Book Reviews

4.8

A New York Times bestseller first published by Knopf in 1961 and still in print, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1 is a foundational French cookbook co-authored by Julia Child, Simone Beck, and Louisette Bertholle, designed to translate the full logic of classic French cuisine for the American home cook — and widely credited with reshaping how the country thinks about food.

Apr 16, 2026

The Betty Crocker Cookbook, 13th Edition: Everything You Need to Know to Cook Today by Betty Crocker

4.7

The Betty Crocker Cookbook, 13th Edition is a fully updated and revised reference cookbook published by Harvest on October 25, 2022, containing more than 1,300 recipes — over 375 of them new — designed to bring a century-old American culinary institution squarely into the modern home kitchen. This review assesses the book's content, organisation, and scope based on published sources, not a kitchen test.

Apr 15, 2026

Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game by Walker Deibel

4.7

Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game is a 2018 finance book by Walker Deibel, published by Lioncrest Publishing, that makes a structured, experience-backed case for acquiring an existing business rather than launching one from scratch — walking prospective buyers from initial opportunity-spotting through deal execution and ownership transition.

Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy: A Cookbook by Tieghan Gerard

4.7

Half Baked Harvest Quick & Cozy is Tieghan Gerard's fourth cookbook, published by Clarkson Potter in November 2024, and a New York Times bestseller. It delivers more than 120 comfort-food recipes designed for speed and big flavor — most completable in under forty-five minutes, many in a single pot or pan — making it a natural fit for home cooks who want soul-warming meals without a complex ingredient list. This review assesses the book's content, structure, and reception from published sources, not a kitchen test.

Apr 13, 2026

We Were the Lucky Ones: A Novel by Georgia Hunter

4.6

Georgia Hunter's debut novel We Were the Lucky Ones tells the true-rooted story of the Kurc family — three generations of Polish Jews from Radom — scattered across five continents by the Second World War and driven by an unwavering will to reunite. The novel's extraordinary geographic and historical sweep, grounded in years of personal research, gives it genuine power; a critical reservation about its prose style and character depth keeps it from reaching the full weight of its subject matter.

Apr 15, 2026

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity by Peter Attia

4.6

Co-authored by longevity physician Peter Attia and journalist Bill Gifford, Outlive is a comprehensive non-fiction health and wellness guide that reframes aging as a preventable process — built around defeating the "Four Horsemen" of heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and type 2 diabetes — and appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list in both 2023 and 2024.

Sonny Boy: A Memoir by Al Pacino

4.4

Al Pacino's Sonny Boy, published by Penguin Press on October 15, 2024, is an instant New York Times bestseller that traces the icon's journey from a hardscrabble postwar South Bronx childhood to the heights of Hollywood — most compellingly in its early chapters, and most unevenly when it shifts into a career survey that People Magazine called "as funny as it is reflective."

Out of the Corner: A Memoir by Jennifer Grey

4.4

Out of the Corner is a New York Times bestselling memoir in which Jennifer Grey traces her life from a privileged but complicated Hollywood upbringing through iconic film roles, a career-altering rhinoplasty, and a hard-won reclamation of identity — delivered with disarming frankness and self-deprecating humor, and narrated by Grey herself in the audiobook edition published by Random House Audio.

The Tell: A Memoir by Linda I. Meyers

4.3

Linda I. Meyers's debut memoir, published by She Writes Press on June 5, 2018, traces her path from a chaotic Brooklyn childhood—shaped by a mobster-adjacent father, a suicidal mother, and the restrictive culture of the 1940s and '50s—to her eventual life as a psychologist and psychoanalyst. Structured as a series of standalone essays, the book excavates multigenerational family dysfunction with what Kirkus Reviews calls "edgy, masterful prose" and earns its place as a frank, humor-laced account of emancipation and self-realization.

Apr 16, 2026

The Power to Say Yes!: What Working With 3,700+ Women Taught Me About by Christine Assouad

Drawn from Christine Assouad's work mentoring more than 3,700 women across the Middle East and beyond, The Power to Say Yes! Is a self-help book designed to help women of different ages break free from guilt, burnout, and others' expectations — and build lives of joy, purpose, and freedom on their own terms.

Apr 15, 2026

Liberation Psychology: 7 Steps To Self-Rejuvenation by Julius Spes

Julius Spes's Liberation Psychology: 7 Steps to Self-Rejuvenation is a concise self-help guide designed to help readers break free from the psychological and emotional weight of daily life through seven structured, actionable steps aimed at mental freedom and personal renewal.

The Simple Guide to Getting Active With Your Dog by Margaret H. Bonham

Published by TFH Publications in 2003, The Simple Guide to Getting Active With Your Dog is a practical how-to guide by Margaret H. "Maggie" Bonham — a Dog Writers Association Best Breed Book Award winner and experienced sled dog racer — designed to help dog owners improve the health and well-being of both themselves and their dogs while deepening the human-canine bond. Drawing on her hands-on background in training, working, and playing with dogs, Bonham delivers a concise, comprehensive survey of canine activities ranging from flyball and agility to freestyle, framing participation as accessible and rewarding for owners and dogs at all levels.

Apr 13, 2026