Tag: Early Review

Question of When

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Fosco, Cory. The Question of When: a Practical Guide to Knowing When It’s Time for Assisted Living, Memory Care or Skilled Nursing. Campion Hall Press, 2026

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I often chose books that seem interesting to me. Very rarely do I chose a book because it pertains to my personal situation. This is one such book.

Confessional: it took me a very long time to read Question of When. Not because it is poorly written (it isn’t). Not because I did not believe Fosco’s words (I did). But because the subject matter hit home in ways I did not expect.
Nearly everyone has to go through the painful process of watching a parent age. It is either from a remote distance across the country or painfully up close and personal in the same house. Neither scenario is all that comfortable, but Fosco does an excellent job of clearing away some of the confusion surrounding the hard (and harder) decisions to come. Even if you think you have all the answers, Question of When makes you think again. Second guessing your knowledge and preparedness is a good thing. You are forced to ask the painful questions like, “are we merely adjusting to mom’s decline and losing perspective? Are we making excuses for the forgetfulness and erratic behaviors?” The difficult answer could be yes.
Fosco delivers a primer on territory; knowing the difference between the various facilities available to the aging loved one. Long term care versus assisted living or memory care. Each chapter ends with a takeaway piece of advice and a single action step to take. Small bites for a daunting and often overwhelming process.
Almost immediately I started to think about my own situation with my aging mother. If something were to happen unexpectedly, would I know what to do? Do I really know what mom wants for her final years, but more importantly, do I have the financial capacity to fulfill those wishes? There are financial implications with every situation, planned or unplanned. This is a book I will buy for my sister and not before it is too late.

Author fact: Fosco has thirty-four years of experience.

4 Weeks to Sleep Mastery

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O’Sullivan, (Belake) Blake. 4 Weeks to Sleep Mastery: A Proven System to Maximise Your Recovery and Energy in Just 30 Days. 2026.

Reason read: as a member of LibraryThing’s Early Review program I often chose (and win) interesting books. This time I chose a book that could potentially help me with my situational insomnia.

Straight away O’Sullivan does not want you to think he is a licensed medical professional. He was an athlete looking to improve his performance and had an ah-ha moment about sleep. His advice is mostly common sense: stay away from caffeine and your phone before bed; expose yourself to light as soon as you wake up; take cold showers in the mornings and warm showers in the evening; remove all light sources from your bedroom and so on. O’Sullivan uses a lot of analogies to get his point across. He also repeats himself. There was a lot of redundancy surrounding the checklists for each week.
I have always heard the advice about how to get a good night’s sleep, but thanks to $ Weeks to Sleep Mastery, I have a better handle on the science behind the advice. I also appreciated O’Sullivan’s breakdown of information into two categories: simplified and advanced.
4 Weeks to Sleep Mastery is short. O’Sullivan could have added more depth to his book by including advice for the outliers. What about the people who are at work before the sun makes its appearance? What about seasonal changes when the sun doesn’t always rise before you do? I have a friend who gets up at 2am in order to get to work at 4am. How is he supposed to get early morning sunshine to signal his brain to wake up? He also works in the belly of a ship for eight to ten hours a day. He doesn’t even have enough time on a lunchbreak to see the sun, let alone the sunset anchor.
As an aside, why not call the heart the drum? Why violins? Are drums too cliche? As another side, O’Sullivan can be a little didactic (he told me what attenuated meant). As yet another aside, I am not downloading another app that is free but utilizes third party ad services which use cookies to target personalization. No thank you.
I would have liked to see more information regarding diet and special circumstances, like traveling or having a chaotic life event (new baby, job loss, foster puppies) that keep you up at night.

Author fact: Belake is twenty years old at the time of publication. My burning question is why point that out to readers? Why draw attention to your age and create doubt about your knowledge base? Stand firm with the knowledge and you should not have to make excuses. Because of that one disclosure about age my immediate thought was you are a life coach? Have you been alive and on the planet long enough to be a coach?

Like Friends, Like Foes

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Russell, Andrew B. Like Friends, Like Foes: Japanese Americans and Nevada Through World War II. University of Nevada Press, 2026.

Reason read: This was a selection from the Early Review Program for LibraryThing.

If Nancy Pearl were to update her Book Lust chapter called “Companion Reads” I would want her to add Like Friends, Like Foes: Japanese Americans and Nevada Through World War II to be read with the government document WRA: a Story of Human Conservation. While WRA is a no-nonsense report of the internment of West Coast Japanese-Americans during World War II (and riddled with errors), Russell begins his nonfiction with the arrival of the first Nikkei in Nevada in 1900. Writing in a warm and approachable style, Russell moves through history documenting Japanese contributions to mining, farming, and the expansion of the railroad and ends with the onset of paranoia and prejudice during World War II. Unlike WRA, Russell offers extensive personal perspectives by including carefully researched interviews, journals, letters and photographs of four decades of Japanese Americans in Nevada. His obvious respect for his subject matter is readily apparent from the very first chapter. Hopefully, Russell will keep writing about this topic.
The genesis for Like Friends, Like Foes was Russell’s masters thesis “Hearts of Gold and Hostile Times: Wartime Reactions to the “Japanese Question in Churchill County Nevada” and is part of the Wilbur S. Shepperson Series in Nevada History.

Broken Mirrors, Steady Ground

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Parkview, Alex. Broken Mirrors, Steady Ground: Self Published, 2026.

Reason read: as a member of LibraryThing’s Early Review program I often read heartbreaking books. This is one such book.

I am writing this the day after Memorial Day; the day to remember, honor, and thank the military men and women who have served or are currently serving our country. In Broken Mirrors Parkview (obviously a pseudonym) bares his soul to release demons and pain. After serving several tours in Iraq Parkview came home a broken man. A soldier is not supposed to show weakness or vulnerability. A soldier is supposed to be made of Kevlar for strength and Teflon for resilience. Nothing fazes a soldier. Parkview is all Kevlar and Teflon. But, he suffered abuse long before Iraq. Drinking Wild Turkey and smoking before the age of fifteen; becoming sexually active at the age of nine. These things can damage a young person beyond repair. He spends considerable time trying to find his place in the world after the military, both physically and mentally.
Broken Mirrors has a few broken records. Parkview mentions sexual situations in a way that makes me sense he used physical intimacy as a drug to mask pain. He was addicted to hiding his true self with women. As an aside, when Parkview wasn’t crudely talking about sex his writing was beautiful and almost lyrical. There were many good lines that I hope make it into the final publication.
The was a very slim volume with wide margins so it made for a very quick read. I was able to finish it in one sitting. I will probably read it again. Maybe I’ll see something different a second time around.
As an aside, I hope Parkview learned that broken relationships are most likely the result of an inability to truly love yourself. Like that oxygen mask you are supposed to put on before helping others, you are no good to anyone else without caring for yourself first.

Playlist: Soul Asylum’s “Runaway Train,” Cat Stevens’s “Father and Son,” Harry Chapin, and Kesha’s “Cathedral.”

Pitted

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Cleary, E, M. Pitted. EverWhen Stories, 2026.

Reason: as a member of LibraryThing’s Early Review program I get to read interesting stories. This is one of them.

Mothers have complicated relationships with their daughters. At thirteen, Alice does not understand her mother at all. Left to take care of her younger brother and run the household, Alice resents her mother’s long hours as a surgeon at the hospital. She quietly keeps track of all the times her mother has offended her and looks for ways to even the score. One day she seizes her chance and defiantly eats a peach pit. Everything changes.
Thus begins E.M. Cleary’s short story, Pitted. It is a mere twenty-four pages long but packed with themes of trust and love. Every relationship needs a hero and Alice finds hers in the unlikeliest of places.
You can find more short stories at E.M. Cleary’s website.

Natalie connection: I am reminded of Natalie’s song “Tell Yourself” a song about a young thirteen year old girl struggling to come in her own. It’s a tough age to be.

Drummer Girl

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Noel, Sarah. Drummer Girl: How I Became Metal, a Memoir. Self Published, 2026.

Reason read: as a member of LibraryThing’s Early Review Program I like discovering people. Sarah Noel seems like an interesting one.

Confessional: it took me a little while to get into Drummer Girl. Sarah’s writing style conveys a hurried urgency – as if she is impatient to get out every little detail of her her story as quickly as possible…in a soap opera, teenaged rambling sort of way. She seems to be trying to portray the raw and honest account of a naive musician, struggling to find her place not only in the music industry but within a circle of so-called bandmates/friends. The latter takes dominance in the story. By the third time she was kicked out of the first band I would have said good riddance to the entire lot of them. It is hard to say what made her be the glutton for the verbal abuses they peppered her with every time they wanted to have a discussion. Their main beef was that she was not progressing as a drummer, but they had some choice words about her attitude as well. If you are metal aren’t you supposed to have an attitude?
As mentioned before, I felt the pace of the story moved quickly and without substance mostly because a fair amount was copied verbatim MySpace messages and texts. The vibe was Coming of Age California Style. First band. First car. First grown up job. Lots of gossip and raw deals. While the music didn’t last I was encouraged that Sarah remained open minded and kept trying.
Drummer Girl includes two sections of photographs and as an aside, if you search around YouTube you can find a video or two of Sarah’s bands.

As this is a book about music I would expect nothing less than an extensive list of songs and bands. I was not disappointed: Metallica’s “Seek and Destroy,” Black Sabbath’s “Snowblind,”, Korn, Radiohead’s “Karma Police,” No Doubt, Iggy Pop, Children of Bodon, “Strutter” by Kiss, Kurt Cobain, Beatles, 1812 Overture, Coldplay, Lamb of God, Arch Enemy, System of a Down, Django Reinhadt, and Nena’s “99 Luftballons.”

Shooting Up

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Tepper, Jonathan. Shooting Up: a Memoir of Love, Loss, and Addiction. Infinite Books, 2026.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program I often get to read touching stories. This is high on my list.

What is Shooting Up really about? I could say it is an autobiography of Jonathan Tepper’s upbringing and educational rise to Rhodes Scholar. I could say it is a commentary on addiction and the destruction it caused in the early stages of the AIDS epidemic. I could say it is a graceful memoir about grief and all its complicated layers. Shooting Up is all of those things and more.
Jonathan Tepper’s parents exposed their four sons to a variety of situations other parents would consider disturbing. As missionaries in 1980s Spain, Elliot and Mary Tepper focused their work on serving the addicted population. Mature beyond his years, ex-junkies taught their son, Jonathan, the terminology used for buying heroin and how to make crack. As a child Jonathan could recognize the telltale needle tracks and bruises of users. With addiction leading the way, the AIDS epidemic was not far behind, but in addition to overdoses and AIDS, Tepper’s parents saturated their household with literature and music. The entire family was well-read and all four children had big dreams. Literature was a lasting and large part of all of their lives. Being well-read helped Tepper become a Rhodes Scholar, but I am getting ahead of myself. Tepper’s father, Elliot, read St Augustine’s Confessions and Dag Hammarskjold’s Marking to his four boys and wife at dinner time. Homer, T.E. Lawrence, Dante, John Bunyan, Saint Augustine, Virgil, George Muller, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Jules Verne…I could go on and on. Tepper astutely says, “a great book had the power to change us and shake us to our core” (p 79). Amen.
My favorite section of Shooting Up was Tepper’s childhood. He captured his innocence perfectly. It is as if his childhood was frozen in time like an insect in amber. As an aside, Tepper had some pretty profound comments to make about grief that I absolutely loved.

Music: So much good stuff mentioned in Shooting Up : Aaron Copland’s Billy the Kid, Beach Boy’s “Barbara Ann,” Bix Beiderbecke, Bob Dylan, Branford Marsalis, Charlie “Bird” Parker, Chet Baker, Chuck Berry, Counting Crows, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddy Mercury, Goo Goo Dolls, Iron Maiden, Joan Baez’s “Forever Young,” and “One of Us,” John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong’s “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South,” Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” Mingus’s “Better Get In In Your Soul,” Miles Davis, Mahler, Milli Vanilli, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, “Para mi rey,” Queen’s “We Will Rock You,” Rolling Stones, Stan Getz, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings in C Major, Wayne Shorter, and Wynton Marsalis.

Jack Rittenhouse

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Farmer, David R. Jack Rittenhouse: a Western Literary Life. University of New Mexico Press, 2026.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I often get to read interesting books. This is one of those books.

I must preface this review by saying this was one of the best biographies I have read in a long time. I felt like I knew Jack Rittenhouse intimately by the time I was finished. An excellent if dense (said under breath), read!
Jack Rittenhouse’s childhood molded his fascination with books at an early age. He worked in a library as a teenager and helped print materials for the Boy Scouts. He wrote poems, plays, and essays in his spare time. As an adult he became a bookseller, started a private press and owned over 9,000 books. He seemed destined to always be surrounded by the written word. When he started to write his own books he concentrated on writing books on topics that fascinated him on a personal level. His first foray into authorship was a guidebook for the old Route 66. As a devotee to the desert, he romanticized the original 5,000 mile journey from Chicago to Los Angeles. His second was a niche subject about American horse-drawn vehicles. Always exemplary with his work ethic, Rittenhouse went on to display indefatigable ambition and a passion for researching a variety of topics. I found his commitment to attending meetings of the Western Historical Association impressive. For twenty-eight years he didn’t miss a one. There is so much more to Mr. Rittenhouse that you will just have to read for yourself.

As an aside, what happened to New York City’s book row? I have never heard of it.

Author fact: Farmer was once the library director for Southern Methodist University.

Book trivia: Jack Rittenhouse is the first ever biography of Rittenhouse.

How to Master the Power of Silence

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Saly, M.D. How To Master the Power of Silence. 2026.

Reason read: I received this book by mistake. As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I often request ten to twelve books at a time. I cannot always remember which books I requested so when How to Master the Power of Silence showed up I assumed I had requested it. Nope. I didn’t realize my mistake until the real MD Saly book showed up.

Confessional: because this book was received in error I stopped reading it. In truth, I was relieved to not have to finish it. There was a great deal of redundancy in such a short book. In fifty pages, this is what I learned about silence.
Here are the things silence can do: give you perspective, give you room to think, encourages others to reflect, teaches you, makes you notice noise, gives you space, changes the way you communicate, protects emotional energy, acts like a filter, gives you more authority, creates space, starts reshaping who you are, creates respect, strengthens emotional relationships, improves self awareness, opens the door for you to understand yourself, helps you chose words, reshapes the room, serves as a tool to detect dishonesty, freeze chaos, make you smarter, make you calm, make you disciplined, gives your mind space, slows the moment, regulate behavior, prevent emotions form taking over, create space, refine perception, train you to observe, build confidence, brings a sense of self control, prevents misunderstanding, keeps situations from escalating, train your inner compass, interrupt the cycle, transform dynamics, and reshapes the room without aggression.
Here are the things silence is: a subtle authority, an advantage of emotional control, self control, stabilizing, an anchor, a physiological reset, a protective barrier, a filter, a doorway to clarity, space, about endurance, productive, fertile ground, strategic in social settings, a secret weapon, a tool (mentioned twice), a powerful tool, power (mentioned twice), powerful, active, hilarious, effective.
Here are the things silence is not: boring (mentioned twice), passive (mentioned three times), emptiness (mentioned twice), coldness, a sign of confusion, weakness, detachment.
Here are the things silence does not do: announce itself, argue, make you distant.
Everything in this book seemed to be common sense.

In His Absence

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Wiley-Smith, Christopher. In His Absence: A Brother, A Life, and What Endures. 2026.

Reason read: As a member of LibraryThing since 2006 I occasionally get to review amazing books for their Early Review Program. This is definitely one such book.

Christopher starts In His Absence by explaining the why of his story. Not only as a way to express grief, but a way to keep his brother Alex, alive in his memories. By sharing Alex’s biography Christopher’s brother is still with him and by default, all of us…even as strangers.
From an early age, Alex had a deep sense of mistrust. Maybe it started with the neighbor who passed away when the brothers were really young. Or maybe it was the father with anger issues which could flare up at any time and often without warning. It seems probable that their parents contentious and sometimes violent divorce had a hand in Alex’s troubled childhood; the dissolvement of the relationship was threatening enough to involve a restraining order. Maybe the drama was one of the reasons Alex resorted to physical violence that went beyond the typical dust-up between brothers; smashing rotary phones into his brother’s face or spraying him with mace. No matter the origin of Alex’s troubles, they only increased as he got older.
Even as Alex moved into adulthood and was making a name for himself in the tech industry his demons relentlessly stalked him. It just goes to show you how someone could have an outward appearance of success but actually be failing on the inside. Thoughts of suicide whispered until they became a scream of reality. This is a well-written but heartbreaking story.

As an aside, Wiley-Smith tells the story of a neighbor who passed away. Later in the story Wiley-Smith’s mother takes in another elderly neighbor who ends up dying in their home. Are these one and the same women? Another headscratcher was the trial about this selfsame neighbor. Wiley-Smith testified to the woman’s last will and testament but I missed the outcome somehow.

Book trivia: I was pleasantly surprised by the plethora of photographs barely ten pages into In His Absence. An added bonus is that a great deal of the photos are in color. I am not sure why, but I took the number of photographs as a sign that Wiley-Smith had nothing to hide.
There is a little repetition with a paragraph on page 144. The same paragraph is printed twice. Same for pages 220 and 242.

Music: “Happy Birthday,” MC Hammer, “Be Careful Little Eyes,” Paula Abdul, “Jesus Loves Me,” “This Little Light Of Mine,” “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Motley Crue’s “Doctor Feelgood,” Lady Gaga, Usher, Tupac Shakur, Cold, Korn,

Confessional: Wiley-Smith remembers the sting of losing an X-Wing fighter to another kid. When I was of a similar age I picked the wrong hand holding a rope bracelet. To this day, not winning the bracelet stings.

Deeper confessional: I think I could talk grief with Wiley-Smith. I share the same philosophy that remembrance is an act of devotion. I adore someone two years departed. I never do this. they say there is a first time for everything. This is my remembrance of Nash:
This is How I Remember
If I order your favorite food it is because I want to have another meal with you.
I will always remember how you take your coffee.
If I wear your cast-off clothes it is because I want another hug.
I will always remember being in the warmth of your rib-cracking arms.
If I want to spend time with your family it is because I want to see the resemblance.
Will I catch a glimpse of you?
I will always remember your smile.
If I listened to your music it is because I might hear you sing.
I will always remember the laughter in the lyrics.
If I talk about you it is my ways of keeping your memory alive.
If I talk about you I hope the listener will let me go on and on and on.
This is how I remember you.
And remember you, I will. Always.

Deep Work for Distracted People

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Saly, M.D. Deep Work for Distracted People: Simple Methods to Stay Focused, Think Clearly and Finish What Matters. 2026.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing here is the correct book I was supposed to receive from M.D. Saly.

Cal Newport, Adam Grant, J.K. Rowling, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, reporters, engineers… They all devised ways to stay focused in times of heavy or concentrated work. Cal Newport is quoted the most as he wrote an entire book on the subject. Saly’s version, Deep Work for Distracted People: Simple Methods to Stay Focused, Think Clearly and Finish What Matters is much shorter with common sense tips for success. I found the suggestions about noise-canceling headphones and smart phone settings to be the most helpful (until I missed an important call from a not-so important number). A question though – if you are supposed to break up with your device, why encourage more apps to download? For the truly addicted this seems like a trap.
My favorite part of Deep Work for Distracted People was the information at the end of every chapter. Saly supplied a summary, the lesson learned, and specific takeaways relating to the chapter. It was a great way to sum up the extensive information covered in the previous chapter.
As an aside, I was inadvertently sent a different early review from Saly and I found Deep Work for Distracted People to be far more informative and less repetitive with subject matter. In fact, I enjoyed Saly’s writing in Depp Work for Distracted People. I was reminded of a runner I follow on Instagram who talks the same way Saly writes. I didn’t mind the analogies because I think in analogy all the time. I especially liked the comment about turning a noisy street into a quiet library.

Breaking the Barnyard Barrier

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Rhodes, Linda. Breaking the Barnyard Barrier: A Woman Veterinarian Paves the Way. University of Nevada Press, 2026.

Reason read: As a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I get to real really interesting books. This is one of those books.

The year is 1975 Mormon Utah and six months after graduation Linda Rhodes is surrounded by a bunch of worried men and a very pregnant cow trying to give birth to a breeched 150 pound bull calf. The men in the room are not used to a woman taking charge of what is normally their world and, despite it being the middle of the night, their discomfort is palpable. I cannot imagine the pressure Rhodes must have been feeling. Her student loans were coming due and this internship was her one shot to prove she could be a capable large animal veterinarian. This is how readers are introduced to Linda and her memoir, Breaking the Barnyard Barrier.
Throughout Linda’s fight to become a large animal veterinarian she had to endure sexist comments about sewing being a “girl thing” and being called a little lady or dear. The university where she interned did not have a changing room for women. And speaking of clothes, Rhodes had to dress feminine for her interview despite the position being a farm job.
At the same time as trying to prove herself in a man’s world, Linda juggled a long-distance marriage and ailing parents. Her support system was across the country and could do very little to help.
The unexpected bonus of reading Breaking the Barnyard Barrier was learning more about Utah (the roads are numbered in relationship to how far away the towns are from the Temple) and Mormons (they do not drink coffee or have anything to do with the beverage. You can be disowned for drinking coffee!). I also appreciated the black and white photographs. Utah is beautiful.
I truly enjoyed Breaking the Barnyard Barrier and I hope Rhodes writes again. I’m sure there are plenty more stories she could tell.
As an aside, is it standard to ask a new veterinarian to put a nose ring on a bull? Linda is tested with such a task and if I remember correctly, so was James Harriet in All Creatures Great and Small.

This has got to be one of the coolest playlists yet: Jackson Browne’s “Running On Empty,” Joan Baez, Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone,” Doc Watson, Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” “Oh Death,” the Grateful Dead, “Home On the Range,” Joni Mitchell, Dave Brubeck, “Ukulele Lady,” “Somebody Stole My Gal,” Jim Kweskin, and “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”

Surviving the Wild

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Kimberly Anne. Surviving the Wild: an Untamed Woman Opens Her Cage. Awaken Village Press, 2026.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing, I sometimes get to review fun books. this is one such book.

Kimberly Anne wants her memoir to come with instruction. My takeaways were to not be afraid to take chances, find ways to travel the world, and if you do, bring nice underwear. Kimberly begins her story twelve years earlier on a farm in Wisconsin, divorcing her husband of fifteen years. On impulse she and a girlfriend travel to Belize for a little getaway. Unexpectedly, she meets a beautiful and sexy stranger. On impulse she returns to Belize to live with him. Thus begins Kimberly’s love affair with the Caribbean, if not the man. After Belize came Costa Rica, Panama, and Puerto Rico. And more men.
In truth I would have liked to have gotten to know Kimberly Anne a little better as a traveler instead of Kimberly the horn dog with a libido the size of Alaska. Towards the end of Surviving the Wild Kimberly turns a little didactic about her personal and spiritual growth, but I still didn’t get the sense of who she was before or after her personal transformation. I know way more about her underwear situation than was necessary. She called herself “wild” and “feral” but what exactly did she mean by that? In my mind, feral is living off the land without a single modern convenience. No running water. No cooked meals. No comfy roof overhead. No dependence on anyone or anything.
One cannot help but make comparisons to Elizabeth Gilbert, intentionally or not.

As an aside, when Kimberly talked about a “tiny island” with less than 1,000 residents I thought to myself she should try an island with less than 60 people. You want to talk about knowing everybody and their business!
As another aside, Kimberly reminds me of Kathleen Edwards. Someone once told her she had the face of angel and the mouth of a sailor. I cannot confirm the angel part as there are no photographs or full names in Surviving the Wild but I can confirm the sailor bit.

Confessional: I just spent eight weeks training for a run. My trainer filmed her sessions in Costa Rica and talked about the pura vida spirit of the island. I was surprised Kimberly Anne didn’t mention this during her time on the island.

Playlist: Burna Boy, Snoop Dogg, Romeo Santos, and Taylor Swift.

Soul Food

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Caldo, Enzio. Soul Food: Simple Lessons Served Warm: Kitchen Stories and Life Lessons from Chef Enzio Caldo’s Table. Lucent Trail Press, 2026.

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I get to review cool books. This is one such book.

While there are no recipes in Soul Food, Chef Caldo draws comparisons between cooking and navigating life. It is a really cute, whimsical book. Starters such as bruschetta and garlic bread; Comfort foods like soups and stews; mornings of pancakes and eggs; dinners, desserts, and left overs: they all become the vehicles for simple life lessons. This is the kind of little book I would give to a casual friend or acquaintance as a holiday gift. Less than 122 pages with a great deal of blank space, it is perfect for someone who wants a little pick-me-up; someone who reads their horoscope daily and looks for answers in tea leaves.

Calisthenics for Beginners

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Pure Calisthenics. Calisthenics for Beginners. 2026

Reason read: as a member of the Early Review Program for LibraryThing I am privileged to review interesting books.

Calisthenics for Beginners, although a mere 186 pages long, includes appropriate quotations from influential people, cool illustrations of the targeted areas of the body to be worked, and photographs of each exercise in action. Because the word ‘calisthenics’ has fallen out of fashion I appreciated the definition. While you won’t need weights or machines, you will need some equipment usually found at the gym or in some parks:
1) Long bar
2) Pullup bar
3) Parallel bars or a dip station
4) Jump box
5) a wall
You will be introduced to a variation of pushups, muscle-ups, chin-ups and pullups along with variations of pushups and other exercises which do not need equipment such as squats, bridges, and lunges.
As an aside, I did a doubletake on the section on handstands.
I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to start a fitness program. It is easy to follow and the exercises are straightforward.