sports saga and a struggle against racism. (The Braves' spring training facilities stayed segregated into the 1960s, and Aaron's 1974 breaking of Babe Ruth's home run record was marred by racist death threats.) But while the author takes very seriously the sports commentator's traditional task of investing trivia with near-biblical portentousness—“And thus it came to pass that Henry Aaron became the first black majority owner of the first BMW franchise in the country”—he never quite succeeds at establishing Aaron's heroic stature. The slugger comes off as a superlatively skillful but unspectacular player whose civil rights activism is cautious and muted (though more outspoken later when he became a Braves executive). Throughout, he's a wary, reticent man given to rancor over slights, and the narrative can't help wandering toward more charismatic figures like Willie Mays and Jackie Robinson. Mightily as he swings, Bryant fails to knock Aaron's story out of the park. Photos. (May 11)

Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star Christina Kim and Alan Shipnuck. Bloomsbury, $25 (240p) ISBN 978-1-60819-088-1

In this diary-style memoir written with Shipnuck (Bud, Sweat & Tees), golf pro Kim declares she is always happy to be the person at a party “who makes an ass of herself.” The outspoken 25-year-old from San Jose, Calif., also ponders many questions, ranging from “Does my butt look big in this skirt?” to issues of lesbianism, anti-Asian sentiment, and the effect of a down economy on the women's game. Interwoven with a blow-by-blow account of her 2009 tournaments, including details about her frequent changes of equipment and caddies, she tells of her rise as a player and of her sometimes contentious relationship with her father, who initially coached, managed, and caddied for her when she turned pro at 18. Readers learn much about her boyfriends, including a long-term love affair with a caddie that ended as her 2009 season began, and she reveals that “it's not easy to get laid on the LPGA tour.” She also shares her love for Twitter, shopping (she has 75 pairs of shoes), singer Jason Mraz (who autographed her prodigious cleavage), and the environment. She also tells her story about posing nude for ESPN magazine. The promised “confessions,” however, are far from surprising, and the accounts of her golf rounds will interest only the most obsessed of fans. (May)

Betsy Ross and the Making of America Marla R. Miller. Holt, $30 (480p) ISBN 978-0-8050-8297-5

Many Americans accept as true the story of Betsy Ross's role in creating the first American flag. Many modern historians believe the tale is apocryphal. But Miller, an associate professor of history at UMass-Amherst, says the story perpetuated by Ross's family is “neither altogether right nor altogether wrong.” There is no doubt, Miller says, that the skilled needlewoman was one of Philadelphia's most important flag makers from the Revolution through the War of 1812, and that Ross is important because she offers a unique lens on Philadelphia in that era. Ross's uncles were deeply involved in the Stamp Act protests; a Quaker who left her church to marry her first husband, herself a supporter of the colonies' rebellion, Ross was twice widowed by the Revolution and was married again to a war veteran. The lives of her family members were claimed by the yellow fever epidemic brought by refugees from revolutionary Haiti who flooded Philadelphia in 1793; her artisanal family's prosperity was sacrificed to war and political upheaval. This first-rate biography of Ross (1752—1836) is authoritative and engrossing and goes a long way toward recovering the history of early American women and work. 8 pages of b&w photos. (May)

America and the Pill: A History of Promise, Peril, and Liberation Elaine Tyler May. Basic, $25.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-465-01152-0

University of Minnesota historian May hits pay dirt with this brief but lively history of oral contraceptives on the 50th anniversary of “the pill.” She places the pill in its historical context: coming in the middle of the baby boom, it helped fuel a nascent sexual revolution, a growing youth culture that challenged authority, and feminism. Drawing on an Internet survey she conducted, May offers a treasure trove of stories about a medical and cultural movement that convinced a whole generation of women they were “free to take sex, education, work and even marriage when and how they like.” Nearly 12 million women in the U.S. today take the pill—and take it for granted. “I just couldn't picture a fully functioning society without it!” one pill user proclaims. Still, May (Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era) tosses away a unique chance to bring history to life by revealing in only a brief aside that her parents were involved in the early development and distribution of the pill. (May 3)

American Insurgents, American Patriots: The Revolution of the People T.H. Breen. Hill and Wang, $27 (384p) ISBN 978-0-8090-7588-1

Breen presents a provocative reinterpretation of the American Revolution as more of a grassroots movement of ordinary persons than is often presented. Beginning roughly two years before the 1776 Declaration of Independence, thousands of colonists—mostly farm families living in small communities—elected committees to channel their mounting “fear, fury, and resentment” into organized resistence. Fed up with the British Empire's incessant demands for ever greater loyalty, obedience, and taxes—and, Breen emphasizes, motivated by their evangelical faith—they had resolved to fight well before their famous leaders made it official, according to Breen. Their tipping point was the Battle of Lexington and Concord of April 19, 1775, news of which spread effectively throughout the 13 colonies, thanks to established communications systems. Northwestern history professor Breen (The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence) writes compellingly, but, contrary to his repeated claims, his is hardly the first account to focus on grassroots rural rebels. Even Mel Gibson's shlock movie The Patriot made the same basic point. Still, this is a valuable book by a distinguished scholar. (May)

Eden to Armageddon: World War I in the Middle East Roger Ford. Pegasus (Norton, dist.), $35 (560p) ISBN 978-1-60598-091-1

Often forgotten except for the legend of Lawrence of Arabia, the critical Middle Eastern theater of WWI is thoroughly chronicled in this meticulous military history. Ford (The Grim Reaper) surveys all the major campaigns in the Allied—mainly British—war against the Ottoman Empire, from the invasion of Mesopotamia (“Eden”) to the climactic battle of Megiddo (the biblical Armageddon) in Palestine. A microcosm of the larger war, the story includes a seesaw struggle between the Turks and Russians in the Caucasus, bloody trench warfare on the Gallipoli peninsula, a rare successful British cavalry charge near Gaza, and a pervasive air of futility as best-laid plans go tragically awry. Ford pens a lucid operational history from the orders of commanders to the movements of units as they contend with terrain, weather, and the enemy. He also pulls back to examine the political context and the personalities of leaders like the vain, over-reaching Turkish generalissimo Enver Pasha and the abrasive yet competent Winston Churchill. The result is a stylishly written, fine-grained narrative history that should become the standard for historians and buffs alike. 48 pages of b&w photos; maps. (May)

A Measureless Peril: America in the Fight for the Atlantic, the Longest Battle of World War II Richard Snow. Scribner, $27 (368p) ISBN 978-1-4165-9110-8

Former American Heritage editor-in-chief Snow brings long experience to this graphic account of the Battle of the Atlantic. He seasons it heavily with the letters of his father, who was an officer on one of the U.S. destroyer escorts vital to the U-boat offensive's final defeat. Snow quickly, colorfully, and accurately sets the stage: the construction and employment of Nazi Germany's formidable submarine force; the heroically improvised British and Canadian response; the fine line Franklin Roosevelt treaded in supporting Britain without committing America directly to war. Even after Pearl Harbor, it took time for a U.S. Navy previously indifferent to antisubmarine warfare to develop an effective doctrine and an industry that would construct the ships to implement it. Twenty-seven hundred “Liberty ships” put to sea faster than the U-boats could sink them. Four hundred destroyer escorts, “built out of spare parts, by amateurs,” crewed and commanded by other amateurs, protected the Liberties and hunted the subs. Snow ably uses his father's letters to reconstruct Atlantic duty in the final years of a vital battle for Allied victory. (May)

Hitler's Holy Relics: A True Story of Nazi Plunder and the Race to Recover the Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire Sidney D. Kirkpatrick. Simon & Schuster, $27 (352p) ISBN 978-1-4165-9062-0

In this fast-paced history, Kirkpatrick (A Cast of Killers) describes the efforts of German-born Walter Horn, a U.S. Army first lieutenant and art historian, to locate the missing crown, orb, scepter, imperial sword, and ceremonial sword of the Holy Roman Empire in Europe at the end of WWII. The objects, along with the Holy Lance of Longinus and many other artifacts, had been stolen by the Nazis from Austria after the Anschluss in 1938 and, conceivably, could have been used by Nazis to motivate Germans in the creation of a “Fourth Reich.” Through research, investigation, and amateur detective work, Horn explored the continuing threats inherent in Nazi mythology while successfully solving the core mystery of the disappearance of the crown jewels. Definitely speculative in the suggestion that a mysterious new order of “Teutonic Knights” might exist for malevolent political purposes, Horn's story is an interesting footnote to the history of WWII. 24 pages of b&w photos; 2 maps. (May 11)

The Typewriter Is Holy: The Complete, Uncensored History of the Beat Generation Bill Morgan. Free Press, $28 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4165-9242-6

The title of this not-so-rough guide to the mid-century social circle, of which Allen Ginsberg was the center, is taken from the poet's “Footnote to Howl.” For Morgan, Ginsberg was the “locomotive” for the group of journeyers, addicts, loiterers, and seekers that came to be known, in Jack Kerouac's term, as “beats” and who would act as catalyst for the late 1950s beatniks as well as the social movements of the 1960s. As Morgan points out, this was a boys' club—the combustible William Burroughs, murderer Lucien Carr, the charismatic bisexual Neal Cassady, the incorrigible Gregory Corso, Peter Orlovsky, Gary Snyder, and others more on the fringe, like Ken Kesey—and a white one at that. In part, such could be explained by the zeitgeist, in which even (largely gay) revolutionaries were unconscious participant-prisoners. The infamous and essential On the Road manuscript consisted of attached papers fed through Kerouac's typewriter like a roll of paper in an early word processor printer, and bravely promoted by agent Sterling Lord, represents for Morgan (in a bit of a stretch) how far ahead of their time the beats were. Although Ginsberg biographer Morgan cannot deliver a firsthand account of the beat history, readers do gain some immediacy regarding the legendary lives and loves of this motley crew that changed the world. (May 11)

Globish: How the English Language Became the World's Language Robert McCrum. Norton, $26.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-393-06255-7

Britannia may not rule, but it still presides over the world's discourse, according to this sketchy, triumphalist chronicle of the English language. McCrum (The Story of English), associate editor of Britain's Observer, surveys the latter-day apotheosis of English as the international language, observing Chinese English-language boot camps, Bangalore call centers, and the takeover of Britain's Man Booker prize by non-British novelists. But most of the book is a historical pageant of the English-speaking peoples as they assimilated, conquered, or enslaved foreigners and expropriated words and dialects under the leadership of statesmen/wordsmiths from King Alfred to Churchill and literary geniuses like Shakespeare and Twain. McCrum makes a pragmatic, happenstance case for the international popularity of English: the British Empire and American hegemony spread it around the planet, making it the obvious choice for a globalizing world's lingua franca. But he also advances a grander and less coherent brief for English as the language of individual freedom, democracy, and capitalism, contrasting its “contagious, adaptable, populist and subversive” spirit with the snobby elitism of French. That's a bit of language chauvinism that no linguistic analysis, especially one as cursory as McCrum's, can sustain. (May)

The Matchbox That Ate a Forty-Ton Truck: What Everyday Things Tell Us About the Universe Marcus Chown. Faber and Faber, $25 (288p) ISBN 978-0-86547-912-7

Why can't a broken teacup reassemble itself? How do stars turn hydrogen into iron? This lively, nontechnical look at the physics behind the world around us is rich with entertaining anecdotes and examples of some pretty complex ideas. Caltech astronomer Chown (The Quantum Zoo) uses simple examples from everyday life—a reflection on a windowpane, the solidity of the ground underfoot, the heat of our sun, the immense variety of objects in the world—to reveal evidence of everything from the Big Bang to the life cycle of stars and the inner structure of the atom. Skillful explanations are leavened with humor. Invocations of pop culture and literary references, from Homer Simpson and Walt Whitman to Edgar Allan Poe and Douglas Adams, help introduce each complex idea and enhance the discussion. Chapter notes and a comprehensive glossary offer additional information. Both deliberate readers and those who like to jump into things at random will be entertained and informed by this charming book. (May)

Gringo Nightmare: A Young American Framed for Murder in Nicaragua Eric Volz. St. Martin's, $25.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-55727-0

There is much pain in Volz's memoir of being a young American in a near-perfect frameup involving murder, tabloid headlines, police corruption, and political power plays in Nicaragua. In 2005, the author, then in his early 20s, established a bilingual magazine with a friend, settled in a small Nicaraguan town, and fell in love with the beautiful Doris Jiménez. Eventually, Volz moved to Managua, but remained close friends with Doris. So he was stunned in late 2006 to receive a call informing him that she was dead and even more stunned to find himself charged and harshly sentenced for her murder after a trial he describes as involving tampered evidence, coerced testimony, police incompetence, and betrayals. The vignettes of the prisons and cold-blooded inmates are scalding. After a bold campaign by his family and friends to put pressure on his captors, Volz was released and deported in December 2007. Volz describes a web of sinister international political acts involving even Nicaraguan president Daniel Ortega, whom he calls corrupt and duplicitous in this tale of everything that can go south for an American facing uncertain justice abroad. 8 pages of b&w photos. (May)

Deadly Charm: The Story of a Deaf Serial Killer McCay Vernon and Marie Vernon. Gallaudet Univ., $14.95 paper (248p) ISBN 978-1-56368-443-2

Florida-based forensic psychologist McCay Vernon and journalist Marie Vernon (coauthors of Deadly Lust) present a striking portrait of Patrick McCullough, “[s]o far as can be determined... the first and only deaf man ever to be identified as a serial killer.” McCay Vernon's personal encounters with him both in and out of prison add an authoritative tone to this psychological probe of a man with a volcanic anger and an inability to accept rejection. Despite his IQ of 120, McCullough's relatively late diagnosis of deafness impeded his development of language skills and “trapped [him] in a silent world.” Already unmanageable as a three-year-old, McCullough went on to spend time in mental institutions and seven years in prison for two murders committed in the 1980s. His tragic life ended in 2001 with a bloody murder-suicide. But the authors argue, unlike most serial killers, McCullough did not kill for sexual pleasure but because of his rage (caused possibly by neurological damage) and inability to accept rejection. Drawing on a range of sources from court records to interviews with McCullough's friends, the authors provide a disturbing portrait of an atypical serial murderer. (May 31)

The Myth of Stress: Where Stress Comes From and How to Live a Happier and Healthier Life Andrew Bernstein. Free Press, $26 (320p) ISBN 978-1-4391-5945-3

Bernstein, a former protégé of self-help guru Byron Katie and a consultant to Fortune 500 corporations, thinks stress is produced not by external circumstances but by mistaken thoughts. He has developed the seven-step ActivInsight program to combat these thoughts and banish stress and related feelings of depression, despair, anger, and frustration. Really a form of cognitive therapy, ActivInsight involves framing a “should” statement that expresses your stress (they should agree with me), evaluating the feelings that accompany it, and then framing its opposite, no matter how counterintuitive it sounds. One must then set out to prove the counterstatement (I should be here [in drug rehab] because I need help) and examine again the feelings it elicits and the actions it could lead to (e.g., participation). Chapter by chapter, Bernstein takes on various stress-inducing thoughts—I should weigh less; I should be successful; I shouldn't have done that—and shows how to let the air out of them. His program seems to involve formulaic thinking rather than genuine self-examination, and to ignore the plain truth that certain situations (like losing a job) are indeed stressful. (May 4)

The Nesting Season: Cuckoos, Cuckolds, and the Invention of Monogamy Bernd Heinrich. Harvard/Belknap, $29.95 (404p) ISBN 978-0-674-04877-5

Blending scientific research with memoir, Heinrich (A Year in the Maine Woods) reveals the complex courtship and mating rituals of birds—along with the startling commonalities between certain human and avian domestic arrangements. Since research suggests that similar hormonal activity precedes both human and nonhuman mating, he also argues for applying so-called “anthropomorphic” labels like “love” to the behavior of birds. How else can one describe the tribulations that emperor penguins undergo to hatch their lone egg and raise their young? Heinrich also explores how some birds use plumage to attract mates while others use dance, elaborate nests, etc., to attract females, all an attempt to maximize the chances of passing on their genes; the ingenious strategies they use to protect their eggs; how the size of the clutch of eggs depends on whether the species is monogamous with the male helping feed the mother and the young (more babies) or not; and how males who leave the nest, or “cheat,” risk being cuckolded themselves. Skillfully narrated and illustrated by the author's own photographs and watercolor sketches, this book offers a range of intellectual and aesthetic pleasures. (May)

The Nature and Future of Philosophy Michael Dummett. Columbia Univ., $13 paper (160p) ISBN 978-0-231-15052-1

A concise yet wide-ranging examination of the scope and limits of philosophy by one of the analytical tradition's most articulate and significant living figures. Dummett (The Origins of Analytical Philosophy) defends a vision of philosophy as the analysis and clarification of our everyday concepts, thereby carving out a unique position for the discipline as distinct from scientific enquiry, psychology, and religion. He fleshes out this vision in broad strokes, rooting what he calls a notion of “philosophy as the grammar of thought” in Gottlob Frege's groundbreaking work in logic, in particular his analysis of sentences and his theory of meaning, based on the distinction between sense and reference. While the author does profess a desire for reconciliation between the analytical and continental schools of philosophy, his choice and consideration of Hans Georg Gadamer as representative of the continental approach to questions about language, to the exclusion of figures like Saussure, Ricoeur, and Derrida, is perplexing. Nonetheless, Dummett's passionate advocacy for philosophy's continuing relevance and his defense of the field against the encroaching tendencies of physics and neurological science are never less than compelling. (May)

Influence: How Women's Soaring Economic Power Will Transform Our World for the Better Maddy Dychtwald with Christine Larson. Hyperion/Voice, $24.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-4013-4102-2

Dychtwald, a demographer and marketing executive, provides a riveting exploration of female economic emancipation in the 21stcentury as unprecedented numbers of women all over the world are becoming financially powerful enough to stand on their own and tip global power balances: individually, as their attitudes toward money changes; in the home; in the work place; and in society at large, as gender gaps in health and education in even the poorest nations are narrowing. Dychtwald shows how women are upending the status quo in corporate America through this rapid economic shift and offers a welcome, more micro look with her five “money profiles”—archetypal ways that modern women relate to their money, how financially self-confident they feel, and what they expect their money to do for them. She provides fascinating glimpses of women from all corners of the globe who are taking advantage of this change, from Uganda to Northern California, and her rousing and well-researched book contains valuable insight into a pivotal movement that holds vast and heartening advancements. (May)

Saturday Is for Funerals Unity Dow and Max Essex. Harvard Univ., $19.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-674-05077-8

The HIV/AIDS epidemic in Botswana is explored with sensitivity and scientific rigor in this heartening book from Dow, a Botswana High Court judge and novelist, and Essex, a Harvard professor and medical researcher specializing in HIV/AIDS. The authors offer an empathetic account of everyday life in a country where the disease infects one of every four adults—the constant funerals, the heroism of community workers and activists—and miniature narratives from the lives of the suffering and surviving: a teenager raising his siblings after being orphaned, a newlywed's discovering that her new husband is HIV-positive. In broad strokes, the authors cover the transmission and diagnosis of the disease, how drugs are researched and introduced on the market, and the humble and elaborate initiatives that have been so successful in Botswana: circumcision as well as HAART (Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy). Although occasionally repetitive, this richly informative book dispels much of the mystery still surrounding HIV/AIDS, revealing how life goes on for those infected. Readers overwhelmed by (and even numbed to) the images of desolation that accompany coverage of the epidemic will find a realistic but optimistic assessment of a society successfully tackling the problem and a model for other afflicted nations. (May)

Lifestyle

Food

What's New, Cupcake? Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $16.95 paper (240p) ISBN 978-0-547-24181-4

The authors of Hello, Cupcake are back, this time with the promise of simpler recipes. Relying on doctored, store-bought cake mixes and the option of canned frostings, recipe time is used primarily for assembling and decorating cupcakes that take the form of animals, food items, and holiday-inspired scenes. The TOC may leave readers guessing recipe selections with chapter names such as “I Thought You Ordered Chocolate Moose” and “The House that Boo Built,” but the unconventional names embody the playful spirit of this title. Basic techniques, including filling cupcake liners and frosting cupcakes, are explained, and recipes are formatted into clear, easy-to-understand numbered steps accompanied by full-color photos. Kids and adults alike will find joy in the many artful creations, including a “pizza” supported by cupcakes and topped with fruit “pepperoni”; a banana split with cupcakes in the form of ice cream scoops, and Chinese takeout complete with Tootsie Roll broccoli florets. This is an innovative title that doesn't hold back. (Apr.)

Seasons in the Wine Country: Recipes from the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone Cate Coniff, with wine notes by Traci Dutton. Chronicle, $27.50 (208p) ISBN 978-0-8118-6588-3

In 1995, the Culinary Institute of America opened a branch on the West Coast, in Greystone, nestled in the well-traveled wine country of Napa, California. This thoughtful collection of recipes gathered by Greystone marketing manager Coniff includes those of CIA instructors and Napa gourmets, highlighting seasonal recipes. While a 16-step cake and an industrious paella may intimidate, they are offset with easy-to-follow recipes such as minted English pea soup, frittata with goat cheese and green olives, and oven-roasted brussels sprouts with fennel seeds. Sophisticated palates will appreciate such dishes as a mizuna salad with Parmesan gelato, prosciutto di Parma, and mizuna; dishes such as the fish tacos with citrus-cucumber relish and pico de gallo are crowd pleasers. Recipes include well-chosen wine pairings and explain varietals, as well as providing storage and serving tips. Color photos capture the essence of wine country, making this not only a usable but a beautiful guide to Napa. (Apr.)

Sara's Everyday Family Dinners Sara Moulton. Simon & Schuster, $35 (336p) ISBN 978-1-439-10251-0

Moulton, famed Food Network and public television star and author of Sara's Secrets for Weeknight Meals, shares 200 recipes for busy home cooks. While many cookbooks offer quick recipes for weeknight meals, Moulton takes the concept several steps further by creating dishes that reflect the way Americans truly eat at home. Inspired by the recession, she creates meals that are inexpensive yet flavorful and offers suggestions for variations, such as making the dish lighter, vegetarian, or with different ingredients. She offers two-for-one dishes, where a second new meal is created with leftovers from the first meal as well as five-ingredient main dishes. She also devotes entire chapters to vegetarian dishes and whole grain meals, and her poultry section includes turkey meatballs. She not only condones but advocates appetizers for dinner and dedicating a night for sandwiches and another to soup. Recipe highlights include black bean soup with quesadillas, Peking duck wraps, Thai-style beef stir-fry with chilis and mint, sautéed beer-batter shrimp with tartar sauce, and three-ingredient apple crisp. This refreshing, accessible, and tasty collection more than lives up to the promise of its title and will delight the legions of Moulton fans, earning her more than a few new ones. (Apr.)

Home & Garden

Paula Deen's Savannah Style Paula Deen with Brandon Branch. Simon & Schuster, $29.99 (224p) ISBN 978-1-4165-5224-3

The Food Network queen of buttery Southern fare departs from publishing cookbooks to present—with help from Branch, her personal assistant and creative director—a photo-laden guide (photos by Deborah Whitlaw Llewelyn) to her style of home decorating. Like Deen's food, the decor she highlights is welcoming and comfortable, and often over-the-top (music rooms complete with harps and grand pianos; oversized crystal chandeliers). She covers plenty of topics applicable to many readers, such as “porch livin',” the practical use of slipcovers, and collecting. “There's not a house in Savannah that doesn't lovingly display a collection of plates, pottery, canes, ceramics, crafts, or anything that takes our fancy,” she explains. The frequent “Brandon's Style Secrets” sidebars scarcely offer secrets, but they do contain nuggets of fun and time-tested wisdom: “For your [holiday] flowers, use several tiny bunches instead of one big expensive arrangement. You will get the same look for less money.” Though reading Deen's accent (nothin'; havin'; fixin') isn't as charming as hearing it, the prose is friendly, and the volume offers a warm invitation to those who want a peek at how Deen and her fellow Savannahans live. (Apr.)

War Sebastian Junger. Hachette/Twelve, $26.99 (324p) ISBN 978-0-446-55624-8

War is insanely exciting.... Don't underestimate the power of that revelation,” warns bestselling author and Vanity Fair contributing editor Junger (The Perfect Storm). The war in Afghanistan contains brutal trauma but also transcendent purpose in this riveting combat narrative. Junger spent 14 months in 2007—2008 intermittently embedded with a platoon of the 173rd Airborne brigade in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley, one of the bloodiest corners of the conflict. The soldiers are a scruffy, warped lot, with unkempt uniforms—they sometimes do battle in shorts and flip-flops—and a ritual of administering friendly beatings to new arrivals, but Junger finds them to be superlative soldiers. Junger experiences everything they do—nerve-racking patrols, terrifying roadside bombings and ambushes, stultifying weeks in camp when they long for a firefight to relieve the tedium. Despite the stress and the grief when buddies die, the author finds war to be something of an exalted state: soldiers experience an almost sexual thrill in the excitement of a firefight—a response Junger struggles to understand—and a profound sense of commitment to subordinating their self-interests to the good of the unit. Junger mixes visceral combat scenes—raptly aware of his own fear and exhaustion—with quieter reportage and insightful discussions of the physiology, social psychology, and even genetics of soldiering. The result is an unforgettable portrait of men under fire. (May 11)

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PW Picks for May 21, 2012 more...

PW's Best Books of 2011

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