Now out: The Easy Appetizer Cookbook No-Fuss Recipes For Any Occasion by Sarah Walker Caron

This book is exactly as advertised. It is a compilation of easy to prepare, appealing small bites. There are recipes in categories including light snacks, dips & spreads, finger foods, savory plates, fancy bites and something sweet. A few of the recipes include crispy garlic butter smashed potatoes, salmon fritters, cheese stuffed chicken meatballs marinara, bacon wrapped asparagus, chunky guacamole and marinated feta with rosemary and orange. The instructions are clear and easy to follow. All in all, a great resource for those who are entertaining this holiday season!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this moutwatering title in exchange for an honest review.

Feel better at work: Mindfulness at Work Flourishing in The Workplace by Maria Arpa

Adults spend much of their time either at work or thinking about work.  No matter what the job or profession, people have feelings about their work, its setting, their co-workers, etc.  In this title, the author encourages readers to think openly about what happens for them at work and how they feel about it.  The author frames this exploration through mindfulness.  Readers are encouraged to take a non-judgmental approach and to listen to the voices inside.  They do this through a series of suggested activities and meditations.  I found it interesting that the author encouraged looking back to how attitudes were formed, for example, having readers think about their first educational experiences, how they were prepared and what it was like.

This book could be helpful to many.  If a reader is contemplating change, this title will help to explore it.  If a reader comes to feel that they can make their current work well for them this is encouraged as well.  In each instance, the author guides readers to do what they feel is best for them.

Many thanks for the publisher and NetGalley for this title in exchange for an honest opinion.

#MindfulnessAtWork #NetGalley

From the Publisher

Tiny Travelers Puerto Rico Treasure Quest Treasure Quest by Steven Wolfe Pereira; Susie Jaramillo

This title is part of a series of board books for young children.  Each vividly illustrated title explores a place by providing fun facts.  There are also hidden objects to find.  In this entry of Puerto Rico children to explore this U.S. territory.  They see festivals, foods, bio luminescence on Vieques and more.

The books in this series can widen a young child’s world.  Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

#GoTinyTravelers #NetGalley

Now out: Tiny Travelers Mexico Treasure Quest Treasure Quest by Steven Wolfe Pereira; Susie Jaramillo

This book is part of the Tiny Travelers series. In this entry, young armchair travelers will visit Mexico. The book consists of a series of two page spreads each one featuring a place or tradition. For each spot, there are facts and a hidden object to find. Readers will visit places including Mexico City, Guadalajara, a Day of the Dead celebration and will learn about food and culture. Helpfully many of the Spanish words are given phonetic spellings as well so as to help non-Spanish speakers pronounce the words. Readers will enjoy the vivid and colorful illustrations as they go through the book. This is a good entry in a good series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed my trip!

It’s okay: Why Do We Cry? by Fran Pintadera

This picture book beautifully normalizes the reasons why children (and adults) may cry.  It passes no judgment and does not belittle.  Rather, some of the many reasons for tears are described; these include anger, sadness and happiness among others. Crying is seen as a normal response to being human.  At the end of the book, there is additional information, some of it scientific, about tears.  The book is sensitively illustrated with gorgeous pictures that enhance the text. This would be a great title to share with a child you know.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this read in exchange for an honest review.

Come to Sweden: Guiltless Sandhamn Murders, Book 3 by Viveca Sten

This series is from Sweden and is published in translation for American readers.  Very popular in its native country, there is a Swedish tv seriesas well.

This is the third novel.  There are six published in the U.S. and more will be coming.  The novels are atmospheric and have a strong sense of place. There are characters who are engaging and readers returning to the series will be interested in what has transpired for them since they were last met.

In Guiltless, a lot is going on although the story unfolds at a leisurely pace.  Protagonist Nora is making decisions about her marriage while her closest and platonic friend Thomas is looking again at his failed relationship.  A twenty year old girl has disappeared.  What happened to her and why form the heart of the narrative.

The story is told in two timelines.  One is current while the earlier one takes place in the 1920s.  They intersect over the course of the novel.  I found the parts set in the past to be incredibly painful to read, even to the point of wanting to skim them.  They are critical to the story but I wish that there had been fewer of these chapters.

A subtext of the book is what makes a good parent and what happens when parenting goes disastrously wrong.  These  wrongs can and do lead to long impacting generational issues.

I liked spending time with the series main characters and will certainly read further novels in the series.   However SPOILER ALERT:

The father in the historical sections was abused and is an abuser.  This is what I found quite painful to read.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

Eyes up! The Art of Looking Up by Catherine McCormack

Do you look up when you are  inside?  This book has made me think more about viewing the ceilings wherever I go.  There is so much to see there; sometimes the sights are beautiful, sometimes they may be symbolic or there to make a point.

This excellent volume begins by making the case for why one looks up.  There are connections to the celestial and definitely to religion in many instances.  The reader learns that ceilings make statements whether they are religious, political or a reflection of power or culture.  Each of these areas has its own section in this lavishly photographed and informative title.  Just a few of the sites that are included are The Vatican Palace, the Imam Mosque, the Louvre, the subway stations of Stockholm, Blenheim Palace and the U.S. Capitol.

I learned a lot while reading this book.  I enjoyed traveling to many parts of the world and learning more about different cultures based on what they hope to inspire in those who visit their sites.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title in exchange for an honest review.

From the publisher:

Forty spectacular ceilings around the globe that have been graced by the brushes of artists including Michelangelo, Marc Chagall and Cy Twombly

The spectacular ceiling inside Barcelona’s Sagrada Família.

Bellagio Hotel and Casino, USA

Palazzo Barberini, Italy

Museum of the Revolution, Cuba

RELIGION

Regardless of race, geography or creed, all gods occupy the sky. The close of the Neolithic period (before 3000 BCE) saw the transformation of religious beliefs as they shifted from a focus on the power, fertility and spirituality of the earth to the introduction of the sky-god cults. These include the Abrahamic religions and, before those, the gods of ancient Egyptian and then ancient Greek and Roman pagan theology, who occupied Mount Olympus in the sky. In short, from the Indo-European period, we started to look up to see God.

The spectacular ceiling inside Barcelona’s Sagrada Família.

CULTURE

A well-placed ceiling can achieve many things, from entertaining the wandering minds of a distracted audience at the Paris Opera House to flattering the patrons in Vienna’s Burgtheater, or from enlivening the monotony of the daily commute across Stockholm’s city metro network to nourishing intellectual contemplation within the library at Strahov Monastery. It can, perhaps, even keep clients in the casino, mechanically parting with their cash, as Dale Chihuly’s Fiori di Como in the Bellagio Resort and Casino would seem to aspire to, with its upside-down seabed of glass flowers.

Bellagio Hotel and Casino, USA

POWER

The easiest way to overwhelm is from above, as this is the vantage point from which all authority tends to descend. And so it follows that, in spaces of power, such as at the palaces of royalty, autocracy and rulership, the ceiling becomes an exercise in communicating that domination. This is achieved through the incorporation of various messages signalling such things as immense wealth and immortality. Portrayed with sentiments ranging from intimidation to whimsy, they are realized in ways that range from painterly ingenuity in composition to the use of beetles and bees.

Palazzo Barberini, Italy

POLITICS

Behind the closed doors of political establishments, painted ceilings often represent an idealized projection of the affairs of state playing out in the rooms below. A ceiling is the perfect canvas on which to craft a self-styled civic and national identity, working in a certain sense as an extension of the body politic. This form of connection between council and ceiling was important for the independent city-states featured in the following pages, such as the Golden Hall in the Augsburg Town Hall, Germany and the Hall of the Great Council of the Palazzo Ducale, in the most serene republic of Venice, Italy.

Museum of the Revolution, Cuba