Cookbook Review: Vegan Comfort Food Classics by Lauren Toyota

YouTuber Lauren Toyota's vegan cookbook is a lot of fun, and I liked that this book, a rarity for vegan cookbooks, is not trying to be super healthy.  There are recipes for all of your favorite junk foods, and not just western ones, including Zucchini-Onion Bhaji, Ramen Burgers, Oyster Mushroom Po'Boys, Banh Mi Bowls, etc.  There are also desserts, like Raspberry Funfetti Pop Tarts, Apple Fritters, and Cinnamon Rolls.  These are creative, tasty-sounding recipes.  Humor, irreverence, and originality are this book's hallmarks.  

YA Fiction Review: S.T.A.G.S. by M.A. Bennett

S.T.A.G.S. is a YA novel by British author M.A. Bennett.  It is very clearly inspired by Donna Tartt's beloved The Secret History, and it's a partial read-a-like.  It's about a smart and smart-mouthed teen from Manchester named Greer who gets a scholarship to attend a posh and very old boarding school.  She is ignored and sometimes bullied by the very wealthy and old-money students.  The school is ruled by The Medievals, six prefects who are the richest, snobbiest, poshest, etc., and are kowtowed to by students and faculty alike.  Greer thinks are turning around when she and two other outsider students are invited for a long weekend at the country house of Henry, the ruler of The Medievals.  But of course it turns out that the three of them are there to be hunted, rather than to participate in the hunt.  I am a sucker for stories about boarding schools, posh Brits and their terrible behavior, and secret societies, so needless to say, I enjoyed this book quite a lot.  It was a fun and very fast read, and  there was even a fair amount of social commentary about class.

Cookbook Review: Chloe Flavor: Saucy, Crispy, Saucy, Vegan by Chloe Coscarelli

Chloe Flavor is the latest cookbook from vegan cook Chloe Coscarelli.  This book, published by Clarkson Potter, seems like a step up from her previous books from Atria, and with its higher-end design, it appears to be a conscious reset for Coscarelli.  The production value (photographs, layouts, fonts, etc.) is much better, and it's a great-looking book.  It's a little confusing trying to figure out how this book differs from her earlier Atria books, except for the production value.  Like her book Chloe Kitchen, it includes a wide range of vegan dishes, from a variety of culinary traditions.  The recipes strike me as similar, although perhaps a little more sophisticated, but I do like the variety here, and everything sounds very tasty.  There's everything from brunch, appetizers, and mains to desserts and even cocktails.  

Cookbook Review: Power Plates by Gena Hamshaw

Blogger Gena Hamshaw's Power Plates is a beautiful vegan cookbook.  It contains 100 healthy vegan recipes, all of which are accompanied by lovely photographs.  Like all of Ten Speed Press' books, it is beautifully well-designed, with clear layouts and instructions.  And like pretty much any vegan or vegetarian cookbook I've encountered, it starts with a longish section about common ingredients and techniques.  I guess every vegan/vegetarian cookbook writer is hoping their book is the first and only one of its kind the reader has ever owned?  Power Plates is set apart from other vegan cookbooks I've seen because while its focus is on balanced proteins, which is suggested by the title, which I'm not super enamored of, as it makes it sound like a diet book.  Hamshaw explains macronutrients (basically complete proteins?) and how to get them by combining different types of ingredients.  Each of her recipes does this for you, but she also explains the principle so the reader can it apply to meals not made out of this cookbook.  The recipes all sound tasty, and photos are beautiful.  I really like the combination of flavors and dishes from all over the world she includes here.  For breakfast, you can make Steel-Cut Oats with a variety of suggested toppings (I love the pictured toppings of dried apricots and pistachios--yum), or kitchari, a rice and lentil dish.  The flavor combinations are sophisticated and complex, but not scary or difficult.  Beluga Lentils and Tomatoes with Tempeh Bacon and Turmeric Mustard Vinaigrette! Curried Tomato Stew with Chickpea Dumplings! Sweet Potato Falafel Bowls with Freekeh Pilaf and Roasted Cauliflower!  Almost every dish sounds and looks mouth-watering.  

Food Writing Review: L'Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home by David Lebovitz

L'Appart: The Delights and Disasters of Making My Paris Home is baker and writer David Lebovitz's latest book, published by Crown Books.  Lebovitz is a wonderful baker and writer. I adore his blog.  As in his blog, he comes across here as charming, funny, talented, and humble.  His previous books, along with his blog, have provided excellent recipes for French food and baked goods, all explained beautifully, no matter how complicated. For anyone who has lived in a big city with expensive real estate, his addition of the details of the ordeals of making a home in Paris is the icing on the cake.  What a great combination of delicious details: French food + Parisian real estate.  The American expat details the humorous and stress-inducing trials of making a home in Paris, where he is renovating his apartment.  He of course also includes plenty of wonderful food writing, and many original recipes.  This is a delightful book for lovers of excellent food, real estate, and Paris.
(I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.)

YA Review: Otherworld by Jason Segel and Kirsten Miller

I'm a big fan of Kirsten Miller, one of the coauthors of this book. I loved her Kiki Strike series, and wish it hadn't ended. This book has in common with those smart-mouthed teens and excitement, but not much else. It takes place in a not distant future (the only difference from today is that they have more advanced AI and virtual reality technology, but other than that, there is nothing that would be out of place in a contemporary setting), and a new video game with amazingly lifelike play and graphics has just been released.  It soon becomes clear that something much more sinister is going on, and the main character, Simon, goes on a quest to save his best friend from being killed by the "game."  Comparisons to Ready Player One are inevitable, but while they share a basic premise, the world describe here is much less fun and much more violent and disturbing.  This was an interesting and very quick read, and it had a good mix of humor, adventure, high stakes, and social commentary.  

(I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.)

Non-Fiction Review: The Crown: The Official Companion, Volume I, by Robert Lacey

This is a gorgeous production of a book, and a must-have for fans of the lavish and delicious Netflix show, The Crown.  The title is a little strange, since it doesn't stipulate what it is a companion to: the life of Queen Elizabeth II?  The show itself?  The answer is, both.  It's an odd book because of that, and I think the lack of clarity is very much intentional.  The publisher collapses and confuse the life of the actual woman with the storytelling on the show.  It's a bit disconcerting, and probably actively problematic for those who don't know much about the Queen outside of the show.  Lacey's text, however, is very clear about the difference.  But it's very odd to have a book that implies in the title to be about the Queen, the actual person, to begin with images of the fake queen and the fake Duke of Edinburgh, etc.  Stills from the show are randomly interspersed with actual photographs, and most disturbingly, the screen stills are in black and white!  And without captions.  Can there be any doubt that the publisher is intentionally trying to elide the difference between fact and fiction here?  It's a strange choice, and I don't see why it was necessary.  The text and the image seem to intentionally mix and confuse these elements, to the point where you're not immediately sure what's real and what's TV anymore.  The gorgeous cover perfectly illustrates what this book is going for.  It's informative, but, because it is both about the show and the woman, it is not really an adequate biography.  Luckily, there are plenty of those to go around, best, in my opinion, being Sally Bedell Smith's excellent biography, which seems to me to be an important source for the show.  This book is beautiful and a lot of fun, but it's very slight, and it's a weird combination of light biography, TV show companion, and coffee table book.  

(I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.)