It’s that time of year when we are all scrambling for gift ideas. Cyber Monday has us all looking for great shopping ideas. Let me help you! I have written what sometimes feels like a whole library of books (over 40 titles!) and there is pretty much a title on my list for everyone on your shopping list (and maybe one or two you might want for yourself!):

Cookie: A Love Story: Fun Facts, Delicious Stories, Fascinating History, Tasty Recipes and More: Who doesn’t love cookies? This book is perfect for your mom, your grandma, your aunt, your best friend, your book club pals, and the gal at work who is always bringing in cookies. It’s a delicious read – all the things you never knew about cookies. What could be better for a holiday gift? It’s an ebook, but you can buy a printable gift certificate to give that lets your recipient download however they want (Kindle, Nook, PDF, etc.). Give the certificate with a tin of gingerbread men or some cocoa and you’ve just given someone a delicious evening!

The Muffin Tin Cookbook: Perfect for any mom you know, this book has 200 recipes for all kinds of foods made in muffin tins (mini, regular, and jumbo) for breakfast, snacks, entrees, sides, veggies, muffins, desserts, and more. Pair it with a package of muffin tin liners (I like the reusable silicone ones) and a muffin tin pan for a cute gift basket.

The Parchment Paper Cookbook: Give this to anyone who likes to cook but has a busy life. The book has 180 recipes that are all made in parchment paper packets. There are no pots and pans to clean: everything is cooked inside folded parchment packets, so it makes life simple! Pair this with a roll of parchment paper and a baking sheet for a gift basket and you’ve just given someone many nights of easy dinners.

The Organized Kitchen: Great for newlyweds, friends who love to organize, people who have just moved, and teachers. It has great ideas for now to arrange, organize, and store kitchen tools as well everything you need to know about cleaning, storing food and perishable; and a section of recipes everyone needs. Give this with a set of magnetic nesting measuring cups or a set of square glass food storage containers (perfect for stacking!) and you have a lovely gift.

How to Parent with Your Ex: That friend, co-worker, or relative who is getting divorced, or just got divorced will thank you for this friendly guide to making your parenting relationship work during and after a divorce. It has lots of tips and practical advice that are useful not only as they are going through the divorce, but in the years after as they continue to have to parent together. For a joke, give it with a bottle of your recipient’s fave booze. Or pair it with some chocolate and cozy socks.

The Essential Supervisor’s Handbook: Give this to your friend or relative who just got promoted. It’s packed with hands on advice about to succeed as you move into management. A paperweight or small desktop game is a great accompaniment.

Bad Apples: How to Manage Difficult Employees: We all know that person who is constantly complaining about the idiots at work. Give him or her this book which offers practical advice about how to work with people who are imperfect. Pair this with a bottle of headache medicine and you’ll get a hearty laugh as your thanks.

The Practical Pregnancy Planner: The mom-to-be on your list will appreciate this ebook, which offers monthly checklists of everything you need to do to get ready for a baby, with a focus on finances, insurance, wills, guardians, and organizing information. Add in a cute rattle or pair of booties and you’re good to go.

The Everything Kids Money Book: Perfect for kids ages 8-12, this includes activities, fun facts, puzzles, advice, and just plain fun to make earning, saving, and spending enjoyable. Pair it with a $10 bill inside a plastic money puzzle holder or a bar of money soap!

Quiz Book 3: Three Times the Fun: This American Girl quiz book is what the tween girl on your list will enjoy. Funny, revealing, light, and inspiring quizzes will make her laugh and help her learn about herself. A packet of sparkle colored pens and some hair elastics make it a complete gift.

The Divorce Organizer & Planner: Anyone facing divorce will need this book to help reduce legal fees and get organized for the process ahead. Add in some relaxing tea and this recipient will know you want to help him or her through a hard time.

It’s that time of year when we are all scrambling for gift ideas. Cyber Monday has us all looking for great shopping ideas. Let me help you! I have written what sometimes feels like a whole library of books (over 40 titles!) and there is pretty much a title on my list for everyone on … Read more →

I usually only review books I loved, or books that are just so wildly unique and different that I can’t help myself. Today I need to write about Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn, but I can’t say that I loved it.

Here’s the scoop. Queen Elizabeth (yes, her) feels a bit down – Diana’s death, royal divorces, the fire at Windsor Castle, etc. all have made her feel out of whack. So suddenly she takes off on her own, traveling by public (gasp) train to Scotland to see the royal yacht Britannia again (she’s become a tourist attraction, no longer serviceable). This is the synopsis that sucked me in. I’m sort of fascinated by the royals, adore Scotland, and have actually visited the royal yacht Britannia. This was right up my alley.

Turns out the book is also about a cast of characters the Queen meets along the way, as well as a couple who work for her. While their stories are interesting (a young woman who has been almost traumatized by men, a lady-in-waiting who is aging, a dresser for the Queen who is also aging and has little financial resources, two members of the staff who are gay, and a man of Indian descent who works in a cheese shop), they just didn’t have the same pull for me as that of the Queen. I wanted to know what she was thinking, feeling, experiencing, and doing more than I really wanted to know about the other characters. In hindsight, I can see the story was well-crafted and the other characters were interesting in their own right, but I was hungry for more about the Queen, when really this was almost a mix of short stories about the other folks.

And the royal yacht Britannia played too small a part! The Queen was terribly fond of the yacht, and even cried when it was retired. I just felt the book ought to have spent more than a couple of pages on it! I bought a teacup and a bag with the embroidery pattern that was on the Queen’s headboard on that yacht. I can envision every room I saw. I wanted a fully fleshed out account of it. I wonder if the author even actually visited the ship, to be honest!

All of that being said, this is a fun romp in royal what-if land. Who wouldn’t love to be inside the Queen’s head for a bit, to know what it’s really like?

I usually only review books I loved, or books that are just so wildly unique and different that I can’t help myself. Today I need to write about Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn, but I can’t say that I loved it. Here’s the scoop. Queen Elizabeth (yes, her) feels a bit down … Read more →

I’m so happy to tell you about my new ebook, a project that is close to my heart. It’s called Cookie: A Love Story: Fun Facts, Delicious Stories, Fascinating History, Tasty Recipes, and More. It’s just been released and it comes after years of work, but is a true labor of love.

Who doesn’t love cookies? They are the treat we grow up loving and are such a huge part of our lives. Cookies are how we celebrate and console and reward ourselves. I wanted to know where cookies came from and when I realized there was no book about it, I wrote my own. The ebook includes so many fun things:

– Why we are physically and psychologically programmed to love cookies

– How cookies were invented and how they evolved

– How history has affected the development of cookies (the Industrial Revolution, colonization of America, world wars, and our changing dietary needs have all affected the cookie and been affected by it – an amazing interplay!)

– State cookies, official cookie days, the world’s biggest cookie, cookie stacking contests and other fun

– Heartwarming and thought provoking stories from real people about how cookies have had meaning in their lives

– The history of Girl Scout cookies, fortune cookies, Oreos, Fig Newtons, and more of your favorites

– Special recipes allow you to not only experience the changes cookies have undergone over time, but also to replicate some your store-bought favorites at home

– Bright and fun and photos

– Stories about the cookie characters who have made cookies a national past time, such as the inventor of the chocolate chip cookie, Wally Amos, the woman behind Pepperidge Farms, and Betty Crocker

There’s so much more to be found in this ebook. You can either sit down and read it from cover to cover or skip around, reading tidbits are they grab you.

Links to buy as a Kindle, Nook, or PDF are here. Because it makes a great gift, we are offering gift certificates as well. You buy the gift certificate here and get a printable certificate with a unique gift code you can give. Your recipient redeems the code to download the ebook in any version.

This book is close to my heart and I hope you will enjoy it!

I’m so happy to tell you about my new ebook, a project that is close to my heart. It’s called Cookie: A Love Story: Fun Facts, Delicious Stories, Fascinating History, Tasty Recipes, and More. It’s just been released and it comes after years of work, but is a true labor of love. Who doesn’t love cookies? … Read more →

I read this book in a day, while I had a migraine: it was that good. Couldn’t put it down. You first find out a tween’s mom somehow has disappeared, then you get the back story. Bee, her mom Bernadette, and her dad live in Seattle in a crazy old building that was once a home for girls. Her dad works for Microsoft. Her mom has great achievements in her past (which are slowly revealed), but currently is persona non grata among the moms at Bee’s school. Bee’s mom is slightly wacky, but does it go beyond that? The story involves things like an Antarctic cruise, a mudslide, robotics, a virtual assistant, an unplanned pregnancy, and some mighty cool architecture. It’s about getting over the past, forgiving yourself, keeping marriage alive, hearing your inner voice, and never giving up. The story builds to the mom’s disappearance and then Bee’s search for her.

The author is a TV writer, who wrote for Mad About You, one of my favorite shows, and Arrested Development. If you like those shows, you will love this book. It is snappy, fast, and always twisting.

My favorite thing about the book is that it is primarily made up of correspondence: emails, letters, reports, and notes. I am possibly the world’s biggest fan of this kind of book. Meg Cabot wrote a couple that were all email. Then of course there is the all-time great, A Woman of Independent Means, made up only of letters. I love the way a story unfolds through letters and email and will take that any day over some long-winded descriptive novel that waxes poetic constantly.

This book was fun, unexpected, heartbreaking, a little haunting, and a great mystery. I was sad when it was over and wanted more! The characters are all fascinating and distinctive people with just enough quirks to make you question their behavior for a few seconds at every turn, as they reveal new sides to themselves that are always unanticipated.

I read this book in a day, while I had a migraine: it was that good. Couldn’t put it down. You first find out a tween’s mom somehow has disappeared, then you get the back story. Bee, her mom Bernadette, and her dad live in Seattle in a crazy old building that was once a … Read more →

Congrats to Heather S who won the Handwritten Recipes book giveaway. Thanks to all who entered. I have some other giveaways coming up, so stayed tuned!

Congrats to Heather S who won the Handwritten Recipes book giveaway. Thanks to all who entered. I have some other giveaways coming up, so stayed tuned!

This is slightly crazy. Actually, it is definitely over the top, but I had to write about this new book, Edible Selby, by Todd Selby. Let me explain. There is a super cool and amazing blog called TheSelby.com, where the photographer Todd Selby goes into people’s homes all over the world and takes photos of their homes, their collections, their accidental collections, and their stuff. And of the people themselves. He gives them a handwritten questionnaire he asks them to fill in by hand where they have to write things and draw things. The whole thing is ridiculously, outrageously ARTISTIC.  And it’s pretty fab. I adore looking into people’s homes and I am fascinated by their collections.

Once you’re hooked on the blog, you’ll want the book, which takes it a step further and visits restaurants and homes of chefs, cooks, food artisans. Again, Selby has a unique perspectives, which this time are often about food, but just as often is about the location, the building, the people, and the landscape. He does his questionnaire thing too, so there are all these recipes in the actual handwriting of the people featured in the book.

I won’t lie to you.  I found this book nearly impossible to read. Not only is the questionnaire handwritten (sometimes in chicken scratch), but Selby writes captions and notes all over the pages and photos. It is dizzying sometimes, but it’s ultimately great fun if you are just deciphering a couple of pages at a time.

This book was sent to me by the publisher for review with no requirements or expectations.

This is slightly crazy. Actually, it is definitely over the top, but I had to write about this new book, Edible Selby, by Todd Selby. Let me explain. There is a super cool and amazing blog called TheSelby.com, where the photographer Todd Selby goes into people’s homes all over the world and takes photos of … Read more →

I’m giving away a copy of Handwritten Recipes: A Bookseller’s Collection of Curious and Wonderful Recipes Forgotten Between the Pages by Michael Popek, published by Perigee. This is a really fun book. A used bookseller collected recipes he found stuck in the pages of used books in his shop.  For each recipe, he includes a photo of the actual handwritten recipe that he found, the book it was found in, as well as a typeset version of the recipe for easy use. Some of the recipes include photos of the results. It’s a fun and quirky collection and one I enjoyed, kind of like poking through someone’s personal recipe collection.

The book was sent to me for review by the publisher without any expectations or requirements.

To enter, leave a comment on this post. You must enter by midnight ET on Thursday October 4, 2012. I’ll randomly and blindly select the winner by random number drawing (numbers assigned in order of comments here). Sorry, offer limited to U.S. addresses only and entrants age 18 and up only. One entry per person. Winners notified by email given when entering; not responsible for email transmission problems or postal delivery problems or failures. You are responsible for notifying me of your correct mailing address if you are selected as a winner. Contest closes at midnight Eastern time on 10/4/12. Prize is nontransferable and may not be redeemed for cash. I reserve the right to announce the name of the winner on the blog.

I’m giving away a copy of Handwritten Recipes: A Bookseller’s Collection of Curious and Wonderful Recipes Forgotten Between the Pages by Michael Popek, published by Perigee. This is a really fun book. A used bookseller collected recipes he found stuck in the pages of used books in his shop.  For each recipe, he includes a … Read more →

I want to be Donna Hull when I grow up. Donna writes the amazing travel blog MyItchyTravelFeet, which I have been following for several years. Donna’s target audience is active baby boomers, but I’m not a boomer and I find her posts to be dead-on about what I want to know. Not only do I want to be Donna, but I want to be married to her husband Alan. Donna writes the posts and Alan takes the most amazing photos. My husband and I try to take decent photos on our trips, but somehow we never take enough, some are blurry, the colors are funny, or we just somehow didn’t capture everything we remembered. Alan has no problem with any of that.

Now that you understand my couple crush, let me tell you about Donna’s ebook, My Itchy Travel Feet: Breathtaking Travel Adventure Ideas. Although I have followed Donna’s blog for a long time and she is a friend, I bought her ebook because I simply had to have it . The book takes lots of information from her blog and puts it all together in ebook format, and for a very reasonable $3.95, you get tons and tons of details on trips you will want to take and get to gorge yourself on Alan’s photos.

The book is divided into several sections and every single one of them spell a big, fat expensive trip I’ve added to my bucket list. Donna takes us on trips through northern Italy, coastal California, Hawaii, Asia, and New Zealand. There are also sections about cruising, nature adventures (lots of info on National Parks here) and a traveler’s toolkit and resources. There are great tips from Alan about how to take good photos (I will be studying these). Donna writes not only about what you should see, but she talks about the people she talked to and what they told her. Her adventures are for active people (a five-mile hike is not for someone who likes to sit on a tour bus) and she brings a wealth of experience to her recommendations for things such as small luxury cruise lines and how to locate a vacation rental online. As I was reading the ebook, I had to beat my jealousy down with a stick over all the destinations Donna has been to.

I wish this was available as a print book because this is the kind of book I could happily sit down with and flip through to while away an afternoon. Alas it is not, so you’ll have to click around. Use this book in one of two ways: for very detailed and carefully thought-out information about a location you will be visiting, or as an idea book to find a place for your next great adventure. Either way you will be impressed with the depth of Donna’s knowledge.

I want to be Donna Hull when I grow up. Donna writes the amazing travel blog MyItchyTravelFeet, which I have been following for several years. Donna’s target audience is active baby boomers, but I’m not a boomer and I find her posts to be dead-on about what I want to know. Not only do I … Read more →

I spent summers in Maine as a kid and have been back several times as an adult (my daughter’s middle name is Camden, a town in Maine, so we’re pretty attached to Maine around here). I love everything about Maine and when I learned about the Maine Classics cookbook by Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier (owners of Arrows in Ogunquit), I had to get a copy. You can read my review at A Traveler’s Library, where I’ve been reviewing one destination cookbook each month.

I spent summers in Maine as a kid and have been back several times as an adult (my daughter’s middle name is Camden, a town in Maine, so we’re pretty attached to Maine around here). I love everything about Maine and when I learned about the Maine Classics cookbook by Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier (owners of … Read more →

I picked up the first book in this series by Beth McMullen last year (Original Sin) and had been waiting for the second book, Spy Mom: The Adventures of Sally Sin (you can now buy them together as a two-book set as well). It was out in time to take on vacation, which was just perfect. These books are a fun combo of mom lit and spy lit. Sally Sin is a Bay Area semi-sarcastic stay-at-home mom with a toddler (who becomes a preschooler in the second book) and a husband. She also has a past as spy. Which she has never quite mentioned to her husband. She left her past behind her to have a normal life, but things from her past keep sneaking into her present, requiring her to find people or things so that the world can be saved. The book is liberally sprinkled with flashbacks to her spy days when the real action happened, and these sections are fast and fun. The past is always intertwined in her present somehow, so the flashbacks help you understand the story.

Sally never takes her herself very seriously and is very open about her flaws as a spy (there’s one character who constantly kidnapped her, over and over, when she was in the field, and there’s some sexual tension there as well). She’s also slightly flippant about the agency she worked for her and former boss. What she’s not flippant about is how much she loves her son, even if one day he hates cheese sticks and the next day treats her like a lunatic for thinking he hates cheese sticks.

What I love about these books is that Sally really is a regular mom, with stained mom jeans, sippy cups, healthy snacks, a dirty house, Legos, and worries about her child’s safety – and a sense of humor about her entire situation. The books take those very realistic mom worries and mix them with international intrigue. Sally, like many moms, has to try to balance her home life and her professional life, but her situations are just slightly more dangerous than those most moms face. Her thoughts and her routine feel so supremely real that you almost think you could lead a double life as well as she does.

On top of the intrigue, the books are also slowly exploring Sally’s childhood. Her parents were killed or left her when she was very young and she is only beginning to remember who they were, what happened, and how it might be connected to her life as a spy and to international issues. I’m looking forward to seeing this thread unravel even more in future books.

If you’ve read and liked any of the Ayelet Waldman’s Mommy Track Mysteries, this book will feel like a perfect fit to you. McMullen has a created a really wonderful blend of international intrigue and mommy tribulations that is funny and compelling at the same time. I’m now going to be impatiently waiting for the third book in the series!

I picked up the first book in this series by Beth McMullen last year (Original Sin) and had been waiting for the second book, Spy Mom: The Adventures of Sally Sin (you can now buy them together as a two-book set as well). It was out in time to take on vacation, which was just … Read more →