Hengstenberg, founder of Stokholm’s Krümel bakery, debuts with a tempting collection of 34 inventive cookie recipes. After opening with an account of how she founded her business during the pandemic, Hengstenberg runs through handy tips (toast nuts before using them to release their flavor), instructions for choosing the best ingredients (look for butter with the highest possible fat content), and an inventory of necessary equipment. The recipes are sorted into “gooey and chunky,” which are loaded with goodies and seem almost underbaked; “gooey and soft,” which have an “airier and lighter crust”; and “chewy and soft,” which are slightly denser due to using melted butter. Alongside fresh twists on old standbys, such as brown butter chocolate chip cookies, adventurous flavor combinations include prune and five spice cookies; a saffron, pistachio, and white chocolate batch that is “perfect for Christmas”; and tomato and vanilla cookies made with dried tomato powder and black onion seeds. Hengstenberg rounds things off with a handful of vegan and gluten free options, including hazelnut and Earl Grey cookies made with buckwheat flour, and suggestions for using up any leftovers (make “krüm’balls” by mixing cookie crumbs with milk and espresso, then rolling them in chocolate and nuts). This creative and encouraging handbook is sure to get home bakers fired up. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

“Food is an anchor and safety net when documentation, distance, and language are challenges,” writes debut author Vasquez in this earnest cookbook and foodways study of El Salvador. Conversations with 33 Salvadoran women interspersed with recipes from them and others make this valuable as sociology. Interviewees include Maricela, who sells street food from a stall in Los Angeles, and the author’s late grandmother Mamá Lucy, who was known for her cow’s hoof soup. Nourishing and satisfying dishes include flatbread-like Salvadoran tortillas and flor de izote (yuca flowers) with eggs. Variations abound: El Salvador’s “national dish,” pupusas, can be stuffed with three different fillings, and the fruity beverage ensalada is endlessly adaptable. Per the book’s title, these are soulful dishes linked to home and family; for example, the recipe for fried cheese-stuffed chayote is from the author’s mother. Main courses include rooster simmered in chicha, a fermented drink made with pineapple peels, and crabs in a pumpkin seed sauce. Desserts run along the simple lines of charred whole plantains and eggless bread pudding. The project originated online, and occasionally the writing has the inelegant feel of a social media post, but the recipes are clear—impressively so, considering they hail from a variety of sources—and the context is heartfelt and fascinating. This is a valuable work of cultural preservation. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

Brownstone Boys bloggers Bordelon and Slocum debut with a rewarding manual that walks readers through how to refurbish their homes. To prepare for renovations, Bordelon and Slocum recommend getting three to five quotes from architects and contractors and creating a “lookbook” (“Organize your inspiration for each space first by floor and then by room using something like Pinterest”). Detailing what to consider when working on each room, they suggest that “the stove, sink, and fridge should make a triangle” in the kitchen and outline the pros and cons of various kinds of stone countertops. For bedrooms, they encourage readers to buy throw pillows in a contrasting color to the walls or drapes, and for bathrooms, they describe how to save money by refashioning a credenza into a vanity. The guidance is chock-full of useful rules of thumb (“The minimum clearance that you need to maneuver around in any space is 36 inches”), and the authors place a welcome emphasis on trusting one’s gut (“Think about how you want the space to feel, not just how you want it to look”). The result is a comprehensive overview on revamping one’s home. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

Lamenting declining homeownership rates, journalist Ormerod (Coco Rules) provides a spirited manual exploring how tenants can express their personal style in rented abodes. She highlights decorating techniques that can be easily undone at the end of a lease, describing how to cover kitchen counters in removable vinyl, apply temporary wallpaper, and decorate removable radiator covers. Other DIY projects are aimed at upscaling furniture, as when Ormerod details how to add a foam seat to a stool and glue scalloped trim to shelves. Ormerod privileges practicality over aesthetics, as when she admits that though she prefers glass in picture framing, she usually opts for transparent vinyl instead because it won’t shatter during a move. Unusual for an interior design guide, asides decrying how homeownership has become unattainable for younger generations provide a refreshing acknowledgement of political and practical constraints on decorating decisions. The projects are relatively simple (though readers will want some familiarity with a sewing machine before making their own table napkins and curtains), but it still feels like an oversight that many omit photos illustrating the steps involved. Nonetheless, renters will find this a font of inspiration. (May)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this enlightening report, Kempner (Not Tonight), a sociology professor at Rutgers University, sheds light on the individuals and organizations working to legitimize and legalize the medical use of LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, and other psychedelic drugs. Her account centers on Clusterbusters, an online community for individuals suffering from cluster headache (a disease that causes excruciating bouts of acute pain). Kempner describes how Chicago construction worker Bob Wold founded the group in 2002 after discovering that small doses of psychedelic mushrooms gave him the relief that dozens of prescription treatments had failed to provide. Clusterbusters was initially focused on sharing how to grow and use mushrooms to treat headaches, but the group’s ambitions swiftly expanded to include convincing the medical establishment to take psychedelic therapies seriously. Kempner profiles major players in Clusterbusters’ campaign, including Rick Doblin, whose psychedelics advocacy organization MAPS helped Wold interface with medical research institutions, and R. Andrew Sewell, a renegade Harvard doctor who in the mid-aughts worked with Wold and Doblin to research psychedelics’ efficacy in treating cluster headaches. Kempner’s empathetic reporting illuminates how collaborations between patients and medical professionals are reviving scientific interest in psychedelic therapies, and she provides historical background showing how moral panics around drugs in the 1970s and ’80s halted promising research on medical applications of MDMA and LSD. This will open readers’ minds to the health benefits of psychedelics. Agent: Bridget Wagner Matzie, Aevitas Creative Management. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

This captivating work of cultural criticism from journalist Whippman (America the Anxious), the mother of three young sons, explores how masculine norms deprive boys of connection. Interweaving personal anecdotes and reporting, Whippman discusses struggling to find books, movies, or other media about emotionally attuned male characters that would encourage her sons to “see themselves as... relational beings.” This dearth leads to disconnection, Whippman argues, citing her interviews with adolescent boys who reported wanting “more emotionally focused connections with friends” despite having “no real idea how to go about it.” Whippman’s deep dive into the state of modern boyhood serves up fascinating dispatches from a Manhattan all-boys’ prep school trying to stamp out toxic masculinity, a Utah residential therapy program aiming to instill “the values of traditional manhood” in participants, and a conference for an advocacy organization that defends young men accused of campus sexual assault. Whippman’s trenchant analysis explains without excusing some of the worst excesses of patriarchy, as when she concludes after interviewing incels (a group of “superonline” young men who feel entitled to sex) that they represent a toxic mixture of misogyny and a “lack of nurturing for young boys” that drives them to seek community in the “manosphere.” It’s an urgent call to reassess how boys are raised and socialized. Agent: Steve Ross, Steve Ross Agency. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

Paris-based American food writer Peppler (À Table) conjures up the vibrancy of southern French cuisine through these 80 recipes, which are framed by witty introductions and luscious photographs of the Mediterranean sea, market stalls, and the bounty of the region’s ingredients. Classic dishes include ratatouille, two versions of salad Niçoise, and the beef stew Daube Provençal. While she avoids “overwrought, technique-heavy dishes,” Peppler favors homemade tapenades, pesto, and aioli, the latter which she deems “the very sun of the Provençale universe.” This garlicky sauce shows up in soups (la bourride), mussels (moules in aioli), and, when paired with vegetables, makes a meal unto itself (aioli, petit to monstre). Veggies shine in cherry tomatoes with pistou, zucchini blossoms, and tomates à la Provençale (for “when it’s not summer but you need summer”). Peppler’s voice-driven writing is a treat, even in the titles: “The Pasta I Crave Every Time I’m Near the Sea,” which features fresh clams, is followed by “Pasta to Make When You’re Not Near the Sea (but Wish You Were)” with anchovies and sardines. Personal stories are lightly threaded throughout, as in the intro to sardines and piment d’Espelette, an impromptu picnic dish that Peppler once brought to the beach where she met her future wife. Desserts include a summery strawberry cake and a Christmasy hazelnut nougat, and a quick guide to the modern Provençale cheese plate rounds things out. This sparkling collection will delight foodies and armchair travelers alike. (Apr.)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

This cozy embroidery guide by Bussi (Enchanted Garden Cross-Stitch) shows how to cross-stitch pastoral scenes. The simple designs use only cross-stitches, backstitches, French knots, and “a few half stitches where necessary,” and Bussi shows how to make each in a brief introduction. Cottages feature heavily in the projects, such as the “wool and whimsy” composition that features sheep frolicking on hills outside a small home, and the “cottage joy mandala” that portrays a small yellow house at the center of flowers and vines arranged in concentric circles. Other pieces are more text heavy. For instance, one design consists almost entirely of a recipe for apple crisp cake, and another depicts the scene outside a beach house accompanied by the sentence, “We don’t count the days in a little house by the sea.” Most of the compositions are intended to work either as wall hangings or on pillowcases, though Bussi also shows how to stitch a floral wrap for a journal. The combination of muted colors and photos taken in relatively low light can make it hard to see the details of some projects, but their charm nonetheless comes through. Recipes for pancakes, pumpkin soup, and rose essential oil are a bonus. Cottagecore enthusiasts will be pleased. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

In this affecting memoir, Kuzmič (Hold On, but Don’t Hold Still) recounts supporting her teenage son through a severe mental health crisis complicated by substance abuse. She assumed that her eldest son, Luka, was going through the normal pangs of adolescence when he became withdrawn around his 13th birthday, but over the next two years he started lashing out at teachers and family and self-medicating with painkillers and alcohol, leaving Kuzmič feeling helpless and searching for answers. Recalling her agonizing attempts to get professional help for Luka, who was eventually diagnosed with clinical depression, ADHD, and generalized anxiety disorder, Kuzmič discusses pained conversations about her son’s suicidal ideation during joint therapy sessions and the difficult decision to temporarily place him in a residential care facility after a violent outburst. Kuzmič’s candid reflections plumb the intricacies of parent-child relationships, as when she describes realizing that her tendency to view Luka’s problems as a negative reflection on her parenting was hampering her ability to “genuinely listen and empathize.” A poignant concluding chapter written by Luka explains his mental health struggles in frank detail (“I took out my anger on the people I love the most because I knew they wouldn’t leave me”), before arriving at the hopeful conclusion: “Life gets better, but we have to put in the work.” Readers will be moved. Agent: Anna Sproul-Latimer, Neon Literary. (May)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink

Psychiatrist Turban debuts with a vital parenting guide for raising trans children. Writing for parents who may have little familiarity with trans terminology, Turban explains the basics of gender expression and the importance of using the right pronouns. A wealth of client stories addresses common questions and misconceptions. For instance, Turban pushes back against the fallacy that trans people are merely depressed by recounting how the poor mental health of one trans teen from a conservative Southern state was caused by her anxiety about coming out and improved substantially once she did. Delving into the science of gender affirming care, Turban explains how taking testosterone or estrogen changes the body and how puberty blockers fool the brain into ceasing the production of certain hormones. The numerous medical studies discussed make an airtight case for the benefits of such care (one paper found that taking puberty blockers while attending therapy improved trans teens’ mental health significantly more than therapy alone). A bravura chapter forcefully debunks the premises of antitrans legislation, noting, for instance, a study that found “policies that force transgender youth to use the bathrooms of their sex assigned at birth were associated with dramatically elevated rates of sexual assault against transgender kids in schools.” Thoroughly researched and buoyed by empathetic patient stories, this ranks among the best guides available for parents of trans children and teens. Agent: Todd Shuster, Aevitas Creative Management. (June)

Reviewed on 04/12/2024 | Details & Permalink