These are the books I featured on WBRC Fox 6 this month. It’s been a long, long year. Here are a few books to see us through to 2021. A little self-help, some comfort food and armchair travel and a great thriller. Yes, that should do it.
The Book of Moods: How I Turned my Worst Emotions into My Best Life
by Lauren Martin
Positive theme of this year: self-care. This book (release date is December 8), by blogger Lauren Martin, grew out of the author’s own search for answers and happiness. Martin had lots of great things going for her: a good job, a nice apartment, a loving boyfriend, and yet she struggled with anxiety, irritability and feelings of insecurity. She started to blog about her feelings, and that outreach quickly turned into an international community of women (Words of Women) who felt like she did—lost, depressed and moody. This book is funny and honest and relies upon cutting-edge science, philosophy, self-care ideas and witty anecdotes to examine the nature of negative emotions, what triggers them and how you can use knowledge about this to your advantage.
Modern Comfort Food by Ina Garte
Comfort food seems more important now than ever. In this new Barefoot Contessa cookbook, celebrated chef Ina Garten offers 85 new soul-satisfying and delicious recipes to nourish and calm. Many are inspired by childhood favorites but with a twist: cheddar and chutney grilled cheese sandwiches or smashed hamburgers with caramelized onions or a lobster BLT or chicken pot pie soup. Garten’s directions are easy for home cooks to follow, and, personally, I’ve learned I can count on her recipes always. With everything from cocktails (pomegranate gimlets) to appetizers (outrageous garlic bread) to main dishes (crispy chicken with lemon orzo) to dessert (banana rum trifle), these are recipes to make you (and those you cook for) happy.
Hidden Places: An Inspired Traveller’s Guide by Sarah Baxter
Travel is difficult and curtailed right now, but we still can dream. This book will take readers to 25 of the world’s most obscure places. Some are so remote visitors must trek and wade to get to them. Others are more accessible—if you know where to look. Still others are hidden on purpose as sanctuaries from persecution. There’s an ancient gateway to the Mayan underworld, a prehistoric village covered by a sand dune and underwater treasure in these pages. Travel the world from your sofa to Menlo Castle, Galway, Ireland; Great Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe; Curio Bay, Southland, New Zealand, Spirit Island, Alberta, Canada; and The Green Mill in Chicago. Hidden Places is part of a series of inspiring travel books that includes Spiritual Places, Literary Places, Mystical Places and Artistic Places (coming in March 2021).
The Searcher by Tana French
For pure escapism, it’s hard to beat Tana French. I’m a huge fan of French who is the author of seven tightly crafted, atmospheric thrillers including In the Woods, The Witch Elm and The Likeness. Her novels have sold over three million copies and won numerous awards, including the Edgar, Anthony, Macavity and Barry awards, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Best Mystery/Thriller and the Irish Book Award for Crime Fiction. Often, French brings characters along from book to book, but this latest thriller offers a new protagonist. Cal Hooper spent 25 years on the Chicago police force, but now divorced and retired, he’s intent on building a new and simple life in a pretty place with a good local pub. So, he travels to the west of Ireland (which looked good on the Internet) and settles down in a small town where nothing much happens—until something does. Cal is reluctantly drawn into investigating the missing brother of a local kid, and he soon realizes that his picturesque, small-town retreat harbors some deadly secrets.
I link to Amazon to show you exactly what book I’m talking about, but I love to shop locally at Church Street Coffee and Books, The Alabama Booksmith, Little Professor Book Center, and I often visit my local library.
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