A little something for everyone.

Enjoy!

And tell me what's making it onto your list these days. I've got pen and paper ready...

Real Food: What to Eat and Why
Nina Planck

The chapters are divided into simple ideas – local produce, fresh dairy, real meat (she explains what “real” is, along with “grass-fed,” “organic,” and “pasteurized’) – and I think that’s important: Make it easy for people understand what it is they need to do to eat the best for their health.

Although Nina gets into some food terminology, the book is easy to read and understand. It is not overbearing or weighty and she certainly doesn’t talk down to her audience, which I really appreciate.

I think if you want to change your eating and food buying habits, this is an essential guide to getting started.

That and a trip to your local farmer’s market.

Userlands: New Fiction Writers from the Blogging Underground
Edited by Dennis Cooper

So if you need a little escape, this should do it. And maybe you won’t be able to read just one.

In fact, I’d bet on it.

New Shoes: Contemporary Footwear Design
Sue Huey and Rebecca Proctor

A luxurious coffee table book about shoes, complete with close-ups and models showing off the latest designs, along with designer descriptions and histories?

You had us at hello.

The Good Life: New Public Spaces for Recreation
Zoe Ryan

Want to know what architects, designers, landscape architects and artists are reinventing urban public spaces?

This book, while not offering you a complete history of the world’s revamped spaces, gives a great deal of information and photos about places that you might want to go to just because they are that innovative.

There are 70 projects listed here and the book describes them beautifully.

This is a great way to learn more about the world and to become excited and engaged about what surrounds us.

The Writer’s Toolbox: Creative Games and Exercises for Inspiring the “Write” Side of Your Brain
Jamie Cat Callan

Okay, so it’s not technically a book, but it’s got a book inside it, so it still counts.

A writing teacher developed this box that contains exercises that allows you “to be creative while staying productive.”

There are wheels in which to help form your story, sticks and cards and something called The Protagonist Game.

Hey, I’m for anything that’ll get you writing and in the groove.

And a game sounds so much better than a deadline or an editor’s phone call.

I’m in.

Eating India: An Odyssey into the Food and Culture of the Land of Spices
Chitrita Banerji

And reading this book filled with stories of poppy seeds, saffron and wonderful prose made me want naan and soft legumes at every hour of the day.

Here’s just a small example:

“On my last evening, I bought some hot, fragrant kachoris and a leaf bowl full of large, saffron-coloured jilebis, dripping with syrup. I made my way to one of the ghats and sat down on the lower steps. Several children played hopscotch on the broad landing above me. Across the river was a setting sun, the darkening outline of an old palace, and unoccupied stretches of land. Boats carrying sightseers, students, merchants passes before me like images in a film. The failing light obscured the sludgy, sluggish quality of the river’s water. I ate my kachoris slowly, letting the heat, scent, and spiciness fill my mouth. My surrounding dissolved and were replaced by a vision of legions of city dwellers all over India, touching the strands of unreal contentment – all you need is ten rupees, he had said – radiating out of this chaotic, dirty, death-oriented city that pulsed with life that was aggressive, brash and savvy.”

Just wait until you get to the road food chapter…