In this thorough offering, Gjata and Harvard Medical School professor Phillips (coauthor, Organize Your Emotions, Optimize Your Life) adapt for the page their eponymous podcast about health and dieting. Gjata and Phillips take turns diving into scientific insights on nutrition and weight loss to provide guidance on exercising and eating right. The research surprises, as when the authors explain that losing weight lowers metabolism because the body becomes more efficient at conserving energy, and that restrictive dieting primes the body to regain lost weight by creating more cells to store fat. Even when the science gets complicated, Gjata’s humor leavens the proceedings. Diving into how the sympathetic adrenal medullary system affects stress and weight gain, she describes a study that found sadness leads people to eat more and remarks, “This is the last time I will watch The Notebook with snacks anywhere in my vicinity.” Additionally, readers will appreciate the straightforward nutritional guidelines, which include exhortations to limit processed foods and eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Scientific rigor and lighthearted prose put this a notch above other diet manuals. (July)

Correction: An earlier version of this review mischaracterized some of the authors' nutritional guidelines.

Reviewed on 05/12/2023 | Details & Permalink

This pleasant debut from artist Ross shows how to make paint pigments from chalk, clay, rocks, and other found materials. Providing tips on how to forage colorful materials in a variety of locales, she notes that readers might look for greenish shale in fields, pink clay at beaches, and orange discarded bricks in urban areas. Instructions outline how to turn the materials into pigments. For stones, Ross advises hammering them into tiny pieces, grinding the bits with a mortar and pestle, filtering the results through a sieve, then adding them to a jar with water, letting the mixture settle, and pouring out the standing water, which leaves behind only the finest sediments at the bottom of the jar. Transforming the pigment into watercolor paint requires more water and a medium to produce a more gel-like texture, which can be made with foraged solidified gum from cherry, acacia, or other “non-coniferous” trees. Ross details how different mediums create different looks, observing that substituting egg whites for gum results in a glossier finish. The finicky procedure might take some trial and error to master, but the comprehensive directions ensure readers are well prepared. The result is an enjoyable take on how artists can get in touch with the natural world. (July)

Reviewed on 05/12/2023 | Details & Permalink

TV host Sansone (The Hub Today) debuts with a useful and enthusiastic guide to “quick and dirty” dinners, with an emphasis on meals that will please the whole family. Most of these dishes, from fish tacos with chili and lime to a deconstructed egg roll bowl with fresh ginger, can be achieved in 30 minutes or less. Elsewhere, Sansone draws on her Italian American heritage in recipes for 10-minute spaghetti carbonara and “street-style” sausage and peppers, and follows up the collection’s most time-consuming outing, the long-simmering “Sunday Sauce,” with a quicker take, which she dubs “Monday Marinara.” The author has a few tricks up her sleeve: she favors marinating meats in Ziplock bags to reduce mess, and approximates the flavor of effort-intensive lasagna using layers of frozen ravioli. Most of the time, however, her tip for reducing the effort involved in these classic recipes is simply to rely on store-bought ingredients, from a can of refrigerated biscuits in her personal pot pies to frozen mini-meatballs in the “weeknight wedding soup.” “Don’t be a hero,” she reminds readers, “you can only make so much at once.” Though some home chefs may balk, it’s a reassuring message on a stressful weeknight. This will come through in a pinch. (May)

Reviewed on 04/28/2023 | Details & Permalink

Evans, whose Slow AF Run Club blog offers tips for “slow and beginner runners,” debuts with an empathetic guide on how “nontraditional runners” (those “in larger bodies,” with disabilities, or in their later years) can take up the sport. He recounts becoming a runner in 2012 to spite his physician, who told Evans that his interest in running a marathon was the “stupidest thing he had ever heard in all his years of practicing medicine,” and shares how readers with a variety of body types and abilities can get started. Explaining the basics, he covers proper form (back straight, chest out) and breathing technique, advising that runners should breathe from their diaphragm, not their chest. To maximize one’s energy, Evans recommends consuming lots of carbs, which power the “body’s cells, tissues, and organs,” as well as protein, which “builds and repairs your muscles.” Evans brims with positivity, encouraging readers to recite such affirmations as “no struggle, no progress” and to nix negative self-talk. The advice aimed at slower runners will appeal to those who enjoy the activity but don’t aspire to run competitively (“It’s all about the process over the results,” he writes on dealing with the disappointment of not finishing a race). Practical and compassionate in equal measure, this will get readers moving. (June)

Reviewed on 04/28/2023 | Details & Permalink

Walker, who owns the spice company Rooted Spices, and Clark, the former deputy food editor at BBC Good Food, debut with an exciting tour through the world of spices. An introductory chapter describes 24 spices, from familiar favorites (cinnamon) to hidden gems (amchur, “a spice on the move”), and offers recipes for blends. Subsequent chapters present spice-forward dishes developed by Clark. In the breakfast chapter, for instance, Turkish poached eggs on a swath of yogurt are perked up with Aleppo pepper, while Indian baked eggs with chickpeas incorporate cumin, coriander, and turmeric. Quick suppers include a tomato soup with za’atar and South Asian porridge with mustard seeds. More complex productions run along the lines of beef shins with ancho chile and braised lamb with prunes and harissa. Desserts include Italian almond cookies with grapefruit zest and Szechuan pepper, and strawberry and fennel seed ice cream. The authors frequently offer riffs, variations, and substitutions, and instructions are always clear, including a list of the spices used, the time required, and the level of effort involved. The wide range of recipes is both blessing and curse, however: it keeps proceedings interesting, but can sometimes lend an unfocused feel. Still, cooks looking to broaden their spice horizons will find this an inviting and generous collection. (May)

Reviewed on 04/28/2023 | Details & Permalink

Times food columnist Segnit explores the power of unexpected flavor combinations in this tantalizing and inspiring follow-up to The Flavor Thesaurus. Focused on plant-forward ingredients, this handy reference offers tasty vegetable match-ups for creative cookery, organized within 19 “flavour families.” The “Floral Fruity” category, for example, recommends pairing “lusty” tomato with honey for a sweet ripening effect. “Caramel Roasted” pairings include miso and yogurt, imparting a deep salty flavor tempered by fattiness, and rye and avocado, which “soothes” rye’s “hotter, rougher side.” Mushrooms, prunes, or white beans gain extra dimension in combo with the allium family (garlic, leeks, and chives), while “leguminous” lentils benefit from the “acidic shock” brought by Japanese pickled ginger. Chocolate-infused halva becomes “not unlike a Milky Way that has melted in your beach bag then resolidified in the fridge.” Recipes primarily take the form of suggestions or formulas, often presented as reminiscences by the author, whose easygoing prose draws on culinary science, sensory appeal, and the spirit of experimentation. With its flavor pairings conveniently cross-referenced, this guide is as practical as it is mouthwatering. Agent: Zoë Waldie at Rogers, Coleridge & White. (May)

Reviewed on 04/28/2023 | Details & Permalink

Rainbow Parenting podcaster Amer debuts with an insightful program on how parents, educators, and caregivers can “create a queer and gender-affirming environment” for children from birth through elementary school. Providing advice on how to raise kids “with the idea that they can grow up to identify any which way,” Amer offers strategies for teaching children about gender and resisting common gendered parenting practices. For infants, they recommend using gender neutral nursery decorations (such as ocean or outer space motifs) and skipping the gender reveal party. Expounding on the importance of “body kindness” (the idea that “our bodies deserve respect from ourselves and from others”), Amer encourages readers to model the concept of consent for toddlers by asking them “if it’s okay to hug them.” Taking note of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ finding that children often have a sense of their gender identity by age four, Amer exhorts readers to ask preschoolers their pronouns and teach elementary school–age kids about the gender spectrum and LGBTQ history. Filled with practical guidance and thoughtful commentary, this is a valuable resource for raising children beyond the gender binary. (May)

Reviewed on 04/28/2023 | Details & Permalink

In this comprehensive outing, Taoist scholar Wong (How to Win) offers guidance on how to arrange one’s home in accordance with feng shui, the Taoist concept that seeks to create “harmony” in a space through the positioning of its constituent elements. Blending practical advice on decorating with philosophical background on feng shui, she explains that the practice is rooted in the belief that “land and all living things” have energy, or qi, and that the relationship between the features of a room or landscape determines the mood of the space (for example, “architecture with strange and grotesque features is associated with fearful energy”). Wong dispenses useful tips for furnishing one’s home, recommending that readers avoid clutter (open space makes room “for energy to gather and circulate”), placing beds against windows (which “let in unpredictable energy from the outside”), and using red kitchen appliances (which enhance the “energy of fire” in the room). Other suggestions are harder to implement, such as her advice to “destroy” negative energy from “gnarly” tree branches by mounting a handsaw on a stand between the branches and one’s home. However, the more pragmatic guidance is well complemented by the thorough background on the spiritual and philosophical underpinnings of feng shui. The result is an ideal primer on modern applications of an ancient tradition. (June)

Reviewed on 04/28/2023 | Details & Permalink

Mimi G Style blogger Ford debuts with a stylish manual for sewing customizable garments. She outlines how to make a button-up shirt, pencil skirt, T-shirt, camisole, wrap dress, duster coat, and trousers, and details how each pattern can be modified to create new articles of clothing. For example, the bottom of the fitted tee can be extended to make a “dropped waist t-shirt dress,” the trousers can be turned into palazzo pants by enlarging the hemlines for the legs, and the camisole can be transformed into a jumpsuit with the addition of trousers. Though Ford provides a brief primer on stitching techniques—including how to understitch, attach sleeves to a bodice, and create a zipper fly—she writes for readers who have mastered such “basic sewing tasks” as making button holes and applying interfacing to stiffen textiles. Opining on her favorite fabrics, she recommends cotton for its affordability, corduroy for durability, and twill for its versatility (“lightweight twill is great for shirts,” while heavier variations are ideal for pants). Beginners might be challenged, but experienced sewists will appreciate the guidance on how to modify patterns, as well as the look book in which Ford models ideas for combining different garments to create striking outfits. This dazzling design guide impresses. (June)

Reviewed on 04/28/2023 | Details & Permalink

This striking debut by stylist Mitchell offers eye-popping glimpses into what it’s like to live in a floating house. Profiles of aquatic homes and their owners from across the globe showcase the houses’ diversity; some are “nomadic” and able to travel, such as the enclosed rescue boat renovated by British architects who rode it from England to Norway, while others are permanently moored, such as the house built by an entrepreneur on the Argentinian delta where the Paraná and Uruguay rivers meet. Mitchell highlights eco-friendly homes, including an upcycled storage container mounted on a concrete pontoon and a Brazilian prefab structure that’s made out of recycled wood and generates energy from solar panels. The homeowners provide advice on how readers might take to the water; a resident of a luxurious Dutch houseboat community recommends devoting 80% of one’s budget to constructing the home and the remaining 20% to furnishing and decorating it, and a married couple living on an anchored yacht in Hong Kong proffer tips on keeping a garden on board (cover from the elements is essential, and be wary of bringing pests home with new plants). With eye-catching photos and a broad sampling of the many ways to live on the water, this is a vibrant tour of the life aquatic. (June)

Reviewed on 04/28/2023 | Details & Permalink