French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes, & Pleasure

Guiliano serves up second helpings of her popular approach to healthy living in this gracious outing (following 2005's French Women Don't Get Fat ), framed with an emphasis on the pleasures of seasonality, local produce and personal style. Everything in moderation is this New York City–based Frenchwoman's secret to staying slim and bien dans sa peau (comfortable in one's skin). Always with a mind to portion control, she presents weekly menus and over a hundred recipes organized by season and sauced with casual, idyllic culinary reminiscences. Some of her simple, appealing recipes tap her French origins (Potato Gratin à la Normande calls for apples and soft, ripe Pont l'Évêque cheese), others nod to Americanized calorie-conscious taste (Turkey Scaloppine with Pesto) and some recipes reflect her proximity to New York City's Union Square Greenmarket (sautéed fiddleheads). A holistic fitness strategy (e.g., cycling as a mode of transportation) remains a theme and Guilano expands l'art de vivre to aging gracefully, entertaining and tying one's scarf with flair. The CEO of Champagne Veuve Clicquot, she also offers an excellent primer on wine. Guiliano's debut, which laid out a program, is more instructive, but the legions of readers fond of her encouraging, urbane voice will be happy to hear from her, though they won't learn any new secrets. 750,000 announced first printing; 12-city author tour. (Nov.)