The Smell of Ink/Lukten av Trykksverte

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of Jew-ish: A Cookbook: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch by Jake Cohen through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads When you think of Jewish food, a few classics come to mind: chicken soup with matzo balls, challah, maybe a babka if you’re feeling adventurous. But as food writer and nice Jewish boy Jake Cohen demonstrates in this stunning debut cookbook, Jewish food can be so much more. In Jew-ish, he reinvents the food of his Ashkenazi heritage and draws inspiration from his husband’s Persian-Iraqi traditions to offer recipes that are modern, fresh, and enticing for a whole new generation of readers. Imagine the components of an everything bagel wrapped into a flaky galette and latkes dyed vibrant yellow with saffron for a Persian spin on the potato pancake, plus best-ever hybrid desserts like Macaroon Brownies and Pumpkin Spice Babka! From elevated, yet approacha...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve a press copy of the autobiographical comic colletion My Life in Transition: A Super Late Bloomer Collection by Julia Kaye through Netgalley. Although I read it shortly afterwards, I haven't published my review until now. Description from Goodreads The follow-up to the critically acclaimed autobiographical comics collection Super Late Bloomer, documenting transgender artist Julia Kaye’s life post-transition. My Life in Transition is a story that’s not often told about trans lives: what happens beyond the early days of transition. Both deeply personal and widely relatable, this collection illustrates six months of Julia's life as an out trans woman—about the beauty and pain of love and heartbreak, struggling to find support from bio family and the importance of chosen family, moments of dysphoria and misgendering, learning to lean on friends in times of need, and finding peace in the fact that life keeps moving forward. After the nerve...

Ages ago I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the cookbook Vegetarian Chinese Soul Food: Deliciously Doable Ways to Cook Greens, Tofu, and Other Plant-Based Ingredients by Hsiao-Ching Chou through Netgalley. Although I read the book shortly afterwards, I haven't published my review until now. Description from Goodreads A vegetarian follow-up to the popular Chinese Soul Food cookbook that includes 75 plant-based comfort food recipes you can make at home. Chinese Soul Food drew cooks into the kitchen with the assurance they could make this cuisine at home. Though a popular cuisine across North America, Chinese food can be a little intimidating. But author Hsiao-Ching Chou's friendly and accessible recipes work for everyone, including average home cooks. In this new collection, you'll find vegetarian recipes for stir-fries, rice and noodle dishes, soups, braises, and pickles. Of course, the book wouldn't be complete without vegetarian versions of Chou's famousl...

Ages ago I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the haiku collection Haiku Illustrated: Classic Japanese Short Poems by Hart Larrabee (Translator), Matsuo Bashō, Yosa Buson, Kobayashi Issa and Masaoka Shiki through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Haiku – seventeen-syllable poems that evoke worlds despite their brevity – have captivated Japanese readers since the seventeenth century. Today the form is practiced worldwide and has become established as part of our common global heritage. This beautiful traditionally hand-bound volume presents new English translations of classic poems by the four great masters of Japanese haiku – Matsuo Basho, Yosa Buson, Kobayashi Issa, and Masaoka Shiki – accompanied by both the original Japanese and a phonetic transcription, and a photograph or artwork highlighting or echoing the poem's theme. With a timeless design, Haiku Illustrated is an expert introduction and celebratio...

Ages ago I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the picture book Ritu Weds Chandni by Ameya Narvankar through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Little Ayesha is all excited for her favorite cousin Ritu's wedding. She can't wait to dance in the baraat ceremony! But not everyone is happy that Ritu is marrying her girlfriend Chandni. Some have even vowed to stop the celebrations. Will Ayesha be able to save her cousin's big day? This vibrant book sets the story of a same-sex couple struggling to gain acceptance against the colorful backdrop of an Indian wedding. My Thoughts on the Book Ritu Weds Chandni is a short and sweet picture book about LGBT+ positivity. The illustrations are amazing and there's also a glossary in the back, which can help people unfamiliar with Hindu culture. I totally recommend this book.

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the cosy mystery novel Booked for Death (Booklovers B&B Mysteries #1) by Victoria Gilbert through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads From the critically acclaimed author of SIBA Okra Pick A Murder for the Books, Victoria Gilbert embarks with a new series for perfect for fans of Kate Carlisle and Juliet Blackwell. A book lover's B&B in an idyllic waterfront village becomes the scene of a grisly murder--and a ruthless battle between treachery and the truth. Nestled in the historic waterfront town of Beaufort, North Carolina, Chapters Bed-and-Breakfast is a reader's paradise. Built in 1770, the newly renovated inn hosts a roster of special events celebrating books, genres, and authors. It's the perfect literary retreat--until a rare book dealer turns up dead in the carriage house during a celebration of Golden Age mystery author Josephine Te...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the cosy mystery novel Still Knife Painting (A Paint and Shine Mystery #1) by Cheryl Hollon through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Miranda Trent has set up a sweet life in a scenic corner of Appalachia--until she stumbles across the trail of a killer . . . After inheriting her uncle's Red River Gorge homestead in Eastern Kentucky--smack dab in the middle of the Daniel Boone National Forest--Miranda comes up with a perfect business plan for summer tourists: pairing outdoor painting classes with sips of local moonshine, followed by a mouthwatering sampler of the best in southern cooking. To Miranda's delight, Paint & Shine is a total success--until someone kills the cook. As the town's outsider, suspicion naturally falls on Miranda. Murdering the best biscuit baker of Red River Gorge is a high crime in these parts. Miranda will have to prov...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the crime novel The Nidderdale Murders (Yorkshire Murder Mysteries #5) by J.R. Ellis through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads A retired judge is shot dead outside the Dog and Gun inn in the remote Yorkshire village of Niddersgill. There’s a witness who saw everything, and the gunman’s on the run; the case should be open-and-shut for DCI Jim Oldroyd. But the murderer had no motive for wanting Sandy Fraser dead and, what’s more, no trace of him can be found. As Oldroyd and his team cast the net wider, they discover that Fraser wasn’t without enemies in Niddersgill. As the wealthy owner of a grouse moor, he’d clashed with farmers, debtors, hunt saboteurs and blackmailers. But none of them were at the scene of the murder. And when a local shopkeeper is gunned down in a second senseless attack, it’s clear that these killings are anything but random. Surrounded by t...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the non-fiction book Historical Brewing Techniques: The Lost Art of Farmhouse Brewing by Lars Marius Garshol through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Ancient brewing traditions and techniques have been passed generation to generation on farms throughout remote areas of northern Europe. With these traditions facing near extinction, author Lars Marius Garshol set out to explore and document the lost art of brewing using traditional local methods. Equal parts history, cultural anthropology, social science, and travelogue, this book describes brewing and fermentation techniques that are vastly different from modern craft brewing and preserves them for posterity and exploration. Expect to see today's craft brewers innovate and experiment with their own practices as old traditions reveal new life and creativity.Learn about uncovering an unusual strain of yeast, ...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the cosy mystery Murder with Clotted Cream (Daisy's Tea Garden Mystery #5) by Karen Rose Smith through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads A catering job has come in for Daisy's Tea Garden in Pennsylvania's Amish country--but death will be served before dessert . . . Margaret Vaughn has hired Daisy to provide afternoon tea for her theater group. A local girl who left long ago for an acting career in New York, Margaret has returned home--with a multimillionaire husband in tow. But while Daisy bustles around Margaret's historic farmhouse, she senses that there's tension behind the scenes. Then she discovers the hostess on the floor of the pantry--dead and covered with clotted cream. Barely recovered from her previous sleuthing adventure, Daisy joins forces with the former detective she's been dating to help solve the case. Should she cas...

Ages ago I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the cosy mystery Murder with Honey Ham Biscuits (Mahalia Watkins Soul Food Mystery #4) by A.L. Herbert through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads As the owner of Mahalia's Sweet Tea, Halia Watkins is famous in Maryland's Prince George's County for her down-home cuisine. But when she has the chance to showcase her talents on national TV, she becomes the star of a murder mystery that's too hot to handle! When Halia is invited to serve as a guest judge on the popular cooking competition show Elite Chef, she's delighted to add some extra flavor to the mix. But as filming ramps up in Washington D.C., there are too many fiery personalities in the kitchen. Halia discovers that pulling off her small screen debut unscathed means contending with a longtime competing restaurant owner, an infamously crass hospitality mogul, and a group of cutthroat conte...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the cookbook From Dill to Dracula: A Romanian Food & Folklore Cookbook by A M Ruggirello through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Romania-a hidden gem of Eastern Europe-is better known for its brush with communism than its cuisine. But, just because it's hidden, doesn't mean it's forgotten. Filled with lush ingredients, many picked fresh from the field, you'll find a traditional Romanian plate loaded to the brim with vegetables and lean proteins, never lacking in flavor. And nestled in those hidden hills and winding landscapes, lies a culture as rich and decadent as their meals. Journey through the countryside with over 80 recipes as unique as the people who have been perfecting them for centuries, all the while learning about the folklore and traditions that have steeped Romania in mystical mystery for so long. My Thoughts on the Book I really...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the crime novel Hanging Falls (Timber Creek K-9 Mystery #6) by Margaret Mizushima through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Murder stalks the rugged Colorado high country--and sends Mattie Cobb on a quest to uncover the darkest secrets from her past in the sixth gripping installment of Margaret Mizushima's Timber Creek K-9 mysteries A deluge has flooded the high ground near Hanging Falls--but heavy rains aren't the only menace descending on Timber Creek. While on a scouting mission to pinpoint trail damage, officer Mattie Cobb and her K-9 partner Robo stumble upon a body floating at the edge of a lake. Robo catches human scent, which leads to an enigmatic forest-dweller who quickly becomes suspect number one. With help from veterinarian Cole Walker, Mattie identifies the victim, and discovers an odd religious cult whose dress and manners harken back...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve a press copy of the cookbook Fresh from Louisiana: Extraordinary Home Cooking from Cajun and Creole Country and Beyond, with More Than 125 Recipes by George Graham though Netgalley. Although I read it shortly afterwards, I haven't published my review until now. Description from Goodreads Master the art of all the most delectable styles of Louisiana cooking, from Cajun to Creole, Acadiana to down-home New Orleans, in more than 125 easy-to-use recipes. George Graham—a lifelong Louisianan, a former chef and restaurateur, and now an award-winning food writer and blogger—is a brilliant cook, a warm, funny, and engaging storyteller, and an ace photographer. He brings all these talents alive in Louisiana Table, his second cookbook, following on the heels of his masterful Acadiana Table. George makes Louisiana cooking not just easy for home cooks to learn, but fun and interesting, too. The recipes range from George's pitch-perfect versions o...

Last year I recieved an ARC of the cosy mystery On Borrowed Crime (A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery #1) by Kate Young through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads A shoe-in read for fans of Ellery Adams and Kate Carlisle, On Borrowed Crime is the first in Kate Young's new Georgia-set, sweet tea filled, Jane Doe Book Club mysteries. The Jane Doe book club enjoys guessing whodunit, but when murder happens in their midst, they discover solving crimes isn't fun and games... Lyla Moody loves her sleepy little town of Sweet Mountain, Georgia. She likes her job as receptionist for her uncle's private investigative firm, her fellow true crime obsessed Jane Doe members are the friends she's always wanted, and her parents just celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. But recently, with her best friend Melanie on vacation, and her ex-boyfriend and horrible cousin becoming an item and moving in next door to her, her...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the romance novel Katie's Cornish Kitchen by Rosie Chambers through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads Kindness, community and cake are all on the menu at Katie’s Cornish Kitchen. After the heartbreak of being jilted by her fiancé, Katie Campbell has been mending her broken heart in Bali. She has local restaurant owner and new friend Agatha to thank for providing a listening ear in her moment of need. When Katie confides she’s worried about going back to what’s left of her life in London, Agatha has just the opportunity for Katie – to manage her old café in the beautiful, picturesque village of Perrinby in Cornwall. Although reopening the café and making it profitable won’t be easy, Katie is determined to make the most of her fresh start. She quickly makes new friends in florist Jay, waitress Talia and handsome neighbour Oscar, and focuses on making the ...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the cosy mystery Little Bookshop of Murder: A Beach Reads Mystery by Maggie Blackburn through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads A Shakespearean scholar inherits a beachside bookshop--and a murder mystery--in this delightful new cozy series for fans of Kate Carlisle and Ellery Adams. Summer Merriweather's career as a Shakespeare professor hangs by a bookbinder's thread. Academic life at her Virginia university is a viper's pit, so Summer spends her summer in England, researching a scholarly paper that, with any luck, will finally get her published, impress the Dean, and save her job. But her English idyll ends when her mother, Hildy, shuffles off her mortal coil from an apparent heart attack. Returning to Brigid's Island, NC, for the funeral, Summer is impatient to settle the estate, sell her mom's embarrassingly romance-themed bookstore,...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the cosy mystery A Curious Incident (Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery #6) by Vicki Delany through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads It's up to Gemma and Jayne to root out the killer in national bestselling author Vicki Delany's sixth Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mystery when the winner of a garden tour trophy is left pushing up daisies. "I am not a Consulting Detective," Gemma Doyle reluctantly tells 10-year-old Lauren Tierney, when the little girl comes to the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium to beg Gemma to find her missing cat, Snowball. Gemma might not be able to follow the clues to find the cat, but her dog Violet follows her nose to locate the missing kitten in a neighbor's garden shed. Gemma and Violet proudly return Snowball to her grateful owner, and Gemma basks in praise for a job well done. But a few days later Lauren is back with ...

Last year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the horror novel You Are Invited by Sarah A. Denzil through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads "There are those who claim the ghosts walking the corridors of Sfântul Mihail are not ghosts at all." During a midnight journey snaking through the Carpathian Mountains, these are the words whispered to Cath Fenwick. It is the warning she will later wish she'd taken more seriously. When Cath receives her invitation to The Event--a monetised retreat for social media influencers--she can't believe her luck. Irene Jobert is the most famous influencer in the world, and now Cath will be one of the five participants chosen to stay with Irene in a renovated Transylvanian monastery. The catch? Their every move will be live-streamed to millions of people around the world. Patrons pay for constant access to their favourite social media stars: Irene, the model, Nath...

Earlier this year I was fortunate enough to recieve an ARC of the paranormal novel The Dead Don't Drink at Lafitte's (Sam Quinn #2) by Seana Kelly through Netgalley. I read it shortly afterwards and today I'll post my review. Description from Goodreads I’m Sam Quinn, the werewolf book nerd owner of the Slaughtered Lamb Bookstore and Bar. Things have been busy lately. While the near-constant attempts on my life have ceased, I now have a vampire gentleman caller. I’ve been living with Clive and the rest of his vampires for a few weeks while the Slaughtered Lamb is being rebuilt. It’s going about as well as you’d expect. My mother was a wicche and long dormant abilities are starting to make themselves known. If I’d had a choice, necromancy wouldn’t have been my top pick, but it’s starting to come in handy. A ghost warns me someone is coming to kill Clive. When I rush back to the nocturne, I find vamps from New Orleans readying an attack. One of the benefits of vampires lookin...