Books to Gift This Holiday Season

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52 Weeks 52 Sweets Review

Having problems finding the best gifts for the book lover on your list? From educational books to ones that are just fun – sometimes giving an adventure between the pages. We found a lot of great books that you can gift this holiday season. Books are always the right size!

52 weeks, 52 sweets

Vedika Luthra has crafted unique dessert recipes using seasonal ingredients and distinctive flavor combinations for all occasions throughout the year. Whether you’re looking for a stunning pumpkin spice cheesecake to welcome fall to your household, or a festive pavlova that serves as the grand finale to your Christmas party, this book provides you with a recipe repertoire fit for all occasions. These treats can serve as gifts for friends and family or an indulgent sweet treat for yourself.

Vedika invites you to explore desserts from her Indian heritage, her polish home base, and other dishes from around the world. Indulge in her unique 52 recipes, one for each week of the year, each accompanied by breath-taking photographs that will kick-start your sugar cravings and inspire you to create something special. She wants everyone to feel confident in their confectionary creations. Practice makes perfect and she guides you on your dessert journey whether it be lemon cakes, Bundt cakes, banana bread, or cookies.

Top Secret

National Geographic Top Secret

From mastering escape and evasion techniques, to crafting the perfect disguise, building a gadget on the fly or decoding secret intel, Top Secret: Spies, Codes, Capers, Gadgets and Classified Cases Revealed (ages 8-12, Hardcover, 192 pages) takes recruits beyond the page and into the shadow world of espionage and all things clandestine, where “all is not what it seems,” including:

  • The ins and outs of international espionage
  • Spy agencies across the globe
  • Clandestine Dos and Don’ts (DO: Use Dead Drops, Think on Your Feet, Remember Everything! DONT: Break Cover, Trust Anyone, Admit to Anything!) 
  • Fascinating profiles of history-making spies, like, “The Limping Lady” — World War II’s most dangerous spy — and an interview with Lindsay Moram, a real-life agent of espionage for the CIA
  • Hands-on how-to’s, including: a step-by-step guide to setting up your own spy network and detailed info on how to make your own disguises, create fingerprint kits, engineer a deck of cards with a secret compartment, design rearview spy glasses, and mix up some invisible ink for writing secret messages
  • Bold secret missions — like how the CIA stole a Soviet spacecraft — and gave it right back!
  • Gadgets, tools of the tradecraft and surveillance equipment  
  • Tips for uncovering secrets and hidden messages that are all around you — in advertising, at amusement parks, in video games, on cash — they are everywhere!
  • Code-cracking of secret messages hidden throughout the book
  • Cold cases and hidden places, cool disguises and wicked surprises, menacing mysteries, undiscovered histories, and so much more!

Baker Bettie’s Better Baking Book

Better Baking Book Review

Baking from scratch can be hard but with Kristin Hoffman, aka Baker Bettie, the science behind baking becomes second nature! Baker Bettie’s Better Baking Book lays a foundation of basic baking skills and master recipes that are sure to boost your baking confidence.

Consider Baker Bettie’s Better Baking Book your at-home culinary and baking school guide. This baking cookbook goes beyond the recipe by teaching the science behind baking. From measurements, techniques, step-by-step processes, to how to use base recipes to create endless baked goods that will make your mouth water. This book ensures that you are able to tackle any baking recipe with panache!

The Ultimate Book of African Animals

The Ultimate Book of African Animals Review

Ultimate Book of African Animals by Emmy Award-Winning Filmmakers Beverly and Dereck Joubert (ages 8-12, hardcover, 192 pages)

Ready for an adventure of a lifetime? With National Geographic photographer-filmmaker duo Beverly and Dereck Joubert as their guides, readers are transported to the plains of the Serengeti, the sands of the Sahara and the shaded nooks of the rainforest. Dereck and Beverly are eight-time Emmy award-winning filmmakers, National Geographic Explorers-in-Residence and wildlife conservationists who have been filming, researching and exploring Africa for over 35 years.  By sharing their stories of life on safari and Beverly’s jaw-dropping photography, this dynamic duo gives the reader unique, behind-the-lens access to Africa’s wildlife, how they live, play and hunt and how they have adapted to their wild, one-of-a-kind environments.  A big, beautiful guide to animals that roar, race and “totally rule,” this gift-worthy book is overflowing with facts, stats and photos of animals of all behaviors, shapes and sizes — including the tiny bombardier beetle, the sneaky desert viper, mischievous monkeys, elusive Ethiopian wolves, as well as fan favorites like lions, elephants, cheetahs, zebras, giraffes, hippos, gorillas, rhinos, and so many more

The Herbal Healing Handbook

The Herbal Healing Handbook

The Herbal Healing Handbook is a spiritual guidebook for using plants, essential oils, aromatherapy, and other natural elements to treat ailments and help prevent illness.

Draw upon ancient knowledge. While health care debates rage all around us, one way to take good care of yourself and your loved ones is with the “kitchen cabinet cures” in this book. When our great grandmothers needed to attend to the cuts, bruises, colds, flu’s fevers and other illnesses their family suffered, they didn’t have a corner drugstore. Instead, these wise women relied on simple wisdom, common sense, and pantries well stocked with herbal remedies. These preparations were made from plants that grew in the kitchen garden or wild weeds gathered outside. The Herbal Healing Handbook combines the wisdom of our elders with a modern kitchen herbalist’s sensibility.

The Best of Archie Comics

80 Years of Archie Comics Review

THE BEST OF ARCHIE: 80 YEARS, 80 STORIES is a special expanded, commemorative volume of Archie’s all-time best-selling THE BEST OF ARCHIE COMICS graphic novel series celebrating the 80th anniversary of Archie Comic Publications. This title features one excellent story from each of the 80 years of Archie’s distinguished history.

Celebrate 80 years of Archie and the Riverdale Gang with this fun, full-color commemorative collection of high school hijinks! Contains over 700 pages of classic, much-loved comic book stories – one from each of the 80 illustrious years of Archie Comics publishing.

Each of the comics in THE BEST OF ARCHIE COMICS: 80 YEARS, 80 STORIES has been personally chosen by creators, fans and contributors alike. Featuring special behind-the-scenes anecdotes that shed light on decades of mirth, this is a must-have for all comic book fans everywhere!

101 Life Hacks

National Geographic Kids 101 Life Hacks Review

101 Life Hacks: Genius Ways to Simplify Your World (ages 8-12, paperback) – Try these cool hacks! Turn ordinary into awesome with this fun book, jam-packed with science-inspired ideas kids can use to simplify, prettify, and eco-fy their lives at home, school, and on the go. Get tips and tricks for upcycling and reusing old stuff, as well as hands-on activities, fun facts, and insights from professional-grade life hackers who use their problem-solving skills to change the world.  Make cool lantern lights for your room, discover a tried-and-true brain freeze cure, learn how to boost your memory power, and more. By the end, you’ll be able to hack your way through all kinds of problems, from a messy backpack to stage fright, a drippy ice pop to smelly shoes!

Food Americana: The Remarkable People and Incredible Stories behind America’s Favorite Dishes

Food Americana Review

David Page changed the world of food television by creating, developing, and executive-producing the groundbreaking show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Now from the two-time Emmy winner David Page comes the book Food Americana, an entertaining mix of food culture, pop culture, nostalgia, and everything new on the American plate. The remarkable history of American food. What is American cuisine? What national menu do we share? What dishes have we chosen, how did they become “American,” and how are they likely to evolve from here? David Page answers all these questions and more.

Food Americana is engaging, insightful, and often humorous. The inside story of how Americans have formed a national cuisine from a world of flavors. Sushi, pizza, tacos, bagels, barbecue, dim sum―even fried chicken, burgers, ice cream, and many more―were born elsewhere and transformed into a unique American cuisine. Food Americana is a riveting ride into every aspect of what we eat and why. From a lobster boat off the coast of Maine to the Memphis in May barbecue competition. From the century-old Russ & Daughters lox and bagels shop in lower Manhattan to the Buffalo Chicken Wing Festival. From a thousand-dollar Chinese meal in San Francisco to birria tacos from a food truck in South Philly.

How to Cook That: Crazy Sweet Creations

Crazy Sweet Creations Review

Join food scientist Ann Reardon, host of the award-winning YouTube series How to Cook That, as she explores Crazy Sweet Creations. An accomplished pastry chef, Reardon draws millions of baking fans together each week, eager to learn the secrets of her extravagant cakes, chocolates, and eye-popping desserts. Her warmth and sense of fun in the kitchen shines through on every page as she reveals the science behind recreating your own culinary masterpieces.

For home cooks and fans who love their desserts, cakes, and ice creams to look amazing and taste even better. Take your culinary creations to influencer status. You’ll also learn to make treats that get the whole family cooking, create baked goods that tap into beloved pop culture trends, and impress guests with beautiful desserts. 

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