Summer is here and, as the nation begins to open back up, many are ready to stretch their legs and begin traveling again! Before you start packing your bags for your next getaway, consider what items you choose to bring with you that will help elevate your experience and make traveling a breeze. Do you plan on staying home all summer?
Maybe you're looking forward to spending long, lazy days on the beach or hanging out at your pool in the backyard! Whatever you're doing this summer, this What to Read This Summer 2021 list will give you a ton of entertainment, and maybe even a little self improvement!
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What to Read This Summer 2021
Life and Other Shortcomings by Corie Adjmi
Corie Adjmi, award-winning author and women’s empowerment activist, uses the power and relatability of storytelling to help empower women in all areas of life in her award-winning book, Life and Other Shortcomings.
This book illustrates the stories of 12 women, all on a different path in life, with one common overarching theme: the beauty, honesty and compelling nature of the female experience and what it means to be a woman. Through each character’s intimate journey, specific truths are revealed about what it means to be a woman—in a relationship with another person, in a particular culture and era—and how these conditions ultimately affect her relationship with herself. The perfect plane, beach or everyday read!
Life and Other Shortcomings is available on Amazon in Kindle or paperback format.
The Modern Oracle: Fortune Telling and Divination for the Real World
Violets Are Blue by Barbara Dee
When COVID-19 hit, Shari Wallack knew it would take a toll on her mental health as her award-winning travel business came to a screeching halt. The pain of cancellations and clients demanding refunds, combined with having her adult children suddenly home from college, and a subsequent all-out panic attack resulted in an involuntary stint in a mental health facility. Once released, and not wanting to face the reality of her situation, she did what so many only dreamed about during the stress of 2020: She ran away from home.
Violets Are Blue (Aladdin; 9/28/21; ISBN: 978-1534469181; Hardcover $17.99; Ages 9-13; 304 pages) tackles the universal middle grade concerns of friendship, family, and identity with the same care and insight Dee brings to the challenging topic of addiction. Through Wren’s authentic voice, Dee captures a common issue that is often treated as taboo, providing kids with the tools to reach out when a problem is too much to take on alone. Wren’s interest in special effects makeup brings a unique flair and levity to a story with extra appeal to drama kids of all stripes – whether they’re assisting backstage, starring in the school play, or avidly watching YouTube tutorials.
From Hell to Challah: Rising from Fragile to Fearless, One Grain at a Time
In her hilariously raw and unflinchingly honest memoir, From Hell to Challah: Rising from Fragile to Fearless, One Grain at a Time (Radius Book Group, July 13, 2021, Hardcover / eBook) Shari takes us on her unusual voyage of self-discovery and healing. With her iPhone filled with personal and professional contacts and a carry-on bag packed with a weekend’s worth of clothes, she unexpectedly ends up on a three-month journey across the country couch surfing, baking challah bread, and cooking Jewish food creations with anyone who would let her.
Along the way, Shari charms her way through the kitchens and taste buds of friends, family, and a zany cast of new-found characters while glamping, hot air ballooning, hiking, encountering wild animals, and witnessing the beauty of America.
Filled with photos and recipes, From Hell to Challah is a unique combination of food, travel and self-help memoir full of inspiration, passion, and courage.
No Spring Chicken: Stories and Advice from a Wild Handicapper on Aging and Disability
No Spring Chicken: Stories and Advice from a Wild Handicapper on Aging and Disability, Francine Falk-Allen offers her humorous take on navigating the complications of aging.
As we age, we all begin to have physical difficulties to contend with. It can be challenging for spouses, children, and friends to adapt to the changes people go through as they age—to drop expectations and meet their loved ones where they are. Often, even though the advice is well-meaning, it is unrealistic and doesn't help solve problems.
Francine wrote the book to be an informative guide to living your best and longest life―whatever your physical challenges and age.
From To-Do to Done: How to Go from Busy to Productive by Mastering Your To-Do List (A Revolutionary Time Management Book to Take Control of Your Busy ... Professionally) (Empowered Productivity, 2)
"I am SO busy.” How often do we say that to our co-workers, our family and friends, and ourselves? The question that Maura Thomas, an award-winning expert on productivity and work-life balance, says what we should be asking is “what is truly important?”
In her latest book, From To-Do to Done, Thomas outlines a strategy for focusing on the things that truly matter, leaving you feeling more in control, less overwhelmed, and a greater sense of accomplishment by focusing on what is truly important to you.
Books For the New Mama
The Mama Sutra: Ancient Positions and Practices to Soothe the Modern Baby
Co-authored by wife and husband team Allie Kingsley Baker and Tony Baker, The Mama Sutra is an essential parenting handbook to more than forty methods to calm fussiness, encourage bowel movements, and (the holy grail) help everyone get back to sleep. Meet the Lucky Rabbit, the Drunk Monk, the Spraying Mantis, and other time-tested and scientifically proven ways to help your baby feel better, developed with help from experts in the ancient art of holistic healing.
Whether your little one is experiencing reflux, colic, constipation, or something you can't quite identify, the simple and fun positions, holds, and massages in this adorable, illustrated guide present solutions to soothe them, one beneficial pose at a time. Through this proven methodology, you will become your baby's own enlightened guru.
Endorsed by celebrities like Jenna Dewan, Nicky Hilton and Ashley Iaconetti, and reviewed by leading pediatricians, it is an indispensable guide for new parents.
About the Authors: Allie Kingsley Baker is an author and lifestyle expert. Her novels and co-written celebrity books address hot topics in pop culture, lifestyle, and parenting. Tony Baker is an award-winning animated screenplay writer. Tony and Allie live in Los Angeles with their incredible boss babies, Kingsley and Rocco Baker.
New cookbooks that you just gotta check out!
The Original Cocktail Book to Make Your Bubbly Boozy Beverages Even Boozier
An ice-cold, sparkling hard seltzer is a tasty, low-cal, refreshing treat on its own. And now, these canned beverages are getting a mixed-drink makeover, thanks to The Hard Seltzer Cocktail Book: 55 Unofficial Recipes for White Claw® Slushies, Truly® Mixers, and More Spiked-Seltzer Drinks[978-1646041855, $19.95, Ulysses Press, June 2021] by Casie Vogel.
The first of its kind, The Hard Seltzer Cocktail Book is your go-to resource for transforming your favorite alcoholic seltzers into deliciously fun cocktails. Whether you’re a fan of Truly®, White Claw®, Vizzy®, or Bud Light Seltzer®, there’s something for everyone with these easy-to-make recipes, including Aperol Spritz-o-Clock, Fizzy Fuzzy Navels, Watermelon Sugar Slushy, Millennial Cosmo, Fizzier French 75, Summer in the City Manhattan. Truly LIIT (Long Island Iced Tea), Lemon Drop It Like It’s Hot, Lost in the Jungle Juice and much more!
The Hard Seltzer Cocktail Book offers everything you need to add a little snap, sparkle, and pop to your favorite cocktails. Get it on Amazon!
The DIRTY, LAZY, KETO 5-Ingredient Cookbook
Have you heard about the new cookbook by keto powerhouse Stephanie Laska – The DIRTY, LAZY, KETO 5-Ingredient Cookbook yet? No hype, I think this is Stephanie’s best cookbook yet. Aside from pantry staples (salt, pepper, olive oil, and just a few others), all 100 recipes in this book have five or fewer ingredients and come in at 10g net carbs or less per serving.
With recipes covering every meal of the day plus snacks and drinks – all made with inexpensive ingredients from chain grocery stores with an average person’s tastes in mind – this book really does make keto accessible in a way it never has been before. Pair this with Stephanie’s no-nonsense, down-to-earth advice and mindset that we should stop overthinking keto, and you’ve got an excellent keto cookbook completely accessible to everyone, whether they’re keto or just thinking about cutting back on carbs every now and then.
And of course Stephanie walks the talk – she lost 140 lbs (half her body weight) – eating her signature DIRTY, LAZY, KETO way, and she’s kept it off. Without being perfect, and without expecting her readers to be perfect either. She’s a keto coach who understands what it’s like to diet and fail (many times over), to deal with pressure both from within and from well-meaning but perhaps less-than-helpful friends, and to try to do it all with limited time and resources. The almost 250,000 members of her DIRTY, LAZY, KETO Facebook support group will attest that both Stephanie and her methods are fun and they work!
You can buy your copy of The DIRTY, LAZY, KETO 5-Ingredient Cookbook on Amazon!
The Spicy Plant-Based Cookbook
The Spicy Plant-Based Cookbook features 200 easy, plant-based recipes that will take everyday meals from “blah” to “bam”! This is the perfect book for vegan and vegetarian eaters – or anyone looking to incorporate more plants into their diet – who want to kick things up a notch and enjoy meals bursting with spicy flavor.
From Jalapeno Hash Browns to Mango Chili Sorbet, this book has recipes for every meal of the day and also includes a beginner-friendly guide to the plant-based diet (plant-based is plant-forward, but doesn’t necessarily require followers to cut all animal product options).
The “I Love My Instant Pot®” 5-Ingredient Recipe Book
The “I Love My Instant Pot®” 5-Ingredient Recipe Book is for any cook looking to save time, effort, money – and trips to the grocery store. This book features 175 delicious, simple, and straightforward recipes that don’t require a lot of prep or shopping. But best of all, they’re flavorful, satisfying recipes that the whole family will love and that you’ll want to make over and over again.
In addition to recipes from breakfast to dinner and desserts and snacks in between, the book includes a comprehensive yet easy-to-understand overview of how to get the most out of your Instant Pot. Get your copy here!
Lonely Planet - Eat Italy, Eat Japan, Eat Vietnam
“There’s so much to learn about a country's culture via its food,” suggests the world’s largest guidebook publisher Lonely Planet as they launch a new series of culinary guides entitled Eat. Launching simultaneously with Eat Italy, Eat Japan and Eat Vietnam, this series is a primer for the food scene of that destination and promises to take readers on a delicious journey regardless of whether they’re intending to travel there or not.
“These three volumes are important releases for our Lonely Planet Food imprint,” says the travel publisher. “With each volume in the Eat series we’ll cover all aspects of that country’s vibrant food and drink culture. From must-try regional specialities to etiquette and essential phrases, we’ve created a companion to equip the reader on a culinary journey…whether that’s on-the-road or from the comfort of your living room.”
Showcasing a food obsessed culture, Eat Japan profiles the best of Japanese regional cuisine styles such as Izakaya, Yakatori, Tempura, Soba & Udon and Okonomiyaki amongst others. “There’s also an abundance of rich information on the staples within Japanese cuisine,” Lonely Planet explains. “From the varieties of rice, beans and noodles to breaking down Japanese drinks such as Sake, Biru (beer) and Ume-she (plum wine),” the travel publisher continues. “We also want to help readers navigate tricky questions such as ‘can I eat Sushi with my hands?’ or ‘what is the best way to drink Sake?’”
“Everyone loves Italian food, but how did the Italians come to eat so well?” asks Lonely Planet. With the release of Eat Italy the travel publisher attempts to answer this question. “Eat Italy includes a cheese lexicon, a coffee decoder, an essential wine primer and breakdown of the most popular fresh and dried pasta. There’s a showcase of various Salumi (cured meats), a deep dive into Italy’s popular Aperitifs and Digestifs and an analysis of regional cooking styles and specialities.”
As the much-missed globetrotting gourmand Anthony Bourdain remarked of his life-changing trips to Vietnam: ‘The food, culture, landscape and smell; they’re all inseparable. It just seemed like another planet a delicious one that sort of sucked me in and never let me go.” Therein lies the ambition with Eat Vietnam; bring this sentiment to the page. “Highlights within Eat Vietnam include a showcase of Vietnamese fusion food, an easy-to-use guide to must-try street food, an outline of the host of different cooking methods used in Vietnamese cuisine and a comprehensive breakdown of the types of Vietnamese tea.”
Eat Japan – 9781838690519 – US$17.99 / Eat Italy – 9781838690496 – US$17.99 / Eat Vietnam – 9781838690502 – US$17.99
Lonely Planet Food June 2021 | Paperback - Available where all good books are sold!
Whatever you are reading this summer, I hope that you enjoy it!
Shari Wallack says
Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!! You made my day!!!!