A Delicious Life

*A Cosmopolitan Best Book of Summer * One of BuzzFeed’s Most Anticipated LGBTQ+ Books* An “exquisite…too lovely to bear” (The New York Times Book Review) debut novel from an award-winning writer: a playful and daring tale about a teenage ghost who falls in love with the writer George Sands. In 1473, fourteen-year-old Blanca dies in a hilltop monastery in Mallorca. Nearly four hundred years later, when George Sand, her two children, and her lover Frederic Chopin arrive in the village, Blanca is still there: a spirited, funny, righteous ghost, she’s been hanging around the monastery since her accidental death, spying on the monks and the townspeople and keeping track of her descendants. Blanca is enchanted the moment she sees George, and the magical novel unfolds as a story of deeply felt, unrequited longing—a teenage ghost pining for a woman who can’t see her and doesn’t know she exists. As George and Chopin, who wear their unconventionality, in George’s case, literally on their sleeves, find themselves in deepening trouble with the provincial, 19th-century villagers, Blanca watches helplessly and reflects on the circumstances of her own death (which involved an ill-advised love affair with a monk-in-training). Charming, original, and emotionally moving, this “deeply wild debut follows the unconventional love triangle” (Cosmopolitan) between George, Chopin, and Blanca—a gorgeous and surprising exploration of artistry, desire, and life after death.

A picture book biography of Julia Child, the famous chef

Whether they are cooking, baking, brewing, making chocolate, or rescuing heirloom varieties of apples, young creatives are increasingly turning their love of quality foodstuffs into ways of life and lucrative business ideas. In addition to introducing the aforementioned personalities, A Delicious Life also showcases the changing visual culture of today's foodists, including a selection of packaging design. The book also features a broad spectrum of locations for cooking, eating, and shopping, as well as kitchen utensils and surprising events that encourage readers to become a part of this new food movement themselves.

“With lush photographs and spare prose” a Brooklyn blogger shares recipes and “records her life as a gardener, a cook and an urban forager.” (The New York Times) Marie Viljoen's beautiful first book draws the reader into a world of unfolding seasons, seen from the perspective of an expert gardener, cook and photographer. Each chapter is a month, divided into three parts: New York City, the author's garden, and her kitchen, each setting the stage for a lavish seasonal menu with recipes drawn from farmers markets, wild-foraged ingredients, and produce grown on her city terrace and roof farm. Named for the size of her tiny Brooklyn terrace, and the blog it inspired, Viljoen's book is a unique perspective of the concrete jungle, where the month is known by the flowers in bloom, the vegetable in season, and the migrating birds crossing a Brooklyn sky. Set against a backdrop of growing up in South Africa and moving to the United States, meeting her French husband, and finding a culinary and emotional home in Brooklyn, Viljoen's book is a love letter to living seasonally in the most famous city on the planet. “If you don't think of this city as a living ecosystem, Marie Viljoen will change your perspective forever.” —Edible Brooklyn “Offer[s] visions of growing, cooking and sharing fresh food as central to living a good life.” —Seattle Times

In this debut memoir, a James Beard Award-winning writer, whose childhood idea of fine dining was Howard Johnson's, tells how he became one of Paris's most influential food critics Until Alec Lobrano landed a job in the glamorous Paris office of Women's Wear Daily, his main experience of French cuisine was the occasional supermarket éclair. An interview with the owner of a renowned cheese shop for his first article nearly proves a disaster because he speaks no French. As he goes on to cover celebrities and couturiers and improves his mastery of the language, he gradually learns what it means to be truly French. He attends a cocktail party with Yves St. Laurent and has dinner with Giorgio Armani. Over a superb lunch, it's his landlady who ultimately provides him with a lasting touchstone for how to judge food: "you must understand the intentions of the cook." At the city's brasseries and bistros, he discovers real French cooking. Through a series of vivid encounters with culinary figures from Paul Bocuse to Julia Child to Ruth Reichl, Lobrano hones his palate and finds his voice. Soon the timid boy from Connecticut is at the epicenter of the Parisian dining revolution and the restaurant critic of one of the largest newspapers in the France. A mouthwatering testament to the healing power of food, My Place at the Table is a moving coming-of-age story of how a gay man emerges from a wounding childhood, discovers himself, and finds love. Published here for the first time is Lobrano's "little black book," an insider's guide to his thirty all-time-favorite Paris restaurants.

Lotus Lane...where friendships bloom! This series is part of Scholastic's early chapter book line called Branches, which is aimed at newly independent readers. With easy-to-read text, high-interest content, fast-paced plots, and illustrations on every page, these books will boost reading confidence and stamina. Branches books help readers grow!The second book in this fresh new series features Coco. Coco LOVES hanging out with her friends, baking delicious cupcakes, and rescuing animals...like snails!?! The Lotus Lane Girls organize a cupcake sale to raise money for a veggie garden to help save the snails. Here are some posters Coco and her BFFs make for the bake sale:SLIME MAKES U SMILESNAILS FINISH THEIR VEGETABLESS.O.S (Save our Snails!)This book is written as Coco's diary--with fun illustrations and doodles throughout.

A delicious and fortifying picture book inspired by the author’s family, featuring the Mexican tradition of holiday tamale-making “What is the recipe?” I ask. Abuela laughs. “It is in my heart, Rosie. I use mis ojos, my eyes, to measure. Mis manos, my hands, to feel. Mi boca, my mouth, to taste. My abuela gave it to me, and I am giving it to you.” Each year on Christmas Eve, Rosie’s abuela, mamá, tía, sister, and cousins all gather together in Abuela’s kitchen to make tamales—cleaning corn husks, chopping onions and garlic, roasting chilis, kneading cornmeal dough, seasoning the filling, and folding it all—and tell stories. Rosie learns from her abuela not only how to make a delicious tamale, but how to make a delicious life, one filled with love, plenty of spice, and family.

• The highly visible “Mr. Paula Deen”: Michael Groover has his own adoring fans, who have gotten to know him from Paula’s shows, books, and personal appearances. Now, five years into their romantic marriage, fans are clamoring for more about Michael and his everyday life with Paula. Michael has his own line of coffees and is poised to have additional products released soon.. • A compelling life story: Michael will share stories of his life from before and after meeting Paula, from his quintessentially southern childhood to his work as a tugboat captain, raising his children as a single dad, to the pleasures and challenges of marrying one of the nation’s biggest celebrities. . • Delicious recipes: Michael is pretty good in the kitchen himself, and My Delicious Life with Paula Deen will feature some of his favorites, such as Captain’s Deviled Crabs and Blue Water Banana Pudding. .