December's Best Books

A gorgeous gift book, an astonishing memoir, soaring novels and the fascinating kitchen chemistry by Caroline Leavitt


What Einstein Told His Cook
By Robert L. Wolke
W. W. Norton
Professor of chemistry Robert Wolke stirs up a whole lot of fun with his roster of questions and answers on everything you ever wanted to know about the science of cooking. A magnetic rack will keep your knives sharper longer, freezing raw eggs makes for gummy texture and that scum on top of the soup is just coagulated protein which won't hurt you, but won't win any flavor awards, either. Companionably written, and filled with yummy recipes like autumn mushroom pie and gravy without lumps, it's guaranteed you'll never look at an ingredient the same way again.

Golden Grove
By Francine Prose
Harper
Exquisite and heart-shattering, Prose's new novel limns the intricate lives of a family struggling with grief.  Thirteen-year-old Nico's beautiful older sister jumps from a boat to swim to shore and then vanishes in the water, never reaching the shore.  While her parents wander in a fog, Nico finds herself being drawn by her sister's boyfriend into a relationship that's as dangerous as it is seductive. Haunting, mysterious and brilliantly unforgettable.

I am Potential: Eight Lessons on Living, Loving and Reaching Your Dreams
By Patrick Henry Hughes, with Patrick John Hughes and Bryant Stamford
Da Capo
Nationally known pianist, trumpet player and singer Patrick Henry Hughes would be remarkable simply because he's performed at the Grand Ole Opry and the Kennedy Center. But what makes him truly amazing is that he's also physically disabled, born without eyes, and he lives his life in a wheelchair astounded at the idea that anyone might pity him.  In this pithy little book, written along with his father, Hughes lays out his eight lessons for his phenomenal success, including setting your course and then burning the map, and pursuing your passion as if your life depended on it. “No matter how you look at it, it's all good," he says. Be prepared to be astonished.

Bad Traffic
By Simon Lewis
Scriber 
When corrupt Chinese inspector Jian gets a desperate call for help from his daughter who's supposedly studying in England, he leaves everything he knows to come to her rescue.  But once he reaches the UK, he discovers she's vanished, and the language barrier puts him at a terrifying disadvantage. With the help of an English-speaking illegal immigrant with outrageous problems of his own, Jian battles a gang of human traffickers, the dangerous confusion of a foreign land, and his own demons in a crime thriller so different and risky it's downright exhilarating. 

Shout out:
Painting at the Edge of the World: The Watercolours of Tony Foster
University of Washington Press
A jaw-droppingly beautiful book of watercolors, celebrating the extremes of nature.  From the drenched rainforest, arid deserts, ice-choked Mount Everest, and even the mouth of live volcanoes, explorer-artist Foster captured nature up close and personal for over 25 years.

 

Caroline Leavitt stubbornly refuses to believe Santa isn't real and is waiting for 2010 when her new novel Breathe will be out.  She can be reached at www.carolineleavitt.com

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