Great book recommendations for the Cool Dad and Cool Mom this Spring

This spring, we've curated a diverse range of books that cater to the tastes of Cool Dads and Cool Moms. From heartwarming family stories to captivating solo adventures, our selection promises engaging reads for both quality family time and your personal enjoyment.

June New Releases

Bright Cooking: Recipes for the Modern Palate

by Camille Becerra

"Anyone interested in committing to a more mindful approach to cooking ... will joyfully embrace Becerra's dazzling, flavor-punched collection of recipes."--Library Journal

From celebrated chef and tastemaker Camille Becerra: a uniquely beautiful primer that teaches home cooks new ways of cooking and thinking about nourishing, flavorful foods.

Great food should look beautiful, taste special, and make you feel good.

In Bright Cooking, her highly anticipated first cookbook, Camille Becerra, acclaimed chef at the Ace Hotel's As You Are, offers 140+ fresh, natural dishes to boost one's body and mood with plant-based, healthful ingredients. More than 90 foundational pantry basics--mother sauces, broths, dusts, finishing oils, and more--are combined in uncommon and uncomplicated ways to create 50+ eat-anytime dishes.

Say you went to the farmers' market and bought some beautiful chicories. From there, you could add some Chili Mushroom Pickle and swirl on some Crispy Honey Chile Oil from your pantry to create Maple Chicories with Chile Honey. Maybe you're not in the mood to put together an involved meal, but you picked up some squash at the market--you could char it and nestle it in a cloud of Fennel Pollen Yogurt with a dusting of pistachios for a thrown-together treat, or add Coconut-Ginger Broth and curry paste to create a warming, brothy bowl.

Bright Cooking inspires you to create based on what you have in your kitchen, what you hunger for, and what your body is asking for. With advice throughout on adding big flavor and playfulness to your repertoire, Bright Cooking is a uniquely beautiful primer that teaches home cooks new ways of cooking and thinking about nourishing, flavorful food. After you work your way through the book, you'll only be a smear of this, a few sprinkles of that, and a pinch of flourish away from confidence and creative freedom in the kitchen--and you'll feel amazing, inside and out.

CELEBRATED CHEF & TASTEMAKER WITH DEDICATED FOLLOWING: Camille Becerra is an "it" girl in the food world, both for her dishes and her style in and out of the kitchen. Featured in the New York Times Style Magazine, Bon Appetit, Vogue, Refinery 29, Elle, Condé Nast Traveler, Martha Stewart Living, Kinfolk, and on the cover of Cherry Bombe, to name just a few, her cooking and food styling are iconic--instantly recognizable, covetable, gorgeous, and packed with nutrients.

HEALTHY RECIPES DONE RIGHT: As a pioneer of the healthy chic food movement, Becerra represents her ideals through the plant-based and pescatarian recipes in this book. Her philosophy is that food should look beautiful, have dimensions of flavor, and make one feel good after eating it, all while nurturing one's immune system with superfoods to maximize nutrients.

EASY, SUSTAINABLE WELLNESS: Becerra's crafted approach to cooking comes from the many styles of restaurants in which she has experience: macrobiotic, vegetarian, local, organic, and sustainable. Recipes utilize every component of each ingredient, resulting in well-rounded flavors and no food waste.

The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir

by Griffin Dunne

"What a remarkable and moving story filled with twists and turns, the most famous of faces, and a complex family revealed with loving candor. I was blown away by Griffin Dunne's life and his ability to capture so much of it in these beautifully written pages." --Anderson Cooper

"Joyful, tragic, and resilient with a masterful, roving tone...Griffin takes his rightful place in a family and tradition of real writers." --David Duchovny

Griffin Dunne's memoir of growing up among larger-than-life characters in Hollywood and Manhattan finds wicked humor and glimmers of light in even the most painful of circumstances

At eight, Sean Connery saved him from drowning. At thirteen, desperate to hook up with Janis Joplin, he attended his aunt Joan Didion and uncle John Gregory Dunne's legendary LA launch party for Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. At sixteen, he got kicked out of boarding school, ending his institutional education for good. In his early twenties, he shared an apartment in Manhattan's Hotel Des Artistes with his best friend and soulmate Carrie Fisher while she was filming some sci-fi movie called Star Wars and he was a struggling actor working as a popcorn concessionaire at Radio City Music Hall. A few years later, he produced and starred in the now-iconic film After Hours, directed by Martin Scorsese. In the midst of it all, Griffin's twenty-two-year-old sister, Dominique, a rising star in Hollywood, was brutally strangled to death by her ex-boyfriend, leading to one of the most infamous public trials of the 1980s. The outcome was a travesty of justice that marked the beginning of their father Dominick Dunne's career as a crime reporter for Vanity Fair and a victims' rights activist.

And yet, for all its boldface cast of characters and jaw-dropping scenes, The Friday Afternoon Club is no mere celebrity memoir. It is, down to its bones, a family story that embraces the poignant absurdities and best and worst efforts of its loveable, infuriating, funny, and moving characters--its author most of all.

I Don't Want to Go Home: The Oral History of the Stone Pony

by Nick Corasaniti

A captivating oral history of the iconic music venue the Stone Pony and of the rise, fall, and rebirth of Asbury Park, New Jersey--featuring interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Steve Van Zandt, Southside Johnny, members of the E Street Band and Asbury Jukes, the Ramones, the Jonas Brothers, Jack Antonoff, and other legendary musicians.

Featuring exclusive, never-before-seen photos from Danny Clinch

In 1970, Asbury Park, New Jersey, was ripped apart by race riots that left the once-proud beach town an hour away from Manhattan smoldering, suffering and left for dead.

Four years later, a few miles down the coast in Seaside Heights, two bouncers, Jack Roig and Butch Pielka, tired of the daily grind, dreamt of owning their own place. Under-prepared and minimally funded, the two bought the first bar they considered, in a city where no one wanted to be, without setting one foot in the place. They named it the Stone Pony, and turned it into a rock club that Bruce Springsteen would soon call home and a dying town would call its beating heart.

But the bar had to fight to survive. Despite its success in launching and attracting rockers like Stevie Van Zandt, "Southside" Johnny Lyon, and Springsteen, the Stone Pony--like everything in Asbury Park for the past half century--could only weather the drags of a depressed city for so long.

How did the Stone Pony beat the odds to survive? How did it become an international rock pilgrimage site, not just for fans of Springsteen, but for punk rockers, jam bands, pop, indie, alternative and many other musicians as well? And how did it continue to inspire and influence a hall-of-fame list of New Jersey and national rock stars? The story of the Stone Pony--thrillingly charted in this detailed oral history--is the chronicle of a proud and unique cultural mecca blooming in a down-but-not-yet-out tough town. As Nick Corasaniti reveals, the stories of Asbury Park and the Stone Pony are that of modern America itself--a place of battered hopes, big dreams, and dogged resilience.

I Have Your Back: How an American Soldier Became an International Hero

by Tom Sileo

The story of U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Michael Ollis, who became an international hero for his courage and selflessness.

Ever since he was a young boy growing up on the streets of Staten Island, New York, Michael Ollis wanted to be a soldier. Inspired by his father, who fought in Vietnam, Mike's deep desire to serve was cemented on the day his beloved city was attacked. From 9/11 onward, Mike's one and only mission was to save lives.

After two tense combat deployments, Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis earned the US Army's coveted Ranger tab and set his sights on the perilous mountains of eastern Afghanistan. On August 28, 2013, Mike was suddenly caught in the middle of a massive and unprecedented Taliban assault on a coalition military base. Rather than retreat to his bunker, Mike decided to fight. He then encountered a Polish army officer who needed his help.

Despite being surrounded by enemy fighters while running low on ammunition, Mike promised the foreign soldier that no matter what, he would have his back. For his final act of bravery, Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis would not only receive the Distinguished Service Cross from his own country, but the highest honor that Poland can bestow upon an allied soldier.

As an American warrior, Staff Sergeant Michael Ollis had all of our backs. This vivid and visceral account of Mike's selfless 24-year journey will motivate us to "live like Mike" by always putting family, friends and country first.

Invisible Labor: The Untold Story of the Cesarean Section

by Rachel Somerstein

An incisive yet personal look at the science and history of the most common surgery performed in America--the cesarean section--and an exposé on the disturbing state of maternal medical care

When Rachel Somerstein had an unplanned C-section with her first child, the experience was anything but "routine." A series of errors by her clinicians led to a real-life nightmare: surgery without anesthesia. The ensuing mental and physical complications left her traumatized and searching for answers about how things could have gone so wrong.

In the United States, one in three babies is born via C-section, a rate that has grown exponentially over the past fifty years. And while in most cases the procedure is safe, it is not without significant, sometimes life-changing consequences, many of which affect people of color disproportionately. With C-sections all but invisible in popular culture and pregnancy guides, new mothers are often left to navigate these obstacles on their own.

In Invisible Labor, Somerstein weaves personal narrative and investigative journalism with medical, social, and cultural history to reveal the operation's surprising evolution, from its early practice on enslaved women to its excessive promotion by modern medical practitioners. She uncovers the current-day failures of the medical system, showing how pregnant women's agency is regularly disregarded by providers who, motivated by fear of litigation or a hospital's commitment to efficiency, make far-reaching and deeply personal decisions on behalf of their patients. She also examines what prevailing maternal and medical attitudes toward C-sections tell us about American culture.

Candid, raw, and illuminating, Invisible Labor lifts the veil on C-sections so that people can make choices about pregnancy and surgical birth with greater knowledge of the risks, benefits, and alternatives. With deep feeling and authority, Somerstein offers support to others who have had difficult or traumatic birth experiences, as well as hope for new forms of reproductive justice.

The Rhythm of Home: Five Intentional Practices for a Thriving Family Culture

by Chris Graebe - Jenni Graebe

Feeling overwhelmed by the challenges of parenting? Want to cultivate a home life that aligns with your deepest dreams and values as a family?

Chris and Jenni Graebe, authors of The Rhythm of Us: Create the Marriage You Long For, are back to share the intentional habits of flourishing families who love God and truly enjoy each other. You'll take inventory of your current family rhythms, consider your unique core values, and move toward the life you truly envision for your family. Along the way, Chris and Jenni offer practical tips and strategies to navigate the challenges of parenting and cultivate a thriving family life.

Through exploring five intentional practices of flourishing families, you will learn to

map out a vision for your family legacy,
create a home environment that supports your deepest family values,
connect on a deeper level with your kids in ways that will last a lifetime, and
shape a loving and joy-filled family culture.

Whether you are just starting your family or are farther along in your parenting journey, The Rhythm of Home will help you create a strong foundation. You don't have to let the family life you dream of slip through your fingers, you can intentionally cultivate the loving, flourishing home you truly desire. The Rhythm of Home will lead the way!

May NEW RELEASES

Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees

by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

In Bite by Bite, poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil explores the way food and drink evoke our associations and remembrances--a subtext or layering, a flavor tinged with joy, shame, exuberance, grief, desire, or nostalgia.

Nezhukmatathil restores our astonishment and wonder about food through her encounters with a range of foods and food traditions. From shave ice to lumpia, mangoes to pecans, rambutan to vanilla, she investigates how food marks our experiences and identities and explores the boundaries between heritage and memory.

Bite by Bite offers a rich and textured kaleidoscope of vignettes and visions into the world of food and nature, drawn together by intimate and humorous personal reflections, with Fumi Nakamura's gorgeous imagery and illustration.

The Way You Make Me Feel: Love in Black and Brown

by Nina Sharma

When Nina Sharma meets Quincy while hitching a ride to a friend's Fourth of July barbecue, she spots a favorite book, Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior, in the back seat of his cramped car, and senses a sadness from him that's all too familiar to her. She is immediately intrigued--who is this man? In The Way You Make Me Feel, Sharma chronicles her and Quincy's love story, and in doing so, examines how their Black and Asian relationship becomes the lens through which she moves through and understands the world.

In a series of sensual and sparkling essays, Sharma reckons with caste, race, colorism, and mental health, moving from her seemingly idyllic suburban childhood through her and Quincy's early sweeping romance in the so-called postracial Obama years and onward to their marriage. Growing up, she hears her parents talk about the racism they experienced at the hands of white America--and as an adult, she confronts the complexities of American racism and the paradox of her family's disappointment when she starts dating a Black man. While watching The Walking Dead, Sharma dives into the eerie parallels between the brutal death of Steven Yeun's character and the murder of Vincent Chin.

Tom Clancy Act of Defiance

by Brian Andrews - Jeffrey Wilson

It's been four decades since a similar incident with the Soviet sub, Red October, ended happily, thanks to a young CIA analyst named Jack Ryan.

Now, President Jack Ryan finds himself with fleets of ships, squadrons of jets, and teams of SEALs at his command, but what he doesn't have is insight into the plans of the Belgorod's commander. It falls to a younger generation of Ryans to do the dangerous work that will reveal that information.

But there's always a price to be paid. When the final moments tick away, will Jack Ryan have to choose between the safety of his country and the safety of his child?

The Complete Book of Pickleball: The Ultimate Training Guide for Passionate Players of All Levels

by Kurt Brungardt - Brett Brungardt - Mike Brungardt

Easy to learn and fun to play, pickleball is also a surprisingly athletic sport. In this user-friendly book, fitness superstars, the Brungardt brothers, focus their expertise on the needs of pickleball players of all levels, applying the same innovative training methods they've used with NBA MVPs, Cy Young Award-winners, and Olympic and tennis champions, to make picklers more athletic and injury-resistant.

To safely reach your pickleball potential, health and fitness professionals agree that the sport should not be your only form of exercise. To fill this critical gap, the Brungardts have created PB-150, a comprehensive program that delivers all the components of an elite pro training center experience--with the fun and flexibility of the pickleball spirit.

I Am More Than

by Lebron James - Niña Mata

A follow-up to the #1 New York Times bestselling and critically acclaimed picture book I Promise, this second slam-dunk picture book from NBA champion and cultural icon LeBron James motivates readers to remember they can accomplish their goals when they believe in themselves. Written in fun rhyming verse and illustrated by award-winning and bestselling artist Niña Mata, this book will help little dreamers dream BIG.

Perfect for shared reading in and out of the classroom, I Am More Than is also a great gift for graduation, birthdays, and other occasions.

The Total Money Makeover Updated and Expanded: A Proven Plan for Financial Peace

by Dave Ramsey

By now, you've already heard all of the nutty get-rich-quick schemes and the fiscal diet fads that leave you with a lot of quirky ideas but not a penny in your pocket. If you're tired of the lies and sick of the false promises, Dave is here to provide practical, long-term help. The Total Money Makeover is the simplest, most straightforward game plan for completely changing your finances. And, best of all, these principles are based on results, not pie-in-the-sky fantasies. This is the financial reset you've been looking for.

APRIL NEW RELEASES

Bare Knuckle: Bobby Gunn, 73-0 Undefeated. a Dad. a Dream. a Fight Like You've Never Seen.

by Stayton Bonner

Father. Fighter. Champion. Outlaw.

Hailed as an "exhilarating debut" by Publishers Weekly, Bare Knuckle by former Rolling Stone editor Stayton Bonner (nominated for the Dan Jenkins Medal of Excellence in Sportswriting) takes readers into a previously unknown world: the underground circuit of illegal bare-knuckle fighting.

Bare Knuckle is the remarkable true tale of Bobby Gunn, the 73-0 undisputed champion of bare-knuckle boxing.

An inspiring underdog story that reads like a real-life Rocky.

Bobby Gunn has been fighting for his existence since a childhood spent living under the hand of his volatile father, and would do anything to give his seven-year-old daughter a better life--including betting on himself in the underground world of bare-knuckle boxing.

Mama in the Moon

by Doreen Cronin - Brian Cronin

Baby sloth lives high up in the trees with his mama, where he loves to sleep between her and the moon. But one night he tumbles from her arms to land in a soft patch of leaves far below. "I'll be there soon," Mama sloth calls down to him. But sloths never get anywhere soon. When Baby becomes worried, Mama finds clever ways to reassure and distract him using his senses of sight, sound, smell, and touch.

This beautifully told and enchantingly illustrated preschool read-aloud has the happiest of endings. It's a bedtime delight that's perfect for fans of Owl Babies and Kitten's First Full Moon.

A Field Guide to the Apocalypse: A Mostly Serious Guide to Surviving Our Wild Times

by Athena Aktipis

Is this finally it? The end times?Because from COVID-19 to climate catastrophe to the looming AI revolution--not to mention the ever-growing background hum of rage, fear, and anxiety--it's starting to feel like the party we call civilization is just about over. The good news? It's always felt that way.

Drawing on evolutionary psychology, history, brain science, game theory, and more, cooperation theorist (and, coincidentally, zombie expert) Athena Aktipis reassuringly explains how we, as a species, are hardwired to survive big existential crises. And how we can do so again by leveraging our innate abilities to communicate and cooperate.

Pack a ukulele in your prep kit. Practice your risk-management skills. Enlist your crew into a survival team. And embrace the apocalypse. You might just enjoy it. Plus, it will help us build a better and more resilient future for all humankind.

Plantyou: Scrappy Cooking: 140+ Plant-Based Zero-Waste Recipes That Are Good for You, Your Wallet, and the Planet

by Carleigh Bodrug

Spinning off of Bodrug's wildly popular Scrappy Cooking social media series, the cookbook is packed with over 150+ whole-food, plant-based recipes that show the reader how to make the most of the food they have in their fridge and pantry with easy and approachable vegan recipes anyone can make.

Transform radish tops into pesto, broccoli stems into summer rolls and wilting greens into smoothie cubes... But that's not all. The book will equip readers with not only the tools to make the most of their scraps, but use up just about any vegetable, grain or bean from their fridge and pantry in the flexible Kitchen Raid Recipes, or cross reference commonly wasted foods like stale bread from a "Got This, Make That" index so these items can be used up in the easiest and most delicious way possible.

Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year

by Christopher Kimball

This is Milk Street's new and comprehensive guide to today's recipe repertoire, full of fresh flavors and simple yet game-changing techniques. This is everyday cooking you actually want to cook every day.

You'll learn better ways to roast chicken (hint: flat birds crisp better, and seasonings stay in place when slid under the skin) and discover bold finishes for chops and steaks (think a slather of cilantro-lime sauce or a smear of miso butter).

Here, fundamental recipes and their nearly endless variations are paired with lessons on the art and science of good cooking. Sidebars and charts deliver valuable guidance about the tools, ingredients and techniques that comprise the modern kitchen.

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