Ultimate Summer
Just in time for reveling in the abundance of summer, Collins & Brown offer two large-format guides. In The Ultimate Herb Book: The Definitive Guide to Growing and Using Over 200 Herbs, Antony Atha introduces a broad range of useful plants. Alongside dozens of photographs, Atha traces the history of herbs, describes the various types and then covers 200 individually, supplying vital statistics and medicinal and culinary uses as well as discussing ease of cultivation. Recipes are included where appropriate, and warnings of potential dangers are prominent. A glorious stand-alone companion volume, The Ultimate Flower Arranging Book, by Judy Spours, illustrates this venerable art. She covers methods of flower selection and preparation, the color spectrum, choosing containers and techniques for drying and preserving flowers and making wreaths and topiary. More than 800 lovely large photos showcase individual blooms and beautiful arrangements. ([Sterling, dist.], Herbs $24.95 320p ISBN 1-85585-880-0; Flower $24.95 320p -877-0; July)
Foods with Cult Followings
What's more entertaining than a shimmering, jiggling bowl of Jell-O? For a century kids and grownups alike have enjoyed the sweet flavors of the humble, packaged gelatins and puddings. The Magic of Jell-O: 100 New and Favorite Recipes Celebrating 100 Years of Fun with Jell-O pays tribute to the staying power of this versatile treat. The brilliant color photos and tempting recipes will draw anyone in, whether for a brief trip down memory lane or a serious investigation. "Berry Blue Shooting Stars," "Wiggly Banana Splits" and a "Watermelon Pit Parfait" are as much fun to make as to consume. More mature palates will appreciate "Easy Tiramisu" with coffee liqueur, or the sinful "Cappuccino Cups." Birthdays and Halloween are just two of the occasions celebrated in this confection of a cookbook. (Sterling, $9.95 paper 128p ISBN 0-8069-7921-6; July)
Dating from the 1930s, featured in the Smithsonian, rocketing to unimagined heights of success and staying there for 60 years—who would have guessed that "shoulder meat left over from the pork industry," blended with ham and canned as a luncheon meat would enjoy such glory? In SPAM: The Cookbook, Marguerite Patten (Marguerite Patten's Post-War Kitchen) offers 20 recipes (Thai SPAM Cakes; SPAM steaks in Port Wine); a concise history of SPAM (the visionary Jay C. Hormel beat the odds when he sold his brainchild to his father and then the world; by 1944, 90% of Hormel canned foods "were exported to various theaters of war"); quotes and excerpts from Nikita Kruschev, Monty Python and fan clubs; and much more world-wide SPAMiana. Pop-culture lovers will drool. Photos. (Hamlyn [Sterling, dist.], $9.95 64p ISBN 0-600-60343-1; July)
Staying Healthy
Iscador, a plant-based cancer remedy, is a most widely recognized cancer medicine in Switzerland and Germany. In Iscador: Mistletoe in Cancer Therapy, editor Christine Murphy (Practical Home Care Medicine) has compiled writings by doctors and clinicians (some from Lilipoh, a holistic medicine journal Murphy edits) who use Iscador, which is never prescribed on its own, but in combination with various alternative and conventional treatments. Despite recent attention, some readers will be skeptical, since Iscador isn't as widely known in the U.S. as in Europe, and the book has a New Agey-looking flowery cover. But they might want to keep an open mind; Iscador is more often prescribed by oncologists and other conventional doctors than by practitioners of "alternative" medicine. (Lantern [1 Union Square West, Suite 201, New York N.Y. 10003], $20 paper 208p ISBN 1-930051-76-X; July)
Liz Applegate (Power Foods), a nutrition columnist for Runner's World, offers Eat Smart Play Hard: Fueling for Maximum Fitness and Peak Performance to exercisers of all stripes. Following the currently popular (and presumably wiser than the advice of 10 years ago) less-carbs-some-fats tip, Applegate prescribes clear, comprehensive programs that tell when to eat what, depending on the time of day of the work-out. She explains succinctly how mistaken beliefs about nutrition (among nutritionists and lay people) came about, and how "[n]ow, we know about specific foods that promote weight loss because they fill you up without filling you out." Her concentration on healthful weight loss and increased energy will win broad appeal. (Rodale, $16.95 paper 248p ISBN 1-57954-344-8; July 4) "You know, of course, that you want it," taunt Ted Allen and Scott Omelianuk, the authors of Esquire's Things a Man Should Know About Sex, wittily playing upon readers anxieties. "What most men don't know, unfortunately, is how to do it." Esquire contributing editor and executive editor, respectively, Allen and Omelianuk coauthored Esquire's Things a Man Should Know About Style and Esquire's Things a Man Should Know About Marriage. Like their previous books, this tongue-in-cheek guide to success between the sheets is based on the magazine's popular feature "Things a Man Should Know." The sound advice and humor at men's expense may delight women even more than it does men: ménage à trois, the authors wisely advise, for example, is French for "in your dreams." (Hearst, $10 paper (152p) ISBN 1-58816-029-7; June)
