Get Rec’d with Amanda – Volume 51

Welcome back, everyone! Thank you all for celebrating with me last time when we hit our 50th post. Now it’s onward and upward.

I feel like I’ve been on a kick with recommending non-fiction and that is definitely continuing. I have an anthology that is part cookbook and part memoir, plus a true crime collection all about poisoners. I also have a cute picture book and fantastic novella!

For something non-book related, I also wanted to recommend the show Deadloch on Amazon. Shana at SBTB loves it and I’ve had two coworkers mention it. I’ve started it and am really enjoying it. It’s a murder mystery show set in Tasmania and most of the characters are queer women.

Get any good book recommendations lately? Share them in the comments!

• Ghost Afraid of the Dark

  

  I do not have kids, but admittedly, one of the things that makes me wish I had a tiny kiddo in my life (my own, a friend’s, etc.) is seeing all of these cute, spooky season picture books. (That and seeing little baby Converse shoes in a department store.) This one is also available as a board book.

  Follow Boo the Ghost as he celebrates his first Halloween with all his Monster friends! He is a shy little ghost and quickly realizes he is afraid of many things. Read as Boo discovers to be brave in this adorable, spooky story! With charming illustrations and a glow-in-the-dark cover, makes this the perfect bedtime read.

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• The League of Lady Poisoners

  

  This one was recommended to me by a friend who still works at the bookstore where I used to work! She sent me a photo because it was so gorgeous. The edges of the pages have this beautiful, green metallic treatment.

  A feast for the senses, this sumptuously illustrated book will introduce you to some of the most infamous women throughout world history, united by their shared taste for poison. Welcome to the League of Lady Poisoners.

  This riveting and well-researched volume by Lisa Perrin weaves together the stories of more than twenty-five accused women poisoners, exploring the circumstances and skill sets that led them to lives of crime.

  You might find yourself rooting for some of them—like Sally Bassett, who helped poison her granddaughter’s enslavers in Bermuda, or Giulia Tofana, who sold her name-brand concoction to women wanting to be rid of their abusive (or otherwise undesirable) husbands. Other stories, though—including that of Yiya Murano, one of Argentina’s most notorious swindlers and serial killers, or the terrifying Nurse Jane Toppan—may prove less palatable.

  Organized into thematic chapters based on the women’s motives, the book also includes an illustrated primer that delves into the origins and effects of common poisons throughout history, as well as a foreword by Holly Frey and Maria Trimarchi, creators and hosts of the podcast Criminalia. It is a treat for true crime fans, feminist history buffs, and any curious readers fascinated by the more macabre side of human nature.

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• Recipe for Disaster

  

  This one popped up on author Samantha Irby’s Instagram stories! She’s a contribute to this anthology and I love hearing about meals people turn to in times of sadness and depression. I also have my own go-to recipe when I am just not feeling the energy or effort. Might be worth a post, you think?

  Recipe for Disaster is a collection of stories and recipes—from a veritable who’s who from the worlds of food, music, art, literature, activism, fashion, and pop culture—about finding comfort in food, surviving the unthinkable, and living to tell about both.

  Discover how getting dumped led to author Samantha Irby’s Rejection Chicken. Comedian Sarah Silverman tells of the power of the humble Pinwheel cookie that got her through bouts of crippling childhood depression. Culinary legend Alice Waters reflects on how a perfectly dressed salad has carried her and her chosen family through loneliness and uncertainty. Here are forty recipes—some traditional, some unconventional—that commemorate the low points with the same culinary conviction with which we celebrate the highs. Part cookbook, part candid confessions, this book of good food for bad times reminds us that even the worst of days yield something worth sharing.

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• Spear

  

  This little novella is for anyone who wants to dig into more Arthurian retellings, with a bonus of a sapphic romance subplot. It’s a quick, fantastic read and, if you missed it, Carrie raved about it in a Lightning Review.

  The girl knows she has a destiny before she even knows her name. She grows up in the wild, in a cave with her mother, but visions of a faraway lake come to her on the spring breeze, and when she hears a traveler speak of Artos, king of Caer Leon, she knows that her future lies at his court.

  And so, brimming with magic and eager to test her strength, she breaks her covenant with her mother and, with a broken hunting spear and mended armour, rides on a bony gelding to Caer Leon. On her adventures she will meet great knights and steal the hearts of beautiful women. She will fight warriors and sorcerers. And she will find her love, and the lake, and her fate.

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