DNA USA: A Genetic Biography of America


Bryan Sykes - 2011
    From the blue-blooded pockets of old-WASP New England to the vast tribal lands of the Navajo, Bryan Sykes takes us on a historical genetic tour, interviewing genealogists, geneticists, anthropologists, and everyday Americans with compelling ancestral stories. His findings suggest:• Of Americans whose ancestors came as slaves, virtually all have some European DNA.• Racial intermixing appears least common among descendants of early New England colonists.• There is clear evidence of Jewish genes among descendants of southwestern Spanish Catholics.• Among white Americans, evidence of African DNA is most common in the South.• European genes appeared among Native Americans as early as ten thousand years ago.An unprecedented look into America's genetic mosaic and an impressive contribution to how we perceive race, this is a fascinating book about what it means to be American.

Styled: Secrets for Arranging Rooms, from Tabletops to Bookshelves


Emily Henderson - 2015
    Even a few little tweaks can transform the way your room feels.      At the heart of Styled are Emily Henderson’s ten easy steps to styling any space. From editing out what you don’t love to repurposing what you can’t live without to arranging the most eye-catching vignettes on any surface, you’ll learn how to make your own style magic. With Emily’s insider tips and more than 1,000 unique ideas from 75 envy-inducing rooms, you’ll soon be styling like you were born to do it.

The Butcher's Guide to Well-Raised Meat: How to Buy, Cut, and Cook Great Beef, Lamb, Pork, Poultry, and More


Joshua Applestone - 2011
    The butcher has reemerged in American culture as an essential guide in avoiding the evils of industrial meat—which not only tastes bad, but is also bad for one’s health and for the environment. Joshua and Jessica Applestone, a former vegan and vegetarian, are trailblazers in this arena. They run Fleisher’s, an old-school butcher shop with a modern-day mission—sourcing and selling only grass-fed and organic meat. The Applestones’ return to the nearly lost tradition of the buying and nose-to-tail carving of whole animals—all humanely raised close to their shop in New York’s Hudson Valley—has helped to make them rising stars in the food world.             The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat is a compendium of their firsthand knowledge. This unique book—a guide, memoir, manifesto, and reference in one—shares everything one needs to know about well-raised meat, including why pastured meats are so much better than conventional ones and how to perfectly butcher and cook them at home. Readers will learn which cut of steak to look for as an alternative to the popular hanger (of which each steer has only one), how to host a driveway pig roast, and even how to break down an entire lamb (or just butterfly the shoulder)—all with accompanying step-by-step photographs. Differences among breeds and ideal cooking methods for various cuts and offal are covered, and the Applestones’ decoding of misleading industry terminology and practices will help consumers make smarter, healthier purchases that can also help change what’s wrong with meat in America today.             Complete with color and black-and-white photographs, illustrations, and more than a dozen recipes, The Butcher’s Guide to Well-Raised Meat is the definitive guide to eating great meat—responsibly.

Little House on a Small Planet: Simple Homes, Cozy Retreats, and Energy Efficient Possibilities


Shay Salomon - 2006
    Many of us have suffered the consequences of an inflated mortgage, an unmanageable construction project, or a house simply too large to keep clean. Will our dream home always be a celebration of excess, and a drain on our lives? Some wise people buck the trend. They build, remodel, redecorate, or just rethink their needs--prudently and calmly constructing a joyful, sane life around themselves. They think, sometimes literally, outside the box, and they live close, warm, and simple, applying spiritual and social solutions to their material desires. Pockets of people all over the continent are realizing the benefits of scaling down. They are designing a new dream, one that reunites extended families, makes space for friends, and emphasizes home life over home maintenance. Little House on a Small Planet is a guidebook to this movement, and an invitation to join. Author Shay Salomon offers fourteen basic principles for the design and habitation of efficient, high-density homes. These fourteen principles outline the invisible supports of a happy home, set within the context of a future, more caring society. With floor plans, photographs, advice, and anecdotes, Little House on a Small Planet asks and answers, "What fills a home when the excess is cut away, and how do we get there from here?"

Tiny House Design & Construction Guide


Dan Louche - 2012
    By reading the guide you'll understand the steps that will need to be taken and know where and how to start building your own tiny house.

The Italian Slow Cooker: 125 Easy Recipes for the Electric Slow Cooker


Michele Scicolone - 2010
    Michele Scicolone, a best-selling author and an authority on Italian cooking, shows how good ingredients and simple techniques can lift the usual “crockpot” fare into the dimension of fine food. Pasta with Meat and Mushroom Ragu, Osso Buco with Red Wine, Chicken with Peppers and Mushrooms: These are dishes that even the most discriminating cook can proudly serve to company, yet all are so carefree that anyone with just five or ten minutes of prep time can make them on a weekday and return to perfection. Simmered in the slow cooker, soups, stews, beans, grains, pasta sauces, and fish are as healthy as they are delicious. Polenta and risotto, “stir-crazy” dishes that ordinarily need careful timing, are effortless. Meat loaves come out perfectly moist, tough cuts of meat turn succulent, and cheesecakes emerge flawless.

Terrain at Home: Ideas and Inspiration for Living with Nature


Greg Lehmkuhl - 2018
    For years, Terrain has been at the forefront of this movement (they are responsible for popularizing the terrarium craze, for one), and in their first book--timed to the 10-year anniversary of the brand--they offer readers a treasury of interior and outdoor design ideas, projects, and gardening intel. The book will teach readers how to replicate the "Terrain look" at home, with topics ranging from terrariums to arbors, layered bulb planting to holiday wreath-making. Featuring hundreds of full-color photographs and inspirational ideas for every season, Terrain at Home is the ultimate resource for the indoor/outdoor lifestyle.

How to Lead When Your Boss Can't (or Won't)


John C. Maxwell - 2019
    New York Times bestselling leadership author John C. Maxwell knows this because the number one question he gets asked is about how to lead when the boss isn’t a good leader.You don’t have to be trapped in your work situation. In this book, adapted from the million-selling The 360-Degree Leader, Maxwell unveils the keys to successfully navigating the challenges of working for a bad boss. Maxwell teaches how to position yourself for current and future success, take the high road with a poor leader, avoid common pitfalls, work well with teammates, and develop influence wherever you find yourself.Practicing the principles taught in this book will result in endless opportunities—for your organization, your career, and your life. You can learn how to lead when your boss can’t (or won’t).

An Atheist's History of Belief: Understanding Our Most Extraordinary Invention


Matthew Kneale - 2013
    The gods we created have evolved and mutated with us through a narrative fraught with human sacrifice, political upheaval and bloody wars.Belief was man's most epic labor of invention. It has been our closest companion, and has followed mankind across the continents and through history.

The Homemade Flour Cookbook: The Home Cook's Guide to Milling Nutritious Flours and Creating Delicious Recipes with Every Grain, Legume, Nut, and Seed from A-Z


Erin Alderson - 2014
    Not only that, but some flours, like almond, can run as high as $15 per bag! There has to be a better way.There is with The Homemade Flour Cookbook. Erin Alderson will explore the different ways to grind flour including electric and non-electric grinders, food processors, blenders, and even coffee grinders, making it easy for any do-it-yourself homemaker to have fresh flour whenever needed.Try out great grain recipes like Cheddar Rosemary Farro Scones, Zucchini Feta Empanadas, Einkorn Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls, and Black Pepper Pasta with Goat Cheese and Pesto. There are also dozens of Gluten-Free recipes. Check out Cheddar jalapeño quesadillas with quinoa tortillas, Berry Crisp with Oat Dumplings, or Buckwheat Dutch Baby with Maple Cherries! There are even recipes for legume, nut, or seed flours. Flatbread with sun-dried tomato dip and Feta and Curried Red Lentil Dip are just a few of the recipes that you'll make with your own hand-milled flour!

Handcrafted Modern: At Home with Mid-century Designers


Leslie Williamson - 2010
    Among significant mid-century interiors, none are more celebrated yet underpublished as the homes created by architects and interior designers for themselves. This collection of newly commissioned photographs presents the most compelling homes by influential mid-century designers, such as Russel Wright, George Nakashima, Harry Bertoia, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eva Zeisel, among others. Intimate as well as revelatory, Williamson’s photographs show these creative homes as they were lived in by their designers: Walter Gropius’s historic Bauhaus home in Massachusetts; Albert Frey’s floating modernist aerie on a Palm Springs rock outcropping; Wharton Esherick’s completely handmade Pennsylvania house, from the organic handcarved staircase to the iconic furniture. Personal and breathtaking by turn—these homes are exemplary studies of domestic modernism at its warmest and most creative.

Habitat: The Field Guide to Decorating


Lauren Liess - 2015
    In Habitat: The Field Guide to Decorating, her first book, Lauren invites readers to bring nature inside by mixing the textures of natural elements such as wood and stone with eclectic groupings of modern and quirky vintage pieces. Readers will be inspired by the unique style of these rooms, which include lovely framed botanical prints and Liess’s own textile patterns inspired by wildflowers and weeds. The book is divided into three sections: Part I focuses on the fundamental elements of design, with each chapter devoted to a particular element, such as color, lighting, and furniture; Part II addresses the intangibles of designing a space, such as aesthetics and creating a mood; and Part III tackles unique room-specific challenges in every part of the house.

Preserving Italy: Canning, Curing, Infusing, and Bottling Italian Flavors and Traditions


Domenica Marchetti - 2016
    There, abundant produce and other Mediterranean ingredients lend themselves particularly well to canning, bottling, and other preserving methods. Think of marinated artichokes in olive oil, classic giardiniera, or, of course, the late-summer tradition of putting up tomato sauce. But in this book we get so much more, from Marchetti’s in-person travels across the regions of Italy as well as the recipes handed down through her family: sweet and sour peppers, Marsala-spiked apricot jam, lemon-infused olive oil, and her grandmother’s amarene, sour cherries preserved in alcohol. Beyond canning and pickling, the book also includes recipes for making cheese, curing meats, infusing liqueurs, and even a few confections, plus recipes for finished dishes so you can savor each treasured jar all year long.

The Invention of Christianity


Alexander Drake - 2012
    It investigates how the stories of Dionysus could have evolved into that of Jesus, how rituals of the Dionysian mysteries are now found in Christianity, and the evolution of the Greek conception of the afterlife into the current Christian conception of Heaven and Hell.This book utilizes many of the ideas put forth in Drake’s first book The Invention of Religion throughout its investigation. It also looks into whether the Bible really had a divine source or was invented by humans and contains two appendices charting the age of the world according to the bible and the stories contained in each of the synoptic gospels.

Found, Free, and Flea: Creating Collections from Vintage Treasures


Tereasa Surratt - 2011
    While renovating the decrepit cabins at Camp Wandawega, they kept stumbling upon curious objects, some dating back ninety years or more: a Boy Scout patch, an old sled, a pristine set of Fiesta Ware, dozens of midcentury aprons, an untouched box of board games in their original packaging. Tereasa knew the power that one mundane object has when grouped with its siblings. So rather than discard everything, she set out on a five-year expedition to turn the more than 150 found items into full-fledged collections. Relying on her own thriftiness, she only acquired pieces for free or at a bargain price: items that she found, negotiated for free, or unearthed at a flea market. Found, Free & Flea explores Tereasa’s passion for collecting while encouraging you to tap into your own with ideas on where to look to see collectibles. Throughout the book, she shares her secrets and historical tidbits behind these prized antiques, now used to create innovative displays and for entertaining guests at her renovated lakeside retreat. From vintage wine taster cups turned into a wind chime to cheese boxes reinvented as drawer organizers, to a chicken feeder that houses old tea cups for impromptu coffee bar setups, everything at Camp Wandawega earns its keep. Learn how to navigate flea markets and how to best negotiate, why “localvore” collecting should matter to the thrifty shopper (and what finds to expect on your travels), which vintage collections are easiest to start and the quickest to fill out, and what tips you should employ for turning even the most simple items into stunning displays. The beautiful photography and Tereasa’s clever DIY projects and sharp eye for design will inspire anyone to add charm and personality to interiors with a few well-worn objects. A celebration of Americana and ingenuity, Found, Free & Flea is a must-have for knowing how to spot treasures, complete collections, and display them artfully.