Lists and Suggestions

Perfect for cat lovers and watercolor artists of all skill levels, from absolute beginner to more experienced, Painting Cats teaches you how to go from blob of paint to a beautiful portrait of your fluffy friends. Drawing on art therapy techniques that emphasize fun and freedom in creativity over technical perfection, Runyan guides you step by step through the process of adding details to loosely painted shapes to create your own unique and distinct cats!

"A social activist, journalist, public theologian, and international speaker who has become a powerful and brilliant voice of her generation offers a bold path to liberation and healing for people of African descent struggling in the shadows of the American Dream."--Publisher's description.

"A spellbinding tour, filled with stories and photographs, of some of the world's most fascinating architectural mysteries. This wondrous guide for the curious and the intrepid takes readers on a lushly photographed and lyrically written tour of eighteen of the world's most captivating architectural mysteries. Delve into both the secretive places themselves and the eccentric and obsessive minds that created them.

"Cooking isn't that hard - or, it doesn't have to be. Newt, best known for his hilariously narrated cooking videos, sat down and wrote some of his best recipes right here, in this book you're holding. All you have to do for a yummy, mouthwatering meal is read and follow the instructions! It's that simple. [...] In this encouraging and fun-filled cookbook, you'll find Newt's favorite, greatest, and most viral hits, including rizzed-up, date-worthy fare, Vietnamese dishes that remind Newt of home, and quick and filling meals to cure your hunger."--Back cover.

"Women-owned and 100% plant-based, Sugar Taco is an LA go-to for Mexican food, for good reason. Founders Jayde Nicole and Nia Gatica Campos, along with chef Alan Campos, launched Sugar Taco in 2019 with a vision for a women-owned business that championed traditional dishes in an eco-conscious and animal-friendly way. They ditched meat and dairy for juicy jackfruit, perfectly seasoned seitan, house-made queso, and more, and then paired this on-trend menu with vibrant Dia de Muertos-inspired decor. The restaurant has been thriving ever since, with two locations and a third in the works"--

"It's easy to enjoy tasty, vibrant fresh vegetables and fruits all year round and every day with this vegan cookbook. Rebel Recipes' Niki Webster shares 40 simple and beautiful one-bowl vegan meals that are healthy, satisfying, and packed with flavor (plus vitamins and minerals, protein, and fiber), perfectly balanced for nutritious breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and desserts. Makes meal prep a breeze and is a great gift for the food lover in your life!"--

For most Italians, cooking is a way of life, and that is certainly the case for Gianluca Conte, better known as QCP. But what makes a dish authentically Italian versus Italian-American? Is it the ingredients? Is it the way the dish is prepared? The answer is layered (like a lasagna), and Gianluca is here to set this straight, one shot of olive oil at a time.

"In this collection, Arceneaux takes stock of how far he has traveled--and how much ground he still has to cover in this patriarchal, heteronormative society. He explores the opportunities afforded to Black creatives but also the doors that remain shut or ever-so-slightly ajar; the confounding challenges of dating in a time when social media has made everything both more accessible and more unreliable; and the allure of returning home while still pushing yourself to seek opportunity elsewhere."--

"In the vein of The Shock Doctrine and Evil Geniuses, this timely manifesto from an acclaimed journalist illustrates how corporate and political elites have used planned capitalism to advance their own interests at the expense of the rest of us-and how we can take back our economy for all. It's easy to look at the state of the world around us and feel hopeless. We live in an era marked by war, climate crisis, political polarization, and acute inequality-and yet many of us feel powerless to do anything about these profound issues.

"Dubbed a voice of her generation, poet and writer Morgan Parker has spent much of her adulthood in therapy, trying to square the resonance of her writing with the alienation she feels in nearly every aspect of life, from her lifelong singleness to her battle with depression. She traces this loneliness to an inability to feel truly safe with others and a historic hyper-awareness stemming from the effects of slavery. In this collection of sharp, reflective essays, Parker examines America's cultural history and relationship to Black Americans through the ages, through such topics as the Church's role in propagating segregation through scriptural misreadings, the implications of Bill Cosby's fall from grace in a culture predicated on acceptance through respectability, and the pitfalls of visibility as seen through the mischaracterizations of Serena Williams as alternately iconic and too ambitious"--

"For centuries, women were denied equal access to money and the freedom and power that came with it. They were restricted from owning property or transacting in real estate. Even well into the 20th century, women could not take out their own loans or own bank accounts without their husband's permission. They could be fired for getting married or pregnant, and if they still had a job, they could be kept from certain roles, restricted from working longer hours, and paid less than men for equal work.

"The notion of "housewife" evokes strong reactions. For some, it's nostalgia for a bygone era, simpler and better times when men were breadwinners and women remained home with the kids. For others, it's a sexist, oppressive stereotype of women's work. Either way, housewife is a long outdated concept-or is it? Lisa Selin Davis, known for her smart, viral, feminist, cultural takes, argues that the "breadwinner vs. homemaker" divide is a myth. She charts examples from prehistoric female hunters to working class housewives in the 1930s, from First Ladies to 21st century stay-at-home moms, on a search for answers to the problems of what is referred to as women's work and motherhood. Davis discovers that women have been sold a lie about what families should be.

"In 1967, Sireen Sawalha's mother, with her young children, walked back to Palestine against the traffic of exile. My Brother, My Land is the story of Sireen's family in the decades that followed and their lives in the Palestinian village of Kufr Ra'i. From Sireen's early life growing up in the shadow of the '67 War and her family's work as farmers caring for their land, to the involvement of her brother Iyad in armed resistance in the First and Second Intifada, Sami Hermez, with Sireen Sawalha, crafts a rich story of intertwining voices, mixing genres of oral history, memoir, and creative nonfiction.

"Once it was one of the most famous events in early American history. Today, it has been nearly forgotten. In an obscure, two-hundred-year-old museum in a little village in western Massachusetts, there lies what once was the most revered but now totally forgotten relic from the history of early New England--the massive, tomahawk-scarred door that came to symbolize the notorious Deerfield Massacre.

"A sweeping yet personal overview of the latino population of America, drawn from hundreds of interviews and prodigious research that emphasizes the diversity and little-known history of our largest and fastest-growing minority. LatinoLand is an exceptional, all-encompassing overview of Hispanic America based on personal interviews, deep research, and Marie Arana's life experience as a Latina. At present, Latinos comprise 20 percent of the US population, a number that is growing. By 2050, census reports project that one in every three Americans will claim Latino heritage.

"In the spirit of Ben Macintyre's greatest spy nonfiction, the truly unbelievable and untold story of Frederick Rutland-a debonair British WWI hero, flying ace, fixture of Los Angeles society, and friend of Golden Age Hollywood stars-who flipped to become a spy for Japan in the lead-up to the attack on Pearl Harbor"--

"An intimate account--the first from a trail veterinarian--of the canines who brave the challenges of the Iditarod. Few events attract as much attention, or create as much spectacle, as the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Each March, despite subzero temperatures and white-out winds, hundreds of dogs and mushers journey to Anchorage, Alaska, to participate in "The Last Great Race on Earth," a grueling, thousand-mile race across the Alaskan wilderness.

"Mysterious, graceful, and ever-clever, otters have captivated our imaginations despite the fact that few people have encountered one in the wild. In Otter Country, celebrated nature writer Miriam Darlington captures the fascination she's had for these playful animals since childhood and chronicles her immersive journey into their watery world. Over the course of a single year, Darlington takes readers on a winding expedition in pursuit of these elusive creatures from her home in Devon, England, through the wilds of Scotland, Wales, the Lake District, and the countryside of Cornwall.

V. S. Pritchett called her "a genius." Gore Vidal described her as a "beloved novelist of singular brilliance... Of all the Southern writers, she is the most apt to endure..." And Tennessee Williams said, "The only real writer the South ever turned out, was Carson." She was born Lula Carson Smith in Columbus, Georgia. Her dream was to become a concert pianist, though she'd been writing since she was sixteen and the influence of music was evident throughout her work.

"Oooohhh yeahhhh! Macho Man: The Life of Randy Savage is the sensational, definitive biography of the WrestleMania headlining, Spider-Man fighting, Slim Jim snapping, minor league baseball playing American original: Randy Savage. Savage, a WWE wrestling hall of famer, was an A-list celebrity who sat atop the entertainment universe for much of the 1980s and '90s. His outfits were as flamboyant as anything worn by Liberace, Elton John, or Prince.

"'For far too long, I was told I was just like everyone else. All my struggles and feelings were supposedly universal, and the real difference was that I was just a weak, manipulative, selfish, emotional baby. I had to toughen up. But as much as everyone tried to convince me, I knew it couldn't be true. Living just seemed so much harder for me than everyone else. Whilst the people around me seemed to have no problem being calm and happy, I had panic attacks multiple times a day, where my hyperventilating made my legs numb and sometimes I lost consciousness.

"A portrait of one of the greatest leaders of modern history, George Catlett Marshall, and a distillation of the essential lessons his formation offers to the leaders of today and tomorrow. George Marshall was a soldier-statesman who guided the Allies to victory during World War II and set Europe on the postwar path to recovery with the plan that bears his name, receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953. But how did he become such an effective leader?

Best known for playing loner rebel Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills 90210, Luke Perry was fifty-two years old when he died of a stroke in 2019. There have been other deaths of 90's stars, but this one hit different. Gen X was reminded of their own inescapable mortality, and robbed of an exciting career resurgence for one of their most cherished icons, with recent roles in the hit series Riverdale and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time In Hollywood bringing him renewed attention and acclaim.