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A Dog’s Best Friend

A Sesame Street ® Guide to Caring for Your Dog

by Marie-Therese Miller

This is the perfect book for a young child who is about to add a dog to the family. Sesame Street characters and photos partner with a helpful, age-appropriate text. The characters teach something that cleverly pairs with one of their own traits. For example, Oscar talks about pets needing some alone time. There is also good information about puppy care, including everything from supplies, to going to the vet, to baths and more.

I highly recommend this adorable book for its intended audience.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Pub Date 23 Nov 2021

The author of this cookbook grew up in New York City’s Chinatown. I have eaten at many restaurants there, mostly small but very good ones. So, I was interested to see how the author’s growing up and his cooking came together in his recipes. The result is this book.

One aspect of this book that I found quite appealing was the way that Mr. Cheung immersed readers in the feel of Chinatown. For example, he describes what the markets are like and how ingredients are procured.

There are fifty recipes in categories including vegetables, fish & seafood, “Damn Good Snacks” and more. Make a Cucumber Salad or saute Bok Choy. Prepare a Bao Bun or Scallion Pancakes. Each section has some background information to set the tone.

This title also has a nice section on the cooking tools and equipment that work well in Chinese cooking. For example, rice cookers and woks are mentioned.

All in all, a book to be recommended for those who love Chinese food. And I do!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

A few of these are on Kobo but not Amazon.

by David P. Wagner is an e book bargain for 11.6.21

Readers who enjoy art, architecture, gardens, twisting streets, Italian food and red wine will want to read this mystery. It is part of a series although the novels can be read out of order. This was the first book that I have read by Mr. Wagner and I look forward to reading all of the others.

Rick Montoya works as a multi-lingual translator while his significant other, Betta, is employed by an art crime squad in the Italian cultural ministry. The two are in the Urbino area where a wealthy Spanish collector has donated a Piero Della Francesca drawing to a small, local museum. Unfortunately he is murdered and the drawing is missing. Solving the case is the focus of this story with intervals for food and drink.

There are many suspects. These include directors of other museums, a collector who was unable to secure the drawing himself, the victim’s second wife and his daughter, his assistant and more. Readers will get to know each of them as they try to solve the case.

Those who enjoy mysteries by Donna Leon and Andrea Camilleri will want to read this. There is even a character who continuously pays homage to the latter’s series detective, Inspector Montalbano.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Getting to Know the World’s Most Misunderstood Bird

by Rosemary Mosco is now out

Over the past year I have spent time at my local botanical garden. While there, I have observed robins, bluejays, woodpeckers, red-tailed hawks and more. On my walks of city streets, I have seen many pigeons but never really thought of them as being as interesting as the botanical garden birds that I viewed When I saw this title, therefore, I was intrigued. Was there more to the homely pigeon than I knew? You can be sure that there is!

Ms. Mosco’s enthusiasm for the pigeon comes across so clearly in this entertaining look at the species. She shares history, facts about behavior, appreciation for the physical appearance and colors of the species and so much more. With lively illustrations, many boxes of extra facts and love for the subject, Ms. Mosco captivates readers. Did you know that there is a pigeons in movies data base or that Tesla was in love with the pigeon that came to his hotel window? These are just two of the anecdotes that are found in the early pages of the book.

Engaged readers, watch out! The author may just make a pigeon watcher out of you by the time that you finish the book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Mosco…has written the most perfect of popular science titles, one that teaches readers everything about a topic in an accessible, funny, and charming manner. A must-read for bird lovers and urban wildlife watchers.”
—Booklist, STARRED review 

“This book will change what you think about pigeons! With loads of eye-opening pigeon science, delivered in playful and engaging style by Rosemary Mosco’s text and illustrations, A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching will help you gain a whole new appreciation of these smart, savvy, and adaptable birds whose lives are so intertwined with ours.”
—David Allen Sibley, author of The Sibley Guide to Birds

“We scorn pigeons for their commonness, but their ubiquity speaks to their talents. Past civilizations domesticated them and brought them wherever they went, for pigeons were loved and prized—as messengers, as producers of fertilizer, as meat on the plate. With her trademark wit and artistic charms, Mosco gives us a hundred reasons to rekindle the love affair. A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching is part field guide, part history, part ornithology primer, and altogether fun!”
—Mary Roach, New York Times bestselling author of Stiff and Grunt